Lost at Sea

Eleanor stared at the sunlight streaming through from the top of the cove for what could have been weeks. It bent and fractured on the surface of the water, performing a spectacular light show she was free to watch from her position. The reflection of the light on the roof shimmered like a mirage.

She could remember feelings from her past life. Warmth on her skin, heating up her face and shoulders. The feel of grass beneath her bare feet as she ran, a lovely sensation in her chest that she had no words for. In her dreams, warm brown eyes smiled at her. They cried, they laughed, they admired. Nothing matter more to Eleanor than the color of those eyes.

If she focused really hard, she could remember something else. Soft whispers, gentle caresses, and the feel of someone’s lips against the column of her throat. When she thought about it, her fingers traced their path against her skin. Intimate kisses and the heat of passion that she hasn’t felt. She was always so cold now.

She wasn’t ready to move when the call sliced through the water. It was feeding time. She wasn’t yet hungry, but Lizbeth always expected her to show for hunting. With intense reluctance, Eleanor pulled herself out of the cove and started over to her sisters. Her cove was a great distance away, but she still swam slower than usual. Dread filled her at the thought of hunting today.

A large great white swam beneath her, scattering schools of fish as he went. He seemed to be trying to keep pace with her, like he knew that she was going to feed and that she would have food left over. The only upside to her unfortunate appetite that she knew of was only thus; her ability to help other creatures of the sea find food.

The rock spires that they always met at were just as cold and unforgiving as the last time she’d seen them. The water around them was significantly cooler than where she’d just come from. Eleanor hesitantly pulled herself up onto her usual place, surrounded by a few of her sisters. Lizbeth sat high and mighty, above the rest of them for a sense of superiority. The newest edition to their family looked ravenous, her nails digging into the stone beneath her like hard cheese.

Eleanor tried to remember a time when she had ever been that hungry, but she couldn’t bring one to mind. In the beginning, she of course had those urges, but she was also very talented at controlling them. After a few years, her hatred for what she had to do to survive surfaced and she fed even less. Never had she ever been so out of control with her need to kill, and so her sister frightened her.

“You took your time, I see,” Lizbeth commented, looking down at Eleanor with a sense of distaste. A ripple of revulsion tore through her body, causing her to curl her lip and snarl at her so-called leader.

“You don’t control me, Lizbeth,” Eleanor snapped harshly. She took satisfaction in the flash of genuine shock that clouded her purple eyes. She flicked her tail, slapping it against her tall rock and creating a sound that silenced the other sirens.

“This is my coven,” She reminded her. “You are a part of it. You are my responsibility and I will take care of you as long as you’re mine. But the moment that you aren’t, Eleanor, remember too look behind you from then on.”

Unwilling to start that fight, Eleanor swallowed her pride and bowed her head in submission. Lizbeth, now satisfied, turned to the rest of the sirens and began to speak. Despite the fact that her words were probably crucial, Eleanor couldn’t focus on them. As she stared down at the rock beneath her, all she could think about was the man she saw in her dreams. The perfect word to describe the color of his eyes came to mind: chocolate.

“-and when they do, we will be waiting,” Lizbeth was saying. Eleanor did not understand what she’d just heard, but she pretended to anyway so as not to bring herself back to the coven’s attention.

They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. The sun had vaulted high into the sky long before there was any sign of their prey. When the high masts of a ship appeared on the horizon, Eleanor’s heart clenched for no reason she could possibly think of. Her sisters began their eerie song, binding the few clouds above them together and willing them to create more. Slowly, but surely, a large storm began to brew and move over the ship.

It should have been routine. It should have felt just as mind-numbing as every other time she’d done it. Why was her heart beating out of her chest? Why was she tripping over the notes she’d known since the moment she’d opened her eyes? Anxiety pumped through her veins at the speed of sound, seizing all of her muscles as she prayed that the ship would make it out of their storm the way no other ship had done.

Oxygen was suddenly hard to come by. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t get enough air in her lungs. Something heavy had just settled on her, something that felt like the weight of the world. It was crushing her beneath it. Black spots were swimming in her vision. Her body knew something was going on, but refused to tell her what it was.

Without warning, she was diving into the ocean and swimming full speed towards the now sinking ship. She could hear Lizbeth and her sister calling out for her to come back, but Eleanor knew there was something severely wrong and it needed to be fixed immediately.

If that meant betraying her sisters and turning her back on the only lifestyle she’d ever known, then so be it.