Dark Secrets

This

This is what happened: After murdering a dozen people, a baker's dozen, of course, Mercury Weaver made it four city blocks before being subdued and knocked clean unconscious. She was dragged away, but never sent to prison, and, in fact, there were only a handful of people who knew what she had done. They were judge and jury, and punished her in a way that ensured she'd never hurt anyone again. After that, because she was forced to, she lived a bland, boring, unimportant life.

That's it. End of story.

As for the beginning, well, that takes a little more time to tell. This is how it happened:

Mercury Weaver had no conscience, not in the traditional sense, anyway. She made decisions based in logic- weighed the pros and cons carefully, chose after gathering as much information as she could- and she felt no guilt if her path went awry. She did not dwell if what she did caused destruction or mayhem. If something came back to haunt her, she started her process all over again.

But- and this was important- she factored in the emotions of others when she said this or that, did this or that. At least, she attempted to. Not because she herself cared, but because she did not want to be a villain. Villains were lonely. Though she did not care if she became a lonely villain, she did not want to be one. Her skin appreciated touch when her mind could not, so she had to be good, to make friends, to not be lonely. Thus, her conscience wasn't real. Faux. Made up. Entirely untrue.

Mercury Weaver went through life with no conscience and no rightful place in the world. She was born of revolting circumstances and aged with revolting periods of life. At least, she could say, her birth was wanted, even if the outcome was less than satisfactory for everyone involved. Despite her person being defective, her childhood was a loving one. Her family was strange, inhuman, but she was raised amazingly well. By all accounts, Mercury's parents were outstanding, and their parenting gave Mercury her 'conscience', her want not to be a villain. If it weren't for them, Mercury might have been the evil that lurked in the dark without meaning to be.

That's not to say there weren't incidents in Mercury's early years. As a toddler she tended to harm insects, small mammals, other children. She possessed no sense of right and wrong and was cruel without knowing it. She was curious, you see, and wondered what would happen if she poked this, smashed that, stabbed here, bit there. Eventually, by her parent's patience and willingness to teach, she slowly learned what she could and couldn't do, shouldn't do. Blood was bad if it wasn't in the body. Screams meant stop. Crying meant no more. Shaking and fear meant back off. If she could, keep situations jovial and comfortable. Just because she had no emotions didn't mean others didn't. Mercury Weaver was forced to blend in for her sake and everyone elses.

Her much calmer life was timed well, as her younger brother was born as she budded into a teen, thirteen to be exact. She cared for him. That is to say, she made sure he did not bleed or cry or scream. His mental development was left to their parents since Mercury was deficient in that particular area. How could she teach a child what was right and wrong, when she herself was still learning? With adolescence came new scenes, and new situations that puzzled her. Teenagers were irrational creatures and Mercury did not know how to deal with them. She was too logical, too set. She pushed a boy to the verge of death because she didn't understand it wasn't her place to punish him. "He hurt my friend," she had said when she had been caught red-handed and completely unfazed by the body she had pummeled. "He made her scream and cry. You're not supposed to make people scream and cry." When she was confronted with the fact that she made him scream and cry, she stared blankly. "Now they're even," she had said calmly. She was pulled out of school before she could be expelled.

With that stain on her record scrubbed clean by her parents, who, with their power, could do almost anything, Mercury Weaver was moved to a small, grubby desert town where she could finish her schooling in peace. And she did, finish her schooling, thought not all was peaceful. It was hot where she was moved, blazing most of the year, and that lead to anger in people. She was faced with irrational people often, and when she tried to explain how irrational they were being, they grew violent. What was she to do? She didn't care. So she struck with cold precision and put one in the hospital only a few weeks before she was to graduate high school. She was charged and arrested, but was out the same day because of her influential parents. Everyone avoided her then and that was when she was allowed to graduate in peace.