Deep Within

•{Chapter Two}•

The man is only mere inches from me. The moonlight glow highlighted his face. His short hair slowly waved in the water as he looked at me with curiosity. For a human, he was very attractive. He had deep brown eyes and pale fair skin with two noticeable dots on his face. One on the side of his nose and the other just below his eye. It's as if I was in a trance by him. I tilted my head in confusion. Do I feel calm?

It didn't last long before panic took over though. The man was way too close to me. I finally got the strength to quickly lift my arm and swipe at the man's face. He froze for a brief moment before bringing his hand up towards his left cheek to touch the cut I have created. A small amount of red was becoming one with the black sea.

*Bu-BUM*

Once more, my heart started aching and I squeezed my eyes shut. This pain was so strong I have never felt anything like it. What is happening? Why? It felt like a million daggers stabbing into my chest. Then all of a sudden, a cage made of rope surrounded my body.

I was too weak to swim away. All of my energy was completely drained from the constant pain I was in. The man manages to swim towards the direction of the ship, avoiding the unwanted embrace of the cage. The rope became closer in an instant. Panic coursed through my body and I started flailing, trying to break through anyway I could.

I didn't want to become food or be used for someone else's desires. What if I die? I won't ever get to see mother, father, sis..... Althea. Oh no! Is she okay?? I completely forgot about her. I was in so much pain that I failed to do my part of the mission. I have to get back to her. Please be safe Althea.

I take my sharp nails to try and start cutting at the rope. They were thick and sharp? Ouch! I quickly retracted my finger and saw blue liquid travel through the water. What the hell? What kind of mad contraption did humans develop? Our skin is quite tough and hard to puncture, so for this rope to easily cut me means that I have no chances of escaping.

I stopped moving only to realize I was being lifted out of the water. All of a sudden, my body unwillingly makes contact with the cold night air. I hiss at the sudden chill. All I could do was hold my chest and glare up at the ship. I saw multiple pirates look down onto me. This is humiliating as well as terrifying. Is this how all of those who have been captured before me felt like?

I didn't call for my sister. Having them capture her as well would give me more things to worry about. I needed to keep her safe. Our telepathic communication only worked so much. You had to be able to see the other to communicate. She was on the other side of the ship, so I wasn't able to contact her.

The glowing lanterns became brighter as I was lifted higher into the air. I squinted my eyes to try and adjust. My eyes were used to the dark, not to this unbearable light.

"It's a siren! We definitely hit the jackpot!" One spoke with a horrid grin.

"I can't wait to finally touch one." Another spoke before laughing to himself.

"Good luck with that." A third man chimed in and began laughing as well.

Disgusting! These humans didn't seem to look ragged and filthy, but their minds sure were. At this point, I was above the ship's deck swaying lightly in the wind. It was like I was some type of creature being shown off for their own amusement. I looked around to find multiple humans staring at me. Some in awe, others in some sick way and the rest in shock.

Sirens don't really come up to the water's surface because of this exact reason, so it's rare for humans and us to interact. Althea and I had come up with a plan to not get into this situation, so we were confident with showing ourselves, but I never thought that such pains would occur just by looking at a mere human.

A hiss slipped through my teeth in reflex. My blood was boiling and I could feel my skin becoming warm. I'm sure that some sort of red hue was prominent on my face. My action gained laughter from the humans who were on the deck.

"I guess we have a feisty one don't we boys? Should we have some fun?" With that, the man grabbed the roped cage with some sort of cover over his hands, swinging me over the rail and onto the deck. Nothing about this gesture was gentle at all and my body slammed into the cold, hard, wooden floor.