Bluedawn (A Watermagic Novel, #2)

by Brighton Hill

  We must have sat there for ten minutes in silence.

  “I betrayed you,” I finally said as I put my hand on my bony neck and looked down at my black skirt. Now that I was a siren, I always wore backless tops of one sort or another so that my transformations wouldn’t destroy my clothes.

  Dylan shifted back into human form now. The sounds of his wings folding into his back reminded me of Evan’s bones breaking at Wren’s hand. I shuddered at the thought. The pit of my stomach ached.

  Dylan let his legs dangle beside mine off the limb of the tree. His chest was bare, his shirt torn off by the expansion of his wings. But his loose fitted pants remained intact. “I’m the one who betrayed you,” he said. His voice was flat without inflection.

  “How?” I managed to choke out of my dry throat.

  “When I introduced you to my friends on the beach in Carlsbad.” I could feel the heat of his body beside mine.

  I still didn’t look up, but just gazed at my hands in my lap. “Why did you do that?” I wiped the moisture at the edge of my nostrils with the back of my finger.

  “Wren ordered me to bring you to her.” There were still no inflections in his voice. It just sounded distant.

  I looked up at him, my eyebrows scrunched together. “I didn’t even know her. Why would she want me?” Anger started to boil inside of me now.

  He shook his head, his eyes widening the slightest bit. “That’s what I have been wondering.”

  “I felt like someone was watching me at my campsite. I heard whispers coming from the woods.” I turned away, thinking. My pulse was racing now. I wanted to figure this out. “There were stone blue feathers.” My voice quickened. “And the wolf dog had dropped a chunk of flesh with the same color plumes…”

  “That was Gia,” he interrupted as he placed his hand on top of mine. His voice was more animated. “The wolf bit off a chunk of her thigh in the woods just behind your motorhome. I think she might have been coming to get you because I sent you away. When I saw her watching you from the forest, I coaxed her to the ocean.”

  “Why?” I asked in bewilderment.

  He shook his head slightly side to side. “The ocean water heals the fresh wounds of sirens.” His nostrils flared at the memory.

  I tried to contain the rage inside of me. I didn’t want Dylan to see me out of control. My mind raced with so many thoughts. I felt so mixed up. “Was that what you were doing when I saw you coming out of the water with her at the beach that night?”

  His cheeks flushed. “Maybe.”

  That only made me more curious, but I didn’t want him to know how much I cared. Instead, I redirected my mind and thought back to the sounds I heard in the darkness as I stepped out of the motorhome that night for the second time. I recalled how Spike had scared me to death. “The wolf must have saved me from Gia,” I said suddenly, looking at him.

  He didn’t respond, but seemed to be making connections in his mind himself.

  And then, I remembered how before that I heard some sort of animal walking around on the roof of the motorhome while I was taking a shower. The creature’s body sounded much heavier than a squirrel which I had originally concluded it was. Now I realized that must have been one of the sirens.

  My voice was distant as I spoke now. “I wonder why they wanted me.” I started to chew at my fingernails. “It is so much more pleasurable to feed on a human male.” Female sirens usually only eat girls when they are in the way, but they don’t seek them out specifically.

  “They were set on you,” he murmured. “But once I realized who you were, the pretty girl who slipped in the street years before, I couldn’t let them have you.” His jaw clenched. “I hate them.”

  My eyes lit up. “You remembered me from that rainy night?”

  His face flushed. “Yes.” That was all he said.

  We sat there quietly for some time. I listened to the wind blowing through the trees, rattling the leaves. In the distance I heard the low hum of traffic and faint noises of the city.

  But then Dylan started to sing lightly. His beautiful voice resonated through my very essence. It was a sweet song about loss, war, and the hope of redemption.

  “Thank you for saving me,” I finally said as his song waned.

  He looked embarrassed. “Come, we have to get back to our flock.” He took my hand into his and held it up to his lips.

  Tingles rushed through my body. The way he cared for me confused the hell out of me. Some of his actions seemed so romantic, yet he never kissed me on the lips and he never confessed an interest in me in that way. I almost wondered if he only loved me in a platonic manner, like the way a brother loves his sister.

  My heart ached. I needed Dylan to desire me. I felt so alone and my feelings for him were the only thing that made any sense. Everything else seemed horrible and dirty, but my attachment to him felt pure.

  ***

  When we got back to the suite, the television was off now, but the stereo was playing “Boys Don’t Cry,” by The Cure. The triplets and the slaves were rolling up the human bones and unsavory body parts in the plastic they had laid out over the furniture and marble flooring. They were nearly finished when we walked in the door.

  “Where the hell were you?” Wren demanded as she looked up from the floor where she was in a squat position tucking in the sides of the plastic to make the package of bloody discard as small as possible.

  “It doesn’t matter where we were,” I retorted defiantly. “We’re back and ready to help.”

  “Fine then,” Wren snapped. “Bag this up, put it in the suitcase, and load it in the car.”

  “We’re gone, baby,” Travis laughed. He was flossing his teeth in the wall mirror.

  Gia, Lyra, and Blake were playing Monopoly on the coffee table. Blake kept telling stupid jokes that made Gia and Lyra roll their eyes and laugh. He was in a good mood.

  I caught my reflection in another one of the wall mirrors as I walked into the kitchen to get a hefty, oversized trash bag Travis had picked up from the hardware store. My body looked much too skinny. My shoulder blades were bony and my arms looked like sticks. I touched my thighs and stared at myself in the full length mirror. I still had a little flesh on my legs, but appeared more like one of those emaciated supermodels that only looked good in certain positions.

  It was still hard for me to look at myself. My hair was beautiful now like my mother’s, but more of a sunny brown than blond like hers. It was long with lovely waves that naturally fell over my shoulders and breasts. My eyes had changed to a remarkable bright blue color that looked like the sky on a clear sunny day. And my face had a more roundish quality with dimples in my ample cheeks and my lips were heart shaped like that of a doll’s. As a kid, I always thought life would be better if I looked so lovely, but I was wrong. Aside from Dylan, my life was a nightmare.

  I grabbed the bag from the drawer and walked over to Dylan who was taping up the plastic to keep its contents from spilling out. Wren was painting her nails in the recliner chair as she sang along with the music. I held the bag open as Dylan slid the body parts inside. We tied it up, pushing the air out. I followed him into the bedroom as he carried it.

  To my dismay, I was surprised to see the squirrel faced girl’s and the cutesy girl’s heads and carcasses on the bed. My body tightened at the scent of the blood in such close proximity. I screamed.

  Wren and Travis laughed from the other room. “Surprise!” Wren called out. “We left you some treats.”

  Uncontrollably my body started to change. My wings rumbled beneath the skin on my back and broke through the flesh. Feathers sprouted through the skin on my legs causing such erotic tingling sensations. I looked at Dylan in horror.

  He was unchanged. Apparently he had already taken his fill earlier and didn’t need to feed. But the hunger inside of me was overwhelming me now.

  “Please, just eat,” Dylan said. “They are already dead. I need you alive.”

  I wanted to kill him. Talons broke thr
ough my fingers and toes. My fury was outrageous. Before I knew it, I was attacking Dylan, scratching through his flesh.

  CHAPTER THREE

  You know what charm is: a way of getting the answer yes without having asked any clear question. –Albert Camus

  I released Dylan and ran out of the room, down the short hall and into the bathroom where I fell to my knees, cowering in the dark corner. My body was shaking uncontrollably. And the wailing came. I couldn’t stop sobbing as much as I tried. My feelings twisted inside of me.

  I forced myself to stop, holding my breath for minutes at a time. I bit down hard on my tongue. The blood gushed.

  “Stupid bitch,” Gia was yelling from the bedroom. Apparently, she was angry that I had mutilated her slave boy.

  “We have to get him to the ocean,” Lyra said.

  “I’m okay.” I heard Dylan mumble. He didn’t sound alright.

  “There’s no ocean in Vegas,” Wren snapped.

  My heart fell. What had I done?

  “Clean up this mess,” Wren ordered Blake and Travis.

  I heard a lot of rustling around in the bedroom.

  “We have to move fast,” Gia said. “I told you it was a stupid idea to go somewhere without a beach.”

  “Just shut up,” Wren yelled. “Load everything in the limo and keep the slave wrapped up so he doesn’t bleed all over everything. We can make it to Santa Monica Beach in just over three hours if we speed.”

  “I’ll get the limo started,” Lyra called out as I heard her rushing through the suite. There was the jingling of keys and then the door slammed shut.

  “Blake, you carry Dylan,” Wren called over. “If anyone says anything to you in the lobby, tell them he’s drunk.”

  “Where are you going?” Gia called sternly.

  “Gotta check on Hailey.” Dylan’s voice slurred.

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” Gia snapped. It sounded like she pulled him back. He tumbled to the floor.

  I ran into the room. “Don’t hurt him,” I choked out through my fanged mouth. Though Travis was rolling up the bodies in the plastic, the smell of blood was still in the room. My legs tensed and I felt like I was going to spring onto the wrapped carcasses and tear them open.

  “Here,” Gia said, her fiery red hair falling in her face. She ran over and tore through the plastic. At once, she threw one of the girl’s legs at me.

  It hit me in the chest. My eyes glazed over. All I saw was red. And I started devouring the flesh. When I realized what I was doing, my face fell in terror.

  I looked at Dylan. Tears were in his eyes. He dragged himself over to me and took me into his arms. He was kissing me all over my face. Stroking my hair. His lips were on mine. I could feel his warm, sweet breath. We were crying mouth to mouth as I shifted back into my human form.

  “Oh, please,” Gia growled. Her body was trembling. “Let’s get out of here.” She stuffed the bodies in a bag.

  Blake came over to Dylan and me. “I’ll take good care of him,” he said awkwardly.

  I didn’t want to let him go, but I knew we had to move fast. Blake carried Dylan out of the suite. I quickly cleaned up the blood on the floor. Travis and Gia put the trash bags of carcasses in suitcases. Wren went around the suite inspecting everything to make sure the place was in good order.

  With all that, we sauntered out of the room as casually as possible. Travis was telling jokes and we all pretended to laugh like it was just any ordinary night in Vegas.

  ***

  I held Dylan in my arms as I rushed into the ocean. Dawn was just breaking and the sky was that bluish grey color of nearly morning. The rest of the sirens were getting out the bags of body parts from the trunk. They were going to bury them at the bottom of the sea in some dark place no one could ever find.

  Dylan had lost a lot of blood. There was a gash down his chest and his right arm. He was groggy, but still conscious. “You’re going to make it Dylan—you are,” I said. “Just hold on.”

  I held onto him as I swam out deeper. “Why isn’t anything happening?” I asked him.

  He didn’t seem that coherent. His mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.

  At once, I moved out further. There was blood in the water. I feared we might attract sharks. His cuts were open. They looked worse. “I don’t understand,” I kept saying. “The ocean water is supposed to heal you.” None of the other sirens told me what to do to save Dylan. Maybe they thought I would just know.

  But it seemed more like they were just concerned with hiding the body parts and keeping Dylan’s blood off the seats. They didn’t want his suspicious looking injuries to draw attention to us in any way. That was why bringing him to a hospital was out of the question. Doctors would want to know what kind of animal tore him open. Aside from that I didn’t think the sirens cared about him at all.

  Gia might have cared, but I suspected she was intensely jealous now after witnessing our kiss at the suite. I feared that if she couldn’t have Dylan for herself, she would rather he died. But really I didn’t know what she thought because more than anything she just confused me.

  I was desperate now. His wounds were in worse shape. Though I could feel his heart beating, his eyes had closed. Now he lay limply in my arms as I treaded in the ocean trying to keep his head up.

  I tried to look across the water, to the shore to see if the other sirens were coming. Maybe one of them would offer some help. But I couldn’t see them anywhere.

  “Come on, Dylan. Wake up,” I said holding his cheek up to mine. He didn’t respond. But then I had an idea. It was risky, but it occurred to me that maybe he had to be entirely immersed. I didn’t want his lungs to fill with water and cause him to drown. My mind reeled. If I didn’t do something, he would surely die. I decided to risk it.

  I took a deep breath remembering how Dylan said I could sustain myself for nearly twenty minutes underwater if need be. Though Dylan had the same capabilities, I feared that if he wasn’t actively holding his breath, his lungs may fill with water and drown him. But there was no time and I had to do something.

  With that decision, I pulled him down deep into the ocean. My vision was very clear even in the darkness. I could see that his body hadn’t healed at all and he was still unconscious.

  Suddenly, I heard this voice in my head. I have no idea where it came from. “Clothes off,” it sounded like the voice said.

  I minded at once. Immediately, with no time for embarrassment or modesty, I unzipped his pants. I pulled them off and his underwear too. To my shock, his wounds started to change at once. His head moved. It appeared as if he was gaining consciousness.

  With my left arm, I held to his garments, while with my right arm I pulled him upwards to the surface. His body started to twitch like it was convulsing.

  I got very scared and pushed his head up out of the ocean. He looked like he was choking on the water. I hit him hard on the back a few times. With that, a stream of water shot out of his lungs and then mouth.

  He started coughing. I kept hitting his back, even harder now. More water came out and then he started smiling. It looked like he was maybe even laughing. “Okay, okay, Rocky Balboa, enough!” He was making fun of me for hitting him so hard, comparing me to a boxer.

  “You’re okay?” I asked in a rush. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might just pop out of my chest.

  A crooked grin lifted on his gorgeous face. “Couldn’t be better.” He held his arm out of the water. The gash was healing nicely. It had sutured together naturally and was a pink line now. I ducked under the water to examine the slash on his chest and it was also in good order just as the other.

  Startling us, Blake’s head and shoulders lifted out of the ocean right before us. He was holding the trash bags with the body parts inside. “Hi guys,” he said cheerily. “You okay, buddy?” he asked Dylan.

  “Yeah, I’m great now, thanks to Hailey’s left hook.” He pulled me closer to him which surprised me.

 
; “Why didn’t you tell me I had to take off all his clothes in order for the healing process to work?” I asked Blake in an irritated tone.

  “Oops!” he blushed. “I forgot.” His voice had a naïve tone to it.

  I rolled my eyes wondering what kind of moron he was.

  Blake lifted the bags up a little as if to readjust them in his grasp. “I’m glad you’re better, bro.”

  “Thanks,” Dylan said in an unreadable voice.

  “I have to bury this stuff before Wren gets mad.” He seemed a little nervous. “Tammy was cute,” he said hesitantly to Dylan. “Didn’t you think so?”

  Dylan’s eyes cast down. “Yeah, she was pretty.”

  “See you soon,” Blake said before ducking back under the water.

  “We should wait in the limo with the others,” Dylan lifted his chin in the direction of the parking lot.

  My throat tightened. “I’m so sorry about how I attacked you at the suite.” How does someone apologize for doing something so horrendous?

  He took my hand as I was treading water. “It wasn’t your fault. You were trying not to give in to your hunger and I was pushing you to violate your core beliefs. The stakes were too high at that moment, but I’m glad you ate.”

  Nausea came over me, but when I looked at Dylan, it appeared as if he was studying me.

  “You seem much stronger and healthier now.” He touched my cheek. “You have a warm glow now.”

  I shook my head and closed my eyes in disgust.

  He squeezed my hand in the water. “You can’t fight this, Hailey.”

  Tingling sensations rushed through my body when he said my name. That just made me feel more guilty. I should be mourning the loss of lives, not overridden with desire for a boy. “We better get back to shore,” I said, trying not to show how depressed I was feeling now. The truth was that I felt a hell of a lot stronger. The strength felt amazing. But now that I had tasted human flesh, I wanted more. And I wanted it badly.