Conclave (Hypernaturals 3)

The Firehouse

We took two cars. Morgan rode with Jessica, Helen, Rachel, and I in the cleaned-up Honda. I still smell Helen's blood mixed into the enzymes and solvents that had been used, but it is mostly gone. A few more passes should do it. The Suburban is bigger but only has Denise, Anne, and Carol in it.

Morgan sat in the third-row seat by herself, and I could hear her checking out her gun, and smelled the gun oil as she slid the receiver back and forth. I have my .40 caliber plus two of the throwing knives. I am sure Jessica and Helen are armed, but I did not watch what they grabbed. Hopefully hand-held cannons.

Rachel... I am not sure about. Rachel is old and powerful but she is not a trained fighter. I fought Sirens with her, and only her ability to slam full-grown 250 pound Siren men into the ceiling saw her through that. If she is not good at hand-to-hand I guess that means she is not good with weapons either.

I have a gun, and I am willing to use it on William. I am not sure Rachel is that kind of person. I did not use to be. Losing a child changes you far more than becoming a Vampire does.

I stopped that train of thought when I realized it is incredibly self-centered. Rachel probably would be ready to kill William any possible way. She felt the loss of the baby too. That did not even count how she feels about Helen.

I hope she has a gun too. She'd use it. In fact, having a gun is probably better in her case than getting into something face to face. Rachel is a shit fighter.

In fighting it is not always about power. Jessica has been making me learn to fight for months. I can move about as fast as physics allows. My limits to speed are defined by when I need sheer physical power to push through something, like the resistance of air or against the pull of gravity.

We parked in the first available space at 'The Firehouse'. The Suburban had to park farther away, so we waited for Denise, Anne, and Carol to join us at the base of the stairs that went up to the Veranda style porch.

As we waited, I breathed deeply. My nervous system wanting to pump adrenaline in family-sized quantities. I tried to pay attention to the larger world to calm myself. The red neon 'Firehouse' sign is the only parking lot light. Otherwise, all is dark. The night insects are singing. Inside The Firehouse, leaking out slightly opened windows in the bar, there is another form of singing going on.

"Great!" I said to no one in particular "The Sirens are having a singing contest. Lovely. Must be showing off for William."

Sirens sing. Their voices hypnotic, and they use them to control humans, to the point where humans will do whatever sexual act the Siren wants them to. Girl Sirens are targets too, although they are far more resistant to the song.

A woman that goes under will give up her body to the singer. If it is a human, they hope the woman gets pregnant, and that the child is a Siren, not a human. Same for a Siren woman, only that Siren/Siren mating means a new Siren is born. A male Siren can choose to 'Claim' a woman they have taken under with their song, and the rest of the Sirens recognize their claim. It's not marriage, because Sirens don't seem to do that. They conquer. They own. A claimed woman seems to be repeatably screwed until they present a child. Once a child is born, they are often released, because the goal of any Siren male is offspring.

Vera is new to this world and has never succumbed to Siren Song. The sex has always been on her terms, and that keeps anyone from trying to claim her.

I looked over at Morgan when she said "What's that?", an intrigued tone in her voice.

"Oh. Fuck. Morgan: You still with us?" I asked, in a slight panic.

"Of course I am. It is very nice. I have never heard a Siren sing before. They are quite good." Morgan waved off my concern.