Unnatural// 5SOS & 1D

Sirens// part two

n.h: The Girl in the Lake

They were laughing. I don't know what I expected really, it was a crazy story. It's not everyday your friend shows up to school ranting about some girl in a lake. I nodded my head as Austin nudged me, still laughing. "Man what are you talking about?" He asked, looking at me like I was crazy.

"I know it sounds weird okay but it's true."

"Wait, wait, wait." James said, getting everyone's attention as he stretched his arms out across the table to silence everyone. Some of them were still snickering but paying attention. "You're telling us you really woke up in the middle of the night, walked to Erie Lake and found a beautiful girl singing?"

"Sounds like some wet dream shit bro." Daniel commented. Everyone began laughing again. I sighed.

"That's not it. It was different."

"Different how?" I glanced over at Harry. He was the only one who hadn't really laughed at my story.

"Um.. I don't know. It's like.. I heard her singing and needed to find out who was singing. I didn't have to go but I needed too." He pursed his lips and I frowned. There seemed to be something on his mind but before I got the chance to ask him, our other friends were back on the subject of how weird I was.

"At least tell me you kissed this girl." James said, touching my arm. I shook my head.

"I barely even saw her. Before I could get close enough, she disappeared."

"What, into like thin air?" Chase asked. I shook my head again.

"More like she dove into the water and disappeared." They stared at me a bit curiously.

"Did she come up?" Harry asked. I shook my head.

"I thought she might have drowned. I was going to go in after her but.. I don't know. I think I figured she had come up and I just hadn't seen her. She could have gone to a different part of the shoreline."

"You probably scared her. You have a pretty ugly face." Austin teased. I rolled my eyes at him and looked back at Harry.

"What do you think?" I asked him. He shrugged but I could tell by his body language that he had something to say.

"You're right, she probably resurfaced when you weren't looking." He said after a while.

"Hey are you gonna go back to see her?" Austin asked.

"What? She probably won't even be there again." I replied, rolling my eyes. He shrugged.

"You never know bro. If you don't go, I just might." For some reason that statement made me insanely jealous, though I tried not to show it. I just nodded and laughed with them as they continued to joke about this mysterious girl. Harry said nothing more on the subject and I resolved to talk to him later when we were alone.

Unfortunately, the opportunity to do so didn't present itself until we were leaving for school. I knew that Harry sometimes rode the bus if he couldn't get a ride so I quickly found him after school and offered my services. He frowned. "Are you sure? My house is kind of out of your way."

"I don't mind besides, I want to talk about earlier."

"Earlier?" He questioned, even though I could tell he knew what I was talking about.

"Lunch. You know, the girl I saw in the lake." Harry sighed but nodded before gesturing down the hallway. I guessed that was my cue to lead the way. We made small conversation about our homework but once we got into my car, we were all business. "So uh.. What did you really think of my story?" Part of me wondered if he hadn't said much because he truly thought or I was crazy. What I was hoping for though, was that he was withholding information. He shrugged, shifting around in his seat.

"It's not much Niall. In fact, what I'm thinking of might be even crazier than your story itself." I licked my lips, frowning.

"How?"

"It just is." I waited for him to explain. He sighed. "It's crazy because it's a legend or a myth."

"The legend of the girl in the lake? I don't remember anything like that. Is it some new story middle school kids tell each other." Harry scoffed.

"No Niall. There's no Legend of the Girl In the Lake if that's what I was talking about, I'd be even crazier than you." I laughed a little. "I'm talking about Sirens Niall." I shivered at the word. Sirens? Why did that sound familiar?

"Sirens?" I questioned.

"They're a Greek myth. The Sirens are beautiful girls that drown men at sea."

"How?" I questioned. Harry pursed his lips.

"By singing." Oh. "But it doesn't make sense. If they're even real, they should be out by the ocean and near some pointy rocks?" I snorted, glancing over at him as we stopped at a red light.

"Pointy rocks?" He nodded.

"They liked sinking full ships of men." I shivered again. I couldn't tell if it was because I was cold or the myth was really getting to me. "They didn't just kill men though."

"What else do they do?" He paused. "Come on, I want to know."

"They eat men Niall. That's why they sing. They bring you in to kill you." I was staring at him, my eyes a bit wide at the thought of that girl in the lake eating me. It seemed a bit surreal. A car honked behind me and I quickly drove through the light.

"Okay but.. They're a myth right? I mean nobody's actually seen a Siren." I mused, trying to pout logic into this. Harry shrugged, staring out the window.

"I know and she's in a lake but Niall.." He said slowly. I could see him looking at me from the corner of my eye. "You said you heard her singing. Lake Erie is at least half a mile from your house." I swallowed hard.

"My mom gave me some lame excuse about the sound carrying through the trees." I said sheepishly with a shrug. Harry shook his head.

"I don't think so." He sighed. "It's crazy anyways. Don't even worry about it. Maybe you were dreaming." I shook my head,

"Not if my parents knew I got up."

"Sleep walking?" He suggested.

"I've never done that before." Harry shrugged.

"There's a first time for everything." I nodded my head slowly. After hearing the Siren legend, I really just wanted to brush this entire story off. It was just a girl. A girl in a lake in the dead of night.

I waved goodbye to Harry as I watched him walk up the steps to his house. I wasn't going to think about this Siren legend or about the girl in the lake. I had been right earlier when I said I probably wouldn't see her ever again. I just had to put it behind me now. One thing still continued to tug at the back of my mind though. I stared at the girl, I barely blinked when she came into sight and now that I was thinking back on it, I could have sworn she had scales.