The Siren of the Titanic

Chapter 27: Ethan

When I came to I was in a large glass box, well I say 'large' but it was only about two and a half meters, or about eight and a half feet, small enough that I needed to basically curl my poor tail like a snake. The top of the box was locked with a heavy metal lid that was sealed with a large padlock. Hitting my shoulder against the glass only made my shoulder sore and me tired. The rest of the room that I was in looked like a study of some sort. A large table, mounted to the floor, set against the wall, while a large world map covered the wall in front of it. A bookcase sat at the other wall, filled with books, many of which were mermaid related. The door was located directly in front of me, which opened as I was looking around. The blonde man walked inside, smiling, I answered with a snarl, showing my own sharp fangs.

"So the beast wakes, huh? When we land I am going to gut you like the fish you are. Tell me do you talk?" The smell of strong booze wafted into the box from the holes on the lid. He was a large man, fishing had done wonders to his muscular arms. His well-groomed beard matched his short cut blonde hair and bushy eyebrows. His blue eyes glinted in the light as he cocked his head like a dog, waiting for an answer. I only looked away from him, defiant, I would not allow this man who killed my friend, feel any satisfaction from answering. "You won't speak, huh? Fine," He lifted his chin in intimidation. "I'll leave for now, only because I have other things to do, but be prepared I will have my answers." He turned and walked out of the room, slamming the heavy door as loud as he could.

I sighed, hoping that my friends would be alright without me. I hummed the song of healing, the gaping hole in my tail slowly closing up, it was still sore though. I sat, my back against the short side of the tank, I was grateful for the filter, pushing air into the water allowing me to breathe. I could still take breaths from above the water, and I was during one of these that the door opened again. I reflexively flinched, my tail and muscles tightening, raising my lips to show my teeth, but I relaxed when someone new entered.

A red-headed boy walked in, he looked to be in his mid-twenties, his emerald green eyes widened when he saw me. He had a bucket of fish, presumably for me. I relaxed when I realized that he wasn't the blonde man, and once I relaxed he did too his breathing slowing.

"I'm sorry if I startled you, I snuck some fish from the main storage. Do you eat fish? I probably should've asked before huh?" He looked down defeated. I smiled gently, placing my hand on the glass, looking at him and then at the fish, my stomach rumbling. He smiled as he grew closer, holding a fish in his hand. He looked at the tank, thinking on how to get the fish in here, he smiled slightly when he found a small door on the lid which covered a slit for food. He chuckled and slid the fish in through the slot, letting the fish fall into the tank with a splash.

He watched with curiosity as I grabbed the fish and used my claws to cut it open and removed the skin from the meat, and then eat the meat. It was a good fish and I ate with glee, eating the meat but leaving the bones, fins, skin, and the head, which I slid out of the slot back to the boy. He looked at me surprised as he placed the remnants of the fish back in the bucket and grabbed another fish. We had this little trade-off until I was filled and the bucket was filled with discarded parts.

"I'm surprised. To tell you the truth I was expecting you to sink your teeth into it and eat it like a dog." He laughed. "Is there other things you can eat? That way I'm not sneaking fish." I thought about it, whether or not to speak to the boy. This boy didn't seem to want to kill me so I smiled.

"I can eat anything that you humans can. I'd rather not eat raw meat, although raw fish is still edible." His eyes widened as he heard my words, before smiling.

"You can talk!" He smiled a toothy grin. "My name is Ethan, Ethan Wiley, it's nice to meet you Mr. Mermaid."

I laughed at his wording. "First off kid, a mermaid is female, a male is a merman. Second I am not a merman anyway, I'm what's called a siren. Unlike the mer, sirens like me were once human. Lastly, my name is Frost, it's nice to meet you, Ethan." I smiled.

"Wait you were human before, why did you change?" He pulled the desk chair over so that he could sit in front of me.

"I'll make a deal with you Ethan, I'll tell you about me but you must promise not to tell that blonde guy. Do we have a deal?" He looked shocked at my request and gave it some thought. The muscle of his jaw twitched but he took a deep breath and nodded.

"Well first off let me tell you how sirens come to be. Sirens, as I said earlier, were originally human. We as humans die in the ocean, whether we were murdered or drowned, we die. We come back as sirens when someone, who loves us very much, dies, their dying wish has to be to see us again. That wish gives us new life as a siren. In my case I died many years ago on the Titanic, my pregnant fiance survived. She must have died recently when she did, I came back to life in the very room where I died, deep in the ocean. I was only 'awake' for about two weeks when I first met you whalers." I looked down, my voice wavering, thinking of Mars.

"You know, Captain Barton and I started off as normal fishermen, but the Captain realized that whales were worth more on the black market. I didn't like the idea, especially since whaling is illegal, but I couldn't say much. I was getting paid that's all I needed. I'm sorry for killing it." He paused. "So change of topic, my grandmother was on the Titanic. She said my grandfather died on it, but she lived and gave birth to my father a few months later. She died a few months ago, I was really close with my grandma."

I looked up, thinking. "What was her name?"

He looked at me confused. "Emma Wiley, my father took on her last name. His name is Nathaniel James Wiley, wait why?" My eyes widened and my jaw dropped.

"My original human name was Nathaniel Hall, but I always went by Nash, and my fiance's name was," I paused looking him directly in the eyes. "Emma Wiley." He looked at me with the same look as I gave him.

He smiled before speaking. "Well it's nice to meet you Grandpa."