Tá Mé An Siren

Chapter 11

(BEN's POV)

It had been three weeks or so since Sirena first sang to us, since the day her beautiful voice captivated me. I had been drawn to her since then, not just by her immense power. I felt the need to protect her. She was, by far, worthy of a place among us and a strong addition to our forces. She deserved protection, and if no one volunteered, I would gladly step up to the task of being her bodyguard. We needed her for this battle. She had been training her singing with Slender, each time reaching deep into her soul to embrace her power and strengthening it, but as hard as she tried, she couldn't possess Slender. I suspected it was due to a certain weakness of hers when it came to her power, and so did the others. She did tell me before that having that power was not as cool as we all thought it was; she considered it as a curse. She never wanted to be able to control someone as easily as that, and now that she'd discovered the vulnerability of the human mind, she didn't want to manipulate it. I understood perfectly, but still I told her that we were just practice dummies, and controlling us was just to help her control monsters in the near future for mankind's good. Whenever I reminded her of that, she would give me a small smile that never failed to make my heart flutter. She would call me 'Master Pooplord' and tease me till no end, but every time she let out that tinkle of a laugh, my heart would stop altogether for a few seconds before resuming its unsteady beating, and in my mind I would think, damn, this girl... She's amazing...

But she didn't seem to think the same for me, but instead for my best friend Jeff. Whenever she was around him, she would blush, stutter and rub her wrist nervously, which was a jittery tic I noticed she always had. After being waved off by the usually-irritable him, young Sally (who had become one of her greatest admirers) would frown, pat her back and say something like, "So Senpai didn't notice you..." sadly. She would shake her head, looking a little down as well. Other than wondering what the hell was a 'Senpai', I questioned why was she always so flustered and jumpy around Jeff, and also so blue whenever he ignored her or spoke rudely at her like always. I could only think of one answer, though. And I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to believe myself.

I was broken from my trance by a light tap on the shoulder. Turning around, my gaze met Sirena's bright, vibrant green eyes and my lips were turned upwards instantly, forgetting my earlier thoughts.

"Hey, Sirena," I greeted happily. She smiled, and the whole world spun around me as she did. This was getting crazy. I had to stop obsessing over her. She leaned forward and I could feel her hot breath tickling the side of my face. She pressed her warm, chapped lips against my cheek and my face flamed up. A hand automatically pressed the side of my face, over the area where she kissed. She chuckled.

"I figured you needed that, Master Pooplord," she giggled, grabbing my elbow and dragging me across the polished floor. "Hurry, we're late for lunch!" I sighed and ran alongside her to the dining room.

As we ran, I caught sight of a black form lurking outside our mansion, partially obsuring his body with a bush. It was approximately five metres away from the window I was looking through. I couldn't see it clearly, but a movement among the leaves confirmed my suspicions.

We were being watched.

Gasping, I bolted far ahead of Sirena, leaving her to scramble after me. I had to tell Slender as quickly as possible. I heard Sirena call my name, but I didn't turn. I soon reached the dining area where Slender and the others sat. They were eyeing me with the shadow of amusement in their eyes. I snapped, "Nothing to laugh about. There's... there's stuff lurking outside our place." Shock quickly replaced the dark humor in their orbs. Slender rose from his seat, "Are you sure you didn't see wrong, BEN?" I shook my head. He checked the window, sweeping his gaze around the place. He nodded.