Song of the Sirens (20 page)

“I’m all right. Did you kill her?” I bit
my lower lip.

He nodded.

“She…killed someone,” I muttered and
looked away. The image of splattered blood and a half-eaten corpse flashed
across my thoughts.

“Kent.”

I closed my eyes and stepped back. I
really liked Kent, despite him having forced my labor in gutting fish for
stews, but I was relieved Dad lived. Had that been Dad’s bloody corpse, I
would’ve begged Riley to erase my memories this very moment.

Riley took my hand. “The coast guard is
on their way. Let’s get you and your father off the boat and back on land.”

I followed him through the hall. “What
about you and the others?”

“We’ll make it through. There’ll be a
lot of questions when they find the body.” His voice trailed off.

I shuddered and blinked away tears. At
least Dad lived.

Riley tapped on the door on the top
floor. The locks unlatched, and the captain opened the door. I entered after
Riley and glanced down at my father’s sleeping face.

I didn’t dare voice my thought, but he
barely looked alive. His skin was pale, eyes dark, and his lips white.

Riley squeezed my shoulder and offered a
side hug. I wiped away tears.

“Ah, sweetheart, he’ll be fine once we
get him into a hospital,” Captain Jack reassured me.

I nodded my head to appease him, though
we both knew chances were slim.

When Riley’s cold hand left my shoulder,
I turned to ask him about using his gift on my father, but he vanished. He
left, and had closed the door.

I pouted, and tried hard to keep the
tears at bay. I knew Dad didn’t have a chance in hell of surviving, not without
a merman’s power.

I inhaled. My chest fell in splattered
heaves, almost sobs. Captain Jack hugged me from the side and consoled me with
the generic comforts every person said. Things would not turn out all right.
Dad wouldn’t live. The sirens screwed with his head too hard and for too long.
Without Riley, he might as well die now and evade the pain.

“Be with him. Let him hear your voice,”
the captain urged.

I sat down on the chair next to the bed
and rubbed my father’s cold temple. The men changed him out of the freezing,
wet clothes, and draped him in warm attire, covered him with an emergency
warming blanket, and wrapped a normal blanket over that.

The captain moved and headed toward the
door.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“Just out to check on the others.”

“Riley warned us to stay inside during
the storm.”

He chuckled. “That boy is not going to
tell me what to do on my own ship. I left steerage to my first mate to watch
over Percival. You’re here now. You’re warm and healthy again. You talk to
him.”

“Please don’t leave us alone,” I begged.

“Sweetie, it’s all right. You’re safe
now. There aren’t any sharks here; nothing will harm you. The boat’s been
turned around, and we’re heading toward land. The coast guard was called in
long ago, and they’ll meet us halfway to get you and Percival to a hospital. I
promise.”

He rubbed my head as if I were a child
and left. I gulped, then locked the door after him. I wanted to tell him deadly
sirens hunted the grounds, but he would’ve thought I’d gone crazy, and left
anyway.

Returning to my father, I brushed aside
his hair from his face.

“Can you hear me, Dad?” I whispered.
“You have to fight. You can’t leave me all alone. What am I supposed to do
without you? I’ll be an orphan. I miss Mom so much, and I can’t miss you like
that, too. I don’t have a strong enough heart for that.”

I sniffled and wiped away tears. After a
few breaths, I changed the subject.

“Want to hear a story? You won’t
remember this either way. What happened isn’t your fault. I think they used me
to find you. You’ll never guess what’s down there. Atlantis is real. You found
it, Dad. But it’s not what we thought it was. It isn’t a lost city, a dead
civilization. It’s a thriving kingdom filled with mermaids, and mermen, and
sirens.

“Sirens did this, but Riley will take
care of them. See, Riley’s a merman. His king sent him to us to keep you from
discovering them, but they didn’t anticipate the sirens living. They weren’t
always like this, either.”

I pulled out the journal and opened it
to the middle pages. “You know how I like to write? I never thought of anything
very interesting, but you said I had a knack for storytelling. I started a new
story. It’s like a fairytale meets some crazy zombie movie. I know you hate
zombies. Do you want to hear it?”

Of course, Dad didn’t respond. I gulped,
and nodded, and began to read, looking down at him every other sentence in case
he moved.

“The once beautiful sirens, known for
their carnivorous appetites, discovered humans when mankind began exploring the
vast sea. Temptation and curiosity drove them to the boats. Their hypnotic song
and alluring beauty lured sailors to the edge, enabling the sirens a first
taste of forbidden flesh.

“At first, they only took those who fell
into the sea at the hands of tempests. Then, they sought out those who fought
wars in their ocean. Soon, they stalked sailors and fishermen. Finally, the
sirens, jaded by their watery confinement, ventured to land and hunted humans.

“When word reached King Neptune, the
ruler of Atlantis, he seethed with contempt at the dastardly deeds. He ordered
all the sirens to appear in his court and commanded them to leave the humans
for eternity. The king banished them from the kingdom, to wander the wilderness
until they proved their loyalty.

 “The sirens didn’t take this order to
heart. Their growing insanity bubbled over, and turned them to cannibalism.
Thrown into the clutches of madness, they retaliated and terrorized the
inhabitants of Atlantis.

“The merpeople believed the sirens could
infect others through bite or scratches. They didn’t dare spill blood and
contaminate the sea. They were forced to imprison the sirens. The king summoned
the warriors. King Neptune used his trident to flush the sirens out of his
kingdom, while the warriors used their aquatic powers to shove the sirens into
a labyrinth. A massive boulder concealed the tomb, and the warriors erected
sharp, stone gates around the entrance. They named this prison Theoisis.

“For centuries, the merpeople believed
the sirens died from starvation…but they hadn’t.”

I closed the journal and stuffed it back
inside my sweatshirt with a sniffle.

“That’s as far as I got. I hope I live
long enough to finish it, and I hope it has a good ending. What do you think I
should call it? It’s actually a true story. Maybe I’ll call it,
The Zombie
Mermaid Diary
. Maybe you’ll read it one day. Hopefully you won’t remember
any of this and think it’s some crazy story I made up.”

I quieted down. Not all women were known
for their comforting bedside manner in the presence of a potentially dying
person. I opened my mouth to continue with the real story, and the mermen, what
they did for us without alerting my father to the presence of sirens. I didn’t
say anything. If he could hear me, alarming him wouldn’t help.

Someone knocked. I jerked. The knock was
casual, and I suspected the captain returned. I checked the peephole,
nonetheless. I opened the door and faced Riley, who slipped in and closed the
door.

“How is he?” he asked, looking at my
father.

“The same,” I choked.

“Ah, Anita.” He shook his head. He
headed for that same, consoling direction that the captain took.

I raised my hand, palm out, to stop him.
“Where did you go?” I abruptly changed the topic.

“I checked around again. I haven’t heard
anything. Either only one siren made it to the boat, or other sirens have kept
quiet.”

“Are they that smart?”

“They’re very smart, but they’re hungry
and crazy, so they aren’t all there.”

“Is everyone else okay?”

“As far as I know. They’re getting rest.
The only ones who are awake are in the control room. The coast guard is almost
here. Are you ready?”

“Yeah. Are you coming with us?”

“I can’t, not yet.”

“Will I see you again?”

He looked away. “Don’t take this the
wrong way, but it’s best if I say hopefully not.”

“Right, because if I do it means the
sirens are out.”

“Yep. I’m tied to my people. I have to
take care of this, and after that…I dunno. I wish I could see you again under
better, happier circumstances, but that stuff is forbidden.”

I mused over the silver lining of those
words. “That stuff” sounded like something leaning on the edge of romantic, but
now wasn’t the time to consider that.

Captain Jack and Harris entered with two
coast guards in close tow. Riley and I moved out of the way. Eventually we
squeezed through the doorway and waited in the hall. I bit my nails, craned my
neck, and stole glimpses of Dad as the men moved his body from the bed to the
gurney. They latched belts over his torso and legs.

When they stood, I stepped aside. When
they walked through the hall, and up the steps, I followed as closely as
possible without clinging to their backs.

I could count every heartbeat pounding
in my chest, and every trickle of nervous sweat chilling against the cold
breeze as the men maneuvered across a slick deck on a swaying boat.

I counted to the last minute. That made
things worse. Counting made the time feel slower, like watching a boiling pot
or something. I couldn’t believe at any minute we would find safety on the
helicopter. As much as I wanted to scuttle faster, I couldn’t help but feel a
deep wretchedness for the remainder of the crew.

Riley knew what to do, but at least one
member lost their life. I wanted to believe that he could stop all the sirens,
no matter how many swam the dark waters or crept through the boat, but
something told me the crew might not make it out alive.

The coast guards slipped twice before
reaching the dangling straps that whipped in the breeze.

I nervously looked around. Couldn’t
these guys move any faster! Didn’t they know starving, insane monsters wanted
to eat us?

Once they steadied the stretcher below
the straps, they hurried in the storm as high wind gusts rocked us. I lost
balance once. Captain Jack caught me. He offered a reassuring smile.

Waves crashed against the boat. The
coast guards had a hard time keeping their helicopter steady as the men on deck
latched the stretcher to the straps. They whirled their hands in the air,
indicating things were ready for hoisting, and away Dad went.

I shielded my eyes from the copter’s
glare, and held a breath as the stretcher swung from side to side. I held my
breath, but inhaled once when the men pulled Dad inside and secured him. They
dropped down a rope and metal ladder and two security straps.

“I understand you’re coming with us!”
one guard yelled above the noise from the helicopter blades.

I sure hoped so. The man secured a
safety belt around my waist when I raised my arms. He tugged and yanked as he
secured the latches to the straps, and then went on to secure his own.

He lifted a long arm and grabbed the
metal bar to the rope. Holding it taut and steady, he said in a loud voice,
“They’ll reel you up as you go to keep your strap tight, so if you let go of
the rope, you won’t fall and they can pull you up the rest of the way. Hang on
tight, and climb up. I’m right behind you in case you let go, or don’t think
you can do it. Are you all right?”

I nodded, and glanced behind him at the
captain. Captain Jack gave two thumbs up and an exhausted smile. He reminded me
of a much older uncle, or a young grandfather. In either case, I was fond of
him, and the mere idea that he could die tonight made me want to vomit.

Choking back tears, I clutched onto the
rope and climbed. As the first coast guard and I climbed, the second guard kept
the rope stable. I clung to the rope for dear life, though I remained secure
and latched on. Dangling in midair in the middle of an aggravated storm sent my
heart pounding like a manic cannon. It wouldn’t settle down. My palms felt
sweaty and hot, despite the continual gusts. The icy air turned my cheeks cold,
cracked my lips, and dried my eyes.

I made the mistake of glancing down at
the crewmen. Only a few remained.

I gulped. Those seemed like haunting
words. I wondered where the rest of the men were.

The coast guards reeled us in as we
climbed. We shifted higher and higher. I froze, crossing my ankles around the
rope. My eyelids fought against me and closed. In that moment of utter
darkness, surrounded by the howl of the wind and the fierce buzz of the chopper
blades, I fell into a trance of sleepy calmness where my eyes rolled into the
back of my head. I could’ve passed out. I forgot everything in the waning
minute. Danger and surreal horrors danced at the edges of my mind, kept at bay
by this dreamy serenity.