by Dyan Chick
"I didn't mean to disrespect you," I said. "I didn't know the body was cursed."
She leaned in, her nose so close to me it was almost touching mine. I could smell the stench of rot now that I was aware of what she was. I wondered why I didn't catch it sooner.
"How do you not know what your magic does?" she asked.
"Siren magic shouldn't curse people," I said. "I can lure them, make them do things. Attract them to me. I shouldn't kill them."
She leaned back. "How did you kill him?"
I shifted uncomfortably, still bound by the vines. "Um, well, you see, we sort of had sex. In the morning, he was dead."
"And how often has this happened to you?" she asked.
"This was the first time this has happened," I said.
"But you've had other partners?" she asked.
"Yes," I said.
"And what of them?" she asked.
"They died, too. But not like that. It took weeks. Freak accidents and such," I said.
The vines slithered up my side and wrapped around my arms, pulling them down against my sides. I stiffened. The vines tightened, binding my arms in place. I gasped. She'd trapped me completely now. "Please, I swear I didn't do anything to harm you on purpose. You have to believe me."
The moonlight returned and I could see the person standing in front of me. It was hard to believe she wasn't real. Aside from some weirdness in the way the skin settled on her face, she looked almost human. Most humans wouldn't even flinch around her.
Suddenly, the skin crumpled to the ground like clothing being discarded. It lay in a heap on the dirt and sticks right in front of me.
My stomach lurched and I turned away, resisting the urge to throw up. Seeing an empty human skin suit was the last thing I thought I'd every have to look at.
"Let's play a game, siren," the disembodied voice echoed through the woods just as the vines released me.
I stepped out of the coil of plants and looked around for the source of the words. "What kind of game?"
"We'll find out if you're telling the truth."
"I told you everything," I said, my stomach twisting into nervous knots.
I couldn't see the creature anymore. She'd likely turned into the cloud of mist and was somewhere near me. In the darkness, I couldn't make out what might be a cloud of monster and what was just a shadow.
"We'll see about that," she said.
An icy chill hit my chest and I gasped as my insides felt like they were turning to mush. I winced as something squeezed on my ribs, working its way up through my lungs and into my airway. I grabbed at my neck, clawing at nothing as my esophagus felt like it was being crushed.
Finally, I was given air again and I took huge, gulping breaths as I fell to my knees. Exhausted and shaking, I collapsed to my side and pulled my legs up to my chest. I took rapid breaths as I tried to ease the twitching in my body, but it wouldn't stop. It was as if nothing inside me was mine to control anymore.
It seemed to go on for minutes, until all at once, it stopped. I let go of my legs and relaxed my muscles, letting myself stretch out on the ground. Pinecones jabbed into my hip and I rolled off of them before pushing myself up to standing.
I was still a little shaky, but I was no longer convulsing. Whatever had just happened seemed to be finished. At least I hoped it was finished. And I really hoped the skin walker hadn't been trying me on for size before taking the final blow. I didn't want to end up as a skin suit for anyone.
"You carry a curse with you," the voice said.
"What?" I asked, spinning in a slow circle, trying to identify her position. Her words seemed to come from all around me, making it impossible to know where to face so I wasn't exposed.
"You are marked," she said. "A daughter of Peisinoe."
"Like from the Odyssey?" There were so few named sirens in mythology that the three from the Odyssey were the stuff of legend. I'd studied everything I could find on them, but never found any proof that they'd actually existed.
"You know the price a siren must pay if her lure fails," the voice called.
All magic had a price, but I'd read the myths. The old stories said the price for failing your siren call was death. But we sirens didn't actually lure men to their deaths. So it wasn't something I was worried about.
I knew I could drive men to madness and I knew I wore myself out when I used too much. I also knew my magic was weaker when I didn't use it as much or when I wasn't around water. Which was most of the time. For a second, I wondered how much stronger I'd be if I lived near the sea. But that wasn't why I was here. "There's a price for all magic."
"The price for a siren is more than most," she said. "If you fail to use your magic for its intended use, it throws off the balance of the world. It must be repaid."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Peisinoe and her sisters called sailors to bring them to their death. When Odysseus defied them, a life was owed."
"Okay," I said. "That's dark and horrible and I won't use my magic to try to kill anyone. So can you please explain what this all has to do with me?"
I was getting frustrated. And I knew we were running out of time. The longer I went without hiding the body properly, the more time I was giving the demon to find it. Or worse, it could be rampaging through town killing everyone right now.
"Peisinoe was supposed to give her life to restore the balance," the skin walker said. "She did not. She lived and had children, who had children, and so on."
"And I'm one of the so on?" I asked.
"Yessss," the voice hissed. "And since the matriarch of your line never paid the price, your family is cursed to leave a trail of death behind."
"How do I break it?" I asked.
"The only one who can break it is Peisinoe, are you her?" she asked.
"Of course not," I said.
"Shame. I was hoping maybe you were she in a new form. We haven't spoken in years."
"You knew her?" I asked.
"How else would I be able to sense her mark on you? I've felt it before. But it is weaker on you, I should have known you're not her."
This was not turning out the way I wanted it to at all and I needed to focus. The reason I'd come in here wasn't to find out about my curse, though now that I knew it was true, I did want to know more. "Can you tell me anything else about the - what did you call it - the mark?"
"No, just that I can sense it on you," she said.
"Alright," I said. "Can we go back to the body?"
"The dead mage?" she asked.
"Yes," I said.
"Oh, he's not here anymore," she said.
Rustling noises sound from behind me and I spun around to see the human skin just as the head finished inflating like a balloon. I shuddered. I was going to have nightmares about this for weeks.
No longer a disembodied mist, the skin walker in the woman's skin put her hands on her hips. "I meant what I said about none of them coming into my woods."
"I understand," I said.
"They gave me a new body. It's damaged, but it'll do."
"Where's the mage?" I asked.
"I left him for your friends," she said.
"Where?" My heart was racing again. I was so close to finding this out and I was still alive. It was taking all of my willpower not to scream in frustration.
"I left it at the pack master's home," she said.
Oh shit. I didn't wait around for any more instructions. Turning back toward where I hoped the parking lot was, I ran. If the body was at Jason's house, that meant Earl was in serious danger.
Thirty
Jason
Relief mixed with panic when my phone screen lit up with Angie's name. If she was calling me, she was still alive. But that didn't mean she wasn't in danger.
I clicked the button. "Angie?"
"The mage is at your house. She dumped the body there. I'll meet you there," Angie said.
"Are you serious?" I asked.
"Yes," she said, breathless. "Plea
se go."
"Are you safe?" I asked, unable to help myself. Her heavy panting didn't sound good.
"I am," she said. "Go."
The phone went silent. I turned to the others. "I know where the body is."
"And?" Jane asked.
"It's at my house," I said.
"Shit," Gage said.
"Yeah," I said. "We gotta go."
"And how are we supposed to kill this thing?" Gage asked. "We lost our siren."
"Doesn't matter," I said. "We'll figure it out when we get there."
"Right behind you," Cody called. "Come on guys, I'll drive."
I ran toward Cody's car and crammed into the backseat with Jane and Miles. As soon as Cody started the engine, I pulled up my dad's phone number on my phone and called.
The phone rang. And rang. And rang.
"He's not answering," I said.
"Probably took the phone off the hook," Gage said. "It's late. He might be asleep."
"I'm sure that's all it is," Jane said. "That demon probably hasn't sniffed out the body yet."
I glanced over at her then looked away. Her expression wasn't just concern, there was a tinge of pity in her look. I didn't need pity right now. I didn't want sympathy. I wanted to get to my house and take down the flesh hunting demon before it did anything to harm my father.
The street looked normal as we pulled in front of my house. So far, so good.
I stepped out and walked to the sidewalk, waiting for the others to join me. As I looked up at my house, my breath caught. The screen door was open. My dad was meticulous about closing that door. He'd never leave it open behind him.
Then I noticed the trail of slime on the steps. It led all the way to where we were standing on the sidewalk. We were out of time.
I turned to my friends. "This could get ugly."
"But you have a plan," Cody said.
I nodded. "You and Miles take the back door. Check the perimeter on your way there. Don't engage if you can't fight it off. Just track it and let us know where it is."
I turned to Jane. "Can you do any water magic?"
She lifted an eyebrow. "I'm not a siren."
"Can you or can't you?" I asked.
"Some," she said. "But I'm not as plugged in with water. I might be able to break some pipes or something. I won't have any control over where it goes."
"Good enough," I said. "You and Gage with me, into the house. If it's in there, we'll try to drown the bastard."
"You want me to wait at the back door?" Cody asked.
"Someone has to be there if it gets past us," I said.
"What makes you think it's already inside?" Miles asked.
I pointed to the sidewalk where the trail of brown slime led up the stairs to the open screen door. Even though I'd noticed it right away, pointing it out to the others made it seem more real. A shiver ran down my spine. I'd never dealt with a demon before and I knew they were bad news.
"Anything else that'll work besides water?" Gage asked, a nervous squeak sneaking into his voice.
"Salt, maybe," Jane said. "Silver, maybe. You know, the standards."
I turned to Gage. "Kitchen. Pantry. There's salt in there." Then I turned to Miles. "Backyard in the shed there might be a bucket of ice salt. Find it."
"Got it," Miles said.
"Shit, we're really doing this?" Jane asked.
"Nobody is making you come," I said.
"I know," she said. "But I'm not about to let you hooligans have all the fun."
I took a deep breath. "Let's try to kill this thing quickly."
Aside from wanting to eliminate the monster problem in town, and keep my dad alive, I wanted to get rid of the demon before Angie caught up to us. She was the one behind all of this and if the demon was sent with more than just a ‘find the body’ mission, it could be looking to drag her back to whatever pit it crawled out of. I couldn't let that happen.
"Bastard's lucky it's not a full moon," Gage said as we walked toward the front door.
I glanced up at the sky. The moon was nearly full. If Angie had come today instead, she might have brought the demon into a town largely inhabited by werewolves. It was a pleasant thought. "Well, the good thing is if they send a follow up, it'll likely arrive in time for the full moon party."
"I could use tearing something apart with my teeth," Gage said.
"Gross," Jane said. "You know who has to clean that blood off of you?"
Gage cleared his throat.
I glanced back at the two of them, eyebrows raised. Guess I had been correct in my suspicions. "Yeah, I can see that it's a real hardship for you to help out Jane with her car."
"Can we talk about this later?" Gage asked.
"Seriously, there's a demon in there," Jane said.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." I opened the front door and stepped quietly into the house.
Gage walked past me to the kitchen, going for the salt. I stepped into the living room, following the trail of goo on the well-worn carpet. It went to the middle of the living room, then around the chairs, and to the stairs.
I balled my hands into fists as I stared at the trail that led up the stairs toward the bedrooms. My dad had probably already gone to bed and that thing was up there with him.
"Got the salt," Gage said.
"If you see it, throw it all," I said, a growl forming with the words.
Quietly, I walked up the steps, wincing every time my foot made contact with the slime on the stairs. My foot made a slight suction sound every time I lifted it. It was disgusting. And it was going to be a bitch to clean.
I paused in the hallway, listening for any movement or monster mouth breathing. Nothing. I moved aside and nodded to Gage.
He stepped in front of me, a handful of salt ready.
The first door was an office and it was halfway open. I pushed it open with my boot, then flipped on the light switch. Empty.
We moved to the next room, a bathroom. The door was wide open but I flipped on the light to check behind the shower curtain. Empty.
Next was my room. Once again, it was empty.
Finally, we faced the master bedroom at the end of the hall.
Carefully, I turned the doorknob and flung the door open.
Gage jumped into the room and I hit the lights.
My dad sat up in his bed and started screaming. He jumped out of the bed, grabbing the shotgun he kept next to him.
I held my hands out in front of me. "Dad, it's just me."
He was breathing heavy as he looked at each of us. "What the hell, Jason?"
"There's a demon on the loose. We tracked it here," I said. "Gage, check the bathroom."
Gage walked away from us, the box of salt in his hand.
"What demon?" my dad asked as he sat down on his bed.
I pointed to the trail of slime on the ground. The monster had clearly come into this room. Quickly, I followed the goo around my dad's bed. It led up the wall to an open window.
Shit.
"All clear in here," Gage said.
"It got out again. We need to find it fast. It might already have the body." I pointed to the window. "We gotta go check on the guys in the back."
"Stay here, Earl," Gage said. "We got this."
"Hold up," he said. "What kind of demon are we talking about?"
"Some kind of water demon," Jane said.
"A flesh hunter," I added.
"What's it tracking?" he asked.
"You're familiar with flesh hunters?" I asked.
"Kid, I had a life before you were born, you know," he said.
"Angie brought it," Jane said. "Some dead mage."
"Shit." Earl pushed himself to standing and limped over to his closet. "You're going to want this."
"Want what?" I asked.
He opened the closet door and disappeared inside. A moment later he came back with a small box. He handed it to me. "This'll help."
I removed the lid to find a silver dagger. My brow furrowed as I looked back up
at my dad. "What is this?"
"It sends demons back to hell," he said.
"Dude, you've been holding out on us," Gage said.
"How does it work?" I asked.
"Pretty sure the pointy end goes in the demon," Jane said.
"Thanks, Jane," I said.
"It's special metal or something. I didn't ask. I just know it works," my dad said.
"Seriously, Dad, we're going to have to have a long talk after this thing is dead," I said.
"Your dad is even cooler than I thought he was," Jane said.
"Told you, I had a life before you kids."
"Yeah, yeah," I said, shoving the dagger into my belt. "We all know you were a badass."
"What do you mean were? I still got it." He closed the box and slid it under his arm. "Now go kill that thing so I can go back to bed."
"If it already has the body, won't it be taking off?" Gage asked.
"Maybe," I said. "I really hope it's taking the long way back to hell. Who knows what'll happen if the Shadow Club finds out the body was here."
"You mean if they find out Angie is the killer," Jane said.
"That too," I said.
Thirty-One
Angie
It was nearly midnight by the time we pulled into town. The streets were empty. This might be a casino town now, but it wasn't a party town. A few random people walked around as they traveled between one building and another or walked to a waiting car.
I turned onto Jason's street and slammed on the brakes. A giant Bigfoot looking creature was standing in front of the truck holding a dead body.
"What the fuck?" Draven asked.
The creature opened a massive mouth and roared, sending blobs of brown goo all over the windshield.
"Why did you stop?" Draven yelled. "Drive. Drive. Drive!"
I forced myself to start breathing again and punched the gas, white-knuckling the steering wheel as I braced for impact.
The truck slammed into the creature and I was thrown back against the seat, the seatbelt cutting into my shoulder as we stopped.