The Voice I Was Given.

The Siren

 The Siren didn't have a name. The Siren didn't have a voice. All the Siren had was teeth and claws and hunger and anger. All life was to this Siren was kill, eat, kill, eat, kill, eat. But the Siren didn't mind. The Siren lived on instinct, just like the rest of his kind. Here, in the water, they knew that they had to eat, or die. Each Siren was built out of pure muscle; nine feet and three-hundred pound of cunning, powerful, perfect killing machines. Almost every other sea creature hurried away, knowing that their flesh and heart could become a replacement for the Siren's usual prey: humans.

Every year, hundreds of seamen would disappear into the depths of the sea, drawn to the sound of the Siren's song. They didn't really hear anything. It was all in their heads. Sirens would promise riches, comfort, love, anything that would manipulate a person into jumping right into their grasp. Almost no one could fight it.

For days now, the Siren had been trailing a large ship called River. This name confused him. He didn't know why he was able to read it, or why it seemed familiar. Perhaps he had fed off of it before. He shook his confusion off and continued to follow the boat. But, he just could bring himself to sing.

Why is it taking you so long to sing?! he scolded himself. You need food!

Finally, he poked his head out of the water, preparing to sing. Looking up at the deck to see who might he his next victim, the Siren used his tail to keep him balanced above the water's surface. There was only one person on the deck of this small-but-sturdy ship, and the Siren's heart seemed to stop.

She was beautiful, laughing at something she was reading. Her eyes sparkled and were the colors of a tropical island; blue, gold, and green all at once. The Siren could see them shining from here, framed by long, dark lashes. And her hair wasn't like other humans. They all had black, brown, blonde, or occasionally red hair. Her's was purple. Not a dark purple, but a soft lilac. The siren suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore. He was captivated by the gemstone eyes and the flowery hair.

He swam forward until he was right next to the boat. There was a place where he could look and not be seen. Using his inhuman arm strength, he did a sort of chin-up position and continued to watch the woman. She had spots on her face, like a spotted sea trout. The Siren thought that they looked like little stars sprinkled on her face.

"Hypatia!" the Siren heard another girl shout.

The woman looked up. "What is it, Grace?"

"Something just showed up on the radar!" Grace said excitedly. "It's right next to the boat on starboard!"

Oh no, the Siren realized. They would see him, and they would kill him. He turned around for just a split-second to make sure that there was nothing he was going to hurt himself on as he dropped off the boat.

Before he could react, he turned to find himself face-to-face with Hypatia. She shrieked, falling back wards. Just as startled, the Siren let go and fell into the ocean. But he couldn't bring himself to leave. His instincts were screaming at him, calling him a fool, but he didn't listen. Instead, he swam to the other side of the boat and listened to the conversation above him.

"Are you okay? What scared you? I'm ready to throw some hands!" Grace exclaimed.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Grace," Hypatia assured her.

"What was it?" Grace demanded again.

"I-I think I saw a siren..." Hypatia sounded unsure with her own answer.

"A siren? That's funny. Everyone knows that's just an old seaman's tale," Grace laughed.

"He looked like River," Hypatia whispered.

Grace stopped laughing, and the boat went silent for a few moments.

"I know you miss him, Tia, but he's not coming back," Grace told her friend sadly.

Hypatia took a shaky breath. "I might be getting seasick. And I'm hungry. That's probably it."

Frustrated, the Siren swam off. His stomach was yelling at him for leaving perfectly fine prey behind, but the Siren didn't want to eat Hypatia. He imagined digging his claw into her for her heart, and he felt very sick. So, he instead went to a beach and watched for a few minutes. After some time, he saw a man who was going around and harassing woman. The Siren didn't know why this suddenly made him so angry. He swam under the boundaries and dragged the man down to the other side. In one swift movement, the man was dead and the Siren was sitting in an underwater cavern, devouring his heart with a ravenous hunger.

Feeling a bit tired, the Siren decided that he would go lay out in the sun before it set. He left the rest of the man behind for some scavenging sharks to eat and headed towards his favorite tide pools.