By: Sue
Mercy’s father tries to exorcise Mercy of the witch that possesses her. She trusts him until he opens her shirt and slices into her belly. A snake crawls out of her stomach and slithers out the door.
In the light of day, a man rides into Salem. He’s come to collect a parcel from a ship, but there are dead on the ship, but its been quarantined by Mary. Mary ponders if a man would like to know his death is upon him. Like the blacksmith, who will soon be accused. She muses that no one is smart enough or brave enough to stop them. But she’s wrong, John is, and may.
John is looking over his parents graves. He rebelled against them, wishing that they were different, and now he wishes that there were more good people like them. Anne listens to his musings, and takes her leave until he tells her that he is glad to see that she is feeling better. She tells him of her fever dreams, and her faith in her father’s goodness has diminished. Her father, Hale, interrupts taking her away.
John shares his theory with Cotton. He thinks that Hale has something to do with the witches, but he has no proof yet. He plans to get proof though. Cotton finds offense in someone trying to buy off his whore. He takes the newcomer in hand and warns him off. John stops him, but there seems to be some recollection.
The children sing a song of black plague. Mary and Tituba see Mercy walking about, and Mary approaches her, thankful that she is up and about. Mercy falls into another spell, and people around ask who the witch is. Mary cannot control her, and Mercy collapses. Mercy is no longer theirs.
Mary meets with the other witches of Salem, and tells them about Mercy. Rose is not happy with her report. Hale wants their little leak taken care of, and he sees John as a threat. Mary cannot stand up for him against her coven. She and Tituba have some investigating to do.
Mary goes to Cotton, telling him of her disappointment. She worries that he is not doing his job. She makes him feel inadequate, telling him that she did not ask for him when this whole witch business came about, and makes it clear he should not disappoint her again.
Hale invites John to a reception in his home. He makes it clear that his presence is not an option. John excuses himself. He grabs the newcomer, Hook. They knew each other from the war, and it does not sound like a pleasant acquaintance. He wishes to meet Mary, and John warns him off. He threatens to tell a story of John that John does not wish to be told. He wants the man gone and soon.
Mary puts off George’s feeding until she returns from the reception. Geroge uses her knitting needle to write a message with his blood. Hook stops Mary, wanting to gain access to the ship holding his cargo. She asks if he would risk infection, and he would. He even goes as far as to threaten to go to her husband, but Mary makes it clear that she and her husband agree on everything.
Cotton goes to see Mercy. He finds exorcism paraphernalia, and although it concerns him, Mercy does show signs of improving. Even more, Cotton finds a cut on her abdomen, but the Priest believes she has plenty of time to heal.
Mary arrives at the reception. She is surprised to see Anne there, and moreso to see Anne has a new necklace from her father, one that wards her against Mary. Cotton comes with good news that Mercy is free from her possessor. He tells her that it proves the witches are weakening. Mary asks how Mercy freed herself, and Cotton admits that it looks like there had been an exorcism. Catholicism is no better than Witches. Even when he succeeds he fails. Hale welcomes John as the newest member of the Board of selectmen. John wonders what if the witches were not the common people, but perhaps a member of the board. He hopes not, and promises together they will end the scourge of the town.
Cotton is stopped by Gloriana, and he has a busy schedule. Gloriana is thankful for his help, for his feelings. Cotton brushes it off, claiming that he would have done the same for everyone. In the house of the Lord, he cannot speak falsely. Gloriana tries to seduce him, speaking of his sexual sermons. She asks what he will do in the house of the lord, and he shows her no mercy, treating like a whore and throwing coins at her.
Hook sneaks into the Sibley house. He comes across George, and speaks of Mary’s beauty, but her lack of understanding. He asks George if his illness has rendered his deaf and dumb. George hands him his bloody note, and Hook takes it.
Hale admits to John that he invited him into his home on false pretenses. He tells him that he’s a concerned father. Hale tells John that though he told his daughter otherwise, that she was spelled. That he think that they were coming after him. He does not know who the witches are, but thinks that they are allies.
Mary isn’t pleased to find Hook in her home. She asks if he knows what they do to thieves, he does not. He knows what happens to witches, and brings out George’s note. Mary isn’t not pleased with his accusations, but she seems to capitulate, tells him that the guard will leave at midnight, and he can slip in them. He’s pleased and leaves. Mary burns the note. She tells Tituba what Cotton told her about Mercy, that the familiar is gone, cut from her stomach. Tituba will follow Hook, she will take care of her, and Mary plans to go back after Mercy promising her the moon for her service.
Rose isn’t pleased to find that Hook knows John. She would have used another courier otherwise. He tells her that they are not friends, and that he did not tell Mary anything about her.
Mary visits Mercy in the form of the hag, and convinces the girl to take the familiar back inside her. Mercy does not want to be a vessel again, but the hag coaxes her, offering her power. The snake slithers in , and Mercy swallows it down. She is Mary’s once again.
Tituba goes to John telling him that she comes because he and Mary have a common enemy. Tituba tells him that Hook blackmailed Mary, and she fears that Hook will be Mary’s ruin unless someone stopped Hook from robbing him.
Hook rows out to the boat under the cover of night. Hook climbs aboard the ship, and looks for the item he was paid to retrieve.
Hale confronts Anne about her feelings for John. Anne plays coy, but Hale thinks that it is his job to protect her from harm. Anne finds a man not falling over himself refreshing, but Hale points out that John and Mary have a sorrid history. Anne thinks it is nothing more than history for them, and she doesn’t fear Mary. Stupid girl, she should fear Mary. Hale invokes the “because I said so” Dad law, which isn’t going to stop her exactly, though he wishes it would.
John confronts Hook, he wishes him to put down the chest, but Hook has claim over it, one not even Mary objects to. John tells him that he’s not there for that. He and Hook had an agreement. They were never to lay eyes on each other again, and now since they have John will kill him. John chokes the life out of Hook, and dumps his body among the rest of the unmentionables. He returns to open the chest that Hook took, and inside finds a box. Who plans to unleash the cenobites? They’ll rip apart their souls!
Mary paces, watching out her window when she spots John. She thinks that sleeplessness must be an epidemic. She asks him if he remembers the last time they spoke in a graveyard. He would return in a year, and she would breathlessly wait. They were wishes, before they knew the real world she muses, before they knew what they would do for survival. He wishes her sweet dreams. Mary finds Mercy in her house, holding the snake. Mercy laughs manically, she knows who she is. But Mercy isn’t there, she’s just a reflection, and that makes her threat no less real.
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