The Sound of a Siren's Call

17.) Inconvenient Scales

There are times when being half-fish is good. Welcomed even. Unfortunately now was not such a time.

I was gagging. My ineffective coughs weren't doing anything, but neither was thinking hard about not undergoing the transformation. I could feel my legs slowly becoming less stable underneath me. My legs morphed much slower when they were out of the water. This was all new territory.

Everyone's eyes were on me and between coughs, I shot them a murderous look. At least half of them looked away.

I was going to flop over and most likely face plant into the shallow sea, but as it was, I was just growing scales. If I get out of the water quick enough...

I'd never tried to stop turning into a siren while I was doing it. The only thing was that the shore was full of people, now even more so due to my drama. I had no chance.

Everyone was keeping their distance as though the hacking and scales were contagious. I was a bit disappointed that when it finally happened, I couldn't take anyone down with me. I closed my eyes and dropped. The sand burned as I grazed it. Several shells dug into my shoulder.

"Crap," I signed, too distracted to watch the two men. That was a mistake.

Juniper was staring at me, her eyes flicking away and then back to me. I craned my head to look back.

The water was an inlet that seemed most commonly to be used for docking small boats. That meant a stone wall separated it from the rest of the sea. The deepest it ever got was about ten feet, and even that was a generous estimate. My fins scraped against the coarse sand when I tried to move, making me involuntarily wince.

I watched the younger man advance with a net. I hoped I succeeded in making myself look timid. I cowered away from him.

He grinned. I wanted to stand up, scream a battle cry, and make him sorry or die trying. But I couldn't stand up and I wasn't too keen on the thought of death.

He came towards me, swaggering confidently, saying something that may have been directed at me. It also might not have been. The effect was the same.

When he was about to drop the net, I rolled away. The sand burned, my scales got sand under them, so all I could think about was itching them, and my fins screamed in pain. The man was thrown off his game.

He picked up the net and advanced, stalking forward. He wasn't going to be as easy to trick this time.

I waited until he was close, twisted and tried to hit the inside of his knee. My heart raced. My fingers twitched in anticipation.

There he was... closer... closer. He was there. I drove my fist into the back of his knee. He toppled, and I saw what was happening before the man landed on top of me. I didn't have time to move, but he'd had time to twist so he landed with his chest on top of mine. His breathing was haggard and I couldn't wriggle out from under him.

My chest felt like it was exploding. I tried to reach up, either to try to shove him off or choke him. I hadn't decided yet, but he pinned my arms down. I cursed the shallow water.

His face was inches from mine. I knew it wasn't a good idea, but I spat on him. He scrunched up his nose, but his grip was just as strong.

I flipped my tail, hoping it would have some effect if I splashed him. It didn't.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the second man advancing. I struggled, but nothing happened.

The man stood over me, then I saw his boot move towards me. I twisted one last time, then my world gave way to a dull black.

ψψψ

I should try to break the habit of immediately attacking Castor when I wake up.

To his credit, the second time, he just looked mildly put off. He didn't even knock over the cup on the table next to him. He looked almost like he'd expected it.

My head throbbed and pulsed. I backed away and collapsed back into the hammock I'd evidently been sleeping in.

I rubbed my temples and Castor cautiously inched towards me.

"How are you?" He signed as though making a mistake was the worst possible thing that could happen. It was painfully correct and slow. 

"Fine," I signed back out of habit, not immediately remembering that he didn't know sign.

I looked over at him, my eyes narrowing in on him.

"Why are you here?"

He looked confused. Had he learned to fingerspell? There was only one way to find out.

"W-H-Y A-R-E Y-O-U H-E-R-E?" I repeated.

His eyes widened. "Slower."

I spelled out my question painfully slow and watched as he mouthed each letter as I signed it.

"W-E-R-E O-N T-H-E S-H-I-P F-R-O-M E-A-R-L-I-E-R."

"Oh," I signed, my surprize overruling the thought he wouldn't understand. I scanned the room for Juniper.

Before he could express any confusion I was spelling again.

"W-H-E-R-E I-S J-U-N-I-P-E-R?"

He mouthed the letters again. "I D-O-N-T K-N-O-W."

"S-H-E-S W-A-S H-E-R-E?"

He nodded. I looked around and realized there weren't any windows. There was one door and I walked towards it. I tried to shove it open, but it didn't budge. I tried again. Then, I tried a third time out of desperation.

Castor tapped my shoulder. "I-T-S L-O-C-K-E-D."

That seemed painfully obvious to me, but I tried again, ramming my shoulder into the door.

"A-R-I-A-N-N-A," he signed as I ignored the fact he misspelled my name, "look at me."

I slumped against the door, looking at him.

"I-T-S L-O-C-K-E-D."

"I know."

"Know?" he repeated. I spelled the word for him.

"T-H-E-N W-H-Y D-I-D Y-O-U K-E-E-P T-R-Y-I-N-G?"

I shrugged, sliding down the door.

I looked around the room. Castor's whole crew lounged in hammocks or sat in huddles.

"You got arrested?"

Castor repeated the sign for arrested, his fists coming together, and I spelled it out.

He nodded. "S-O-R-T O-F. P-R-I-S-O-N-E-R-S O-F W-A-R."

"I T-H-O-U-G-H-T T-H-E-R-E W-A-S-N-T A W-A-R Y-E-T."

It was his turn to shrug. The fingerspelling was inconvenient, but it was better than nothing.

I missed Juniper. I'd always taken it for granted that my parents had forced sign onto the world. The pirates used it anyway. Their ears had all stopped working somewhere amount the cannon blasts, but my mother had learned it. She'd taught all the other sirens, including Juniper.

A part of me even missed her. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine myself back home. The only failure in the plan was that I'd have to open my eyes again.