The Scream of a Siren

The old and the new.

" I'm pregnant....w-with your child"

Hunter just stared at me. The moment seemed to drag by, even the clock had stopped running. It seemed like eons had passed before Hunter slowly nodded.

" Annnnnnnnd he's become a vegetable again" Chad said behind me. Hunter turned to glare at him.

" I-I just... What? How? When? Whaaaaaa-? " Hunter mumbled all at once, running his hands through his long hair.

" Um, I can answer that, Pregnant, from having sex, about four months ago, and I'm not sure what that last one was gonna be" I replied.

Hunter stopped running his hands through his hair to turn and look at me again. Then he began to smile, then he began to laugh.

I heaved a sigh of relief, he was grinning a huge grin.

" May I?" He asked nodding towards my stomach.

" Sure" I smiled.

He knelt down and placed both hands on my stomach, they were warm though my shirt and relaxing.

" Hello," He said softly," I'm your daddy, you'll meet me soon. " He said all the time grinning widely.

I had to tell him about Caspian but how do you tell someone that you're in love with someone else, after just telling them that you're pregnant with their child. But the longer I left it the more painful it would be for all of us. I gathered myself and let out a sigh.

" Hunter..." I said slowly.

" Yes?" He asked standing up to look at me straight.

" I- um- we can't be together" I said really fast maybe part of my mind didn't want to tell him. He said nothing just stared at me. then he said,

" Why?" He said it softly and the expression on his face threatened to break my heart.

" Because I met a guy, his names Caspian, and I love him" I explained.

" Oh" was all he said.

" Are you gonna tell him what " the guy" is " Chad asked, bending his fingers sarcastically.

" I was getting there yes," I replied. " He's, well he's not human" I said slowly.

Hunters eyes went wide.

" Not human?" He asked slowly.

" Yes he's a Siren, half man half bird. He lives on an island off Man O' War Bay" I explained.

" Oh yeah and did she mention that Sirens are human hunters, killers, Deadl-" Chad piped up from behind me. But I reached a foot back and neatly kicked his shin.

" Ow!" He exclaimed. But promptly shut up.

" Tylah, what are you doing to yourself?" Hunter said quietly.

" Nothing, Caspian is safe, he loves me, he won't hurt me Hunter"

" What about our child?"

" I was hoping that you could help me out with it, we can be friends and look after our child together, but I can't be with you anymore. "

" Only for the child, only for our child, not for you or whatever it is you choose to love. I think you should go." Hunter said coldly,breaking eye contact.

Chad got the message as much as I did and we both headed for the door, once out I half ran down the path as the tears began to flow.

We parted the wall of branches softly. The sky was pitch black and the almost full moon cast shadows on the back garden of the orphanage as Chad and I entered through the trees at the back of the garden. Everything was quiet. The lights in all the windows were switched off and it occurred to me how lonely it looked without its usual scattering of little children. Everyone must be asleep but of course there would still be nurses on patrol. It wasn't rare for kids to run away for the day so if it happened the nurses tended to just wait for them to return. I crouched under a birch tree, it was a warm night and the air held a scent of wildflowers. Chad looked at me.

" I don't wanna go back in there just yet" Chad stated.

" Neither" I replied.

" Then we shouldn't" He said smiling at me in the darkness.

" Ok" I smiled back.

He grabbed my hand and led me down the well worn path through the trees to the foot of a huge tree. I recognised it immediately and childhood memories rushed back.

When we were nine, Chad, Gina, and I had snuck out at 2am and climbed up into the hut and sat talking until the sky turned blue. The moment just before the sun came up.

I wiped away a stray tear, and grabbed the lowest branch, pulling my legs up into the tree. The bark was rough under my palm and it ground against my skin. I kept going up and up into the canopy where I could see the trusty little wooden hut waiting.

I grabbed the side of the doorway, and pulled my body up into the hut, the floor carried its usual array of books and scraps. I sat down on the floor just as Chad pulled himself through the doorway. He shuffled over to me and sat down beside me on the wood.

On the branch outside the window perched a small owl, peering at us inquisitively, its eyes glowed eerily in the darkness, its cries pierced the night air while still falling softly on my ears.

" Tylah, I don't want you to think or act differently because of what happened between us. I'm not saying I'll ever feel different but I'm still just your best friend if that's what you want" He said tracing shapes in the dust on the floor.

" I know," I said quietly, " I know"

I began to think about what had happened between Chad and I. I knew my love for Caspian was real and I knew how strong it was. I knew that my heart skipped a beat whenever I saw his eyes, lit up like the city at night. I knew that his touch made my whole body wake up and that his smile made my breathing go funny. But I also knew that I had felt something strange, something real when Chad had kissed me. I didn't know what it was, it wasn't the same as with Caspian but it had made me feel so safe, so loved. My heart had kept up a fast paced running beat for at least ten minutes, that wasn't normal.

I wrapped my arms around my legs, the breeze suddenly seemed to become chilly. The night had dropped noticeably by a few degrees. Chad wrapped his arm around my shoulders and drew me close. His shirt was like silk under my cheek, rising and falling steadily like the ocean. His arm was strong around my shoulder, his fingers played in the ends of my hair and I felt protected, safe really safe for the first time in a long time.

I lay back and relaxed into his embrace, I smiled into his shirt as he chuckled slightly.

" What's funny?" I asked.

" Don't you remember, your fourteenth birthday you let me hold you like this all night long." He whispered, resting his chin on the top of my head.

" I do remember" I replied as the memory played over in my head. The cold night Chad had surprised me with a picnic at midnight and we had eaten our fill and then stayed up until dawn under our nest of blankets.

I smiled.

But suddenly Chad's whole body tensed under me.

A.N

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Ok so my new update time is Thursday NZ time which is Wednesday in America......

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