by M. J. Austin
Chapter
29
"You need to wake up honey; Alec needs you." I can barely see the beautiful woman. My vision is blurry, and I have a pounding headache. "Dell, get up, move, now. Save Alec." What is she talking about, she’s not making any sense at all.
Realization hits and I jerk awake. I'm not sure how long I was out for, but the sun is still up, so I hope not too long. I scramble to my feet and stand up. The dizzying wave is too much, and I double over and wretch. With the dizziness wearing off, I slowly stand upright. I have to find Alec. Where do I begin to look? This forest is huge, it could take days and I doubt Alec has hours let alone days. Think, Dell, think.
I talk to myself as I work through the situation. "OK, they don't want to wander too far from the water source. So they can't be that far away." I close my eyes and listen for any sounds, grateful there aren't any birds chirping or animals scurrying about. It's completely silent, except for my breathing. I listen harder, forcing all of my other senses to shut down so I can hear better. Off to the right I hear it, it's faint but it sounds like splashing.
I walk through a patch of trees. With each step, the sound of water is getting louder. Now I can hear voices, female voices. I stop just shy of the spring in front of me still hidden by the trees. I see three beautiful women frolicking in the spring. One of them is the woman from before. I knew I was right. One of them says, "Wow, you're so handsome. Do you workout?"
The sound of her voice is so sickly sweet I want to gag. All three of them have long hair that reaches the waist deep water. They are splashing him and giggling like flirty schoolgirls. He looks at them with such adoration my blood boils. It’s just the siren’s spell I tell myself, but it doesn't take away the pang of jealousy.
OK, I need to come up with a plan. Alec has the blade so that isn’t going to help me unless I can get it from him. Three on one, lovely odds. Maybe if I try to distract them and get to the blade. No, that won’t work, they are almost on top of him there is no way I can get that close. I touch the dart gun at my side. That’s it! It’s risky, but I have to give it a shot. I pull the gun out of the holster and try to steady my hand as I level it upwards.
I point the gun at the woman who flung me across the clearing earlier. She is rubbing her hand up Alec’s arm, and I see red. I pull the trigger, willing the dart to reach its target. Sadly, I miss. The dart ricochets off the stone wall behind them. All three turn their heads toward where the dart hit. I use their distraction as another chance to shoot the dart gun. I reload as quickly as I can and pull the trigger. This time it meets its target and a victorious feeling washes over me.
The woman howls in pain and staggers back away from Alec. The sight of her is both fascinating and revolting. Where her blond hair used to be is a gray scaly scalp. Her entire body is the same color as cement. Her eyes are sunken black holes, and her nose is nothing but two slits for nostrils. Her mouth is in the shape of an O and with razor sharp teeth. She is thrashing wildly in the water like she’s having some sort of seizure.
I reload the gun again, and as I look up I see Alec coming towards me. Good, I could use his help right about now. I run out of the shield of trees to get to him. "Alec, listen, you were under the spell of the sirens, where is the—" His hands are suddenly around my throat. Crap! He’s still under the siren’s spell. I claw at his hands trying to pry them from my neck. I can’t speak, and the edges of my vision are getting fuzzy. I try to surprise him by go limp. It works for a second, just long enough for a breath. And then he has me down on the ground hands wrapping tighter. I fling my arms around and around trying to find something, anything, when I feel something hard and smooth about the size of a softball. I pick it up, and before I can think about what I am doing I smack Alec upside the head with it as hard as I can. He instantly loosens his grip and falls to the side.
I gasp and suck in deep lungfuls of air. I grab the dagger from its sheath on his side and head towards the water. The one siren is still thrashing about. The other two, still in woman form, give off a high pitched keening sound. I look around wildly trying to find a place where they could keep a harp. There is a small waterfall rushing over what looks like a mini cave behind them. How am I going to get in there?
The other two sirens drop their glamor and start snarling at me like feral animals. I walk closer to the waters edge. I feel an arm clamp around mine and turn around swiping the dagger back and forth. Alec catches my wrist just before the blade penetrates his bicep. I try to pull back, but his grip is is like an iron vice.
"Dell, calm down, it’s me." I keep trying to wrestle out of his grip. "Settle down. Look at me. It’s me."
"Let go of me!"
"No." He wraps his other arm around my waist and jerks me away from the edge of the water just as a siren attempts to grab my ankle. He pulls back his booted foot and kicks her square in the jaw.
He is Alec again. I loosen my grip on the dagger, and he grabs it. He pushes me back, "Stay behind me." The siren he kicked across the face is coming at us again. He lunges forward, and the dagger penetrates her heart. There is a whooshing sound as her soul is being sucked out of her body.
"Alec, watch out!"
The other siren is coming at him from the side. He swiftly pulls back on the blade and twirls around bringing the knife up across the other siren’s throat leaving a gaping wound. He plunges the knife into her chest, and there is the same whooshing noise while her soul gets ripped out.
Breathing heavily, he looks at me. “Where is the other?"
I point to the final siren who is still jerking wildly in the water.
"We need to find the harp."
"I think it is in the cave behind that waterfall."
"You go look for it; I’ll take care of this one."
I hesitate for a second. I don’t want to go in there alone. I look up at him, overwhelmingly happy he’s not dead or trying to kill me. I am overtaken by my emotions, and I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. It’s quick, but I can feel everything. Every nerve ending is electrified as I pull back and look him square in the eyes and then take off towards the cave.
I risk a quick glance over my shoulder, and he is staring at me with a mixture of awe and shock written all over his face. He shakes his head and turns to the last siren. I focus back on my task and look at the rock wall to find a way to get into the cave. It is a good forty feet above the top of the lake.
Chapter
30
My eyes scan the jagged edges of the wall looking for any crack or crevice I can use as a foothold to climb into the cave. I’m no expert rock climber, so free climbing is going to be a challenge. About twenty feet to the right of the spring, I see what looks like little steps. I walk closer, still keeping Alec and the other siren in my periphery. As I get to the base of the rocks, I can see that they are actually stairs. I breath a sigh of relief. I don’t have a flashlight, and I am not even sure the stairs will take me up into the cave, but I have to do something.
I step onto the first step and see that the light gives me good visual for a little ways into the tunnel, and I take another step. Once I make it fully into the tunnel, the opening behind me mysteriously disappears. I turn around and start banging on the rock screaming for Alec. I start to shake with fear as I realize I could be trapped in here forever. That is so not going to happen I think to myself. I just kissed the boy I am destined to be with, and I enjoyed it. My life can’t be over like that.
I muster up my courage and begin to walk forward slowly one step at a time. The further I get into the tunnel the dimmer the light gets. Like I thought, I am rising with each step, so I have a good feeling this tunnel lead to the cave. About twenty-five steps in, it is pitch black except for the tiny pinprick of light. I walk forward hands outstretched towards the walls trying to feel my way towards the light.
I listen intently to any noise that doesn't fit. I hear water dripping, which is no shock considering the walls are slick. I also hear a faint whistling noise,
so I know is air is getting into the tunnel somehow. This at least gives me comfort in knowing I won’t suffocate to death. After ten minutes of melodramatic scenarios of my demise playing out in my head, I make it to the opening. I was right it leads straight into the cave. I didn’t think it would take that long to walk the distance between the opening in the rock wall to the cave.
The cave is small. I doubt it’s not enough space for three sirens to live. Then I start paying attention to what I am looking at, and if I weren't actually looking at it now I wouldn’t have believed it. It’s like an Indiana Jones movie or something. The cave walls are lined with jewelry, trinkets, and anything else that is shiny.
"So, Disney, had it right then? Mermaids do like shiny baubles." How did Alec get up here?
I jump a little but manage to hold back a scream this time. "Sure, but it doesn't help us find the harp now does it? It could be any one of the million knick knacks in here. How did you get in here?"
He has a questioning look on his face. "Through the stairs."
"Did they close behind you?"
"No."
"Hmm, I think there may have been a safeguard on the tunnel. The wall closed behind me, and it took me like ten minutes to get up here."
"Really? Well, I walked right in. It only took me like two minutes. Are you sure? I was down there for a while taking care of the other one."
"Yeah, I’m sure. I got up here maybe a minute before you. I think it didn't affect you because you had already been under their influence before. Maybe you’re immune or something."
"Maybe, anyways, let's find us a harp." He rubs his hands together in a let's get to work gesture.
He heads to one side of the cave, and I head to the other. After a good half hour of tense silence, I blurt, "OK, so I kissed you, and now you won't talk to or look at me. What’s up with that?" I don’t want to sound like a needy girlfriend, but I have to say something.
"Nothing is up; I’m just focusing on finding the harp though so…” He wrings his hands.
It is bizarre to see someone like him, a boy who could kill three sirens, act nervous. That answer doesn't work for me. I stop my search and stare at him with my hands on my hips.
Feeling my stare on the back of his head he turns to me. "What?"
"Don't you ‘what?’ me Mr. I'm your soulmate. You try to convince me we are destined to be together and then when I kiss you, you get all weird on me. Explain."
He blows out a long slow breath, mentally calculating what he wants to say. I swear I can almost see the wheels turning in his head. "Well, I’m not sure if you kissed me in the heat of the moment or because you wanted to."
Wow, I didn't think of it that way. Now it’s my turn to calculate what I want to say. “Honestly, I am not sure. Obviously I am attracted to you. That’s why my moods and behavior have been so out of whack. I mean I don't want to be the girl who falls for her savior and all that movie scene stuff, but when I saw that you were not dead and back to normal, I dunno. It was like all the feelings I have had since I met you just burst through me all at once."
"Wow, thanks for clearing that up."
"OK, so my point is; sure it was the heat of the moment, but I wanted to kiss you too. And I would like to do it again." He walks towards me so I put my hand up to stop him. “Not now though," I smile. ”How about when we are not under such dire circumstances? That way you know it’s because I want to.
"He chuckles a bit. “Yeah, yeah. And so you can have time to think of an easy way to let me down gently."
"You know for a macho man, you have some seriously self-doubt issues. You should talk to someone about that.” I tease.
"What can I say? You're bringing out a whole new side of me."
After what feels like hours of sifting through watches, hair clips, earrings, and compasses, I find a tiny pendant that looks exactly like a harp. It’s heavier than a normal pendant, and I bet it’s made of lead and gold plated. "Alec, look at this."
"It’s a harp."
"Well spotted Sherlock. But this can’t be it, it is too small for anyone to play."
"Actually, Watson," he winks at me, “the siren’s harp isn't an instrument you play, per say, but more of a totem. I’m not exactly sure how it works though. Cass could help us there. But seeing as we haven't found anything else resembling a harp, I'm pretty sure this is what we are looking for."
"Great, so how do we get out of here?
"The stairs silly."
"I’m not going back down there."
"Well then we jump from here into the lake.” He raises an eyebrow.
"OK. We will take the stairs but if we are blocked by a wall, I’ll try not to say I told you so."
He smirks. "I’ll try to do the same."
We head down the stairs and as Alec predicted it takes no more than two minutes. Where the wall was closed in earlier is an open space and we walk right through. I peek out of the corner of my eye and see a small grin playing on his lips. Annoyed, I keep my head forward and stride toward the tree line. I notice there are no bodies along the lake. "Alec what happened to the sirens?"
Absentmindedly, he responds, "They went to a better place I suppose."
It's still eerily quiet, and I have a bad feeling but I shrug it off and walk faster. As we reach the tree lines, I peek back and there in the water is a beautiful blonde head peering just above the surface. I nearly trip over a tree root as I realize it isn’t one of the same three woman I saw before, but a different one; a child. Realization hit me as I realize we had just killed this little girl's parents.
"Let it go, Dell, it had to be done." He grabs my arm and pulls me through the trees and leads me towards the next clearing.
"You knew?" I can’t hide the disgust in my voice. Despite the fact that we had to kill the sirens or else they would kill us, leaving a child without parents hits close to home for me.
"Not until you did. She must have been hiding below the surface, I don’t know, but she is no threat to us now."
A new thought forms in my mind. She may not look like a threat now, but in a few short years, she is going to be killing men. “But—“
He turns around stopping dead in his tracks almost causing me to run into him. "Look, I know she will become a threat, but I don’t feel like murdering a child today. We can’t take on the entire siren community all at once. I know it sounds bleak but when one dies, it's like three more pop up in its place."
"Why would we have to take on the entire siren community?"
"Below each body of water, a siren stays in; there are a series of tunnels that all lead to one center. Think of that spring as one room in a mansion filled with sirens."
I shudder.
"Exactly, so how about we get out of here and leave her to the next guardian."
I nod, not sure of what to say, so I start walking.
Chapter
31
Back at Cass’s, I stir my tea, staring through it rather than at it. I cannot get the little siren girl out of my mind. How can I justify wanting to kill a child to spare the world of men for when she becomes an adult? She looked so innocent; I understand the meaning of ‘looks can be deceiving’. Still, I feel a twinge of pain for the girl who lost her parents at such a young age. I can relate. Which begs the question, am I a monster if I sympathize with one? Are all sirens monsters? All these questions were giving me a headache. I feel a tap on my shoulder. "Huh?"
Lyla looks at me with knowing eyes. “I know that look, what's up buttercup?"
I sag back down in my chair. “You should have seen it Lyles. I mean she is just a child, and we wiped out her family. Do you have any idea what she is going through?"
Her eyes tear up, not quite brimming over the edge. “No, and neither do you."
I rear back, getting ready to hurl an insult at her obvious callous dismissal of the death of my parents. She tenses waiting for it, but Cass steps in.
"What she means is, that you are human, for all intents and purposes; the
siren girl is not. We have done extensive research on the creatures in the hopes of finding their lair. They are nothing like us in the emotions department. Where you mourn the death of your parents, a siren child does not. They celebrate it; they are trained to feel no pain or misery, only joy. This is part of their allure. So you see, Lyla is right, you do not know how this child feels because you were raised to feel a spectrum of emotions. And right now you feel grief.“
Wow. That puts it into perspective. I smile sheepishly at Lyla hoping my glare is forgiven. She smiles back. "She sounds like a sociopath."
"Well, that’s neither here nor there.” Cass smiles at my better mood. “What matters is you succeeded in obtaining the harp."
"About that." I’m having trouble wrapping my head around a tiny pin doing any damage. "What exactly are we supposed to do with that thing? It’s not like we can play it. Although, I bet it’s easier to carry than a real one."
Lyla raises her hand like she’s in a class again. “I may be able to help with that. I haven’t totally figured it out, but I believe that the wearer will be able to activate it. Though I’m not sure how yet. I need to do some more research."
Something about her tone and the grave look on Cass’s face sends alarms ringing in my head. I play back what she just said in my mind, and it clicks. ”The wearer? Wait that means.."
Alec speaks for the first time, with obvious irritation. "Yes, you guessed right. The wearer entails someone else coming along with us as bait,” He spits the last word.
"Cass and I have discussed it and we agree that I am your best option. Seeing as how, if anything happens to her, you have no other guardian that we know of. And," she hesitates, "in the event that you don’t succeed in freeing Persephone; you won’t have anyone to look after you."
Her lack of confidence is irritating and her obvious eagerness to offer herself up as bait makes me worry about her sanity. "Hell no! You are out of your mind if you think I'm letting you get more involved than research. Sorry, but I’ll call the whole thing off before I let you do that."