Chapter 1

He, Butterfly and a Dream

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Please, don't see just a boy caught up in dreams and fantasies.

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It's been a while since he'd left Manhattan and now, unbelievably so, he'd missed it already.

He, Alex Mercer, the host of the almighty Blacklight Virus, was now on a trip around the world with probably the most foolish idea he could think of; regain his faith in humanity. And, unfortunately though predictably, the goal of the trip didn't go anywhere near the word 'complete' at all.

First was that fucking retard warlord, then those in Moscow, next were those selfish bastard in that small town of the US, and then, the most bitter memory of all, there was Autumn.

Alex had to admit that it hurt a little bit, he was growing to trust her, developing some feeling for her and started to think that maybe she would be the one who he could be with. Hell, he even killed to protect her and how has she repay him? With stolen his money and a bullet in the face, what a sweet of her!

Sure, after he had recovered he had rewarded her with a slow, most painful consuming he'd ever gave anyone, but that's done nothing but momentarily satisfied the thought that she deserved that, it didn't make this little sting in his heart go away, not at all.

So he came to the last conclusion he had.

He would destroy humanity and create a new world, a world of his own.

That's why he was where he was now, on the way back to NYC, back to his sister who's still in comatose, thanks to that Elizabeth bitch. Normally, it wouldn't take much time for him to come back but for some reason, he decided to travel a little bit more, taking the whole world in before he destroyed it completely.

Sometime he thought he –ironically– sounds like those artists who traveled the whole world just for making only one artwork – well in his case, one big artwork called 'new world' – and the thought never fail to amuse him.

Because, if anything, Alex Mercer – both in this life and former life – was everything but artist.

It was getting dark by the time Alex'd arrived at the middle of the forest. He wasn't sure where exactly in USA he was, nor did he care. He had all this knowledge of thousands of people who he had consumed in his head; after all, he knew he would eventually find a way back to Manhattan safe and sound.

The forest was quiet, only the sound of his footsteps on the grassy ground and a faint voice of insects could be heard. Sometimes there was a sound of wolves, howling from the distances away. It didn't scare him; anything rarely did, for he knew he could take the creature's life in one swift move of an arm. So he continued to walk, aimlessly and almost absent-mindedly, through the wood.

The air was getting chilled, the sign of autumn that was soon to come, he grimaced at the name. Even now, weeks after he had killed her, that name never failed to disgusted him. She, just like Karen, was a selfish bitch that would do anything for themselves.

Thinking back on it, all the women he had had a chances to encounter were selfish – safe for only Dana, of course. His mother, Karen and now Autumn. It made him wonder if all the women were all the same or if it's just he who seems to attached to women of that kind?

Would he, like those corny romantic novels he'd seen before, ever find someone who didn't put their own advantage over his, someone who was willing to sacrifice everything to be with a monster like him?

Well that's, he thought with a snort, was the most foolish idea he could think of. For he knew no one would do such a thing, and he didn't hope to find someone like that anyway.

His thought, along with his footsteps, was cut short when he found himself unintentionally walked into the opening, at the heart of the forest. There were no trees, allowing cold wind to blow freely against his already cold skin, and the sky was opened tonight, revealed a beautiful sight of the sea of stars above.

Though Alex's grown to feel nonchalant – numb, if put in his own word– against anything considered beautiful and this is not the first time he'd seen such a sight, he felt strangely...attached to it. Like it was something he'd secretly yearned to feel for a long time, something felt so warm despite the coldness of the wind, something that made his usually cold expressions melted into a relaxed– almost warm–one.

Such a strange feeling, he thought, but decided to pay them no mind.

Slowly, he made his way in the middle of the opening, lifting his head up so he could look at the starry sky above and let out a soft, tired sigh. And, hesitantly and slowly, he lowered himself to the ground, laying his back on the grasses; his eyes never left the sight of the sky.

It's weird, normally he would just spent a couple of minute inspecting them before moving on and left it behind, but at this moment, something drawn him to act the way he was acting now. And it should've been so nonsense and annoying if he didn't feel so relax like this.

Thinking back on that moment it almost as if something had lured him into this, like it was some kind of magic he knew only her can perform.

He didn't know how much time he spent just lying there, stargazing, nor did he know when had he drifted off into a sleep, one he hadn't have since he'd turned into a virus, he just did. And in his slumber he dreamed, a strange dream that did not involve murders, blood, or crimes he had committed – things that made him dread to go to sleep all this time – no. Instead, it was a peaceful and comforting one that he never thought he would ever have.

In his dream he was in the same wood, lying at the exact same place he had been, only it was in the morning, he could tell because he catch a glimpse of sunrays that started to illuminated the sky, the first light of the day.

Alex blinked a few times, groaning as he pushed himself up. The Blacklight Virus shook his head a bit, trying to get a slight dizzy feeling off his head when he heard it. A soft voice, calling out quieter than a whisper that he couldn't make out what it says, making him flinched.

Alex lifted his head up, gray eyes darted around the area cautiously though he couldn't feel any sense of harm from that voice, better be safe than sorry. And before he could shape-shift his hand into a claw, it called out again, this time a little louder.

"Alex."

Even though the voice was soft and clear, Alex couldn't help but jump. Did it just call his name? Perplexed, he dumbly sat there, doing nothing for almost a minute until he caught a glimpse of something at the corner of his eyes, something blue and small. His head whipped around, almost went for an attack when he realize what it was.

A blue butterfly.

Just a fucking blue butterfly.

His lips turned downward into a scowl, now he's feeling like a dumbass and that's really pissed him off. Whoever the voice owner was, he's going to tear them apart, ripped of their bodies and slowly consumed them in the most painful way possible. Just as he thought this, the same voice called out again.

"Alex."

Now, Alex got on his feet and started walking toward the voice, his hand shifted into a claw, not noticed that the butterfly was flying toward the same direction he headed.

It wasn't long when the view of the lake slowly appeared in his eyesight; with one shadowy figured sat on the shore. Good, that made it easier to find the voice's owner, easier for him to slaughter them into pieces too. A sickly looking smirk crept it way to his face at the thought as her moved closer and closer, careful not to make a sound to prevent his prey in running away – not like it would help them, though.

But just as he was in an arm reach from said figure, the butterfly – the same one from before– suddenly flew across his face, taken him aback and made him halted momentarily, and landed on the person's out stretch hand.

It was just a simple move, but Alex couldn't help but stare, his claw uselessly hung to his side as he watch the butterfly slowly flew away from the person's hand, toward the rising sun that could be seen from the horizon.

That's when the figure suddenly turned back, making Alex jumped a little bit. And though he couldn't really see its face, he could make out a small smile on its lips as it said with a happy voice, as if happy to see him.

"Alex!"

And then his eyes fluttered open.

Instinctively, Alex shot up from the ground, eyes darting around madly, perplexed as to where he was when it all slowly fall into pieces.

It was just a dream.

He let out a long breath and rubbed his face with his hand, silently cursed himself for falling asleep in the middle of nowhere.

"What a pathetic choice, Mercer." He mumbled under his breath. Yeah, he knew he was strong, but if he was attacked while he asleep it could've been a shitload of problem to him too. Especially, when he had just made new enemies particularly everywhere that he went.

Alex let out a sigh, sitting there for a moment. The sun was going to rise soon, judging from sunrays that were starting to illuminate the sky. Ignoring the sense of dejavu he had, Alex was about to push himself up and continued on his journey when he saw something at the corner of his eyes, turning his head toward it, he almost couldn't believe his eyes.

The butterfly, with exact same color as the one in his dream, flew toward the exact same direction in his dream.

The sight of it awakened something inside Alex, making some unexplained feeling rushed through his body.

Whether it was a good or bad feeling, he didn't know. All that he knew was that he had to follow that butterfly.

Getting on his feet, Alex unknowingly took a step that would change his life forever.

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FN21