Sirens And Sins {HIATUS}

9. Mnemonic

It was late at night when Marshall stumbled to bed. He pulled of his shirt and kicked off his shoes, falling onto his bed. He was tired from conversing with the ship captain, his close advisors, and the maintenance crew about how soon it would take to get the Dulthys fixed. He had to quickly come up with a plan to deal with the anxious crewmates and the time they were wasting, but right then he needed sleep. His head felt as if it was going to burst.

It was times like these when Marshall missed his brother. He missed the days when Elliot would read him history books in his graveling voice to help him fall asleep. He missed the days when he crawled into his brother's bed after a nightmare. He even missed the way Elliot would push his hair out of his face and press light kisses onto his forehead, similar to the way his mother did when she was alive. He missed the carefree and sarcastic Elliot, the Elliot before their father died and he found company in a liquor bottle.

Marshall rolled on his mattress and sighed. He threw an arm over his eyes haphazardly. "Forgive me," he whispered into the still air. "Forgive me, Elliot."

His voice fell into a murmur as his breathing steadied and his eyes drooped.

"Forgive me. . . Elliot. . .let me come. . .back home. . ."

He fell asleep with the word please melting on his tongue.

⎈⎈⎈⎈⎈⎈⎈⎈⎈

He felt it first.

A soft touch.

Slender hands cupping his cheeks.

Marshall struggled to move but he was paralyzed. It was impossible to see. He could feel an invisible pressure on his chest and it made it impossible to breathe. He wondered if this was where he was going to die.

Rushing waters. Painful waves. Screaming. A disappearing sun. Debris floating everywhere. Water entering his nose, his mouth, filling his lungs up. Death. Death. Death.

Strange music filled his ears. It was a song, but he couldn't understand the language. It sounded the way silk felt against his skin. It caressed him. It soothed him. It made the nightmares go away.

That's when he saw the stranger.

She was beautiful, distractingly so, and it wasn't until she came closer that Marshall was able to notice her slender frame and flat chest. 'She' was apparently a 'he', then. The discovery didn't alarm him as much as he thought it would. The music had left him in a trance and he felt intoxicated by the stranger's beauty. He had skin the color of copper and his eyes were a strange mixture of blue, red, and purple. His slender body ended in a tail with glittering scales. His face was round, and miniature seashells were arranged in triangular shapes in the corners of his exotic eyes. His bright red hair was floating around his head as if he was underwater, which was impossible. Marshall was breathing, wasn't he? There was no way they were underwater.

Marshall must have been real tired if he was able to dream about something as ridiculous as a fairy tale. Samire's tales must have poisoned his mind if he was conjuring up- What were there half-human, half-fish creatures again? Sirens? Marshall didn't believe in them. This was all just a dream. A very surreal dream.

The siren had both his hands cupping Marshall's cheeks and his face was close to his. His mouth was open, and he was singing something saccharine. It made Marshall feel drowsy. Marshall reached out and threaded his hands through the creature's hair. The scene almost felt intimate. It felt dangerous.

Dream Marshall didn't seem to care. If this was a dream, he could take this as far as he wanted to and but remember it in the morning. He was safe here.