Regret

........

In the village I lived in, there were many important rules to keep us safe. The most important one was to be careful when near the lake a little ways outside the village. For there was siren residing there.

Me and the other children were told to never go to that place. Sirens were carnivores and would eat any living thing, including humans. Children were their favorite snack. And if you were bitten by one, you would turn into one yourself. And that was only if it let you live.

But I was always the curious one. So I snuck away to visit the lake. I wanted to see if the tales were true. If there really was a siren in the lake. And, if there was, I believed I could just fight it if it tried to hurt me.

It was a foolish thought.

When I approached the lake, I heard something swimming in the water. I got closer.

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

"Hello~"

A woman poked her head from the water. But there was something off. Her pupils were slits, her eyes were pale, her hand were claws, and her ears looked like fins. She was a siren.

"What's a child doing near my lake? Did you come to visit?"

"I.....I wanted to see if there really was a siren here. I'm sorry if I disturbed you."

"It's quite alright young one. I've been really lonely anyway, it's nice to have a visitor."

I talked with her for a while longer. Until I started to feel uneasy. She kept staring at me like I was food.

I told her that I should be going.

"Oh- But why don't you swim with me first~"

"No thank you. My mama will be worried if I'm not home soon."

She didn't let me leave.

When I tried to, she grabbed me and pulled me under.

She slashed my eye with her claw and bit my arm as if she was trying to kill me.....

The last thing I heard before I blacked out was a gunshot and the siren screeching in pain.

When I woke up..... I wasn't human.

I was alone.

I was only six when I lost my humanity. It was my own fault. I went looking for a siren. And I became one myself.

I should have listened. I want my mama and papa.