The Next Herondales - Sequel to The Infernal Devices

Chapter Nine: The Enemy

The young man who called himself Mercury unlocked the door to the girl’s cell, and carried in a cup of water and some bread. The girl – Lucie, that was her name - looked at him with a mixture of different emotions in her eyes – fear, curiosity, hatred, and even pity. Her eyes were so blue…so enchanting.

Mercury stayed in the cell, for longer than he should have, his hand lingering on the door handle. He tried to stop thinking about the Lucie – after all, she was a prisoner – but he couldn’t. It was strange. After his parents had died, Mercury had felt like he just didn’t care anymore. There was no point, there was no one left that he cared about. It was as if his heart had been taken out and he had lost all ability to love. But now…all this was changing. There was just something about the girl. She made his heart race, his breath quicken. She reminded Mercury that he cared, after all.

But this was ridiculous. Lucie was a prisoner, a bargaining chip. He shouldn’t be worrying about her. Mercury turned around and was just about to leave when Lucie spoke. 

“Why are you doing this?” Her voice was soft, almost compassionate. 

Mercury didn’t want her pity. This was his choice. He had chosen to do this. He had helped to capture her. It was for the greater good. So why did he find it so hard to leave her? 

“You won’t understand,” Mercury replied. Too much had happened. He had made so many mistakes, done so much wrong. He'd never told anyone his story. No one would understand. Why would this girl be any different?

“Try me,” said Lucie.

He should leave. It would be easy to just push open the door and walk outside. He could get some fresh air and forget about the girl. But he couldn’t. It was as if an unseen force was gluing him to the room. He wanted her to understand. And somehow, he thought – no, he hoped – that she would. 

In that moment, the wall of lies that Mercury had been hiding behind fell apart. He was sick of lying, sick of hiding the truth and pretending to be someone he wasn't. “They killed my parents.” The words tumbled out of Mercury’s mouth before he could stop them. It was too late to go back now, too late to change his mind.

He could still see the flames, the screams, the blood splattering onto the carpet. “Downworlders. It was all their fault.”

“There was a coven of vampires – there had to have been twenty of them at least. They came to our house – the one in the country – and demanded reparations for what my parents had done. I’m not exactly sure what it was, but there was a lot of shouting and arguing. I hid under my bed, to scared to come out, too scared to do anything. I just hoped with all my heart that they’d go away and leave us alone. It was too much to ask for.”

Mercury didn’t know why he was telling Lucie all this, but it was a tap had been turned on inside of him, and all his emotions were flowing out. All the feelings he had kept hidden from everyone. He’d lived the last ten years in a cloud of lies and deceit, but now for the first time, the truth was coming out.

“My parents were murdered. I can still hear their screams, and the crack as the vampires broke their necks. It haunts my dreams every night.” 

What are you doing? Why are you telling her all this? A small voice inside of Mercury asked. He didn’t know. But he couldn’t stop. The words kept coming. 

“They set the house on fire. I stayed under the bed, too scared to come out and half hoping that I would die as well. My parents were dead – I felt like nothing mattered anymore." 

Tears started prickling at his eyes. Mercury wiped them away furiously. He refused to cry in front of this girl. Lucie – who was nothing to him, but everything at the same time. Why did he care about her so much? It didn't make sense. 

“Eventually the smoke got too think, and I had no choice but to leave. I convinced myself that the reason why I survived was that I had to avenge my parents, and that’s what I’ve been trying to do ever since. I created a fake name, a fake identity. Biding my time until I can find those vampires who took my parents’ lives, and destroy them like they deserve.”

Sometimes Mercury felt as if he was losing himself, losing himself to the relentless monster inside of him, whose name was revenge. He felt like he was slowly losing his mind, becoming insane, forgetting who he was. Sometimes he even struggled to remember his real name.

Lucie had stayed quiet during all this, but now she spoke up. “How’s kidnapping me supposed to help you do that?”

Mercury’s eyes flashed in impatience. “I told you, our real target is Consul Branwell.” He spat out the name with as much scorn as he could muster. “She’s a downworlder-lover. Do you have any idea what she’s trying to do? She’s trying to turn this world into some place where shadowhunters and downworlders live together in harmony, as if they’re one of us.”

“And what’s so wrong about that?” Lucie retorted, “Have you considered that maybe your parents were at fault as much as the vampires were? The vampires obviously came to your house wanting revenge for something that your parents did, just like you are now. Have ever you considered that it’s not all about you?”

Lucie’s cheeks were flushed with passion, her eyes flashing in anger. 

“They killed my parents!” Mercury spat back, “Downworlders killed my parents. And you know what the clave did? Nothing! They didn’t care that my parents were dead. I could’ve been dead too, and it wouldn’t have made a difference. All they wanted to do was to maintain their stupid peace agreement with the downworlders." 

Suddenly all of Mercury’s anger disappeared. All that was left now was disappointment and emptiness. “I didn’t expect you to understand,” he said softly. “But I thought maybe you were different from all the rest, that you were special. I guess was wrong about you." 

Mercury pushed open the door and stalked out of the room. He was just about to slam the door shut behind him when he heard Lucie call after him.

“You don’t have to do this. It’s never too late to change your mind.”

Mercury hesitated. For a second he considered running away, leaving this whole mess that he’d created and starting again. But it was. It was too late. He’d made his choice and now there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn’t undo what had been done.

He could never go back.