After a lot of thinking about it, I think I've decided it's time for me to join Siren in hibernation. I'll finish Jaws of Madness, but after that I won't be posting anymore work for Siren. At least not until season 2 comes out. Since most of the readers have left the boat, I'll save the rest of my ideas for the next season's run.
Enjoy.
"Xander... you okay?" Ben blinked away his blurry vision as best he could. After a few moments, he was able to at least make out where he was. Ben half expected to wake up in some other weird locale, it had certainly been that kind of day. But no, he was still in the passenger seat of the car.
When Ben's question didn't get an answer, he turned to get a look at the driver seat. Xander could have easily been knocked out just like him.
"Damn, that was close." Ben nearly lept from his skin when he saw Xander's knife sticking out of the seat a few inches from his head.
Now that the mental cobwebs were starting to properly clear out, the sight of the knife jogged Ben's memory about what happened.
Lurching up in his seat, Ben was forced back down. He'd forgotten the seat-belt was still attached. Fumbling with the latch, he found the thing broken. No matter how he pushed or pulled, he couldn't get it loose.
"Wait..." Ben went still, he could hear something but he had to strain his ears to do so.
The song, he could hear Ryn singing again. The sound was so far away that Ben had to try hard to even hear it. Hopefully, if it was anything like before, that meant Ryn was nowhere close.
Though Ben found it odd that Ryn would have broken off her attack after Ben and Xander wrecked the car, he wasn't about to question his fortune.
Taking a deep breath, Ben forced himself to calm down. With newly steadied hands, Ben tried the seat-belt again. Try as he might, it was still stuck. With no other option, Ben grabbed hold of Xander's knife, yanked it out of the seat, and severed the strap instead.
Now free, Ben sat up in his seat only for the car to suddenly lurch forward a few inches.
Ben sighed in frustration. Just when he thought his luck couldn't get any...
Ben's train of thought stalled in it's tracks when he leaned over to get a proper look out the window. The last thing Ben remembered had been Xander driving them off the cliff, a drop Ben had assumed couldn't be that far.
They'd gone over the cliff alright, and landed right in a tree a good several stories tall. Ben wasn't even aware there were trees this tall around Bristol Cove.
The whole scene reminded Ben a little too much of a movie he'd seen some years back. He couldn't quite recall the name, though. If he had any luck at all, Ben could get down the tree before the car fell like it did in the film.
There was no point in searching for Xander. The driver seat was empty, his seat-belt open, but the window and door on his side were both intact and shut. It made zero sense for Xander to just vanish into thin air like this, but Ben was beginning to figure out nothing was going to make sense right now. The best that could be done was hope Xander was alright. Yelling for him woulnd't help either, that might just draw Ryn back to him again.
The door on Ben's side opened perfectly fine, the car didn't even shift when he did so. With all the grace and caution Ben could muster, he slipped out of the car and into the boughs of the tree. The branches had to be strong to keep holding the car up, but that didn't exactly reassure Ben much.
Slow and easy, Ben made his way down. He was a far better swimmer than climber, but he made do.
Just like in that stupid movie, Ben was partway down when he heard the groan of the car move above his head. Stepping up his efforts, Ben quickened his pace.
Ben was still a ways up when he heard the unpleasant crack of wood breaking. The branch supporting him gave way and cost him his footing. Ben tried to grab hold of another to stop himself but it was too late. He was sent tumbling down, the branches slowed his descent but he crashed into each painfully before coming loose from the tree and falling the rest of the way into solid earth.
The fall was too short to cause any lasting harm, but still hurt like hell.
"Glad that's over." Ben rolled onto his back with a groan. At least he got out of the tree without the...
Upon hearing the car moving again, Ben scrambled to his feet to dive out of the way. Not even caring when he took a mouthful of dirt for his trouble. It was all for naught, though. When Ben peered back, he saw the car hadn't even moved from it's perch in the tree.
Grumbling under his breath, Ben rose and dusted himself off of leaves and dust.
At least Ben was out of the tree, now he just had to figure out where on earth he was. He knew the waters around Bristol Cove like the back of his hand, but was less experienced with the town's forests. If he could at least reach familiar ground, he could work his way from there.
At least Ryn's song was still distant. Lord help him if the car had fallen from the tree. With Ben's current luck, Ryn would have heard that from dozens of miles away. He had no doubt that if he encountered her here in the open, he'd be doomed. Unless Xander or another convenient miracle came to the rescue.
With no other recourse, Ben picked a direction and started walking.
Ben couldn't even use the sun to determine which direction he was going. The trees were not thick enough to block it out, but the clouds did a well enough job on their own.
It was hard to tell which was more disturbing, the silent streets of an abandoned Bristol Cove, or the equally silent stretch of forest Ben found himself hiking through. No sounds of woodland animals, no birdsong, not even wind rustling the leaves.
The only sound keeping Ben company was Ryn's foreboding song.
Ben's trek was beginning to turn into a repeat of Bristol Cove. He made absolutely sure to walk in the same direction, but all the trees were starting to look the same. There was no way he was walking in circles. What really bothered him was the inability to tell time. How long was he walking for? Minutes? Hours?
It was subtle for some time, Ben was so distracted by trying to block out Ryn's song, that he didn't notice the fog creeping in until it was everywhere. Unlike within Bristol Cove itself, it didn't obscure his vision, but it did add an air of creepiness to an already spooky atmosphere.
"Mu..." Ben caught a glimpse of what might have been a person's silhouette behind a tree, but the shape and voice vanished before Ben could catch them.
"Hello?" Ben was careful not to yell, that might draw Ryn in if he was too loud. "Somebody there? I'm... kinda lost."
"Killer..." A second mystery voice added to the first.
Alright then, so creepy ghostly voices saying things like that could be added to the pile. That was a lovely addition to the haunted forest vibe the place was already giving off.
"Murd...erer..." The voices were familiar, but Ben couldn't place them. It was definitely not Ryn, even distorted like these, he'd have been able to recognize it.
Like everything else, Ben tried to ignore the elusive speakers. They were not attacking him, rather trying their best to keep out of sight. Their choice of words was a bit sinister, but words seemed to be all they had.
Ben did his best to disregard his newfound companions, but their comments didn't stop. It was always the same words, sometimes with a pause between syllables. Only one of the mystery voices did that. It almost sounded like...
"Killer..."
Ben's heart nearly blew from his chest. That one was spoken right into Ben's ear from behind. Whirling around, he found nobody. Just the same empty expanse of foggy woods.
That was when Ben heard it. The soft pattering of something dripping onto the ground. It would have been nigh impossible to hear any other time, but the silence of the forest made the sound scarily loud.
A large part of Ben didn't want to turn around to face the sound. There was no telling what was waiting for him out of sight. The anticipation settled like a stone in Ben's gut, but he slowly turned anyway.
"Sean?" Ben would know the man anywhere, even if he hadn't been dressed in his work-wear. The same outfit Ben had last seem in wearing in life. The same one he and Xander buried him at sea in.
Including the gaping wound in Sean's abdomen. Blood ran down his body, dripping to the dirt to create the sound Ben heard.
Sean was quiet at first. He said nothing, but his mighty glare was fixed on Ben. Ben had seen that look many times growing up, but never quite this intense.
"Killer..." Sean's finger came up to point at Ben.
"W... what?" Ben took several steps back but bumped into another shorter body behind him.
A glance over his shoulder revealed Ryn's sister, Donna. She bore a matching glare to Sean's, and just like the other human's, it was focused on Ben. Unlike her sister, however, Donna's features were completely human. Exactly how Ben saw her last, all the way down to the bleeding gunshot wound in her belly.
"Murd...erer..." Ben fell back away from Donna as her finger rose to mirror Sean's.
At first, Ben thought they were pointing at each other, but that was not the case. As Ben moved out from between man and mermaid, their finger's and glare's followed him.
"What are you talking about?" Ben should have been more worried about conversing with a pair of dead people, but his mind was much more open to the concept after his encounter with Decker a short time ago.
"Killer...". Sean advanced a step.
"Murd...erer". Donna copied Sean, taking a single step toward Ben.
"Stay... stay back." Ben almost tripped over a root while backing up, but kept his footing. Donna and Sean continued approaching.
"Murd...erer!" Donna's voice grew steadily louder as the words passed from her lips.
"Killer!" Sean followed the mermaid's example.
"Shh!" Ben hushed the pair but they weren't listening. They didn't hear, or just didn't care.
"MURD...ERER!"
"KILLER!"
Ben had to cover his ears from the force of Donna and Sean's screams. Ben was about to tell them to shut up again, but he heard something else that made his blood run cold.
Ryn's song was getting louder again, fast.
Ben didn't hesitate, didn't even give it a second thought. He simply picked a direction at random and broke into a sprint.
As far as Ben could tell, Donna and Sean didn't pursue him, but that was the last of Ben's concerns. Leaping over fallen logs and crashing through shrubbery, Ben pushed himself as hard as he could.
It didn't help. As fast as Ben ran, the song still approached. Ryn must know exactly where he was now. Ben needed to find some cover or somewhere he could hide away from Ryn's mermaid senses.
Ben's foot was caught on a root again, but instead of falling, he stumbled and fell through a bush. Upon looking up, he discovered he found the way out of the woods, and had somehow managed to find his way to the rescue center. It was familiar terrain at least, maybe he could find something useful inside to throw Ryn off his trail.
Ben was heading for the main building but was ambushed before he got there. As unseen person grabbed him and shoved him off the dock and into the frigid water, diving in after him.
Ben resurfaced easily enough, but his assailant seized him from behind again before Ben could get anywhere. He struggled to get away, but ceased when he heard them talk.
"Ben." Xander snapped. "Quit it. Get over here, now."
It was indeed Xander, and he was trying to drag Ben toward the underside of the dock. It wasn't like Ben had better options, Ryn song was almost deafening now. If she wasn't right on top of him, she would be within a minute.
Swimming fully under the dock, Ben and Xander took hold of one of the posts to steady themselves. Xander brought a finger to his lips in the universal sign to be quiet.
Ben's breath caught when he heard the first thud above his head. Thump, thump, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed. The only other noise an occasional snarl and sound of Ryn sniffing the air.
It occurred to Ben it might have been rash of Xander to hide them both in ocean water, but it was a blessing in disguise. Yes, the ocean allowed Ryn home-field advantage, but her transformation took time. Time that would allow the men to escape.
This was assuming Ryn even found them. So far, the mermaid was completely unaware of the humans hiding literaly beneath her feet. She was already walking away to search elsewhere for her prey.
Even after the footsteps and song faded into the distance, Ben and Xander remained under the dock. They had to be completely sure she was gone, a sentiment neither man had to voice.
"I think she'd gone." Ben said after some time.
"Sure about that? You're the one she's trying to gut like a trout." Xander swam out from under the dock and toward the ladder. Once he was up, he offered a hand to help Ben up.
"Xander, where did you go?" Ben put his hands on his knees in an attempt to steady his nearly fried nerves. "I woke up in the car and you were gone."
"Yeah, so?"
"Uh... are you going to tell me what happened?"
Xander paused for a moment to give Ben a strange look before speaking. "You haven't figured it out yet, have you?"
"Figured what out?" Ben pinched the bridge of his nose. At least he hadn't had another headache since shortly before they crashed the car.
Ben was in no danger of freezing to death, there was that. The water had been cold, icy even, but Ben's body remained warm even while partially submerged. Another item to the list of weird stuff for the day.
"Okay." Xander laughed, actually laughed. "Okay, you need to be told some things straight up. I get it."
"Finally!"
"Come on." Xander motioned for Ben to follow. He led Ben over to the door to one of the rescue center's supply sheds. "In here."
Ben had his doubts the answer to his problems was going to be found in a shed, but was willing to give Xander the benefit of the doubt. He'd earned that twice over now.
Xander opened the door, and indicated for Ben to enter with a sweep of his arm.
When Ben did, he received yet another shock. "What the... how did we get back to my place?"
Not quite the way I envisioned it, but I think it turned out a little better than I orginally planned. We do still have a few more chapters left, and I finally got a decent laptop working to do my work on. Therefore, I shall see you all next week.