Black Butterfly

Chapter 24

I froze in my tracks. "What?" My voice was barely above a whisper.

"Come sit." She patted the seat beside her and I slowly dropped into it. My mother wasn't a person who talked quietly, she was loud and fun. When she laughed you could hear it through the whole house, her presence relaxed everyone. But now the room was tense and her voice was soft. 

"Calsy, I know."

"Know what?"

She gave me a look, I pointed my eyes to the ground. "Do you honestly believe me stupid enough to not notice the man watching our house and taking you to school?"

"No."

"Look at me please." I met her gaze, green eyes glazed. "There's something you need to know." My mother took a breath, "I know about Mason. I know what happened that weekend you went to a 'friends house'. I know about-" Another breath, "I know about Black Butterfly."

The air seemed to fly out of my lungs. "What?"

The air seemed to fly out of hers too. "There are things you don't know about your father."

"I know enough. He died a hero, overseas." 

She shook her head. "No, he didn't. He died a hero, yes. But not overseas." She pulled over a box that had been resting on the table. "He died protecting Jordan." 

A small gasp escaped my mouth. 

"Jordan and your father were best friends. He was his second in command, Jordan trusted your father with everything."

"So, you're saying- my father,-" I huffed, trying to find the right words. "Dad was a Black Butterfly?"

"Yes." My mother pulled out a picture from the box, in it two men stood side by side. Jordan looked younger, his arm hung around my dads shoulder. My dad looked, alive. His eyes seemed to glow, even from inside the photgraph. His smile still as bright as it always was. 

"How?" The question squeaked out of me. 

"When Jordan went ahead with the plan to asassinate The Ark's head, James, your father, was right behind him. Everything went smoothly, nobody got hurt, at least on our side." I could see tears welling us in her eyes and her voice wavered as she spoke the next words. "When The Ark came back for vengence, they snuck into the compound. Nobody saw it coming, not your father and not Jordan."

"Caden slit the throats of every one of the gaurds on duty that night and walked right into the room where everyon was gathered. Only James noticed and when Caden raised his gun-" A sob ecaped her then, one that had been gathering for a while. "Your father jumped in front of Abigail. And the bullet went through both of them." 

Silence filled my ears, and Mason's words rang though my mind.