The Hidden Island

Chapter Five: Elena

I woke up to an empty bunk. I shivered from the sudden cold, and made my way up the stairs. Percy was standing by the wheel just looking out into the black sea. I walked over and leaned my head on his shoulder.

“Couldn’t sleep?” I asked.

“Sort of, kinda hard to sleep when monsters are surrounding you.”

“Yeah.”

I looked ahead and saw an island in the distance, if I squinted hard I could see beings with tails. My eyes widened and I ran down to the lower deck. I grabbed some old candle wax and ran back up.

“Put this in your ears.” I said.

“Why?”

“That’s an island full of sirens. Their voice will make you go mad and kill yourself.”

That was enough for Percy to take the wax from my hand. I did the same, I couldn’t hear anything. I gripped his arm as we journeyed closer to the island. I didn’t hear anything thankfully but the vibrations that I felt on the wooden deck floor were getting more and more aggressive. I looked out into the island and I saw what looked like Aiden. His monstrous brown eyes staring right back at me, his normal blonde hair now dark and seeping in shadows. Tears welled in my eyes, I choked back a sob and buried my face in Percy’s chest. He seemed shocked at my sudden actions but wrapped both arms around me. Tears fell from my eyes and I started to cry. I didn't look to the island the whole time we passed, tears were flowing out my eyes. After what felt like eternity the vibrations stopped. I waited a few more minutes before taking the wax out of my ears. Percy did the same and looked at me, his eyes were full of worry. My face was stained with tears.

“What happened?’ he asked softly.

“I...I,” I looked a breath, “One of the sirens took the form of that guy Aiden.”

“You can talk to me.”

I nodded, “I know it’s just a really long story.” 

He cupped my face in his hand, “We’ve got time to kill.”

I smiled, “We should sit down for this.”

I just sat down right where we were standing, he followed. I looked at my hands and took a shaky breath.

“So when I was twelve that’s when everyone found out I was sick and dying. I’d known my whole life but no one else did until then. Aiden came up to me one day and asked me out, at first I thought he really liked me. Later down the line I found out it was just his way of getting easy money. My family has a decent amount of money, they worked for everything we have that’s why I look up to them so much. Aiden and I dated for five months, it got bad the second month. He started wanting more and more money from me, and when I didn’t oblige him...he would hit me; a lot. He was cheating constantly but I stayed with him because I was stupid, niave, and I was so tired already. My body felt weak from the sickness, since it was starting to take over my life. He knew I was too weak to fight back and that’s why he liked having me around. It got to the point when I was scared to leave my own house but he knew where I lived so even my room wasn’t a safe place anymore. My parents were oblivious, they were always on work trips and never really home. My only escape was my band, with Kieth, Jenna, and Harvey. That is until Aiden found out about my hobby, he tried forcing me to stop playing in my band, that was the last straw for me and my friends. They knew about my sickness long before anyone else. Kieth who’s like a big brother to me ended up beating the crap out of Aiden until he agreed to leave me alone. Jenna’s dad is with the police so he had me file a restraining order against him. Harvey was the one who comforted me the few months before my parents started homeschooling me because the sickness got so bad. I haven't seen my bandmates in almost two years. Last I heard they were still going to the same school.”