Songs of the Sea

“An orphan child, your daughter will be,
The moment this curse is complete.
It does not end here, Odysseus,
Her lovers will die a death so odious,
A death by the Sea, a death by the Keep,
and how your lovely child will weep.
There is only one method to stop this curse,
Travel to Thornton’s Cavern,
Where she shall become one of us,
A newborn Siren.”

Odysseus roared with laughter at the sirens’ song. “I have no daughter!”

His crew glanced at each other nervously. None of them could hear the song. Odysseus had ordered it so that only he could, while the crew wore earplugs. Their ship was about to pass the treacherous waters of the sirens’ island but these men were still wary. The sirens were a dangerous lot; they would never let a man who had survived their songs leave so easily.

But they need not have worried. Their ship survived unscathed and the men saw the sirens throwing themselves into the sea, drowning or so it seemed.
~~~
Present Day
“Grandma, it’s going to rain.”

She grimaced. Grandma owned a beachfront residence, one that she hated but refused to sell. Eventually, she muttered, “I’m waiting. They are near.”

“Who?” I asked, impatiently.

I had decided to come to Rosewood Keep so that I could look after Grandma this summer. Last year, after her friend, Paul, (who was becoming much more than a friend) died in a freak accident by this beach, Grandma had a breakdown. No matter how I tried to lure her away, she always returned to the porch, staring menacingly at the waters, as though the sea had conspired against her.

Since both Grandpa and Paul died in accidents out at sea, I could understand her paranoia. But honestly, I doubted that the accidents were linked.

“Can’t you hear them, child? Their songs…it’s unearthly.”

This was the first time I heard about songs, she must be getting worse.

“My mother told me about their songs, the curse. But I never believed her. Now, they’re both gone…” Grandma turned her eyes back to me. She seemed lucid. “You need to know.”

I nodded, trying to placate her. “But first, let’s get you inside.”

Grandma rose, her legs almost giving way under her as she glanced back, fearfully, at the waters which crashed near the coast. Trembling, she entered her house quickly and I followed.

But just before I entered, I could have sworn that the waters were calm again.
~~~
I changed into a pair of jeans and a clean shirt. It took a while coaxing Grandma into bed because she insisted on bringing up a family curse. The longer she talked, the more uneasy I felt. It was as if I could visualize everything that she talked about, even the so-called curse.

Convinced it was because I had spent every waking moment around her; I thought going to Thornton’s Village would help to calm my frazzled nerves. Perhaps I could learn more about Paul’s accident too. Grandma didn’t want to talk about the accident and I didn’t want to push her. The neighbours would know, of course.
~~~
I used to love the Village. But it had too many memories of my parents, so I had hardly thought about visiting. They had passed away in a car accident, three years ago; the car had run off the road and into the sea.

I walked, not paying much attention to where I was going until I bumped into someone.

“Hey, careful now,” said Zach Vanderbilt, smiling at me. “Still the same Cassandra Livas.”

He was with his usual crew. I even spotted a few girls narrowing their eyes at me. It was no secret that Zach and I had used to be close. But I hadn’t remembered Zach being this tall or this good-looking.

“I didn’t know you’re back,” said one of the girls. “Why didn’t you come by and say hi?”

I swallowed. I hadn’t thought about it, but they would have heard rumours about Grandma’s breakdown. She probably wanted confirmation.

“You don’t look too good. C’mon, let’s get a drink.” Zach pulled me along with him, slipping his hand into mine with casual indifference. I didn’t miss their scowls, which I supposed was the effect Zach wanted.

Rummaging around, he retrieved a bottle of apple juice for me. I took it but didn’t drink.
“I wasn’t kidding before. You really don’t look good, Cass.”

I shrugged, unsure of how to behave around him.

Zach smiled like he knew what I was thinking. “Are you here to find out more about Paul?”
I glanced at him. “…Actually more about his accident.”

“I can tell you what I’ve heard.”

I didn’t realise that he was waiting for confirmation from me until the silence dragged on. Then I flushed and nodded for him to continue.

“Paul went out to sea to fish. He went out too far, the weather turned bad and his boat capsized. They found him two days after. Supposedly, he drowned but it’s the strangest thing…the sea was perfectly calm before, I was at the beach earlier.” He paused, as though debating whether to continue before adding, “When they found him, Paul had a huge smile on his face.”

Shivering at the sudden chill that spread around my body, I hugged my arms to myself.

I had overheard Dad talking about Grandpa’s death before. Grandpa had died young, a few months before Dad was born. He was swimming in the sea when he vanished. The authorities searched for him but only found him two days later because of a freak storm. Grandpa had drowned. But worst of all, he was found with a gigantic grin on his face.

Maybe these two accidents were linked. Maybe the curse was real.

“Are you okay?”

I blinked and my eyes focused on Zach’s concerned expression. I couldn’t help but feel annoyed. “I’m fine. You should go back to them. They’ll be worried.”

“How’ve you been?”

I frowned at his change of topic, feeling transparent around him. “I’m okay. I should go.”

A few moments after, he caught up with me and caught me by the arm. I turned around and faced him. “Why didn’t you ever call, Cass?”

I shrugged his hand away and didn’t stop running until I reached home.