A Storm Or A Siren

The world was mirrored and had been for days.

In the sky, a pearl loomed. Its beautiful surface was dimpled with the most gorgeous flaws in the world. So mesmerizing a sailor could stare for hours on end and when he chose to look down, he'd see it again in the deep dark sea. Chris rocked on his heel and watched the stars flicker in the oceans steady waves. He tried not to think too hard on the shadows he swore he saw dart beneath the waves. He tried even harder not to think of the way his stomach churned with the ocean...

Chris was no sailor and much less a pirate. He couldn't even pass as a deck swab. He was one step above a prisoner and one step below a stow away. With the ocean stretching out endlessly, there was no need for the brig unless he got "too annoying" for his captors and for him, there was even less need for chains. As the captain put it, he'd sooner put the lad to a blade than dirty his chains on such a weak rat. Chris winced and tried to ignore how his stomach chose to lurch instead of churn with that memory.

"There is an old saying; The sea is as near as we come to another world." A woman smiled. Her hair was as black as the night and looked sleek with ocean water. Her eyes were a beautiful turquoise and her sun kissed skin looked too soft to belong to a pirate. Chris jumped and let out a harsh guttural noise that could have passed for clearing his throat. But he was grateful it didn't lead to him losing his last loaf of bread on the deck.

"I- Eh... Eheh." He nervously laughed and looked around. The deck was empty save for the man steering the ship. He looked in a daze himself. As if he could have been sleeping with his eyes open and while he was holding the wheel.

"Eheh...?" She mocked and tilted her head, eyeing him like a curious bird. Her hair cascaded over her shoulder and hung in the air between her head and her corset. "That's all you have to say? Well, I haven't imagined I was so ugly I drove the-"

"What!? No! No! You are beautiful! I mean; You are gorgeous! You- You're..." He swallowed hard and stepped against the railing of the ship. Her eyes twinkled with mischief as she slowly narrowed them. A sly smile crossing her lips - she nodded, as if she were agreeing with her own thoughts rather than speaking to him. Then she straightened and crossed her arms. "I see. You don't believe I belong here then? Is it because I am a woman?" She asked, while feigning insult.

"Well, this is not exactly the place for a lady." He put emphasis on the word "lady", as though that may soften the insult or even turn it into a compliment. But he noticed she didn't really react. At least, not visibly. "Are... Are you the Captains daughter? I shouldn't be speaking with you! I could be killed." He said, starting to panic at the thought without even waiting for conformation. He rushed from the railing, not really sure where he was going as long as it was away from her. He couldn't be accused of anything.

"Mm... You could say I am." She said, catching his shoulder as he tried to pass her, only with the tips of her fingers. Then she spun him around effortlessly and with a sinister smile, she leaned in and drug his lower lip down with her thumb, keeping her face inches from his. She watched him carefully for a response as she whispered in a luring tone, "But you could be wrong~"

Chris didn't realize she was holding him up. Hadn't realized that he had leaned so far back that one of her arms supported him up, until she vanished. With that support gone he fell on his rear and gasped, kicking his feet to scoot himself away from where she had been standing.

...That was when sound returned, he could hear the heavy thud of boots against the deck. The putrid smell of salty men and the growl in their tones as one outburst drowned out another.

Chris felt a heavy thud on his back and saw for a moment a barrel drop beside him before a gruff hand snatched him by his hair and lifted him in the air. He felt his feet leave the ground and couldn't help but kick, trying to feel for a surface again as he groaned and squealed to let go.

"Sniffling rat!" The man slammed him into the wall and snarled: "Watch where you sit, you useless sniveling piece of-"

"ENOUGH! Just toss him in the brig." Captain Cyrus bellowed. Cyrus looked more than annoyed as he pulled out a map and began talking to another crew member.

While it caused him to flinch - The man still stared at Chris like he'd rather deliver him to the Sea Gods as a sacrifice, himself, than drop him into another part of the ship. Of which, he clearly disapproved of Chris being allowed to exist on in the first place. Dropping Chris, he kicked Chris in the stomach. With a grotesque cough, Chris felt himself fold as he groaned in pain. Taking the opportunity, the man picked him up by the hem of his britches. With a satisfied smile the man then opened a nearby door and tossed Chris down the stairs into absolute darkness and slammed the door shut before Chris even hit the floor.

"I don't see why we wouldn't just kill him, Cap'in." A man said in a questioning but respectful manner. Cyrus looked at him and gave him an uncharacteristically kind smile.

"The temple we are going to, has a vast treasure room. Enough gold to set each of us up for life and then some! But its said it requires a warm beating heart as sacrifice. Its an old blood magic. Now, unless you'd rather offer your own... for the crew?" He tilted his head with a cruel smile and the man uncomfortably moved pins on the map. With a chuckle Cyrus turned and walked past the man. Clapping him on the back as he did.

"Good lad. Don't question me again." Cyrus said and the man, after a jolt from the clap, gave a silent nod.

Night came and day rose, three times that Chris counted. He wondered if they had forgotten he was even on the ship. Wondered if he would die in the brig. It had been 3 days now that he has had no food, or water. He had well puked his guts out already during the first two nights in the brig and he used the chamber pot more times than it could hold.

The bastard that threw him down here locked the door with a wooden latch that fell over either side of the door. Unfortunately even on a full stomach and best form, Chris was simply too small a man to knock that down - even if his life depended on it.

Still, given his situation, Chris could have sworn each night, he could hear some sort of singing. A soft and faint sound over the waves. Each night he prayed it was the sound of mercy, to lull him into a painless sleep. Night fell again, and again he heard the sound... but this time, a man opened the door to the brig and came down with a twelve inch dagger. He laughed hysterically, his eyes wild with madness.

"Chrissy, chrissy, my sweet, nasty, Chrissy!" He sang. Chris didn't have time to hide, he barely had time to process what had happened before the man had him pinned to a wall with the dagger against his throat. Chris tried to scream but couldn't even convince his body to move. Panic sank in. This is how he would die. "You killed my Captain. My brother. My best mate. You killed the young lad that swabbed the deck. You even killed... You killed... SAY IT. Say you killed them! Tell me how you did it?" He laughed again, rolling his eyes as he stumbled back and then slammed himself into Chris again. "Tell me how it felt - when you ended their lives." His whole body was shaking and Chris couldn't think of a thing to say. He had been in the brig all this time! Hearing voices, walking, chatter. They couldn't be dead. They just couldn't be. Even if they were, how could he be responsible? This man had to be mad!

"I found you, I found you! Cant believe it, but I. Found. You~" He sung. "You couldn't hide from me, you little rat, you!" He laughed, and his eyes bulged as his body stiffened against Chris. Chris stared in complete terror as the mad man slumped off of him with a knife in his back. His laughter faded into soft sobs and Chris lifted his eyes to meet the eyes of the woman he met so many nights ago.

She gave him a soft smile. A sweet smile. One too kind and too loving for someone who just killed a man. She held out her hand and Chris quickly shook his head to compose himself. "I... I cant... I need to get on deck! I need fresh air! I'm sorry!" He raced past her and onto the deck.

The air was fresh, the waves were steady, the boat rocked in complete silence. The moon in the sky was the same beautiful Pearl it was a few nights ago. It still captivated his mind and brought a sense of calm, in the sky... in the waves of the sea. But not when it was a stained red, in the pools of blood around him. There were clear signs of the men that were killed but no men to speak of. No bodies left behind. Were they thrown over board? He turned and ran back down the deck to tell the woman, warn her, but she was gone, and so was the mad man. Only the pool of blood.

Days passed again. One day. One night. One day. One night. One day. And again... night. There was no signs of life. Not the woman or the men. The boat reeked of blood and Chris could barely stomach the bread. He couldn't of saved them... He couldn't have even saved himself. He was kidnapped on their last voyage, he was nothing special. No strength to speak of, lately, he didn't even have hope. He couldnt tell if it was the constant smell of sea water and blood, the miles of silence, the lack of land in sight or that he had his life threatened by a mad man, but suddenly... He broke down.

"Please. Please don't kill me." He whispered. He fell to his knees and screamed, "Don't kill me!" and over a few minutes his scream tapered off into sobs.

Hours went by, he had curled on deck and fallen asleep and the woman appeared again. She sang softly to him with a soft smile as she played with his hair. When he woke, he screamed and tried to move away from her but she just appeared behind him. "Please..." He said. She cocked her head and gave him a mischievous smile.

"Please...?" She said, in a mocking tone. "Please don't kill me?" She added, mocking again and smiling at his shock that she knew what he said. He just shook, and stared at the ground. She approached him and lifted his chin. "Get in the water." She whispered.

He responded only in sobs as she prodded him towards the edge of the deck. He stumbled and leaned against the railing. She laughed, a soft sweet melody as she pressed a dagger into his back. "Jump. I like it better when the lungs fill with fear."

Shaking, he stood on the railing, trying not to yelp as a wave kicked the ship up and almost knocked him in. Wobbling, he took a deep breath and shook his hands, taking a gulp of air. Was it better to die by water or a blade? In the end, he'd end up in the water, wouldn't he? Desperation filled Chris as he stared at the waves, seeing the shadows lurking beneath them again. She waited... and he jumped.

With another laugh of melody she dived in after him and nobody ever saw Chris again. But that woman... Many sailors have come to know over centuries as a Siren. That ship, was just another unfortunate victim of an ocean storm. A storm that crashed a ship while the men jumped for their lives. Just as many before and many more after...