Sirens of the Abyss

Chapter 2

I rushed to the window my heart pounded. "No...she couldn't think of.." I grabbed the note and ripped it open. 

Faleen, I knew you'd be the first to find this, and for that, I'm sorry...I can't do this and live my life as a savage beast taking innocent lives. I wanted to take you with me but...I didn't have all that much time to explain...I love you, Faleen. I hope you'll forgive me."

My heart sunk as my eyes began to burn. She could have said something, Anything! Where did she go? What am I going to tell her parents? I felt heat radiate through my body and my muscles tensed. She left me to deal with this on my own. To tell her family for her? 

"That's selfish, Renya, even for you!" I exploded, not realizing I had said it out loud. I covered my mouth. Hoping no one had heard my sudden outburst. I put the note back, and I ran out of her room and back to mine. I never thought Renya would runaway. She seemed fine with this on the outside. What changed? 

I had so many unanswered questions whirling around in me like a hurricane. When I got back to my room, I threw myself down on the bed and gave in to the hot sensation pooling under my eyes. I thought I wouldn't be alone in this. The thought of having Renya next to me made this whole ordeal easier.

I was startled by a knock on the door. "Faleen darling, it's time. Put on your robe and come down to the shoreline." I brushed my tears away. "Okay, I'm coming!" I acted like everything was fine when I felt like my walls were crumbling down. Did they know about Renya yet? Were they going to find her? Part of me wanted her back, and another part wanted her to stay gone.

I pulled my hair out of my bun and undressed. What would my body look like when it changed? Now it looked like a mature woman with an exceptional chest size and a curvy figure. My black hair went down to the small of my back. I didn't care to make my hair look nice. I was getting into the water anyway. I slipped the silky robe around my unclothed body. The silky fabric almost felt like a second skin. I looked in the mirror at my face and forgot that I had been crying. My brown eyes now looked like puffy red sockets surrounded them, and my nose was slightly pinkish red. They would notice. That's what I didn't want. I quickly took my concealer from my makeup bag. I drowned my face in it to cover all the hints of red.

My eyes were another problem. The concealer only covered so much. I decided in the end to just make up a lie if anyone asked. I took one more look in the mirror and took a deep breath and closed my eyes, and thought to myself, "Cleo said I couldn't escape this that this was our family's legacy. It was destined to be, so really, there was no escape. I guess it's better to get it over with now. Like ripping off a band-aid."

-The Ceremony-

I could smell the sand in my mouth...is that unusual? To smell something and taste it when you've never tasted it before. Maybe it's the 6th sense. I felt the wet granules under my feet. I liked the feel of the sand and how my feet left footprints only to be washed away a second later.

"Faleen!" Ellie's voice was like a whiplash of reality. She stood on the shore at the edge of the water. She pranced to me, taking my hands in hers, "I'm so happy your here with me, Fal! Did you hear about Renya!? She ran away. Nobody knows when she left. She left a note, but it was only addressed to you."

I tried to look shocked," Oh no, I hope she's okay."

 Ellie looked down at her feet, "Me too..." 

I had to admit being next to Ellie took the edge off of my sadness.

I pulled her into a hug. "I'm happy you here with me too," I smiled at her. Ellie's hazel eyes and freckled face brightened up, and she smiled back.

"I have to admit, Faleen, I'm a little scared, but I know we will be okay." She gave me one last big hug before pulling me with her to the shoreline where my mother, sister, and the other women waited to start the ceremony.

My mother was head of the Siren pod. She resembled Cleo physically. Her hair was the same blonde, and her eyes were a lighter blue than Cleo's. She was tall, and she always held her head high. "My darlings, this is a beautiful full moon, and tonight will be one you never forget." Ellie and I were together side by side on the water's edge. My mother's voice booming in the background. 

"The water will take you in its grasp as you willingly give yourself to it. You will no longer be children. You will be women and goddess of the deep," She moved fluidly from behind us—her white robe swaying in the chilly brisk air and handed us the ceremonial cup of Poseidon. The cups looked like goblets but black with a gold trident and a Poseidon representation with two sirens rising from the sea to a rock next to him. One on each side.

"You will drink from the goblets Poseidon has gifted us to make the transformation more bearable." She poured what looked like red paint into the goblets. "The blood of dead men will feed your hunger as you come up from the depths below and join us once again." 

I cringed at the thought of drinking this crap. I looked at Ellie, and her hands were shaking. I took her other hand and squeezed it. She looked at me frightened. We both were because we knew what came next. After we drank from the goblets, we would drown and no longer be human.