A Song of Death and Desire (The Sirens of Witches Cove)

39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

T he sounds of groaning and shuffling reach my ears, and I turn to see a raccoon by the name of Kairi moving slowly into the kitchen. Laughter bubbles out of me before I can suppress it. She clearly went to bed last night without removing her eye makeup. It is now smudged around her eyes giving her the appearance of a trash panda. Her long hair is tangled and wild and she’s wearing my t-shirt again. I doubt I’m ever going to get it back.

She squints her eyes into a glare as she pulls herself to sit at the island. “Wow, you look rough this morning,” I snicker.

“Fuck you,” she snaps back, wincing and placing a hand to her head at the sound and causing me to laugh even more.

“Why did you let me have so many drinks last night, Eagan? I was doing so well at the beginning of the night,” she groans. After we rejoined the others following our time together in the bathroom, the drinks started flowing much more freely. It wasn’t long before Sienna called out for us all to do shots. To be honest, I lost track of how much we all drank but given the size of Kairi and the fact she’s never had alcohol before, I’m not at all surprised she’s struggling today.

“Goddess, who knew that alcohol makes you feel this shit the next day? I knew it could make you messy when you’re drinking it, but I did not expect this,” she says resting her head in her hands. I pat her on the back, trying and failing to appear sympathetic. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her like this. She’s always been bright and optimistic. This is probably the most human she’s looked to me.

“How about I take you out for a greasy breakfast at Jessie’s Diner this morning? The food there is always good for a hangover.”

“How do you look so perfect? You drank even more than me and you don’t even look like you had a sip. It’s not fair,” she whines. My chest puffs up with the compliment. Perfect.

“Go and have a shower and clean yourself up. You look like a raccoon,” I tease, and she shoots me a glare once more before shuffling back out of the kitchen and into the bathroom.

It’s half an hour later when Kairi finally emerges from the bathroom. I was starting to worry she may have drowned in there because she was taking so long. She definitely seems to be more like herself after the shower, but if you look closely enough, you can see that her skin is paler, and her movements are more sluggish than normal.

Kairi winces at the noise of the diner as we find a small table amongst the families and other hungover party-goers. As funny as I find her predicament, knowing that we’ve all been in her shoes, I don’t like seeing her in pain. I encourage her to drink a big glass of water and offer her a couple of aspirins for her headache.

“What would you like to eat?” I ask.

“I don’t even know if I can stomach anything. Even the thought of food makes me queasy.”

“You happy for me to order for you then? If you don’t want to eat it that’s fine but I promise that eating something helps.” She nods before resting her head on the table.

When the server arrives at the table, I order two servings of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, and toast. I also order myself a large, steaming cup of coffee. I take pity on her and stay silent for a few minutes and she doesn’t move her head. I realize that this is the first time we have been anywhere, just the two of us. It kind of feels like it could be a date. Not a very good one, though, considering Kairi’s current state.

Kairi barely lifts her head when our meals are delivered to our table, only peeking up enough to look at it, let out another moan and then flop her head back down. I nudge her with my foot. “Come on vicious one, time to eat,” I encourage. I tuck into my food, and after a few short moments, Kairi takes a tentative bite. And then another, like she’s testing the strength of her stomach. After a few bites, she begins to eat with more enthusiasm, and I take that to mean that she’s confident that she’s not going to barf it back up. She’s already vomited around me once and, to tell you the truth, I’m known to be a sympathetic vomiter.

We sit and eat in comfortable silence, neither of us feeling the need to fill it with mindless conversation. Despite the noise of the busy diner surrounding us, I feel peaceful.

“What was it like, being— well you know— what you were before?” I ask the question popping out of me without warning. She looks at me suspiciously and I can’t say I blame her, considering how I have treated her and the things I have called her. “Honestly, I’d like to know,” I say to try and reassure her.

She relaxes slightly but there’s still tension that makes me think she’s uncertain how I’m going to react. “It isn’t really an easy life,” she begins, “I mean we don’t have commitments and things that we have to do during the day like humans do. Most of our life is focused on our next meal and the fear of having to find enough souls to survive…” she trails off wincing. A shiver runs down my spine, but I find that I’m not as repulsed by the fact as I once was.

“So, what happens if you can’t find enough souls? How often do you need them?”

“A soul lasts us about a year but coming to land drains us quicker. Many of my sisters don’t bother coming to land often, they don’t really see the appeal. I was a bit different though.”

“What do you mean?”

“I came on land as often as possible. We are only able to take on a human appearance for twenty-four hours at a time, and as I said, it drains us quicker, so I still had to be careful, but I loved being on land. I still love it.” She gives me a soft smile that, surprisingly, I return.

“Did that mean you had to eat more souls? What happens when you’re, like, running out?”

She looks at her hands, fidgeting in her lap. “Yes, I did need them more frequently, but I was always careful not to drain myself too much. I spent a lot of time sick, lethargic, and hungry. When we are close to needing another soul, our life force dulls and everything becomes more difficult. Most of my sisters can’t stand that feeling, but for me, it was the price I was willing to pay to walk amongst you all for as long as I could.”

I sit with this for a moment and think about what it must have been like for Kairi to want to take her human form more frequently than her sisters but then having to feel sick a lot of the time as a result. I wonder what it was about being around humans that held such an appeal for her that she was willing to put up with the consequences. I ask her as much.

“You all have such freedom, the choice to spend your life doing whatever you want. I used to sit and watch you all go about your day and every single person did something different. It is completely fascinating to me the amount of choices you have available to you on a daily basis; what to eat, when to eat, who to spend time with, how to spend your free time. As a siren we don’t really have any of these choices and I was always envious of you.” I’m surprised by her answer. From our interactions, I have been able to get the sense that she is happy to be human, but I didn’t suspect just how deep her longing for this life was. That she was unhappy with her life before. Perhaps I haven’t been completely fair to her.

“Do you miss being a siren?”

She pauses, considering the question. “I don’t know. Maybe? I don’t miss having to hunt for food and the boredom of existing with little to do. But I sometimes do miss the connection to the ocean, and I definitely wish that I didn’t have to leave my sisters. Overall, I’m much happier here. I just wish that I didn’t have to leave them behind.”

“Your sisters, are they all related to you?”

She shakes her head. “Oh no, none of them are actually. But because we are part of the same group it’s just how we refer to ourselves.”

“Do you all get along?”

“Hmm, kind of. We didn’t fight or anything, but I never felt like I was truly able to be myself around them. The only one I felt completely connected to was Raidne. She’s my best friend and the closest thing to a biological sister I could have.” Her eyes drop and her shoulders slump.

“Tell me about her,” I encourage softly.

“She’s amazing. Snarky and sassy but also mushy on the inside. There weren’t many of us that got to see that side, but I was definitely one of them. Raidne and I tended to be a bit more isolated from our group. For me, it was because I felt like I didn’t quite belong, but for Raidne, I honestly just think she didn’t like to be around others in general,” she laughs and it’s clear just how important Raidne is to her.

“Goddess, I miss her so much,” she says as her eyes dim once more.

Changing the subject, I ask her if her hangover is easing.

“Yes, thank you. The food and aspirin helped.”

We pay and leave the diner, and I find that I’m not quite ready to return home just yet.

“Would you like to go for a walk?” I ask and Kairi nods in response. We start walking towards the ocean and I resist the urge to hold her hand. Up ahead I notice a small group of people talking loudly. As we approach, I recognize the journalist again. Why does he keep popping up? Ryan? Roland? No, Rylan, that’s the one. He’s from the Cove Chronicle.

“— I work with Pete and it’s so unlike him to just not show up to work one day,” an older woman with frizzy hair exclaims. “And no one has seen or heard a peep from him. We reported it to the sheriff's department when none of us could get hold of him,” she continues.

A middle-aged man with a bushy mustache and dark rimmed glasses chimes in, “I haven’t seen my buddy Lachlan for a week. We talked on the phone every day, and one day, he just didn’t call. Me and my wife Darlene have been going crazy with worry.” As they talk, Rylan is writing everything down.

“It’s the witch!” a woman cries out. “She’s not content stealing people from the ocean anymore. She’s coming and plucking them straight from their homes.” Mutters break out amongst the group.

Rylan looks at the woman who spoke. “So, you think these disappearances are linked to the ones of the fishermen?” he inquires. “What makes you think this? Do you have any proof?”

“I don’t need proof to know that this is the mark of something evil happening in Witches Cove. We should all be afraid. No one is safe,” the woman continues, speaking loudly enough for other people passing by to hear and causing many to stop to listen.

Kairi pales at the mention of the witch and I must admit it, just the thought of Vala makes my stomach churn. This time I do reach for her hand and pull her past the group that has gathered. She doesn’t speak for a few minutes as we walk. I haven’t let go of her hand. It feels natural.

“Do you think the woman was right?” she questions. “Is it possible that Vala is making people go missing?”

I think about it for a moment before I respond. “The people in Witches Cove believe that a witch is responsible for the people missing at sea but we both know that it is sirens. If Vala wasn’t taking people before, why would she be doing it now? And sirens can’t take people from land, can they?”

“Technically, we could coerce them with our song to walk into the ocean, but we don’t do this anymore. It’s too easy to get caught and we don’t risk it. None of my sisters would do it. You’re right, it’s probably nothing.”

I’m filled with unease when I think about the journalist digging around in the disappearances, especially the ocean ones, and the pointed questions he asked me, hinting that perhaps he knows more than he should. It would be disastrous if anyone found out about the sirens. They would be hunted and slaughtered. A couple of weeks ago, I would have been all for that. But not now. Now that I am starting to get to know Kairi and am learning about those she cares about. I don’t want her to be hurt.

We wander around, stopping to sit by the beach and enjoy the warmth of the sun on our skin. Kairi gazes mournfully at the beach and I wonder what she’s thinking. What would it feel like to give up such a huge part of your life? How do you move on from that? I know she said that she was always interested in being human, but I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to have been pulled out of your life with no warning. I don’t even think she would have been able to say goodbye to Raidne. At this moment, I feel a surge of affection and sympathy towards her that I don’t quite know how to process.