It was an unwritten rule that: when water acted strange. We were no longer alone.

A murmur of esoteric beauty that lay low beneath those calm layers of water was a sight that shivered a soul. None knew the forgotten, dark creatures that lived beneath its beautiful surface.

My father once told me that humans were naïve creatures. It was hypocrisy; I had realised it, and even my dad was naïve himself. But I would never blame him for that since it was not so hard to be naïve, living a filtered life with proper dreams and aspirations, like everyone else. Following the paths laid out by our ancestors, all is well until the filter breaks.

And here I am, my filter as broken as my father's old wrist lock rests in my pocket.

The sun had withdrawn its light, drawing out a full moon in all its glory. I had concealed the stack of knives that cloaked me with a weary jacket I had managed to afford.

I was naïve.

Each stride I made sapped the determination from my heart. Wandering around the borders of ancient Oarkale Street in the dead of night was a gamble of life and death. It was the time of all sorts of absurdities to be unleashed, that and the time when the Fallen came out for the hunt.

I pondered what my parents would have thought if they had known I was strolling near it at such an uncanny hour. A place where death had greeted the residents of this street on the threshold. Rumours had it that if one were to pause and hone their ears closely, they would hear the lingering voices of the grieving street.

Only a lone street lamp cast a dim, yellow light on Oarkale Street's sad features. The lonely buildings looked yearning for company. I felt grateful that my mission was just at the border of Oarkale and not deeper into its heart.

I paused when I heard a door yawn somewhere along the path. Peeling paint, ragged shingles, and exhausted eavestroughs orchestrated a grim setting. Windows hung like unblinking eyes on the sill; old, ripped curtains blew from a third-story window; and I noticed a bright stain on the light fabric.

My breath curled in my throat when I realised what it was. Blood. I cast a wary eye at my surroundings. Moving closer, I lit the oiled black thread on my guidelight, letting the light grow and get reflected by the tiny mirrors inside the torch.

The blood has not yet darkened.

I immediately put out the light, feeling conscious of my surroundings. Hands skipping over my dagger, I could feel my muscles spasm under the pressure. My eyes were in a frantic search, scanning the street with triggered heartbeats.

I quickly whipped at Jasper and Sophia, who were atop, jumping roof to roof over the closely spaced buildings. If anything was amiss, they will let me know. The sound of water sluicing down the cobbled path, the squeaky rats and the drunken bizarre that carried the air ragged my breath, and I realised how close to that street I was.

Oarkale Street was once a place people would die to live in; it was the crowning gem of our island, Navancia. And now the people who got in have died. It was a street of magnificent culture and rich taste, next to the ocean that had destroyed it, and was now used as a burial dump whenever an epidemic or a shocking number of dead struck.

Tree branches seemed to lean into my path and grab at my hair. Spider webs stretched across the branches get caught in my eyes and mouth.

For a normal person this was suicidal, maybe even more suicidal than a normal one. The horror tales hanging over this place might even be a competitor to the decaying corpses on Oarkale Street.

Yet this place sheltered drunken teenagers who would wiggle their way here like late-night zombies and ultimately end up being a siren's main course.

Forcing the Fallens like us to intervene; as the government would rather kill all bearers of this truth than do something about it, it's upon us to do pest control at such places, putting our lives on the line for those who would decapitate us at the mere whisper of our names.

The eerie winds channelled through the air, chattered my teeth, and quivered my body. I rubbed my hands together and placed them on my face. I had not known how drastic the diurnal range of this area was.

I trekked along the path and turned right which led to an interval between two large buildings; and a mud road. 

I paused. A sound caught my attention. Someone was whispering. And then I heard a tiny gasp before a sprinkle of laughter broke out, then another which was followed by a chorus of them.

I pursed my lips. It was just another hoard of teenagers, I concluded. This is the third time by now. I saw Jasper intake sharply as he reached me from behind with an equally annoyed Sophie on his toe. A tall guy was the first to see me, he giggled at me, making me suddenly very self-conscious. 

I smiled at him and made a small surveillance of their surroundings. Nothing else. Just some teenagers having fun. I turned away immediately when I saw a girl puking her guts out the side. Oh gosh. I jogged away before the pungent scent could hit the air. 

"Let's head home," I said. This place was also known for single-handedly increasing our population. The last thing I wanted to be part of was when they could no longer stomach their alcohol or their desire, and then they did that.

"It has barely been a while since we have come here. Look even the teenagers have not gotten that cozy. It's still too early to go back now. What if a siren shows up right after we leave?" Jasper said, trying to convince me.

"Then we'll never leave. And it will be too late to go back then unless we miraculously encounter a solo." Sophie said.

"Nonsense! We are hunters trained to fight sirens. Solo or horde, we can handle them," Jasper shot back.

"Then why don't you stay here while I and Cassia head home? We'll check up on you tomorrow." 

I suddenly felt a prob in my gut. Something was wrong.

"Are you throwing me to the dead already? I'm hurt sister." Jasper said as if it was the most obvious thing. 

Did I miss something when I visited those teenagers? Or was it before that? My mind ran in circles with endless possibilities. What could be wrong with a situation where nothing or everything happening could be wrong at any moment?

My job has taught me the fragility of situations, and how important it is to assess everything. While we can't stop everything, we can at least prevent some. Not being able to weed out the problem is not sitting well with me. 

"Don't worry even the sirens have some integrity to maintain. They wouldn't even poke your cold corpse with a long stick." Sophie noticed me and listed her head.

"I'll be right back." I quipped before Sophie ran her mouth.

Leaving them both behind, I traced back to those teenagers who were still very well laughing. So what could be wrong here? The wind paused, unsure whether to go on. And I sensed a different kind of stillness settle around me. I picked my pace, suddenly regretting my decision to leave Sophie and Jasper behind.

I followed the sound of their laughter as my guiding light. And I was about to worry that I misjudged a bad stomach as a gut feeling when it hit me. How long have they been laughing? From the moment I left them, I have not once heard them stop. Not even pause breath, and that is definitely not alcohol. 

I picked up my pace and held my breath when I took the turn to the mud road. I dropped a curse as I found it empty. There was only a fading trace of mist. My hand went to my dagger, and the other to take hold of one of the acid bombs. Something got crunched under my shoes and I stepped back to take a closer look. I hit the light at it and it revealed to be a shiny piece of fluke. Upon closer inspection, it made out to be a fluke of a siren's tail.

I looked around in haste. The clearing mist granted me a better view of what lay on the ground- unscrewed bottles of alcohol; half drunk and empty, chips, accessories, a scarf or two- littered the ground. Finally, I found the crimson culprit splattered all over. There were drops of it littering the ground, some splashed across the walls in a weird pattern like an angry protester. 

Water has all of sudden risen to knee-deep level, trying to wash away the shreds of evidence.

A splash echoed through the damp, quiet walls. It was nearby. Unease broke through the back of my neck, confirming it for me. But it wasn't enough to scare me off. Not yet.

Putting two fingers in my mouth, I whistled signaling the others to know our guest was waiting.

I closed my eyes before heavily barring them open again.

The only way to get it out was to bait myself to be the worm in a fishing hook. I slowly descended to the water.

The murky water was filthy and tainted, with dirt clinging to me like a swaddling infant. The water splashed and splattered with each step, creeping up at my feet like a slow poison, chilling my legs with ice as I went deeper. The pouring cold was wearing me down, and my breaths began to build white clouds around me. I pushed past the water, my clothing clinging to my flesh.

My mind began to race through every horror tale and comic Everlee had forced me to read. And now I hate her for that.

The knee-deep water began churning and birthed bubbles that bullied my nerves. Movements pick up in my peripheral vision. I only had about three seconds to see its blue eyes glare through the darkness before it dimmed.

It has begun.

A street lamp flickered to life and then began to play hide and seek. The light hinted at the dense fog that had engulfed me. My body began to relax and weaken as a beautiful melody began to caress it. Steering my thoughts back to the good times I had with my family. My mother laughed as my brother and I tickled her. Dad's cheerful expression as he watched us from a distance. It was tempting. Soo tempting. To just close my eyes and let it all in. The promise of happiness whispered in my ears.

No.

Another splash was heard through the walls. I broke through the trance, the air seeming to cave inward and suffocate my body. I kept my face with the same dazed expression I had seen their prey exhibit. But the tunes came back again with much more resilience. The melody was getting more elevated and captivating as if it had claws and were trying to bleed my soul through its spellbinding curses. The notes were prying at me like leeches, becoming more laborious to avoid as I felt them closely.

I stooped on my feet, feeling the pressure of their throats drown me. I dug my foot into the ground, my head reverberating painfully, and my ears and nose peeked on by a warm liquid that was no doubt my blood. The salty odour of the sea sailed through the air. I felt a calm aura dance in the atmosphere, alerting me to what lay behind me.

Then the melody ceased.

I did not drop the act; I kept the dazed presentation like I had practised a thousand times to do.

Two bright blue, crystal-like eyes reach me through the darkness. The cherry lips and the intense features of that appealing, nearly translucent skin and silver hair that lined it were enough to make any creature fall to its knees if it had no control. It hid its scaled tail under the water. A shiver let out from my mouth, not because of the coldness but because of this monstrous embodiment that now stood before me.

The fact that I wasn't foreign to this beauty or this melody did not warm my raging heart. Despite having slashed through a pile of their now-dead corpses, it never helped me from prodding away that chill that would give me a bear hug with crocodile tears.

I wavered for the creature to be near my radius, where the net of slashing threads hung over me from above in a circle. It slowly stalked towards me, unaware that it was marching straight into its death trap. The stretched strands began to compress when Sophia and Jasper, who stood on the rooftops of the buildings on both sides, yanked them a little.

My breathing was quick and shaky. As I licked my cold lips, I could practically taste my heartbeat—two more steps. The creature needs two more feet before it gets fully caught. My eyes quickly scanned behind it for any leeches that might accompany him. None. Alright then, I visibly shifted my weight to my left foot, ready to jump back while the creature warily watched me. Its mouth was watering for a cold corpse like mine.

It took a step.

My breath caught when I saw realization spilling past its eyes as it stared at the transparent threads sticking to its body. It hooked a hand over one and brought it to its eyes. The thread cut through its fingers. I gulped. Its widened eyes fell on me. It screeched and tried to lunge at me.

I hastily jerked back out of its reach simultaneously with the thread yanked away from me, dragging the siren backwards. I had lost my footing, causing me to topple over, my hands breaking the fall while my body making me land in a spider-like position, ignoring my efforts, had drenched itself to the bone. And then the thread was towed, trapping it inside like a fish caught in a net, while I ducked down, letting the threads zoom over me as they converged around the siren. I wasted no time, launching myself into the filthy water in search of my pack and taking out an acid bomb as I saw it try to claw its way out. I threw it at the siren and the creature screeched even harder.

Its beautiful skin burned as it tried to sing its way out. The smell of glowing skin drove away all other scents, eliciting gag reflexes from Jasper as he and his sister, Sophia, leapt out of their positions. And for a second, I saw Sophia blitzing the creature with a sympathetic look.

Jasper faltered as he warily watched Sophia inch towards the siren. He passed me a look of alertness as we saw the glazed look in Sophia's eyes. Her movements seemed unnaturally fluid, as she moved, putting forth each of her legs like stringed puppets.

It dawned on me that she had fallen prey to its melody.

"Sophia!" Jasper cried, "You're too close to it. It'll grab you! Get out of there." But Sophia was unresponsive to his calls. I clicked my tongue, she should have known better than to get that close training had taught us as much.

Jasper couldn't go any further near the siren, as it was his limit before he fell prey to its melody. But I could, and he knew that.

"Cassia!." Jasper called out to me.

I sucked in a breath and said, "Yes, yes, I'll be her knight in shining armour." I hastily moved to my feet and trudged dangerously close to the creature. I was risking my life for her outlandish acts. I grabbed another acid bomb and aimed it at its mouth.

Bullseye.

I watched as the creature stopped, mouth adrift, hands drawn out, fingers stretching towards Sophia, who gasped, falling onto the water and causing it to spray all over me again.

"What was that?" I shivered. My words began to stumble over each other as I tried to move my frozen tongue. I heavily moved through the water, now fully drenched.

Sophia's eyes widened as she realised, "I didn't know what was happening. I thought I saw my mom, and I just wanted to reach her. I'm sorry, Cassia." My heart dropped. Her mother? This was her mother standing before me? My gaze flickered to the siren in a frantic search for similarities between them. But sirens can't turn humans into them, right? Or can they? My mind raced desperately.

I let out a deep breath, shaking off my thoughts for now. "Just... just don't get yourself killed, please." With that, I turned towards Jasper, who was trying to wrestle it down.

"Even though," Jasper began, oblivious to our exchange, "I would love to tell tales of valour about how I took one down myself, but unfortunately I still wish to live," Jasper spoke jokingly.

Sophia and I chuckled at it tersely and went near the creature to give him a hand. The misfortune that had loaded the street beside us seemed determined to give us a stroke of it. I missed seeing the way Sophia stared at it again, and when I did, it was too late. With her brows knit together and her lips forming a thin line, she made eye contact with it yet again.

The creature smiled in satisfaction and said, "My daughter." All of us froze as a deep, silky voice ensued through the ambience. Unbothered by our reaction, its eyes were solely focused on Sophia, like a marked target. Jasper seemed stunned on his feet, with his eyes wide and mouth agape.

"Mom?" She called in desperation and inched towards it again, quickly crossing me with her superior speed. I tried to rush forward to stop her, but it was as if the ground had grown roots, holding me in place. And before I could protest, its clawed hands latched on to her throat, tearing it open within seconds.

Vote. Comment. Follow.

Hope you enjoyed the story.
Let me know what you think of the first chapter.