Hubris (Book One of the Siren Tragedies)

Purging Humanity

 Chapter 1: Purging Humanity

Today....

The night that the countdown began was remarkably appropriate for the one who would race against it.

Heavy rain blanketed the glowing city as icy water pooled on the sidewalks at the edge of the park. Wayward wanderers tightened their coats around them and quickened their paces, shivering in response to the forceful pellets that beat against their skin. The air was draped with a cold wind that cut into the raindrops that caught the lights of the city like falling tinsel from a Christmas tree. The sky flashed from inky black to bright violet, warning travelers that the state of things was destined to turn even worse.

One man stopped suddenly to look around as the world lit up above him. There was an occasional figure trying to escape the downpour, but otherwise he was alone. Yet the feeling that something was hovering nearby, just out of sight, lingered all around. He squinted through the rain out into the dark, grassy park. He half expected to see somebody squinting right back at him.

The park, as far as he could see in the rain and darkness, was empty. Why, then, did it seem like the shadows and rain were moving with a human quality?

The man shivered and pulled his coat closer. He told himself it was just his imagination and hurried off to find his car.

Meanwhile, a tall, heavyset woman with curly auburn hair that fell to the middle of her shoulders stood at the edge of the park, staring out to the spot where the man had just been. The figured scowled. She hated when humans were too sensitive to the things around them. It was awkward at best—dangerous at worst—when they looked right at her while she was cloaked in Old Energy as though they could see her clearly.

This human, however, had not been sensitive enough. If he were, he would have been less afraid of the figure in the park and more afraid of the writhing, twisting creatures made of smoke and shadows that covered the area. The shadows of a domed building fell over her as she squinted her dark green eyes at the twisted things in disgust. She had been following the recent trend and was displeased to find that the numbers of these creatures had been growing. There were now far more than she had seen in a long time.

A very long time.

She closed her eyes and checked the energy around her as the branches above her tried to shake off the raindrops that gathered there. The Old Energy stayed strong, hiding her from the view of humans. This was the first thing that had pleased her all night; she needed to do some investigative work, and humans often enjoyed engaging females in conversation late on a rainy night. She could not be distracted by them right now. She was already irritated with the current situation.

A slimy, leech-like creature slithered around her foot. Its flat body made a sickening sucking noise as it crossed over the toes of her boots. The leech looked up at her with bright red eyes as she looked down at it with a nauseated grimace.

"Egh! Scram!" she ordered, kicking at the creature, flinging it into a patch of mud right in front of her. It hissed and slithered off quickly. "You'll have no luck trying to tempt a Siren, you idiot," she called after it. "We're, like, the original temptresses."

She straightened her thick black overcoat and smoothed her green blouse. If the rain were able to touch her, the silk would be ruined. With her black slacks and calf-length boots, she looked as if she were any intern working in any important building in the city.

She turned her gaze to the tall building—the United States Capitol. Creatures swarmed in and out of the windows, doors, and archways. Many of them, she was disconcerted to see, had grown quite fat.