Chapter 32 — Strength or Madness?

Sitting here on my bed with eyes closed in my room upstairs, I could hear the words the ladies in the house whispered loud and clear. I placed both hands over my ears in a frail attempt to stop the chattering, but it only amplified it.

Best I listen, then. Maybe, I’ll hear a thing or two. Hopefully, something useful.

“She is bound to lose her mind,” I heard Janice say. “Where did she go yesterday? I thought you were trailing her.”

“I am—I am, okay?” Vivian said. “She’s so fast for me to keep up these days. I don’t seem to see her at all, but the good news is, she’s not been killing lately. At least, I haven’t heard about any news of death for the past few days. It seems she’s gone into some kind of spiritual journey or something. I wonder what that curse must be doing to her. The actions it whispers to her breed madness. She’s our sister. We have to protect her as mother said.”

“From who? What?” Janice said. “What could challenge Susan? Who? I feel more confident about facing Chadwick this time because of her. I just know he would come out strong, and she’s our only hope.”

“It’s funny that I never expected Susan to get to the point where we get to worry so much about her. You know she used to do the worrying. It was crazy. Now, with so much power, she seems not to care.”

I opened the door of Vivian’s room. Don’t ask me how I got there. I could move with the speed of light.

“Maybe, she’s protecting you two,” I said.

Vivian stood from the edge of her bed. “Hey, Susan. How are you feeling?”

“I feel great. Eleanor’s power is madness, but I’m okay. Where are Dena and Hannah?”

“They went out to B’s Place,” Janice said. “Or so they told me.”

“It’s not safe outside,” I said.

“Hannah and Dena are big girls, and are both quite capable of taking care of themselves,” Vivian said. “You can’t keep them prisoners here in your bid to protect them. You have to let them breathe, and live a little.”

I quelled a rage that started to boil inside me, my sisters saw me let out black fumes from my nostrils.

Janice looked down in dismay.

But Vivian, unfazed by this, walked up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Come, let’s walk outside.”

And we did.

We left the house and soon found ourselves walking through the woods, the rustling of dried leaves announcing each step we took.

“It’s really quiet out here,” Vivian said looking up at the branches.

Janice had her gaze down, clearly, she seemed worried about me.

I threw an arm around Janice, she glanced at me with a smile. “Really, I’m fine.”

“I know you are,” Janice said.

I smiled. “I saw Mercy yesterday.”

Vivian and Janice halted their movement, I released my arm from Janice.

I took a few steps forward, then I turned to face my sisters. “You both seem surprised.”

“You stood before Mercy,” Janice said. “As in, the Mercy. The agent of unforgiveness.”

I nodded.

“And she—she let you go?”

“Surprisingly, yes,” I said. “But it wasn’t without words of caution. She really is one to demand respect.”

“What did it feel like?” Vivian asked. “Her presence?”

“I wasn’t actually paying mind to that, but around us was sure crowded with death. Decapitated limbless bodies everywhere,” I said.

Vivian gave a single nod with a smile. “I thought she was a myth.”

“I knew she wasn’t. Wherever mercy is pronounced, there she exists. The sound of her name is enough to call her. And she may be here, but we can’t see her.”

I turned and began to walk, my sisters joined me enthusiastically, side by side.

“Tell us more,” Janice said. “Thrill us.”

“Yes, Susan,” Vivian said.

I smiled. “Well, she looks like a child. A five-year-old to be exact.”

“I read she never fights,” Janice said. “You’ll always meet her around her trampled, or crushed enemies. And she hates to kill one.”

“Now, that isn’t true. But since you mentioned she doesn’t fight, that makes me wonder how she kills her victims. Do they just die, or—there has to be some way she does that.”

“What state did you find her in?” Vivian asked.

“She was dead. Or rather, she was resting with the dead. Although, after the rattling which indicated her form coming together, I did see the glow of death in her eyes.”

“Meaning she was trying to see if you were worthy enough to be killed. Wow. Did you call her, or she called you?”

“I called her,” I said.

Vivian nodded. “That’s why she let you live. At least, she was accessing it. She knows you don’t want what you have, as she wishes you to tame it. Did she tell you to tame it?” She looked at me.

“Yes. I said I’d try. Wait. Not sure I said that.”

“It doesn’t matter. You met a master,” Vivian said. “And you lived. Wow. You may be on your way to being a master yourself.”

“Heard she has a heart of stone,” Janice said.

“I am not sure about that,” I said. “She doesn’t feel fear.”

“Susan!” Vivian called. “Masters inflict fear. And they do so quite skillfully. They are the very things fear can’t describe. And do you know she’s the very master of death itself? At least, she rules it. She serves one who is higher above all the masters. No one knows this being. But Mercy is the only one of her kind, and it is told she is well respected among the masters.”

“Nothing made me fear her more than when she said she could destroy mother,” I said.

Janice nodded. “Yeah. Mother knows this.”

I smiled. “At least, she praised her. And she said I should forgive her. I forgive mother. And for this curse I carry, I’ll learn to control it.”

But I wasn’t the one speaking. At least it wasn’t my voice I felt. Something or someone was gradually taking hold of me. And it won’t be long now, for, in time, we would know if it’s either strength or madness.