The Salvation of Daniel (The Blue Butterfly Book 2)

by Sidebottom, D H

  “Fine.” I pulled him up the stairs and into the main building. “But hurry, she’s on any minute.”

  He held out a piece of paper, obviously Annie’s speech. “Well she needs this.”

  I smiled at the sweat dripping from him, his hands shaking, his pale face tight, his flapping hands and his teeth gnawing on his bottom lip. Annie had been the making of Isaac. They doted on each other. Ever since we took her home that night eighteen years ago, she had him wrapped around her little finger. They were inseparable.

  “Isaac, darling.” I reached out and took his hand in mine. “She will be fine. I promise.”

  He nodded stiffly, swallowing heavily. “I know. I’m more nervous than she is,” he laughed.

  We took the seats reserved for us near the front. The principal was rambling about this year’s graduates, how well they had developed over the four years they had attended university.

  My eyes wandered, landing on Annie by the side of the stage area. My brow quirked at the man with her. He was tall, dark-haired and gorgeous. Annie had grown into a stunning twenty two year old woman. She had mine and Mae’s eyes, our black hair and Mae’s curves. She had Daniel’s full lips and height, but her temperament was very much her father’s, as was her strength and courage. Her heart was all Mae but her head, her intelligence, was Daniel’s. She was the epitome of them. They had each given her the very best parts of them, and they lived in her.

  The guy had his hand on Annie’s arm, talking to her. She was shaking her head, her face stern as she refused to look at him. It was obvious they were arguing.

  “Please tell me you brought at least one gun, my love,” Isaac whispered in my ear as he watched the same scene unfolding.

  I nudged him with my elbow, trying to stifle my laughter when Annie was introduced onto the stage. She snatched her arm from the dickhead and strolled up to the podium, her elegant grace holding the attention of every man in the audience.

  She smiled out to everyone. Isaac lifted the paper and flapped it at her. She reached out then shook her head and smiled at him before addressing the audience again.

  “Hello, I’m Annie Shepherd,” she started. “I did have a speech all readily prepared. But you know what, it was a load of shite.” The audience laughed as Annie shrugged. “Life doesn’t come prepared with instructions or written on a piece of paper. We make it up as we go along. We take each hurdle and we jump it and carry on to the next one. If we don’t manage to get over that one, we take a few steps back and attempt it again. But we never give up. We can’t give up.”

  She looked to me and Isaac and smiled. “I lost both parents as a very small child. I’m not the only one; there are others out there who have lost loved ones. I don’t look at losses, I look at what I gained because of their lives and their deaths.”

  She smiled at everyone, her beautiful bright blue eyes smiling with her. “I often wondered as a child, and still do, what made each of us who we are, why each person would choose different options in life. Why one person deems death as the end, and another thinks of it as the start of a different journey. How one considers it acceptable, sometimes even enjoyable, to take another’s life, whilst another would actually give up their own life to let another live.”

  I looked around the auditorium, smiling as Annie stole everyone, their eyes regarding her, their ears listening to her, their attention with her and only her.

  “As you can gather, yes, I chose to study psychology. And I’m very proud to say I graduated with honours. But I often wonder if life had taken me on a different route, what would I be doing now?”

  Her tongue slid across her bottom lip and her eyes moved to Isaac, a secret smile curling the corners of her mouth. “Would I be a killer? What would life have done to me to make me want to feel the final beat of someone’s heart in my hands?”

  Isaac sighed satisfactorily beside me. “You know,” he whispered as he leant into me. “Are you sure she isn’t ours?”

  I chuckled. “I’ve never known anyone like her.”

  Isaac nodded.

  “But as one side clashes with the other, is it in our genes what life decides for us, or is it our own choices through life that determines what we become? Does our upbringing have any impact on our adulthood? As we take on our parents features when we are born, do we also take their characteristics? If your father was a killer and your mother the most innocent and loving woman out there, what would that make you?”

  “That would make you Annie Shepherd,” Isaac scoffed.

  “Would you be a compassionate killer?” Annie continued. “Would you only kill the most deserving?”

  “Yes, you would Annie Shepherd.” Isaac agreed.

  I looked to my lap and smiled.

  “Would you feel empathy for those you kill? Or do you relish in their deaths, taking into consideration what your victim has done to hurt others.”

  “Well, you always kiss them goodnight, Annie Shepherd,” Isaac mumbled with a small chuckle.

  “The organs of the body were genetically developed to work with one another, each connected by a matrix of cells carried respectively through our blood system. But what if, in some, each organ works against the other. What if your head told you one thing and your heart the other. Your head tells you to take this disturbed piece of shit that raped your sister or mother and blot out their existence, but your heart tells you that maybe this vile man has something genetic or psychological inside them that drowns all reasoning within them and they need someone to understand what makes them this way. What do you have then?”

  “Annie Shepherd,” Isaac and I said together.

  “And that’s what I will be studying and learning from as I work with the police force to determine serial killers, criminals and kidnappers, and how they work.”

  “So you can fill that little black book, munchkin,” Isaac snorted.

  The audience erupted into a mass of applause, every person standing, Isaac and I included.

  I grinned up at her proudly. She winked at me then descended the stairs.

  “That’s my girl,” Isaac puffed out proudly.

  Bullet snorted. “Well, with a mixture of her parents and you two, there’s no wonder she turned out to be the deadliest assassin this planet has ever known.”

  Isaac grinned proudly. “Yes, she did.”

  I laughed, nudging him. “After me, darling.”

  “Oh,” he nodded wildly. “Of course, my love. You know, I often wonder what she would have become if you hadn’t taken a sledgehammer to that white picket fence you wanted and returned to the dark side.”

  “You think she’d have become a vet or something?”

  Isaac and Bullet laughed loudly. “Annie? A vet?” Isaac barked out. “There’s a reason her codename is Butterfly, and it’s not for her closeness to nature.” I chuckled, nodding my head in agreement. “It’s her ability to blend into the background. Feed from the innocent. Her beauty attracts everyone, dragging them in and under until she wraps those delicate wings around them and snaps their necks.”

  “Hey.” Annie smiled, kissing both Isaac and myself on the cheeks as she flung her arms around us.

  “Brilliant speech, munchkin.” Isaac beamed at her proudly. She smiled back at him and nodded. “You ready for dinner now?”

  She pursed her lips. “Do you mind if I give it a miss. The Kitchen is having a barbeque and I promised to help out.”

  Isaac rolled his eyes. “Why do you help out at that homeless place? It’s your graduation.”

  “Isaac,” Annie grumbled at him. “These people need someone to care, otherwise what do they have in life? We weren’t all granted opportunities in life. There would be so many homeless dying without places like The Kitchen.”

  “Fine!” Isaac relented, holding his hands up in surrender, knowing it was useless to argue. “What about tomorrow, then?”

  Annie lifted a brow at him. “Uhh, tomorrow we’re taking out that fucking knob that raped his neighbour’s little girl, r
emember?”

  “Oh yeah. Breakfast then?”

  “Breakfast it is,” Annie agreed with a smile.

  A tall stunning blonde-haired girl came running up to Annie, slipping her arm around her and pulling her in close. “You busy later?”

  “I’m free after my shift at The Kitchen.”

  Blondie nodded. “See you at mine after?”

  “Sure,” Annie replied. The blonde winked and wandered back into the crowd, shouting over her shoulder. “Oh, I’ve invited Simon as well, that okay?”

  The smile on Annie’s lips told me everything. “Of course, the more the merrier.”

  Isaac lifted a brow at me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. “Maybe she does take after you after all.”

  “Nah,” I replied. “She’s all Mae’s heart and Daniel’s head. The shepherd and the lamb.”

  “And the exquisite blue butterfly.”

  The End

  Turn over for a sneak peak at

  The Beginning of

  Connie and Isaac

  Book 3 in the Blue Butterfly Series

  Coming Spring 2015

  Prologue

  Isaac

  February 2004. Aged 19.

  PULLING MY COAT further around me, I turned up the heating dial, shivering against the ice that formed on the inside of the car window, never mind the outside. The music coming from the speakers was quiet and I wanted nothing more than to blast it higher to drown out my thoughts.

  I tapped the steering wheel to the beat, shifting my glance to the upstairs window of the house I was watching. Light still glowed from behind the thin curtains, the shadow of a figure moving around.

  I needed to wait until they were asleep, make this easier. For some reason, amongst others, this job felt different. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Although the targets didn’t sit well with me, it wasn’t just that that was grieving me. Yet, here I sat, waiting to do what I did best.

  The shadow in the window appeared to be dancing. I smiled, watching the figure move to what I presumed to be an upbeat tune. The way her hand rested to her mouth I knew she currently had hold of a hairbrush, singing for her life to whichever song her preferences had her listening to.

  I grabbed my ringing phone from the passenger seat beside me, rolling my eyes at the number displayed on the screen.

  “Yep.”

  “Hey. You back tonight? The place is flooded with pussy, man. Your father’s decided to hold a party for some unknown reason.”

  I couldn’t hold back the growl. I knew the exact reason for his party. “No. I’m out.”

  “What?” Joel scoffed. “Pussy, Isaac, lots and lots of glorious pussy. What the hell’s wrong with you?”

  I rubbed at my face, suddenly tired. My eyes flicked back to the house and I sighed. “I dunno. It’s this fucking job. Doesn’t feel right.”

  Joel was silent for a moment. “It’s just a job, man. In, kill, out. That’s it, that’s all it ever is.”

  “They’re thirteen, Joel. I mean shit, they’re kids.”

  “Since when did you develop a conscience?” he mumbled, but I knew he understood.

  “Since I got sent to do the dirty jobs.”

  “You gonna nail ‘em first?”

  “What the fuck?” I spat, my lip curling in disgust. “Thirteen, Joel. Thir-teen!”

  “Fresh pussy.” I stared gobsmacked at the pattern the ice had formed on the window, tracing the developing web with my gaze as Joel jabbered on. “And hell, if I know girls nowadays, you might not even be their first.”

  “You sick fuck!” I shook my head, wondering what the hell I saw in Joel as a friend at times. “You’re gonna regret saying that when I get back.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled. “Becca’s here.”

  “Yeah? Go fuck her then, she’ll more than oblige.” I ended the call, throwing my phone back on the seat.

  Glancing back at the house I murmured a groan when I saw the upper light extinguish. “Fuck!”

  I climbed from the car, looking around to make sure I wasn’t being watched, and walked around the back of the house, scaling the high gate and dropping to the ground on the other side, my feet skidding slightly on the frosty ground. My brow quirked at the large fountain standing proud in the centre of the garden, masses of bushes doing half my job for me and blocking me from neighbouring eyes.

  My feet dragged along the floor, my heart someplace else. Shit, they were teenage girls. This was never right. What the fuck was my father playing at? I knew he was an evil bastard but kids? He’d recently started to take kids in, training them into Phantoms but I’d never been given an order to kill any. And even worse, who the hell had given the order? Which depraved fuck relished in the slaughter of a child?

  Tracing the length of the wire from the alarm system, I slipped the blade from my pocket and severed the line before picking up a stone from beside the door. Smashing the small window, I reached in and twisted the key, unlocking the door. Christ! Did this family have no regards for security, especially leaving their teenage daughters home alone for the night? Someone, anyone come break in. Hmm, I couldn’t help the small tilt of my lips at my own humour.

  It was dark inside, the door leading into a large square kitchen that was only lit by a small ray of moonlight slipping between the blinds. I didn’t bother to observe anything, there was no point, and this should be easy enough. I didn’t need to be aware of available exits, or objects that may be needed in the loss of my weapons.

  Moving silently through the hallway that lead off the kitchen I placed a foot on the bottom step to go up to the bedroom. A noise to a slightly open door on the left had me stilling, my eyes narrowing, my head tilting as I listened harder.

  “I’ve told you no, Lee. I’m not doing it.” Her soft female voice seemed to curl inside me; the unique pitch was soothing, even though she sounded frustrated. “She’s my sister,” she continued, “and even I’m not that cruel.”

  I walked silently over to the door and pushed it open a little more. She was sitting on a couch, bent over, painting her nails a sickly red as she held a phone to her ear. Her long black hair fell in front of her face, hiding me from her view as she slid the brush slowly up each nail, dipping it into the pot occasionally to recoat it.

  She giggled into the phone. “No,” she breathed, her soft whisper making me wince at how it made me feel. My brow lifted at her obvious flirting to something Lee had said to her. The sound of her laughter made me smile. She was so contrary, flirting one second, then giggling like a small child the next. I knew this girl had no idea of the effect she had over boys but she would find that seduction and teasing were two different things and would one day get her into trouble. Then again, after tonight she’d never… yeah.

  “No, Mae’s in bed and my parents are in France, some conference of my mother’s.”

  I shook my head, pissed off with how her parents had left them alone at such a young age.

  “No you can’t!” She gasped. “I’m going to bed now.” She sighed and shook her head but smiled to herself. “Goodnight, Lee.”

  She terminated the call and flung the phone onto the couch beside her. Her head tilted as she studied her toe decorating. “Oh, they’ll do,” she murmured to herself as her head lifted and she stared towards the TV.

  I took a step further into the room, the thick carpet silencing my feet. I frowned when she stilled slightly but she didn’t look up. Taking another step, I bit my lower lip when she reached for the phone again, obviously about to make another call.

  As I reached out to plant my hand over her mouth, she flung herself round and bashed the phone into my face. I was too shocked that she had realised I was there that it didn’t register she had taken off across the room at speed until she was yanking at some double doors at the rear.

  I raced after her, and she pulled them open, looking over her shoulder to see where I was. Her bright blue eyes smashed into mine, the terror in them clashing with the adre
naline coursing through her. Her lips were parted, allowing for her deep panting, her chest stuttering as fright quickened her heart rate.

  She turned again and disappeared through the doors, bringing us both into a large dining room, a huge mahogany table sat in the centre. A large black dresser sat on one wall, plates and glasses perched orderly on each shelf.

  My eyes widened when a plate suddenly sailed across the room and smashed on the wall beside my head. “Wow.” I laughed. “You are a feisty one.”

  “I’ll scream,” she shouted.

  “Go for it. Then we can get your sister down here and get this over with.”

  Her head shook rapidly. “No. No, you leave Mae alone.”

  A glass shattered across my head. Her eyes widened when I growled at her. “Do that again and I will make this really difficult.”

  “Like it’s not already?” she cried as she picked up another plate and held it above her head to launch it at me.

  She moved around the table when I did, both of us sidestepping around it, our eyes on each other, our bodies ready to launch at the first opportunity.

  “What do you want?” I noticed the trail of tears on her face but her courage surprised me.

  “I want you. Simple really.”

  “W..what do you want to do?” she stuttered as we danced further around.

  A small smile crept up my lips. “Well, I’m not going to rape you if that’s what you think. Give me some credit.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Credit?” she scoffed. “I… What?” She stared at me, unable to process anything with the fear racing through her.

  “I have standards. You’re just a little girl.” I smiled at her.

  Anger contorted her pretty face as she launched the plate at me. “I’m not a little girl!”

  Fuck this! I was tired of playing.

  I shot over the table after her. She finally screamed and ran to another door, pulling it frantically.

  “Oh dear, is it locked?” I laughed when I grabbed her, my arms completely wrapping her up. She kicked at me, struggling in my arms as I dragged her across the room. Her head suddenly flung backwards, the back of her skull connecting with my nose. Pain exploded in every nerve ending on my face, making my eyes water and a choked grunt to force up my throat.