Dangers of the Sea || Byler Story ||

22 - Singing Like a Siren

{Listen to Siren by Kailee Morgue when its time}

Third Person POV:

You're a mermaid? Mike questions, his eyes wide.

The girl nods. Now, I'll finish these burns and do your bandaging, but then I'll have to leave. She says, starting to rub the cream over his burns again. "I don't know what he's gonna do to you, but he told me to fix you up after."

Mike winced as she started bandaging his arms, his skin feeling raw.

Once Zia finished her bandaging, she sighed. "Okay," She whispers. "Be careful with him, he's not a good person."

Right after she finished speaking, the door slammed open, revealing the captain.

"What were you saying, Zia?" The captain questions, making the young girl tense.

She gulps. "I was simply telling him the rules of the ship," She lies, almost as easily as she breathes. "He is new, I was making sure he knew how it works here."

The captain narrowed his eyes as her, before knocking the knife on his side twice.

Zia scrambles upward, darting to his side and standing with her hands behind her back and her head down. The captain glared down at Mike, before looking at the plate of bad food. Mike had eating all of the good stuff.

"If you don't eat, you'll die," he says casually, as he grabs the fire whip from the stand, making Mike tense. "Zia, bring him out to the deck,"

The girl looks between the two. "But.." She starts. "He's probably twice my weight, with that tail, I can't carry him."

The captain glared at her. "Do it or no dinner," He says, turning and leaving the room.

Zia flinches and moves forward again, gripping at the net underneath Mike and using that to pull him across the floor. Mike's eyes widened as she pushed the door open, the sky was dark and gray from a heavy storm pouring down.

The lights were off, so the only light was the constant lighting and the fire whip, glowing eerily. Mike's eyes wouldn't leave it, his brain was stuck in the fight, flight, or freeze mode.

Zia pulled Mike over to the middle of the soaking deck, before backing up quickly and moving over to the first mate, the only woman Mike could see on the boat.

"Put in your ear plugs," The captain says. "We're entering their waters."

The entire crew, including the captain, did so. Mike barely noticed, his eyes still stuck to the fire whip. The captain swished the whip around in the air, making the pouring rain instantly turn to steam. A constant hissing noise.

"Do you see that ship over there?" The captain asks, crouching next to Mike and using his hand to tilt Mike's head slightly to the side.

Mike squinted, and through the darkness of the storm, he could see another pirate ship.

"I want you to sing," The captain says, standing up again. "Sing and make them drown."

Mike looked up at the captain with wide eyes. He has never ever used his siren abilities to kill a human, not like a mersaga. He's never eaten one either. The only reason mersagas look the way they do is because of their diet of humans.

The captain cracked the whip, making Mike flinch. "Start now," He says threateningly.

The boy doesn't make a peep. He can't. He's too terrified of the man next to him. The captain slashes the whip against Mike's shoulder and side, causing the boy to scream in pain.

"Now." The captain says.

Mike opens his mouth, his voice hitching. "Don't be so shy," He starts, his voice sounding like honey. "There's a pleasure in hiding from the sun. No, I was never one for pretty weather. I'd rather be a creep, oh, follow me into the water..." He glances at the captain. "I'll take you to the dark.."

He could practically hear the beat thudding along with the song in his heart. He curls in on himself as he glances around. At least his tail was getting soaked as well.

"This could be perfection," He sings. "Or venom dripping in your mouth.." He could already hear the mersagas laughter echo through the water. "Singing like a siren. Love me while your wrists are bound."

His breathing picks up as his eyes flick around faster. "You've been seeing me in your dreams," His heart beat begins to race as well. "But I'll be there when your reality drowns."

A huge crashing sound comes from the ship, as it breaks in half and slowly sinks into the dark water.

The water stuck Mike's hair to his face. His eyes were as wide as they've ever been.

The captain chuckles. "Well done, mermaid," He says, patting Mike on the back. His hand stays on his back a beat longer than comfortable. "Zia, bring him back inside."

Zia moves forward, avoiding the fire whip and grabbing the net again and dragging him back into the captain's quarters. She silently starts applying the burn cream to the newest one, not making eye contact with Mike.

It's always hard the first time. She says. At least he doesn't make you eat them.

Mike looks up at her. "You had to do that?" He whispers as quietly as possible. "So he knows that you're one of us?"

The door opened again. The captain walked in, and gave Mike a smug smirk.

"Good work today," He says. "Maybe next to you and Zia can work together."

Zia nods faintly, her shoulders tensed.

"You belong to us now, mermaid," The captain says, resting the fire whip against the stand. "Don't think about escaping. I've had too much hassle with that before," He says, glaring at Zia. The girl flinches.

"Make sure to feed him before you go to bed," The captain says to Zia before leaving.

Mike looks at Zia, silently asking the question.

"He bought me from my real father," She whispers. "I'm not a full mermaid. My father was human. He sold me to the captain for some amount of money, I'm not sure how much." She sighs. "So.. I'm technically under his custody. I'm legally his daughter." She shivers.

"Did you try and escape?" Mike questions. "Is that what he's talking about?"

Zia nods. "Multiple times, actually," She says. "He somehow found me again each time, and brought me back to ship. After a few times.." She trailed off, her eyes closing. "I stopped."

Mike frowned. He didn't want to be here the rest of his life. It's miserable and terrifying and disgusting.

Zia finished bandaging him up, and brought him the same kind of food tray as last time, before she finally left, leaving Mike alone in the mermaid grave.

<^> To Be Continued

(1k words)

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