It seemed ages ago since they’d left. Per Devin’s instructions, they were to have no contact with any members of the Clan until the danger had passed. She believed keeping their whereabouts a secret would protect them. Three weeks felt like an eternity. And if she were to fail, the eternity might become permanent.
Although she attended school during the day, her mind drifted elsewhere, wandering from the call of the ocean to the Sons of Orpheus, who continued to haunt her dreams. She’d dreamed of Victoria again, as she had many times over the past few months. The dream always started the same: she found Victoria lying, pale and bloodied, in the ice plant bed, the same morning she discovered the Sons of Orpheus had returned. But as a scream rose into Lora’s mouth, Victoria opened her eyes. She rose, as if from the dead, moving toward her with outstretched, pleading arms. Each time Lora woke, her body trembled, sweat covered her forehead, and damp pajamas clung to her body even though the room felt chilly.
Every bump, every loud bang of a door, every shrill scream of a classmate, made her jump. Every corner presented a danger to her now. She kept a knife and mace in her purse, ready to defend herself should the Sons of Orpheus seek her out again. They recognized her, could hunt her, so why weren’t they coming for her? This question troubled Lora most of all. They were biding their time, but for what? Why not ambush her? Catch her off-guard at school? Show up at her house and kill her in her sleep?
The idea made her shudder.
No, there must be some reason they were avoiding her. She’d killed one of them, since there was no way he could have survived her assault. The vision of his gaping neck tormented her dreams. She’d proven herself capable of self-defense, and they would be more cautious the next time. There would be a next time; Lora was certain.
Having given up his ruse, Ryan stopped coming to school. He’d graduated last year, he said, so going to classes when he could be keeping his eyes open for leads to the Sons around Pacific Grove seemed pointless. She missed seeing him in the hallways, and yearned to go home each day to find him sitting at the computer in her living room, pouring over papers with her father, searching for information which might lead them to anything related to the Sons of Orpheus. He’d glance at her, his dark eyes shining, and her heart would flutter in response. After the ocean and the impending threat of the Sons of Orpheus, Ryan consumed her thoughts.
Lately, they spent a great deal of time together, especially because he had moved out of the hotel room which had been his temporary home, and moved into Lora’s house. But, to Lora’s chagrin, they never had time alone. Someone—her father, Devin or Will—always lingered nearby, tagging along, and she could only day-dream about snuggling next to him beside the ocean, singing along with its chanting.
A hand tapped her shoulder. She turned to find Will behind her, smiling. “School’s over,” he said. “Not that you even noticed. Where are you, anyway?”
Lora sighed and gathered her belongings.
“A million places but here,” she answered. “This is ridiculous. I can’t believe I have to come to school when I should be finding a way to stop the Sons of Orpheus.” The frustration she’d been feeling all day mounted, the classroom becoming smaller and more confined. She wanted to get out, to commune with the ocean for a while to relieve her tension. Although there had been no more killings during the past three weeks, there were also hardly any Sirens left to kill. So she really couldn’t play the odds. She, Will, Ryan, her father and Devin had been extremely careful in their day-to-day activities, and never traveled anywhere alone. Lora often found herself pacing the living room floor, back and forth, trying to chase away the exhausting tedium.
“I actually watched Gary Martin pick a scab off his face for the entire fifty minutes,” she said, standing. “I never realized picking a scab could be gross and fascinating at the same time.”
Will chuckled. “Well, at least it got your mind off everything else.”
“Not really,” she answered. “It just made me happy I wasn’t his scab.” They both laughed together, and Lora remembered a time before the Sons of Orpheus came to Pacific Grove. A time when she desired to show off her powers to other people, to let humans learn Sirens existed and the mythological monsters they believed in were real, but changed. Now she realized how foolish she had been. The danger was real. It had always been real.
She’d been naïve then. A child. She couldn’t imagine how she had grown up so much in such a short amount of time.
Her breath created white puffs in the air, even though May was here and summer quickly approached. Side by side they left school and walked to Will’s car, not speaking, both lost in their own thoughts. She remembered an earlier conversation with Will, about how the Sons of Orpheus brought the cold with them, which was no myth. Clouds had been a permanent fixture for several months now, leaving her spirits dampened. She missed the beautiful sight of a sun-sparkling sea.
From far away, she heard someone calling her name. She turned toward the sound. Nicholas ran across the parking lot on awkward legs. He waved his arm back and forth to get her attention. Lora sighed. “Wait here a minute,” she said to Will, and hurried toward the flailing boy.
“Hi!” he said, stopping to hold his side and wince in pain. His breathing came hard and heavy, and Lora couldn’t help but smile at him.
“Hi,” she replied. “What’s up?”
Nicholas gave her a sheepish grin. “I wanted to say sorry,” he said, staring at his oversized feet. Lora frowned.
“For what?”
Obviously gathering his courage, Nicholas raised his head to look at her. “You told the school about my knife.”
Lora sighed. After all the other occurrences lately, she had completely forgotten about ratting him out. “Nicholas,” she said. “I—”
“No,” he said, stopping her. “I shouldn’t have brought it to school. I’m sorry I acted weird.” His cheeks reddened and his face fell, embarrassed and dejected.
“I didn’t do it to be mean,” she said. “I was worried about you.”
“I know,” the boy whispered, staring back down at the ground. “Thanks for caring.”
Lora sighed. He really wasn’t a bad kid. He only had a little growing up to do. “No problem. I hope you didn’t get in too much trouble,” she answered, patting him on the shoulder.
Nicholas shrugged. “They suspended me for a couple of days, but went easy when I told them Douglas was bullying me.” Nicholas snickered. “He got suspended, too.”
“Lora?” Will’s voice called to her from across the parking lot, which was probably mostly empty by now. “Are you coming?”
“Yeah,” she called back. She faced Nicolas again. “I’m glad it worked out. I gotta go, Nicholas.”
He cleared his throat, not moving his eyes from the spot on his shoulder where her hand had been. “Sure,” he said. “See ya.”
“Bye,” Lora said, and turned her back to him as she returned to Will. He gave her a questioning glance. “He wanted to talk about the knife he brought to school,” she said. “I think he feels bad about it. Poor kid. He doesn’t really have any friends. It’s too bad people aren’t nicer to him.”
Will only nodded. “So, where am I taking you today?” he asked. “Devin’s house? Home? I thought we could create a map and mark where the Sons of Orpheus have struck. Maybe we could get a better idea of where they are.”
Lora felt her face blush red and she squirmed in her seat, uncomfortable with the question. She hadn’t mentioned her budding relationship with Ryan, yet. Both of them had taken great pains to hide it because they didn’t want to be a distraction to the others. But if Lora were to be honest with herself, she was afraid to tell Will. He’d been acting so different lately, jealous almost, and she worried about how he would react.
“Actually, I’m busy,” she said, “so I can’t today.”
Seeing the confusion on his face, she added, “But it sounds like a great idea, and I’ll help you with it tomorrow, if you want.”
Will frowned. “I don’t like the idea of you going off by yourself.”
“Oh,” she said, squeezing her hands, “I won’t be alone.” Several moments passed with no response. Lora started to sweat during the uncomfortable silence. The heat bearing down upon her felt oppressive, so she rolled down the window to let the frigid air into the car.
Although he must have guessed the answer, Will said, “Are you doing something with your father?”
“No,” she said, wiping the sweat on her hands off on her jeans. “I’m going out with Ryan.” Lora had hoped the threat of the Sons of Orpheus would bring the two men together, help them form a bond which would erase the tension existing between them, but that bond had never materialized. They continued to have a strained rivalry which refused to dissipate.
“You’re fighting a war, Lora. This isn’t the time for dates.”
Lora bristled. “It isn’t a date,” she snapped back. “He’s taking me to the ocean to help me work on my developing powers.”
Will’s face crumbled before her, and he averted his eyes, staring intently at the road. “I would have helped you,” he said, turning onto her street.
She couldn’t resist the sadness in his eyes, and Lora softened. “I know,” she said, touching his arm. “And it isn’t that I don’t want your help, but Devin suggested this. I think she doesn’t want him to feel left out, so she asked him to go with me.”
To her surprise, Will pulled his arm away. “I guess if Devin orders it, then none of us have a choice.” His sharp tone made Lora shift away from him, toward the door. The car pulled into her driveway, and she exited as soon as it came to a stop.
“He’s just trying to help,” she said through the open door. She’d been excited, anticipating this moment all day. The chance to be alone with Ryan again made her skin pebble with fervor and her heart beat faster. She wouldn’t let Will ruin this for her. Ever since Ryan came into town, Will had been acting like a jealous boyfriend, except, they’d never been involved romantically. She resented his envy, considering she didn’t belong to anyone but the ocean, at least not for now, anyway.
Will didn’t bother to respond. As soon as she shut the car door, he peeled out of the driveway and raced dangerously down the street like a wild animal. Lora stormed into the house and slammed the door behind her. She stopped in front of her mother’s picture. Why? she wondered, hoping somehow her mother could answer her. Why does Will have to be such a complicated person? She missed the easy-going days of friendly banter, of reliance on one another. Those days were gone, leaving troubled times and restless nights in their wake.
Lora wondered if she could remain friends with Will if she continued her relationship with Ryan. The idea that their friendship might be ruined bothered her more than she cared to admit, for both men meant a great deal to her. She couldn’t choose between them, but lately, Lora was realizing that the two men would never be friends, and it broke her heart.
She could hear whispers from the ocean, giving her advice, perhaps, but it sounded too distant for her to hear clearly. Slowly, very slowly, she grew used to the sounds. For so long the ocean had only sung different melodies to match her mood. The myriad of voices she could hear now, combined with the ocean’s songs, were distracting. If she concentrated, however, Lora found she could almost make out the meaning of the song.
“Lora?”
Her father’s voice floated downstairs, and she called back in reply. Lora glanced around and felt a brief sense of disappointment when she didn’t see Ryan, but shoved the feeling aside and bounded up the stairs to see her father. He sat on the bed with his laptop, his eyes narrowed and focused on the content before him.
“Daddy?” she said as she entered the room. “What are you looking at?”
On the bright screen, she saw a faded newspaper clipping with the words “Tragic Accident Claims Family of Four” in bold letters at the top. Lora leaned forward to examine it more closely.
Tragic Accident Claims Family of Four
November 1, 1947
The Mason family, prominent members of the Portland, Oregon community, died last night in a tragic fire that engulfed their home. Mary and Richard Mason, along with their two children, Diane (4) and Joseph (8), were sleeping when the fire started. Emergency officials were unable to extricate the family from their home before they succumbed to smoke inhalation.
Although the cause of the fire has yet to be determined, officials have found no evidence to suspect foul play. A neighbor of the Mason family claims to have seen three men, dressed in dark colors, lurking around the perimeter of the home the night before. Police were called, but the mysterious perpetrators were not found. Despite the supposed suspicious activity, the fire department has determined a lit candle inside the house caused the accident.
The article continued, but Lora had read enough. “You think the Sons of Orpheus did this?” Lora asked.
“The Masons were a well-respected Siren family up and down the west coast,” her father replied. “My father often talked about the Mason family who lived in San Francisco in the 1960s. I remember the wife, a well-respected doctor in the community,” he continued. “They never mentioned this killing, but it sounds like the Sons of Orpheus found their ancestors in Portland.”
Lora shivered, unable to stop staring at the picture of the Mason family. The children reminded her of the Haynesworth children. They had the same innocent faces, the same trusting eyes, as if nothing in the world could hurt them. The Sons’ cruelty never failed to shock her. “They’ve been hunting us for a long time, Dad,” she said, taking a seat on the chair behind him. She could still see the smiling family on the screen, and she closed her eyes, trying to eradicate the image from her mind.
“I’m seeing a pattern,” he said. “What information do we get about the Sons of Orpheus from this article?”
She leaned forward, reading the words carefully.
“They killed the family with fire,” she said. Her father nodded, but he obviously searched for other, more important, information. As she continued to read, an idea occurred to her. “There were three of them,” she said.
Her father put up his finger. “Bingo,” he said. “I’ve been checking out a lot of these articles and many of them mention two to three suspicious individuals who were lurking around before the ‘accidents.’” He used his fingers to accentuate the word, emphasizing its irony.
“Show me,” she said.
Together, they read through close to thirty articles they found on the Internet, searching for similarities, desperately seeking some information that could give them an edge over their enemy. After several hours, her eyes were tired, tearing up, burning with exhaustion. Sometimes it was hard to tell if the victims were Sirens or not, but she agreed with her dad. A pattern emerged. Most of the time, when Sirens were killed, the deaths appeared to be accidents, and witnesses may have noticed suspicious individuals beforehand. However, the police had difficulty finding enough evidence to prove foul play, which told her the Sons of Orpheus were very clever.
At six o’clock, Lora stretched and rose from her chair. “I need to get ready,” she said, rubbing her eyes, tired from staring at the computer screen. “I have a . . . meeting. With Ryan.” Her father barely glanced up from his laptop.
“Have fun,” he said. “And be careful.”
Lora nodded, picturing the ocean in her mind. “The sea will protect me,” she answered, recognizing full well that the sea offered minimal protection.
Despite her trepidation, the prospect of seeing the ocean excited her. It lifted her up the steps two at a time as she made her way to her room to change. Her meeting with Ryan may not be a date, but she couldn’t stop squirming with inappropriate
fantasies. The mere speculation of him made her quiver with anticipation. The sea, its song, and Ryan. She could not imagine a more perfect combination.
Chapter Eighteen
From the moment she opened her bedroom door and saw Ryan standing there, her feelings for him deepened. Her heart beat faster. Though her mind told her to take things slowly, she felt complete with Ryan next to her. Finally, they would be alone.
“Hi,” she said, feeling a bit shy at first. “I didn’t hear you come home.” He wore dark jeans, a casual checkered button down shirt, and brown flip flops. He radiated sexy. Every inch of him—sexy. Ryan’s lips curved upwards and the sea sang in jubilation, a direct mirror of her feelings for him.
He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “You are beautiful,” he said, his lips brushing her ear as he spoke. She shivered with delight.
Overcome with a sudden impulsiveness, Lora clasped his hand and pulled him down the stairs and out the front door, toward the car. “Let’s go now.”
“Wait,” he said, laughing as she dragged him behind her. “It’s still light outside. We should wait until it is dark so no one can see us. Why don’t we grab some dinner first? Then we can go to the ocean together for the first time.”
Immediately, the ocean’s song changed, as if waiting for the moment they would arrive. The song was a complex, haunting tune. Even the dark clouds could not diminish the beauty of its sound.
“Do you hear it?” Ryan asked her, stopping to glance in the direction of the sea, though it could not be seen beyond the eucalyptus grove.
“I do,” she said. “She wants us to come.” Lora had never heard this song from the sea before, and she wondered what would happen when they were finally alone before their Mother Ocean, when they stood together before the water. She’d heard stories before of the ocean blessing Siren unions, but had never witnessed this personally. Lora stole a glance at Ryan. Did fate intend for Lora to spend the rest of her life with him? Could the ocean really perceive their union this early?
Voices of the Sea Page 16