Thanks to thechangeofseasons for favouriting ;-)
iv
Mary MacDonald embodied innocence.
With her big eyes, sweet smile and lovely voice she was all their every-day life was not.
She was small and childlike (they were all children but no one remembered that) and though she had a fire of her own (harsh and ugly and unforgiving) they all went out of their way to keep her safe.
It was annoying at times, to be confined at headquarters, not knowing who would come back (if anyone did), but she learned to appreciate their care.
She trained to become a healer to do her part and try to save the others in turn (in truth, the thought of fighting at the front line frightened her to no end) and so she waited to tend to their wounds (how she hated scars) and calm their minds (how good she became at faking smiles).
It was obvious that they needed her whole and sane and safe, because if they could protect her, maybe they could even protect themselves, if they brought her through all this unscathed (she laughed at that), maybe there was hope for them, too.
She was their constant reminder of what they fought for, so what else could she have done than playing her part. That was, after all, what all of them did.
So she smiled and toled all the bitter-sweet lies she could think of: It's okay. We'll be all right. There was nothing we could have done. It will be over soon.
And they believed her, because she was innocent and if they couldn't then what was left to believe in?
If she lied, they were doomed. If she was broken, they were beyond hope. If she died, they had already lost.
They sent her away. To safety, they said (what a farce), away from blood and death and despair (it was already in her head but they didn't know that).
She raised her voice (and it wasn't lovely at all), demanding they stop that nonsense, allowing them a glimpse at the person she'd become (not innocent at all anymore).
They didn't see, so she went away. (They all knew about sacrifices.)
She tried to come back, not long after (not knowing how they fared was far worse than seeing them die), but she was a healer, not a fighter, so her end shouldn't have come as a surprise.
(Left shoulder shattered, five rips broken, skull cracked from the fall, hole in the abdomen, deep slash across right hip, twenty-three minor cuts, fist-big burn on chest, internal bleeding -)
They left her lying in the mud (and her blood really took on its color, seeping out), not bothering with a killing blow, but she was beyond caring (she was scared), she knew it wouldn't be long now.
So she died, her big eyes hollow, staring into the falling night, her smile long gone and her voice forever silenced.
Her friends didn't know she was here, dying.
(They didn't know innocence was lost.)
Okay, next up: Edgar Bones
I'll be away for the next three weeks, so the update may take a while. Somehow I doubt that there will be wifi in the african national parks I'm going to visit. But if I'll have the chance, I'll update, of course.
Anyway, have fun, and thanks for reading (and reviewing?!)