Under Murky Waters

ZALE SAW DEATH. That was his first thought when the beautiful woman dipped below the waters, her voice still echoing with an additional sound of bubbles mixed in. When she resurfaced after a few mere seconds, she was right by the side of the ship, her innocent eyes looking up to Zale as if he were the one that hung the moon.

Her eyes were the storm, he noted. Gray and dark like an abyss but had an electrifying crackle whenever it caught and reflected the moonlight. Her hair was indeed a midnight black that raced down her back, sticking to her pale skin due to the moisture that laced her. Despite staying in the freezing waves, her lips were still pink, her cheeks flushed and rosy pink.

Zale thought that she made the angels look shameful and the flowers look bland. She was the epitome of perfection, insanely gorgeous and literally breathtaking.

“Is that?...” Kyle trailed off, leaned over the edge a little just to get a better look. The siren’s eyes lingered on Zale for a second longer before it darted to examine Kyle for a split second. “A siren?”

Their reaction had caused some of the men to run over. Beneath his feet, Zale felt the ship rock toward his side a little, the weight of the live load causing a shift in balance for the ship.

“My goodness,” a man breathed, his voice raspy. “A sea angel.”

“I have been blessed,” another said. “I never thought I would live to see a mermaid!”

Zale wanted to correct the second man. He wanted to say that it was not a mermaid that was half submerged in the waters below but it was actually a siren. However, the deadly creature had her eyes locked on Zale’s own ones, an unspoken message sent from her to him. In a motion that was almost invisible if he had not squinted his eyes, Zale saw the woman shake her head as if warning him not to make a sound.

Afraid, Zale pressed his fingers over the medallion that he wore over his heart. The pendant swung from a simple silver chain beneath his shirt, a gift from his father before he died nearly a year ago.

‘Father, give me strength,’ he silently prayed.

“What a beautiful song. Who is the woman you sing of?”

When the mer-creature finally spoke, the whole ship went silent. Her voice, though she was a long way below them, could still be clearly heard. It echoed through the night like a warning, the siren before the start of a war.

The men all had their eyes fixated on her, not noticing the fact that tendrils made up of seawater had crept up the sides of the ship. They acted like tentacles of a Kraken, slowly wrapping themselves around the major parts of the ship. If they tugged down, they would be done for. The ship would no doubt split into two.

Slowly, in the dark mist, more and more figures appeared behind the first siren. They swam closer, faces barely above the surface even as they edged towards the ship. Just with their beauty alone, they had the men entranced like a moth to a flame. It did not matter that they knew they would be burned if they danced too close. In fact, it seemed as though they enjoyed the pain.

“Oh, Cordelia,” they started to sing in unison. Only the first woman’s lips remained tightly shut. Within the next few seconds, they had the entire ship surrounded. “Sing to me.”

From beside Zale, Kyle had also started singing. His eyes were glazed over, as if barely even conscious of his own actions. “Then proceed to kill me at sea,” he murmured the words.

A deafening crack reverberated through the air as the ship split into two right down the middle. The ship trembled, everyone snapping out of their trance as they gasped at the phenomenon.

Yet, it was too late. Their fates were sealed the second the first woman started to sing.

The ship they were on was a doomed one and the waters were cold that night.