Drowning Beneath The Waves

Chapter 3

I toss and turn that night, ensnared in a whirlpool of nightmares. Instead of it being one clear picture or scene, though, it's sounds, images. An echo of a scream, a blur of hair. Whenever I try to find my way out, it tosses me head over tail, disorienting me further.

That's when I hear the voices. It's impossible to pinpoint where they're coming from—wherever I turn, I hear them. "Save me, please!" "Help us, please!" "Anyone! Can anyone hear us?"

They all have the same desperation and fear in their voices. Images, scenes play out before me. A crowd of mermaids and mermen, all staring at me. I see myself, hands shaking as I look out at the crowd.

I feel a hand touch my own. A young mermaid—a year or two younger than me if I had to guess—smiles at me, her tight red curls framing a heart-shaped face with chocolate-brown eyes. "You're Faye Mercer," she whispers, voice tinged with awe. "The Siren."

A cry slips free from my lips at her words. That title has brought me nothing but pain and grief from the moment I first heard it. I try for a smile, but barely manage to tilt my lips upward before the mermaid behind her—obviously her mother—tugs her close, away from me.

"The Sirens are evil!" She shouts, her voice ringing out, echoing off the rocks encircling the clearing we all float in. "They draw you in with their pretty words and false promises, then they use their voices to hurt, to kill. Even young ones such as her," she gestures to me, eyes filled with nothing but hatred, "are being lured in, not knowing what they are doing until it is too late. Do you really want your children to associate with such... monsters?"

Scattered whispers break out in the crowd, gazes darting my way. Everyone wants to see for themselves if her words are true, if I really am the evil Siren she's portrayed me as. I want to speak, but I can't find my voice.

Back inside the whirlpool, I'm shaking with the force of my tears, the anger surging through me. I'm forced to watch, however, as the young mermaid's smile quickly morphs into horror. She shrinks away from me, back into her mother's arms. That's when the bodies appear. All mermaids, ranging in age from me to Mom. Gasps fill the water, punctured by wheezing. But I know that if you look closely, you will see no physical wounds.

When the mermaid appears in front of the bodies, her face twists in horror. A cry escapes her lips. "Mom! Please! I'm here! Mom, can you hear me?" I'm screaming now, waving my arms as much as I can, desperately trying to get her attention.

She never glances at me, never even looks my way. A heartbeat later, however, her gaze falls on me—that is, the me outside of the whirlpool. "Oh, Faye," she whispers. "What have you done?" Her eyes are filled with such horror and shame and pain.

Before I so much as open my mouth again, I'm yet again sucked back into the whirlpool. This time, instead of fighting it, I surrender to it. I surrender to the onslaught of images, emotions that hit me like a punch to the gut. The absolute horror and shame and pain on Mom's face, in her eyes as she looks at the me outside of the whirlpool.

With that final image forever seared into my memory, I summon all of my energy and pull myself from the nightmare. My eyes flew open as I gasped and sat up in bed. For a minute, I just closed my eyes and breathed. Reminded myself that it wasn't real. That it was just a nightmare.

When I finally managed to slow my heartbeat, steady my trembling hands, I looked out the closest window. Was surprised to find dusk slowly falling over the water. Had I slept that long? Before the thought even finished forming, everything from yesterday came rushing back.

Hearing the Siren call and feeling horror rush through me; seeing the confusion and worry in Dad and Drew's eyes. Swimming outside and seeing Mira and all of my family floating outside. Wyatt's grim expression as he appeared beside Mica, gripping the sleeve of a young mermaid.