Siren of the Lake

Chapter 8: Community

Damon sat on a nearby rock as Adelaide continued to rummage around in the items that were strewn across the cave. Instead of the tattered grey robe that she had worn when they first left the lake, she now donned a pair of black jeans that highlighted her toned legs and waist, as well as a loose black shirt, combat boots and green bomber jacket.

“How long has all of this been here?" Damon asked, charting the number of various objects.

“A while," she shortly replied. Damon chuckled to himself, prompting Adelaide to look his way. “What?"

“Nothing," he said, still snickering quietly, causing his curls to bounce slightly at his movement. “It's just—you want me to trust you, yet you won't answer a simple question."

Adelaide's expression was blank, and she stopped what she was doing. “Well, are you going to share your life with me?"

Damon fell silent. She had a point. Adelaide nodded, taking his silence as his answer, and began setting up random twigs within a small fire pit, lighting it with a match she pulled from her pant pocket.

“What happened to 'needing to flee'?" Damon questioned as he watched Adelaide sit down on a stump by the newly lit fire.

Adelaide grabbed a hold of a nearby stick and pushed around any debris to fan the flame. “This cave is relatively hidden—not many know about it."

“How did you?" he asked.

“My mother."

Adelaide became quiet and Damon, somehow, knew not to push the subject any further. After all, they didn't need to get into specifics. Damon had a mission, and that mission was to kill the siren and avenge all who died at her hand. But if they truly were facing a common enemy and someone was after him, he couldn't return to Moonlight until he had extinguished them for good.

Damon's ear throbbed, and he reached his hand up to touch the wound, letting out a sigh of pain. Adelaide's eyes shot up. She stood and moved to a pile of items on the ground, sifting through them before pulling out a handful of things.

“Here," she said, passing him a container full of first aid.

“Uhm…thanks," Damon replied as he gradually took a hold of the box. Adelaide gave a curt nod and turned to return to her place at the fire until Damon spoke up. “Would you…actually mind?"

Adelaide twisted back around with a stunned look upon her face, which eventually faded to perplexed. “What're you planning?"

“Surprisingly, nothing," Damon replied, wincing at the periodic pain. “It's just—I kind of can't see what I'm doing."

Adelaide looked him up and down—her extended eyelashes fluttering with each movement. “Fine…" she finally stated. “But only if you put that away."

Damon followed her finger, which was pointing to his dagger sitting on the rock beside him. “Fair enough," he answered, putting the weapon on a further rock. “Better?"

Adelaide eyed the location of the knife and then, after a minute, approached Damon, bending down in front of him. She searched through the box, pulling out rubbing alcohol, swabs, a cloth, and patches to cover his open cuts.

Adelaide poured some of the alcohol on a swab and fixed her posture, meeting Damon at eye level. Her gaze ran past him, focusing on cleaning the wound, while Damon's locked onto the flecks green around her pupil, standing out amongst the deep brown. And although she was helping someone who she knew wanted her dead, her touch was rather gentle, despite the stinging pain of the cool liquid.

Damon automatically jerked back a bit, gripping onto Adelaide's arm instinctively. She stopped padding his cut at his touch and Damon felt an electric pulse shoot through him. She must've felt something similar because she was frozen in place, gazing back at him. Her hand then reached up and moved a curl from near the scab before continuing to blot the spot.

“Sorry, forgot to warn you it'd sting."

“Forgot, or chose not to?" he responded.

Adelaide shrugged. “Consider it payback."

She grabbed a cloth and began drizzling water from her bottle on it to wet it.

“Did you do all of this?" Damon asked as she cleaned the blood off the side of his face and neck.

“Over time—I only added to what was here before."

“So, this is in case something like this happened?"

Adelaide nodded and set the cloth down, taking bandages out of their wrappers and fixing them to the top of Damon's ear.

“Done," she replied, cleaning up the garbage and closing the first aid.

Damon touched his ear, feeling the fresh dressing. “Uh—thanks," he said clearing his throat.

“Don't mention it," Adelaide replied, putting away the box and taking her seat by the fire once again.

Damon picked up his dagger and set it behind his back once more, then moved closer to where Adelaide sat. She didn't look up at him, keeping her eyes steady on the stick in her hand.

“So, these people…" Damon began. “Say for a second, I go along with this. Why do they want you?"

“I told you," Adelaide said. “It's because I didn't kill you."

She was right. “Why?" Damon asked, even though he knew he shouldn't have been pressing his luck. Only, he found it odd. He had never heard of the siren not killing her intended subjects before.

“I—I don't know," Adelaide stated. “It's like you weren't affected by my song…at all."

Then it clicked. Damon remembered vividly seeing Adelaide opening her mouth to sing, but it was as if she never did.

“So, if they're after you for not killing me, and also want me dead as a result, I think I have a right to know who 'they' are," Damon insisted. “Don't you?"

Adelaide shoved the twig around in the ashes, playing with flames. “They're a group of people who despise all and any wolves. They believe that wolves are infectious to the world…a danger. If they can wipe out the males, they can wipe out the population."

Wolves? A danger? Who in the h*ll would think that? For centuries wolves kept to themselves, living separately from most creatures. It was part of the pact made after the Great Wolverian War.

“Okay…" Damon started. “And how many of these people are there? Five, ten? Twenty?"

Adelaide laughed quietly to herself. It was delicate, but warm. “Try a hundred or so—they're more like a cult, I guess you could say."

A cult? That was not at all what he was expecting. “…And how exactly are you involved with them?" he prodded, hoping for some semblance of a reply.

Adelaide set down the stick beside her and met Damon's eyes. She let out a sigh. “They're my community."