A Butterfly's Dream - 1. Chapter 1

Sitting down, David looked to his parents and wondered what they would say about the thoughts that buzzed about his head. Swallowing lightly, he plastered a strained smile on his face as his mother handed him the salad bowl piled high with greenery and onions. Putting a bit onto his plate, he went back to his thoughts, not really paying attention to what his parents were talking about, only bothering to look up when they brought up Pastor Alex and his sermon that he had delivered that Sunday.

“I’m telling you, Pastor Alex isn’t stable in any form of the word. At least, not any more,” his mother said, chewing a bit of rice. His father snorted before swallowing his mouth full of food.

“Just because he was speaking of the homosexual’s place in God’s eyes, that doesn’t mean he’s losing it, Maria,” he father said. Maria paused before placing her knife and fork down to pick up her glass of iced tea, light brown eyes flashing behind dark hair. Watching his mother closely, his own black eyes wary, David continued to eat, wondering what his mother was thinking. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good if it put a mix of sadness and anger on her pretty face. His father must have caught the look, the man putting down his fork and knife down with a quiet sigh. “Look, Maria, I’m not saying that they’re bad people, I’m just saying that homosexuals aren’t welcomed in God’s eyes. Pastor Alex is right in that aspect and we should list to him.”

“I don’t believe that and you know that, Aaron,” he mother stated, going back to her eating, the topic closed for the moment. Finished his own food quickly, David watched both of his parents closely, feeling just how tense things were.

“May I be excused?” he finally asked, his plate clean. His mother looked up and nodded, watching him stand up. David quickly picked up his dishes and walked into the kitchen, putting them into the sink. Wetting them down, he headed up to his room to do his homework for the night.

Stepping into his room he closed the door behind him, David sighed and leaned against it, resting his head against on the wood; eyes closed. Standing there for a few minutes, breathing in the soft scent of Dragons Blood incense that still lingered in his room, he pushed away from the door finally. Sighing quietly, he flipped the light switch on, turning on his lamp floor lamp that stood near his bed.

Walking over to his computer, David sat down and moved his mouse to get rid of the screen saver that was working its way across it. Watching the screen go from the pipes to the main screen, David frowned at the tab that seemed to have sprouted up while he was gone.

“What the…?” He muttered to himself as he scanned the article before going back to the top and starting to read the article out-loud, trying hard to comprehend what he was reading.

“On Monday, June 5, 1984, Catrina Lewis was attacked and brutally beaten. She was declared dead on arrival,” he read aloud before sitting back and blinking at the paragraph. Tipping back in his chair slightly, he ruffled his hair in a huff before nibbling at his lip and lent forward again, continuing to read the article in front of him, finding it enthralling.

It told him about a young girl who was your typical teenage good girl in the 1970's and 80’s with a bright future, loving family, a fraternal twin sister, a 4.0 GPA and was a part of the Bible Club in her community. She could have been a flower child with how she was with the freedom of others but she still showed spirit when given the chance to.

The only "mistake" she had ever made was to be found with her girlfriend by several homophobic idiots in a park late at night. Her girlfriend hadn’t been so lucky. She survived the attack, but had been in a coma since that day. When interviewed, the doctors had said that should the girlfriend wake up, which would be a miracle in and of itself, she wouldn’t be walking without the help of at least a cane.

Sitting back again, David blew out a breath, eyes wide and slightly haunted by what he had just read. Something about the name made warning bells sound in his head though, but for the moment, he wasn’t going to really worry about it. Getting up, he walked over to his bedside table and picked up his thin cell phone.

Flipping it open, he debated on who to call so late in the evening. Sitting down on the bed, mint green sheets crinkling slightly, he decided to call Markus, figuring that Edward was probably in the same area as his twin. Laying back onto his bed, he listened to the music in his ear before hearing a silky voice greet him with laughter in its voice.

“Hello, David. What can I do for you?” Markus asked softly, his brother greeting him in the background of the call.

“Hey, Markus, can you and Edward come over? I need to bounce some thoughts off of someone,” David requested softly, his thoughts taking up most of his attention. Hearing a soft chuckle, he dragged himself out of his thoughts, focusing on the conversation.

“Of course we can, chérie. We’ll be there soon,” Markus purred softly, causing him to groan in reply.

“No calling me, chérie,” he huffed before hanging up on the laughter of his friends. Putting the phone aside, he grabbed his stereo remote and pointed it in the general direction of his stereo system. Pressing a button, he heard the soft click and then whirl of his CD player coming to life. ‘Zombie’ filled the room as he let his arm fall to the sheets under him, tapping his foot in time. David let his thoughts run around his head, making him dizzy at times. Sighing softly, he flipped onto his stomach, missing the knock on the door that sounded followed by it opening up, his friends standing in the doorway. He didn’t miss it when a strong body pinned his own down and a voice purred in his ear.

“Don’t you think you should know better than to lie on your stomach when you know we are coming?” one twin said as the other laid down next to them.

“You would think I would. Now get off,” David responded, his arms hiding his face as he rested face down. Shifting, his body slid around under Markus to lie on his other side, raising an eyebrow as he frowned lightly at him. “You two got here pretty fast. Where were you?” Markus smirked, his green eyes sparkling mischievously as Edward spook for the first time since they came into the room.

“We were just visiting the gallery to discuss what works were to be on sale and which weren’t,” he said, his voice huskier compared to his brother's soft Cajun drawl. From what David knew, the twins had been raised in Louisiana until they had been about 4 years of age and then they moved to Yuma with their mother.

Sighing softly, David shoved Markus off and sat up on his knees and looked over at Edward, watching him shove his shoulder length, black hair out of his face. He turned to Markus before turning his eyes to Edward again.

‘You would never think they were twins with their coloring,’ he idly thought to himself, shifting so that he could sit properly as he watched the two. ‘One dark as the night and the other as light as the moon, I suppose.’ Looking at Edward again, David took in the sight of the black hair and brown eyes, surrounded by soft, cream colored skin that made girls envious of him. David knew for a fact that Edward had a fan club at their school. But then again, so did Markus, with his nearly platinum blond hair that falls to his shoulders in a soft, straight line and his eyes that sparkled at you, no matter what the emotion.

The twins were so different, but so much the same it was kinda scary sometimes. It really made him wonder why they would hang out with him. He wasn’t popular. He certainly wasn’t good at anything except school; but others were better. He didn’t play sports, nor was he a part of any club. So why did these two beautiful males hang out with him?

Sighing again and leaning back, he looked at the two in front of him and smiled softly. No matter their reasons, he was glad. Stretching his legs out, he tried to gather his thoughts so he could tell them what he had called them over for.

“Come on, chérie, tell us what’s up,” Edward said, a teasing note in his voice, causing David to scowl at Edward, who just chuckled lightly at the cuteness in his sight.

“I was getting to that, Edward. And stop calling me chérie, please,” David huffed, his tone laced with warning, which made it just a bit higher then normal. Markus couldn’t help but think that it was nearly in a woman’s octave level before David started to speak again.

“Listen, while I was downstairs with the parental units, someone hacked my computer. I don’t have any virus, or at least I don’t think so.” Pausing for a moment, David scrambled off the bed and started a scan of his computer, stopping only to print out the page that was still open on his computer. Turning around again, he sat down and looked at the twins who were perched on his bed.

“You were saying?” Markus asked, sitting nearer the edge of David’s bed with a slight smirk sitting on his lips.

“As I was saying, someone hacked my computer and opened up a page from The Yuma Daily. But get this, it was from the 1960’s archive and was about this one chick that was gay bashed along with her girlfriend. Look, just read this,” David said, grabbing the papers that had finished printing and shoving them towards the twins. Edward took it, and with Markus reading over his shoulder, started to read. David watched as they read through it, their faces becoming closed off at the description of the attack. Looking up, Markus pinned David to his chair with a look of sheer anger.

“So, this girl was beaten with bats and fists so badly that she drowned in her own blood?” he asks, his voice making the smaller male shiver slightly.

“Exsanguinated is what they called it, but yeah,” David replied softly, nodding his head. He turned his attention from Markus to Edward when he started to talk.

“Why would they hack your computer and bring this up though?” Edward asked, his voice thoughtful. David shrugged while sitting back and running one hand through his hair.

“Don’t know. All I know is that I was downstairs eating dinner after posting my Live Journal entry for the day and when I came back, this was up op the screen,” he said, before nibbling on his lip. “I do know that the last name makes me think that I’ve heard it somewhere before.”

The twins turned to stare at the name, thinking for a moment, before looking up at David again.

“What?” David asked wearily, eyeing the two other males and their dry looks.

“Wasn’t your mother’s maiden name Lewis?” Edward asked after a moment, causing David to suddenly fall backwards, tipping himself and his chair onto the floor with a soft thud in surprise.