Page 84 of Sincerely, Butterfly

There’s no parking lot, so she must have walked or parked on the side of the street. Either way, she’s going to have to come in this direction, whether she goes out the front or back door, because the other way is a dead end.

“I’ll see you later,” I hear a voice call, then a heavy door slam.Back of the building it is.

Carefully, I move to peek around the corner. It’s her. She’s looking down, messing around with something in her purse, completely oblivious to the dangers around her.

Stupid girl.

Guess she’s about to learn this lesson firsthand.

She turns the corner, not even noticing me as she walks past. Pushing off the wall, I follow her a few steps before I grab her by her hair. She lets out a scream as I yank her to the ground.

I move quickly, getting on top of her and covering her mouth with my hand, keeping her from screaming again.

“It’s fucking rude to hit on someone else’s boyfriend right in front of them,” I huff before taking the fork in my hand, and with all my strength, I ram it right into her throat.

Everything happens so fast, she doesn’t have time to fight back. I pull the fork out and do it again and again. The only sound is the skin breaking as the metal rips into the meat of her throat again and again.

Her wide eyes look up at me with horror, but her body goes slack.

There's a good chance someone could survive a fork to the neck. But not when you're stabbed a good twenty times.

When I’m sure she's dead and gone, I leave the fork in her neck and sit back, chest heaving. “Well, that was the dopamine fix I needed.” I laugh, cocking my head to the side. “But now the real work begins,” I sigh. “You wait here, okay?” I tell her, getting to my feet and darting to my Jeep.

Throwing open the door, I grab my Polaroid camera and a little box before rushing back over.

Kneeling down on the ground, I grab a handful of her hair and yank her head up. “Okay, now smile for the camera,” I tell her as I press my head next to hers. “Cheese,” I say before snapping the photo.

The flash goes off, and the sound of the camera clicking fills the air. I let her go, her head hitting the ground with a crack. “Shit, sorry.” I wince before grabbing the photo and shaking it out. It takes a moment for the image to show up.

“Don’t we look cute?” I ask, showing her the photo. “And look!” I point. “You can see the fork. Cool, right?”

It’s too close up to be able to make out any of my features, just the mask, which was what I was going for.

“I wish I could keep this,” I tell her, placing the photo down on the ground. “But Dad says keeping trophies is dangerous and could be the very thing that gets someone caught. This will have to do.”

Grabbing the little box I brought with me, I open it and smile. Carefully, I pull out the stunning Sea Green Swallowtail butterfly I preserved. “Gotta make sure you don’t blow away,” I tell it, grabbing a bit of double-sided sticky tape from my pocket and placing it on the photo then pressing the butterfly on, making sure it’s secure.

There's no sign of Skittles, so I’m going to take that as no one is around. No need to rush if I don’t have to, right?

“Now, how do I make sure you don’t blow away?” I say to the photo, then look around. “Oh, you will do.” I grab a small rock and place it on the corner of the photo. “Perfect.”

I get to my feet and dust off my hands before grabbing the box and camera. I put them in my car, then pop the trunk.

“Alright. Let’s go for a little ride.” Grabbing her by the arms, I drag her body to the back of my Jeep. “Up you go.” I grab her under the arms and lift her, tossing the top half of her body in. The plastic I have laid down crackles as I shift her body, making room for me to grab her legs and lift them in as well. “You know, that was a lot easier than the first girl I killed,” I tell her. “I’ve been working out.” I flex and then frown when I realize she can’t see my arm under the sleeve. “Well, you're just going to have to trust me on that.” I wrap the plastic around her before tossing a blanket over her to cover the body and close the trunk before getting into the driver seat.

As we pull away from the curb, I take my mask off and toss it into the back seat. I roll the windows down at the same time I turn the radio on.Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, the Miley Cyrus remix plays and a smile splits my face.

I bob my head, singing along to the lyrics. When the chorus hits, I belt it out, dancing in my seat.

I’m in a good mood by the time we reach the morgue, a smile on my face and all the negative feelings from before gone. “You know what,” I say, parking the car as the song ends. “I’d have to say this is the perfect ending to the first day of school.” I sigh contently. “Thanks for reminding me just how much fun I’m gonna have this year.” I turn around in my seat, eyes landing on the lump in the trunk. “You should be honored. You're the first official victim of the Butterfly Killer. Exciting, right? I should probably get your name for my list, but that's something I'll worry about later.”

Right now, I need to deal with her. I’ve got class in the morning and this girl needs her beauty sleep. Plus, Callie wants to meet for breakfast.

First, my first date, then my first kill as the Butterfly Killer and now my first coffee date.

It really was a good day.

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