from the night to the treehouse. I remembered where the boys kept the flashlight they'd shown me earlier, and I used it to guide my way.
My heart was thumping in my chest—I was terrified. But there was no way I was going to give up. I needed to save that innocent creature.
My fingers shook and the flashlight fell, clattering to the floor. I picked it up, feeling as if someone was watching me. The fear crept under my skin as I scrambled to find the wooden box. Finally, my hand wrapped around the familiar, carved shape of it, and I pulled it free of the drawer.
I knelt on the rickety floor, carefully lifting the lid of the box.
The butterfly was still there, but barely moving. Its wings were paper thin. I wanted to cry when I saw it struggling to break free.
I took out the pins as carefully as I could, but the insect was too hurt to move on its own. I was so focused on my task I didn't see someone else coming up the stepladder behind me. Not until the lid of the box snapped shut, making me scream as it smashed my fingers.
I retrieved my hand, crying softly as I blew on my throbbing fingers. I raised my eyes to the figure before me—one of the twins, wearing pajamas and a dangerous scowl.
"Thief," he spat out at me, and I realized it was Kade. "You're trying to take something that doesn't belong to you."
"No," I hissed. "I'm trying to save the butterfly."
He glared at me with angry eyes. Then a smile pulled at his lips. He knelt on the floor where I was still nursing my injured hand. He blew on my fingers, asking if they hurt. I nodded. I didn’t understand how he could switch from being so cruel to so very kind.
Carefully, he retrieved the butterfly and held it up for me to admire. It was beautiful despite being so weak. Its wings were nearly translucent, and it was slowly recovering from the ordeal the twins had put it through. That is, until Kade crushed it in his fist.
I screamed again, the sound echoing in the night.
I watched as Kade opened his palm, and the crushed body of the insect fluttered to the floor. I gathered the broken butterfly in my palms and watched a tear fall from my eyes to its unmoving body.
"You killed it," I whispered, looking up at Kade. "How could you?"
He hesitated before finally muttering the answer. "You loved it. I don't want you looking at anything or anyone like that."
"What do you mean? Are you crazy?" My bottom lip wobbled.
He didn't answer. Instead, he took me by the hand. He helped me bury the butterfly underneath the oak tree. Wordlessly, he walked me back to my bedroom, tucked me in, and turned on my night-light, as if he knew I always turned it back on when I woke up in the middle of the night.
That night, I had no nightmares.
I was still afraid of the darkness then... but the twins would teach me to embrace it.
"Good night, Junebug," Kade had whispered.
The nickname was sweet, adorable, but I hadn’t answered. The way he killed that butterfly was still playing in my head—cruel, vicious, and unnecessary.
And that was how my obsession deepened... Because as frightening as the darkness was, it was more interesting than its light counterpart.
2
Kade
“Well, well, well, would you look at what the cat dragged in.” Parker smirks as I make it into the kitchen, rubbing my bleary eyes and grumbling something in response. He’s standing at the kitchen counter, wearing an apron that says Fuck the cook. Classy.
“Fun night?” Parker asks, imitating jerking off a cock with his hand while waggling his brows.
Oh, the joys of living with your identical twin brother when you’re twenty-five years old.
“It was… eventful.” I look over my brother’s shoulder to discover what meal he’s destroying today. He’s not much of a cook, but hey, at least the guy fucking tries.
“Hey,” someone says timidly from behind my back, and I turn around to see a girl.
Redhead. Tiny, but curvy. Not my type at all. What the hell did I do last night? I wonder.
“Um,” I say intelligently, and Red looks at me meaningfully as I scramble for her name, coming up blank. Sarah? Her bottom lip pushes out slightly, and it’s painfully clear I’ve upset her. My brother starts grinning like a madman.
“Oh look, Kade, your latest conquest is up.” He walks over