When I woke I didn't know where I was. But I wasn't clueless. Oh no. I did know that I was lying on a very itchy couch. I did know that my neck still hurt beyond what I would have liked to admit. And I did know that I was still under the siren's control. All of these things not being very pleasant things to know, but when your four legs are tied together with what was most likely an entire role of duck tape—something that would take me at least three hours to gnaw through (had my snout not been restrained with a muzzle)—you have to focus on the least worst part of the situation (which, if I have to pick, would be the itchy couch).
"She's awake," a familiar voice woke me from my thoughts. My eyes searched for the body the voice was attached to—just as curious to find out who had kidnapped me.
The voice belonged to Bella, but she wasn't alone. Tommy and Jet sat beside her. The three of them were huddled close together on a couch opposite my own—a couch that I would like to point out looked infinitely more comfortable than the one I was on. They looked like they had been having a very strained conversation. I had only one guess what that conversation was about—me. Jet was red in the face and Bella's lips were pursed—they had been arguing. And from the exasperation on Tommy's face, I guessed that his mediation attempts were failing.
It did occur to me that I was lying on this itchy couch in someone's basement. Whose, I didn't know. I had never been in any of their basements. It really was no surprise that even though Jet and I have been good friends for years we have spent most of our time together at my house, not his. It's not that I've never been to Jet's house, because I have. I have even been in his basement. But that was before his family renovated it and I discovered that Jet and I shared a certain shifty secret. So, even though I knew I was in a basement I still had no clue where I was—which, considering I was still under the control of the siren who seemed to have access to my thoughts, was probably a good thing.
"So what do we do now?" Tommy asked, not to anyone in particular. He seemed to just want to leave the question floating out in the air.
Jet slid off the opposite couch and crawled over to me so that his face was level with mine. There was a spark in his green eyes as he stared into mine. I was surprised, but didn't complain when my eyes held his gaze. But, almost as quickly as the spark appeared it vanished and he turned away from me. I was sure he had seen that fateful flash of white which I knew covered my irises as long as I was still in control of the siren.
"We need to get Marina back," Jet said to Tommy and Bella.
I wanted to scream at him that I was right here, but I knew it wouldn't matter if I did. He knew I wasn't in control. Just then, something inside me stirred. I felt the familiar pull of skin and my fur began to recede. Apparently the siren didn't need me in my wolf form anymore. I was sure that Jet realized what was happening at the same time I did, maybe even before, because as soon as I was settled in my human skin again Jet had wrapped me in a warm blanket. Since I was unable to hold it against my bare skin (just because I shifted back didn't mean the duck tape unstuck itself from my arms and legs), Jet sat next to me, placing his arms around me but not looking at me.
"And how do you expect us to do that?" Bella asked Jet as soon as he was settled in next to me.
"John, we don't know who the siren is. We don't know how to stop her. And we definitely don't know a way to return possessed people to normal, other than a spell that is way out of my league. Face it man, we have nothing," Tommy said.
No, you don't. You know how she controls people, I thought.
"No, we don't. We know how the siren controls people," Jet said. And that is why we are perfect for each other!
"Okay, so we know that she sings a song and water passes from brain to brain. But what can we do with that information? Create more zombies for her?" Bella asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
Jet frowned. He stared down at my tied hands for awhile. No one said anything and I was thankful the siren had my eyes moving where I wanted them too. Then, all of a sudden, he looked up at me. This time, when he stared at me the spark in his eyes didn't disappear, in fact, it seemed to glow stronger the longer he stared at me. For the first time since the siren took me, I felt completely alone in my own head—but why would she choose to hang back now, when her greatest threats were plotting to stop her? My eyes stayed focused on Jet's, not wavering from his welcoming green. But, as quickly as he looked at me he looked away just as quickly, if not quicker. It was Bella who took his attention away from me, and he was looking at her like he had never seen her before—which, I admit, unnerved me a bit.
"We can't," he said, still staring at Bella, "but maybe you can."
"What are you talking about?" Bella asked. Yeah, what was he talking about? And why was he still staring at her like she was a godsend? Okay, I admit it, I was more than a bit unnerved inside.
"Bella," Jet said, rather excited, "you have this unique power over water, right?"
"Yeah…" Bella said, clearly uncertain. She had as much of an idea where Jet was going with this brainstorm as the rest of us.
"And, according to Tommy's book, what is allowing the siren to control everyone is the water that she put inside their heads," Jet said, standing up. He began pacing in front of my itchy couch. "What if you could turn this water from the siren inside Marina's head into that temporary jelly substance and then render it powerless? Marina would no longer be under the siren's control!"
"There's a possibility it could work," Tommy said, considering the idea. Bella didn't look so sure.
"I don't know, Jet," she said, "I've never used my power on water I can't actually see."
"So you practice," Jet shrugged, "Here. Now."
Tommy shook his head. "It's still a huge risk. Bella could turn liquid that isn't from the siren into jelly and cause some serious damage in Marina's brain."
"Besides, we don't even know if it would work. I could do it, but then Marina might still be under the siren's control," Bella said.
"It's worth a try," Jet said.
Bella shook her head. "Tommy's right, Jet. It's too big of a risk. I could hurt Marina."
"We couldn't do something this risky to her, especially not knowing if Marina wants us to do it or not," Tommy said.
I want to do it!
Jet sat down next to me. He looked at me, once again staring into my eyes. "She wants us to try it," he said confidently. Yes! Wait, was my telepathy finally starting to work?
"You don't know that," Bella said softly, placing a hand gently on his knee, but he shook her off.
"Yes, I do," he said boldly, "Marina and I are both shapeshifters. We are both wolf shapeshifters. We were close even before we knew that. We spend more time together than we do with our own families. No one knows her better than I do, because…I get her, and…she gets me…because we were meant to be together." He voice trailed off towards the end, locking eyes with me again, and, I finally felt like he could see me behind the white haze.
Bella and Tommy exchanged a look.
Bella sighed. "Okay, but I need to practice first."
Tommy disappeared and returned with a bunch of different liquids and an opaque cup. He mixed a few other liquids with the water in the cup. Bella practiced until she was able to isolate the water and turn it without disturbing the other liquids. And then she practiced until she could do it without looking.
"Ready?" Jet asked Bella. She nodded. Jet reached down and cut the tape off my arms and legs, pulling me to my feet beside him. Bella stood in front of me. She took a deep breath in.
"Either you save her or you kill her, but I'm still going to win in the end." The words had come out of my mouth but they weren't my own. They belonged to the siren. Bella froze and Jet's grip on me tightened, but the siren didn't move my body. "You all will be mine," she hissed through my lips. Bella stumbled back, clearly afraid and Tommy caught her before she fell.
"Bella," Jet said, urgently, leaning forward slightly but not letting go of me, "don't listen to her. You can do this."
Standing on her own again, Bella nodded. She took a couple steps towards me. She held her hand up to my head and closed her eyes. I knew she was searching for the water tendril from the siren. All of a sudden she tensed. She had found it. Her eyes flew open and her hand flipped 180 degrees. And then my head collapsed inside itself.