Broken (The Siren Series #1) (17 page)

“
Uh, hello” I said shyly.

She nodded and reached out her hand. I stared
down at her out stretched hand, not knowing what to do. I didn’t
know if she wanted to shake or my backpack.

“
Um no, it’s ok I can carry it.” I said
hoping not to offend her.

“
Show her to her room please Sophia”
Rhea asked her.

We left Rhea in the main hall while Sophia
showed me to my room. We walked up the grand white marble
staircase. I followed behind her slowly. She didn’t talk once, and
it felt awkward. At the top of the stairs I followed Sophia to the
right. The upper hallway walls were filled with more painting of
artwork and statue of a beautiful woman carrying a shield. In some
of the clear cases were artifacts. One of them seemed to catch my
eye. It was on a pedestal protected by thick glass. Inside the
display case, laid a large battered brown book. It had no writing
on the front or on the binder. Below on the plaque it read: The
book of Thoth. Ignoring the display, I caught up with Sophia.

Sophia opened one of the doors and I stepped
in behind her. In the middle of the room was a four poster bed,
along with a luxurious sofa in the corner of the room. The thick
cream carpet matched the houses color scheme. Once inside the
elegant room, I noticed there was a floor length mirror with gems
incrusted around it. Looking into the mirror I noticed I was still
wearing my pajamas. I looked awful. While walking through the woods
my clothes had tears and my shoes were completely black. Looking
behind me I noticed that I was tracking in mud. The cream carpet
was incrusted with mud that I had brought in with me. I felt the
colour drain from my face.

“
Oh, I’m so sorry.” I immediately
pulled them off and held the discoloured shoes in my
hand.

Sophia just stared at me with no emotion. She
turned her back on me and continued her tour.

There was another inside my bedroom that
stood against the inner corner wall, and inside, was a room filled
with wardrobes.

“
That’s your dressing room.” said
Sophia.

I jumped when I heard her voice from behind
me. It was so soft and child-like. I entered the dressing room and
opened up one of the many wardrobes. They were filled with
different types of clothes, from designer to regular plain old
t-shirts. At the bottom were arrangements of different shoes. Some
I’d never seen in my life, but they were beautiful. I wouldn’t like
to think how much they clothes cost.

Sophia walked passed me and opened up another
door that was beside the tall wardrobes. I peeked inside. The
adjoined room was a toilet and a shower area. The tiles on the
walls were glowing white and the floor was shining black marble. It
was so posh. There was a lounge bath in the middle of the room with
different buttons attached to it. On the opposite wall there was a
large flat screen TV mounted on the walls.

“
How did Rhea afford all this?” I
asked.

“
She has lots of money,” Sophia said
sweetly. “I’ll let you set up. When you are ready please come
downstairs, Rhea wants to talk to you.”

Sophia turned around and left the bedroom. I
was finally alone. I dropped my backpack onto the floor and sat
down onto the bed. I started to contemplate what was going to
happen to me. I thought about my friends and about Dad, would I
ever see them again? Would Rhea keep me locked up here like a
prisoner? I broke down into tears.

I didn’t want to be here, I wanted to be with
my Dad, back home, safe and sound. What was going to happen to him?
Would he be safe in the house? All these horrible questions
attacked me at once and I just wanted to scream. I wiped the tears
away with some tissues on the bed-side table. I opened up my
backpack and changed into my clothes. I picked out a simple white
t-shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans. I left the bedroom and
walked back down the long lit hall to meet Rhea. The main entrance
was empty; there was no sign of Rhea or Sophia. I descended the
marble staircase, looking around for her. One of the doors stood
ajar in the hall and I peeked my head in, revealing a grand dining
room.

A long black solid dining table became the
focus of the entire room. The table was surrounded by many white
plush chairs and white roses filled many black vases, still
following the color scheme. The walls were painted white and black
stripes. At the very end of the room, there was a figure sitting at
down in one of the chairs. I walked closer to see it was Rhea, she
was reading from a big book. She looked up from the pages and
smiled straight at me.

“
Have you been crying my dear?” asked
Rhea.

I nodded.

“
Ellie, please know that you are safe
here,” she tried to reassure me. “So what do you think of your
room?” she asked.

“
Yeah it’s very nice, thank you” I
replied sheepishly.

Rhea closed the book and set it aside.
“Please sit.” she gestured to the chair beside her.

I pulled one of the chairs out and sat down.
Rhea turned in her chair and faced me.

“
Ellie, you do know why you’re here
don’t you?” she asked.

“
Kinda’,” I said. “I know it’s not safe
for me out there anymore.”

Rhea nodded with agreement. “You are
too special. Some
people
will
do anything if they knew a siren was around.”

“
What is so special about me then?” I
asked.

“
Well, sirens were powerful beings,
Ellie. They can influence anyone they touched and by their voice”
Rhea said.

“
I can only influence by touch though.”
I said.

“
Yes but in time you will learn
much
more.”

Rhea continued to about the Sirens. “Anyway,
they were so powerful that other supernatural’s started to despise
them, and started to capture them. This went on for quite some
time. Think about it, if you could make anyone do what you wanted
and control anyone, you would be unstoppable. But sadly the Sirens
started to die out and not even I know why.

“
So there are not many left then?” I
asked.

“
That’s right Ellie, but that’s why you
are special. Your powers are unique.”

“
I don’t want to make people do what I
want.” I said.

“
That’s because you are
pure.”

“
I don’t feel pure.” I
mumbled.

I started to think. Sirens, my people were
used and captured for their powers. Was that why they are after me?
What were they going to do with me?

“
Rhea,” I asked her. “What do they want
with me? Are they going to kill me or just use me for my
powers?”

“
To be honest Ellie, I do not know. I
will not let anyone take you, besides try not to think about It.”
she said.

Behind me a door opened revealing Sophia
(Just how many doors does this place have?). She was pushing a
pristine silver trolley into the room. Sophia laid the table for
Rhea and for me. She placed down knives and forks, along with glass
cups and a large jug of water filled with ice cubes.

“
Sophia, won’t you join us?” asked
Rhea. “I’m sure there is enough to go around.”

Sophia placed another plate down for herself
along with a knife and fork. She came around to the trolley and
placed a covered plate in front of me.

Oh god I hope it’s not
foreign food.
I thought.

Sophia lifted the lid to reveal a plate full
of pasta.

Thank god!
I
screamed inside my head.

“
I had a feeling that you liked Italian
food.” smiled Rhea.

“
Thank you,” I said. I didn’t want to
know how she knew, I was just thankful I was able to eat
it.

I took my provided fork and dived in. I spun
the pasta around my fork and took a bite. The flavors exploded in
my mouth. I had never tasted something so delicious before.

“
This is amazing, who cooked this?” I
asked.

Sophia’s face started to glow red.

“
It’s amazing, thank you Sophia.” I
said.

“
Thank you Ellie, I was a bit nervous
cooking it for you, and I even added a few things.” she said
modestly.

I took more bites of the delicious food. No
one was talking at dinner, they were busy eating, but still, it was
very awkward. I wanted to break the silence.

“
So Sophia, how long have you known
Rhea?” I asked.

Sophia pale skin started to turn a shade of
red again. “Well I’ve know her for some years now.” Sophia quietly
said.

“
Yes, Sophia and I have been together
for quite a while.” Rhea said.

“
I really enjoy being with Rhea, she
treats me well.” said Sophia.

“
Please don’t embarrass me Sophia.”
laughed Rhea.

“
Well it’ll be nice to have someone new
in the house for a while.” said Sophia.

“
I hope I don’t cause you too much
trouble with me staying here.” I asked them.

“
Far from it Ellie, now finish your
food” Rhea said.

I took more forkfuls of Sophia’s food while
washing it down with some refreshing water. I finished the
delicious meal and neatly placed down my knife and fork.

“
That was amazing thank you.” I said to
Sophia.

“
It was no trouble at all Ellie, and
I’m glad you liked it.” Sophia said.

“
You have quite the healthy appetite,
don’t you?” Rhea chuckled.

I took another sip of water to hide my
embarrassment. I hopped I didn’t make a pig of myself. I picked up
the napkin to wipe my mouth. I wanted to speak more to Rhea so I
turned towards her. “Rhea, can I ask you something?” I asked.

“
Go ahead.” She waited for my
question.

“
Will they go after my Dad?” I didn’t
want to know the answer but I had to know if he was
safe.

Rhea placed her knife and fork down and
turned to me. “Ellie to be honest I don’t know, but I have people
looking out for him.”

I was taken aback. Shocked to hear Rhea did
not know what would happen, and that she just didn’t seem to care.
It was wrong to come here and leave him all alone. I had abandoned
him.

“
Oh my god what have I done?” I said
slowly.

“
Ellie?” Rhea asked.

“
I’ve left him to die alone, he’s all
alone. I have to go back, please take me back.” I pleaded with
Rhea.

“
Ellie it’s safer for you here, please
know that.” Rhea said.

“
But are you sure he’ll be safe? I just
cannot just sit here and eat like nothing is wrong!” My voice
started to crack and I started to panic. I started to breathe
heavily pants.

“
Ellie please calm down. Listen to me.”
Rhea placed her hands on my shoulders and looked deep into my
eyes.

“
Ellie, it’s you they are after not
your Father. He’s nothing to them. If you went back, you would just
be putting him in danger. I’ve got plans in place Ellie, there are
people watching him. Do not worry.” Rhea dropped her hands from my
shoulders.

Listening to Rhea’s voice had a calming
effect on me. “I hope your right Rhea. It’s just so hard being away
from him.” I said.

I took tiny sips of water. The cold liquid
felt good going down my throat. After a few minutes had passed I
was finally calm.

“
Sorry.” I said.

“
It’s ok.” said Rhea.

“
Don’t worry about it Ellie, we won’t
let anything happen to you, or your Dad.” Sophia gave me a big
bright smile.

Sophia got up and cleared away the plates and
pushed the metal trolley back into the kitchen.

“
Ellie why don’t you get some rest?”
said Rhea.

“
Yeah, I do feel a bit drained.” I
asked her.

“
It is getting a bit late and you’ve
had quite a day.” Rhea said.

Just thinking about sleeping made me yawn,
and I could feel my strength leave my body.

“
Maybe I will have a rest.” I
agreed.

I pushed away from the table and started to
walk out of the dining room. I was stopped by Rhea’s voice.

“
Goodnight Ellie, get some rest.” she
called sweetly to me.

I turned away from her and continued to drag
my tired legs to my room. Remembering how to get back to my room, I
turned right at the top of the stairs and walked down the well
decorated hall and into my room.

I quietly closed the bedroom door and the
whole room turned dark. I fumbled my way to the bed (not caring
about the lack of light) and climbed on. My whole body was tired. I
was absolutely drained of energy. Too tired to take off my clothes,
I decided to leave them on. The bedding was fresh and so soft
against my skin. Too tired to think, i closed my eyes and I was
dead to the world.

My peaceful sleep was disrupted by, what I
could only guess, was whispers coming from outside my bedroom door.
The whispers were there for only mere seconds, and continued down
the hall. Flipping over onto my side, I tried to get back to sleep
but something was nagging in the back of my mind. I just wanted to
go to sleep. Giving in to the weird and irrita-ting need, I rolled
off the bed and walked towards the door in darkness. I pushed down
the door handle and peeked out slowly. I could hear more faint
whispers. Quietly I crept out into the hall and slowly, trying not
to make a sound, walked to the stairs. Rhea was standing in the
main hall walking back and forth with her arms folded tightly. She
was also talking in hushed tones to Sophia.