I never saw another butterfly

Shade had sat down on his bed as he handed her the note. She stared at him with the paper still crumpled in her hand.

"Um....you....no.....shirt.....pants...coming....." Shade then automatically looked down with red cheeks.

This was stupid, she was here to make sure he was okay and to find out why he'd punch someone. Don't get distracted.

Shade looked at the note and umfumbled it. She read it. Two words.

Oh. That's why... Shade hadn't thought that this would be his price. She could be naive sometimes. Shade looked up at Daniel at with big eyes. She saw him again, let out a quiet yell of embarrassment and immediately looked away. Could he not change in front of me right now?
 
Ignoring her, Daniel pulled on a shirt. Deciding he had made her uncomfortable enough, he opened his closet door so he could change behind it and she wouldn't see him taking off his pants. Coming out from behind it in what passed as pajamas, he sat down next to her on his bed, looking down at the piece of paper angrily.

Taking it from her, he tore it into tiny pieces, leaving them in a pile at his feet. "Is it...is it really worth it?" he asked her when his anger had boiled down a little. "I mean, there must be an alternative."
 
"I...I expected worse." Shade was still extremely flustered. She crawled to the head of the bed and wrapped her arms around a pillow. "Don't give me that look! I just didn't think he'd ask for that. It's not like.... I haven't."

Shade sighed. I came at the worst time. I would be aggravated myself.

Shade stood up, hugging the pillow and said: "I think it's very obvious that I shouldn't have come. I'm sorry."

She hesitated at the door, but instead turned around and slid down to the floor. She put her head in her hands. "Have you ever thought to ask what I wanted? After all it's MY choice."
 
As Shade started walking for the door, taking his pillow with him, Daniel was about to stop her, but she sank down to the floor. Immediately staggering over to her, still weak from what had happened, he sat down next to her, taking her hand in his. "I..." he tried to think of why he was so angry that she would even consider doing that. "I just want you to stay mine, for me to be the only person you ever feel love for. I'm such a selfish person..." he muttered darkly, running a hand through his hair, biting the inside of his cheek. "I'm sorry. If you want to do it, go ahead. I want to get out of here as much as you do, but...that's..." he trailed off, frowning.
 
"I....It's not like I want to because in an ideal world we wouldn't be here..." Shade shifted her head on his shoulder. "It's not exactly my first time. I remember...my ex....he wanted to... I....I think I didn't want to....but I did because I felt compelled?"

Shade was so confused and her head hurt. It kept increasing. She instantly leaned forward, put her head on the ground, and clenched her head. Shade let it pass. "Shouldn't have tried so hard." Shade got back up.

"Sex isn't always make love. I should know... I think. Making love is love. They are different. I can't seem to find another way.... I will make sure he gives us the blueprints first....It would make sense. But I don't know? Can I do this? I could probably forget.... I don't like this either."

Shade then straighten up automatically. "Did...Did you just tell me you love me?"
 
"I...I think so," Daniel answered cryptically. Looking away, he blushed slightly. "I'm sorry," he answered quickly, not sure if that was what she wanted to hear or not. Gently, hesitantly, he reached up, touching her hair and moving it behind her ear. "We'll...figure it out." He stands, holding out a hand for her to help her get up.

"Look...I've had a long, long night...you can try to sneak back to your dorm or stay here 'till morning. We can even sleep head-to-toe if you want." He takes the pillow from the floor, replacing it at the head of his bed. "Do what you want," he stated, turning off the lights and making his way to his bed, crawling beneath the sheets and waiting in the dark to see if she would join him or not.
 
Jade took his hand and got up. She smiled to herself as he got in bed. Shade knew that she should go back, but it was Daniel. She walked over to Daniel and sat on the bed. Shade slipped under the cover facing Daniel. "If it counts, I....I do too."

Shade snuggled into him and put her head on his chest. "I'll stay for a while, but I do need to leave before people are up to get out."

Shade then slipped her arm under his arm and pulled him into her. She laid there softly trailing his back. Shade kissed his chest softly so she wouldn't disturb him too much and return her head to the same position. Shade prayed that they'd get through the night safely.
 
Daniel sighed happily as she kissed him, feeling himself relaxing. Lightly, he placed a hand on his waist, in case she didn't like that. Whispering a soft, "Good night," he closed his eyes, the headache receding slightly. It took him a while to fall asleep, and while Shade's gentle touching helped, once he did, he was out. Breathing deeply, he didn't dream while he slept, and barely even moved, sleep taking him from everything.
 
Shade slipped out from under Daniel after he fell asleep. She wrote him a note that she placed by his hand.

Hate to dash, but you know I must. We should do this again sometime.

She heard a set of footsteps walking the hall towards the room. She instantly ducked by the bed and hid there. A set of teachers peered into the room, deemed it normal and moved on. Crap I'll never get pass them. Out the window then. Shade had to drop out the window from the second floor so she climbed out and lowered herself down the wall as much as she could before she had to drop down and she did. It hurt a little but she clasped her hand over her mouth before Shade could make a sound.

Shade could see that the morning light was filtering in. She looked both ways and ran the to the female dormitory. She hoped the door would be unlocked and it was she automatically slipped, went straight to the bathroom. If she got caught out of bed, she'd be in trouble, but at least if she came out of the bathroom she could use mother nature to her benefit. She zipped her hoodie all the way up and made it look like she had been sleeping. Shade flushed the toilet, washed her hands and walked out the door letting herself looky as sleepy as she was soon to be. A teacher was down the hall and looked at her for a moment. She yawned. The teacher came closer, inspected her and then said "Back to your bedroom. Now."

Shade wanted to so desperately sleep forever. She had wanted to stay with Daniel, but it wasn't a good idea to go over in the first place. Now they were both tired. She slept lightly for an hour. When it was time, she showered, got dressed, read her journal, and made her way to breakfast. It had only been two hours since she saw him last, but Shade missed him.
 
When Daniel woke up, the other side of his bed was cold. A sad light coming to his eyes as he read the note she had left him, he turned off his alarm clock, wishing he could sleep longer. But if he skipped classes, he would probably get sent to Room 13 again, and no matter what, he would do all he could to avoid that. Dressing, he went to breakfast, seeing Shade there first. Sitting down next to her, he holds his head in his hands, every single word he heard he heard sending pain streaking through his skull like lightning, giving him the worst possible headache.

"Good morning," he managed to get out, hungry but not eating again, knowing what Shade would do later in order to get the blueprints. Just the thought made him sick. "You doing okay?" he asked, wanting to know now if she wanted to back out or not.
 
"Daniel, eat." Shade slid orange juice and some aspirin from across the table at him. "It'll help. And I talked to Bryan. He has to get the blueprints first. It'll take him sometime...I think... but Daniel eat. Please."

Shade sat there quietly at picked at her food. "I'm sorry... about last night....I was selfish." Shade looks down and "Do you really believe there's another way, Daniel? If there's another way, I'll take it. I don't want to be near him.... Just thinking about last night, a moment ago made me realize, I don't want to ever be near Bryan like that. I'll do it if there's no other way because I can forget, but if there's another way, we' can take it."
 
"I'm not sure," Daniel said, as he snuck the aspirin into his mouth with a slice of orange. "We'd have to prolong our planning...but...I think if we can get access to all the rooms here, we might be able to sneak around at night and find out how we can get out...It's just...if we get caught, who knows what they'll do to us..." He trailed off, frowning, letting his hands fall and looking up at her. He tried to remember the main doors he had been brought into when he was in fourth grade, the ones through which every person wore a smile and praised him on his good grades and such. After he had gone through another door though, his parents long gone, he was met with scowls and teachers and the threat of Room 13. Shade had come much later, but by then he was already wishing he could go home. "I'm just not sure."
 
"We could try. Of course one at a time. So they don't really suspect we're planning something, or at least separate. I wish we didn't have to be in this stupid place."

Shade put her head in her hands. She wanted nothing more than to be somewhere else and to take Daniel with her. Shade couldn't really remember when or why she got here. She knew it was her fault-why was it her fault. Shade groaned at the pain. It had been much more constant lately. Out of frustration she slammed the table with her fist. When she did that, she immediately thought Oh fuck. Am I in trouble?

Shade looked up and no teachers really gave a shit. Sigh "Sorry, my brain started to hurt. I guess I'm forgetting I, too, have to be careful."
 
"It's okay." He smiled softly, wishing he could reach over and touch her gently. "I just don't know," he continued. "Just...do what you think is best." With that, he stood up, slinging his bag over his shoulder and walking to his first class. He was thankful for the aspirin, it lessened his headaches, but didn't completely get rid of them. Slouching in his seat, he tried to appear like he was listening, mumbling out half-assed responses to direct questions by teachers. However, he didn't get into any trouble, something he was thankful for. Sighing softly, he closed his eyes for a long moment, the headache disappearing for a fraction of a second.
 
Shade went off to class herself and couldn't focus. She was too tired. She had gotten even less sleep then Daniel. Shade doozed off in class on accident and the next thing she knew Ms. McCulligan slammed her desk and said "If you aren't gonna pay attention then you might as well make your way to Room 13." Shade was confused. Aren't students normally sent to the principal's office? What's Room thir-oh.

"Why?" Shade asked.

"You weren't paying attention. It's against the rules," said Ms McCulligan.

"What rules? Where are the rules? You never showed us rules!" Shade yelled back in protest, half out of her mind and full of sleep.

"Do. Not. Make me tell you again"

"I shouldn't have to. It was an accident. People make mistakes," Shade spit at her in anger. This is unacceptable!

Ms McCulligan yelled out the door for more staff members. "Miss Shade refuses to go to Room 13. Take her to the Basement."

The Basement? They've never mentioned the basement!

Shade struggled against the men and they practically had to drag her. "What! No! I WON'T GO! LET ME GO YOU BASTARDS. LET ME GO!" Shade bit his arm and almost got free, but they caught her. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! DANIEL! HELP!! NO! NO! LETMEGOO"

They managed to get her out of the hallways and into a strange corridor. There a woman shot her something and she began to lose strength and focus. They tossed her into a room that was partially padded and the rest was concrete. There was a toilet and two slots in the door. The walls were filled with markings, blood, and scratches. It was a cell.

The upper slot opened up and a woman said "Welcome to the Basement. Enjoy your stay Miss Shade."

It was where she proceeded to stay for 2 weeks and lose every part of her except for the words: "Home. Daniel. Run. Free."
 
Word of what happened in Shade's class spread like wildfire. It wasn't long before it reached Daniel's ears, and as soon as it did, all hopes of paying attention in class went out the window. He had expected her to be back in classes by the next day, but that theory was gone as it became painfully obvious that she was gone.

The days stretched, feeling longer than they had ever been, as Daniel became increasingly worried about Shade. A couple times, he even got called out on his lack of attention in classes, but he always found a way to deflect punishment. However, that wasn't the least of his worries. He had been losing sleep, wishing he knew where she was, and he hadn't been eating either, because half the time it was Shade who would remind him to.

On the fourteenth day, Daniel woke up, feeling more sluggish than usual. Rolling his shoulders tiredly as he began dressing after a quick shower, he nearly fell asleep while he did so. Slapping himself to wake up, he walked down to breakfast, not ready for another day of classes.
 
Shade sat there at breakfast just like any other day as if nothing had changed. The only difference from before that her hair was longer and she had faint & subtle markings on her arm. She had gotten breakfast, sat at a random table, but disregarded her food for the piles of homework she had been told she needed to make up. No one asked here where she had been and she preferred to keep it that way.

Ugh so much homework. Blah. Never again!

Shade chewed on a pencil as she tried to figure out a complicated physics problem. Shade was gonna need help.
 
Daniel felt like his heart would explode when he saw Shade sitting at breakfast. Running to her, he nearly pulled her into a hug, he had to force himself to stop. Instead, he sat down next to her, gently taking the pencil from her hand. "What happened?" he asked, instantly feeling like he was about to cry with relief. "Are you okay?" He frowned, looking at the work she was doing. "The answer's nylon, by the way."
 
"Nylon has nothing to do with Newton's 2nd Law and Inertia thank you very much." Shade stole back the pencil and began punching numbers into the calculator. "I'm like two weeks behind. Nylon can wait."

Shade proceeded to work on her on her physics homework. Shade looked up when Daniel didn't move. "Oh you're cute. Rude, but cute. You could introduce yourself, you know, rather than try to steal my pencil. If you think that's a great way to impress me you better think twi- OW!"

Shade grabbed her head with one hand and clenched on the pencil with the other. It hurt looking at Daniel. "Ow. Goddamn it. Fuck you head. Just when I need to study." Shade looked up at Daniel from her hand once her headache had passed. She cocked in head in curiosity when there was something familiar about the man sitting across from her.

.......Free.......

"What IS your name by the way?"

.....Home.....
 
Daniel felt like his heart was dropping into the pit of his stomach as it became apparent that Shade didn't recognize him. When she grabbed her head, he almost made a move to try to help her, but remembered what had happened last time he touched someone. "Shade...You know me," he told her, frowning. "I'm Daniel. We..." he lowered his voice, "we were going to get out of here, don't you remember?" Realizing that in those two weeks no one had seen her that she probably didn't have her journal, he slapped his forehead. "Where's your journal? It's got the answers..." It was probably in her room, and he knew he had no chance of sneaking in there. For one, any time he had a chance to, there would be girls in there who would scream bloody murder if he walked in, and if he got caught, he'd get Room 13 for sure.
 
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