The Song of a Siren

Chapter 2

Louis struggled against the rope that held his wrists together, causing his skin to burn slightly from the rough drag of the material. After Liam had stormed in like a mad man and claimed Louis to be a siren, all hell broke loose. Louis of course had tried to deny the accusation at first, along with Harry who declared it nonsense. Although when Liam kept insisting, Louis began to sing his song once again. 

Harry immediately fell into the smaller boy's trance, though Louis' voice had no effect on Liam, who couldn't hear with the beeswax in his ears. He lunged for Louis, pinning the boy down onto the floor. Without the use of Louis' enchanting song, he was pretty much defenseless against the first mate. Liam was much stronger and in under a minute, he had Louis' hands tied with rope, and his mouth gagged with a piece of cloth tied around the back of Louis' head.

"Harry, look at yourself!" Liam shouted, standing up and removing the wax from his ears once Louis' mouth was covered and he was unable to sing. "Louis starts one tiny song and suddenly you're under his spell! That's a siren if I've ever seen one."

Harry pursed his lips as he stared between his first mate and the gorgeous boy who was now sitting tied up on the ground. "You're acting insane, Liam." Harry declared. "Sirens live in the water. Dammit Liam, they don't have legs!" Harry argued back, defending Louis despite the lingering doubt in the back of his mind. "Leave my quarters right now or I'll-"

"I saw him, Captain!" Liam interrupted quickly. "With Jones right before he died. The two of them were off to the side and Louis looked like he was singing to him! Just like he was to you!" Harry felt his stomach start to twist. Liam continued, "Suddenly he walks back and with one move of his hand, Jones' sword is in his ribs!" he said, his expression dark. "You know that wasn't like him."

Harry swallowed thickly and ran a hand through his long curls. "Liam, you can't be sure that's what you saw." he argued once again, though his stomach continued to twist with the anxious feeling that maybe the other man was right.

"There's a way to be sure." Liam said, desperation clear in his eyes. "My father used to tell me tales of sirens when I was young. Said he saw one on his trip to Asia. He said that, sirens live in water, yeah?" Harry gave a simple nod before Liam continued. "He said the opposite element is a weakness of theirs. You have to use-"

"Fire." Harry finished the sentence for him. Liam gave a hesitant nod, "There's only one way to know, Captain. Please, at least be positive he's not a siren and then I'll go."

Harry gave a long sigh, staring at Liam for a few moments before reaching into the back pocket of his trousers to pull out a box of matches. "Fine. I'll show you how crazy you're being." Harry took out a single matchstick and dragged the tip of it across the box, igniting the small flame. He moved onto his knees beside Louis, who's blue eyes were wide as they stared at the spark. "I'm sorry about this, gorgeous." Harry whispered before bringing the orange flame against the skin of Louis' forearm.

As soon as the fire met Louis' skin, a high pitched shriek sounded from behind the boys mouth gag. The noise rattled Harry's brain and was unlike anything he'd ever heard. It was even strong enough that the half empty glass of rum still on Harry's desk shattered into pieces. Although strangest of all, the skin where the flame was touching seemed not to burn. Instead it turned to water, spilling drop after drop of salt water onto the carpet of Harry's room.

Harry quickly pulled the flame away and swore under his breath. This was unbelievable. There was nothing normal about that. When he brought his eyes back to meet with Louis', it was as if the playful innocence had drained from them, being replaced with a cold, sharp glare. He had been discovered.