Enchanted by a Siren

Chapter 3: Enchanted

That night Calum couldn’t get his mind off of Zen. He couldn’t understand why he was suddenly so drawn to her. He felt almost connected to her somehow. All he knew was that he needed to see her. He wouldn’t sleep otherwise. His mind kept going round and round until finally he sneaked out of the house after his parents were asleep and made his way to Ryan’s place where he knew Zen was living.

The only light so late at night was the street lamps, but Calum could find his way to Ryan's house blindfolded. They had always been inseparable, either he was at Ryan's place or Ryan was at his. He missed his friend. It was strange to go from seeing someone almost every day of your life to never at all. They had been texting, but neither of them were good with their phones. Well, Ryan was, but generally it was only when he was interested in some new girl.

When he got to the house he hid in the bushes, not sure what his next move was. It was already past midnight and all the lights were off in the house. He knew where Ryan’s room was, but she could also have been put in the guest room, which was on the other side of the house and that would require him to sneak over the picket fence that kept their dog, Milo, inside while they were gone. On second thought, it was more likely that she would be in the guest room.

He knew for a fact that Milo slept indoors at night, so that shouldn’t be a problem, but was he seriously about to climb over a fence to see a girl that he hadn’t really thought much of just this morning? He couldn’t help it, he wanted to see her more than he'd ever wanted anything in his life before. He was drawn to her like a moth to a flame. 

His mind wasn’t giving him any choice in the matter. He took a deep steadying breath to calm his nerves and sneaked over the grass until he reached the picket fence. His heart stopped when a light came on and shone directly on him. He froze staring into the light like a deer caught in headlights. After a few seconds the light went off again. It was motion censored, he realized in dismay. He would need to be quick.

He took a deep breath before he leapt up and hoisted himself over the fence. With his body in the air, halfway across the fence, he lost his balance as his foot hooked on the corner of the wood and he went tumbling forward. He let out a grunt as he hit the ground, all the air knocked out of his lungs. 

Milo started barking hysterically from inside the house. He tried to get up, but his body was in a world of hurt and he was still gasping for air. The barking came closer as he saw the porch light turn on. 

He managed to straighten himself up and was gunning for a tree when he heard Mr. Patterson, Ryan's Dad, call after him. “Calum, is that you?”

He stopped, scrunching his face together in horror. He couldn't believe he was stupid enough to get caught, he had no idea how to get out of this one. He straightened up and turned around, forcing a smile. 

“Hey, Mr. Patterson. It’s nice to see you.” He said. Still not entirely sure how he was going to argue his way out of this one.

“It’s past midnight. What are you doing here, Son?” Mr. Patterson asked, his eyebrows knit together in confusion. He was a large man, but hardly intimidating with his kind brown eyes and slightly withered head of hair.

“Yeah, I’m so sorry for waking you up.” He apologized and decided that telling the truth would probably be his best route. “I was kind of hoping to see Zen.”

“Zen? Well, she’s asleep. Like I said, Calum, it’s late. Do your parents know you’re here?” Mr. Patterson inquired with a raised brow.

There was movement in the house behind Mr. Patterson and couldn't help but search for Zen's blue hair. Mr. Patterson followed his gaze to the door just as Zen appeared in the doorway, eyes wide when she beheld Calum. “What on earth are you doing here?” She demanded, pushing past Mr. Patterson’s large form with an apologetic look to go to Calum.

She was wearing blue tie-dye pajama pants that matched her hair and an oversized white T-shirt with dolphins on it. Her hair stuffed into a bun. Calum couldn’t help but think that she was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen. She looked colorful and it gave her a sort of childlike innocence.

Oddly, he found that he didn’t regret coming here at all. He felt relieved at the sight of her. It was worth the embarrassment if only to see her for a second. “I wanted to see you. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” He blurted out, his heart beating faster as she came closer.

“Are you crazy?” Zen exclaimed under her breath, before she turned to Mr. Patterson. “I’m so sorry about this, Mr. Patterson. You can go back inside. I promise, it won’t happen again. I’ll ask him to leave.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Mr. Patterson looked conflicted at leaving her alone with Calum outside. Calum, who he had seen grow up right next to Ryan. Calum who had become like a second son to him. It wasn't that he didn't trust him. but Zen was living under his roof and Calum was acting very strange.

“Please, don’t worry. I’ll send him straight home, I promise.” Zen pleaded with the sweetest smile she could muster.

“But I don’t want to go. I want to stay here with you.” Calum protested, loud enough for Mr. Patterson to hear, which made him once again reconsider whether he should leave them alone. Having only one child who was a boy he had never found himself in this position before. 

“Shut up, Calum.” Zen growled through clenched teeth in Calum's direction after seeing the panic on Mr. Patterson's face. "Please." Zen added kindly to Mr. Patterson. After a moment of contemplation he finally gave in. “Alright then. I’ll call his parents to come pick him up.” Mr. Patterson concluded, turning back towards the house.

“Please don’t do that.” Calum protested, as if he just realized in how much trouble he was going to be if his parents found out that he had left in the middle of the night to go see a girl.

Zen turned to him unable to hide her annoyance as she looked straight into his dark blue eyes and said soft enough that Mr. Patterson wouldn't hear. “I said shut up, Calum.” Once again a blue glaze came over his eyes for a split second before disappearing. He pressed his lips together tightly.

“No, you kids shouldn’t be out at this hour. I would never forgive myself if something were to happen to either of you. I’ll take you home if your parents don’t answer.” With this Mr. Patterson went back into the house to go make the call.

Zen turned to Calum, furious. “What were you thinking?” She demanded, but he just stared at her, keeping his lips shut tightly as she commanded. She rolled her eyes in frustration. “Answer me!” She exclaimed, looking straight into his eyes again. She had forgotten how literal the enchantment could be.

“I’m sorry, I wanted to see you. Being around you makes me happy, Zen. It makes me feel good.” Calum blabbered smiling like an i***t.

“No, Calum. You can’t just show up here like this.” Zen insisted, knowing this was all her own stupid fault. Her host family was probably going to think she's nothing but trouble now. Luring boys to her room late at night.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I don’t know why. It was driving me crazy. I couldn’t sleep, I had to see you.” Calum tried to explain, taking her hands in his.

She sighed as she realized what she needed to do. She looked straight into his eyes again, searching his face for a semblance of the boy she had met that morning. “You need to forget about me, Calum. Don’t think about me. Don’t obsess over me. Don’t ever come looking for me again.” The blue glaze quickly passed over his eyes as he parroted her words back to her.

Mr. Patterson came back out. “Your Dad is coming to pick you up, Calum. He should be here in a few minutes. It’s not far. You can wait in the house.” He said as he gestured towards the door.

He nodded in understanding to Mr. Patterson and followed him into the house. Zen placed her hand on her forehead and let out a frustrated sigh before walking to the door after Calum. "I'm so sorry about this Mr. Patterson, please know I didn't ask him to come." At that Mr. Patterson just laughed.

"Of course I know that, Zen. You've hardly known him for a full day. Besides, Calum isn't the kind of boy to chase after girls. One thing I've learned from raising my son is that boys love to stir up some trouble. It was probably just a stupid dare. Don't even worry about it." Mr. Patterson seemed amused by the whole situation and Zen was relieved that he was so was taking it so well.

"You go straight to bed now. I don't want you to be tired when you need to get up for school tomorrow. I'll keep an eye on Calum until his parents get here." Mr. Patterson insisted, smiling at her kindly.

"Thank you, I think I'll do that." Zen replied, returning his smile with her own. She didn't stop to greet Calum, but went straight to her room and hoped that everyone would have forgotten about the whole thing in the morning.