Siren's Song

Chapter Two- Curse of the Sirens

The boat drifted through the waves for what seemed like years, though it was less than three days. Lucky lay asleep on the floor of the boat and I steered us in the general direction we were headed, hoping to stumble across land.

Hours later, when dawn was cresting over the ocean, a sweet melody began to fill my ears. It sounded like everything at once, a jumble of notes creating a candy-like coat over my consciousness.

Something was continuously tugging at the back of my mind, I needed something... I needed it.

I'll figure out what it was later. I steered towards the melody. It was like a magic music box with notes of crystal and a dancer of diamond in a box of everything beautiful and wonderful and sweet, caramel-coated and chocolate-filled and played by a symphony of sweet dreams and loveliness.

A small rock drifted into view on the horizon, and I paddled faster and faster.

There was that subconscious tug again... I pushed it out of my mind and welcomed in more enchanting music, like an angel singing.

As we came closer and closer, I could see a silhouette on the rock. Long black hair ran down behind a feminine figure, small shells and pearls decorating it. Her skin was pale, almost a white, and freckles dotted across her cheekbones and over the top of her small nose. Water on her skin glistened in the early light... but that's not what attracted my attention the most.

She was beautiful, transfixing... below her waist was not normal legs, however. There was a smooth, flush transition to the tail of a goldfish. Light sparkled off the scales and glinted off into the distance. The very tip of her tail was a transfixing fin... I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

I realized that the song came from her and she smiled at me, beckoning with a webbed finger. Her icy blue eyes met mine and I stood up.

I needed to get to her.

My subconscious acted for me, I jumped off the boat and into the chilled water. It was... not so chilled, I couldn't feel a thing. It didn't matter, I kept my eyes fixed on the mermaid and swam towards her.

The waves around me crashed and thrashed me into the rocks... but I was transfixed. It didn't hurt at all, how could it hurt...

She gave an enchanting smile and beckoned once again. I tried to hoist myself onto the rock, but something had grabbed my foot.

I was being dragged down. The murky depths enclosed around me. I used the rest of my strength in a futile attempt to kick away and reach... reach her...

She dove in after me and grabbed me. I smiled at her and, involuntarily, took a deep breath of salty water. I began to cough and hack, the water filling my lungs and holding my mouth open, forcing me to swallow more and more water.

A quick flip of her tail brought us speeding away from the rock and deeper into the ocean. I could feel the darkness closing around me as my lungs ached for fresh air, just one breath...

Deeper...

Deeper...

Deeper...

I needed air...