Siren's Call: Book One

In an ancient text, I found this story:  Before time had meaning, beings of great power ruled the earth and were worshiped by all.  Eventually, they began to compete for the worship of man.  Perhaps they only wanted to outdo each other, or perhaps the more worshipers they had the more powerful they became.  Their numbers were many and they have become immortalized in Greek and Roman mythology.  The one that is most important to this story was named Aphrodite.  Considered to be the most beautiful creature in all of creation, she became known as the goddess of love.  But Aphrodite was a jealous goddess and she would not put up with competition, especially from mortals.  Eventually, she became aware that a mortal woman was being paid homage by every man to lay eyes on her.  When she heard that people were comparing Cantrina's beauty to her own, Aphrodite banished her to an island as punishment.  The island was surrounded by a barrier of reefs so that no ship could hope to approach safely. 

When Cantrina's many suitors began to go mad with grief, Aphrodite cursed Cantrina to desire love above all things and to sing of this desire often.  Furthermore, she made the song irresistible to men so that any sailor who heard the song would be drawn to the island thus insuring their death on the reefs.  Being a jealous and vain goddess, she sent many other beautiful women to this, and other, islands over the next 100 years.  In an effort to extend their punishment she decreed that these women would be immortal.  Thus was the cruelest of fates made even worse.  Goddess that she was, even Aphrodite couldn't predict everything and so the story changed in a way that changed the whole world with it.

A siren named Mina lived on the same island as Cantrina.  Though forced to sing, she never stopped mourning those who died answering her call.  Even after 500 years, she retained her humanity.  One day while she was singing, a young man appeared in front of her and offered her a way off the island.  Thinking that she must be dreaming, she accepted without asking what she must do in return.

His name was Darian, and he was an ancient vampire with ties to the demon community.  It was the fact that he was not human that allowed him to transport to the island and escape with Mina and 45 other sirens, including Cantrina.  According to the story, Darian kept Mina for himself but turned the other women over to his vampire and demonic acquaintances.  Many half-breeds were born over the next several years.  Tired of being held prisoner, first on the island and then by their new masters, the sirens used their abilities to drain the vamps and demons dry.

Knowing that they would be hunted for what they had done, these women and their children began to breed with humans as well as those in the supernatural community.  Before long, there were so many with siren blood that finding the originals became nearly impossible.  Most of these creatures chose to revel in their darkness, feeding and killing indiscriminately.  These are the ones I hunt.  The many different breeds make life and death battles more difficult.  A siren with vampire blood must have their head cut off and their heart removed to make sure they stay dead.  A siren with demon blood must be beheaded and then burnt to ash.  Those with human blood are usually much easier to kill.  I am always trying new weapons, including witchcraft.  I no longer kill for food, but I hunt my own kind.  Some of these creatures are so different from me that they are not my kind, yet we do share some of the same blood.

The question that I keep coming back to is what am I.  My mother is a siren and my father is a vampire, so I shouldn't be able to feed off of sexual energy.  It makes no sense to me, even now.  What does make sense is protecting humans in order to make up for the unforgivable things that I've done.

I was jerked abruptly from my memories when Karius turned over in his sleep,  Staring at him aroused competing emotions within me.  I looked at his face, so peaceful and innocent in sleep, and I knew that I wanted to be with him again.  But this man had lied to me and I didn't know if he believed the lies or had set out to deliberately mislead me.  Part of me dreaded the answer, because if he'd lied on purpose I might be forced to kill him.  It's never easy to kill someone you've been intimate with, at least not for me.  Yet, I wouldn't hesitate if it became necessary.  I hated this cold blooded part of myself, and yet I'd learned to accept it in order to survive.