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I tried to give her whatever I felt she needed, cupping her hand in mine and then giving her an encouraging smile before we silently followed Hector.

Only he possessed the key to this apartment, as I could not endure any memory of this place. It was exhausting to even walk down that narrow familiar street, but my butterfly needed help, so I put my budding feelings aside and focused solely on her welfare.

"Where are we going?" she asked in her soft voice and I could almost hear the nervousness through the sound of her words, which prompted me to take her hand a little tighter in mine.

"To a safe place."

She looked up at me in embarrassment and I already knew that her life would change my life completely. I had waited so long for that one person to come along who would make me feel the same way Mira did, and without even looking, she crept into my life and turned it upside down. In a positive sense...

Together we walked hand in hand along the uneven asphalt and I only stopped when I caught sight of the familiar white front door with my name still on the doorbell.

As Isalie looked up at me intently, I felt my heart beating even harder against my chest and turned my gaze to Hector, who was just unlocking the door and entering first.

My pulse was racing just at the thought of this place and Isalie also seemed to notice that something was wrong with me, because now she was the one who squeezed my hand a little tighter and started to caress the back of my hand with her thumb.

Her gesture of such loving kindness actually calmed me down a bit, but I had to deal with my emotions on my own. It was my past, my demons and my chaos. Not hers...

"I'll be right back," I breathed into the stillness of the night, glancing into the beautiful color of her eyes, carefully releasing my hand from hers. I immediately felt incomplete again, but I just had to do it.

"Okay," she replied shyly, and when Hektor reappeared in front of us at the front door, she followed him inside and it took me a moment to sort out my tearing thoughts.

There was suddenly so much to weigh so heavily on my shoulders and I quickly lit a cigarette, hoping the cold smoke would give me some sort of reassurance, but when I inhaled deeply on the first puff and turned my back leaning against the wall of the house, there was still no peace.

My mind showed me without mercy the many images of my past. Images that made me despair, but also images that warmed my heart. It was pure chaos...

Mira's brown eyes were reflected in the dark night sky above me and I still regret the day I let her go. But it was the right thing to do at the time and I stood by my decision...

"Are you all right?" Luckily for me, Hector addressed me cautiously from the side and thus snatched me away from this maelstrom of my past.

"Yes," I replied curtly, but one look into his eyes was enough to see that he knew full well that nothing was wrong with me anymore.

Too much had happened. Not only did I feel responsible for my butterfly, but the whole Sergio shit was bound to have unforeseen consequences.

My only priority was to keep Mira and Isalie safe. There was nothing more for me to do. I just wanted to get out of this world full of darkness, where you could see nothing but black.

Taking a deep breath, I flicked the cigarette onto the asphalt in front of me, then leaned back against the wall behind me and aimed at Hector while at the same time digging my wallet out of my still damp pocket.

"We need something to eat, drinks, shower stuff and please bring me scotch and cigarettes as well," I explained to him calmly and held out some bills, which he accepted with a nod.

"But the shops won't open for a few hours."

"I know. Lie down, rest and take care of everything in peace," I instructed him exhaustedly, glancing at the sky for a moment and then targeting him again. "We will wait here."

He couldn't resist pulling me into a quick hug and even if I felt slightly uncomfortable, I endured it. I knew he always cared more about me than himself. A man who put loyalty first. You wanted someone like that at your side in war and I would rather have him alone than thousands of others.

"Take care," he whispered, worry in his voice, pulling away from me again. I watched him disappear down the dark street in his undershirt and black pants to take another deep breath and turn to the front door.

I just started walking, carefully putting one foot in front of the other and ignoring my thoughts, which worked quite well.

Closing the door behind me, I looked around the dark, narrow hallway with nothing left but a white dresser. Newspapers were piled up on her. A sign that Hektor still cared about the situation here.

Running my hand over the dresser, I continued down the hall and stopped exactly where I had a good view of the large living room.

The ugly yellow sleeper coach was still centered against the back wall, right next to the small kitchenette that looked old and unused after all these years.

My gaze swept over the red carpet and the few pictures on the wall until I looked over to the large window and Isalie's eyes met mine.

"You live here?" she asked shyly, nervously fiddling with the buttons on Hector's shirt, which fell loosely almost to her knees. Even in it she looked adorable.

"Not anymore," I answered her calmly and then walked towards her with slow steps, which already made her blush. At least the cheek of her beautiful face that wasn't covered by a horrible bruise. "Who was that?" I wanted to know from her when I arrived right in front of her and looked down at her demandingly.

She swallowed hard, only glancing into my eyes to stare past me absently. A sign that she must have just thought of a lie.

"A robbery... More like an unfortunate collision," she whispered, a slight tremor in her voice, and only when she had finished did she turn her glazed eyes back to mine.

At least she didn't want to lie to my face...

"With a fist?" I asked, irritated by her lie, and she looked at me like she was lost, but shook her head the faintest bit. Okay, now I was really mad... Not at her, but at whoever did this to her because apparently she was so scared of him that she didn't even dare to tell me the truth.

His death was certain now. It was only a matter of time before I found out who it was without her.

"I'll get us something to change into," I let her know and turned away from her again, not wanting to give her angry looks. Yes, she lied to me, but after what she tried tonight, she was perfectly entitled to keep her secrets to herself for now. She would open up to me when she was ready and especially with her gentle nature, I didn't want to force everything like usual.

She was my butterfly and should be free to spread her wings whenever she felt like it. I would be there to catch her whenever that would be.