Clearer (J.HALE)

15

I traced circles on my stomach with the tip of my finger, ruffling the thin fabric of my shirt.

I was running out of time to make my decision, coming up to ten weeks. I'd grown fond of carrying a little heartbeat around with me, even if I hadn't heard it yet. But I wasn't sure if I could handle that heartbeat when it got stronger, when it was holding my hand rather than bobbing around in my stomach.

"Im?"

Meg was stood in the doorway. I swivelled in her direction in Carlisle's desk chair and smiled. She seemed relieved by my passivity, as if she'd been expecting a fight or something.

"Hey," she said, sinking into the seat opposite.

"Hi," I said.

"Carlisle told me what you said. About when you passed out."

I raised my eyebrows and blew out my cheeks. "Okay, then, straight into it."

Her mouth tilted in a half-smile. "Rip the band-aid off."

I straightened up in my chair and assessed her face for a moment. The lines in her forehead were deeper and the skin around her eyes seemed stretched, yellowish and taut. She looked like she hadn't eaten in days and slept even less.

"So..." she said.

I nodded. "So..."

"I have some explaining to do," she chuckled, crossing her legs and leaning on the left arm rest.

"Little bit."

"Do you know anything about your great-grandmother?"

I paused and shook my head.

"She was a fantastic woman," Meg said. "A little...eccentric, but fantastic. Your great-grandfather was a fisherman, and she spent her days gutting fish by the beach."

I wrinkled my nose at the image. And the smell.

"We Clarkes have always been, sort of, connected to the sea," Meg continued. "Your mother was the first of us to move to a city. Most of the family lived and died by the ocean."

I blinked at her.

She smiled. "You felt cold, when your mum called you a liar?"

"Yeah."

"When you screamed," she went on, eyes glimmering, "you shattered the front windows of the house."

My eyes nearly popped out of my head. "I didn't."

"You did."

I frowned, confused.

"Your great-grandmother was a Siren, Imogen."

My hands fell limp in my lap.

She watched me for a minute or so, assessing the level of panic visible on my face and whether or not to say anything. She left me to process, mostly. My eyes flitted back and forth between two points on Carlisle's desk.

"Oh, and it looks like you are too," she added. "Just FYI."

I almost laughed.

Of course. Of course. Because vampires and werewolves weren't enough. Sirens, now, too.

"Okay," I choked out. "I'm going to need just a bit more explanation, if you wouldn't mind."