Mercury, Passage Two
The throbbing in her head did not wake Mercury as much as the putrid smell of her new, unknown environment did. She felt a spot on the right side of her head where some sort of collision occurred, and she wanted one of those pills they used to give her mother to stop the pain. The smell, however, almost acted like a pain reliever by distracting her from the intense headache. Her vision was blurry, but she could make out the silhouette of a figure stirring a boiling pot over an open fire. The smell was probably coming from over there.
Mercury tried to push herself up from the hard surface where she had been lying, but her hands were stuck. Adrenaline rushed through her body, her eyes focused and she realized that her hands were tied together behind her back. Her feet were also tied, and she was strapped onto a hard surface, which felt like a giant cutting board. She tried to remain calm, but her breathing rapidly increased. She scanned the room for a possible escape.
Stone walls enveloped the fugitive and the unknown figure, stalagmites hung high overhead and there were two openings on either side of the enclosure. Little, handmade trinkets scattered the ground, and a few pieces of wooden furniture cast long shadows. There were no modern technological devices in the vicinity. This place felt older than the jungle.
Mercury’s mouth wasn’t gagged, and she wondered if she should make a sound. Was that figure by the fire someone to reason with? It didn’t matter. The fear in her body crippled her ability to vocalize. She felt like she was in one of those dreams where she couldn’t move or speak, but this was no dream.
“Shhhhh, sh-sh-sh-sh,” a voice echoed from across the stone room. “Do you smell that? It’s awful, I know. But it will relax you. Or at least it should. I’m not a master of the old elements, although I try to be.”
The figure drew closer to Mercury as it spoke, and the flickering glare from the fire revealed a woman’s face. She had thick, deep wrinkles etched into her periwinkle skin, and her nose was long and tilted. She wore a heavy cloak that seemed to be made of burlap, and her hair was crimson with grey streaks. Mercury had seen many creatures in her world as it had been colonized many times over by a variety of species from across the universe, but she had never seen one quite like this woman. Finally, a string of words emerged from Mercury’s mouth.
“Are you… a witch?” she asked.
“Shhhh,” the woman whispered. “The more appropriate question is… are you a witch?”
Next post: Mercury, Passage Three
Previous post: Mercury, Passage One
Fiction posts: A Star Gaze
Non-fiction posts: A Floating Idea, Day Two: Willpower or Discipline?, Beauty and the Beast Remake Got It Wrong
Mercury Series: Mercury, Passage One, Mercury, Passage Two, Mercury, Passage Three, Mercury, Passage Four, Mercury, Passage Five, Mercury, Passage Six
Feel free to leave a comment below!
