by Giger, S. L.
“Good plan.” Alex said in a monotone voice and then insisted again, “I still think if the humans revolted, at some point the VCP wouldn’t stand a chance. We are more than them.”
“Yes, but we have always been more than them and still they control everything now.” I was getting annoyed. Why was he being so difficult? Before he could say anything else, I cut in again, “You said Eddie is in his work shed? Maybe I should go there now and once Melissa is here, we can discuss when I bring him to Serena. Perhaps, I should take Melissa with me then as well, so she can also learn how to sing.”
Alex puffed his cheeks. “So, you’ll be leaving again soon?”
“Yeah.” I sighed and looked into his concerned eyes. “But not for long and afterward we’ll approach Monica.”
“Off you go then.” He stared at my face with a stony expression, which was worse than swearing at me or arguing. It created a huge gap between us although I was only standing a meter in front of him.
“Don’t be like that.” My posture deflated, a bit insecure whether I really was doing something wrong.
“Like what?”
“Like I had a choice and chose to leave you.” I spat.
He sighed and pulled me toward him by my hand. “I know, I’m sorry. I just hate that you are doing everything, and I am doing nothing.” I wanted to object but he was faster. “No matter what you say, nothing will change this fact.”
“Alex”, I said slowly and distinctly, trying not to lose my temper, “Don’t let your ego problems get between us. I don’t want to have a bad feeling because of things I am forced to do. You know I wished I weren’t the one they chose to fight Monica. If you want to do something, be the kind man I love. The one I can come to and feel safe.” I stared at the ground.
“I don’t have ego problems.” He muttered. “But what you forget is, that you are my safety point as well. I need you to be okay.” He massaged my hips.
I nodded, my throat too choked up to talk. I sat down on his lap for a moment, putting my arms around his neck, feeling his stubbles on my cheek.
“You should see after Eddie now,” Alex said.
“See you later,” I whispered and gave him a kiss.
“See you later,” he nodded.
I hurried over to the glass blower’s shed, knocked and entered. Luke was in there reading something and Eddie was lying on the workbench with his arms crossed. Was he trying to sleep? That didn’t make any sense.
The whole room looked different as well. Somebody had given it a good cleaning. The familiar layers of dust had disappeared and none of the tools were lying around anywhere. The smell of the oven was gone as well, which hit me with sadness. It was as if the soul of this place had slipped out. Of course, they couldn’t turn the oven on again or otherwise, the VCP would probably blow the house to pieces.
Luke was next to me, giving me a hug and asking what had taken me so long. Eddie still laid there with his eyes closed and arms crossed.
“It was more difficult to find a heart than imagined.” I didn’t want to say the rest before I was sure Eddie was listening. “What is he up to?” I pointed with my eyes to the corpse-like figure.
“Since it got a bit dangerous to run continuously and go so far away from here, we decided to hang out here. However, now he says the days seem endless. He is trying to fall asleep to be able to get rid of at least some hours”, Luke scratched his head. “He’s been like that for over a day.”
“Do you think he’s been successful?” I narrowed my eyes.
“Nope,” Eddie said without moving.
“If you don’t mind being motionless for so long, you’d be good at meditation.” I smiled and stepped to the table. “I’ve found a place where you’ll like it better. Apparently, you are one of the Sirens who is more drawn to the ocean than others.”
He opened one of his blue eyes and tried to find me with it. Then, I told Luke and Eddie about Serena and how she was expecting me to bring him back.
“Wow, over two thousand years.” Luke shook his head in disbelief. “And what does a Siren sound like? Sing for us?”
I laughed, embarrassed because, since the failed attempt with Alex just before, I wasn’t so sure whether I could even still do it. “Ever since I sang, I feel like I’m some kind of circus animal which needs to do tricks on cue.”
“Well, if we had to wait for almost two thousand years until a Siren sings again, you can’t blame us that we want to hear it.” Luke said.
I pressed my lips into a tight line. “I need to practice more. Without people around me. You make me nervous and it doesn’t work.” I exhaled. “I tried in front of Alex and I couldn’t do it.”
Luke’s posture deflated a little. “Okay, you go practice then. You better be able to do it with people around once this Monica is standing in front of you.”
“Yeah, no pressure.” I puffed my cheeks.
Eddie had been listening with open eyes and now sat up. “I’d like to go there and meet her.”
“Great, that’s the spirit.” I made a fist.
“Can I come as well?” Luke asked. “I don’t think anybody knows she is still alive and so meeting her would be quite cool.”
I slowly nodded. “She only mentioned Eddie. I don’t want her to feel like a zoo animal that everybody will come and stare at. There’s probably a reason why nobody found her sooner.” I pulled one corner of my mouth downward.
“I guess that’s true.” He pressed his lips together.
“But I did want Melissa or you to come along because perhaps Serena could teach us both how to sing.”
“And since I’m more of a lucky outcome than a real Siren, it’s probably better if she goes.”
I frowned. “I didn’t say that.”
“Well, I’ve never read about mystical men luring lost sailors into death with their beautiful songs. Let’s not do more experiments, now that we seem so close to a showdown.”
A shiver went through me. “I’m not ready yet. Before we talk about any showdowns, let me practice some more.”
“So, what are we waiting for?” Eddie jumped up and clapped his hands. “Let’s meet this mysterious woman.”
We all returned to our house to wait for Melissa. I told Alex, Luke, and Eddie in detail, what state the various parts of the world were currently in.
Melissa arrived soon as well. She had gone to an actual supermarket in another country and brought some canned food and even meat.
“Thank you.” Alex looked at it with big eyes. “That will be the most delicious meal ever.”
Melissa smiled. “It’s about time that going food shopping gets such a positive reaction.”
We let her in on the plan of bringing Eddie to Serena. I didn’t even have to ask her to come as well. She was very curious about Serena and the Siren’s song.
I glanced at Alex. “At least you’ll have some decent meals now.” Luckily, he loved cooking on his little camping stove since we couldn’t count on electricity anymore.
“Yeah, I’ll be alright. Can I talk to you for a sec?” He got up, grabbed my hands and pulled me behind him. We disappeared into my room, where he had been sleeping for the past months. “It’s odd with everyone else around,” he said, once I shut the door and looked at him questioningly. “I hate that you have to leave and go so far all the time and I never know what is going to happen to you.” He sighed. “It’s killing me.” He kneaded his fingers.
“I hate to leave like this as well. When this is all over, we’ll go somewhere together, only the two of us, like the time we went camping.”
He pressed his lips into a tight line but nodded. “I miss you already.” He then pulled me closer to him. “But go get your voice. I know you could enchant the whole world if you have to. You’ve fully enchanted me without singing one note.” He even smiled a little.
I put my face in my hands and rubbed off the tension that I had felt before. “Thank you, I’m glad to hear you say that. Because so far, everybody else has don
e a lot and I haven’t done anything. Like you and Luke with the serum and Claire and Themba with Dr. Palmer. If I finally could do something, I don’t want to mess it up.” I let go of the breath I had been holding.
“You won’t, I’ll always believe in you.”
“Yes, please remind me next time, when I try to sing in front of someone and it doesn’t work.” I laughed shyly.
Alex kissed me behind my ear, on the spot that I liked so much and then on my mouth. Was it me or did this kiss feel like another one of those ‘memorable’ ones? A goodbye kiss. Once more we didn’t exactly know when we’d see each other again. It had a bittersweet taste.
Chapter 14
The three of us ran in a triangle formation. I was leading and Melissa and Eddie followed. Getting back to Indonesia was easy. When I thought that I must have run past the island, I finally recognized the shape of the small temple. A moment later I spotted Serena who was sitting cross-legged herself. I wondered if she could even get up if she wanted to.
We came to a halt at her beach. Serena had her eyes closed but I knew she had sensed our presence long before I had seen her.
“It’s small here,” Eddie observed. “And quiet.” He took a deep breath.
“But so beautiful.” Melissa gaped. “Look at the clear watercolor.”
I looked down on Serena, a bit insecure.
“Welcome back,” she said. “Also, hello to my new guests.” She opened her blue eyes and smiled first at Melissa, who nodded shyly and then at Eddie. He slightly drew his head back, surprised to see his own eyes on someone else. When he overcame his astonishment, he reached out to shake her hand.
“Nice to meet you,” Eddie said.
“It’s nice to finally meet a Siren who loves the ocean as much as I do.” She said, without having known Eddie for even a minute. “Its vastness, its freedom, and its power. You do feel better here, don’t you?” Serena then asked.
Eddie walked to the edge of the water and observed the surroundings, leaving us waiting expectantly. “Yes, now that you say it. As if I have stepped into the first sun rays after a long winter.”
“But we live right at the ocean as well,” I said.
“Yet, we were in a house the whole time. You can’t even hear the waves in there.” Eddie glanced along the beach. “Here we are basically on the ocean. Only a small amount of sand is dividing us from the water.”
“How come in all my years as a Siren I’ve never seen one with blue eyes?” Melissa asked. “We all have jet-black eyes with sparks of gold.”
“It’s rare.” Serena’s raspy voice resounded from down on the sand. It was a bit odd to have this height difference of us standing and her sitting and so I sat down as well. Melissa and Eddie followed. I picked up some sand and let it run through my fingers. Serena continued when we were all seated. “You are all descendants of Laya, who had black eyes. Since all your transformations were made by a Siren with black eyes, my gene – the gene of the blue eyes – hasn’t been passed on. Occasionally there still is a Siren with blue eyes though and they always come back to the ocean sooner or later.”
“Do you think with the serum everyone will have blue eyes now?” I wondered.
“No, I think this is a mere coincidence.” She looked out onto the water and then back at me. Like with Eddie, I could never be completely certain whether she was looking into my eyes or at something next to me. It was slightly unnerving. “How’s the singing going?”
I pursed my lips. “I can’t do it anymore. Or even if I could, it would take ages.”
“The latter is correct. Practice makes perfect.” She reached out to pat my knee encouragingly.
“I wondered if you had another tip for me. How to accelerate the whole process.”
Serena chuckled. “Once you find a stable connection it will be easy to go back to it and you can summon the power whenever you want. To reach it faster it’s important that you have an essential reason for it. For example, you need to sing to attract people because otherwise, you’d starve.”
I swallowed. I had about a thousand reasons why I wanted to be able to sing like a Siren. “Can you guide me again, please? I hope I can learn it faster this way. It’s necessary that I can sing in the moment when it’s needed and not three days later.” Before she could answer, I added the rest of my plea. “Melissa and Eddie can participate in the guidance as well. In case I won’t be able to do it perhaps at least somebody else can?” I cringed.
Serena turned her head toward Melissa who had been listening intently the whole time. Now I only saw the silver waterfall of Serena’s long and silky hair. “All of you are Sirens and all of you are able to sing. It depends on your amount of focus and patience. It could take months or years.”
The five days it had taken me suddenly seemed like nothing compared to that. “Then why-”
“Did you not need so much time?” Serena finished my question and her laughter lines radiated kindness.
I nodded.
“Already as a human you weren’t far from your Siren roots.” Serena paused and let her gaze wander. Clearly enjoying her role as the old wise lady. “Legend has it that every few thousand years there is a perfect alignment of the moon, stars, and tides. It creates such a strong connection between the tides and the sky that whoever is born inside that stream of energy will have the true powers of a Siren. Laya and I were created through the clash of a lightning storm with the waves during such an alignment. You,” she pointed at me with her hand, “could at least be human first and then return to your roots.”
I gasped, surprised and a bit confused. “To me, it appears the other way around. Being human were my roots.” I narrowed my eyes. “But so, it was the stars? If I were born in another place or a few minutes later, it could have been someone else?”
“It could have but it didn’t happen. It’s you and that’s how it was supposed to be.” Serena gave her statement a supportive nod. “Your parents even named you Serena although they had probably had another name in mind the whole time before your birth. But then, that name felt right.”
I thought about that for a moment. “I had once asked them why they named me this way, but their answer had been that my mom wanted Livia and my dad Francesca. In the end, they couldn’t agree and so they decided to pick something entirely different.”
Melissa raised her eyebrows as if to say “see”.
“Nevertheless, it doesn’t hurt if you try to sing as well,” Serena said to Eddie and Melissa. “For starters, you should sit or stand in a comfortable position in which you can breathe well.”
I sat up straighter and crossed my legs loosely in front of me. Melissa and Eddie had taken a moment to realize that the learning session had begun. Eddie got up and Melissa moved into a similar position as me. Then, Serena’s sedating voice guided us into the meditation. Even though Melissa and Eddie probably had their eyes closed, I felt as if they were watching me. I was very much aware of their presence and felt pressured that I should already have reached my energetic place. Of course, this thought didn’t help me in calming me down and so I tried to push it away. I fought to block out everything else and only concentrated on Serena’s voice.
She had said it would feel natural but concentrating so much was hard work. I rolled my shoulders back to loosen up a little.
There... I had felt something... but I couldn’t pin it down exactly. Yet, it was that kind of feeling which brought me to the goal last time and so I knew I was close to finding my inner voice.
Finally, I reached that explosion of vibrations inside me. They spread from the center of my body to all angles with a tingling feeling. It was at once both thrilling and a relief. I sent the vibrations out through my skin, goosebumps rising all over my arms and legs. The orchestra filled my ears and when I was sure I wouldn’t lose the flow of energy right away, I opened my eyes. The three of them were looking at me. Melissa’s mouth was opened to a round ‘o’ and she leaned toward me to hear better. Eddie was stroking his chin a
nd closed his eyes. I smiled and extended my arms to help the sound travel even better. I think Melissa said something, but I couldn’t hear her. Eddie stretched as if he was absorbing a nice breeze. When my whole body started to shake, I let go of the energy flow and the music faded out. I sank onto my knees, holding my head, disappearing behind the curtain of my light brown hair.
“That was incredible.” Melissa squeezed out.
“I have to agree, quite mesmerizing,” Eddie said. “Like the big finish at the end of a movie where you’re either rooting for the hero to win his battle or crying because it’s so sad.”
“I agree. You can’t remain untouched.” Melissa finished. “Are you okay?”
I groaned. “I feel like I’ve hiked one thousand steps up a steep mountain without a break.”
“It uses up a lot of energy”, Serena confirmed. “We only used to sing to attract our prey and so we could be certain that after singing, we’d have a nice meal.”
“How did you do it?” Melissa asked me, and Eddie interestedly tilted his head as well.
I shrugged, thinking carefully about what had happened. “I followed the different spots of warmth and cold inside me. Where it was warm, there was a better energy flow. At some point, I felt a string of vibration and from that point it was easy.”
“That’s precisely it and you already made much progress to the last time”, Serena praised, and I checked my surroundings to guess how much time had passed. The sun hung low in the sky and would set soon.
“How long?” I asked for all I knew it could already have been three days.
“Eight hours,” Serena nodded satisfied.
“Better than last time.” My shoulders sank in relief. “However, it didn’t seem like anything special happened to you. Shouldn’t you get hypnotized or at least glued to the spot or something, instead of just finding it moving?”
