Siren Suicides (Second Edition)

Chapter 5. Lake's Bottom

An emergency flare drops into the water above. A tiny dot, it glows pink. I'm amazed I can see it sparkle and hear it fizz so clearly. Police use flares like this to mark the spot where a suicide jumper landed, so they can locate the body. That means they think I'm dead. They must've dropped it from the bridge, because Seattle Police Harbor Patrol arrives on the scene barely a minute later. The jittering whop-whop-whop of a boat's engine threatens to puncture my eardrums. I curse my heightened siren senses. Ailen Bright, reborn. It's what I wanted, right?

Deep inside, something sinister is grinning. That something tells me, Try it out. That something nags at me, This is so cool. I bet you could do all kinds of stuff now. I bet you could crush bones between fingers, scream at a level that can shatter glass, swim anywhere you want, chase submarines, siphon entire oceans through your gills, charm people with your song, and kill, kill, kill. Just think what you could do to your father.

I grit my teeth, ball up my hands in fists, and spread my legs wide, imitating a warrior stance. The sirens watch me silently; Pisinoe throws two thumbs up and Raidne winks at me, chewing on a curl of her hair. I wish there was a mirror. I wish Hunter could see me. His face would light up and split into that crooked grin that I love so much. He'd ask me how the hell I did it, and I'd tell him. I'd tell him all about it and we'd share a joint.

Two divers leap over the boat's side and plunge into the lake. They begin descending, trailing two streams of bubbles. Their souls are a racket of noises, amplified by water and my heightened hearing. One is a mix of baseball hits, beer bottle clinks, and what sounds like cracking crab shells, with a touch of ukulele on top. It sounds altogether...acidic. The other one emits something like a breaking of potted plants, gun shots, and a whizzing electric shaver, all on a base of bad shower singing. Rubbery. No, oily. Just like Canosa said. Forgetting everything, I crouch to push off toward the surface.

Canosa grabs my arm. "Hang on. Where do you think you're going?"

"Um, I don't know. I just..." I frown. "To eat?"

The sirens laugh; Canosa hushes them.

"Not so fast, silly girl, we're not done here. Not yet. If you want to be a part of our family, you've got to earn it," Canosa says. The sirens huddle away and whisper to each other, Ligeia slightly apart from them, in her own thoughts.

"But you said—" I begin.

"Hush!" She raises her right index finger. "I promised you will be one of us—a siren. But I didn't say you'd be part of our family."

"Sorry. I thought...well, if I wanted to be accepted into your family, how would I earn it then?"

"Wanted to? Wanted to?" Canosa stomps her foot and a small cloud of sand particles floats up. "Girls, did you hear that? She doesn't think we're good enough for her. After all these years, she's turned out to be a traitor."

"To hell with this, you know it's bullshit," Ligeia speaks up, her lips pressed into a line. She's taller than all of them, taller even than Canosa.

"Shut up!" Canosa shrieks.

I expect Ligeia to duck her head like the others, but she only shrugs and floats a short distance away.

Canosa is fuming. Her nostrils flare, water gushing in and out of them. "What is wrong with you? Aren't you grateful? I went through the trouble of giving you what you want, didn't I?" she shrieks, directly into my face.

"Yeah, you did," I manage.

"Good." As if someone flipped a switch, she's suddenly smiling. "I'm still not telling you my secret, until you prove worthy of it." She turns on her heels, rousing a little cloud of sand.