The Trouble With Slaying

The Trouble with Calling

Shaw grabbed me before I could follow Liam and Sawamura off the bus. He eyed Lissi when she lit on the back of the drivers seat, but apparently she didn't need to be excluded from this conversation. "I think we should split up Liam and Sawamura. So which one do you wanna babysit?"

I sighed and nodded. "I guess I'll take Sawamura. Maybe if I can get him talking to me again he'll break out of this depressive funk."

"Good enough. And good luck." We headed off the bus and grabbed our gear, then Shaw started barking orders. "Seth, Sawamura, head that direction. Look for anything that might tell us what's going on around here. Liam, you're with me. We're taking the other direction. Lissi, you can move faster than any of us so do a quick sweep over the water and get some height to see if you can find anything. Keep in touch."

We split up, going about our orders as night fell over the beach and the moon rose. Sawamura and I walked in silence for quite a while before he abruptly broke it. "You know, I find the silence more irritating than the prying questions I'm sure you're dying to ask me."

His eyes reflected a bit of moonlight, tinting it red as he turned to meet my gaze. I slowly smirked. "The thought occurred. Then I figured it would be more of a victory to just have you talking to me again."

Sawamura huffed and turned away again.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to let that slip out. Honestly, I was a little embarrassed that I had found out in the first place."

Sawamura flushed. "I can't believe we forgot you were in the apartment." He rolled his eyes when I grinned in happiness that he was responding. "Just, forget it ever happened. I'm trying to."

My smile diminished until I was only managing a sad smile. "Liam can't."

"He's gonna have to. We shouldn't have gone that far in the first place, even if there weren't any emotions involved. We can still be friends and all but the sex has to stop."

I sighed, nodding. "Fine. The sex stops. But you can't be friends and give him the silent treatment too. You can still talk to him and spend time with him without-"

"Shh."

I frowned when he cut me off. "You might not like to hear-"

"No. Shut up and listen."

I listened, then followed Sawamura when he quickened his pace down the beach. We walked for a bit before I heard it too. A sultry voice singing a lilting tune. I dropped my voice to a whisper. "A siren?"

Sawamura glanced at me. "Feeling any uncontrollable urges to find her and never leave?" I shook my head so he went back to scanning the beach, looking for the source of the singing. "Then I'm gonna say no."

He grabbed my wrist and gave me a tug towards some cliffs and rocks. We carefully slipped through the spaces and over the weather beaten stones, drawing closer to the singer. We pressed up against a large stone and I fingered the hilt of one of the knives I had strapped to my hips before carefully peeking over it. I blinked at the beauty sitting in the sheltered stretch of sand beneath the cliff, singing as she combed shells and seaweed from her hair.

Sawamura cast one look at me before leaping over the stone and moving with Vampire speed to cut her off from the ocean. Her song cut off as she screamed in fear and jumped to her feet. I flushed and swallowed. The thin white dress she was wearing was soaked and she wasn't wearing anything underneath it.

Sawamura didn't seem to notice as he bared his fangs at her. "Are you the one scaring the humans off the beach?"

The young woman quickly shook her head. "No! I mean, I don't think I am. I'm very sorry if I am. I had been trying to stay away from humans."