Chapter 14: The effect of the butterfly

It was 14 PM in Turin, Italy. All the italians were enjoying this VERY hot summer day... And Molly was flying around above the city. Just as she planned, Scratch fall asleep and she was back in her ghost form.

No crimes so far, which was good. Molly visited so many places and even stole a box of pizza. Was it wrong? Yes. Did she care? Not at all, she was a ghost, she can do whatever she wants.

''Pfff, italian pizza is so overrated, it doesn't taste any different than the one at home!''

She saved few slices for Scratch... Speaking of home, she realized she has to get back in USA. Before she flied, she saw a mother and a daughter on the street, begging for food. No one even payed attention to them. By their clothes and the fact they were begging, it was obvious they were homeless.

''Per favore, solo qualche moneta, mia figlia sta morendo di fame'' The mother was begging.

Not a single person was kind enough to spare just few bucks for that starving family. All of those people were so cruel, it made Molly sick. When the mother realized no one will give her anything, she took her daughter into a alley, just to feed her with whatever left she had... Just two pieces of bread. She gave them to her daughter.

''Ma mamma, I'altro e per te!''

''Non preoccuparti per me, tesoro...'' The mother said with a sad smile.

The situation looked hopeless for that poor family. Before the kid started to eat, a little box with few slices of pizza appeared right next to them... With a little note.

Hope you have a very happy and joyful day ;)

- Phantom of Joy

...

Scratch woke up, slowly opened his eyes, flew from his dollhouse and saw Molly was already awake... At least he thought she slept.

''Good morning, buddy!'' Molly greeted with a smile and hugged her best friend.

''Morning, Moll'' Scratch said, as he hugged her back.

When they broke from their hug, Scratch flew downstairs to get his breakfast... While Molly changed her bandages with new ones. Just touching her wrists was painful, so she very slowly and carefully put on the new bandages.

The moment Molly went downstairs, she saw her dad and mom were already waiting for them... Especially her mom.

''Morning, Molly...''

''Morning... Mom...''

It was so awkward. Both Pete and Scratch didn't say a word, they were just silently eating their breakfast.

''Sorry about yesterday, I had some bathroom problems...'' Molly said, as she grabbed a fork and started to eat.

''No worries, I understand... You know, officer John came the other day and said about some maniac around Brighton. It's too dangerous to walk without any way to contact''

Molly heard the news about some killer around Brighton. She wasn't scared at all, because she could easily deep fry the guy if she learned who he may be.

''So, I can't go out?''

''Of course you can, but... At least you'll need a phone. That's why I got you that'' Sharon said, as she placed an old flip phone on the table.

It was purple flip phone, like those from 2010. Even though that phone was old, Molly found it very pretty. She got it to look at it carefully.

''It's... Ummm...''

''I know, It's not modern, but that's all I can afford. I'll get you a new one, but you'll have to-

''No, I actually like it! It's retro, the color is cool... Thanks, mom'' Molly said with a smile.

That was a spark, a spark the things between Molly and her mom could get better. Sharon was still ashamed that she didn't even apologize for what she said to her daughter, but she was gonna find the words... Eventually.

...

Very deep underground, general Evander was ready to give a very important speech. He had a few missions in the US army... But the most important thing he was doing was that he was leading the O.A.S team.

In a huge dark room with only a few red lights, many soldiers were waiting for the general. Their uniforms looked very weird and scary from the typical ones the army wore. The uniforms were black with grey gloves and boots. They also wore black helmets with red eye shields, covering their faces. Everyone took a seat, while the general was waiting and turned on a huge screen behind him.

''Soldiers, we have another case to solve... To be specific, we already called it ''Case 13/07''.'' The general said, as many videos started to play.

Those were the videos of all the things Molly did while she was in her ghost form. The thunderstorms in Argentina and France, the footage of the stopped robbery in USA and Germany... Even the picture of the robber with the painful tattoo ''Phantom of Joy'' Showed.

''What kind of ghost is that?''

''We still don't know, but we'll figure it out. The only thing we could do by now is to harness the energy from the thunderstorms. It's very... Strange. We also found that bug at the crime scene in Los Angeles'' The general explained, as he showed a jar with... A bright ghost butterfly.

''What the?''

''I know, we've never seen those before. We think this is a clue from that ''ghost'' we're trying to catch. The lightning from those thunderstorms produces a high level of hydroxyl and one particular atom we can't name... A whole new atom. The most interesting part is that thing leaves a trail from those atoms to where it's possibly hiding. We tracked it, but we couldn't go far because of how fast the atoms scattered'' The general explained.

''So, we can't find that...Ghost?'' One of the soldiers asked, disappointed.

''Not for now, but it can't hide forever. Come on, we always catch our targets! If maybe... Just maybe we somehow knew where this ''ghost'' would go next... We could hunt it down. That's all for today, I'll give that bug to the scientists to study it... Maybe it will give us some answers'' The general said, as he got the jar and left the room.

The O.S.A team had a huge underground base, separated in three compartments. One for the military, a second one with labs, and a third one for all the weird creatures they captured.

It was a large system of corridors and cells. It looked like a prison, except it was a prison for every kind of supernatural entities. Skinwalkers, ghosts, demons, fairies, werewolves, they hunted everything that wasn't ''normal''.

The most disturbing part about the O.A.S team was... The experiments. Every single day, the scientists were doing all kinds of experiments with the creatures the soldiers hunted... Those experiments were pure torture.

Tests about resistance of fire, drowning, diseases... They were putting all of those creatures under painful conditions, just to see what's their limit. One thing was sure... If a ghost ends in their dirty hands, it better prepare for an afterlife of pain...

...

June and Ollie were in her lab, trying to understand what the is this butterfly supposed to be. While June was eating in her lab, she noticed one thing. It acted very aggressively towards the maple syrup. No idea why, but she sure noticed that odd behavior.

''Maybe it's some kind of radiation?''

''I don't think so. I did some tests, that thing really isn't a ghost. It's made out of pure energy. It's calm most of the time, but gets triggered by specific things... Like, just watch this!'' June explained, as she grabbed her phone and opened a video of a magic show.

The moment she started the video, the butterfly's eyes became red and it started to aggressively fly and try to get out... And the moment she stopped the video, it was calm again.

''Why is it doing that?'' Ollie asked, confused from what just happened.

''I don't know. Kinda reminds me of Molly. Gets angry around maple syrup, and gets angry from magic shows... To think about it, it's very cute'' June said.

Ollie had the feeling that the butterfly may be somehow connected to the phantom they were hunting. Coincidence it appeared just before Scratch warned them? Definitely not...

...

Molly was in the bathroom, preparing to meet Hikari. Everyone was gone, so Molly wanted to spend some time with her. She called her using her new phone and couldn't wait to show it to her. Molly still had to talk to Ollie... But she didn't care at all about him.

She didn't know why, but Molly was feeling a little embarrassed for having to go out with those bandages on her hands. Should she take them off? No, she can't, or it will be very painful for her.

She was ready to try to use makeup for the second time in her life. It didn't go well the first time, but she watched some tutorials on how to properly use it. She was about to start... But something moved in the bath.

''Huh?''

She looked and saw... A glowing butterfly. She was so confused what kind of bug that was, or how it got here. She wanted to touch it... But the moment she reached her hand to touch it, it flew at her face and attacked her.

''HEY! GO AWAY, GO AWAY, GO AWAY!''

The moment she told it to calm... It stopped and gently landed in her hand. Molly was so confused, but at the same time, she found it so pretty... But then another one appeared in the sink.

Molly was starting to get both amazed and worried from those butterflies. She wanted to also get that one in her other hand... But then a third one landed in the bath... And a fourth one appeared.

''What the?!''

Molly was starting to feel a little scared from how many butterflies just appeared... And from the fact they appeared out of nowhere. After all, those were just a few butterflies, so she was just gonna kill them. She tried to smash the one in her hand... And the moment she tried, they all got aggressive and flew at her to attack her.

''AAAHHH! NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!''

The situation escalated quickly, so Molly took off her vest and started to defend herself by smacking all the butterflies. One by one, she killed all of them. It was so weird, but she tried to forget about what just happened. She took all of those dead butterflies and sank them in the toilet.

Finally, she can try to put on some makeup... At least she thought she would. Molly felt some kind of pressure and pain in her right eye. It was kinda weird... She looked at the mirror... And the same butterfly came out of her eye.

''WHAT THE HECK?!''

Molly got so scared, she fall on the ground. What the hell just happened? She got up and immediately ran downstairs to the living room and took some of the pills her mom kept in the cabinet.

Molly was sure she was hallucinating again... So she took 2 pills with water... And the moment she swallowed them, she felt the same pain and pressure in her stomach. She wrapped her arms around it, scared of where this was going. It was feeling like Molly was about to throw up... And it felt like something is moving in her throat. It was so weird, Molly tried to keep calm... But then DOZENS of glowing butterflies started to come out of her mouth.

Molly was screaming and started to cry from the horror situation. She was trying to kill all of the butterflies, but there were just so many... It was a whole swarm of those terrifying butterflies.

''NOOOOO, LEAVE ME ALONE, LEAVE ME ALONE, LEAVE ME ALONE! HEEEEELP!''

Out of desperation, Molly ran to the TV... And smashed her hand into it, and drained all the energy from it, turning herself into a ghost.

In her ghost form, Molly flew away from the house... Thank God, the swarm stayed there and didn't follow her.

''UGHHHH, WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH ME?!''

She was just watching from the sky how the butterflies just occupied the McGee's house. It was theirs... At least until her parents do something about it.