Under the Siren's Spell
Chapter 4:
"Curiosity Brought it Back"
♆
Charlie
The ocean breeze blows around me and through my hair. My body bounces up and down slightly as I lie and the bouncing becomes more violent as footsteps make their way closer and closer to me. Considering the fact that these footsteps are confident, it's most likely Xander. The rest of my crew are just my guards and they're timid to talk to either Xander or me. It's a lonely existence, but we get to keep our people safe, so it's worth it.
"Sleeping on the plank isn't the wisest of ideas when we have prisoners on board." Xander sits beside my head.
I crack an eye open. "Why not? They're gonna push me overboard and I'll drown?"
Xander lifts my head up and sets it in his lap, playing with my hair. "Sleep well?"
"No." I open my eyes. "The nightmares are back."
He freezes. "I'm sorry. Is that why you were out here, to have the sea calm you?"
"Yeah." I hold a hand over the plank and will water to come up and lick at my palm. The feeling is homely and I yearn to go swim. "Can I go for a—"
"No, Charlie. That's dangerous. You can't do that. Keep your tail safe. You already know Dechart will cut it off and keep it."
I growl. "I'd kill him before he got anywhere close to my tail. He's not even allowed to look at it. I hate him." The water level starts to rise and Xander places a hand on my shoulder, calming me down.
The tide returns to normal.
"Dechart wants to see you and he... said you put him under a spell and kinda alluded that you asked for everything." Xander says quietly.
"I hate him." I stand up and march to where Ethan is being held.
When I reach the cell, he doesn't get up, instead stays sitting up against the back wall. "Hello."
"I hate you."
He nods. "Makes sense. I hate you too."
"You don't even have a reason to hate me! You're just fucking toxic!" I snap, my voice slipping in between normal and siren due to how angry I am. "Of course I was stupid to try and give you the benefit of the doubt for even a second."
Ethan hangs his head. "I'm sorry I touched you, Ch-Captain. I shouldn't have done that."
"You sure made it seem like I coaxed you into doing it, that I had you under my spell."
Ethan furrows his brows. "Didn't you?"
"No! What in Tartarus are you even talking about?!"
"I just felt attracted to you... so I thought..." he puts his head in his hands.
"Why would I coax you into taking advantage of me? How does that even make any sense?! If I had you under my 'spell,' you wouldn't have had ulterior motives. You wouldn't have tried to escape. You would've just fucked me." My voice darkens.
"I wasn't ever going to fuck you." Ethan states. "I took advantage of your innocence to escape, not to hurt you."
"What would you have done if you escaped? Hurt us!"
"We're enemies. That's what we do. Hurt each other." He huffs.
"You're my enemy because you want to hurt my family. I'm your enemy because I'm not just like you."
"Many ships have been lost to your kind. Men came to the sea to explore and merpeople lashed out." He stands.
"Don't you dare tell me what happened. Your parents weren't even alive yet when this started." I scoff.
"Right and you were." He rolls his eyes.
"I'm older than your parents, dipshit."
"Dipshit, nice." He compliments.
"I just want to toss you overboard." I pull my hair, pacing the ship.
"You don't have to talk to me." He sits back down against the wall.
"Well, I'm lonely and Xander is my only company." I snap. "It is better to be around you and want to feed you to Sammy than be by myself."
"Who's Sammy?"
"Xander's and my pet shark. She's hungry." I hum. "There's also Olive, my orca. She's a pretty girl and wouldn't hurt a fly though. Unless I asked her to."
The human looks baffled. "Interesting. I've always liked sharks. Never seen this 'orca'."
"I can feed you to her, if you'd like to meet her."
Ethan laughs genuinely. It's irritating that he doesn't think I'm serious.
I sit down with my legs crossed and watch him silently.
"Is everyone on the ship a merperson?"
"I'm not telling you."
"Not everyone in my crew is human." He says.
"What?"
"You heard me." He smirks.
"Why would you ally with them? Why are they so special?"
He shrugs. "They aren't killer hookers."
"I'm not a killer hooker. I might as well fucking kill you."
"Do it and Ry will leave."
"Xander's already letting him go. What's the point? Why should I keep you safe?"
"Cause I asked you to."
"Because Xander is allowing him freedom."
"You're too weak to kill me. You act like a child." He sneers.
"I'm strong." I point to the bars that cage him. "Those bars wouldn't contain me."
"Sure. I totally believe you." He rolls his eyes.
I walk over to another cell and bend the bars open and step inside, waving.
He eyes me, but I can't tell what he's thinking. "I see."
"I'm the soon to be king. I'm not weak. I'm just not educated on humans. I haven't kept any for study yet." I look him over. "You'd make a fine specimen though."
Ethan scrunches up his nose. "No thanks."
"Wouldn't want me to touch your 'dick.'"
"No, actually." He shifts.
"Is true that your blood is red?"
"Yes. You took enough of it from my men."
"None of your men are dead, dumbass."
"Good. Maybe I'll go easy on you then." He taps the ground.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He just smirks and shrugs.
I smirk. "Give me your captain's hat."
Ethan's hands fly to it. "No."
Hand it over."
His eyes glaze over and he slowly takes it off. "St-Stop that!"
Give it to me."
He crawls over to me and pushes the hat through the bars.
"Thanks. Someone asked for it." I smile.
His hand reaches towards me.
I step back. "Humans really are evil, huh. To think one of your own men asked for your hat." I giggle.
Ethan looks up and pulls his hand back. "Wh-What?"
"Someone else is being named captain. You've lost your power."
"No," Ethan shakes his head. "What the fuck? What the fuck?!" He stands, angry now, and grabs the bars. "What are you talking about?!"
"Mutiny." I clap.
"You fuckin' slimy bitch, what did you do?!"
"I didn't do anything. Most of your crew was planning on leaving you anyway. I've been finding out who is still loyal to you. They'll be moved down here to be with you. It's only a few though."
"My own men?" He looks distressed. "Even after I gave my life for them?"
"It's sad, but it's true." I examine his hat. "I don't like you, but the hat looks better on you than it will on them."
"Who was it?" Ethan growls.
"You'll know when I drop you all off on land. You're probably going to be killed though. It's sad. I'm in a way extending your life."
"Tell me who it is." He demands.
"It's none of my business. You wouldn't believe me anyway." I scoff. "Maybe I want you to suffer, to pay for your sins."
"Then you kill me. I don't want to die like that." He says seriously.
"How do you want me to?"
"Shoot me."
I pull my gun out and aim it at his head before thinking better of it and moving it to his chest. "Any last words?"
"Whoa, not now!" He moves. "I need to confirm it first and I want to talk to Ryder!"
I lower my gun. "What do I do with the few on your side? Kill them too?"
"No," I shake my head. "Warn them."
"You can do that after they've been moved down here." I play with his hat.
"If this isn't your business, can you give that back?" He reaches for it.
"I made a promise. Would my hat make you feel okay?"
"No!" He balls his fists. "That hat... it's special, okay?"
"Did your dad give it to you or something?"
He closes his eyes. "Yes."
"It's a nice hat. What am I supposed to do though? They promised to keep their mouth shut if I gave them the hat. I have to keep my family safe."
"Break your promise. They're prisoners. They can't hurt you unless you free them."
"But I am freeing them!"
"They don't deserve to be free." He growls. "Why? Why did they betray me? Was it because of the killing?"
"Who knows. Your brother definitely has a distaste for it." I cross my arms.
"Yeah." He steps back, no longer angry.
"I can't keep prisoners too long. I can't support them. I don't want to stay on this ship very long either. I want to see my parents." I frown.
"Let me take care of it." He says darkly.
"You're outnumbered. Have fun with that." I hum. "We still have your ship too. That was also included in their list of demands."
He sighs deeply and punches the wall until his fists is bloody. "Fuck this shit. I shouldn't have come."
"Come where? Why?"
"I shouldn't have come after you."
"The mutiny seems planned. It would've still happened. At least you got what you wanted before you die. You got to hear me sing."
"It was beautiful." He stares at the ceiling. "The most beautiful sound I've ever heard in my life."
I blush. "Thank you."
"Will you sing to me when I die?" He asks. "It makes me feel ready to die."
"If that's what you want, then I don't see why not."
"Thank you."
"Anything else you want when you're on your last dying breaths?" I ask, looking at my nails.
"No." He shakes his head.
"Okay." I play with my hands and study the ground.
"Do humans eat fish?" I ask. "Or just bread?"
"We eat fish." He pokes the now moldy bread.
"I guess you wouldn't eat it because it'd come from my hands, huh?"
"Do you even know how to cook it?" He asks skeptically.
"You cook it? How?" I ask.
"With fire. Have you seen fire?"
"No."
Ethan pulls two rocks from his pocket. "Can I show you?"
I nod. "Yes... Water is stronger, right?"
"Depends." He grabs a stick and some hay and starts hitting the rocks together. "Don't touch it, it'll hurt." He hits them and a spark comes out and suddenly, the stick and hay are glowing with a yellowish light.
"Pretty. I don't care if it hurts. I want to touch it." I step forward.
"It'll hurt a lot." Ethan warns.
"So what? I've been hurt a lot before."
He nods. "Okay. You'll have to stick your hand in here though."
I stick my hand in and wait. Ethan doesn't move, only watches.
I run my hand over it, humming. "It's warm." I poke it with my index finger and leave it in the flame for a while before retracting my hand and hissing.
Ethan chuckles. "We humans use it to cook food, warm us, and give us light when it's dark."
"You can't see in the dark?"
"No. You can?" He asked curiously.
"Yeah. We also don't need to be warmed up. We can withstand cold temperatures. The ocean is really cold and dark in some places."
"Your hothead brother said you have a tail, like a mermaid." He stomps the fire out when it starts spreading to the ship. "So you can live underwater, I guess."
"Merpeople tend to have those." I cradle my finger and look at it.
"Want me to kiss it to make it better?" Ethan chuckles.
"If I get it wet, it'll heal." I say quietly.
"Fascinating." Ethan whispers. "Does spit count?"
I nod.
"Want mine?"
I eye him. "Won't you bite it?"
"No, there's no reason to." He shrugs.
Curiously, I hold my finger out. Ethan scoots forward and wraps his lips around it. I can feel his tongue sliding against the pad of my finger as he covers it all in his saliva before releasing it and looking into my eyes. "There."
I look at my healed finger and then at him. "That felt..."
He cocks his head to the side cutely, looking over me. "Weird? Nice?"
"Both. Do it again." I stick my finger back in his cell.
He crawls over and takes it into his mouth again, this time locking eyes with me. "Your skin is really soft." He comments and slides his tongue down it. When I think he's about to stop, he starts sucking on it, his eyes half lidded.
"I like that," I say quietly. "It's warm."
Ethan pops off. "Humans expel heat."
"That's interesting," I say.
Ethan nods. "You're... there's something about you... you're so pretty."
"Really...?"
"Yeah," He sighs, "it fucks with my head. Makes me think... things I shouldn't think."
"Like what?"
"What I did with your finger, people do it to penises too and it feels a lot better, so much more sensitive." His eyes flicker to my crotch and he scoots away. "But I can't talk about things like that with you anymore. I shouldn't."
"What's wrong with just talking?" I cock my head to the side.
He shrugs. "I don't need your brother coming down here to give me another talking to."
"Because you touched me and tried to escape."
"Yeah."
"Why do you do it to penises? Can it get you preg-a-nant?"
Ethan giggles and shakes his head. "No, it's just for fun. We humans like to indulge in sex because it feels good, not necessary to reproduce."
"Ah. We don't do that. We get our children from Poseidon. We're born from his tears." I explain.
"I've heard." He nods. "I also heard someone say you came from some cursed fish but I don't think that's true." He chuckles.
Shaking my head, I giggle. "No."
"Ryder's always wanted to see a mermaid, you know. I kinda have too."
"I don't change in front of humans. Neither does Xan. It's dangerous. We're able to gain legs, so our tails are worth more." I play with Ethan's hat and hand it to him.
He takes it and smiles. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. I like my tail." I look at my legs. "It's purple and when the light hits it, it reflects blue and pinkish tints as well."
Ethan stares at my legs. "It sounds beautiful. I can understand why they're so valuable."
"Yeah. It's scary."
Ethan looks away.
"Do humans call you pretty?"
He scoffs. "No."
"Is it because you're an asshole?" I giggle.
He chuckles. "Probably."
"Yeah. You should be nicer more often." I rub my eyes.
"Kindness is weakness in my world, Captain." Ethan sighs. "I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Am I weak then...?" I ask.
"Yes." He looks over. "I mean look at you, sitting here having a conversation with a man who's said multiple times how much he'd love to kill you. You should've killed me."
I nod. "Sometimes I want to. I hate you, but I'm lonely and you're entertaining."
"Yes, I'm sure it's very funny when my penis gets hard." He rolls his eyes, amused.
"It is. It seems like it's scared and it's trying to seem big and strong to scare off predators, like a puffer fish!" I bounce, picturing the fish.
Ethan chuckles. "Some men do get fear boners, the loons. Maybe that's why."
"Puffer fish are cute. They're poisonous though." I hum. "You can't eat them."
"I've never seen one." He hums.
"That's because you're a shitty pirate. I bet you've never pet a dolphin either."
"They don't seem to like me. They like Ryder though."
"Cause you're an ass, Ethan."
He raises his eyebrows at the use of his first name. "Seems everyone can just sense that."
"Sea animals are very perceptive."
"I guess they are." He hums. "You were so much different when you captured me, stronger, colder... what happened?"
"You're caged, so you aren't as much of a threat. It feels wrong to be cruel to an animal in a cage."
"Pathetic." Ethan smirks.
"Me? I could make you kill yourself."
"No, you couldn't. I've never wanted to die."
"I'm a siren. That's what I do."
"How many people have you killed?" He asks, leaning forward.
"Two hundred-fifty-four," I say. "They have graves in the ocean and add nutrients to the Earth."
"Where I'm from, you'd be called a serial killer. Even a human with that death count would be a monster." He hisses.
"I don't do it because I want to. I do it to survive."
"Hm. Right." He leans back. "You're so much different than any human I've ever met. The lack of cruelty, I'm not sure how to deal with it."
I think. "Merpeople are very loving creatures." I shrug. "Your cruelty makes my chest hurt. I hate being around it. Looking at you physically hurts me as well. As well as mentally. It reminds me of my sister and it causes nightmares to resurface." I glare at him.
"And yet you keep coming down here. Do I intrigue you?" He comes closer.
"Yeah." I watch him with interest. "Don't I intrigue you?"
"Yeah." He nods. "I can't stop thinking about you. It's fuckin' annoying."
"You're obsessed with me? Why?"
He hits his head against the wall. "I don't know."
"What do you think about? Killing me?"
He shakes his head. "No. I think about... touching you, being near you, kissing you... dying to you."
"Dying...?"
"Whenever I think about your song, I want to give you everything, even my life." He growls. "It's fucking with my head."
I shrink back. "If my song is such a problem, why do you want to hear it again?"
"Because it's not a problem. I like it. I'm addicted to it. It brings me peace and when I hear it, none of this conflict in my head is there, all I care about is getting to you." He sighs.
"I'm sorry. Most don't live after they've heard it, so I don't know how to get rid of that need."
"It was my choice to listen." He grunts. "I brought this upon myself."
"Do you want me to sing to you?"
He closes his eyes and slowly nods.
I exhale. "I don't know any songs in English, but I'll try." I close my eyes and start singing quietly so that only he can hear it, opening my eyes to see his reactions as I do it.
A soft smile has made its way onto his face and the longer I go, the closer he gets to me until he's up against the bars. "Please," He says quietly, strainingly, and reaches his hand towards me.
I hold my hand out so he can touch it and do what he wants with it.
He takes my hand and lets out a satisfied sound. He massages my hand with his and I notice the bulge in his pants is back. "I need-I need you-touch me please, please, please!" He presses against the bars, fighting to get closer.
I place my other hand on his cheek, unsure, as I continue.
Ethan starts kissing my hand and taking my fingers into his mouth to suck on them, looking like he's been given ambrosia.
My cheeks warm up as I watch him, my curiosity growing second by second. I don't want to stop singing because I want to see what happens. I stripped out anything that could cause him harm, but this is more confusing than I thought.
Ethan continues to suck on my fingers and presses his crotch against the bars and begins to grind on them. "More, more."
My eyes travel to the movement and my brain clouds. I don't know what he's doing. I don't know what he wants from me. He has my hands. What else could he want?
He suddenly moves his hands and starts taking his clothes off. He takes my fingers in so deep he gags, but that doesn't deter him in the slightest. "Too hot." He mumbles and pulls my arm into the cell and begins kissing it. "Touch me, please touch me."
My song ends and I stare at the bulge. "I-I don't know how and you said that because I was singing."
Ethan doesn't stop his movements for a few minutes until his head finally clears and he stares into my eyes. "W-What?"
"I was touching you. You have both of my hands."
He stares at them then suddenly jerks back like he's been burned. "Fuck, shit, what the hell?!"
My eyes water. "I'm sorry..."
"No, I asked for this." His hand hovers over his thigh. "I've never felt so needy in my life." His hand moves up to the bulge and he starts rubbing it, sighing pleasurably.
"Why do you rub it?"
"I need stimulation. This is what I wanted you to touch." He admits. "I still want you..."
"But you hate me..."
"I hate you... yeah..." he pauses. "I... can't completely hate you. You're so gorgeous, the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life."
"When you're thinking straight, you'll get mad if I touch you and get mad at how I made you feel," I explain.
"Consider it payback for when I touched you." He smirks.
"How do I do it?"
Ethan crawls up the the bars and grabs my hand, placing it on the bulge and moaning. "Just rub."
"Through the clothes?" I start moving slowly.
"Yeah I can't bring myself to take them off. That's too much." He starts moving against my hand, humping it. "It doesn't feel the same as when you're singing, but it's still good."
"I don't want you to say that I took advantage of you under my spell." I watch.
"I won't. I don't care." His breathing quickens. "More pressure."
I follow his instructions.
He hums. "You want to do this, right?"
"I'm pretty sure."
"Good." He grabs my hand and guides it. "You look so human right now. I wish I could fuck your pretty little mouth."
"Like what you did with my fingers?" I question.
"Yes," he moans.
"I could try..."
He stares at me and stops. "You could try..." He shakes his head slightly. "No, I'm not supposed to be doing this to you. I can't take advantage of you." He tugs at his hair.
"Am I supposed to stop...?" I ask.
He whimpers. "I...I don't know. I don't want you to stop, but you're too innocent. You don't know what you're doing. Your curiosity isn't necessarily consent." He sighs.
"How do I give consent?" I experimentally slide my hand into his pants to try.
"Oh," he moans, "I don't know, do you want to do this? To make me feel good?"
"If I do this, can you tell everyone that we don't exist?"
Ethan's eyes clear and he stares at me. "What?"
"Merpeople. Could you say we don't exist?"
He thinks. "I could keep you all to myself. Never let another man get what I couldn't. Yeah, I can do that."
"If I get something out of it, then I'll do it." I play with a slit I find.
Ethan takes my hand and pulls it out of his pants. "No, you're not a prostitute. I don't want that."
"Why won't you let me?"
"I want you to want me, but you don't." He sighs. "I'll still tell the world you're dead, but I won't make you do this."
"Want you...?"
"Want to have sex with me."
"Why do you want me to want that?" I blink. "Why can't I just let you use me?"
"Because that's not how consent works. God, you're so clueless." He slides back up against his wall so he's no longer near me.
"I-I want to see what it tastes like."
"Don't do this, Ch-Captain. Don't tempt me. I'm not going to hurt you again."
"You came here to hurt me."
"Not sexually. It's different." He states.
"Do you want to know how to make me want you?" I ask.
He looks up. "Yes."
I stand up and look at my hands. "Make me happy."
___________________________
Author's Note:
Interesting how this turned out. No matter how both parties push, there's always a stronger force pushing them together. Charlie still doesn't understand what he's doing, but there's something that keeps him coming back.
Thoughts?
-A. A. White
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