The Voice I Was Given.

One More Night

        "Guess what, River? You can go home tomorrow."

She sounded happy, but it seemed forced. River turned to her and saw the glare of tears starting to form in her eyes. Hypatia looked away, blinking fast. Of course, they both had known that River would have to return to the ocean at some point, but it seemed like that time came too fast. The thing was, they had gone to River's territory the day before, and River had noticed signs that a new male siren had moved there. River would have to find a new home, far from where Hypatia lived. Because, despite the fact that River wanted to stay with Hypatia, he didn't want to risk getting himself killed in a pointless fight for territory.

River was about to sign something to Hypatia when the front door suddenly slammed opened. River quickly hid behind the couch in the corner and Hypatia threw some blankets over him. Immediately, Hypatia was screaming at someone to get out of her house.

"HOW DARE YOU SHOW UP HERE! YOU CAN GET ARRESTED FOR THIS!"

This was the first time River had heard Hypatia angry, and it scared him. Who was here, and why were they when they were obviously not invited.

"You know that a restraining order can't keep me away, darling."

It was a man, and River somehow recognized his voice. Whoever it was very drunk, his words slurring together.

"YOU'RE DRUNK, TY! STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

Hypatia was scared, River could hear it. She was trying to act tough, but River was having enough of this "Ty." He peeked out from the blankets and saw a big, tall, scary-looking man.

"I've heard that you've got a new man. Did you forget who you belong to?" He held up his hand, and Hypatia flinched.

River saw red. No one was allowed to scare his Hypatia, much less threaten her with violence. He rose from his hiding spot, hissing, fangs bared. Neither of them had ever heard a grown man scream louder than when he turned to see what the noise was. River grabbed Ty around the throat and dragged him to the front door. He didn't care if anyone saw him. He was going leave anyway. But he wanted people to know that Hypatia was not theirs. River held up Ty, whose face was now turning purple and snarled again before tossing him down the steps. Ty slowly got up and stumbled away, yelling curses.

"River...you should've have done that...what if he reports you?" Hypatia's voice was an octave higher.

He's so drunk that no one will believe him. River snorted. Besides, I couldn't just let him hit you. Who was he anyway?

Hypatia sighed, taking a few deep breaths. "Ty is...my ex. I never wanted to date him but...he's so terrifying. I finally got a restraining order for him, and it's worked...until now. And he...was actually the reason why I lost you in the first place."

What do you mean? River asked.

"You said that you couldn't remember more than the last three years of your life. Well, the River I knew died three years ago. Ty used to be your best friends and then he started to drink. He was uncontrollable, but you still wanted to help him. So, you invited him to go with us on a trip. Then...the storm came."

Hypatia's voice began to fade away.

"Lower the anchor! We can't let ourselves drift into that cliff!"

"River! Get away from the edge!" Hypatia yelled at him.

A wave splashed onto the deck of their ship. River grabbed onto a rope, keeping his footing despite the powerful water. His muscles strained against the wind as he tried to keep himself upright. The last thing he needed was to lose his footing in a storm. Ty was leaning against the door that led below deck, twirling a dagger in between his fingers in one hand and keeping himself upright with the other.