The Winter Siren

Part 1

The ocean was a wild beast- crashing and howling to the moon. Marlin watched as the waves pounced upon the shore, ravenous in their search for lives to claim. The jet black sky crackled with the occasional flash of lighting and Marlin could have sworn she had seen human figures forming as the sea crashed against the rock. She could have sworn she had seen blue eyes glowing with hatred but-

The door of the tavern slammed open as a gust of biting air rushed through the door. The few people drinking in the warm light of the pub all turned to stare as a man stepped inside. Marlin placed her hand on her cutlass as he shut the door behind him and walked over to her table.

Though his face was concealed by a dark hat, tufts of white hair crept under its edges and revealed his age. Raindrops clung to his dark coat as if they were woven carefully into the fabric. He dragged the chair opposite to her across the floor and lowered himself into the seat.

"I hope you don't mind if I sit here for a while," he spoke with a gruff voice and a strong accent that Marlin couldn't quite place.

"It's fine, I was just leaving anyway," she lied. There was something about the storm outside that had put her on edge though she tried to forget what she had seen.

"Leaving with that much left of your drink?"

"Oh, I meant I was leaving after I had finished it."

"Of course," was his only response as he leaned into his chair and removed his hat.

***

"It's Christmas tomorrow, isn't it?" The man had ordered his drink and decided to talk to Marlin as she tried to drink hers as fast as she could.

"Yes."

"Have you ever heard the tale of the Winter Siren?"

Marlin shook her head. Although her mother had told her many stories when she was younger, she had to admit that was one she had never even heard of.

"Ah," he replied, "Then I'll have to tell you."

And so, he began his tale...

***

It was a Christmas Eve just like this one; storms wailing and fog so thick you couldn't even see the waves on the shore but, my God, you could hear them. A young man managed to make it here and sat in the very seat you are in now. The warmth and light of this pub was a great relief from the relentless cold that the storm had flung upon him. Then again, coming in here was the worst thing he could ever have done.

She came in not long after, though it was long enough for him to have a few drinks. Everyone turned to stare as she entered, and it was obvious why. White hair shining and her face- well, everything about her, was perfect. But there was something wild about her, as if she was deadly in the same way as the ocean- ready to destroy you at any moment.

For some reason, the man wasn't surprised when she sat down in front of him. It was almost as if he knew that she had come in for him.

They stayed there most of the night- drinking and talking and laughing. In fact, they left at exactly 3 am, when the night's darkness and storm's wildness were at their strongest. The rain seemed to move around her- never daring to touch or get too close to her.

"What do you want to do now?" Asked the man, oblivious to the strange things happening.

"I used to enjoy luring men to their death with my voice but, nowadays, I prefer to be closer to the action."

The man should have run then, should have realised her words were truthful. Instead, he laughed. At that very moment, the woman knew that her plan had worked.

"Kiss me." Her silky smooth voice startled him.

"What?"

"Kiss me."

"We've only just met, I don't know you. Why would I kiss you?"

"A terrible curse has been placed upon me. If I don't get my true love's kiss before the sun rises, I will die."

Her words were spoken in a deadly serious tone but, the man was still too stubborn to see the truth.

"That is the strangest reason anyone's ever given for wanting to kiss anyone," he chuckled.

The rain was still falling as they kissed in the middle of the storm and as deafening thunder sounded, the woman pulled back and started to laugh.

"Fool," she hissed, "you mortal fools are all the same, aren't you?"

"What?"

"I wasn't joking about the curse or killing men. The true love's kiss thing is made up but, it's nice to know it worked."

"I don't understand."

"Of course, you don't. I'll explain. I needed to kiss you so that I could steal your life force and a kiss has emotions so that's the best way to do it."

Only then did the man notice his hands turning to ice.

"What have you done to me?"

"I literally just told you! Were you not listening? I suppose it doesn't matter anyway."

As the man froze, shards of ice fell from him, flying towards the woman. With every broken piece that touched her skin, a pale blue glow around her grew stronger and stronger.

"What are you?" the man asked with the last bits of energy he could summon.

With a wild look in her eyes, the woman let the rest of his icy body shatter before replying.

"I am the Winter Siren."

***

"Have you ever heard any stories like that, Marlin?" the old man asked.

"No."

"I thought you wouldn't have."

"What do you mean?"

"Stories have a lot of power. Stories make us see things, believe things and feel things. That story is only told to the people who need it."

"What? That doesn't make sense."

"You will understand when the time comes. Good luck."

Before Marlin could ask any more, the man disappeared as if he had never really been there at all. Well, the only sign that anyone had ever been there was the empty glass that sat on the table in front of where he had been just moments ago.

She must've drunk too much. There was no way he could have just vanished like that. No way that anyone could disappear like that. There was no way she had imagined that whole story either and, it had felt so real.

Marlin needed to leave. If she was right and she had imagined it then she didn't want to know what she would think of next. Many things were worse than that story- many things that weren't just a far-fetched tale.

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Wow, it has been a long time since I was last active on Wattpad. I'm sorry for that because I did mean to post but I just didn't. This was meant to be posted around Christmas but I completely ran out of time to post it so here it is, around a month later than I wanted it to be. I will be posting more if I decide to do ONC so, hopefully, I'll see you soon.

Thank you for your continued support through reading, voting and commenting,

RJ 🪶