Chapter 1: The Last Birthday

Butterflies are animals of evolution.

Butterflies can sometimes be a sign of evil.

Butterflies are the souls of those we loved.

Butterflies are children becoming adults.

Butterflies are a gender becoming another.

Butterflies are a form of luck.

Butterflies… don't live very long.

United States, Earth. Present Day.

The school bus pulled in front of the local high school. Students were moving their way around, engaging in what was bound to be another day of another year in their random lives. It didn't help that the cold season was here and they had to ditch their loose summer clothing for thick sweaters.

Ines Coeurdor wasn't really fazed by it.

Cuddled in her indigo turtleneck sweater and matching ski hat, black pants covering her wooled leggings, and fuzzy boots, she made her way out of the school bus effortlessly. She held a firm grip to her backpack as she walked her way to the front door, perhaps being the only student to greet the security guard.

"Good morning, Mr. Lopez!"

"Morning, Ines! Say, is that a tattoo? Nice!"

Ines thanked Mr. Lopez. She touched the butterfly tattoo she had just underneath her right eye. An early birthday present from her aunt. Ines still couldn't believe that her father was totally alright with his underage daughter getting a permanent tattoo while they spent the Thanksgiving holiday at his sister's house.

She walked to her locker, greeting people she knew on the way like the social butterfly she was.

"Hi, Ines! How was your Thanksgiving break?"

"Thanks, Sam! I hope your grandma's doing well!"

"Cool tattoo, Ines!"

"Thanks, Byron! Good luck at the regionals!"

"See you in chemistry class, Ines!"

"Can't wait to see your report on ozone, Dale!"

"What's up, Ines?"

"Hi!"

Just to be clear, Ines Coeurdor was not popular nor was she the underdog. If anything, she was pretty average with various close friends and acquaintances. She was not a teacher's pet nor was she the class clown; her grades always waved between As and Bs. She wasn't the kind of girl that had to fit in any kind of label or clique.

Like a great amount of kids out there in the world, she was an only child being raised by her single father, Aaron Coeurdor, the town's bookstore owner. It still surprised people how he made a fairly good living running a bookstore while raising his daughter by himself. Ines' mother had walked out on them the moment the girl was born, but Ines never had such a breakdown from the lack of a biological mother's influence in her life. She had things that kept her going.

Her love of butterflies, if the keychains on her backpack, the stickers on her notebook, and now the tattoo on her cheek, didn't make things clear.

Her artistic ambitions. Growing up with a bookstore owner for a father, Ines had a fondness for literature and imagery. She currently fancied the dream of either writing books or illustrating them for a career.

Her talent in ice skating. The moment she started skating, she felt like flying, but it's when she started making figures at the age of five, when she saw lights shining around her like stars in the universe, that kicked in to convince her father to pay for Ines' year of competitive figure skating training. Ines may have won a few ribbons, but she only cared about how she spun on the ice, how it made her feel like a butterfly flying before the sun. Unfortunately, an accident got her ankle twisted severely and had to obtain surgery. Since she was twelve, Ines had stopped ice skating altogether.

That giant golden heart of hers that either made people appreciate her genuine kindness or drove others to jealousy.

Her father, who did his best protecting, loving, raising, and caring for her all on his own. And Ines continuously returned the love her father provided her with.

Ines started grabbing books from her locker. Barely after pulling out her chemistry book, Dimitri appeared.

"What up, I-Girl?" Dimitri said.

Ines rolled her eyes at her closest friend. "Dimi, hi."

"My parents told me to wish you a happy birthday." Dimitri handed her a green envelope. "My gift for my most awesome friend."

"Aw, a greeting card from Hallmark!" Ines teased as she accepted the envelope. "Let me guess. I predict that it's a birthday card with butterflies?"

"I'm not going to tell you!" Dimitri playfully slapped her arm. Ines put the card in her backpack. "My mom asked to write something in there before I sealed the envelope. I have no clue what she wrote."

"I'll open it tonight after the outing." To celebrate her 16th birthday, her father was taking her to the nicest restaurant in town for dinner. He had worked many days at the bookstore and pulled some temporary work hours in the tech company Dimitri's mother owned. Ines and Dimitri's friendship had persisted since childhood, which wasn't surprising since their parents had a similar relationship.

Ines quietly put the last books in her bag.

"What's up?" Dimitri asked. "You've been talking about that sweet sixteen dinner outing for weeks. Today's like an important teenage milestone, your face should be a big smiling emoji face with tinier smiling emoji faces for eyes!"

"Funny." Ines closed her locker. "I'm worried about my dad. I don't think things are going well."
"Besides the obvious laziness of today's society who chooses digital reading over a good old book that smells like ancient knowledge?"

Ines chuckled a bit. "Not like that. But… I don't know what's going with him. He just seems sad… Like when we watch those tragic movies on Saturday nights and one of the characters start crying their hearts out when something bad is going to happen but they can't do anything about it… He smiles and acts all cheerful when I'm around… but I think I heard him cry when he and my aunt where talking."

"Maybe he's nervous about you turning 16?" Dimitri offered. "I mean, I'd be like that. In 2 years from now, we'll be off in college, then it's the agony of adulthood, taxes, and potentially successful careers. His little girl is growing up."

Ines opened her mouth, ready to say something, when someone walking past them got her attention. Female junior, blonde dye over her black locks, half of her face buried underneath her torn sweater. She shot a glare at Ines before making her way to class.

People knew and kept their distance from her. Anais Ruggiero. Despite media stereotypes, this rich girl was an underdog. Rumor had it, her father's grandparents might have been associated with some notorious New York gangsters during World War Two. People had suspected that Anais' father, despite owning a car dealership, might have been involved in drug dealership. As a seller or as a buyer, it was unclear. What was certain is that things had deteriorated with him and his wife. His hold on her had been too much, he had eventually caught on to her affairs. He was far more pissed that Anais wasn't having affairs with just men.

A couple of years before this story happened, Anais' mother committed suicide via alcohol poisoning. And Mr. Ruggiero was arrested when someone let it slip that he had not only been purchasing drugs, but he'd also been funding in-town transport. Anais had been placed in a foster home, but for some reason, she disdained Ines Coeurdor. As if somehow, she blamed Ines for the event. And it pained Ines, because every time she tried reaching out to Anais, the girl refused any comfort offer. She even crushed a jar of caterpillars Ines had been raising. The sight of the dead caterpillars wasn't enough for Anais to accept Ines' forgiveness.

Ines looked sadly as Anais Ruggiero kept making her way.

Dimitri tapped Ines on the shoulder. "Come on, girl. Let's go to class."

Somewhere

In some run-down office, a gloved hand slammed two things on the owner's desk: a briefcase and a photo.

"My request is simple," a feminine voice spoke in the darkness. "Kill the target, and I will pay you five times more than your other clients usually do."

"How much are we talkin'?" A male voice asked from the chair behind the desk.

"Enough to pay your employees' salaries and give you a 6-month access to an ad agency that can promote your organization faster than the crude brochure I found." The gloved hands opened the briefcase. In the dark, the yellow-and-red eyes belonging to the male voice gleamed at all the dollar bills exposed to him.

"Holy fuck!" He whistled. His eyes then darted to the photograph. "So, what's the story? What has the human done to provoke you before death? Shitty spring break? Cyberbullying? Jaywalking? Come to think of it, how old is the target anyway?"
"Does it matter?" The feminine voice growled at him. "I have money to satisfy your company's needs for half a year, my reasons for murdering the human is none of your concern unless you want me to start using my connections to shame your company on 666 News! And I don't think you want all of Hell to know your company's little secrets!"

"OK, FINE!" The male voice snapped. "We'll have the bitch killed in less than 24 hours!"

"You will do it tonight… as soon as she's alone. Do it tonight and I will double my payment!"

"Deal!" The male voice eagerly agreed.

Hours later

Ines was definitely having the birthday of her life.

A good day at school. Her neighbor, whom Ines frequently helped around the house due to the neighbor's mother recovering from knee surgery, had surprised Ines with a one-strap black dress with gold-colored sequin to wear for her birthday dinner outing. It went very well with Ines' blazer, tights, and boots. Ines was done with her homework by the time her father came back from work. Both got ready and went to the restaurant. Though Ines was happy, her father was dressed in the same black suit he had worn to Ines' grandfather's funeral. He looked like he wanted to cry but he kept silent as he drove them to the restaurant.

Ines tried to distract him from his sadness that confused her, asking him about his day at work, what were his thoughts on today's most popular genre, and if he was going to rewatch Downton Abbey since he now had streaming services. He quietly answered her questions and changed them to asking her about school. Ines drank her mocktail and ate her veal steak, enjoying the delicious dinner but still wondering about her father's upset behavior.

"Dad, I'm worried… Is everything OK?" She finally asked. It was 7:30pm by the time the waiters cleared the empty plates from the main course.

"Yes…" He said.

Ines stared at his dark brown eyes, a feature they both had in common besides their curly brown hair, Ines' hair being noticeably darker than his. Something was clearly wrong. Aaron Coeurdor didn't feel happy about celebrating his daughter's sixteenth birthday, she was sure of it. He was even rubbing his fingers, something she only saw him do when he was stressing out over tax fulfillment.

"Dad, please tell me what's wrong."

"Ines, it's your birthday. I don't want to spoil it…"

"Dad…" She reached out for his hand. Just then, waiters came in, presenting her with a Black Forest cake crowned with sixteen candles. Their 'Happy Birthday' singing caught the attention of the other customers, who joined in as well.

Mr. Coeurdor smiled at his daughter. "Blow your candles, sweetie. We'll talk about it in the car…"

Ines sighed and blew her candles. Besides continuing on with her good life, she wished to hear what her father wanted to tell her.

After paying the bill, the father and the daughter walked back to the car. The November breeze hit coldly on Ines' cheeks. Since it was a weekday, the parking lot wasn't crowded, leaving her father's station wagon as the only vehicle in the area. Ines strapped her seatbelt on.

"Thank you so much for dinner, Dad." Ines smiled. "I really appreciated it."
"I'm happy you enjoyed it…" Mr. Coeurdor tapped his fingers nervously on the steering wheel.

Ines put her hand on her father's arm. "Dad, what's wrong? Please…"

"Ines, you're the most precious thing to me in the world… I'll never stop loving you…" He took Ines' hands in his. "I just ask that you forgive me if I make you upset…"

Ines felt his hands shaking. "Dad…"

"Ines… There's something I need to tell you… I know you'll get upset, but I had to wait until your 16th birthday to tell you…" Mr. Coeurdor took a deep breath, ready to tell what he had to say. That's when Ines realized that her father forgot his coat back at the restaurant.

"Dad! You forgot your coat!"

"Not the one that belonged to Grandpa! We got to go get it!" Her father opened the car door.

"Wait here! I'll fetch it!" Ines unbuckled her seatbelt. The moment she put her foot outside, her father pulled her back in.

"Absolutely not!" He freaked out.

"Dad, it's OK! I'll quickly run!"

"No! You know what? Let's just go home. I'll tell the restaurant that I realized too late I forgot it and I'll pick it up tomorrow before they open!"

"Dad, it's Grandpa's coat. You've always worn it since his funeral and you're going to leave it overnight where it can get easily stained by wine? You hate washing off stains. What's going on?" She was getting nervous. Her father was getting agitated, and he never separated himself from the coat he kept from his late father.

Mr. Coeurdor tapped his fingers again. He groaned and unbuckled his seatbelt. He strapped his daughter's seatbelt and locked the passenger door. "Look, I'll quickly run and get it. Just 5 seconds. I grab the coat, we go home, and I tell you everything. Don't get out of the car, don't open the window, and if you see anyone pass by, duck!"

"OK…" Ines promised.

Her father pressed a big kiss on her cheek. "I love you so much, sweetie…"

"I love you too."

Mr. Coeurdor locked the driver's seat. Ines watched her father run to the restaurant. She'd never seen him run that fast, it was almost like watching survivors running from zombies in the movies. Ines rubbed her forehead. Feeling too warm inside the car, she took off her blazer. The night was calm. Despite the lights coming from the small town's buildings, she had a beautiful sight of the sky painted by a starry palette. Ines grinned. She tried to imagine all those millions of stars being millions of bright butterflies flying around the empty void of space. She should have thought of bringing some paper and pencils, she could have doodled the concept as she waited for her father.

That reminded her, she had Dimitri's birthday card envelope in her purse. She bent down to grab it from her purse.

Never could she imagine that as she sat back up, a distant gun was aiming at her head.

Minutes later

Mr. Coeurdor was frustrated that he had to wait five minutes to get his coat. Apparently, this is what happens when a wedding rehearsal dinner occurs just when you leave from celebrating your daughter's birthday and all the employees were occupied. His spotless, yet wrinkled trench coat was the least of his problems. As soon as he got it, he walked quickly out the door. He told himself to relax. Ines was still waiting for him in the car. He'd tell her everything when they got back home.

The police cars at the parking lot told him otherwise. The people surrounding his car made his eyes widen in horror. The approaching ambulance told him to run.

He ran as fast as he could. He shoved people out of the way, even pushing a police officer when the latter was keeping the crowd at bay.

"Sir, you can't cross…"

"THAT'S MY CAR!"

They let him through. The lights from the arrived ambulance revealed the cracks on the passenger door's window. The cracked web created by the distinctive hole belonging to a bullet. Mr. Coeurdor unlocked and opened the door. A choked sob escaped him and people gasped at the passenger seat.

Mr. Coeurdor unbuckled the seatbelt. Not caring about the blood staining his late father's trench coat, he carried Ines in his arms. He knelt and looked at her.

Ines' brown eyes were lifeless. Blood coated her butterfly tattoo as if the insect had bled mid-flight. Whatever bullet pierced the window had managed to hit her right there and cause damage within her skull. Ines' heart had no pulse.

Mr. Coeurdor wailed in despair, having lost his precious daughter on her birthday.

Later, elsewhere

A second briefcase full of money was stacked on top of the first briefcase.

"You people lived up to my expectations!" The feminine voice said eagerly. The male voice counted the bills while the other voices muttered to themselves. "I've seen the doubtful customer reviews, but this fulfilled my dreams! I'll deliver my end!"

"Fantastic! Any chance we could do the chat with 666 News next Tuesday?" The male voice asked.

"I still don't understand why a person of your standing would want the death of a harmless teenager," a second, quieter male voice pointed out.

"Who cares? We killed the bitch! Let's celebrate!" The leading male voice said.

"Agreed! I'll fetch her and we'll be on our way! So, where is she?" The feminine voice said.

This caused the other voices to let out confused 'uhs'. "What do you mean, 'where is she'? We killed her!" Another female voice asked.

"Yes, and her soul should have descended by now. So where is she?"

"Yeah, I think you forgot something." The leading male voice said. "The 'M' in our company's name stands for 'Murder', not 'Manhandling'. See, we go up and murder humans based on requests. We don't drag the dead weight back to the clients."

"The victims don't exactly get piled up in our office closet," the other male voice agreed.

The voice of the client growled. "Let me get this straight… I pay you to kill her AND YOU CAN'T EVEN BRING HER TO ME?"

"We're assassins, not bounty hunting, babysitting bitches!" The leading male voice pointed out. A furious gloved hand snatched the briefcases from him.

"Let me make this clearer… I am of high standing with the power to encourage influence! I can improve your company's status or worsen it! Heck, I'm even aware of how your company got its ways. Fail to deliver me the girl AND EVERYONE WILL SEE YOU AS FRAUDS AND YOU'LL BE GETTING THE ROYAL TREATMENT FOR LAW INFRACTION!"

The second male voice gulped. "But it's a big ring! She could be anyone! Newcomers come by the numbers!"

"What my employee is saying is that it may take a while, but we'll find the bitch!" The leading voice cut in.

"You'd better hope so…" The client growled. "Her arrival in Hell will be… unique."