Song of Sirens

Chapter 5

I stare the group before me in complete confusions. Sirens? What on earth are the Sirens? 

Everyone arranges themselves into a circle in the centre of the room, me included. Kat on one side and Isaac on the other. And everyone wore black. The girls wore dresses and the boys wore black pants and collared black shirts.

And the eyes. Blue and green.

Kat had a blue left eye and a right green eye.

Rick's were half green, half blue in each eye, split down the middle.

Alison's eyes had a green line going out from each direction of the pupil, with blue in between the lines.

Isaac had half blue and half green in each eye, split across the middle. Opposite direction to Rick's.

Victoria's eyes were like an alternating pinwheel shining out of her dark skin.

Aaron has a right blue eye and a green left eye. Opposite to Kat.

Dylan's eyes were split into quarters, each the opposite colour.

And my eyes were a ring of bright green around the pupil and then a ring of bright blue around that.

Everyone is staring at me. And I try to keep my expression blank. But I think I fail. Until Rick pulls a sheet of faded parchment from his back pocket and a black calligraphy pen and places it on a stone table in the middle of the room that I didn't notice until now. It reads:

  76th Generation:

  Alison Sophia Parker

  Rick Matthew Johnson

  Katherine Louise Stone

  Isaac David Lowes

  Aaron Oliver Jordan

  Victoria Anne Flander

  Dylan Liam Jones

As I look around, Victoria smiles and gestures for me to write my name. So I pick up the delicate pen and add my name to the bottom of the list.

  Olive Josephine Westlin

Once my name is written, Rick picks up the pen and paper, giving me a brief smile and walking towards a side doorway I didn't notice until now, before returning a moment later.

"Alright, we can begin," Alison's voice echoes off the walls and stone benches rise from the ground around us, and everyone sits, so I follow quickly. "Olive, I'm going to call you Liv. Okay?"

I nod a little before she continues, pulling my denim jacket off.

"And you can call me Ally, Victoria is Vicki, Katherine is obviously Kat." I smile a little and nod quickly.

"So," I turn to Vicki as she speaks, her voice is shy, quiet and smooth. Nice to listen to. Her long, thick black hair is braided down her back and her brown skin appears even darker against her pinwheel eyes. "We are the Sirens. And we will explain. "Time to explain."

"We have magic," Ally's voice rings around the chamber, Vicki smiles a little, Kat nods, and the boys stay silent. "Elemental magic."

I nod before Vicki continues. "Also, we are very, very, persuasive. Especially people with green eyes. They will never see your flaws, only the good things about you. And probably fall in love with you."

I wince at the last comment and barely hold myself together, struggling against the pull of my memories.

But I manage to stay in the present.

"It's because they once had magic as well," Kat chimes in with part of the explanation. "Well, sort of. They were originally able to persuade people and draw people towards themselves and the good parts of themselves. But they abused that power, and so the Sirens stepped in. Nature then gave us the power the draw them to ourselves. They are now known as the Sired. And we are the Sirens."

I nod before Ally starts again. "Notice how there are eight of us? 4 girls and 4 boys? 2 for each element. A male and a female counterpart."

"Ally and I are fire," Rick's deep voice echoes off the stone walls. "Dylan and Kat are water, Vicki and Aaron are air. And Isaac is earth. Which makes us assume that you are too."

I nod, slowing processing. Isaac smiles shyly at me from across the table. "I'll teach you how to use your magic."

I smile a little and look around the table. No one seems particularly happy to be doing this. And I don't blame them. Why should we have to do this? We didn't pick this life for ourselves.