The Siren

Chapter 3

   "Turn left here," Quinn said as we approached an intersection. 

   Isaac nodded and turned left. We headed down a rough road that was surrounded by trees. Leaves fell from the branches above and covered the road ahead. "So," Isaac quietly said, "how are things back home, Q?" 

   Quinn shrugged, "They're fine." 

   Isaac scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Fine?" he questioned. "That's not very convincing." 

   At this point I was confused. I had no idea what they were talking about. Everything did seem fine with Quinn's family. I had rarely ever heard of problems occurring with them. "If you don't mind me asking," I interrupted, "what are you guys talking about?"

   "You didn't tell her?" Isaac asked. 

   "No." 

   "Why not?" 

   "I don't know. I didn't think she needed to know about it, I guess." 

   "About what?" I asked, becoming annoyed. 

   Quinn sighed. "Okay look," she began, "Violet, you can't tell anyone. Please, please don't tell anyone. I just--I trust you, okay?"

   I nodded, "I promise I won't tell anyone."

   "Okay. About two months ago, my dad's drinking got bad again. He was drinking way more than usual and he seemed really on edge, ya know? Well, there was this one night when my mom was out of town. It was a Saturday and it was like two in the morning. I was still awake because he had left to go somewhere. I was laying on the couch downstairs watching tv. I guess he must have thought I was going to be asleep when he came home because he arrived with a woman and they were both pretty drunk. They were slurring their words and then they started making out right there in the living room where I was. I yelled at my dad, but he ignored me. So, I went and called my mom and told her..."

   Quinn trailed off and looked down at her lap. "She..." she began, "s-she didn't believe me." 

   I could hear the pain in Quinn's voice as she began to cry. Tears streaming down her face and she tried to hide it by looking out the window. "Violet, she didn't believe me," she said quietly. "She wouldn't listen. I even told her I would take a picture for her, but she wouldn't listen. She just kept saying 'You're lying, Quinn. You're lying!' And I don't know why she wouldn't trust me." 

   We all became quiet and the only sound that could be heard was the sound of the tires crunching over dead leaves and broken branches on the road. 

   "I think this is where we turn," I said after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. 

   We turned onto another road, but this one was much narrower and rough. We continued driving until we finally reached a big cabin. It was old-looking, but looked very nice and clean. "Well, we're here," Isaac said stopping the car only a few feet away from the front porch. 

   I got out of the car and let out a long sigh. It felt great to be out of the car and able to stretch again. "Come on, Quinn," I said excitedly as I opened her door. "Let's go look inside and then we can unload our stuff." 

   She wiped away a couple tears that hadn't quite escaped her deep brown eyes and then smiled. "Okay," she said getting out of the car. "Let's go." 

   We both walked up to the front door. It was a big, wood door with a large, glass window in the center. It was made so you could pretty much see straight in through the front door. "You have the key?" I asked. 

   "Yeah," she said, handing me the key. 

   Behind us, I could hear Isaac struggling to get his seat belt off since it had locked up. "G-guys--ugh--dammit. Guys, wait. I can't get this off. Geez! What the hell!!" 

   We both laughed and watched as he yanked at the seat belt over and over and pushed the release button on it repeatedly. Finally, he undid the belt and got out of the car. "I thought you'd never get out of there," Quinn said sarcastically. 

   Isaac rolled his eyes and walked up onto the porch where we were. I unlocked the door and opened it. "Woah," we all said in unison as we looked around. 

   The wood walls were decorated nicely with paintings here and there. To the right of us, we could see the kitchen and to the left of us, we could see the living room. Isaac and Quinn walked into the living room while I decided to go into the kitchen instead. It was beautiful and fairly large. I walked toward the shiny, grey refrigerator, but before I could reach it, I heard a scream come from the other room. I turned around quickly and ran into the living room. There stood Quinn with something fuzzy in her hands and beside her, Isaac stood with a horrified look on his face. "Seriously, Isaac?" Quinn said, obviously kind of irritated. "It's just a mouse." 

   "That scream came from you?" I asked pointing at Isaac. 

   "Yeah it was," Quinn replied. "He's a total baby."

   Isaac snapped, "I am not! I wasn't scared of that damn thing. I was just startled slightly. That's all." 

   Quinn grinned. "Fine then," she said extending her hands toward Isaac. "If you're not scared, then prove it by taking the mouse back outside." 

   Isaac laughed, "C-come on, Quinn. You've got it. You take it outside." 

   "Oh no. It's okay, Isaac. I'll be nice and let you do it." 

   Isaac backed up until his back was touching the wall. Quinn held the mouse only inches away from his face and then smiled an evil smile. Quickly, she tossed the mouse onto Isaac's head and he began screaming at the top of his lungs and jumping around like a maniac. "I hate you!" he yelled as he continued shaking his body around. 

   "Hey, watch out!" I shouted as I tried grabbing the mouse off the ground beneath Isaac. 

   A slight squeak escaped the mouse's mouth before it was completely squished by Isaac's shoe. Without thinking, I jumped forward and shoved him off the mouse. He lost his balance and ended up falling into a lamp that was sitting on a small table. I knelt down and stared at the lifeless mouse whose fur was now stained red with blood. A mix of anger and sadness overwhelmed me and I felt tears prick my eyes. "You stupid idiot," I said quietly, still looking down. "What is wrong with you? Both of you!" 

   With the last part, I looked up at Quinn who was standing a few feet away trying not to laugh. "This isn't even funny," I said. "He killed this mouse and, on top of that, he knocked over a fucking lamp that was probably really expensive."  

   "Woah," Quinn said. "Don't be cussing at me. You never even cuss." 

   I rolled my eyes and stood back up. "I'll get some toilet paper or something to pick up the mouse with," Isaac said softly. 

   I nodded and walked over to the knocked over lamp. "It's not even that big of a deal, Violet. You're being over dramatic," Quinn laughed as she shook her head. 

   Ignoring her, I picked up the lamp and tried my best to adjust the lampshade so that it looked straight again. "I'm gonna look at the rest of the house," I stated as I walked toward the staircase. "You can join me if you want." 

   Quinn didn't reply and simply just stared down at her phone. I sighed and began making my way up the carpeted stairs. "Okay," I said and disappeared into the second floor.