Chapter Twelve
Hannah
Sean and I shared blood, and that meant we were family as far as I was concerned. In following the protocol of what it meant to be family, I had looked all over the mansion to find him. I knew how important his prism was to him, and to have spent all that time to create it at the cost of someone he cared about—I thought the thing to do was try to talk to him. So far, all I’ve ran into are the staff members. I asked several if they had seen him or Rae, but no one knew anything. With each sunlit hallway I went down, I grew increasingly frustrated. For Pete’s sake, I couldn’t even find Sophie! For all I knew she was out on the street soliciting anyone in need of a nanny. That girl didn’t know when to stop.
It was nearly noon, and suddenly abandoned by everyone, I decided to wander the streets of University Hill. The mansion we were staying in was comparable to six or seven city blocks away from the city. The city with its tall sandcastle buildings, sprouted out of the ground as if had grown that way. There wasn’t a slow merging of rural to city areas. You were either in University Hill or you were outside University Hill.
With not a cloud in sight, I walked in the bright sunlight towards the welcoming, glistening city.
Unlike a lot of large cities on earth, this one was clean. If I would have dropped my hamburger on the street, I wouldn’t be afraid to pick it up and finish eating it—it was that sanitary looking. And it was kept that way from everyone cleaning up after themselves. I didn’t see one litterbug. They had pride in their city, in their surroundings and as a whole society.
I sat beside a large fountain with a sculpture of two dolphins leaping in mid-air. Tiny droplets of water plashed behind me as I sat on a bench that encircled the fountain. The three to four story buildings were by no means tall skyscrapers that I was used to, but were they lacked in height, they gained in architecture. Stained glass, arched doors made of faceted glass and the building material used for the very bones of the buildings—sand. I marveled at everything from how pleasant and nicely dressed every siren was to the structures that surrounded me. I felt I had entered a perfect mystical world with no problems or wants, but I knew that was far from the truth as the Alliance had control over sirens.
This bothered Sean, though I didn’t and I did understand. Why rock the boat when all seems to be going well? Because it confined us as a race to have no say or rights within the Alliance. This is what Sean wanted, but he was going to be sneaky about it and use siren power to take over.
It was both a good and bad idea that I wish I could come up with a solution. Suddenly, laughter broke through my deep-thinking. A group of girls dressed in black tights and wearing long tunic-like shirts with their hair pulled up on top of the head, went into the building behind me.
I watched the door open, and before it closed I could see an enormous aquarium with colorful fish swimming through mazes of bright coral. Then the door shut behind them. I gazed at the building wondering what it was as there was no signage, but only squiggly markings above the door. Maybe it was an aquarium. Now that would have been better to go see than the museum.
I casually walked up to the door as if I had business to go inside. No one took notice as I entered through the frosted glass door.
The aquarium was amazing as it nearly reached the ceiling. It was like someone had sliced a section of the ocean and plopped it down on the floor. Large fish of all sizes darted through the water, as larger fish resembling sharks, lazily swam through the arches of coral.
“Can I help you before you have to go back?” A girl with dark skin and big green eyes asked sitting behind a large wood counter.
“Uh, help me?” I asked feeling I should excuse myself and leave.
She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Do you need a book or what?”
This girl was the first rude person I have run into since I came here. I smiled slightly feeling a little homesick.
“Look, I don’t have all day for you to decide if you need a reference book or not.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m not from around here, and just kind of wandered in. Sorry to disturb you.” I felt it best I leave since I think I was in a library, not an aquarium.
It was then I noticed all the shelves of books behind her and everyone sitting around with a book pressed to their faces.
“Wait,” the girl said as I headed towards the door.
She was a petite girl with a delicate frame. I looked down at her as she studied me with her large eyes. Her dark brown hair and skin only made her eyes stand out even more.
“You said you’re not from here, so where are you from?” She looked serious making me feel like I’d committed a crime.
“I-I am from…a far, far away place.” I smiled. “Sorry, I have to go.”
“Wait,” she said stepping in front of me and attracting the attention of some of the library’s patrons. “There are lots of places far, far away. But you are not local, and you just got a mark.”
Can all sirens sense a new mark?
The girl’s lips curled into a sly smile. “You’re one of the sirens from earth, aren’t you?” She crossed her arms proudly.
I stood with gaping mouth. I should have never come in here.
“I have to go, goodbye.” I turned, but she caught me by the arm. Her grip was amazingly strong.
“I’m not going to bite.” I looked into her green eyes. “You are more than just a siren. You’re one of our kind of sirens.”
“You’re kind?” Her remark captured my attention. “What do you mean?”
Someone stood at the counter impatiently ringing the call bell. “I’m ready to check these books out.” A young man with brown hair said.
She motioned for him to wait as he rolled his eyes and pounded on the bell again.
“I said just a minute!” She turned towards him as he continued to ring the bell.
“I need to get back to class now.” He protested.
Suddenly a rumbling came from the aquarium. I stepped back and looked to see all the fish had disappeared. The commotion had caught everyone’s attention. I could have easily slipped out unnoticed, but I wanted know more about what this girl knew.
From behind a large section of coral, an enormous shark peered at the impatient boy who now trembled as he held onto his books tightly. The girl stood in front of the aquarium with the nasty looking shark at her shoulder.
“If Pete didn’t have to live in water, he’d come and kick your ass for being rude. You know he’s got relatives that still swim in the Sanudra Ocean.” She stamped his books and gave them back to him with a smile. “Due back in two weeks, got that book boy?” He nodded his head and left.
Slowly everything went back to normal. Pete retreated to the coral, and the fish came out from their hiding spots as the patrons returned to their books or study groups.
“My name is Kathy, by the way, but you can call me Kat,” she said shoving some books off the counter to a cart behind her. “I’m going on break, walk with me.”
I followed her not only out of curiosity, but also out of fear of Pete the extremely large shark.
“Let’s go sit by the fountain because I don’t have much time.”
We sat on the bench and Kat pulled a small container from her bag. I expected a sandwich or fruit, but instead it was filled with tiny fish—still flipping and barely alive. I cringed as she ate one then another.
“You’re one of the sirens that came here through the old portal, aren’t you?” Kat asked between bites of half-dead fish. “They said it would keep them alive for up to five hours—so much for gimmicks,” She said looking at the container her fish were in. “Oh well, just another two miras down the drain.” My stomach churned.
Kat looked at me. “Are you alright?” She asked sucking in a fish like spaghetti.
“Fine,” I lied trying to keep from puking.
“So, you are one of the sirens from earth?” She a
sked again.
I cleared my throat and smiled at her.
“There are exactly one-thousand-four-hundred and fifty-nine sirens on Murk Island, and we can usually sense one another by our marks. Yours is new. I can practically smell the ink because it hasn’t soaked in yet.” Kat put the lid back on her container. Good, she was done eating the smelly fish. And then she belched—nice.
“I can also see something more in you. Our kind of sirens can, while the average siren can’t.” She smiled and quickly brushed her hand across my forearm.
It slightly tingled as I jerked it away and stood up. “What the hell are you doing?”
Kat leaned back and gazed up at me. “Look at it.” She motioned towards my arm.
I held my arm out and sparkling back at me were small patches of silver scales. I gasped and rolled my sleeve back over it. “What did you do?” I demanded.
“The one trait that stands out for a mer siren is their eyes,” she said casually. “That’s the first thing I noticed about you—your eyes are as green as one of the many colors of the Sanudra Ocean.” Kat stood up as the bell chimed overhead. “I have to go back to the library. If you want to know more, meet me at the Siren’s Dell at seven. You’ve been there before, so you know how to get there.” She smiled with a small laugh. “Like I said, it’s a small island—not much happens here, and when it does, everybody finds out.”
She slung her pouch over her shoulder and flashed a smile at me as she headed back to the frosted doors of the library.
“My name is Hannah,” I said to her. I knew better than to give out my name, but I felt it was safe.
“Nice to have met you, Hannah,” Kat turned with a tilt of her head. “Seven at the Siren’s Dell—don’t be late.”
Should I tell Sophie or not? I should, but then she’d stop me and tell me it wouldn’t be wise. Kat had tempted me with a past I never knew I had. Silver scales, like a fish, appeared on my arm with a wave of Kat’s hand. Maybe it was a trick, glamour or maybe she had used persuasion on me.
I couldn’t ignore it. I felt something whether it was a trick or real, I had to know.
I snuck out of the mansion after diner. The full moon lit everything in silver light, and the breeze was calm compared to the other night. It’s amazing how quickly the weather changes around here. The winding path that led to the Siren’s Dell was outlined by small lanterns along the path. I passed several sirens either coming or going from the restaurant that glowed in the distance. I wrapped the shawl I had around my shoulders a little tighter as butterflies swarmed in my stomach.
What was I doing? I stopped just at the crest of the hill. Siren’s Dell was a bustle of activity. Music played while waiters and waitresses zoomed in and around tables. There was a lot of laughing, talking, and some singing at some of the tables. I gazed at all of the activity as the steady flow of sirens went by me like ants to a picnic.
I couldn’t stop now, and what could happen in such a public place? It wasn’t like we were meeting in some dark alley.
“Welcome back,” Myra, our waitress last time said in a cheery voice. “Kat is over here waiting for you.”
I followed Myra to a table situated by the creek that cut through the rolling hills. It was a little quieter here than on the balcony. Orillions of various sizes and lengths hung in trees overhead that illuminated everything in soft light. The few tables that were here, were occupied as Myra and I looped around them until we reached one tucked behind a potted plant.
“Here you go, and Kat took the liberty of ordering for you,” Myra said with a smile and like a flash, she was gone.
Kat was dressed in an aqua colored dress that scooped low at the neckline, and complimented her dark skin. Her hair was pulled up with a few strands hanging around her rounded cheeks. She smiled and motioned towards the chair across from her as she put out what looked like a cigarette.
“Please, Hannah, sit down.”
“You smoke here?” I asked before my brain engaged.
Her green eyes lifted to me as she crushed the cigarette out in the ash tray that sat on the table.
“They are imported from earth, and yes, we occasionally smoke here. Though the Alliance doesn’t like it and puts a pretty hefty tax on them. I get mine on the black market about half price.” Kat folded her hands and smiled. “But I didn’t invite you here to talk about cigarettes.”
No, she didn’t, and I was glad when Myra came back with our drinks.
“This is my favorite drink here. It’s called a blue moon.” She took a sip as I looked at mine.
It was served in a tall, frosted, blue glass. “Is it glowing?” I asked as I examined it.
“Yes, it glows because it has the extract of moonflowers in it.” She replied as she lit another cigarette. “But I didn’t invite you here to talk about the local drinks either.” She seemed to be getting agitated.
“You are a rare siren, Hannah. Not only are you a descendant of Lygia, but a mer siren as well.”
“How do you know I’m a descendant of Lygia?” I asked taking a sip of my drink. It was sweet, and it didn’t taste of alcohol at all.
“Your hair,” she pointed at my red hair, “and being an accomplished mer siren, I could sense it.”
I took another sip of my drink followed by another. My body began to relax as I listened to Kat talk about how mer sirens were the children of the mer race, and caught somewhere between a full siren and a mer. We were children of the ocean, but not even considered a race in Atlantis. Mer sirens couldn’t go to college, only hold certain jobs and could only go enter certain buildings in University Hill. We were limited in an already limited society.
Even though I was still full from the diner I ate at the mansion, I sampled the pasta dish that Myra served me. Everything as it was before was good, including the several blue moons I had consumed.
“So, do you want to know what it’s like to be a mer siren?”
“What it’s like?” I repeated in my slightly slurred voice.
Kat giggled as she slipped off the chair, and grabbed her small purse. “Come on, let me show you.”
We left Siren’s Dell with the moon overhead. Kat led me to a small beach where a few other sirens were gathered around a small fire. It was a secluded area, and I would have been nervous if it wasn’t for the alcohol numbing my senses.
“Hannah, this is Alec, Nina, Heath, and Mora.” Both Heath and Alec were dark skinned like Kat, while Nina was as pale as me, and Mora almost looked oriental with her dark hair as smooth as silk and angled eyes. They were all beautiful, like they should have been in some famous painting somewhere.
“Nice to meet you all,” I said with a smile as they began to laugh. Had I said something wrong?
“No, you didn’t say anything wrong,” Mora said as she wrapped her slinky arm around me. “You are from earth; it must be so exciting there.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “On earth you have the guardianship always breathing down your neck. Otherwise, yeah, it would be a lot nicer.”
“So how do you like it here so far?” Nina asked pulling her brown hair into a ponytail.
“I like it, and…I don’t know…something feels so right about it.” What I said sounded lame, but no one laughed at me, they just nodded their heads.
“We’re losing moonlight,” Alec with his nearly shaven head said as he gazed up at the bright moon.
“Let’s go,” Kat said running towards the crashing waves.
They laughed and frolicked in the water until I couldn’t see them anymore. I stood at the edge waiting for them to surface from the dark water that sparkled with moonlight.
Heath came up from behind me and smiled. His aqua colored eyes swirled with colors as if I was staring into a small part of the ocean.
“Where did they go? Are they alright?” I asked as his smile deepened. “They might have drowned.”
Heath with his long dreadloc
ks and amazingly colored eyes looked exotic as he gently grabbed my arm. Silver scales glistened back at me on both of my arms.
“Stay close to me and you’ll be fine.” Heath’s voice was reassuring and without a word, I let him guide me into the ocean.
We went deeper and deeper until I felt the urge to go under the surface. With a deep breath, I plunged into the water. I held onto Heath’s hand for reassurance as we swam farther and farther out.
What was I doing? I was terrified of deep water, and here I was in it with a complete stranger.
You are with no stranger, and the water is just like the element of air to our kind.
I stopped and realized my feet were no longer on the sandy bottom, but hanging in the depthless water.
Heath was in front of me smiling and holding on to both of my hands.
Come on, let’s go a little deeper. The reef is beautiful this time of the month.
We dove deeper and I never felt the need for air, in fact, I had completely forgotten all about it.
Alec, Nina and Mora were at the bottom between the arching coral reef collecting shells. Kat was nowhere in sight as Heath guided me through the maze of coral. It was beautiful as he promised. The moonlight filtered through the clear water like sunlight. The colors were like no other, and fish darted around like children on a playground. Large stingrays glided past us like prehistoric birds, and a few dolphins swam by heading out to deeper waters.
I could easily forget about everything here and just stay, but as the moon lost its glow, I felt the desire to go back to shore.
“Did you have fun?” Mora asked with a handful of shells.
I nodded my head as I still felt speechless.
“She had an amazing time, I can see it practically glowing all around her,” Nina said wrapping up what looked like sand dollars. “I will make a fortune with these.” She held one of the disks up.
“You should come again next month.” Heath smiled down at me as he put on his shirt.
“I will, and next time I’ll bring a swimsuit.” I looked down at my soggy dress that clung to me.
The indigo sky had hues of orange cresting over the horizon—dawn. How was I going to get back into the mansion unnoticed?
Mae
Sirens Page 12
