Siren Sight

Chapter 4

They danced.

Jumping and flipping, their hypnotic show seemed to just begin and never end at the same time. The brightly colored scarves they waved floated and twisted in a cloud of rainbows. The world around was a blur of pastel haze, undefined and elaborately dreamlike. Neivayka was floating and dancing right alongside them until her footsteps faltered as she woke up slightly. Everything drifted away again, and the women's singing grew louder. It filled her up once more, and she fell back into rhythm with them.

Neivayka awoke once more, the alleyway was still hazy, but she was more aware. The dancers were now in front of her, swirled more furiously as if they were having a hard time keeping up with the steps.

Neivayka's stomach twisted apprehensively as she awoke even further, only to hear that stupid, useless voice in her head again. This is dangerous! You are going to die!

She tried to move away, but one of the dancers looked over at her and pinned her to the spot with her dark empty gaze. Despite the echoing scream that Neivayka knew was her own, she was caught and held in the hypnotic depths.

An audible snap resonated in her head, and the world sprung into focus again.

Clear, brilliant focus.

Noise surrounded her, pounding at her. Horns honking, tires screeching, people screaming and talking, all of it came together to drown out the singing in her head. She fell to the ground and covered her ears to stop the deafening sounds from making her head explode.

The chaos gradually receded back into the familiar dull roar of everyday life in the city. Neivayka cautiously uncurled herself from the ball she had rolled up in. But her muscles stayed tense, waiting for another explosion of sound to assault her.

A wave of dizziness hit her, forcing her to release the breath that she had unknowingly been holding. The next breath she took drew in the putrid stench of the alley and, suddenly, she wished that she couldn't breathe again.

A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Neivayka jerked upright only to find three horrifying disfigured creatures swaying in front of her.

Oh, my god! She thought in terror. Were these the beautiful colorful dancers? Their large depthless black eyes bore into her as if they were trying to suck out her soul. Underneath their eyes, where their noses should have been, were just two large snake-like slits. Occasionally, their mouths would open and flash small white pointy teeth that looked so sharp they could crush metal in one bite. Hunched over and rigid, the tattered rags that barely covered their gray skin were stained in what looked suspiciously like blood. Every bone in their jerking, uncoordinated bodies were pressed so tightly against their skin that Neivayka could count them easily.

Based on skeletal structure alone, there was no way these creatures could have been human. That was it! She realized as dread filled her. These creatures were not, nor had they ever been, human.

She stumbled back against the large brick wall while a bony claw-like hand reached for her. Terror pounded at her as she hastily realized that this alley was not only abandoned, but it could possibly be the end of her as well.

A loud pounding drew Neivayka's attention beyond the swaying and grappling creatures. Leaning to the side slightly, she was extremely careful not to get too close to the creatures as she peered around them.

There was a large, curtained window that covered the far wall almost completely. The break in the dark brown curtain showed a young boy, no older than 9, thumping frantically on the glass. Where had that come from? She questioned in shock.

As soon as the little boy noticed that he had gotten Neivayka's attention, he began to hurriedly wave her towards him, screaming silently behind the tinted glass. His dark eyes were scared and pleading with her to listen to him.

Fearful that the creatures would see him and go after him, Neivayka found the strength to get off the wall. Neivayka crouched as low as she could get and slowly crept around the creatures gaining more courage when they stayed completely still. Like something straight from a horror movie, the creatures kept reaching for her as their torsos turned in a total of 180 degrees even though their legs did not move.

These things were not human! She heard the panicked voice scream in her head.

Even though they seemed completely rooted to the ground, she kept them in her sight until she was clear of them. In a dead run, she set off towards the window. Neivayka almost bouncing off the glass when she skidded to a stop. In her frenzy, she tried to break the window with her hands. But the boy stopped her and pointed at a door a foot away from her. She knew that hadn't been there before, yet she didn't question it.

She jerked it open and flung herself inside as if those creatures were hot on her tail. Then slammed it shut and leaned against it to catch her breath.

Even though she was finally safe, it still took her a long time to calm her racing heart and get the stupid thing back out of her throat.

The young boy greeted her enthusiastically with a wide grin and a happy dance. Which was the exact opposite of what she had expected from him.

“I did it!" he cried jubilantly. “I saved you!"

Neivayka grabbed himand looked him over, just to make sure he was all right, even though he hadn't been outside.

“What is happening?" she asked him. “What's were those things? Are you okay?"

“Yes! Now that you're safe from the Shadow Sirens," the boy stated happily.

Neivayka reeled back in shock. “What?!"

The boy pointed back outside. “The Shadow Sirens. They were trying to eat you."

Feeling light-headed, she slumped back against the door again, trying to wrap her mind around his words.