Chapter 1
Ramona was stood in the crow’s nest, staring out at the somewhat rough seas as they sailed, when the notes first drifted to her ears. The sound of a man’s voice singing beautiful vocalisations was faint, but loud enough to make her snap to attention and look around curiously. At first, she looked to the deck of the ship, but saw no one. But it couldn’t be one of the crewmates, it was simply implausible that such a beautiful sound could come from any one of them. The singing continued, growing louder, and tugged at Ramona’s heart in a strange way. It ached painfully, and she felt a sudden need to find the owner of the voice. She turned and quickly climbed down the mast, dropping the last length. She stumbled, and made a loud thud which caused some of the men to turn and look at her but she wasn’t paying attention. That sound...it was coming from the ocean. Or somewhere on the ocean. Was there perhaps another ship they hadn’t seen? The singing became louder, yet still she couldn’t recognise any words. It didn’t matter, though. The vocalisations reached right to her bones and the need to go to it was impossible to ignore. Not fully in control of her own movements, her gaze somewhat glassy, Ramona stumbled her way over to the ship’s railing. She looked out over the ocean. The singing was even louder now, it sounded as if it was coming from right beside her, yet still she couldn’t find the source. But she needed to. She had to. She felt as if she would die if she didn’t. Then, she began to hear the words in the song.
“Hear my voice beneath the sea
Sleeping now so peacefully
At the bottom of the sea
Sleep for all eternity”
Somehow, the singing was even more beautiful when she finally identified the words. It made her feel so peaceful while creating such a strong sense of longing. Unable to think straight anymore, her only thought now was on finding the owner of the voice.
“Sailors live so restlessly
Come with me, sleep peacefully
Listen to this siren’s song
Worry not for nothing’s wrong”
Ramona didn’t notice the way Felipe was now watching her from the port side with concern, a rope clutched in his hands. She was acting strange...Her body language was different. It seemed almost as if she was sleep walking. What had so strongly caught her attention? He couldn’t see anything out on the sea, nor hear the beautiful voice Ramona heard. “Mi amada?” he called to her, “Is everything alright?” Felipe’s English was heavily accented with his Spanish heritage, and he had a habit of rolling r’s when it wasn’t necessary. Ramona didn’t answer, and he frowned, dropping the rope and making his way over to her.
“Let my voice lead you this way
I will not lead you astray
Trust me as we reach the side
Jumping out where maids have died”
As the third verse was sung, Ramona finally found herself looking down at the ocean, over the edge of the ship. Somehow, she couldn’t feel a sense of surprise when she saw the man with long, silky white hair swimming effortlessly. His torso was toned, and naked. She couldn’t see the rest of his figure under the water, but she could only imagine that it was of a similar stature. The man stared up into her eyes, and sang sweetly.
“Hear my voice beneath the sea
Sleeping now so peacefully
At the bottom of the sea
Sleep for all eternity”
Ramona didn’t think about it, and immediately climbed onto the railing of the ship. She wobbled, and Felipe bellowed at her. “Cariña! Get down, you shall fall!” he sprinted towards her as the other men on the ship watched with wide eyes, frozen in place. Just as Felipe reached her, Ramona jumped over the edge, his fingers just barely missing the fabric of her shirt. Though she struggled to swim, Ramona managed to meet the beautiful ocean man halfway. He swam effortlessly close, and Ramona couldn’t speak as he leaned close to plant his lips on hers and slip a hand into her hair. Then, she was viciously yanked down under the waves, mind numbed. Felipe had dived into the ocean after her, and immediately gave chase, swimming as fast as he could, desperately trying to reach her as the creature dragged her down. From his vantage point, he saw the truth.
While above the waves, the creature may have looked like a handsome man, below the ocean he had fish-like features, and a long, finned tail similar to a shark’s that shimmered in place where his legs should be. Ramona insensibly noticed a long, definitely not human tongue forcing its way between her lips and into her mouth. For a moment, her thoughts were too clouded for her to realise that she should be struggling. Then a sharp tooth hooked through her lip, causing intense pain for a brief moment, and the spell was broken. She tried to scream, but the siren was latched to her face, mouth clamped over her own and preventing her from making a sound. Almost fortunately, she found that she couldn’t make her lungs work to take a breath through her nose, but she felt her mind becoming fogged as she was deprived of much needed air. Still, she began to thrash, desperately trying to free herself. While she made little progress on her own, her efforts slowed the siren enough as it dragged her that Felipe was able to reach her. His fist, though slowed dramatically by the water, ploughed into the creature’s head and caused it to release Ramona and reel backwards with a vicious hiss. The former barely avoided gasping in copious amounts of water but found her lungs filled with a small amount that burned her throat and organs. Felipe latched an arm around her waist and kicked upwards, urgently trying to reach the surface. But the siren wasn’t so easily deterred, and dug sharp claws into his leg, trying to drag him down as well. He kicked desperately and released Ramona for a moment to draw a dagger and struggle to drive it through the creature’s skull. Just before it could snatch Ramona away, the tip of Felipe’s knife slashed its eye, and it propelled itself backwards with an unearthly scream.
Felipe didn’t waste time in looking back, and with a barely conscious Ramona, rushed to the surface. As soon as they broke the waves, she took a gasping breath and started to cough and splutter. He dragged her to the ship’s edge, and was thankful for the crew’s attentiveness, who swiftly threw down a rope which Felipe tied to Ramona’s waist. She was dragged up first, then he, second.
Even as he retched up water himself, Felipe watched Ramona with panicked concern as she threw up water, coughing violently. She was pale, shaking, bleeding and half drowned, but she was alive. Barely.
