Shipwreck Souls

by Kendra Moreno

  I assumed the captain would leave me at their headquarters while they attacked the cruise ship. I was surprised when he instructed Goddard to lift me to my feet and lead me aboard their ship along with all their equipment. This time, they secured me with metal restraints, and I worried for a moment that they would hold me far better than the rope they’d used before. When I tested their strength, however, I found a weak link in the metal, which would be easily broken when the time came.

  Orca let me know he was still waiting for me by curling a single tentacle out of the water. The sight of his bright orange skin brought a smile to my face, drawing the captain up short when he walked by. His eyes were completely black now, the black veins bulging in his skin. Over half the crew appeared the same as they shot possessive glances towards me. I almost expected them to string me up on the front of their ship like some sort of ornament, but they didn’t. Not yet, at least. Goddard stuck to my side, claiming he was in charge of the hostage, so, therefore, he had to come. I tried to tell him to stay back, but he wouldn’t listen. I would just have to make sure to save him when the time came.

  “You’re gonna be our little trophy for a long time,” one of the pirates snarled at me. The captain didn’t give him any warning before he pulled out his weapon and blew his head off. His blood splattered across Goddard and me, staining our clothing red. At least three of the other infected crew members hissed at the captain afterwards, dropping the whole ship into silence.

  If I wasn’t the siren I was, I would almost be afraid.

  “Does anyone else want to look at my property?” the captain asked, his voice as hard as iron.

  I bristled at his words and worked the link of metal looser, ready to spring free at a moment’s notice. No one else stepped up, and while a few snuck glances under their lashes or from the corner of their eyes, no one outright ogled me. Shame. It would be perfect if they just slaughtered themselves.

  When the captain realized Roger was gone, he didn’t even react except for a smug look and the words, “Now I got you all to myself.” The only person that seemed to be immune to the madness was Goddard. Some connection kept the captain from attacking him, kept him from reacting to the boy being so close to me. I was thankful for that. I didn’t want to kill the captain quite yet.

  “We won’t have to go far. The cruise ship will pass by in only ten minutes,” one of the crew told the captain. “She should come around the corner, and we can come up on her starboard side.”

  “Good,” the captain replied, nodding his head. “Make sure the equipment is ready. We won’t need the dive gear. We’ll just pull up beside her.”

  A breath left Goddard’s lips, so quiet only I could hear it. “Stupid, so stupid,” he breathed. “They’ll see them coming a mile away.”

  “This is a suicide mission,” I added. It wouldn’t even be me that would have to sink them. They’d get themselves killed all on their own.

  Ten minutes later, the largest ship I’ve ever seen came around the bend. It was completely lit up, beautiful, like a giant floating city. Music was carried across the water to my ears, something that spoke of joy, of fun, of being carefree. That ship was not meant to be sunk by a siren. That ship was not meant to be sunk at all.

  A chorus of howls went up from the crew, the engine of their ship roaring to life before we were shooting across the water like a torpedo. Something held me back from singing, although not curiosity this time. There was still the mystery of the madness. I didn’t know if that was what held me back or not. I didn’t know what the seas I was thinking at all.

  We were along the side of the cruise ship before I could decide what to do, the lights almost blinding. It was both humbling and terrifying that such a large creation could float on the ocean waves.

  “Move, move, move!” the captain barked out, and I watched as they threw hooks with lines up to the levels above. He pointed to Goddard and four of the other crew members. “Guard her. Man the ship. Be ready to leave when we come back.”

  There wouldn’t be a ship to come back to. That much I would make sure of.

  The captain and his crew started climbing on board the giant ship before I could blink. And then the CLACK, CLACK, CLACK started, followed by the terrible screams. I could feel the sheer number of humans on the ship, and I couldn’t stomach such a vessel going down.

  “Leave her, Johnny, leave her.

  Ooo leave her, Johnny, leave her.

  When the seas are rough and the times are hard,

  it’s time for you to leave her.”

  I turned towards the pirate singing, the sea shanty rolling over my bones in familiarity. Where had I heard that before?

  “I turned my face towards the sea,

  and begged her to take me,

  She held me close, and cushioned my fall,

  oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her.

  Madness stole past my lips,

  and the salt washed all the blood away,

  The siren’s lament will take my soul,

  oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her.”

  And as if every memory came crashing back in with the song, I gasped, fear taking over my heart. No! I couldn’t have that power! I reached around and grabbed Goddard violently by his shirt, yanking him close.

  “We have to stop them,” I whispered hoarsely. “We can’t let it spread.”

  “What are you talking about?” His eyes were wide in fear and confusion, sensing my urgency. He knew I wouldn’t panic over something small.

  “The Siren’s Lament! Oh, seas! I have the Siren’s Lament!”

  There were legends of a few select sirens who could sing, and a madness would steal into the souls of those who listened. It would corrupt, and take over, and spread like a disease of the mind. At one point, humankind almost faced extinction because of a single siren’s song. And I had that same power. And those infected had just gone onto a ship filled with thousands that could be corrupted. There was no cure for the madness. The Siren’s Lament was fatal every single time.

  I hoped I was not too late.

  “We need to get aboard that ship now!”

  Goddard didn’t hesitate, realizing something bad was happening. He immediately stood and moved as if he would attack the other crew left aboard our ship without hesitation. Luckily, I already had the tools I needed. Goddard wouldn’t have to fight at all. I couldn’t risk singing this close to the cruise ship. If by some miracle, the madness had not spread to those passengers yet, I didn’t want to increase the possibility by singing nearby.

  But a siren had more at her disposal than her song.

  My claws slid out, my face turned savage, and my skin shimmered with my scales. I stopped just short of manifesting my tail. I, no doubt, looked like some sort of sea monster, the kind I knew I was. I slashed the pirate immediately to my left, his intestines falling to the deck before he ever saw me coming. It took me less than ten seconds to slaughter the four crew members left on our ship. Ten seconds, and I was drenched in blood, and I didn’t even care. Goddard stared at me in shock, more blood splattering across his face. He didn’t flinch, but he also didn’t move.

  “We can’t waste time!” I shouted, shoving him towards the ropes dangling over the sides of the cruise ship.

  We began to climb, hand over hand, my speed much faster than Goddard’s.

  When I climbed over the railing first, I already knew it was too late. The screams were louder when you stood on the deck, the cheerful music still playing somewhere on the ship. CLACK, CLACK, CLACK. The sounds echoed on the still water, but I didn’t see any of the pirates.

  For a moment, I had thought we might be able to save them all. For a moment, I had thought myself a hero, rather than a monster. But those emotions passed as quickly as they came.

  In front of me, a child stood, a little girl wearing a pink and purple floral pattern dress. Her eyes were pitch black, those thick, black veins bulging beneath her skin. Blood dripped down her chest, and I could only guess it belonged to
the woman at her feet in a matching outfit. I watched her with agony coursing through my body, my fingers twitching at my side. She was completely focused on me, as if her mother wasn’t dead at her feet.

  Behind me, Goddard tumbled over the edge of the railing, hitting the deck hard. He sprung to his feet fast, recovering, breathing heavily. He swiped his hair from his eyes and looked at me. “Are we too late?” he panted out, before his eyes fell on the little girl.

  “We’re too late,” I choked. I did this. This was all my doing. If I would have just sunk Roger’s ship that first moment, none of this would have happened. Goddard said there were thousands of people on this ship, families, innocents. I was their death. I was their end. “We’re too late.”

  The little girl screeched like some sort of banshee and sprinted right for us.

  Chapter Seven

  My first instinct was to slash her with my claws, but she was only a child, so I hesitated. That was my mistake. She barreled into my stomach like a cannonball, hitting me so hard that I slammed back against the railing and grunted in pain. I didn’t hesitate a second time, but I couldn’t bring myself to cut into the child. I threw her over the railing, feeding her soul to the sea.

  Deep, manic laughter reached my ears in time for the captain to stroll from around a corner.

  “Welcome aboard, sea-witch. Welcome aboard my new ship. Isn’t she a beaut?” He followed his statement with another laugh, one that made me cringe.

  The captain was no longer any semblance of himself. Just like the little girl, his ice-blue eyes were gone, his veins thick and black and bulging beneath his skin. As I watched him, his lips pulled back into a snarl, and any trace of humanity that might have remained disappeared.

  “Goddard,” I whispered, too soft, but he heard. “Goddard, get back.”

  “I’m not leaving you to face him alone!”

  “Get back, Goddard!” I whirled and met his eyes. “You won’t survive him. You’ll hesitate. I won’t. So, move back!”

  He paused for a moment before he nodded his head and moved away, his back to the railing to keep the area around us clear. I already knew I would have to give everything I was to sink a ship this size. But first, the captain would need to be stopped, and I would take great pleasure in doing it.

  The captain gave a bloodcurdling screech and rushed towards me. He was either too far gone to remember the weapon at his hip, or he wanted to rip me apart with his bare hands. I didn’t know which.

  I jumped to the side at the last moment, barely missing his reaching fingers. I slashed my claws across his back, and he shrieked in rage and pain. I wasn’t expecting him to move as fast as he did, or to recover from the slash as if it was barely a scratch. He slammed his fist into my chin, and it threw me backwards so violently, I cracked my skull against the railing. I didn’t have time to get up before he was on top of me, before he wrapped his fingers around my throat and started to choke the life from my body. His legs straddled mine, and the madness coursing through his body made him stronger than normal. Because of that, he held me down well, and I couldn’t get the momentum to throw him off, not in the position I was in.

  “Such a pretty little prize you make,” the captain purred, squeezing his fingers tighter around my neck, choking off my air supply. “My own pretty little sea-witch.”

  “I’m . . . not . . . a . . . sea-witch,” I growled. I willed my tail to spring forth, the thickness and strength of it was far greater than the human legs. I bucked wildly beneath him, until his fingers loosened around my neck. With giant dripping claws, I shoved upwards, a vicious snarl on my face. I used the momentum, and before he tipped backwards from me, I punched my fist through his chest and shredded everything I touched. With a strangled gurgle, the captain’s face went slack, his mouth opened in shock. I pushed his body off of me, forcing my tail away with difficulty. Breathing hard, I stood from the deck and looked down at his mutilated body, at the origin of the madness I caused. “I’m a fucking siren.” I kicked his lifeless body for good measure, but my job was not done.

  And then I remembered my friend. Worried, I looked up, searching for Goddard, and I was relieved to see him standing in the same spot I’d left him.

  “Are you okay?” I gesture for him to come forward, and he did so without question. It spoke to his innocence, that he would trust the monster after all the horror she’d caused.

  He nodded his head, a little too vigorously to actually be fine, but it was good enough for me. “I’m fine. I’m fine. What now?”

  I looked around us, watching the humans filled with madness chasing those yet to turn, listened to the screams of those dying, of those lost to the world. I did this. I killed them all.

  “You need to get off the ship,” I whispered. I couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes, to see the fear there, fear of the monster I was. “You need to go. Now.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “You have to!” I cried. “You have to go now, or you will die.”

  “I can’t leave you!”

  “Go! Now!” I screamed, twisting violently to meet his eyes.

  My heart stopped and my breath left my body. Tears sprung to my lashes. Goddard stood there in the midst of chaos, his chin held high, his jaw clenched tight. His hand twitched, and the madness danced along the edges of his eyes. Tiny black veins crawled across his face, barely taking over, but taking over enough. He began to shake, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.

  “I can’t, Coi,” he whispered, his voice rough. “I can’t.”

  I sucked in a great lungful of air, but it wasn’t enough. Seas, it wasn’t enough. The one soul I didn’t want the ocean to have, and she’d take it anyway.

  “No. There’s got to be something we can do. We can save you. We can! We just—”

  Goddard shook his head sadly, taking the steps until he stopped right in front of me. “There’s no hope. I saw it in your eyes the moment you realized what caused the madness. This is it, and that’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not. Nothing about this is okay.” The tears trickled down my cheeks, my agony there for anyone to see as chaos continued around us.

  A tiny smile curled Goddard’s lips, and though darkness crawled across his eyes, he reached out and took my hand. “You have a job to do, Coi. At least I will be here to hear you sing one last time.”

  I clenched my jaw and squeezed his hand. “This isn’t right. You were meant to be saved.”

  “And the sea had other plans,” he whispered, the veins growing thicker beneath his skin. “Sing,” he urged. “You have to sing.”

  Slowly, I nodded my head, and with his hand still threaded through mine, I turned and braced myself. When I began to sing, I sang for all the souls that weren’t meant to die. I sang for every innocent that I killed with my song. I sang for the boy, barely a man, who stood by my side, as tears flowed down my face. I could have sung my own song, but something else flowed across my lips.

  “Leave her, Johnny, leave her.

  Ooo leave her, Johnny, leave her.

  When the seas are rough and the times are hard,

  it’s time for you to leave her.

  I turned my face towards the sea,

  and begged her to take me,

  She held me close, and cushioned my fall,

  oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her.

  Madness stole past my lips,

  and the salt washed all the blood away,

  The siren’s lament will take my soul,

  oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her.

  Leave her, Johnny, leave her.

  Ooo leave her, Johnny, leave her.

  When the darkness comes and the death toll climbs,

  it’s time for you to leave her.”

  Around me, the screams began to rise in volume as those affected by my song started throwing themselves from the ship, the water churning below like a rising tsunami. The louder my voice grew, the more violent the seas became, until the massive cruise ship rocked from
side to side, until with a giant groan, the sea began to swallow it whole.

  I met Goddard’s black eyes, the madness taking over, but he still remained somewhat calm. Death had a way of humbling a soul, of stealing all your thoughts, and replacing them with everything you hoped and dreamed for. Fear forced his hand to shake, but I only squeezed it in return, keeping it clenched tightly within mine.

  I won’t let you go, I thought. Not until the very end.

  “Leave her, Johnny, leave her.

  Ooo leave her, Johnny, leave her.

  When the seas are rough and the times are hard,

  it’s time for you to leave her . . .”

  The moment the ship began to sink, the water rose quickly, covering first my ankles, then my shins, then my thighs, as if once it started to go down, the sea grew greedy.

  I stopped singing. My job was done, and the water was churning red around us.

  “It’s okay,” I whispered as the water covered our hips. “It’s okay.”

  Goddard smiled, fighting the madness in his eyes, fighting to hold on until the last moment. “I know, Luecoisa. I know.”

  When the water covered our heads, I willed my body to change, my tail bursting forth, a dark limb in the midst of darkness. Goddard held his breath, but he was only human, and his lungs could only hold so much air. He jerked violently, but I did not let go of his hand. Not even when he began to thrash. Not even when he met my eyes one last time. Not even when he stopped moving, and his body grew limp.

  A siren cannot cry, for her tears are always washed away by the sea. A siren, when she sings, can do great things, but she can also do great terrible things. I had completed my rite of passage, and I was drenched in the blood of thousands. I didn’t feel like I had succeeded.

  Such a dark little siren I was.