by Giger, S. L.
“I’m pretty sure they don’t see that as the end of the task.” I pursed my lips. “Male Sirens won’t stop the humans from slaughtering people they believe are magical creatures.”
Luke once more enquired at The Library about the flu cases in Austria. A wizard informed him that the most recent deaths were of three more wizards who were discovered. Unfortunately, the Orbiters had given me the difficult task of detecting the guilty ones. If it were easy, Roisin would have been back with an answer a long time ago. It was ghosts fighting against ghosts, and the only traces we had were the dead bodies.
Two weeks after our little ceremony on the beach, Alex couldn’t hide his excitement when I visited him at the lab.
“Here, take a look!” He grinned and stepped away from the microscope.
I squeezed my other eye shut and tried to recognize anything in the dots and strings I saw. “What am I supposed to be looking for?”
“They are perfect cells with healthy membranes. The solution appears to be strong enough.” He released a breath. “Now we can check whether it will start the transformation in a human’s body and, secondly, whether the body is more accepting of the Siren gene and therefore will revolt less against irritations like many human heartbeats.”
My eyes rested on his. “This means we can take it to the next step?”
“Yes, that was the whole point of it.” Alex nodded; his face bright.
“How likely is it that this cell will automatically make things easier for male Sirens?”
Now his expression changed to remorse. “I can’t make any predictions. But after hearing the stories of the male Sirens, I’d say we have the best possible pre-condition if we choose a guy who took a hard blow of fate or doesn’t have anything to live for.”
“So, it’s still rather a guessing game.” I massaged my neck.
“If you have a better idea than trial-and-error, now would be a great time to mention it.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek and finally shook my head.
Alex put the cell back in line with the other containers that had cells inside them. “That’s why I should be the first to be changed.” He said with his back turned to me.
“Of course not!” I exclaimed. He knew exactly why he wasn’t facing me.
“Yes, it’s my experiment, and I am convinced that it will work.”
“There have been others before you who overestimated themselves,” I said dryly.
“When my mom died, I was devastated, and I still miss her today.” He slowly turned, biting his lip. “Thus, I’d be a match for the hard blow of fate.”
I gulped and spoke quietly. “If something happens to you, I’d not only lose you – we’d also have nobody who could do whatever you do to produce more of this serum.”
He pressed his lips into a thin line. “You’ve got a point there, but I don’t think we will find any other volunteers for that.”
“Hello,” I said in a salesperson’s voice. “We have a new medicine against the flu which we need to try on a person. There might be some strong side effects, but you are one of the few lucky people who has been chosen for this project. Please, let me stab your chest with this needle – it will only be a slight pinch.” I puffed my cheeks. “No, that won’t work.”
“Hmm, not like this,” Alex said. “We should create guidelines for what to say to a suitable guy if it’s not me.”
“No, you definitely won’t try the serum.” I narrowed my eyes and changed the topic. “Can you move the equipment to Cape Cod, or do you still need the whole lab?’
“I only need the microscope and a few tools, but the finished serum we can keep in a normal fridge. In case you want to transport that to the Cape.”
“Yes, because this way, if we do transform someone, the attention will be away from the city.”
We decided that Alex would drive out to the Cape while I transported the valuable serum the Siren way so that we wouldn’t get in trouble with any potential highway patrols.
Alex handed me the little cooler containing the serum. My knuckles turned white when I grabbed it. The last thing I wanted was to accidentally drop it. Handing the job of transporting such important commodities to a person as clumsy as myself was not a good idea, but it was better than losing the liquids to the police.
I raced past streets and across the bay, the cooler always in front of my chest. At home, I breathed a sigh of relief and placed the cooler on the kitchen counter.
Luke eyed it curiously. “What did you bring us?”
“The serum with the cells, with love from Alex.” I smiled briefly. “He says it worked and they are what they need to be now.”
Luke sighed. “That’s at least something.”
“Yes. Now we need to build a list of possible men we could transform. I suggest you start looking on the internet for people with sad stories?” I pulled my shoulders to my ears. “Or do you know anyone who has the perfect CV to become a Siren?”
“Hah, I don’t know any humans anymore except Alex.” He laughed, then nodded. “I’ll have a look.”
I also started my laptop to Google further occurrences of the flu and whether there had been more killings of innocent humans. The news was full of stories. How would I ever find the leader behind all this?
When Alex arrived at the Cape, he went straight to the cooler. He took out one of the plastic tubes and held it against the light.
“Same color still looks okay,” he said.
“Good.” I smiled and looked at Luke. “And did you find anybody yet?”
“M-hm. In Chicago, there is a poor dad whose wife drove over their two-year-old son while backing out of the driveway and then shot herself because—”
“Uh, stop,” I interrupted him. “That’s too depressing.” I looked to the ground and sighed. “Yes, we need someone like him. Perhaps not quite so brutal?” I made a tortured grimace. “They can’t have any psychological damage, or it will be too dangerous.”
“Right,” Luke said. “Now, the next problem is, how do we find and approach a potential match?”
“And how will we get a person who is on the verge of dying close to them?” I threw in.
Alex beamed. “That’s the best thing about this solution. The cells should trigger the changes to the body naturally. You don’t need the initial spark of human adrenaline.”
I tilted my head. “You mean, it’s not necessary to have a dying human’s adrenaline to transform the male Siren?” I exhaled sharply. “Wow, that would really be a biological breakthrough.” Another thought occurred to me, and I gestured between Luke and myself. “Could we use this as well to recharge our energy?”
“I can’t say for sure, but I’d say no since your frozen cells are structured differently.”
“But if it works for these men, we could change all future Sirens with that method?”
“I can’t confirm that.” Alex shook his head. “This would need to be tested.”
“Still, quite a good start.” I nodded approvingly.
The three of us sat down in front of our laptops, and together we collected a list of names and addresses of potential males we could transform. When Melissa came home, she started writing out guidelines for how we could approach these men. After she had hovered with the pen over the paper for ten minutes without writing anything, she set the pen aside.
“You know, none of us were asked to become Sirens. Why should we give these men a choice?”
“To lessen the shock,” I replied. “The male Sirens’ stories all had in common that after their transformation, you had to explain everything to calm them down. If we tell him beforehand, the new Siren won’t feel confused.”
Melissa flattened her lips. “Or, most likely, he’ll decline the offer and run.”
A sudden knock at the door interrupted our conversation. Luke peered out the kitchen window before anybody could make another move.
“It’s Mr. Thompson,” he said with surprise.
“Who, Rey?” I asked
, furrowing my brows.
“Yes,” Luke said. “What does he want?”
“I told him he could come here if anything happens in this area.” I got to the door and opened it. Rey was nervously kneading his fingers.
“Nathalie.” He peered past me, and when he spotted the others, his chest deflated. “Did you hear that they’re going to cut the water along our street? They want to save the resources for the shelters in town.” He stayed on the doormat and showed no signs of wanting to enter.
“Oh, no, I didn’t hear.” I threw a glance at the others. Alex would need water as well, and how would we shower? “Thanks for telling us.” I sucked in my lower lip and studied Rey’s face. My instincts told me I needed to ask him something, but though I racked my brain, I couldn’t put a finger on what that was.
“I wondered whether I could access the stream that runs into the ocean behind your house from time to time so that I could get some water and cook it.” Rey lifted his shoulders faintly.
“Yes, of course,” I said absentmindedly. “But come in for a moment – we should talk about different solutions.” If I could keep him here longer, I would surely remember what I needed to ask him.
He followed me reluctantly, throwing uncertain glances at all the people in the room. I motioned for him to take a seat on the couch and introduced him to everyone using our informal names.
“Why don’t you go to one of the shelters, Rey?” I suggested. “You’ll be living like a savage if you stay in your house.”
“I’m still not a people person. This finally gives me the opportunity to go back to nature in a time when everything green is covered up by concrete. Is this reason enough for you to leave now?” He looked at Melissa and Luke.
“No, like you said, the stream behind our house is pretty convenient,” Luke said.
If Rey came by our house regularly, he’d notice that strange activities were happening here. On the other hand, I had offered for him to stay with us if it got worse. Then something clicked inside me – we needed him to stay because he was the perfect male Siren material. Through all our talks, I had gotten to know Rey well. He was a guy with a good heart who loved his wife, and unfair circumstances had taken her away from him.
I exchanged an excited glance with Alex, whose eyes narrowed in confusion.
“I’d even go one step further and say you should stay with us,” I said. “Nobody should be alone in such an environment.”
Melissa’s eyes widened.
“Thank you, but that’s okay.” He laughed. “It looks like this place is already full enough with four people.”
I swallowed. It would be a loss for the project if we didn’t try it on him. Yet, if something went wrong, I’d never forgive myself for that. I nodded hesitantly.
“But I’d appreciate it if I could get the water here.” He got up and took a few steps toward the exit.
I inhaled through my gritted teeth and grimaced. I couldn’t let him go. “We don’t need the water, anyway,” I said quickly. We had to tell him, and he should decide whether he could agree with the terms.
“Okay,” he said, pulling his mouth into a wry line.
“We don’t drink at all. Well, except for Alex,” I said hurriedly, trying desperately to get him to sit down again. At the same time, I hid my face behind my fingers, wishing I could melt into the ground, but I pushed myself to keep speaking. “Our bodies don’t need water.”
Rey looked like he wanted to ask something but remained tongue-tied.
Luke puffed his cheeks. “If you want to come to our house, you should know something, and you’d better sit back down for that.”
Rey swallowed and slumped onto the couch. Melissa took a seat opposite Rey, smiling brightly.
“Difficult circumstances call for extraordinary measures,” I started. “If the world had continued normally, we’d never tell you what we’re about to now, because it would be too risky. But now it’s our only option, because I need to ask you something.”
His mouth was in a tight line now, and he sat stiffly upright.
I sighed. “I’ll just come to the point. Rey, the three of us,” I said, indicating Melissa and Luke with my eyes, “are not human. We’re what the Greeks referred to as Sirens and, apparently, we’re needed to end the current troubles.”
“It’s true,” Alex said, as if his support would make it more plausible.
To my surprise, Rey simply lifted an eyebrow and started talking in, considering the circumstances, a very calm voice. “I always had my theories about your family.” He faced me. “Of course, not that you’d have such ancient roots...” He sighed and his chest deflated. “And what does this mean?”
“It means that we live pretty much eternally and can move faster than an airplane, which is pretty convenient these days.”
Rey shook his head with a serious expression, as if in denial. “Okay.” He stretched the word, but after that remained silent, his mouth slightly open. He probably wished he’d never knocked on our door.
I released a long breath so that my shoulders relaxed and smiled at him encouragingly. “Anyway, since we have such special powers, we might have a chance to put an end to the turmoil – but the thing is, we’re not enough and, above all, we don’t have enough men.” I frowned.
“I’m not sure if I understand this correctly.” He tilted his head. “You want me to become one of you?”
“Yes.” I drew out the word. “Believe me, I’d much rather not ask you this, because I’m very fond of you.” I sighed and pressed my eyes shut for a moment. “It would be dangerous, and I feel like I should protect you instead of asking you to do something crazy like trusting us. But I strongly believe that you’re exactly the person we need.”
“I’ve been on this world for fifty-eight years and I thought not much would surprise me anymore, but I have to admit, this is quite the shocker.” He fell silent, and I could see in his eyes that he was racking his brain over something. “Were you born like this?” Rey looked from me to Luke to Melissa.
“No.” Melissa held his gaze. “We used to be human like you, but then we were transformed. None of us had a choice. We would have died from an accident if another Siren hadn’t saved us.”
He blew out a breath and looked at the ground. “It sounds as if you want to give me a choice here, but actually, I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
“Yes, you do.” I gave a short laugh. “After all, you could die during the transformation. I don’t want to be responsible for that, so if you want to walk out now, no hard feelings. We’ll find someone else.” I hesitated. “Somehow.”
Rey gulped. “On one hand, you tell me that I will live eternally, and on the other, you tell me that I could die?” Rey asked.
“It’s just that there are hardly any male Sirens. But we figured out a new way to transform men and hope this will lead to a better outcome.” I gave him a half-smile.
“You know, in the past six years, my soul has died a little more every day. I don’t feel like I have one anymore. I’m empty inside.” He touched his chest. “It was okay to live my quiet life here and risk dying early because of my sometimes unhealthy lifestyle.” He paused and shook his head. “I have absolutely no desire to live forever.” He met my eyes.
“I never had that, either,” Melissa said. “I once thought I would gladly accept eternal sadness if I could have one more moment of complete bliss. Instead, I turned into a creature, forever missing what I could have had. But that’s not all there is to it. Life is still a gift, and we were granted opportunities normal people will never have.”
“How dangerous is it?” Rey asked.
“We can’t make a prediction on that,” Luke said.
“Would you choose to be one if you were given the choice?” Rey asked.
Alex turned to eye Luke intently.
“Yes.” Luke smiled. “Absolutely.”
I bit my lip and Melissa lowered her eyes. None of us would have answered that question so confidentl
y.
“But if it goes wrong, I’d die?”
Nobody answered right away, which was answer enough for him.
“That sounds all right, then,” he said, to my surprise. “Either I’ll finally be redeemed, or I’ll be given a completely different life. Both sounds much better than living out the days as I am, basically waiting for my death.”
“You agree to this?” My voice rose an octave.
“You sound like you want to talk me out of it,” he said.
“It would mean that you’d have to spend more time with us. We’d teach you, and you’d have to trust us. I only want you to understand what you’re agreeing to. We can’t let you go off on your own afterward.”
“It will certainly be a change.” He stared at the ground, then said quietly, “However, I always wished for a bigger family. I guess it’s time to come out of my shell a little.” I detected a shimmer of light in his eyes.
My Siren family and Alex all looked at each other, not believing that our candidate had arrived on our doorstep like that.
“Being around these people gives the term ‘destiny’ a whole new meaning,” Alex said in a welcoming tone.
“So, what now?” Rey asked into the silence. I was too stunned to move. Somehow, this had all happened a bit too quickly. Shouldn’t we think it through again more properly?
“If you are ready, we could give you the shot, and your transformation will be started,” Luke said.
“Does it hurt?” Rey asked.
Melissa, Luke, and I glanced at each other. It hurt like hell. I could still feel the pain in my veins as if it happened yesterday.
“It’s like giving birth,” Melissa said. “You will survive it.”
Rey frowned, but then nodded, waiting for us to make the next move.
“We do it here?” Melissa asked for confirmation.
“I guess,” I said.
“I’ve never done this when it wasn’t a necessity,” Melissa said. “I can’t do it.” She looked at Luke.
“I’d be very relieved if, instead of two heartbeats, we’d only have one in this room,” Luke said. “Now, I only need the syringe with the serum.”
That was Alex’s cue, and he went to the fridge to get the serum and insert it in a syringe.
