The Man in Black turns Claire into a mermaid. Really. He does it as a sort of joke, a game really. He's bored and this will provide him much needed amusement. She is his little doll, a mindless puppet with a pretty face. He holds the strings. He doesn't care. She is nothing – nothing more than a pawn in this game. Those who come, come because of her, and well… it's just a shorter way to the end.
He scrubs her clean, the water turning a muted brown in her wake. Brushes a deep red onto her lips and lines her lashes with black. Then he sets her on a rock a little ways off the shore.
She sings and they come one by one. Her voice is intoxicating. Her blonde curls carrying the light of the sun, moon, and stars. Her eyes are beacons of light, beckoning, calling. Drugging, intoxicating.
Her lips are stained with poison.
They come because of her siren song and beg to kiss her lips, but when she finally relents, they drop weightlessly into the ocean beside her slashing tail.
And the Man in Black laughs loudly from the shore. Claire claps her hands in glee. Yes, so this is why Jacob kept Richard.
This is why he keeps Claire.
end.