by S. L. Giger
“But what does this have to do with me. I’m still alive, ain’t I?” I looked from one to the other.
“Kind of. You are one of the lucky ones.” Roisin squeaked. “Your aura was right, so that we could transform you into one of us. You have been asleep in transformation the past thirty-five days. Don’t you feel the difference?”
“I was passed out for thirty-five days?” I screamed. “That’s over a month. Does my family know where I am?”
One corner of Melissa’s mouth dropped into a frown, and she looked like she was going to say something but remained silent.
Roisin explained it to me instead. “No. There were search parties for you and your friend of course, but after not finding you for more than two weeks, you were pronounced dead. Your funeral was held four days ago. Don’t worry about it, we all slept through ours as well.”
“My family thinks I am dead?” I yelled again. “I have to go to them and let them know I am fine.”
“Um, yes, you might want to rethink that,” Cathy said smart-alecky.
“Unfortunately, I have to agree with her,” Roisin said. “First of all, they would be in great shock, when they see the person they just buried walking toward them. Secondly, the transformation changed you. So, I’m asking you again, do you feel any different?”
Even though hearing about my own death was a fact I needed to think about some more, for the time being, the curiosity inside me gained the upper hand.
“I feel stronger but other than that, no. It would help if I could get a better look at myself.” I pulled at the straps again. I was worried about having bad scars from the fall.
“The strength is there because you have the unused adrenaline of your new heart inside you. That will subside over time to a normal level. But there are some other benefits that come with being a Siren. Let me demonstrate that to you.” One moment, Roisin was talking and the next she was gone. I just looked at an empty spot of bare rock. I blinked in confusion.
“Over here,” she called. She was standing in a different corner of the cave. Suddenly, the others were standing next to her, too.
How did they do that?
“How do we do that, you think?” Roisin asked.
Can they now read minds as well?
“We can walk extremely fast; twice the speed of a normal passenger airplane, and all this without the slightest noise.”
Now they were standing next to me again.
“And that’s why we had to strap you to the rocks; otherwise, you could have killed yourself… again,” Roisin chuckled. “By running into a wall too fast, plus, you need this remaining energy to make it to your first meal. We need to get our hearts refueled about every fourty days. The remaining time, we all find our special ways to get some additional adrenaline.” She winked at me as if I was her friend and already understood the secrets she talked about. “Otherwise, we don’t need much food or actually, no food at all. But you will learn more about this in time. Now, it’s important that you take your first steps soon and learn to move around. Are you ready for this?”
Chapter 2
They untied the straps from my body, telling me to try to sit up as if I were moving in slow motion. I tried to follow their advice, but once I started moving, everything became a blur, and the cave wall zoomed in dangerously close. After a second, I stopped moving, but I was already halfway through the room. Melissa and Roisin quickly grabbed my arms. Cathy simply leaned against the wall in a different corner of the cave.
“Oops,” I said apologetically, waiting for the wave of dizziness to pass through me.
“You need to focus from inside out and mentally control your movements. Think slow motion,” Melissa advised me. “Try going back to the bed first, so that you have a little cushion of space and don’t end up splattered on the wall.”
I tried again and noticed a difference. It was as if the whole world around me slowed down and I could look at my surroundings in more detail. As a normal human, I wouldn’t even have moved an inch, but now I was already standing next to the bed, still a little shaky on my legs.
“Good job, you seem to be a fast learner,” Melissa smiled.
“Except for the fact that she looks like she will fall over in a moment.” Roisin touched my shoulder, and I instantly felt more stabilized.
“This is wrong. It’s like being on a roller coaster.” I said.
“That is normal in the beginning. Roisin might not have experienced it that way. As a human, she was very well acquainted with the feeling of being tipsy.”
“Hey, leave me alone, I am Irish, and I was young.” Roisin laughed. “Going to the pub is just what we did.”
“Her behavior hasn’t changed much since then,” Melissa addressed me as if Roisin wasn’t present.
“I can hear you,” Roisin said.
They made me go back and forth a few more times under their observant eyes. The dizziness grew less, the more I accepted the fact that this was really happening and I could control how fast and where I was going. At some point, Melissa told me that it was enough for now and it was probably safe to approach the wall. She rushed to one side of the cave, where Cathy was standing. Now that I knew why and how they were moving so fast, I could see the direction in which they were taking off. Thus, it started to make sense where she showed up again.
Something was propped against the wall beside Cathy, covered by a black cloth. She took the cloth down, and there stood a big mirror.
“So, Serena,” Melissa told me, “it’s time you meet your new self. Don’t freak out; you have a slightly different appearance from what you used to look like.”
The latest at ‘don’t freak out,’ she had my full attention and curiosity. I gasped with fear and touched my face to feel for any missing flesh. Everything was intact and felt smooth and whole.
“Ah, the young ones. Always, so concerned about their looks,” Roisin said.
“You obviously enjoy it, not to be the youngest one anymore,” Melissa remarked.
“Are you kidding, this is great. We should get a new one on a regular basis.” She laughed.
“Let’s not get ahead of yourselves,” Cathy said disapprovingly.
Melissa nodded. “Remember to think slow motion when you approach the wall,” she addressed me.
I moved to the mirror and was pretty excited that I didn’t end up like a thrown tomato, although I somehow couldn’t show my excitement.
I felt three stares burning on me, and so I had a closer look at the reflection in the mirror. Jesus Christ! After the first shock had passed, I stared back at the creature, more exactly, my own reflection. I will come to the bad part in one moment. Good things first. I used my fingers as a comb and stroke through my hair which somehow looked fuller and healthier. Still the same light brown hair as before but it used to be thin and always split at the end. I opened my mouth in amazement. My skin looked smooth and clean. The annoying pimple that had started to grow on the side of my nose was gone. Not only that, there were no blemishes on my skin whatsoever. In addition to that, my glasses were gone. Only now, I realized that the whole time I was in the cave, I had seen everything crystal sharp without any external support. It was as if I had won a beauty makeover and this was the “after” picture.
My eyes, on the other hand, were something else. My new and healthy eyes were dark with yellow sparks in them, and they glistened as if they constantly wanted to attract everybody’s attention. Even I was drawn in by them and stared with fascination. The pupils were in a weird diamond shape. These eyes were not just strange or inhuman; they looked abysmally evil. They created a huge contrast to the rest of my appearance. A mean aura came from them. Nobody would be able to look at me like that. I shuddered.
“Why aren’t your eyes like this?” I exclaimed.
Roisin piped up, “Ours are the same, but we manage to hide it. With some eye training, they will go back to almost normal. For more help, luckily today there are contacts. It
took me a week to get them close to human eyes again.” She winked, like a diva on TV.
“You will have three days,” said Melissa. “On the third day, we need to get you outside to get new energy. Just in case we come across some more humans, it’d be better for them and for us if your eyes don’t look like this anymore.”
“I have no doubts that our little prodigy will do fine. I can’t wait to take you into the real world,” Roisin laughed.
Melissa pressed her lips together and then continued, “You also have time to think about how you’d have named your first daughter.”
“Why is–”
“Wait, she doesn’t have a name yet? What’s with Serena?” Cathy asked.
“That’s her real name,” Roisin grinned.
“Of course, it is,” Cathy snorted. “What is she, the Harry Potter of the Sirens?”
I looked at her questioningly.
“Siren, Serena, get it? Your real name has its roots in what we are. It’s as if you had been destined to become what you are now,” Cathy said dryly.
Melissa clapped her hands. “Okay, that’s enough. Now we can come back to the topic of your new name. You need a new identity, because, obviously, what you used to be is dead to the outside world. What this means exactly you will learn soon enough. One thing it means for sure is that you will never be able to have children.” She looked at me with sad eyes.
“Not that I was planning on having children soon, but may I ask why?”
“Like everything else in our body, the reproduction functions also shut down. By naming yourself like you would have named your daughter, it feels like we get a small piece of that loss back.”
I felt like now was high time to stop playing that educating game. “Well, in my opinion, we can stop worrying about all of these and I will go back to my family. Now, that everything else seems to be fine.” I wanted to back away but that wasn’t possible. Behind me was the wall with the mirror and the three of them were in front of me.
Cathy was the first to speak. “I’m afraid; it’s too late for that. See, everything comes with a price. In our case, having a second chance as a Siren isn’t free either.”
“What she means is, that you will lead an exciting and in many ways unlimited life from now on. But you must sacrifice a few things and come to terms with other conditions in order to survive,” Melissa added. “You can’t go back.”
“You can’t make me stay,” I said provokingly.
“Look, if you go now, chances are high that you will first scare a few humans to death and then kill the rest of them. Or accidentally get yourself killed because you don’t know anything yet about all the possibilities your new body gives you.” Roisin gesticulated with her hands to underline every word she said. “We all needed help in the beginning; there is no shame in admitting this. And you will see that it’s quite nice to have some people around you, who are alike.” Roisin pointed with her eyes at the others.
“Speak for yourself.” Cathy hissed.
“Anyway, how about, we first teach you one thing or the other, so that you won’t walk around like a ticking bomb anymore?” Roisin looked at me with big eyes, and the attention of the other two was also fully directed at me.
“Fine.” I sighed. Three against one – this wasn’t fair.
Chapter 3
I literally spent the next three days in front of the mirror, doing nothing but focusing my eyes. The goal was to get the pupil back to a normal round shape. The others came and went as they pleased. Sometimes, they engaged me in a few conversations but they never left me alone in the cave or let me go outside. At first, I didn’t mind, since I was too focused on having normal eyes again. The temperature in the cave was agreeable, and it was dry. I had no idea how much time had passed already since I couldn't use anything as a reference. Even so, something odd struck me.
“Melissa, you said I had been in transformation for thirty-five days. How can it be, that I don’t have the slightest desire to drink water or eat anything?”
“The adrenaline gives enough energy to our body. We have no vital flow, so our digestion only works extremely slow. Eating normal portions would kill you. Things would start rotting away in your stomach,” was her explanation.
“So, no need to stand in line in front of public toilets anymore, yay!”
“True, that’s a big plus.” She chuckled. “About one sandwich a month is enough food. You better learn some strategies how not to eat and at the same time not appear anorexic.”
“Mhh, that might be a problem, I love food.”
“You will be okay. Or do you feel any cravings now? Even the smell of a delicious meal won’t provoke any reaction from you.”
I couldn’t imagine that. I wasn’t sure how much I could trust Melissa anyway. She was the one who wanted to keep me here the most. Cathy obviously disliked me but Roisin was kind of funny. I’m sure with her I could negotiate something, once the time was right. However, with Melissa… She behaved so nice the whole time but then again, had a very clear picture about where my path should lead. I would be on my guard around her. I went back to staring at my reflection, squeezing my eyes to small slits and opening them again.
“Why don’t I get tired standing here, repeating squeezing my eyes shut?” I asked Roisin, who was my guard now.
“That needs a bigger explanation.” Roisin thought about where to begin for a moment. “Stop what you are doing for a second and touch your neck.”
I thought that was a weird request but did how I was told. “And?” I asked her puzzled.
“Do you feel anything?” She asked.
I didn’t feel anything. There should have been a pulse. I pressed my hand against my throat harder but still, there was nothing. Then I placed my palm on the spot where I thought my heart was.
“You won’t feel anything there either,” Roisin said.
“I don’t have a heartbeat?”
“Not one that you can feel. Let me tell you something about your transformation,” Roisin took a long breath. “To keep you alive, we extracted the remaining adrenalin out of your friends’ heart. Mixed with Melissa's saliva, this turned into a very powerful serum. With the help of a syringe, we then inserted the serum directly into your heart. For a human body, the adrenalin on its own would be too much to take, since it increases your heartbeat to about 4000. The saliva planted the genes of a Siren in you which you needed to survive the energy shock. So, now your heart is more like a buzzing machine or battery.”
I pressed on my chest some more, but there was no movement. “So, it does beat but insanely fast?”
“Yes, during the transformation, your blood flow froze. Instead of blood, a steady flow of energy now runs through your veins. That’s also the reason, why we can move so quickly. As long as you keep refilling the adrenalin once a month, you won’t tire.” Then she warned me, “but you better never miss a shot when you need it. Otherwise, you won’t be able to control your actions so well anymore. Plus, if you don’t get your shot, you will die for good.” She paused. “Cathy actually is the expert on all this. She is a heart surgeon, so if you have any more questions, you might want to ask her.”
“I have about a million more questions, but I’d rather not ask her.” Cathy was kind of scary.
“Yes, I can relate to that.” Roisin laughed. “Well, you can ask me, too.”
“Ok, so, is it true that Sirens can sing well?” Hope was rising inside me, since becoming a good singer was always one of my dreams. With my mousy voice, my chances never stood well.
“I’m not actually sure if that is true. None of the Sirens I have talked to can achieve anything special with their voice. The aura alone does the job and attracts humans.”
“Oh bummer, that would have been a nice benefit.” I pulled the left corner of my mouth into a frown.
“Don’t worry; there are enough other advantages,” Roisin answered, ”for example aging.”
“Yes, what i
s with our age?” I asked.
“This is an awesome one, so listen closely.” Roisin’s eyes glistered behind me in the mirror. “Due to our slow blood flow, we age only about one year every five years and our body stops changing at fifty-five. That includes the wrinkles on our face, so with 90 we’d still look the same as we did with fifty-five.”
“Can we die?” I then wondered.
“If not through an accidental suicide, you will die eventually but that could go up to thousand years. We can live so many lives. As they say; the sky is the limit!”
“Man, I’ve just made it to seventeen and life was quite exhausting at some points. But now you are telling me that I pretty much fell into the fountain of youth.”
“I don’t think about the length too much. It’s all a succession of one great moment after the other if you live in the present. Which means, a whole lot of awesome time for us.” Roisin exclaimed.
I pondered about what she said. With everything I’ve learned about my new self, I didn’t feel very human anymore. But how would I go back to my old life, with a new identity? Was a new name really necessary? Well, the choice at least would be very simple.
At some point, Roisin started speaking again. Or rather than speaking, it was a very short notice warning. “Head’s up.” And then, she started to throw small things like pens, a teddy bear or plastic cups at me. I automatically tried to catch them and was very successful. Turned out that other than the fast walking, my reflexes also improved a lot.
“Good job, you are able to control your movements quite well.”
“It helps to think that the world around me is slowing down and I imagine wading through it, like through a mud bath. Like that, I can adjust the force of my movements.” I opened my hand in slow motion, like a flower that blossomed in the sunlight. Except that I opened my hand in a normal human speed.