The Siren's Curse

Eleven

I rubbed my shoulder tenderly for a moment, still stinging from where it crashed against the floor before turning to Miles. For the most part, I'd managed to absorb the shock and keep him from injury, but he still frantically searched the cabin for an answer as to what had caused our fall in the first place. Jack and Dominic rushing out with such a sense of urgency had me concerned as well, but there was little I could do.

"Come on, kiddo," I stood, lifting the small boy up with me, "why don't we get back to work while they go settle everything out there?"

He smiled briefly, cute little face lighting up only to be extinguished by the door slamming open. Miles threw himself between the newcomer, a scarred man with oily black hair and a repugnant smirk on his face. Several burly, equally rough cohorts flanked him, and I saw Miles trembling even as he spoke, filling me with rage.

"Stop it, Kretch!" The boy shouted, "The Captain said nobody else is allowed in here!"

"Shut it, whelp, our problem is with the harlot, not you."

I moved in front of miles, shielding him from this beast, keeping calm as I spoke.

"And how can I help you... Kretch, was it?"

"We'd like you to come with us, girl."

"I'm sorry, but your captain did tell me to stay here, and I'd rather not disobey orders if it's all the same to you."

Kretch shrugged, smile growing wide enough to better see his browning teeth.

"You heard her boys!" he laughed, "The hard way it is!"

With that, the men behind him rushed forward, grabbing me by the arms and pulling me roughly from the room out onto the deck. I tried to pull away, thrash, kick, scream for them to stop, but it didn't matter. I was unarmed and weakened from illness. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Miles rush forward and try to reach me, only for that bastard, Kretch to kick him to the ground. My body flew to try and help the gasping child, only to earn myself a punch to the gut as we got closer to the railing. A storm had been brewing for days, but it was this moment where the sky ripped open, howling winds and torrential downpour raining havoc amongst the small group of men that surrounded me. A primal scream of rage tore through my chest as a flash of lightning momentarily blinded everyone, giving me just enough of an opening to hurl myself into Kretch, who had gotten too close, managing to bite his arm so hard I tasted blood.

"You BITCH!" He cursed, slapping me across the face before addressing the few men who stood further away, "Don't you see?! I was right! A woman at see only brings calamity! I say we give her to the ocean and be done with this once and for all!"

The churning, dark waves below crashed menacingly, leaving me sick to my stomach. I'd hated the sea for so long, but suddenly I regretted not learning to swim properly.

If this was how I was going to go, at least I'd be going the same way as my father...

In the distance, I thought I could briefly hear commotion. I even briefly thought I heard Jack calling my name though I dismissed it as wishful thinking. I closed my eyes, hardly fighting as they tossed me overboard.

The water enveloped my body, and the whole world grew still. It was a stark contrast to the chaos above that I had just left above. My body sank into the deep, quiet darkness of the ocean, the current seemingly halting around me, except for around my legs, which were being pulled to and fro by the water uncomfortably. I'd almost say it burned, if it hadn't been oddly pleasant. I hadn't even thought to hold my breath, too tired of fighting to consider self-preservation, which led me to the realisation that I was, indeed, still breathing.

The strange pulling at my legs had stopped, mere seconds after I reached the bottom of the ocean floor, a tiny swirling cloud of sand puffing up beneath me on impact. It momentarily obscured my vision as I tried to take stock of my extremities, the first thing I would check for signs of oxygen deprivation. I thought maybe the reason I couldn't quite feel my toes was the lack of circulation, though I felt far healthier than I had in weeks.

What I saw instead of my feet, however, shocked me so badly I screamed a water-muffled scream, bubbles drifting peacefully to the surface as I thrashed the long, deep blue tail that extended from my waist and had seemingly replaced my legs.

Maybe I would have dwelled on the shock, had the shadow of the ship not briefly interrupted my confusion. I remembered, for the first time since falling, that I'd left Miles alone on deck. The image of Kretch hitting him flashed through my thoughts, and suddenly a cold, icy anger caused my heart to still. Without even realising it, I was swimming upwards, propelled by the tail, with one thought in mind:

They were all going to die.