Chapter 5
Sirens
Sirens
September 13 (p.m.)
I think someone is singing outside. It sounds almost like opera. James walked past my room. I tried to ask him where he was going, but he didn’t even look at me. He just kept walking, so I decided to follow him.
He’s heading toward the beach. There’s a mermaid sitting on a rock there. She’s the one singing. James still won’t stop walking, and he’s heading for the water. I think the mermaid is controlling him, but I don’t know why.
James is walking into the water. I didn’t want him to drown, so I tried to stop him one last time. I grabbed his leg and shouted, “Don’t go! Don’t leave me! I don’ want to be all alone again! Not again.” I nearly whispered the last part. He still kept walking. I even have to swim now because the water is getting deeper.
The mermaid slid off her rock. James finally stopped walking when she did so. I was glad, because if he went any deeper his head would be under water. She swam over to us and, ignoring me, said, “Ooh, you’re cute. I think I’ll take you back with me.” Then she turned to me. “You’re a bit annoying, but if I leave you behind you’ll tell the other villagers. Won’t you.” Then, she grabbed my wrist and pulled me forward as she swam. She started singing again, and James started to follow her. At least he wasn’t going to drown.
She took us into a cave that was half underwater. She pulled me inside, with James following, and she put me on a piece of land big enough for a small room. James came and sat next to me. He had a blank look on his face.
The mermaid sat on the edge of the ground. She lifted her tail onto the ground, and, after a few minutes, her tail disappeared! In its place were two human legs. She pointed at me. “You, what’s your name?” she asked.
“I-it’s Nicole.” I answered. I was wet and scared, so I shivered and moved closer to James.
“What is your relation to this man?” she questioned further, gesturing at James.
“H-he’s a f-f-friend. He saved m-me when my parents were k-k-killed.” I told her. My voice was still shaky with fear and cold.
“Good. Tell me your name.” she commanded of James. He told her, clearly still under her control.
“Are you a me-mermaid or a p-person?” I asked curiously.
“I am both, and yet I am neither. When I get wet, I look as a mermaid would. When I dry off, I become like a human. The humans call my kind ‘Sirens’ because of our singing. And, as you have seen, we can control people.” She said, answering my question.
“W-w-why did you b-bring us here?” I asked uneasily.
The siren hesitated before she answered. “I’ve been looking for a guy for a long time. Someone cute and your friend here is a perfect match.”
“W-what are you going to d-d-do with us?” I was almost too scared to ask that question. I was even more afraid of the answer.
“I guess your going to have to find out, won’t you.” She said, smiling wickedly. It looked so much like the vampire who killed my parents that grabbed James’ arm and closed my eyes. I felt someone grab my wrist. Before I could do anything, I was being dragged to an unknown place. I was shoved into a cage that was unseen from the entrance. It looked like a shark cage that divers use. The siren closed the cage door a locked it with a key on the wall.
September 14
I spent the night lying awake in the cage. I couldn’t sleep because there is no bed. James is still under the sirens control. I'm worried that she might try to hurt us.
September 15
The siren is trying to kill me! She opened the cage and put me in a smaller one that was closer to the water. She pulled on the rope that was tied to the top of the cage. Soon, I was hovering over the water.
She started lowering me down. I screamed when the bottom of the cage hit the water. As it sank even deeper, I thought that James could save me. “James!” I shouted, although he didn’t seem to hear me. ”Snap out of it, James! She can’t control you! Aah.” The cage jerked and I was now in as deep as my hips. “You can fight her, James! You’re strong enough!” The water was nearly up to my shoulders. “James! Remember when you promised me that you would save me no matter what?! Remember all the fun times we had together?!” I gave up hope and started crying as the water reached my neck. I didn’t notice that the siren’s control on him had broken.
“Let my friend go!” he shouted.
“What? How did you break loose of my control?” the siren asked, shocked.
“Love can give people strange powers, but you would never know that. Would you?” James said, walking toward her.
“Don’t move! If you do, I’ll drop this little friend of yours to the bottom of the ocean!” She threatened. James froze in his tracks.
“Don’t listen to her!” I shouted.
The siren shot me a dirty look. “You stay out of this!” she yelled at me.
“Please,” James said, almost in a whisper, “just let her live. I’ll do anything, anything you want. Just don’t kill her. If you do, I’ll tear you apart!” I could just barely see that his eyes were as red as rubies.
“Fine. You both have to stay and be my slaves for one year. Then, I will let the two of you go free. And when I do, you can tell no human about your experiences here.” She told us.
“Don’t do it, James! There’s got to be another way out of this!” I said.
“I'm sorry, Nicole.” His whisper was almost inaudible. The siren let out an evil laugh at his acceptance.
And so, we spent the next year as the sirens servants. She nearly starved us and tried to work us to death. Only two things kept me alive: the knowledge that I would be released in one year, and James.
