The Scream of a Siren

Torn and empty

Irwin suddenly stopped whispering and leaned back on his knees.

" Setas " He said loudly and out of nowhere appeared a second Siren, except that this one looked nothing like those I had met before. Setas was taller then even Caspian, he looked older, he had dark  scars etced into his face and down his chest, they looked old and knarled like the ridges on a trees bark. He had what would have a one point been a beautiful face now it was permanently twisted into  a snarl.

His eyes were a hauntingly bottomless black.

" How did you summon me?" Setas asked clearly confused.

"Remember I keep you safe, you expected me not to know how to summon you? " His voice held no trace of amusement.

" Keep them safe?" I asked curiously 

" Yes They are the other side of our kind the ones that become dark... I am charged with monitoring and controlling them, think of me as a solider like in your humans army"

This was what Caspian could become. Setas chuckled darkly before he finally acknowledged Chad's blood soaked body and Hunter's slumped against the wall.

Without a word he came closer and sat down next to me to examine Chad. His bare hand brushed my shoulder. He jumped ever so slightly.

" She's human" he stated backing away slowly.

" Yes she is but she's under my protection. She needs your help" Irwin replied.

" Why ?' He asked.

" Because Caspian loves her therefore no harm shall come to her" Irwin said stiffly.

" She's human, she's food you know our rules" Setas grinned menacingly.

" Setas I need you help NOW!" Irwn yelled so forcefully it almost wasn't a surprise to see Setas visibly recoil. Chad's blood licked at his boots and he turned down in disgust.

Setas snarled.

" Why should I help the human?" Setas asked testily.

" Because I said so" Irwin twisted his hand in Setas's direction, Setas hissed loudly before bending over Chad and placing his hands on Chad's chest. Chad's skin looked like it had been torn into ribbons, I could see his organs and arteries, his skin and blood, everything that made up my bestfriend, ripped open in front of my eyes. Why would Caspian do that, how dare he. I refused to believe it was him who had killed my bestfriend. Setas was kneeling beside Chad chanting in a rough worn out voice that held none of the beauty that Caspian's did.
Chads body looked empty and despite Setas' s chanting there was still an air of death in the room. What if he was beyond saving. What if he never came back?

I decided I had to get away from the torn remains of my friend, I stumbled half blind across the room to Hunter who still lay slumped against the wall, his eyes half opened looked pained but he didn't look at me when I approached instead he was staring at the group of figures across the room, taking in Chad's still body or what was left of it.

" Hunter please" I whispered.

He looked up weakily finally seeming t acknowledge that I was kneeling beside him. He smiled ruefully. He still cradled his arm carefully. I wished I knew how to help but I just decided to get him to a doctor or hospital.. I reckoned it was a broken arm and that would need a hospital.

" Hunter, let me help you up" I said sliding my arm around his shoulders, he winced at my touch and that was when I realized just how hard he must have hit the wall. he must have been busied all over, blood still tricked steadily from his nose which looked oddly crooked too. He pushed himself shakily to his feet grunting painfully.   The color immediately drained from his face leaving him colorless and shaking in my firm grip. I half ran over to the bed dragging him with me. I set him down and heaved a sigh of relief, he screwed up his face in pain, but the color hadn't returned to his face.

Once I knew he wouldn't curl over and pass out, I hurried over to Chad and fell onto my knees. Setas was bent over in a painful looking position moving his hand in a strange pattern over Chad. Chad's chest still looked strong as if it were still capable of supporting a life. A tear ran down my cheek onto my sweater and I made no effort to stop it.

Suddenly  Eyre started to cry pitifully from the bed where Hunter sat, I looked up to see him stroking her with his good arm, even though he winced at the effort, she stopped crying. But I noticed that Cal was already rolling over trying to push himself into a sitting postion, Caspian hadn't lied that they progressed fast.

I looked back down at Chad, his stomach had been closed up and his chest was closed with just the indent and the scars to show for the terror of what had happened. His face still had six long gashes, coated with drying blood, his skin sagged in between the gashes.  He looked terrible and with a tug on my heart I realized I had never thought that before.

Setas moved his hands and the blue glow up to Chad's face, The gashes slowly began to close themselves up, nerves and tendons moving back into place where they were supposed to sit.

After a few minutes the gashes had disappeared leaving nothing but dried blood as a reminder.

I waited, nothing moved.

Nothing breathed.

Suddenly Chad sucked it a rattling breath.  The tears that had been stuck in the back of my throat burst out and flowed freely down my cheeks, soaking gently into my collar. Chad opened his eyes, the same as eyes I had looked into a thousand times. Chad's eyes were wrong in some way though, mad and staring they locked with mine and the panic and pain was clear even without the words. He grabbed roughly at my shirt and pulled me down so that my face was barely an inch from his. The scars stood out like a bad dream, cut into his skin, grey-white against his cheeks which now were returning to an alive color. He smelt of sweat and coppery blood. His breath, his living breath rippled across my face. He was so close that I could feel his skin brushing mine.

When he spoke it was a soft rasping whisper.

" I told you to run dammit"