Tainted Tides

Chapter 34

*Dec's POV*

SPLASH

The sound of a loud splash followed by a muffled and abruptly cut-off scream jolted me awake. I rolled out from under the covers, glancing at Ant's lightly snoring form, before creaking the door open to peak outside. I didn't want to wake Ant if I didn't need to.

As I cracked the door open slightly, a low hum became distinguished in the air, one that I hadn't noticed while it was muffled behind the wood. Out in the corridor, I saw crew members, drudging through the darkness, bare feet scraping along the floorbords and head swaying with their movements. Their faces all painted with the same expression, one I can only describe as lustful excitement.

I gulped in fear and slipped outside of the room, firmly closing the door behind me. Making my way to the upper deck, I tried to ask my crewmates questions, but was consistently met with total unresponsiveness. My body shuddered at the look in their eyes as they made it to the open air of the deck, and let themselves be swallowed by the hum, which was distinctly an entrancing melody over the calm ocean surface. The eerie beauty of the song enveloped me, instilling an appreciation as if I was listening to an orchestra. My thoughts momentarily drifted to the stories of sirensbi was told as a child. I wondered if they sounded anything like what I was hearing.

The ship moved quickly through the water, more than expected or planned for the night, and as it did, I noticed my hypnotized crewmember walk to the sides of the deck, climb to the top of the railing, and fall. I ran to the railing, barely missing my catch with no idea what I would have done if I'd succeeded, just in time to see the man plummet into the deep black of the ocean. A shrill scream came from him as he bobbed back to the surface, only to be immediately cut off as his body disappeared.

I flinched before sprinting back to Ant's room. I had to wake him. I couldn't fight whatever this was alone. As I rounded the corner through the hypnotized bodies, my heart dropped. Ant stepped out past his door frame groggily, his eyes wide open and glassy, devoid of thought.

I ran at him.

Not him.

I tackled him into the room, kicking the door closed with my feet as we landed on the floor. Quickly straddling him and pininng him to the floor, I began to shake Ant.

"Wake up, Anth!! Snap out of it!" I beckoned over, and over while staring through his glassy stare as he tried to break free of my hold. With every passing second, my desperation surged. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could drown out the song in the ocean with my own voice.

With a melody of my own.

I began to sing a melody without words, unsure of where the melody was from but letting it surface from the depths of my memory.

I hoped and prayed that I would be able to snap Ant out of it. He slowly stopped fighting my hold the longer I sang, but his eyes remained glassy. I knew that as soon as I stopped, he fully fall back into his trance.

I began to sob with desperation, my hope dying with every breath. Tears rolled off my cheeks and onto his, not even earning a flinch of his cheek.

Even if I held him until the singing in the ocean passed, I was certain that everyone else on the ship would die by then. The two of us couldn't survive on the ocean all alone- definitely not in Bonnie's territory... I was a dead man either way.

A harsh sob broke my singing completely, and I collapsed on to Ant, hugging him tightly, crying and begging into his ear to wake up. He did not fight back anymore. He did not move. Just that same glassy stare and slow steady breaths.

One final idea came to mind. A kiss... Something real to him to bring him back... And if it didn't, a kiss goodbye for me. I pushed my lips against his unmoving mouth and brought my hands to his head. I stroked through his hair and wiped my tears from his face as I poured my love into him. I wrapped his arms loosely around my back so I could feel his hold one more time.