Salem Falls

“Fucking- what the hell- why won’t you open?” Siren barked at the thick tome in her hands, glaring full force at the old leather. Faded words were written across the front of the book in Latin as well as down the spine of the book. It was extremely heavy, weighing her small hands down, but that was not the problem. “I sealed you two days ago, why in the blazes won’t you open?”

The sound of someone walking into her home hit her ears. She knew that it must have been someone friendly, seeing that there were wards and spells protecting the house from all that entered, save a few of her coven members. Turning over her shoulder, Siren saw Lucie walk into the room, her hand still a very painful shade of red.

Siren had watched with the other members, as Zayn and Lucie underwent the sealing ritual. She had seen the flames engulf them, and she had seen how the two teens struggle to remain standing their bodies wracking and shivering with the pain.

The girl had learned that the more aversion there was between the two partners, the worse the pain was. By the looks of the bone white look on Lucie’s face when the ritual was complete, her and Zayn were pretty much on the opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to attraction to one another.

Lucie sat delicately on the chair in the study, careful not to knock he hand on anything. Giving her a knowing look, Siren grabbed a antique glass and uncorked it, pouring a glass of brandy and handing it to her friend. Lucie took it gratefully. “Don’t suppose you can do anything about this?” she asked Siren, gesturing to the red on her hand, sealing her and Zayn forever.

“I just did,” Siren grunted back, sitting down in a chair across from her. The study in the old, large house had belong to a long line of Chevaux’s before it had come to Siren. She lived alone in the large house, though she did not mind. The solitude gave her time to think. “You know I’m horrid at healing things. Just not one of my specialties.”

“Never has been,” Lucie smiled, thinking back on a memory as she finished the rest of the alcohol. “Remember when you couldn’t even fix that burn on your leg when Harry set your shoe on fire?”

Siren’s eye twitched, which was often, as Lucie knew, a sign of irritation. “Yes. I remember that incident quite well. In fact, I am almost sure that I filled his bed with asps.”

Lucie shivered. “Ah, the snakes. Yes.”

Silence fell between them for a moment. For the first time in her friendship with the girl, Siren felt like there was something hovering between her and Lucie, something that was unsaid and not understood. It was strange, seeing as Lucie was one of the few people in the entire world that Siren trusted, if not the only person.

Licking her lips, Siren’s green eyes stared at Lucie head on. “How bad did it hurt?” the question was very quiet, curious. “You looked like you were ready to die, like you wanted to die.”

“It hurt more than anything I’ve ever experienced,” she admitted, looking down at the ground, her face taking on a painful expression as she recalled what she had gone through. “it was something I would not wish on anyone.”

Siren nodded once. “You were crying.”

Lucie cocked her head to the side, as if not sure why Siren was mentioning this. “I told you, it hurt worse than anything else in the world.”

Siren shook her head a fraction, still not really sure of that answer. She had known Lucie for a very long time. Pain was not something she flinched at. “You don’t cry when you’re in pain. You’ve been burned by fire, chemicals, you’ve been the subject of spells. I just don’t understand how that could have hurt that bad.”

Lucie side, running a hand through her hair. She licked her lips, as if preparing an answer. “You know as well as I do that the more you don’t want it to happen, the worse it hurts.” She sighed, leaning back and shaking her head. “I just didn’t want to be married to Zayn. I’ve never liked him, ever since we were younger. You know this. I guess I just didn’t expect the pain to be that bad. Are you going to make fun of me for it, Siren?”

Green eyes stared at Lucie’s face, unwavering. “No.”

“Good, because I don’t think I’m the only one a little annoyed by your cruelty lately.”

Though she tried not to show it, that one hurt Siren a bit. Sometimes she was cruel on purpose. That was one thing to point out. But when she was cruel by nature, it was another. Because she had no control over that. “I’ve always been that way, Luce. I won’t spare anyone of that.”

They were quiet. “I know.”

Lucie stood, yawning and offering a smile that made the tension vanish. Siren stood as well, taking the glass from Lucie and clean it with a small mutter of a word before setting it back on the mantle. “What’re you doing with that book anyways?”

Siren glanced to the tome that Lucie had pointed at. “Remember how I said I was placing a sealing spell on it? Yeah, I may or may not have placed one on there a bit strong.”

Lucie laughed, shaking her lovely hair. “Looks like someone better make a deal with a demon.”

“You don’t say.” Lucie waved a farewell before heading for the door. Siren then quickly called after her, “Lucie? Is there anything you need to tell me? Or want to talk about?”

The girl paused, looking over her shoulder. Her face was very vacant. “No, why? Do you?”

“No.”

But a single name popped in to Siren’s head. And that name she could never say to Lucie, even if she trusted her. No, Niall Horan was Siren’s deepest darkest secret. He was someone she never expected to have any sort of relations with, especially when she knew how dangerous it was.

And it was Niall that she slipped out of the house that night to see. She slipped into the woods as she so often did, walking amongst the trees. They had opted for a different meeting place, Siren insisting that being too consistent was not safe. She had no idea why she was even letting herself meet him; he annoyed her immensely, but he also intrigued her.

The blonde was already sitting in a small clearing in the dark depths of the woods, a clear night sky above them dazzling with stars. Siren could appreciate the beauty of it, though she knew the truth about beauty. Beauty was often a lie, and it killed quicker than most things in the world.

“I am constantly surprised when you show up, you know,” He greeted, not looking up at her from his seat on the ground. He was looking at leaves that were swirling around in little tornados, dancing as he smiled. They fell when he looked at her, concentration broken. “Wow, you’re dressed rather normal tonight.”

Siren arched a single eyebrow as she sat down. She was in fact, not dressed in her usual black attire. She was in a simple, crisp white tank top and jeans, the warm breeze ghosting across her skin in feather light kisses. “I’m surprised too.”

“Are you arrogant all the time?”

His tone was playful as she shrugged, running a hand through her long tresses. “There is a fine line between arrogance and confidence. I just run all over that line very often.”

“Hmm.” Niall went back to look at the leaves. Siren watched as they rose again, dancing with one another in very happy, very elegant circles. The connection that Niall had with nature was like none she had ever seen, and none she could ever have. As if to prove that point, a single leave burst into flames, burning to ash and startling him. He frowned. “Did you really need to incinerate the leaf?”

“Did you really need to go all ‘Dirty Dancing’ with them? A bit much.”

He gave her an eye roll, turning to face himself. In the light from the night sky, she thought that he looked very beautiful. As usual, she kept this thought silent. All he needed was to know that she thought he looked nice. He would never stop talking, then. “So what exactly do you do, magic wise?”

“I can do a lot of things, it really depends on specific.”

“Fire,” he said and then nodded. “You seem to be good with fire.”

Her lip curled into a smile. She looked up into the air a bit, and Niall watched as a single ball of fire lit up in between them, fire small and very beautiful. It’s orange flames licked hungrily around one another, twisting and turning in a dangerous dance as she held them in place, the orange casting a glow against the pale of his face.

Siren let the small ball of flame die out, looking at Niall. He was looking at her with wonder in his eyes. It was obvious that he could not do anything particular with fire. Though Siren wasn’t particularly outstanding at other things, fire was something she had a deep connection with.

“It’s one of the few things that I can do without command,” she explained, watching his expression. “I’ve always been good with it, though I’m not sure why. It’s just an element that connected with me. You should see how well I can use it.”

“Have you killed humans?” Siren recoiled in surprise, making a face at him. Niall seemed to regret the question the minute it was out, giving her an apologetic look. He sighed, wiping a hand over his face. “That was extremely random, I apologize. It’s just… you hate them.

Anger began to stir inside of the girl. “Are you saying you all think I kill people for a hobby?”

“What? No, just… no they think you’re like anyone else. I just…”

“Think I’m a crazy bitch who hates humans.” He gave an apologetic shrug. Somehow, she did not blame him. “I’ve killed them before, but never really directly or with the intention of trying to wipe them out. More alone the lines of they’ve gotten in the way, or were near me when I’ve had accidents.”

“But you do hate them?”

She licked her lips, trying to put her feelings towards humans into a way that he would understand. It was kind of like explaining to a child that Santa wasn’t real. At least, that’s the closest allusion she could make. “Humans are very ignorant, greedy creatures. I think God was sort of… careless when he made them.”

Niall blinked at her in surprise. Of all the things he had expected her to say, he never would have thought she would allude to her belief in God. He himself wasn’t too sure what he believed in religious wise. “You believe in God?”

“Well, I’ve seen demons, and I know that there is a Hell. There has to be an opposite, right? But just because I believe in God, doesn’t mean I support him or think he’s just fab. I think that humans put their faith in Him, and say that He created all things, but it’s humans who get to judge which of those things gets to be called an abomination.”

It clicked in his mind. “Ah, us.”

“Yes, us. Mages. When we existed, they burned us at the stake, called us unholy and accused us of working with the devil. Now don’t get me wrong, I have a few demonic friends, but I’ve never put my belief in Satan, and I certainly bow to no one.”

Niall scratched his head, tilting it to the side. Siren really gave him a complex. Never in his life would he have thought that there were so many layers to the way she thought. Evil and smart. A deadly combination. “But you have to admit they had a right to be scared. The type of magic you practice-"

“Is extremely similar to yours. You sacrifice herbs and trees and pray to mother willow or whatever it is that you do. Correct?” Niall frowned at her Pocohontas comparison, but nodded. “I sacrifice living things because trees and herbs simply don’t have enough energy for what I do.”

“But that isn’t right-"

“Says who?” she asked, her tone suddenly like razors. Siren was sitting very erect, and her eyes were glued to him like two cat eyes glowing in the dark, a prey on predator. He hated the way her eyes could be so tantalizing and scary all at once. “Like I said before, if God created all things, shouldn’t he say what’s right and what’s wrong? Who are you to judge what you don’t understand, or what you didn’t create.”

“That’s a two way street, you know,” he pointed out, shaking his head at her. “You judge me too.”

“No. I know what you are, and I know who you are. You try and see the best in everyone and you do what you think is right. You don’t know who I am, or what I do.”

“And who are you?”

She smiled a bit. “Someone who just disagrees with doing things your way.”

“You’re a very confusing person.”

For the first time since they’d met, Siren gave him a true, real smile. “I know.”