Broken (The Siren Series #1) (16 page)

“
Oh crap, not the TV.” I
shouted.

The second one, rushed towards us. He did not
care about his companion. Rhea again held out her hand and conjured
another bright light that sparked. It escaped from her hand and
shot a hole through the foul creature’s heart. The stalking
creature rushing towards Rhea stopped dead, and exploded into a
cloud of ash leaving only one. The faceless monster got to his feet
after being sent flying into the TV. He stood his ground and
screamed a horrifying wail that brought me to my knees. The pain
was too much, I tried to block out the horrifying shrill, by
covering both my ears but the pain felt like it was piecing through
my brain.

It was pure agony and I screamed. I looked up
at Rhea who didn’t seem to be affected by it. While she looked down
on me I could see that my pain made her even angrier. Within a few
seconds the scream was gone. I looked at the creature who was now
crumbling ash. Rhea bent down and pulled my hands from my ears.

“
Ellie it’s over now.” she said
kneeling on the floor.

“
Thank you.” I said weakly.

I looked at my hands to find specks of blood
on each palm. The agonizing scream had made my ears bleed. I felt
light headed and sick at the same time.

“
Are you ok?” Rhea asked.

Without thinking I hugged Rhea and pulled her
close. She felt like stone but I continued to hug her tightly.

“
You saved me.” I said

Rhea pulled away from me and looked at
me.

“
I wished I’d got here sooner.” she
said while looking at my puffy lip.

“
How did you know they were here?” I
asked.

“
When any supernatural being enters
your house I can sense it. A few months ago I placed a spell to
alert me of anything supernatural. And I was right to do so.” she
answered.

“
What are they? What do they want from
me?” I asked. All these questions filled my mind and I wanted
answers.

Rhea stood up and held out a helping hand and
I gladly took it. Her skin felt so soft, like velvet. Rhea pulled
me up to my feet with ease. She walked into the living room where
the pile of ashes lay scattered on the floor.

“
These things,” she said with a
spiteful tone. “Are like rats, the lowest of the low. They live in
the sewers. This is the first time I’ve seen them work together,
normally they fight amongst themselves, but this time they were
organized.” said Rhea.

“
Well they’re not human, are they like
me?” I asked.

“
They are far from what you are. They
are called leaches, disgusting creatures. Ellie you are pure but
these things are nothing like you. Yes they belong in the
supernatural world, our world, but these things are foul,” She
replied. “But to attack you like this is something
else.”

I looked around the living room to see scorch
marks stained the walls and broken belongings thrown onto the
floor. The TV lay shattered in the corner with some of its pieces
mixed among the monsters ashes.

“
Oh crap my Dad will be here soon and
what’s he going to think with this mess?” I quickly
said.

“
Don’t worry I can handle It.” Rhea
raised her hand into the air and a wind began to whip around us.
The room started to move along with the wind. The piles of black
ashes disappeared and the TV returned back to normal, without a
single scratch. It was like we went back in time. The scorch marks
on the walls had vanished. The house was back to normal. Pity she
couldn’t do that to my rug.

“
Did we just go back in time?” I
asked.

Rhea laughed. “No my dear girl, not even I
can do that.”

The gentle wind around Rhea quickly died
down. She walked towards me and gently touched my lip with her
finger. My lip began to tingle, and the sharp pain was gone. The
cut had completely healed.

“
Wow, thank you Rhea.” Rhea then,
looked uncomfortable.

“
Ellie, I have to tell you something,”
she paused. “You are not safe here anymore, you need to come with
me.”

“
What?” I asked. “I don’t think my Dad
would be too happy to be told he needs to go with a complete
stranger.”

“
No, Ellie. Just you, he cannot come
with us.”

“
What!” I yelled.

Was what Rhea saying true? I could not just
leave my Dad alone. Not after what has happened to us. He would
think I’d deserted him, and I could not do that to him, not
now.

“
No Rhea. Thank you for what you have
done, but I cannot just leave him,” I said. “He’s my Dad and with
everything that’s happened, I just can’t leave.”

“
Ellie I understand you want to be with
him, but it’s not safe for you anymore. You saw what these things
nearly did to you.” Rhea said.

“
I will not abandon him, he’s all the
family I’ve got left.” I could feel myself getting
angry.

“
Ellie they will come back for you, and
they will take you away. You cannot stay. I can protect you if you
come with me.” Rhea said.

“
Then we will wait for my Dad so we can
all go together.”

“
It does not work like that Ellie, only
you can come, now pack a bag.” Rhea was getting
agitated.

“
Why cannot he come? He’ll be safe with
us.” I wanted answers.

“
You’re one of a kind Ellie, but he’s
human. He’s not like us, they’re not allowed in our world. There
are rules.”

“
Screw the rules, I want to stay with
him.” I shouted.

“
That’s enough!” As Rhea shouted the
house trembled with a powerful force.

I took a step back from her.

“
Ellie,” said Rhea in a now calming
tone. “There are things far powerful at work here and they are
coming for
you
. I won’t stand
by and watch them harm you and your Father. Now go up stairs and
pack a bag.” Rhea had said enough on the matter and was staring
forcefully at me.

“
Fine.” I didn’t want to argue
anymore.

I tried to hold back the tears as I turned to
go up the stairs, dragging my feet with every step. Inside my
bedroom I took an old backpack from my wardrobe. I packed some
jeans, t-shirts and a few jumpers just to be sure. I also grabbed
some thick socks and a few pairs of underwear. I zipped up the old
bag and took one last look at my bedroom. Maybe I’ll get to come
back but deep down even I knew that would be anytime soon. I closed
the door to my bedroom, hoping to see it again.

Dad’s room was just on the right and I peeked
inside. His room was quite messy, his bed unmade and his clothes
discarded on the floor. I entered his room and I could smell his
favorite musky cologne lingering in the air. On his bedside table
was a photo frame with Kate, my Dad, and myself. The picture was
taken about eleven years ago, I was about five years old and the
three of us were smiling in what looks like a woodland area,
sitting on a red and white picnic blanket. I thought of taking the
photo but something in my mind thought that he was going to need it
more than I. Next to the photo frame was Dad’s bottle of cologne, I
pulled the cap off and inhaled deeply. The manly scent wafted
straight up my nose and I could picture him straight away as the
musk played with my memoires. Smiling from memory, I placed down
the bottle and left my Dad’s room to meet up with Rhea
downstairs.

“
Ready?” she asked.

I placed on my tatty shoes and then I was
ready. I took a deep breath and nodded. This was it.

Rhea gently took my hand. “Where are we
going?” I asked.

“
Where I know it to be safe.” she
replied.

“
Where?” I asked again.

Rhea smiled. “My home of course.” she
replied.

“
But what about my Dad? Will he be
safe?”

“
I’ll make sure that he’s protected,
but once you leave this house you cannot come back so easily.” she
replied “Now shall we go?”

With her hand still tightly gripped into
mine, Rhea closed her eyes. Confused, I stood there staring at her
perfect formed face. I was about to say something when the room
began to shake and contort into strange shapes. The walls around us
began to crumble away and the floor exploded from our feet leaving
nothing but emptiness. My home was gone, leaving Rhea and I
suspended in air. The world started to spin around us, shooting
colors and shapes into my view. I felt as if I was riding in a
rollercoaster, riding up to the top and then shooting straight to
the ground with powerful g-force. The world snapped back to
normality as I slipped from Rhea’s grip. I rolled on what felt like
soft ground. As soon as my vision cleared, I threw up the contents
of my stomach. I wiped my mouth and sat up looking around.

I found myself sitting in a woodland area.
There was thick tall grass all around me with trees mighty high.
Looking up, I could hear singing birds chirping their sweet tune
while they flew around in the air above.

“
Rhea?” I called out.

I got to my feet and looked around. There
were no roads, no houses, just empty land as far as the eye could
see.

“
Crap!” I said to myself. “Rhea, where
are you!”

“
I’m here Ellie.” Rhea called
out.

She came walking over to me, watching where
she stepped in her expensive high heels.

“
I thought you left me.” I
said.

“
I would never leave you.” Rhea said
with a smile.

I rushed towards her and embraced her with a
hug. “What happened?” I asked.

Rhea gave a little chuckle. “Ellie, it
sometimes happens to people who are new to teleportation.” she
said.

“
Teleportation?” I asked.

“
Yes it’s like going from one place to
the next without having to walk.” she explained.

I pulled away from her and stared up at her
beautiful sculptured face. She truly was a goddess.

“
Let’s go.” Rhea said.

I looked around again. “Where? Did we stop at
the wrong place or something?” I asked.

“
Over there.” Rhea pointed out into a
dark park of the woods.

Rhea walked in front and I tried to keep up,
she was much quicker and light on her feet. The ground was uneven
and I slipped a few times on some small rocks. (Plus trying to
carry a full backpack did not help). Fly’s buzzed around my face
while we walked deeper into the woods. It felt like we had been
walking for what seemed like an hour, when Rhea stopped and pointed
out. Looking where she was pointing, I could see nothing but more
trees and long tall grass.

“
Rhea there’s nothing there.” I
said.

Rhea looked back and smiled. “Oh but there
is, don’t you see it?” she asked.

She waved her hand and before me stood a
three story house. It was decorated beautifully with elaborated
wood carvings around the house, along with clear glass windows. The
house, coated in black and white with a modern touch mixed in to
it. Gargoyles stone statues decorated at the sides of the house,
giving it an old, yet new feel to it. I followed after Rhea who
opened a large metal gate showing her garden. It looked like
something out of a film. Red roses filled her flowerbeds along with
many other types of flowers that I had never seen before. Perfect
sculptured garden hedges stood along the stone path, and in the
middle of the garden stood a high water fountain, shooting jets of
water into the air. I stopped in awe. I’ve never seen such beauty
around me before.

“
Lovely isn’t it.” she said.

Rhea ushered me to the front door before I
could explore more of the garden, a giant gold lion knocker was
bolted to the door. The door looked hand crafted from the darkest
wood from an enchanted forest.

“
Shall we go in?” She asked.

Rhea pushed open the door showing the inside
her house. I stood there, with my mouth wide open. Rhea’s house was
decorated with shades of black and white. The floor was black
marble and very polished. At the back there was a grand white
staircase, it made my house seem like a small box. In the middle of
the hall was a large round table and on top a large crystal vase,
showing the blackest roses I’ve ever seen. The walls were decorated
with paintings and hanging tapestries from famous artist I’ve only
seen in books. At the sides of the grand hall were two doors that
were completely white, with embroidered gold motifs weaved around
the doors frame.

“
What do you think?” asked
Rhea.

I was speechless. I’d never seen a house so
grand in my entire life. “It’s amazing.” I could only say.

“
Thank you, yes I like it very much and
have been living in this house for many year now. Oh that reminds
me.” Rhea said.

“
Sophia.”

Rhea called out and I could hear footsteps
deep inside the house. One of the white golden doors opened, and a
small girl came out. She walked towards us with her head down, her
white hair covering her face.

“
Sophia, this is Ellie.” The young
woman’s head raised to look me in the eye.

Sophia’s face was angelic and innocent. Her
face resembled a china doll. It was perfect, her lips were perfect
shade of pink, and her skin was the color of snow. Sophia had
sparkling bright blue eyes that lit up her face. Sophia hair was
completely white, and styled into a cute bob. Her choices of
clothes were very strange. She wore a black knee high ruffle skirt
that came out at the hips. High black boots with many laces
attached, and a red and black corset that tightly pulled her in. On
her corset she wore a big red bow that was attached just below her
breasts.