Chapter 4: Blood and Water
A five-month-old girl skipped up to a tall, blonde, red clad man who was playing with a bunch of six year olds by the well in the center of town. The girl grabbed the man's hand and began to drag him to the nearby well. "What is it, Meryl?" the man asked.
"Look, Mr. Vash! It's a spider's web!" Meryl exclaimed.
Vash smiled. "Yeah," he said. Just then, a small butterfly flew into the sticky net. Meryl slowly moved her cupped hands closer to the struggling insect.
Before Vash could do anything, one of the bigger six year olds had a stick and was destroying the spider web and, in doing that, killing both the spider and the butterfly. The older boy smirked. "Get away from here, monster!"
Vash narrowed his eyes. Just as the boy began to aim the stick at Meryl, Vash swiftly took it from him. "Dangerous toys are fun, but you could get hurt!"
Meryl tilted her head. "Why does that sound so familiar?" she asked herself. "Thank you."
"No problem," Vash waved it off. He hated the fact that everyone abused the girl. It didn't help that her guardian never protected her and he beat the innocent child. That's what she was. Innocent...
As the weeks passed, Meryl grew. Soon she looked like she was seven years old but in reality, she was just seven months. She had a free spirit and acted like any other seven year old, but people still looked down upon her, thinking she was an alien or a mutant. Meryl did her best to try and ignore it but the insults and taunts continued. Vash was her only lifeline. She also had the few friends who pitied her but soon grew to hate her, as she got older. Meryl invited Vash to a tea party one day. Vash was hesitant about doing a girly thing until Meryl said there would be doughnuts. While sitting at a park table drinking tea and, in Vash's case, eating doughnuts, Meryl saw a group of girls laughing and pointing at her. Vash looked at Meryl's saddened face. "It's ok, Meryl. They're just jealous that you are getting more mature than them every day. They want to grow up as fast as you."
Meryl didn't even listen to what Vash said. She simply whispered, "Sometimes I just want to kill myself." Vash visibly cringed. He didn't want his sweet angel in so much pain. They just silently went back to their food and drink.
Over time, Meryl formed a barrier. No longer was she going to be discriminated against. She would be insulted, yes, but she wouldn't show how much it hurt her. One day, after enduring one year of misery, she walked down to the only area where she wasn't banned. The ally... On the way, a couple of her old friends started throwing water balloons at her. She stepped out of the way of each one, leaving puddles around her. When they ran out of balloons, she stared at one of the pieces of rubber left and thought. She thought really hard. All the anger welled up inside of her and triggered something... something extraordinary.
Vash, Millie, Wolfwood, and Knives were standing by, but only Knives and Vash saw and heard what was going inside Meryl's head. They saw the passion; the violence and rage slowly built up in her eyes. The irises and pupils disappeared leaving white, two blinding white orbs glared at the small piece of rubber lying in the sand. Meryl clenched her fists. The spectators gasped as the rubber formed back into a balloon. Meryl bent down to pick it up. She threw it with all of her might at one of the cruel former friends. But instead of water staining their clothes, a thick crimson liquid dripped down their faces. Blood... Tears welled up in Millie's eyes as the rest of the broken balloons followed suit and hurled themselves at the crowd of people watching by.
Meryl slowly walked up to the horrified outlaw. "You lied," she whispered. "You said I wasn't a monster." Meryl tightly closed her eyes and cried out an agonizing scream of anguish. She dashed out of the city's front gate and into the desert, disappearing on the horizon. The tears that Vash was holding behind his eyes now fell as he softly cried.
Knives stepped up to him. "Vash," he said. "Did you like how I was before?" he asked. Vash turned to look at him and shook his head. "Then I suggest you go and find her before she turns into me."
Wolfwood and Knives followed Vash as he walked to their hotel to get ready and follow Meryl again. Millie stayed behind to help clean up the mess of blood. They reconvened in the evening and left silently that night.
All night long, Vash drove in the direction he saw Meryl run. He didn't sleep despite the pleading of Millie to get some rest. It was only when Wolfwood said that Meryl probably wouldn't like him anymore with bags under his eyes that Vash finally laid down in the back seat next to Knives. Sleeping didn't help his frayed nerves at all. He kept having nightmares about Meryl dying again and Rem not being able to bring her back. After waking up in cold sweat once again, Vash settled with resting his eyes and not falling asleep. The group stopped in every city they saw and searched every ally, orphanage, church, hotel, house, bar, store in the five cities they stayed in. When they drove into the sixth town, the quartet walked into the local saloon for a rest.
"I'll take anything with alcohol in it," said Vash to the waitress asking for his order.
'Poor sap. And just when we thought everything was going to be ok.' "Just a beer," Wolfwood said.
"Tea would be nice, thank you." Millie sighed.
"Nothing for me." Knives needed his wits to contemplate Meryl's change. 'What could have triggered her depression?'
'Isn't it obvious?' Vash snapped as the waitress jotted down their orders and left. 'She was being abused! Insulted! Shunned from society!'
'Ok. Fine. But how did she gain control over her powers so quickly? She's not even supposed to have those powers.'
'I don't think she has control over them. She was just angry. The whole thing was an accident.'
'I agree with you about her not having control but I don't think it was an accident. She was angry. She wanted something to happen. Meryl was craving the power to punish those kids.'
'I don't think she meant to turn water into blood.'
'I don't either,' Knives said. The conversation ended.
Vash fingered the golden locket he had planned to return to Meryl before she ran away. It was the same one he had given her on Wolfwood's and Millie's wedding.
The depressed blonde jumped as a bell rang indicating someone opened the door. A brown haired blur came crashing into Vash's bar stool, which toppled over. Vash caught himself and the figure that caused the fall before they could hit the ground. The figure was a girl who looked to be the age of twelve. She looked up with surprised dark brown eyes. "Oh my, God! I am so sorry! Hah! Klutzy me! Later!" She got up in a rush and dashed into a door with a sign saying, 'Manager'.
There was a lot of apologizing and pleading heard from behind the nearby door. It opened and a large man walked out saying, "I'll give you one more chance, Meryl. But if you screw this up, you're fired."
"Thank you, sir! I promise I won't be late again. I won't disappoint you!" She briefly looked at Vash who's eyes were as wide as saucers. 'What is Vash doing here? Why did I have to run into him?'
She walked into a separate door next to the manager's room. A few minutes later, she exited wearing a waitress uniform and carrying a platter with some drinks on it. Meryl's face hardened when she saw the table she was about to serve. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to Vash's table. The ice in the glasses clinked as she set them on the hard surface.
"If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask anyone but me." She grinned and turned away.
Vash grabbed her wrist. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Let go," she said icily.
"No," he countered.
"Now." She glared at him with such vehemence that it made him loosen his grip and let her go.
Vash looked hurt. Tears welled up in his eyes but before they could fall, a determined look came over his features. He briskly followed Meryl with his arms locked at his sides, his eyebrows furrowed. He closely trailed Meryl keeping to the shadows so she wasn't aware of his presence. She walked into a large hotel and looked behind her. Vash quickly jumped behind a fake plant that was inside the hotel's waiting room.
She walked up the stairs and up to room number 260, slipped the key in the lock, and stepped in. Vash tried the knob. 'Locked! Damn it!' He walked back downstairs and asked the bartender for a bobby pin. She pulled one out of her hair, gave it to him along with a strange look, and turned back to another customer. Vash walked back upstairs and fiddled with the bobby pin the lock. He heard a click and slowly turned the handle.