The Collector |Sequel to Collector of Odd|

XIV | The Game Never Ends |

We all die in the end.

      "WHITECAP BAY!" The screech from the quartermaster followed by the echoing notes of a bell had Mirela baring her teeth. Silver capped canines extended in unease as the woman snarled her displeasure. Tonight would be a night that would haunt Mirela. She was sure of it.

      As the crew scattered at the Captains orders, preparing longboats and the needed supplies to capture a mermaid. Mirela turned against the crews rushing feet, her slender legs carrying her in the other direction. The palm of her hand collided roughly with a sailors shoulder that got to close, she watched with mild fascination as the man spun on his foot. His balance lost. He collapsed onto the ships flooring with a gust of air leaving his lungs, his eyes wildly searching for the cause of his misfortune. Stormy hazel eyes met murky brown. Angry flared across the sailors before he was scrambling to his feet. Mirela knew he wanted to confront her, yell at the female like she was below him. She wasn't beneath him though, as long as he sailed he would be on her turf. 

      A flash of silver from fangs and eyes. A hiss that was more animal than human. The sailor balked, stumbled, then skirted away to the longboats. The woman watched him flee. Her chest rumbling like a satisfied cat. Standing in the midst of chaos,  in the middle of men yelling and shoving and the ocean slapping angrily against the ship. Mirela was at peace. The dangerous waters below seemed to feed off of the scent of man, the scent of a terrible plan. The churning waters grew more fierce, slamming against the boats with such force the men could feel it within their teeth. Hazel orbs flickered in the moonlight, her orbs searching the waters surface on either side of the ship. These waters weren't just for mermaids. 

      The siren did not join the men on land, nor the poor fools drifting within a longboat. Mirela chose to wait and watch from afar. She had her own agenda to follow and the less that saw her the better. As the men prepared the lighthouse, the sailors sang to draw in a mermaid. Mirela was scaling the side of the ship, her goal the water. She wished to slip beneath the surface without a splash, no desire to alert those on board she no longer was. In the distance, ont eh other side of Blackbeard's ship Mirela could hear scrums singing grow weaker, the man was tired. A perfect time for the creatures of the deep. 

      Though she was fully dressed once she slipped into the water, the wet fabric did little to hold her down. Her arms skimmed the surface gently beside her face, her boot clad feet kicking lightly to keep her afloat. It was second nature to Mirela, nearly easier than breathing. She loved the harsh waves that threatened to drown her, and they seemed to love her just as much. The once dangerous waters now a gentle caress against the oddity that was Mirela. The singing paused, surprised voices whispering in Mirela's ears. The merfolk had shown themselves. 

      She didn't fill her lungs as she stopped treading water, to focused on letting the water submerge her several feet. Mirela blinked a handful of times beneath the surface, her pupils expanding and her irises flashing silver as her body adapted to the darkness that met her under the waves. This was her home. Though this calling had killed her once, she had no fear that the water would betray her a second time. 

      A flash of deep green scales caught the sirens eye, her head titled slightly causing her hair to drift higher above her shoulders than before. The coyote tanned tips a deeper shade of brown now that they were submerged. Another flash, a royal shade of blue in the other direction. Her lips curled over her teeth in a toothy grin. Mirela had company.  With a sigh that let bubbles slip past her lips, Mirela closed her eyes. She allowed her body to further relax, letting the depths latch onto her body greedily, dragging her several more feet into the darkness. The water parted to her left, the creature that parted it having passed close enough for Mirela to feel the change in temperature.  Another ripple in the water, a gentle push that alerted the relaxed woman of another presence. 

      Her eyes opened, silver orbs a shinny metallic within the ocean. Silver watched murky white. The mermaid had halted its charge the moment Mirela's eyes opened. It's once snarling face now curious.  Mirela smiled again, this time though her canines lengthened to fangs and a warning hiss bubbled from her throat. The mermaid shifted backwards in the water, it's blue scaled companion swimming nearer. Merfolk were always curious. Something Mirela had found out several months back. 

      "You're not one of us." It was the blue scaled mermaid that spoke, its eyes an uneasy shade of black that Mirela didn't like. Mirela nodded gently in the water, her feet finally kicking so she could return to the surface. She had learned early on what her siren traits allowed and didn't allow. Speaking beneath water was one of those, she could tolerate long stents without air, but her lungs still needed the precious substance if she wished to speak. Her head broke the surface moments later, her once silver orbs now their sandy hazel. Two other heads broke the surface not that much longer, a pair of deep brown and crystal blue eyes greeted her. 

      "I'm a Siren." Her words were light, a small curve of her lips the only hint that Mirela wasn't all that bothered by them. The pair of merfolk eyed her briefly before they eyed another. 

      "The oceans gift to land." The brown eyed mermaid spoke up, her full lips twisted into a coy smile. 

      "Family none the less." The blue eyed mermaid's voice was soft, her sandy blonde locks wet from their home shimmered in the moonlight. Almost like diamonds to Mirela's eyes. Mirela quickly realized it was just another way to lure men in. 

      "These pirates come to steal a tear, the tales of the fountain have grown too tempting for power hungry men." 

      And as Mirela's mermaid company disappeared in a splash of fangs and hisses she did not try to hide the flash of silver in her eyes or the fox like grin on her lips.