A song drifted over the water as smoothly as a ship slides through the waves. The song was soft and loud at the same time, vicious and lovely, seductive and innocent. Killian had never heard such a song in all his life.
He couldn't tell where the music came from. It seemed to be all around him, filling up his senses and slowing his mind. Killian felt almost drunk on the music, if such a thing were possible. He couldn't help it. The woman's voice was intoxicating; at least, he presumed it to be a woman's voice. Nothing else could produce so beautiful a sound.
"Men," slurred Killian, "Anchor. No, no, tighten sails. Ahead."
The crew seemed unaffected by the music. Could they even hear it? Was Killian going mad? He gripped the railing and closed his eyes. He tried to collect himself and come back to his senses, but it was difficult. The music sounded so lovely…
It grew ever louder. Killian needed to know where it was coming from. He opened his eyes to search for its source, but there was nothing but water as far as his eyes could see.
The waves seemed to roll in time with the song. As the music swelled, so too did the ocean. Each staccato high note was punctuated by a whitecap bursting over the water's surface. Was it only one voice singing, or two? Killian could not tell. There seemed to be a hundred voices pressing in on his mind, urging him to come to them.
He saw a flash of red down in the water. Was it blood? Killian looked closer. There it was again: a woman. A gorgeous, red-headed lass bobbed in the water, the music resonating from her like the epicenter of an earthquake. The whole world bended and shaped around her beautiful form. Killian felt his chest swell with unaberring love at the sight of her.
Someone shouted behind him. Were they shouting at Killian? He didn't know, nor did he care. His eyes were fixed on the woman in the water. She seemed to be calling him, urging him to join her.
Someone grabbed at Killian's arm. He shoved the person off, but then he swayed wildly. He could have sworn he had both feet planted firmly on the deck. But then he realized that he was half-perched on the railing. The wood dug into his knees painfully, and his hand gripped the rope overhead like he had talons instead of fingers.
"Killian, what are you doing?!" shouted someone.
Killian, come to me, sang the mermaid.
He could not disobey his red-headed love. What was left for him on the ship? A few men and a bit of rum. But in the water, a beautiful mermaid waited for him with her ensorcelling song.
"It's a siren!" someone called.
More hands grabbed at Killian's arms and torso. He kept shoving them away, and they kept grabbing faster. He raised himself to his feet on the railing; he needed the rope to keep his balance. He looked down to the water. The mermaid smiled, singing louder than ever. Her song enveloped Killian.
He jumped from the railing. He felt as if he were flying as he fell down to the sea. The water greeted him with a large splash and a rush of seawater in his nose. He kicked back to the surface and wiped the salt from his eyes. He looked around for his mermaid.
There she was, right in front of him. She was still singing. Killian swam to her; she greeted him with open arms. Killian raised a hand to her cheek, and then he kissed her. She tasted of the ocean, all salty and familiar. The taste was both wonderful and bitter. Killian liked it at first, but the taste grew more sour with each passing moment. Her lips, though initially soft and gentle, soon grew vicious.
He tried to pull away to catch his breath. But the mermaid's grip on him was firm. Killian felt the air being sucked out of his lungs. Without the siren song to drown his senses, he began to feel an acute panic rising in his brain. He shoved at the mermaid, trying to pry her away. But she only held tighter and sucked more air from him. Killian's chest ached, not with love but with suffocation.
The water rose around him. Was he sinking or being held under? The water kept rising, to his shoulders and then his chin and finally his mouth. When at last his nose went under, Killian realized he was going to die. He was going to die at a siren's hands.
The mermaid was still kissing him. Killian no longer fought her, though. His brain was already shutting down. He felt as drunk as he had when the mermaid had enraptured him with her song. The world began to slip away. The roar of water in Killian's ears died to nothing; then he was no longer aware of the blackness of his eyelids; then the taste of seawater left his mouth and nose. Lastly, the feel of the mermaid on his lips dulled to the merest pressure, and then he felt nothing at all.
The mermaid let go and let his flacid body sink to the bottom of the ocean.