Author's Note: The following portion of this story is considerably darker than the previous chapters. Please read this exciting chapter advisedly.
Tinker Bell and her friends stuck together tightly as they walked towards Silvermist's back room. The thudding continued. It was slow and rhythmic. It wasn't like a woodpecker tapping against the bark of a tree, nor was it like a fence being blown by the wind and knocking against a post. This was an unnatural sound.
Tinker Bell put a fearful hand on the door. Fawn noticed that her own hands were trembling and caught them up to her chest, squeezing them together. Iridessa squeezed her eyes shut and cowered behind Rosetta, whose rosy cheeks were ashen. With a groan, the door opened. The thumping did not stop and only grew louder. The girls tiptoed into the room. Their noses were met with the reeking stench of rotting fish, and they all covered their faces in disgust.
"S-Sil," Tinker Bell stuttered. She held out one hand in front of her so that she wouldn't accidentally trip over anything. At her voice the thudding stopped. For a second, they all froze. Then the thumping resumed, and the girls peered in the direction of it.
They could just barely make out the shape of a crouched figure. They couldn't tell what was thumping, nor could they identify the figure as their water-fairy friend.
"Dess," Fawn poked her friend who nearly screamed. "Shine some moonlight in here, will you?"
"C-c-course," Iridessa ran out of the room and came back with a beam of bluish light. She nervously shined it on the figure. They all gasped.
It was indeed Silvermist who was crouching in the room. She was banging her head slowly on the wall, which was causing the thudding noise. She didn't look up when the light hit her and continued her ritual.
"The minnow…" she whispered. "It's dead…fishy eyes…why the eyes?" Most of what she was saying was unintelligible to the dumbfounded friends. Her dress was ripped up and now barely covered her body. It was blackened from dirt and filth. Her face was smudged with it. In her hands, she grasped two bloody sponges that Fawn could tell were fish eyes. Smears of dried blood were encrusted on her legs.
"Oh my god," Fawn said, revolted.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Rosetta moaned and held a hand to her mouth.
Iridessa swooned, but Tinker Bell caught her and laid her down gently in the other, cleaner, room. Darting back into Silvermist's room, she knelt down gingerly beside her friend.
"Silvermist, w-what happened to you? Why are you…what is this on you…What in the world is going on?"
"Ro," Fawn put her hand on her friends shoulder. She could see that the garden fairy was trying to be strong, but Fawn was concerned over the bright green shade that Rosetta's face had taken on. "Why don't you go take care of Iridessa? Tinker Bell and I will help Silvermist." Rosetta nodded quickly and darted out of the room. Then Fawn turned to Tink and whispered, "What the hell is wrong with her, Tink? She looks...feral."
Tinker Bell grimaced, tears welling in her eyes, "Silvermist...please...what is wrong? Please help us understand. We're here to help you. We aren't mad about what you did to Vidia. We know it's not your fault. Just let us help you." Fawn put her hand on Tinker Bell's arm and knelt down beside them, trying to remain calm.
"V-Vidia…" Silvermist stopped banging her head against the wall. For the first time since they'd entered the room, she looked as if she was present. "I-I….killed her. I killed Vidia. She went under the waves...glug, glug, glug," Silvermist snickered and then sobbed and went back to banging her head.
"No, Silvermist," Fawn said gently. "You didn't kill her. She's ok."
"Yeah, we rescued her," Tinker Bell added.
"She's ok," Silvermist repeated. "Did you hear that? She's ok...she's ok." She stared into the eyes she held in her hands. "You're not."
"Sil," Tinker Bell reached a hand towards the filthy water-fairy. "P-please, let's get you cleaned up."
As Tinker Bell's fingers brushed Silvermist's soiled skin, Silvermist looked up at them. Her eyes met theirs, and they watched as reality flooded back into the almost black eyes.
"T-Tinker Bell? Fawn?" Silvermist questioned, looking at each one in turn. "Y-you're here. Vidia's ok?"
"Yeah, she's fine!" Tinker Bell breathed, relieved that her friend was beginning to communicate.
"B-but my minnow," Silvermist began to tremble. "He's dead…"
"Who did this?" Fawn asked, tentatively. She feared she knew the answer.
"I did," Silvermist answered without hesitation. "I remember pulling him from the water, dragging him into the house and then…plucking his…his…" Silvermist began to sob. It started softly, and then it grew until she was wailing.
Tinker Bell and Fawn looked at each other in horror and sorrow. "Why? Why did you hurt your minnow, Sil?" Fawn demanded.
"I don't know," Silvermist bawled. "I loved him. I didn't want to hurt him. Like I didn't want to hurt Vidia. But I felt like I needed to. She told me I needed to."
"Who told you?" Tinker Bell's face was now wet with tears.
"Me," Silvermist's face was blank, but her eyes were sincere. "I told me."
Her friends felt more confused than they were before, but knew that Silvermist's physical health needed to be dealt with before they could begin to understand her mental health.
"C'mon, Sil," Fawn nudged Silvermist's hand. "Give me… his eyes. I'll make sure he has a good burial." Fawn let tears roll down her cheeks. She waited patiently while Silvermist gently placed the spongy dead eyes into her hands. Cringing, she added, "Tink is going to help you get cleaned up now."
"Yeah, let's get you changed," Tinker Bell grabbed Silvermist's arms and eased her up. Silvermist obeyed and allowed herself to be pulled up. "Ro," Tinker Bell called as she encouraged Silvermist through the door and into the front room. "I'm going to need your help."
Rosetta's face was shrouded in concern and confusion, but she promptly grabbed Silvermist's other arm and led her to a washbasin in a corner. Iridessa was now sitting on a turned over couch, her head buried in a bucket.
Fawn slowly put the minnow's eyes back in it's head and dragged it outside the house to a spot near the pond. She picked a plot of ground beneath a small fern and dug a minnow-sized hole. While she was digging she saw candlelight emerge from inside the house and heard hushed voices. She laid the minnow gently in the grave and covered it. She breathed a goodbye, patted the mound, washed the dirt off her hands in the pond, and then stood to rejoin her friends.
Back inside, things were beginning to look better. Rosetta had drawn a warm milkweed bath and was now selflessly bathing Silvermist, who stared into the night. Iridessa attempted to help Tinker Bell right the furniture.
"It's done," Fawn spoke. Her face was somber as she wiped the pond water on her leggings. "How is she?"
"She's in shock," Rosetta whispered. Her voice was mournful as she tenderly scrubbed the muck off of Silvermist's arms.
"She hasn't spoken any more," Tinker Bell said.
"What do we do?" Iridessa seemed barely capable of standing up.
"We need to get her to the hospital," Tinker Bell put her hands on her hips.
"And we're her friends," Fawn whispered. "We need to make sure we are here for her."
They all nodded in quiet understanding. Most likely, Silvermist had gone insane, and the nursing and healing talents would respond appropriately. But they would not forsake her, even if she was never allowed to go home. They would always love her, despite her awful deeds.
...
Vidia stood in her hospital room. It was dark. It was quiet. She looked around the room. She walked further towards the window, to stand in the moonlight. Turning her back to the window, she watched her shadow glide across the floor and up the opposite wall. She was standing face to face with her own shadow. She studied the willowy legs, the slender waist, the long fingers, the thick hair, and the slightly lifted nose. "So this is you?" she asked herself.
"Thankfully you're hot," the shadow responded. Vidia frowned. Had she just answered her own question? "It's about all you've got going for you. Oh, and you're a rare talent. Don't forget that. You were born with quick wings. That ought to make you feel special."
"It does," Vidia felt dizzy. "I am special." What was going on? She had heard her own voice in her ears. She rubbed her temples and watched as the shadow followed suit. Perhaps it was the herbs that Amara had given her.
"Suuuure, you are," the shadow cooed. "Just as special as Tinker Bell. Two peas in a pod. In fact, forget Periwinkle, you and Tink could be the same person. Oh wait…" the shadow said sweetly. "I forgot… people like her. People love Tinker Bell. Tell me, darling," the shadow raised a hand and examined her finger nails. "Do people love you?"
"Of course they do," Vidia charged. "My friends care about me." She realized that she was examining her nails and she balled her fingers into an angry fist. She heard the crickets start singing again and it was too loud. Her ears were beginning to ring with a shrill, unrelenting tone.
"Ok, tell me why," the shadow demanded. "Why do they love you? Is it that sharp tongue of yours? Or is it your ever-negative attitude? Which one makes them like you more?"
"I don't know why, but they care about me," Vidia's voice was low. She felt short of breath.
"Why do you think? Because they're good people. Certainly better people than you."
"I've changed," Vidia shot back. She could feel anger swelling inside her. How dare she talk to… herself… like this? Where was this coming from? Was she really this insecure?
"Right, right, because now you're such a selfless citizen. Tell me, do you volunteer? Do you offer a kind word to a sad friend? Do you really even give a damn if someone is sad? Do you do anything around here but… pollinate?"
"How dare you," Vidia gasped but words eluded her. Had her shadow always had a voice of it's own? Perhaps this was normal and she just hadn't noticed. Why was her brain so foggy?
"Truth is, dear," the shadow's voice was louder and sharper. "You're a bitch. You don't care about anyone but yourself. And you'd better thank the Fates that you're so talented or no one would give a flying flip about you, especially your so called 'friends'. You think they love you? Who are you kidding? They'd all be better off without you and they know it. You're a charity case. Just a project for them to try to change and manipulate until you look and act like them. Then they can get their little gold goody-two-shoes badges that have 'I gave a s**t' engraved on them."
"Stop it," Vidia growled through clenched teeth. "You don't know me." She tried to cover her ears, but she realized that the voice was coming from inside her.
"I don't know you?" the shadow scoffed. "I am you. I know you better than anyone! I know that you are trash, dirt… nobody. You have no purpose. No real use. And is it your fault? No! Who decides our personality? Fate? Some powerful being? Whoever it was screwed you over, girlfriend."
"That's true," Vidia resigned. The more she tried to block out the voice of the shadow, the more her head felt like someone was slamming a hammer into it. If she let go and listened a little bit, the pain dissipated.
"The same person that decided who you'd be also decided who Tinker Bell should be. They made her cute and popular and annoyingly cheerful."
"You got that right," Vidia said. She was beginning to feel irritated, though not at the voice in her head, but at the thought of her tinkery friend. Well, more irritated than usual.
"Same thing that made her like that, made you crabby and jealous."
"Hey!" Vidia snapped. She could feel her blood beginning to burn within her.
"Just telling it like it is. Whoever destined her to save Pixie Hollow time and time again, destined you to be the bitch. And you're ok with that?"
"No," Vidia conceded. She felt upset and angry. Her muscles were aching with the need to punch something. Her blood pressure was beginning to rise, and she felt as though her eardrums might burst.
"Same person who named her Tinker Bell-such a cute, happy, little name-also named you Vidia! What kind of name is Vidia? It sounds like the name of a poison!"
"Queen Clarion named me that," Vidia growled.
"Queen Clarion, huh?" the shadow scratched it's chin, and Vidia felt her hand on her face. "Interesting…"