The Sound of a Siren's Call

2.) Siren's Loot and Hotels

My guilty pleasure for quite some time has been the looting sirens do after everyone is dead. It's terrible to be sure, but there's something about it that I can't explain. The way everyone's lives are suddenly underwater in a different world.

Some things suddenly float and some things are suddenly on their side. I almost wished I could walk through it all with my legs. Almost.

My father knew where everything came from. I mostly took everything that could be sold somewhere and he didn't protest. He did at first, but when I argued it wasn't any different than what he did, he grudgingly accepted it.

Most of the sirens loved anything personal they could find. They adored books though to find one in readable condition was rare. They loved letters and confessions of love. They loved pictures of far away families. They loved anything that reminded them of what they didn't have.

Then there was me. What did I love? I guess I loved the way everything sparkled and shone on the richer ships. I loved the way everything seemed loved. I loved the way when I brought something back to my father's ship, they didn't raid another ship while supplies last.

I got bored before the others did. Stripping things of material value takes half the time as stripping things of sentimental value.

My mother normally got bored as well. I don't know what she looked for in the things she took back. She mainly collected everything that glistened. We swam home long before the masses.

My mother had a cave she loved. The opening to it was under water even at low tide. It only ever had tiny holes smaller than my finger that filtered moonlight into it.

She had adorned the place with shiny rocks, necklaces, medallions, and anything else she'd managed to find. It seemed to glow when the sky was clear.

That night the sky was clear and I could see her face, clear as she examined me.

She started to scold me for the night's work when were outside the cave. I stopped, not going in.

"Arriana," she signed disdainfully. "Go inside."

I hugged myself. I forced my hands to comply with my will. "You're in a bad mood tonight."

She looked at me incredulously. "I don't like it when you're in a bad mood."

She shook her head, diving into her cave, ignoring me. I was alone, but at least I knew where I was. I knew how to find my father's ship.

I swam for a while before I made up my mind to do anything. I still had my bag of valuables.

I had a hotel I loved just off the coast. The hotelier signed. It was right next to a pawnshop which worked well for when I needed to pay.

I had a safe stash of clothes just off the coast too.

My mother usually came looking for me when I left, but when I went on land there wasn't much she could do. The most she could do was talk to my father but I was never left unaccounted for long enough to warrant that.

I was in my little cave of my own before too long. There I was allowed to drag myself, tail and all onto land until I dried out. I spent most of the time coughing the water out of my lungs, ending up alone with my legs in a cave.

In a few moments, I was in my costume I normally paraded in around town. I looked like a proper pirate, my drying and curly hair only helping the look.

Everyone knew I was my father's child, but I was proud to remind them of it every once in a while.

I sauntered into the quaint little town that lived off the same sea I did. The shops were all adorable and they were all terrified of me. I saw faces peeping out of the windows but a series of blinds shut as soon as I saw them.

Someone was out on the street walking the other way. He started talking, but I was too tired from my long night to put much effort into lipreading what was likely to be an insult. I stuck my tongue out and he flinched.

That reaction was just as likely to come from my mother's blood as my father's. He was away too quickly to see that I didn't maniacally laugh like he probably expected.

The moonlight shone on the town making everything seem spectral in a way. The only thing that kept it seeming real was the huge wagon that arrived as I stood in wonder. from this dismounted a boy. I'd never seen him before and he didn't seem scared of me so I assumed he was foreign. Or at least inland.

He started talking and I made more of an effort to make out what he was saying.

Where's the hotel?

I looked next to me were a proud sign read "South Hellendun's Finest Hotel and Eatery." I pointed tentatively to the door that was inviting us in below it.

He didn't even glance at the sign before he said something to me turned and went about getting people off his wagon to go in. I ignored them, walking into the establishment myself.

The air was hostile as soon as I was through the door, but the hotelier, a kind looking burly man still met me.

"Arriana," he smiled, "back so soon?"

I had no issue maintaining my stoic look. "Yes, I am. Can I have dinner this late?"

He nodded and set about scuttling to the kitchen to make me the one and only meal he ever made me. I was left to find a table but most people leaned away from me as I pulled my chair out and promptly sat in it.

I was alone with no one to watch me eat. My food came at the same moment the people I'd directed finally made their way to their destination.

With the only open seats all around me, they made their way to me and promptly prepared to consume me in their jostling family.

I stood up, but the hotelier was otherwise occupied.

I made my way to him, but the family, now settled around my table, beckoned me to sit. I pretended I didn't see them.

I made my escape to my room.