Siren Sacrificed

by C. R. Jane

  I glanced up at the clock on the wall.

  One-fifty p.m.

  The bastard inside me didn’t waste time. Then again, I had starved him for weeks.

  Up on my feet, I stepped toward the shower cubicle that was splashed in blood and Christopher’s body crumbled in the corner. I raised a brow. Maybe I should have given the beast instructions not to kill him.

  Well, too late for that. And looking down at myself, standing only in my jocks, I thanked fuck I removed my clothes.

  I threw myself into the cubicle to get this mess cleaned before someone crashed in here.

  This bathroom held cleaning equipment in here, and bleach did wonders to clean up blood.

  Cleaning up in record time, I finally lifted Christopher and shoved him into the trolley bin by the door. It was big enough for two grown men to hide inside in truth, and reached my waist in height. So it made for the perfect spot to conceal a dead body temporarily. I removed my underwear and threw them in there too. Leaning in, I covered the whole mess with towels.

  Breathing easier, I turned to the bathroom and mopped up any blood I’d missed. Most of it had been contained to the shower, which I’d cleaned spotless. Then I jumped in and washed myself furiously of the last bits of blood. Red swirled into the drain, just like that fucker’s life. I felt nothing for taking him out. Scum like him didn’t deserve to keep breathing, as he’d hurt so many women, leaving them broken beyond repair.

  By the time I dried off and got dressed, I looked at myself in the mirror and ran my fingers through wet hair. No sign of my horns, and the blackness in my eyes was almost gone. I looked as normal as any guy in this hellhole.

  Exhaling loudly, I squared my shoulders. This wasn’t what I wanted to do at work, but sometimes shit had to be taken out with the garbage. And when I looked over to the dirty towel bin that sat on wheels, I knew I’d have to find a way to get rid of it before anyone stumbled across it.

  I stepped into my boots and made my way to the door where I unlocked it. I stepped out just as John, another guard was about to walk inside.

  “Watch it,” he snarled.

  I opened the door for him and let him pass.

  “Hell, why does it stink in here?” he gagged.

  “Sorry,” I called out. “The curry from last night isn’t sitting well.” The distinct stench of sulphur sometimes lingered behind when my beast made an appearance.

  “Hell, that is filthy!”

  I walked out and paused around the next corner, readjusting the phone piece in my ear, figuring I’d have to work out the best time to take out the trash.

  A crackling came into my ear. “Keon, where the hell are you? You’re on duty down in the yard. Fuck, man!” a new guard on duty snarled in my ear, and I gritted my teeth, glancing back to the bathroom.

  I tapped the piece in my ear. “Hold your fucking horses. I’ve got to help out in the booth room. Be there soon.”

  As much as my gut clenched, I stormed out of there, making a small detour to the booth first to delete some footage.

  Covering your tracks after a murder is never easy.

  Selena

  “You ready?” Trevor started saying from my cell door.

  I narrowed my gaze at him. “Ready for what?”

  “Your regular psychiatrist trip.” He stared at me like I was indeed crazy and in need of such counselling help. Maybe he was right, because this place did things to you.

  Since Keon left, I hadn’t been able to do anything else but worry. I was in enough trouble, and it would destroy me if he got in shit because of me.

  “Let’s go, pumpkin,” he stated.

  “Don’t call me that,” I answered. Last thing I needed was another crazy guy with complicated things. And then to have Keon go after him too.

  I’d never had a guy fight for me, and yet both Alaric and Keon had now done that for me within days. Now, where were these men before I joined prison so they could’ve perhaps sorted out Julian? When I think back to Alaric saying he was the warlord leader of the southern territories, if there was anyone who could stand up to Julian, it would be someone like him. Except, was even he powerful enough against the force behind Julian?

  Up on my feet, I pushed those thoughts aside and followed Trevor along the hallways. I kept my head low and kept going over recent events, torn between the craziest and the most alluring men I’d met.

  Why couldn’t things just be about me meeting these men, end of story. No psycho guards, no snake shifters, no accidentally giving away a fae’s crystal.

  We come to a stop outside Dr. Maynard’s office, the prison psychiatrist. Apparently, to ensure inmates remained sound of mind, we met with the doctor, but in all honesty, I questioned who exactly was the one needing the mental checking. There was something dangerous about Dr. Maynard. The way she looked at you felt like she reached down into your soul and yanked it out through your chest.

  A halo of cigarette smoke surrounded her as she lounged in her leather seat, the room ripe with the smell.

  “Hello, Selena.” She rose to her feet with such ease that I could have sworn she was floating.

  The guard left us behind and shut the door.

  “How have you been?” she asked, walking out from around her desk. “Anymore strange dreams?”

  I shook my head. “I’ve been sleeping like a baby. Once my head hits the pillow, I’m gone.” Most of that had to do with so much happening during the day, that exhaustion claims me once night hits.

  “That’s great,” she responded. Today, she was wearing a tight pencil skirt the color of midnight that fell to just below her knees. Her white blouse was pulled taut across her chest, and her heels clicked as she crossed the room from the desk to the chaise lounge. “And have you managed to make any friends?”

  I half laughed. “You make it sound like this is a friendly place. Half the time, I’m watching my back.”

  She gifted me with a lopsided grin. “Sometimes, you’ll find the most unusual friends in the harshest of places, so maybe I can arrange for some group activities with other inmates that might be suited as your friends? Also, I have heard that you spent a bit of time with Seth.”

  “That’s not quite friendship when I’m being forced to help him out.” Her bringing up Seth made me wonder if the warden had instructed the doctor to pry information from me on Seth. The idea of being grouped with anyone sounded awful.

  “Come, lie down for me.”

  I took fast steps forward and lay down, lifting my feet up, and now, I felt like I really was in a shrink’s office.

  She turned toward her glass cabinet against the wall, fiddling with glass vials. “I’ve been experimenting with something to help calm down the anxiety of my patients. I tried it with three others, and slowly over time, they found it easier to settle into the penitentiary.”

  Her words raised alarms, and I stiffened. “Oh, I don’t need anything. I’ve made a few friends, and I am more than fitting in.” My nervous words came out fast, tripping over one another.

  “You do need to be selective, Selena, on who you choose as friends. I would like to warn you against spending too much time with Alaric.” She turned to me, holding a long glass tube with a circular end that reminded me of a pipe for smoking weed. “His background…” She licked her lips. “Is dangerous. Considering who you will be returning to once your time here is done, he is most likely not the best company for you.”

  I eyed her suspiciously, understanding exactly what she was saying in her cryptic explanation. Julian owned me, and me spending time with Alaric meant I conspired with the enemy. For all I knew, Dr. Maynard could be feeding information to Julian, so I had to remain on watch about what I said. And sometimes, that meant keeping my mouth shut.

  She approached me, and my gaze never left the bong-looking device in her hands. It had a cork lid, and inside, gray smoke swirled around, trapped in there.

  “I prefer not to try that,” I explained. “I don’t remember signing any waiver to be exp
erimented on either.”

  She smiled, the thin lines around her eyes deepening. “There is nothing to worry about. This is just something to help relax your anxiety.”

  I shuffled to the edge of the lounge. “I’m not anxious. Why would I be anxious?” My voice seemed to squeak.

  Before I could react, she popped open the cork, leaning the opening of the cylinder in my direction.

  A puff of smoke gushed out and right at me. I coughed and waved a hand across my face to blow away whatever she’d just subjected me to.

  Who in the world did this to her clients?

  “Breath it in deep,” she said, doing the same as if getting off on the smell.

  I held my breath, refusing to inhale that stuff.

  A strange tingling started at the base of my throat, and my eyes stung slightly. I swallowed several times to get rid of the feeling.

  A breath expelled from my mouth. “What have you done to me?”

  I went to move, but a heaviness pressed on top of me, while the edges of my eyes feathered with darkness.

  Panic clawed through me, and I pushed to get up.

  She reached down, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Rest, Selena.” And as if her words carried the power of influence, I collapsed back down on the couch and my world darkened.

  What felt like moments later, I opened my eyes and stared down. I floated up in the air, while my body lay crashed out on the lounge. What the hell?

  The doctor returned to her desk, whistling to herself. I frantically glanced at myself.

  I studied my hands. Pale and slightly transparent.

  What the fuck! Had I turned into a ghost? Did she kill me?

  I lowered myself and saw my chest rising and falling with each breath. Okay, I wasn’t dead. Suddenly, I was flying through the room with a single thought. My legs kicked out of instinct as though I swam. I was having an outer body experience! Was this what the doctor had in mind when she said I would relax? Well, she was freaking wrong, because my heart was pounding insanely inside my chest.

  I glided through the air on my stomach toward her desk, where she opened her laptop and started tapping away. When I shifted to hover behind her shoulder, I watched her open a new file and title it ‘Experiment #5. Siren.’

  Bitch. She had no permission to do this. But I wondered if she knew the impact of her concoction caused an outer body experience? She had inhaled the smoke as well, but hadn’t passed out. I guessed whatever she created was made specifically for me—a siren.

  When her phone rang and she answered, she started laughing and reclined in her seat. I figured she’d be a while. So I pushed toward the door to see about exploring. But I was moving too fast, and in my panic that I’d crash into the door, I jutted my hands out. Except they slid right through the wood and my whole body followed through it too. I caught a glimpse of the layered wooden panels of the door, then I was out in the corridor.

  Excitement bubbled in my chest that somehow, I’d gained such freedom. I wasn’t a fool to think this was long lived or offered me a way to escape, since my physical body was stuck back in the office. But I’d take freedom in any form it came.

  And spying on everyone’s business sounded perfect. My first point of call would be the three men who’d waltzed into my life.

  What were they doing when no one watched? As crazy as it sounded, an excited buzz wormed through my stomach, like I might uncover a treasure on my hunt. Which made me think… if ghosts existed, was this how they felt most of the time? High on adrenaline while they spied on others, well aware there was no way they could get caught?

  I flew down the hall and through walls with ease, passing over the heads of inmates and guards, most just milling around. I found myself up in Seth’s quarter of the prison first, and when I slipped into his room, I half expected him to be lying in his bed. Except, he was sitting on the floor, the bedside table shoved aside, and he was leaned over.

  Sliding alongside him for a better view, I paused as he expertly drew an image of my face and shoulders with a small piece of white chalk. He carefully made every stroke, studying his masterpiece, then adjusted the shading over my lips. The image was spectacular, so perfect and accurate, down to my slightly wonky eyebrow over my left eye.

  There was something so beautiful and peaceful about watching him work. It seemed as though the process took him away from reality, and he was in a different world, escaping. He kept working on my hair meticulously, and my heart melted to see that he’d lost himself so much in picturing me. Had I really impacted him so much? Seth had been on my mind since I’d first crossed paths with him. Now, whatever was blossoming between us left me confused about where it would end. How could it go anywhere if he was here for who knew how long? Or was it until the warden killed him with the punishments?

  Tenderness squeezed my heart, and I reached out to him. My hand passed right through his shoulder.

  He stiffened and looked up in my direction. His eyes were glazed over.

  Did he see me?

  Except he seemed to stare right through me before returning to his artwork.

  I retreated from the room, leaving him behind, and kept thinking there had to be a way for me to get the crystal back from the warden for Seth. It was the least I could do. Maybe on my rounds as a ghost, I’d pay the warden a visit too.

  Once I reached Alaric’s cell, I slid through the shut door, then froze mid-flight, my mouth gaping open.

  My warlord was lying on his back in bed, his hand palming his huge cock, pumping his thick flesh up and down. His eyes remained shut, as he was miles away. Of course he’d be jerking off.

  I hovered over him, unable to get myself to leave. Not when I devoured the sight of his strokes quickening, and all I could picture was me riding him rodeo style. My body hummed with a growing arousal.

  Suddenly, he groaned, his chest arching, and his hand stiffened as ropes of cum spewed from his cock. God, the sounds he made… He moaned, his body rocking, and he was so fucking sexy.

  When he opened his eyes and inspected his mess, he sighed. I left him to his cleaning and exited, then skirted around the corridor. I kept searching for Keon. Heading toward the office section, I decided to make my way to the warden’s office instead.

  The place seemed quiet, so I flew quickly.

  Movement caught my attention from the corner of my eye.

  Keon, darting into a room, taking a quick look over his shoulder before vanishing inside. His expression belonged to someone hiding a secret, so I followed him into the bathroom.

  He was half leaning into a towel bin, rummaging around, and I moved closer to look inside.

  Just then, he uncovered a head.

  I screamed at first, because that wasn’t what I expected.

  Keon kept looking over his shoulder at the door, while my gaze was glued on the dead person. And the more I looked at the guy with blood over his chin and mouth, the more I recognized him.

  Christopher. The asshole guard who hurt me.

  Oh, crap!

  Keon killed the guard? I mean, I thought he was going to rough him up and threaten him. Not murder him! I sat on those thoughts for a few moments. It should have scared me, but I cared more about making sure Keon didn’t get caught because he did this for me. The guilt of what I did to Seth burned through me as it was, I didn’t want to feel even worse if Keon was sentenced to life imprisonment for me.

  Christopher was a dickhead, and the only reason Keon would have killed him was if he deserved it. Did they get into a fight and things went bad? Whatever happened, Keon protected himself and me.

  Footsteps sounded outside the bathroom. Keon frantically covered the body and sprinted into a toilet cubicle, shutting the door. And in that exact moment, my vision blurred.

  The bathroom was ripped away from me, replaced with darkness.

  What felt like seconds later, I opened my eyes to a pristine white ceiling and the smell of cigarette smoke. I’d returned back into my body.

  I blink
ed and twisted my head toward Dr. Maynard’s desk. No sign of her. The door was shut too. She’d left me alone, but would probably be back soon enough. My heart beat rapidly after what I just experienced. I thought it was all real and not in my mind. It seemed so real… Had Keon really killed Christopher?

  Pushing myself up, my head swam at first, the room tilting. I patted my arms and legs, and I was definitely back in my body. Whatever she had given me was crazy and effective. Maybe not in the way she intended, but I might need to get my hands on more for future use if everything I just experienced was real. Guess there was only one way to uncover the truth.

  I sat there for a few moments, letting myself feel normal because my hands and feet still tingled like when I sit on them and lose all feeling.

  The three men I attracted to my life were so different. One was talented and broken. The other a warlord with major sex addiction desires. And the third might have just murdered someone.

  Yep, I had the perfect little harem of men, and it didn’t matter if others saw them as monsters. Because they were my monsters.

  Up on my feet, I stretched my back and hurried across the room, wanting to get out of there before the shrink returned and asked me a million questions. I had to go find Keon. This office didn’t sit too far from where I’d seen him in my out of body experience. And if I had imagined it all, then I still got to see Keon, which definitely came with benefits.

  Outside the office, there were no guards posted, so I took advantage of the moment and darted down the corridor.

  Left and right, I took the turns, starting to slowly become familiar with the layout. Sweat broke across my brow the faster I traveled, but I didn’t want to miss Keon and find out if what I’d seen had been real or not.

  I approached a corner, and peered out. The passage to my right would eventually take me to the warden’s office. I recognized the old painting on the wall in a simple black frame of a mountain range. With no real windows in this penitentiary, paintings were the next best thing.