Siren Sight

Chapter 5

Shadow Sirens.

The words bounced around in her head like a wild ping pong ball.

Surely the kid was messing with her. Sirens weren't real! They were a myth! Still, those creatures out there had been something, even if she didn't know what that was. Then there was the singing she had heard calling to her. Sirens were famous for their songs, weren't they? But how could she have visited them for three days now and not have known it?

“Three days?" the boy shouted in horror.

His sudden loud voice caused her to jump. Funny, she thought, she hadn't realized she had spoken.

“You didn't. I can read minds," the boy announced proudly.

Yeah right, Neivayka thought skeptically, and I can ride a dragon.

“Really?" the child exclaimed excitedly. “I've always wanted to see one, but dad says they only live in the Light World."

Neivayka's legs gave out on her forcing her to sit on the hard floor.

“Gair!" A woman called from the other room.

“In here, Ma! You won't believe what I have done!" he called and raced out of the entryway.

Neivayka could have sworn she heard a loud put-upon sigh come from the other room before the child came bouncing back in.

“I swear, Gair. If you let another brownie into this house-" the woman's voice dropped as soon as she caught sight of Neivayka sitting right in front of the door.

Neivayka couldn't have spoken either if she'd had to. The woman was willowy, and her face held a haunting beauty that Neivayka was drawn to. Her vibrant blue eyes were wide and held an innocence that did not befit her age and stood out. A brilliant contrast against her marble-smooth skin.

Most of all, there was something off about her. Well, not so much off as something more about her. When Neivayka looked at her straight on everything was okay. But when she looked down at Gair, his mother seemed to shimmer. But Neivayka could never actually see it full-on to figure out what the light around her was.

“Mama, this is Neivayka! And I saved her from the Shadow Sirens!" Gair announced proudly.

“What…?" the woman said distractedly, then pinned her son with a look of shock when his words finally sunk in. “What?!"

In a heartbeat, Gair's demeanor changed. His jaw dropped as he spun to face his mother.

“What?!"

Neivayka thought for a moment that he was mimicking his mother. But she realized something else was going on when the woman didn't get mad. The boy and his mom locked eyes and, right in front of Neivayka, had a silent conversation that she, herself, was not privy to.

“Fine!" Gair conceded aloud, obviously reluctantly giving into something from the silent exchange.

Neivayka wanted to ask what had happened, except then that would mean she had accepted that telepathy was real. And at that moment, she didn't feel up to taking on that challenge so soon. After all, she had just admitted the possibility that there could be such things as mermaids that wanted to kill people. Well, admitted it to herself anyway.

“Sirens," Gair interrupted her thoughts again. “Sirens want to kill you. Most Mermaids are really nice."

Neivayka let out a distressed noise as she felt her brain begin to go into meltdown mode.

“That's enough, Gair. Let's take Neivayka into the living room and let her alone for a moment," Gair's mother said.

Neivayka could have hugged her and almost did when her knees gave out, forcing the woman to hold her up.

“Thank you-," Neivayka's voice trailed off when she realized she hadn't been properly introduced.

“Iola," she supplied with a frown.

Neivayka got a distinct impression that not knowing her name had really upset Iola. She opened her mouth to explain that she had barely talked to Gair before Iola had shown up when Iola wiped the frown off her face and just waved her into the other room.

The living room was extremely small and only housed a couch, a coffee table, and several shelves. There was one small TV tuned into what looked like a closed-circuit camera facing the front of their building. They were obviously watching very closely who was coming and going from the area. It seemed a little paranoid. But Neivayka guessed with something like Sirens at your backdoor, it might not be a bad idea to watch everyone closely.

The shelves, though small, were jammed packed with knickknacks, books, and tons of games. Propped up on the only empty space on the shelf was a beautiful picture of a busy port by the ocean. It was so wonderfully painted and detailed that Neivayka could almost see the people on the dock walking around. The water was so meticulously replicated that it seemed like the waves were moving and crashing against the shoreline. In fact, the ships looked as if they were moving in and out of the rocky sea passage right in front of Neivayka eyes.

One huge cruise liner had the word PRINCESS painted on the side in bold black letters, and it impressed her so much that the artist included that small detail.

“Neivayka!"

Neivayka jumped and spun around, bumping painfully into the coffee table as the sound of the waves and seagulls faded from her head.

“Yes?" Neivayka answered, embarrassed to be caught staring.

“Do you want to sit down?" Iola asked, pointing to the couch.

Neivayka stepped towards it then halted when she noticed the curtains behind it. That must have been where Gair had been when he had spotted her. It bothered Neivayka deeply knowing that those creatures were only separated from her by a thin glass window.

“They can't see you," Gair said as he came racing back into the room.

He was a giant ball of energy, Neivayka thought as she stared down at him with a bit of a grin. His wavy black hair was tousled around his head like a dark halo. His dark eyes held a wisdom far beyond his years mixed with the mischievousness that would cause him to get into a lot of trouble as he grew older.

A wide toothy grin split his angelic face. “It already does."

“Get out of my head," Neivayka snapped, then instantly regretted her harsh words.