Chapter 43- Frenzied
NO WAY. She’s actually going to kill Jamie off. I NEVER THOUGHT THAT THIS COULD HAPPEN.
Or maybe not. Wanderer realizes that she has to get Yeerk medicines. So I guess she’s going to go on a raid by herself and she’ll save Jamie and no one will be sick ever again and it will probably bring Walter back from the dead and everyone will love her.
Jared stared at me. I could feel Ian's eyes on me, too, and Kyle's, and all the rest in the room. But I saw only Jared. I’m trying to decrease my amount of profanity. So I will say, Frak you, Wanderer. Frak you.
Anyway, she says that she can go back and get the medicines because none of the other Yeerks will ever suspect her and for some reason everyone is suspicious.
He met my gaze for one long moment. Then he looked around the room, at every other face. Jeb, Doc, Kyle, Ian, Trudy. Out the door at the silent audience whose expressions mirrored Kyle's: Sharon, Violetta, Lucina, Reid, Geoffrey, Heath, Heidi, Andy, Aaron, Wes, Lily, Carol. Let’s go through everyone here: Jeb, Doc, Kyle, Ian, and to a lesser extent, Trudy, all kind of have personalities. We just know that Sharon’s a huge bitch. We don’t know anything about Violetta. Lucina has two kids, which is all we know about her. I don’t remember ever hearing about a Reid before. I vaguely remember Geoffrey but he doesn’t have a personality. I think Heath has flowered sheets, if I’m not mistaken. We heard about Heidi once before.
Jared didn't believe us.The lament was both of ours. We thought it at the same time. Who frakking cares about Pedobear? And now even Ian annoys me. Remember what I said earlier about how I still hated the female lead but kind of like the male lead (Ian) and that maybe Smeyer was getting better? Scratch that. I hate them all.
So anyway, Pedobear (ARGH JUST DIE ALREADY) chloroforms Doc so that he passes out and they’re going to go get antibiotics.
The Pedobear/Wanderer/Ian love triangle is increasingly resembling the Edward/Bella/Jacob love triangle. Wanderer is stupid and annoying and no one should love her except Pedobear and Ian inexplicably do. And the love triangle is moot because there’s no doubt that she’ll pick Pedobear, as we always knew Bella would pick Edward instead of Jacob. So the very existence of Ian/Jacob is just trying and painful. Plus, Jacob’s and Ian’s personalities both change so that the readers start to hate them.
I could see Jared clearly for the first time. He had the gun slung behind his back and a knife sheathed at his waist. He held out his hands, and there was a length of dark fabric in them. I understood at once.
The whispered words raced out of my mouth. “Yes, blindfold me.”
Kinky. Also, borderline abusive? I don’t like how Wanderer is okay with a blindfold, even wants it. She should be angry. She should insist that she can be trusted. She should fight against a blindfold.
Jared was in his seat already. He leaned over and tied the blindfold over my eyes again. I held still to make it easier. I HATE YOU BOTH.
“If they guess that you're… with us, if they're going to… put someone else in Mel's body, you put that in your mouth and bite down on it hard.”
“Poison?”
“Yes.”
I thought about that for a moment. And then I laughed; I couldn't help it. My nerves were
frayed with worry.
“It's not a joke, Wanda,” he said angrily. “If you can't do it, then I have to take you back.”
“No, no, I can.” I tried to get a hold of myself. “I know I can. That's why I'm laughing.”
His voice was harsh. “I don't get the joke.”
“Don't you see? For millions of my own kind, I've never been able to do that. Not for my
own… children. I was always too afraid to die that final time. But I can do it for one alien
child.”
This just…disturbs me on many levels. He’s ordering her to suicide and she’s completely okay with that. I think if anyone decides that she should die for Melanie/Jamie, it’s her. Not someone else. Also…more veiled LDS philosophy?
His eyes widened and then narrowed. “Maybe you should have thought of this before I snuck you out. If we go back now, they'll think it was a ploy for you to learn the way out.” Maybe YOU should have thought about that, asshole. Anyway, now she’s telling him to hit her. I feel squicky. If it was any other book and any other author, it wouldn’t be that disturbing to me, but with Smeyer’s history of misogyny and portrayal of abusive relationships, all these things are compounding to make me feel icky.
Chapter 44- Healed
Maybe Jamie will be healed.
“Mel says do it now. And make sure you do it hard enough. Get it all the first time.”
Silence.
“Do it, Jared!”
He took a deep breath, a gasp. I felt the air move and squeezed my eyes tighter.
It made a squishing sound and a thud–that was the first thing I noticed–and then the shock of
the blow wore off, and I felt it, too.
“Ungh,” I groaned. I hadn't meant to make any sound. I knew that would make it worse for him. ARGH stop worrying about him! You’re the one that got hit in the face!
But so much was involuntary with this body. Tears sprang up in my eyes, and I coughed to hide a sob. My head rang, vibrated in aftershock.
“Wanda? Mel? I'm sorry!”
His arms wrapped around us, pulled us into his chest.
“'S okay,” I whimpered. “We're okay. Did you get it all?”
His hand touched my chin, turned my head.
“Ahh,” he gasped, sickened. “I took half your face off. I'm so sorry.”
Is this literal? Did he literally take half her face off? How is that better than a few bruises? Do they have skin like Yves Adele Harlow when she dressed up as that soldier and then when Jimmy dressed up like Skinner? I just want to understand.
“Okay,” he said slowly. He put the car into reverse and pulled it back into the deeper brush.
“Okay. I'll hide. But if you take us somewhere I don't tell you to go…”
Oh!Melanie was stung by his doubt, as was I.
My voice was flat. “Shoot me.”
And AGAIN. She doesn’t try to reiterate her devotion to Jamie or that fact that she hasn’t tried to betray the humans yet. She just tells him to shoot her.
I’m going to try to go faster here because I have class in fifteen minutes.
So anyway she wants to cut her leg to see what they do so that she can help Jamie. So she cuts her arm and freaks out despite the fact that she just got walloped in the face with a rock and that should have been worse. I don’t like this sickening self-mutilation she’s putting herself through.
The Healer was a young woman. Her hair, skin, and eyes were all a similar shade of light
brown. It made her unusual looking–monochromatic. She wore tan scrubs that only added to that impression. OMG it`s Edward!
The Healer’s name is Knits Fire. What the frak kind of stupid name is that?
They have a bunch of medicines with names like, “clean” and “smooth” and there’s a bunch of information about the healing which isn’t that important.
“I was in… Eureka, Montana. I didn't like the cold. I moved south.” Just like Smeyer! I WONDER IF THAT IS A COINCIDENCE.
So Wanderer’s here to find out how to heal Jamie, but I think all the names are self explanatory. “Clean” cleans the wound, “Smooth” gets rid of scars, “Heal” well, I’m not sure that that one does but I’m sure it will come to me later. She could have just stolen the medicines and gone back. But of course she has to go through Smeyer’s sadistic hoops.
Anyway, she’s stealing the stuff and then she hears people coming back and she’s worried that they’ve found out her lie.
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