Gardens and a Phantom

Decoding the code hadn’t proven all that difficult.

Emma was many things, but an avid connoisseur of ancient history was not one of her qualities.

"He is like Caesar, Isaac."

She had been hinting at the famous Caesar Cipher, and had even been kind enough to give him the key for the passage at the end; all he needed to do was shift the letters backwards 8 places in the alphabet, and hey presto, the message was deciphered.

GO TO THE BOTANICAL GARDENS. FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLIES.

They had been to the gardens together just last week. Had she planted something while they were there?

Isaac would have gladly driven over there, but the time now approached midnight, and he doubted the gardens would be open for another six hours at least. He would have time before school tomorrow, but for now he would have to let it go.

It felt pathetic, getting up to leave, his groin still shamefully pressing against his pants from the sight of the girl he loved mocking his manhood, whilst riding a nemesis who he did not know and yet perennially seemed able to occupy his conscious. It hurt to admit it, but Isaac had dreams of Emma and the mysterious man, watching their twisted fornication in his mind over and over. He had seen his raven-haired love with many men in many forms, but something about the way she was Favorite lit up a masochist sensibility within him like none other. In some ways, Favorite had as much power over Isaac as Emma did, and if that was true, did he really want to know who this tormentor is?

Lately, the jolly nature of his home had become an absurd contrast to his troubled mind; his mother and father were besides them with joy over the company of his brother and girlfriend, both of whom seemed more than content idling away on the living room couch day and night. Not that this bothered Isaac’s parents; Lilian was like the daughter they never had, and James had a personality that seemed to make everyone gravitate around him, caught into his orbit by sheer **** of charisma, as well as looks to match. Isaac had no doubt that his parents loved their two children equally, but as for which they liked more, well…

However, his brother’s stay had not been so easy for Isaac. Lillian was an incredibly… free… person with her body. She was never naked, but in all honesty, she was never that far off either. It had not been uncommon over the last couple of weeks for Isaac to see her in nothing but one of his brother’s shirts, strolling around the house without a care in the world, leaving little for him to imagine. Out of respect to Emma, and his brother, Isaac had thus far avoided staring at her enough to learn if there was nothing beneath the shirt, which for a young man such as himself, was quite a feat of self-control. As for his brother, he seemed to have his eyes glued to the TV, watching sport in his underwear for days on end.

Dinner that night was an unceremonious affair, although Isaac’s dad’s constant laughter was contagious enough to somewhat distract him from Emma. Still, at the back of his mind were those gnawing thoughts, clouding his psyche with doubt. For the first time in many days, Isaac went to bed normally, content to let himself sort it out the next day and dream of his love in the meantime.

He woke early, two hours before he needed to be at school, and drove to the Botanical Gardens. At first, he had no idea how to interpret the clue. Follow the butterflies? There were butterflies everywhere, wasn’t that was the whole point of why people came here? For a time, he just mindlessly wandered around, until he spotted what had to be the clue.

In pink and blue chalk edged onto a rock by the path, there was a crudely drawn butterfly. Looking beyond it, he could see more rocks similarly defaced. This had to be it. Following the drawings led him back to the entranceway. He was confused for a moment, sure he had missed something, until he spotted an all-too familiar face in an apron behind the counter at the café. Martha was serving coffee to the various tourists who had shown up early to see the garden, the short ginger moving daintily around as she bantered with regulars and sorted drinks. Her face lit up as Isaac approached, giving him a cheery grin that seemed to stretch from ear to ear.

“Would you like something to eat, Isaac?”

She didn’t seem surprised to see him. He had expected the redhead to be annoyed by his presence, given her reaction after Dungeons and Dragons, but her beaming smile seemed to dictate otherwise.

“No thanks, Martha, uhm… I’m good. Listen, have you seen Emma –”

“Nonsense Isaac!”, she loudly exclaimed, shoving a treat into his palm, “take a Snickers. Its on the house, I’ll see you later tonight maybe? I don’t know how long that it will take you to figure it all out.”

He attempted to reply, but she was already chatting with the next customer. Isaac was bewildered as he walked outside the café, still trying to work out if he had missed something. Figure what out? Opening his hand, he realised that it did not just contain a chocolate bar. Wrapped around the candy was a small piece of paper. Unfurling it, Isaac was treated to a combination of letters and numbers even stranger than the last.

e4e5Nf3d6d4Bg4dxe5Bxf3Qxf3dxe5Bc4Nf6Qb3Qe7Nc3c6Bg5b5Nxb5cxb5Bxb5+Nbd7O-O-ORd8Rxd7Rxd7Rd1Qe6

The only clue was at the top of the page, in Emma’s perfect cursive.

I hear prom is themed on “Phantom of the Opera”. Make sure to get a nice suit. If you work this one out, text me at three.