Siren's Call

Chapter 1 - Memories

1 - Memories

Alone, Danae lay unmoving on her bed, eyes shut against the tears that threatened to spill.

One week. One week since Darien and her parents died in the murder that left her scarred and afraid to get hurt. Unthinkingly, Danae's hand reached up to her neck, where her brother's love for her hung in the form of a necklace. Melded into silver, a crystal heart was cut into a million facets such that it reflected the dimmest of lights, throwing rainbows into the air. It was her sixteenth birthday present. Darien gave it to her on the morning of her birthday. The day he died.

The cool stone calmed her fluttering heartbeat as she clutched it tightly in her palm, keeping her whole and intact as a wave of pain swept over her and plunged her heartbeat down a rollercoaster.

What was I supposed to tell him? The single question haunted her thoughts even as the setting sun gave way to the rising moon. Unhampered by light, the midnight sky was full of stars. It was as though someone had cast a dark blue, almost black, blanket over her, and scattered precious gems generously all over it — diamonds and sapphires and rubies. Beams of moonlight cut through the branches full of leaves at intervals, reaching the ground of her father's land.

What was I supposed to tell him? she wondered, frustration already brimming. She got to her feet and paced the room, and each step was punctuated by a torturous agony, a sharp twinge as she the memory she had fought to keep away brought itself to mind. 

Your family is dead.

Those four words had been the very ones who had torn apart her life like it had been made purely out of flimsy paper. When she had picked up her phone to answer the call, she had been with her friends. They had watched her eyes widen, the tears crest, the soft sound that had escaped her lips, a sound they all recognized as a cry of pain. 

"Are you Danae Levesque?" the female voice at the other end asked softly. 

"Yes, I am," she replied, and the confusion shadowed her thoughts. What had happened?

"I'm sorry to inform you that your family is dead," the voice said, misery bound around her words. Words that Danae did not want to hear. Words she hated. 

The first word that had eluded her lips next was, "How?"

"They were murdered, Miss Levesque. I need you to come to the police station to identify the bodies."

How crudely she had stated those words! Barely containing the tears, she said in a voice that was far too calm, "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Later, she had found out the police's version of the events. 

While she had been away, two men had broken down the door, shot her father, her mother, and finally killed Darien. But they had left him alive long enough to watch his parents die, and long enough even for him to make a desperate call for help. But by then it had been too late.

Simple events. A break in, three gunshots, three deaths. No, four deaths. When Danae had seen each of her family's lifeless bodies, she felt a part of her soul leave her body to join them in the nonentity of the world beyond, until the old Danae existed no more.

The memory disappeared, like the fading shadows as the morning sun rose from its slumber. Danae opened her eyes, eyes which she did not remember closing. Nor did she remember sinking to the ground as tears burst through her closed lashes.