Sirens of the Abyss

Chapter 5

-Faleen POV-

It felt like I was being split in two. It was an unrealistic kind of pain. My legs looked like they were being torn out of a cocoon and my tail riped apart. I let out a scream. Ellie was in the same predicament I was, but all I could do was look at my body as it morphed back into my human form. It only lasted a few minutes but it felt like a century. I was out of breath and panting like dog and so was Ellie. Ellie tried to stand up trying to walk on her slender ballerina like legs, but she clasped. Like a baby deer that was just born. I tired to stand as well but clasped too. I turned to Ellie with a frustrated glance. " I know.." Ellie replied. She grabbed a stick that had been washed up on shore. It looked like a brown wooden cane covered in seaweed. She dug one of the ends into the sandy bank and pushed herself up. Once she was up on her two feet she reached out her hand to me. "Here...Take my hand." I grabbed her forearm with my right hand and pulled myself up. For someone who was so skinny Ellie was pretty strong. 

My legs felt like jelly and had a feeling of having a rug burn all over them but I was happy to be on land now. Ellie passed me the clothes that were left for us. I changed into a dark red hoodie and sweats but they forgot bras. Guess I'm going braless. " So I guess we make are way back huh?" Ellie questioned. I looked at our house on the beach. It was pale blue and three stories high. It looked like one of those Victorian mansions. I dreaded going back in there. "You go ahead I'm just gonna catch my breath," I lied. Ellie nodded in understanding and walked up the sandy bank to the house. I felt exhausted. I didn't want to go back. I wanted to run away but where would I go? How would I even support myself on my own. I decided to walk along the shore down further from our house. I needed to get away. Even just for a little bit and I wanted to see the one other person who loved and excepted me. So I followed the shore line a ways down until it hit a secluded pool. It was kinda like an Oasis of sorts.

 There was a tiny forest not too big but just enough to feel like a Forest. This pool had tunnels to the Ocean so it was secluded but had a way out. This was my escape. I remember when I was little my father use to take me out here and wade in the water with me. I smiled at the memory it was one of my favorites. I stopped at the waters edge and put my hand in the water swashing it around. "Fal? What are you doing over here Hun?" I turned around to a man with dark black spiked up hair, tanned skin and brown eyes. He c****d his head in concern. I ran into his arms. "Dad!" I smothered my face in his chest inhaling his scent. It was calming kinda like the smell of rain before it falls. He hugged me back tightly. "Faleen...why aren't you at the ceremony?" He questioned. I pulled away from him. "The ceremony already happened.." I replied. I looked away from him and held my myself tightly. I felt a strong grip on my shoulder. "Faleen your going to be okay. Your strong remember that." I turned around and smiled meekly. "I feel weak dad, I don't feel strong. I lashed out at Cleo. I practically told her to screw herself and that she was a selfish bitch."My dad chuckled "Yup..your you're father's daughter alright." I sighed. "I guess so. I definitely don't take after mother and her clone." My Father took my hand. "Come, you haven't seen what I've been building over here yet, you'll like it I promise you." I followed him into the forest. He always made things better.

 Sometimes I wonder why he ever fell in love with my mother. His kind soul and her witch like attributes.I decided to ask. "Dad? Why did you fall in love with mom? I mean no offense but If I were a dude I'd stay the hell away from her." Again my father laughed. "Your right about that. I guess I'm just drawn to crazy." He turned his head back to me and winked. I smiled back at him and he continued to talk. "When I met your mother it was underwater and it was accidental. I had used the Oasis tunnels to get around. I was the only one who knew about them back then. She just happened to find them and scoped it out. I was on land next the water when she appeared. Her head peeked out of the water and stared at me. Back then I don't think she knew what to think of me. This was when she had first gone through the change. She actually hissed at me when I tried to get into the water with her. So I let my hand change underwater so she could see I was like her."  Wow they were really young when they met I thought to myself. Although what dad was saying was true. 

Siren females can't tell the difference of human men and siren men up on land. I was eager to know what happened next. "What did she do when you changed underwater?" I asked. He replied "She came closer to me and pulled me under." I was shocked at his response. "Wait what? Why did she do that?" I questioned but we had turned into a little cleaning now that had a huge cottage I'd never seen before. Dad stopped in front of me."We're here," he lifted his hand to the cottage. It was beautiful. It was a logged cabin built with red wood, and a small porch in the front with a hammock. "Oh dad...its... gorgeous." He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "I'm glad you like it kiddo, cause it's yours." He dangled keys in front of me. I gasped in surprise."Wait for me?" I was dumbfounded. He moved Infront of me now. "Yes for you Fal. I know how much you hate being in that house. Your different from the rest of this family and you've always been. I wanted you to have a space of your own. Where you can get away." I wanted to cry tears of joy. No one else would have thought of this or even considered how I felt but my father like me was different. I hugged him tightly. "I love you so much. I don't know what I'd do with out you." He returned my embrace. I grabbed the keys from him and raced to the porch. "Do me a favor though Fal?," I turned to him with a questioning glance. "No guys in there," he said jokingly. I rolled my eyes. "Dad...really?" I turned back to the door and opened it. 

The inside was bigger than I expected. Wood flooring and a red rug was in the middle of the living room. Surrounding the rug was a black leather corner couch and a corner table that was also black. I walked further into the living room and walked into the kitchen. It had steel appliances and light brown cabinets. "Dad, you built this?" I brushed my hands over the smooth cold cabinets. He nodded his head. "Just like I built your crib's when you were a baby." He replied. He walked over to a door farther back into the hall way. "Come see your room." He suggested.I pranced over and opened the door. The room was spacious and my bed looked like queen. A brown book shelf sat between my bed a catty-cornered powder blue vanity. The walls were painted white and the rug on the floor matched the color of the vanity.  I was in awe of how it all came together. "Dad...I don't know what to say.." he walked to the vanity and picked up what looked like a jewelry case. "I've been saving this for you for when you turned 18," he opened the jewelry case and it held a shimmering black Tahitian pearl necklace. "No way," I gawked at the necklace. It had a silver chain and above the pearl was a green emerald surrounded by a circle of diamonds.

 I was surprised by my father's generosity. "Dad...this is more than I could of ever asked for." He pulled the necklace out of the case and gestured for me to turn around. I moved my hair out of the way and he placed the necklace around my neck. "As long as you have this necklace on you nothing can hurt you." He turned me around and looked at me. "Dad it's just a necklace." I commented, but my dad's face said otherwise. "I want you to wear this at all times. Promise me." His face had turned serious. I placed my hand around the necklace. "I promise, I will always wear it." I hugged him tightly. "Thank you dad for everything." He held me tightly. "You deserve to be happy Fal, no matter what life your living. I want you to remember that." I paused. Why did it sound like he was leaving...even though that was stupid for me to think of I couldn't shake it. I pulled away from him. "Dad? Are you okay?," I asked worried. He smiled at me. His eyes had bags under them and he had a five o'clock shadow. Now that I was face to face with him he looked... exhausted. He turned around and looked out the window of my new room. "I'm fine Fal, you need to take care of yourself. Watch who you trust." I questioned what he had just said. "Wait what? Dad what do you mean?" He stopped me then and held his hand up. "No more questions and no more worries. Go. You should be celebrating. Ellie is probably waiting for you. Have fun with your friends." He turned and playfully pushed me out of the room and out the front door. "Okay! Okay!" I said giggling. He shut the door behind us and I locked it with the key.

 He walked me back to the shore line leading me back to the house. "Don't cause too much trouble okay?" I nodded and headed back towards the house. I was happy that my father gave me something so special yet I was uneasy. "Watch who you trust," what he had said kept replaying over and over again in my mind. Was he trying to tell me something? Was he in trouble? He looked like he had not slept in days. I hope he gets some sleep tonight. 

I made my way up the stone path to the back door of the house. "God I hope I don't run into mother..."I thought to myself. With a sigh I opened the door. The backdoor lead to the kitchen. The kitchen was pretty big. It had steel appliances as well, like the cabin did. The floors were white tile and had a gleam coming off them. Mom liked a tidy household. She was the type of person to glare at you if you didn't use a coaster and left a ring on her new table. I passed the kitchen which lead to the living room. We had a light brown leather couch in-between two love seats that were dark drown. There was one big screen TV that was mounted on the wall in front of the couches. I never really watched TV all that often. There were two book cases behind the couches with one love seat that was next to the bay window next to the sliding glass door that lead to the backyard. I loved sitting and reading there. It was probably my favorite spot in the house. 

 I walked over to it and sank into the seat like quick sand. It was soft to the touch and my eyes felt heavy. My body felt sore. What time was it? I should probably get something to eat. My stomach growled in agreement. I honestly felt like shoving a big ass burger down my throat. My mouth started to water at the thought of it. I went to the kitchen and started cooking. The fridge had half a package of ground beef in it and some tomatoes, onion and lettuce. I grabbed all of it and some cheddar cheese. I grabbed a pan from cabinet and started cooking. In the midst of flipping my patty I heard pitter patter of feet up stairs and giggling. What in the world is going on up there? I put my patty on my plate next to the open bun and took it with me to investigate the noise upstairs. As I turned the corner I saw Ellie and two other girls I had not seen before in pretty dresses fussing over there hair and makeup.

 "What are you doing?" I questioned. Ellie's head shot over in my direction and she pranced up on her feet. "Oh my gosh! Faleen! We have possible mates coming over!" She was wearing a yellow silk dress and she had pink blush on her cheeks. "I'm sorry what?" I asked In-between bites. A girl with dark skin and brown hair in a red dress came up to me. "You must be Faleen right?" She held out her hand. "I'm Ivy Quillet my mother brought me here to celebrate with you guys since my pod is so small." I wiped one of my hands on my sweats and shook her hand. I swallowed the last bite of my burger and set the plate down. "So what's going on here? And what did you mean by prospects Ellie?" The other girl with the blue silk dress and dirty blonde hair sitting by the vanity putting on here pink lipstick  replied. "We are here to find mates. There will be other Siren men coming from different pods and we are to interact with them. If we like one of them we can arrange a marriage." The other girls squealed at the thought their future mates. I was not. "So your telling me we are to pick from what they give us? What happened to marrying for love?" I asked. They all turned to me like I had spoiled their fun. Ivy walked over to the vanity and grabbed a brush and ran it through her hair. "This isn't suppose to be meant to find the one man of your dreams. We have a duty to our pods. As you should know for some reason we were selected because our pods produced more males at birth and the rest of the pods in the area only gave birth to females." I was stunned to hear this.

 Mother and Cleo never said anything about this...nor did father. "So that means we all need to look our best and do our best for our pods!," Ellie boasted. She glided over  to the closet that was close to the vanity and pulled out another yellow silk dress. "We are from the same pod Fal so we wear the same color!" She handed me the dress and pushed me towards the bathroom to change. "We will be right here to help you with your makeup and stuff okay?" She said as she closed the bathroom door behind her. I could Barely wrap my head around what was happening right now. Did Cleo do this? Is that how she found her mate Zane? This was unbelievable. First I turn into a siren. Then my body splits itself into two on land and now I'm already looking for "mister right?" You have got to be kidding me.

 I Leaned against the bathroom door. Was I being a bummer? Ellie and everyone else was happy about this but I was sadden by it. I wanted to find my mate on my own. Not choose him from a line up. I looked a the yellow silk dress in my hands. It was soft and slippery. I looked in the mirror and was horrified. Yikes my hair was a mess. The cover-up I had on my face had washed off. I probably should take a shower since I'm in here looking like a wreck.

 I stripped my dirty clothes off and turned on the shower. It felt nice to have all that dirt and grim wash away from my skin and hair. Jesus had it been a night and it was only getting longer.

 I turned of the shower and hopped out. I took a white towel from one of the cabinets above the toilet. I decided to try on the dress. It slipped over my body nicely. It wasn't too reveling which I liked. The straps were like spaghetti straps and the fabric covered most of my chest leaving a hint of cleavage, like a V-neck shirt. The dress was flowy, thin and light weight but you definitely needed to wear a bra with it. Your breasts definitely popped out in this dress. I'll have to ask the girls if they have one I could borrow. I dried my hair in a towel and walked out of the bathroom. 

Ellie was sitting on a chair next to the window. The other girls had left the room. She was looking out the window as if searching for something. "Ellie? You okay?" I asked. She whipped her head towards me as if I snapped her out of some kind of trance. "Oh..my god..Faleen...you look beautiful," she smiled ear to ear. She eagerly walked towards me. "Now all we have to do is your hair and makeup!" Ellie spun around to the vanity and started picking out makeup for me."Ellie?" I asked. "Hm?" She questioned while looking through lipstick colors. "Are you really okay with this? I mean meeting these men and they are all you get to pick from?" Honestly I think it's ridiculous." She stopped looking through the makeup bag and turned to me. 

She seemed frustrated. "Fal, I know you don't want this. But I do. I want to meet someone. I want to start a family. I want to make my family proud." She sighed, and continued, "But you don't seem to want that at all. You don't care if you upset your family. You want to do things your way and your way only, just don't ruin this for everyone else because right now your the only one who feels that way." She turned back to digging in the makeup bag. I felt shame. Yes I did want to start a family of my own but not like this. I managed a smile and put my hand on Ellie's shoulder. "I won't ruin this for anyone Ellie. I promise." She put her hand on mine and nodded.

 "Thank you," she said softly. She cleared her throat. "Now lets get you all dolled up!" Ellie took cover-up, mascara and blush out of the makeup bag. The lipstick looked light pink and so did the blush. "How do you want your hair?" She asked. "I was just going to have it straight, nothing special." I replied. She gawked at me. "Fal! We need to woo these men! We should curl it or something don't leave it down and boring." She proceeded to looking for the curling iron. 

Well I guess it would be nice to be dressed up. I can't remember the last time someone else Did my hair for me. "Hey where did the other girls go?" I questioned. "They wanted to be the first to have a glimpse at the men that are coming. So they went outside to the backyard. We are having a little get together with them there." She took the curling iron and started curling my hair. Our backyard was pretty big so it was no surprise we were all meeting there. "Do you know how many guys are going to be here?" I asked. Ellie took a second to think. "Well I think ten of them will be here," she replied. "Ten? Wait there are only four of us?" I stated. 

Ellie giggled "Yeah but they want us to have some sort of selection so the more the better right?" I shrugged in reply. Well I guess more was better in this case. But since there were only four of us the men didn't have much to choose from. "Alright! I'm done! Let's take a look a you!" Ellie grabbed a mirror from one of the drawers in the vanity and gave it to me. I looked at the reflection and couldn't believe it was me. Wow Ellie was good at this. My eyelashes looked long and fluttery. My lips and cheeks were the same color of soft pink it looked like I was actually blushing. My hair had perfect bouncy black curls. "Oh wow Ellie it's beautiful, thank you." I got up from the chair and hugged her. "If I did it myself it would of turned out bad." I said and chuckled. Ellie nodded and agreed. "Well let's start heading down there, I think the guys will be here soon." Ellie jetted for the door and ran down the stairs. I put on matching yellow heels that I found next to the chair I was sitting in. The proceeded to follow Ellie down stairs. 

I hated wearing heels, I rarely wore them so it took me a few minutes to get my balance. I was now in the  living room and headed for the sliding glasses doors next to the bay window. Before I opened it I saw the girls pouring themselves wine. At least it looked like wine from the bottle they were pouring from. I opened the sliding door and walked over to them. 

It was cold out here. Why weren't we wearing jackets. I covered myself with my arms feeling the goosebumps covering my skin. "I can't wait to see them I hope they are handsome! I can't wait to see their forms underwater!" The girl in the blue dress giggled. "I bet they are very handsome Diana." Ivy added.

 Ellie was pouring another glass and brought it to me. "Here, losen up a little." She whispered. I took the glass from her hand and walked towards the other girls. We were standing by a long white table and on top of it was a buffet of fruit, veggies, wine and fish.

 I had just eaten so none of it looked appetizing. "Oh..oh look!!" Screamed Diana. "I think one of them has arrived I hear a car." The girls all started to squeal. "How does my hair look is it bad?" Ivy started messing with her hair. "No, no it's fine." Ellie reassuringly  touched her shoulder. I downed my wine glass and put the glass to the side. God I felt like a prized cow waiting to be sold on an auction...this was atrocious.