As suggested by someone [who knows who they are! (;] I'm just gonna recap what happened in the last chapter: Mercy can do Voodoo and she tells Gale that her Voodoo doll, whose name is Watena [meaning 'shape-shifter'] is basically her only friend beside Lavinia, her 'silent friend'. Gale is a little bit shocked to find out that Lavinia is an Avox, and that's where the chapter ends. I hope you enjoy this one, because I certainly had fun writing it.
"Would you like to see her?" Eyes shining like an eager child, Mercy held out her doll. Unsure of what to do Gale nodded meekly. Mercy stood up and brought Watena's forehead to her lips and closed her eyes, brow furrowed in concentration as she muttered the name, over and over.
"Lavinia Lavinia Lavinia," On and on she whispered, ignoring Gale's gasp of shock as the doll's hair shortened and became a beautiful, vivid red. The clothes it wore were bleach white and even as he watched, the mouth that was stitched on slowly disappeared, leaving a blank space. It was then that Mercy stopped muttering and looked down at the doll blankly. All of a sudden, her voice was back to the broken, mechanical recording that it naturally is.
"There, there she is. Lavinia... My-" Unable to speak, Mercy just stood, clutching the doll's waist loosely, until finally it slipped entirely from her grasp, landing on the ground at her feet face up. Staring straight ahead, eyes glazed over, Mercy's tears spilled over. Years of hidden pain came spilling out, soaking her hollow cheeks, running down her neck and dripping off her nose. Not a single sound was uttered though; she did not open her mouth, for fear of never being able to close it again. And she knew from personal experience that keeping your mouth shut was the only way to survive. But that changed when she finally looked down at Watena; she never had a mouth when she was changed to resemble Lavinia because she was an avox, but as Mercy glanced at her, she saw a jagged down-turned black line stretching across her face in a grimace, and a dark red stain spreading across her white-clad chest. Her own mouth falling into a small 'o', Mercy gasped, the air hitching in her throat. Following immediately after that was a scream; a piercing, blood-curdling sound that belonged only in a nightmare. Gale was on his feet in seconds looking for the reason for Mercy's obvious horror, not knowing that it was the doll. Said toy lay innocently on the ground as Mercy scrambled away from it, her breathing laboured. "No no no no;" Dropping to the ground suddenly, Mercy grasped handfuls of her white locks, visibly yanking them away from her scalp. She rocked back and forth on the spot, her face scrunched up in agony; tears still squeezing through her shut lids. Gale once again approached her slowly, and only when he was a few feet away did he realise that she was pulling her hair so violently that her head had actually started bleeding. Taking her hands in his own Gale gently untangled them from her hair, holding them together in one of his.
She screamed again, this time at him. With a savage snarl she kicked him square in the gut with the heel of her foot. He went reeling backwards, but refused to release her hands, in the process pulling her down with him. Before she could do anything else Gale wrapped his other arm around her torso like a vice, lifting her off the ground.
She flailed and howled like a wild animal, even slipping in the occasional hiss, but she finally began calming down, until she was just a shivering, limp mess.
When he was sure she wouldn't attack him again Gale placed her gently on the ground, cradling her bloody head against his chest.
"Je suis d sol ," She sobbed "je suis tellement d sol ." Gale was unfamiliar with the language she was speaking, but he did not want to upset her further, so he just stroked her hair. When Mercy did not stop her foreign muttering, he couldn't help himself from asking.
"Mercy?" He began gently, so as to not startle her "What made you... sream, just before?" At first she didn't answer and Gale was about to just leave it, but she finally stopped her muttering and looked up at him, a thin line of ruby red blood streaking down the middle of her face.
"When Watena takes on someone else's appearance, what ever they look like at that moment is how she will look. Lavinia is always the same- no visible mouth, white clothes. But today, she started bleeding, right above her heart. Worse though, she had a mouth. A mouth!" She screeched, on the edge of hysteria again. Not wanting her to hurt herself again, Gale let the subject drop and resumed stroking her hair and when her breathing had returned to normal once again, he looked down at her.
"Would you like to come home... with me? I know someone who could heal your wounds. And maybe..." 'being around people will bring back some of your sanity.' He finished in his head, afraid to offend her. However, Mercy seemed to be thinking the exact opposite. "I'm afraid that, if I come into contact with people again, I will completely lose it. I mean, what happened just before, that little breakdown, and those random mood swings; I haven't had them since I ran away. My inner insanity seems to come out whenever I am around people, and I do not want to risk your safety and the safety of your village."
Bowing her head, Mercy stood and walked slowly over to the small boulder to check the dampness of her pants. While she was pulling them on Gale thought of a way to convince her to stay, despite being slightly unsure of why he was so desperate for her not to leave.
"Well you know, believe it or not, I have my own room, so you could just stay in there away from other people. At least then you would have some proper shelter." Unconvinced, Mercy shook her head slowly, wincing slightly at the pain in her scalp. Gale saw a fresh sheet of red coat her hair.
"Please?" he begged "Just try it. I wont stop you if you want to leave, but at least let yourself be healed." He heard her sigh as she lifted her head to look at the sky. She seemed to be thinking about it, and Gale didn't want to rush her in case she ended up declining. Finally, she looked back at him.
"Fine." Gale almost smiled.