Sea Salt (2Doc)

CHAPTER 8: Shiver

That night, Murdoc didn't come downstairs to eat alongside the siren. Stuart had memorised where things were at this point, so they didn't mind pulling out some fish from the fridge and setting it on a plate for their meal.

They knew there was no use in shedding tears. It wouldn't make Murdoc forgive him any faster. There was only a hollow feeling left behind.

Stuart bit into the fish and chewed it slowly.

Stay away from me.

They couldn't stop repeating those words in their head. The way Murdoc looked when he entered the room. His pupils were dilated, his face was as blank as a slate. It was the first time Stuart had first-hand witnessed the effect of their voice on a human. It was honestly frightening.

Did it hurt?

How did it feel?

Will Murdoc be the same ever again?

The more Stuart thought about it, the thought of their own body being controlled by someone else and not knowing how or why it was happening would definitely be a really frightening experience.

They began to reconsider if staying here was the best idea in the first place. They were clearly a constant headache for the lighthouse keeper, that much they could tell. If they stayed any longer, who knew what could happen.

Sirens and humans were just not meant to live under one roof.

This lighthouse - Murdoc's lighthouse - it was only a fraction of what it was like to live as a human. Stuart had gone through quite a bit in a span of weeks. Trying 'cooked' food, sleeping in a human bed, using a 'bathroom' and walking up and down 'stairs' - these experiences will stay with them forever. They would have so much to tell his mum and dad, Alex, Terry...

Thoughts of home trickled into their mind until they overflowed, drowning his brain in homesickness. The siren blinked back their tears. Not being able to feel the cold rush of diving into the salty, blue water, not being able to feel the cool wind blowing through their feathers as they soared through the sky; it was a bit depressing. Stuart knew that their wing would heal soon. This meant leaving Murdoc to himself again. The siren thought about visiting him again in the future, but with how things are between them, that possibility was unlikely met with Murdoc's smiling face.

Now that they thought about it, why was Murdoc living on this island by himself? All that he mentioned was that he enjoyed having a whole island to himself, but what about before this? Did he always live here by himself? Was he raised here? Where were his parents? Stuart hadn't got a clue. They haven't had the chance to ask these sorts of questions to him during their daily chats. They were too engrossed in learning about each other's cultures for that thought to cross their minds. Either that or Murdoc was very well-versed in steering the conversation away from himself.

All the siren knew about him was that he attended 'protest rallies' in the past, seemed like close friends with two members from a music band, and that he used to play his bass guitar a lot and wrote songs which are now long-forgotten. He had also "saved" orcas from a place called Sea World. Orcas were the reason behind why they became stranded here in the first place. How could anyone care for a monstrous creature like that?

Murdoc was a mysterious man, Stuart thought. Always avoiding the subject of his past while they openly told stories about when they were a wee siren. However, Murdoc did have a heart. A caring one, at that.

Would Murdoc talk to them again after today? See them? The siren couldn't arrive at a solid answer. All they could do now was try to be optimistic and patient with the enigma that was Murdoc. It would be what their mother would've told them if they were here.