Page 7 of Waste
“That makes little sense. They show our targets, those who the Sins have overly corrupted,” Drew said, confused.
“Exactly, but this female is as innocent as a babe. There is no reason for her to be appearing,” Marie continued.
“I see your dilemma. This one is a doozy. Are you certain she’s not a target?”
“Yes. The woman radiates goodness. It’s a puzzle I can’t figure out,” Marie admitted.
Drew nodded in agreement. This was a problem that Marie obviously hadn’t encountered before. He didn’t even pretend to understand the mirror network. That was Mary Worth’s domain—or Bloody Mary as she was better known by.
“How about when you next see her, call me?” Drew suggested. “Maybe we can figure it out together?”
“Why don’t we finish these drinks, and I’ll show you, because she’s constantly there. Although her image changes. The first time I’d seen her, she’d been beaten. Her face was all bruised and battered, and she was in a hospital bed. Then, it’s as if the network latched onto her. She’s in someone’s mirror every day. It’s like watching a virtual reality show,” Marie said.
Drew remained even more puzzled. He couldn’t claim to understand how the mirrors worked, but he knew they shouldn’t be doing that. “How strange.”
“Indeed. If she doesn’t go away soon, I’m going to raise it with the board. The problem is she keeps flicking from one mirror to another. Sometimes a target crosses two Sins. Which means she should be rancid with every Sin imaginable, but she’s not.”
“Like their primary Sin is Greed and also Devastation?” Drew asked.
“Yes. So, their images would appear in Poseidon and Midas’s mirrors. And I would send one of them who needed to huntfor their quarry. But this woman keeps hopping around.” Marie frowned.
“That’s one interesting problem,” Drew mused as his mind worked furiously. “The mirrors show those whom we need to eradicate?”
“Yes, always in people in whom the Sins ride high.”
“What if this unknown female should have died but cheated fate? And now the Fates are trying to direct us to kill her to correct that?” Drew suggested, and Marie stared at him.
“I didn’t think of that!”
“Could it be possible?”
Marie considered the suggestion for several moments. “Theoretically, yes. If one of us changed her destiny, then the Fates may want us to remedy it. That’s why she keeps showing up.”
“Those witches were never easy to get along with,” Drew said, and Marie laughed.
“No, Clotho thought she was special because she spun the threads of life. Lachesis measured life’s length, and Atropos cut it. They’re not as wonderful as they believe. Kill one, and someone else can take their place, because the process—Fate—will continue even if Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos die. They are merely the servants of it, nothing more or less,” Marie mused.
Drew couldn’t disagree. The Fates were legendary, but for the wrong reasons. Fate itself had existed since time began, but nobody had regulated it. Not until the Fates had come along. Many believed them to create, limit, and end the life cycle of a person. That was actually erroneous. As Marie stated, the process was in place; the Fates were the servants of it. Nobody understood where Fate originated from, but it was there, just like God.
“Shall we go see whose mirror she’s in now?” Marie asked.
“Yes. However, we should be asking, why this woman needs to die? I’ve always disagreed with the whims of the Fates. They have the power to shorten a life span and have done so in revenge and spite.”
“It’s a good thing we’re immortal and don’t have threads,” Marie responded.
“Indeed. God also blessed us. Otherwise, when the Sins invaded us, those witches would have ended our lives in the blink of an eye,” Drew replied.
“Most certainly.”
They finished their coffee and returned to the tower. Once there, Marie shifted into Mary Worth and brought up the mirrors.
“There. She’s in Medusa’s,” Mary said and pointed.
Drew peered closer and then reeled backwards. It was her! “She’s the target?”
“Yes.” Mary turned to stare at him and frowned. “Do you know her?”
“I saved her from a man beating her. Mary, I think I’m the reason she’s alive and not dead!”
