Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

It was so steady, that beeping. I didn’t know what it was that I could hear beeping, and even if I’d wanted to find out what it was, I couldn’t. I couldn’t move, could barely even think … never mind doing anything else.

Where was I? How did I get there? The last thing I could remember was that I had been in bed at home. I’d just crawled into bed for the night after one hellish day dealing with irritating children. I guess I fell asleep… or perhaps I was drugged? And was brought here.

Wherever here was.

*

It was painfully slow, but eventually, everything started to clear. I could hear voices in the distance. I could barely hear them, making it sound as if there were walls between us, and not just one. I could barely make out what they were saying, but at least I could make out something. I didn’t know what it was that I was supposed to be listening for, though, of course. How could I? I was just waking up after… whatever had happened to me. I had no clue, and something told me that I wouldn’t find out anytime soon, either.

“… -she’s — now?” A woman’s voice. It was broken up as if there was a rather shocking amount of static, almost as if I was listening to an old radio that was desperately in need of being kicked to the curb. I didn’t know what it was that she was saying, exactly, but I could almost glean an idea.

“—ow is——? Do— hav— upda—?” It was getting clearer, allowing my mind to piece together more and more of what I was hearing. I could hear things clearer as if they were closer and not through so many walls, but it was still as if my ears were filled with water, or cotton… I didn’t know what it was, but I knew I hated it. My hearing had always been something I had taken pride in, and to lose it so suddenly like this… it wasn’t something that I wanted to go through.

No.

Just no.

After that, though, everything faded. What little I heard was gone, moments before I lost all sense of anything…

*

When I woke, I had no idea if that had all truly happened. At first, I’d honestly thought that it had just been a bad dream and that I was back home… at least until I looked around. It didn’t take me long to realize that the white and red walls weren’t the ones I had in my bedroom. No, my walls had been a pale spearmint green. Instantly alarm bells were ringing in my head, and they were loud enough that I swore I could hear them in the most literal and physical sense.

I shot up in bed when the pain in my head became apparent. I could barely think as I brought my hands up to my temples and grasped tightly. The alarm bells were too loud, far too loud. I didn’t even notice someone coming into my room, or rather whatever room I was in until I found myself laying down again, the pain gone.

I wanted to question it, but when I opened my mouth to try, I found that my voice was gone. I couldn’t speak, my melodic and harmonious voice was gone. Whoever it was that was there, someone that I now noticed was a man, just patted me on the head slightly before getting to his feet and walking off. It only took a couple of seconds before he was out the door again and I was alone. He left me alone as he returned to wherever he had been before, whatever he had been pulled from before.

I couldn’t help but wonder, did he hear the bells too? The alarms? Whatever it was that they had been? I had no idea; I couldn’t help but wonder if it was in my head, if I was going crazy or something. I did have to wonder, though, how did he know I was awake? There had to have been something, some sort of indicator.

It didn’t take long before I decided not to worry about all of that, though. I had to figure out where I was, right? Right. So, the first thing I needed to do, regarding that, was to get to my feet and look around.

I found that it was shockingly easy. I couldn’t believe it. For some reason, I think I had it in my head that I’d be bound to the bed, or drugged to the point that I couldn’t get up. I don’t know why I was thinking that, but perhaps it had something to do with the fact that I had read too many books and watched too many movies in my life. I knew how kidnapped women were treated… for some reason, though, it didn’t seem like I was on the receiving end of anything other than the fact that I was a victim of a kidnapping.

‘What the hell is going on…?’ I wondered as I looked around. The walls were white and red, with the red looking like fresh blood running down the walls. I tried not to focus on them for long, or the odd black music notes that seemed to be scattered throughout the room. Following the notes, though, since it seemed my eyes were naturally drawn to them, I did notice something odd about them. They almost seemed to glow, and it was easy to tell, although I don’t know why or how I could tell, that they did play something out. That was something I would have to look into, I knew that, and I vowed mentally, silently, that I would be back to do that.

I had to find out where I was, first.

There was no way that I could let myself get caught up trying to figure something like that out, some sort of puzzle until I found out if I was somewhere safe - which I seriously doubted - or not. I wouldn’t allow myself to get caught up. No.

I would soon find out, though, that I didn’t have a choice. The notes seemed to call to me, almost as if they were beckoning me, calling my name quite literally. I had no idea why, and looking back on it I only picked up on it on a subconscious level, but they were. I couldn’t explain it at the time, but I was quickly finding that I didn’t much care to try to explain it. Why should I? It made sense to me, for some reason, wasn’t that enough?

I made my way to the notes and quickly set to work rearranging them. As I was doing so, there was some small part of my brain that was telling me to stop, trying to get me to quit playing with the notes and start trying to figure out where I was. I ignored it, though, and the louder it got within my head, the more I found myself focused on the notes on the wall, the notes I was rearranging.

I was so engrossed, entranced, by the seemingly glowing notes on the walls that I didn’t notice the door opening or the footsteps of someone walking up to me until they tapped me on the shoulder. Immediately I was pulled back to this world, instead of whatever world I was in, and jumped rather violently as I whirled around.

“Hey, relax.” The man who was standing at the door said calmly.

“I know, you’re mute. You’re also really lost at the moment, aren’t you?” He asked. His voice was something that I could sit and listen to for hours, if not longer. Of course, that was all dependent on whether or not I was allowed to.

It didn’t take long before he was talking more, I guess I must have nodded or something in response to his question, and I found myself getting lost in the sounds that were coming from his mouth, his throat, his voice box. I didn’t know what to think, and I couldn’t think anything above and beyond how much I loved what I was hearing.

Suddenly, the next thing I knew, his hands were on my shoulders, shaking me.

“Hey! Come on, snap out of it!” He exclaimed, obviously rather irritated. When I was able to think again finally, although I did still feel as if I was atop a mountain of clouds. I could barely think at the moment, but my head was clearing, thankfully.

“You okay?” He asked, concern in his voice. I just looked up at him, and apparently whatever he saw in my face he didn’t like. He just cursed before shaking his head.

“I’ll be back.” He said before walking off, leaving me to wonder what was going on… and pray that he would return sooner, rather than later. I didn’t know him, but … there was something about him, about his voice, that drew me in.

‘Where the hell am I? And who the hell was that?’ I wondered after a few minutes. I shook my head and got to my feet, wondering what the hell it was that I was to do around here. The white and red walls were unnerving to me, since the red splotches looked too much like blood that had hit the wall and dried. Not taking into consideration that red was a colour to insight anger, of course. Those two factors were enough to make me want to get the hell out of there.

I made my way over to the door and hesitated a moment before trying to open it. I was shocked to find that it wasn’t locked, that it opened without a hitch, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the hall looked normal. It was definitely welcome. Without any delay, I stepped into the hall, the door to the room I woke in closing softly behind me, and started walking. I was in the last room of the hall, there was the hall, and a wall. So, logically, I took the hall.

I walked past several rooms, not knowing what it was that I was to think, do, or even make of the area. There were a lot of doors in the hall, and I could hear some noises from within the rooms I walked past. I had no idea what to make of them, and the more I heard, the more my skin felt like it was crawling. I just wanted out of there, and it became rather apparent when I broke into a dead run down the hall. I followed it, turning randomly down other halls, and hoping to make my way out. I hadn’t even seen a single window yet, so I was seriously starting to wonder if I was trapped.

It didn’t take me much longer, surprisingly enough, before I reached a rather large open room that had windows all around. It was then that I remembered a small detail, my room had a window, I just paid no heed to it. The curtains matched the walls paint, and it just seemed to blend in a bit.

Once I reached that room though, I relaxed, and very noticeably. I wasn’t as trapped as I had originally thought, it seemed. I may not have been free yet, but at least there was a way out. At least there was that, and that was all I had to take solace in at the moment.

“Oh, Rebecca, you’re awake.” A calm voice said behind me. I jumped and whirled around, backing up as I moved.

“Please, no need to be afraid.” She continued. I was too panicked at the moment to notice her appearance at the time, I was too wrapped up in my thoughts of how I was trapped, even if it had lessened.

She walked forward, her blonde hair tied back in a bun that made it impossible to tell how long it was, and her sea blue eyes seemingly nothing more than just pools of the deepest and most gorgeous part of the ocean. Even now, as I’m telling you all this, I find myself sighing dreamily at her eyes. I’d always loved the ocean. I’d never known why, for so long, but after learning more about myself, I knew. It was a natural thing for me, and there was definitely no way that I couldn’t love the sea. It was almost as if I was mermaid, really, my appreciation of it was that deep.

Sorry, I derailed there. Where was I? Oh, right, the woman.

She reached a hand out to me, calmly, almost as if asking my permission to touch me. It was then that I noticed that she seemed to be wearing a nurses uniform, which I definitely found … odd. Where was I that warranted a nurses uniform?

Immediately my mind was racing. Was I in some sort of sex movie, unwillingly? Was I being trained to become a sex slave? Was I—

There was so much, I couldn’t make sense of it all for almost five minutes. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in one of the chairs beneath a window that was there, and the blonde was sitting next to me, rubbing my back.

“Hey, relax. You’re all right.” She said, her voice calm, and rather soothing. I just looked to her, a bit of a puzzled, and scared, expression on my face, which just net a chuckle from the blonde.

“You’re too cute, you know that?” She asked. “I’ll arrange for your voice to be returned to you.” She added, which just made me look even more confused. They stole my voice? What? How does someone…

Immediately my hands went to my throat, alarm in my eyes as I felt for a scar, for stitches, a fresh wound… anything. They had to have stolen my voice box, that was the only thing that I could think of that could do to ‘steal my voice’. The woman just chuckled slightly, again.

“Don’t worry, it’s just been… blocked I guess you could say. You’ll be fine, no harm done physically, perhaps mentally though.” She told me, muttering the last part under her breath slightly.

“Anyway, stay put, I’ll go get that set up then.” She said before getting to her feet.

“Are you going to be okay?”

I couldn’t help but silently growl at her when she asked that. Her tone, even though I know she was meaning it to sound kind, just sounded condescending to me. She seemed to pick up on that and sighed slightly.

“I’m sorry, but it’s an honest question. Will you be okay sitting there? Or do you think your nerves are going to get in the way?” She asked. I just sighed and shook my head, not knowing if she would know what I meant by that. I meant that I would be fine, that no, my nerves wouldn’t get in the way. This seemed to be the only way that I could get answers, after all. Of course I would be there, waiting. I would do what I needed to, to get the answers I felt I deserved.

She seemed to get the idea and made her way over to a computer. She typed something in, at a shockingly fast rate too. There was no way that I could guess how many keys she hit, the speed at which her fingers moved, seemed to not be humanly possible. I could barely keep up, and even then, I still tried.

As I was there, trying to count the keystrokes, I didn’t notice someone walking up to me, nor did I notice that I’d been trying to count them for nearly twenty minutes.

“You must be Rebecca.” A male’s voice said serenely. I was torn away from the sound of the keys by his voice. It wasn’t something shocking, but it was something that would pull you away from whatever you were focusing on. I looked up to him, and just nodded.

“Come with me, we’ll get you speaking again.” He said with a smile. I nodded, again, and got to my feet. He took my hand gently, and I nearly melted where I stood when he did that, before leading me off. We walked through the halls and to an office, which he ushered me into kindly.

“Sit, Rebecca.” He said with a smile as he pulled a chair out from the small table that was there. I looked at him for a moment before sitting down on it, wishing he would touch me again. I had no idea why, but his touch was… It was nothing short of amazing, and I could feel myself being lifted off and floated away as he held my hand.

“Now, this may be a bit painful for you, but hold still. I’ll give you your voice back.” He said as he cupped my chin lightly. I just nodded, wanting to do whatever he wanted at the moment, and not caring what it was, not really. Moments later, I felt his hand, the one not grasping my chin, against my throat, holding it as if he was about to choke me. Instead, I felt a prickling sensation, that quickly escalated to stabbing… moments before it stopped. I let out a small shriek though, the pain was remaining, and it hurt far more than my pain tolerance would allow me to stay silent about.

“Feel better, Rebecca?” He asked as he removed his hand and stepped back. I looked to him and nodded before shaking my head.

“Where the hell am I!?” I asked, demanding an answer as I got to my feet.

“You fucking abducted me, and no one is telling me anything! Where am I, and how the fuck do I get out of here?” My voice was harsh, and at the time, I had no idea why I was feeling as if it was too harsh. There was some part of me that was deep in the recesses of me, that was saying that I shouldn’t be so mean to him, that I knew what was going on, and that I had agreed to it.

That part of me, though, was silenced by another part, the logical part, I reasoned. There was no way that I had agreed to this, and no way that I knew what the hell was going on.

The man just sighed.

“Rebecca, my name is Riley. I’m the second in command here.” He told me, at least I was getting some information, it seemed. I crossed my arms under my breasts to listen.

“You agreed to come in, to protect yourself, and those you care about about a week ago.” He told me. I couldn’t believe the audacity this man had. Lying to me like that.

“Here, watch this. We recorded it due to the fact that most people don’t believe us when we tell them.” He said before making his way to a far wall. He flipped a couple switches, or something. I couldn’t really see him, but when he stepped back, a TV that was built into the wall, that I thought was just a fish tank, lit up and started playing something. I witnessed the recording, that I had no recollection of, play through. In it, I came running up to the man that was in the room with me, begging for him to help me. He agreed, outlined something, although I missed some of it due to the fact that my mind was racing, I signed something, and it ended.

“Where is what I signed?” I asked with a bit of a snarl, far more of one that I actually needed.

“Right here.” He said as he retrieved a folder from the wall, a shelving unit that was built into it and beside the TV. He walked over and handed me the folder, which I promptly flipped through. It had my signature in several locations, and there was no way to mistake it as someone else’s, and no way that someone tried to forge mine. It was my signature, through and through. Appeased, for now, I set the folder down and looked straight at him.

“What did I agree to?” He looked at me with a bit of a shocked expression, almost as if he had expected me to know that, somehow. He managed to compose himself after a minute though.

“You agreed to stay here, so as to avoid causing any harm to anyone that would fall victim to you.” He told me. “And that you would allow us to try various things on you in an attempt to have it that you won’t affect others.”

I couldn’t believe what it was that he had said, what the hell could I be scared of doing to hurt others? What the hell was it that I could do? Since apparently, obviously, there was something. I knew that doctoring videos and recordings was possible, but I didn’t think that he’d go so far as to do it with that. I had no idea why I trusted him suddenly… but I did.

“Which is why we stripped you of your voice, in an attempt to help.” He continued. I barely heard what he was saying, and it didn’t take long before he was ushering me out of the room while I was stunned, shocked, and surprised as all hell. I couldn’t follow what he’d been saying, had barely been able to keep up with it all, and I had no idea what all he had said, even.

I was silent as I was led back to my room, I didn’t even truly realize it. My thoughts were too wrapped up in all I had been told, even thought I didn’t pick up on it at the moment. I couldn’t really pick up on it all, since there was far too much, but I think I may have been making some progress with it.

It was a few hours later, or maybe a few days. I had absolutely no concept of time while there, since it seemed that it was always night, or always day, depending on where I was. It was rather disconcerting, and confusing as well. There was no way that I could figure it out easily, and it seemed that clocks were non-existent there too. The watch I’d had when… I guess… when I’d agreed to be taken in had been removed, along with my cell phone. That one irritated me, or rather pissed me off. That was a six hundred dollar phone dammit.

As I was trying to figure out what it was that was going on, and what day it was, along with whether or not I should believe him and what he told me, I wasn’t paying attention to anyone or anything. Which wasn’t that surprising, whenever I got something going through my head that I needed to focus on, I was always just focusing on that. It was rare for me to notice anything else at those times.

I was broken from my thoughts by someone walking into the room and tapping on my shoulder to get my attention.

“Hey Rebecca” When I turned to look at who it was, I saw that it was the same blonde as before.

“Uhh… Hi…” I said, almost hesitantly as I sat up a bit. I’d been lying on the bed when she came in.

“I just thought I would let you know that the boss man wants to see you.” She told me. “I’m not sure what about though.” She added, which just made me even more puzzled and curious. By this point, I’d figured out that they didn’t mean me any harm. I was treated well, and I found out why I was there, but that was something that I hadn’t really had time to dwell on.

“I… okay… Where?” I asked.

“Come on, I’ll lead you there.” The blonde said with a smile. I nodded and got to my feet before following her out of the room - which I made sure to close the door of - and down the halls.

“So… what’s your name?” I asked as we walked, not wanting to be walking in silence, since I always did hate that.

“Hmm? Oh, it’s Kaylee.” She told me with a smile. “How are you feeling, adapting well?” She asked. I didn’t really know what to say, how to answer that. How was I adapting well? I’d been there for awhile, no idea how long, and it all seemed to be the same thing each day.

“How long have I been here…?” I asked, almost hesitantly.

“Oh, about three weeks now.” Kaylee told me with a smile. Her smile faded though as she saw my shocked expression.

“Are you alright Rebecca?” She asked.

“I… yeah… I.. I’m just shocked that it’s already been so long.” I answered.

“Oh, I know what you mean. When I first came here, I didn’t realize that I’d been here for two months before someone told me.” She told me with a small chuckle. “Don’t worry about it, you’ll get used to the aura of this place, how time seems to be a bit skewered at first.”

“Ok… but why are there no clocks, and why the perpetual night and day in some areas?” I asked.

“Hmm? Oh, well, the clocks are because of the fact that some of those that are here aren’t very good with clocks. They follow them too closely, and the perpetual night, or day, is to accommodate for those that are here. There are some that cannot be in the sunlight, or cannot be in the moonlight.” She answered. “And before you ask, no, I cannot tell you how we do it.” She added before I had a chance to open my mouth. I had been just about to ask that exact question, how is it that they did that, but she beat me to it.

I didn’t get a chance to say anything else before we reached the room that I was supposed to be meeting someone in. As we neared, I listened. I could hear some talking through the wall we were walking by, and I was sure I wasn’t supposed to hear it. What I heard, made me seriously question whether or not it was a good idea for me to be so complacent while there…

“Are you sure?” The first voice was rough, very tough. Sounded as if the one that owned it would be one that you wouldn’t want to run into in an alleyway. His voice made it sound like he would beat someone into submission, without a moments hesitation. I didn’t even have a chance to even consider cringing, or suppressing said cringe, before someone else continued.

“Yes. Perfectly. We checked her ancestry, she is the one that the prophets have stated would be coming.” The second voice was calmer, and sounded a lot like the one man from before… what was his name? Oh, right, Riley.

“As if that’s enough!” The first voice wasn’t happy, and it was painfully easy to hear.

“Sir, we have also tested her genetics.” Riley stated. “We know it’s her. She has the mark in her blood.”

Before anything more was said, or could be said, we reached the door and Kaylee knocked. Instantly, the voices in the room were silenced, and I quickly found myself getting to be more and more anxious regarding this. I had no idea what to make of all this, or what to think regarding the fact that there was a conversation going on in the room I was to go into that almost seemed like it could have been about me. I tried to reason with myself, convince myself that I was just being paranoid as the door was opened and I was ushered in.

The door closed behind me, which made me jump and yell out a bit.

“Relax Rebecca.” Riley said. When I turned to face him, I saw that it was, in fact, Riley, and someone else I didn’t know. I’d never seen him before, but that wasn’t hard to believe, not really. At the same time though, I found myself having a hard time believing that, since I was sure that I should have recognized his face. I don’t know why I thought that, but I did.

“Don’t patronize her, Riley.” The other man snarled. “She’s the one we need.”

Instantly, I backed up, my hands reaching behind me towards the door handle. I didn’t know what to think, and I didn’t know how to react. What was I do to, to think? What the hell could I do even?

“Don’t scare her Devin.” Riley said. “If you do that, then you won’t be able to bloody well use her.” I had no idea what he was getting at, and I did not want to know. I found more and more, that I wanted to get the hell out of there, return to the life I had.

But… could I return to my life? Could I honestly return to the world that I had come from, and continue living it? I think this did far too much for me, my mental state would suffer, I was sure. The chances were that I would end up storing this in the back of my mind, and I wouldn’t be able to continue on as if it had never happened. There was absolutely no way I could, not after being here…

I just wanted to know what had truly happened, since that was still lost on me.

“What… what do you mean ‘use her’?” I asked cautiously. Both Riley and Devin just looked to me after a moment, and grinned. When they did, I felt a chill run down my spine. It was so unnerving, and rather creepy.

“Riley, do your thing.” Was all Devin said, his voice rather commanding. Riley just nodded and started to approach me. I backed up, not wanting to be anywhere near him, of course. Who would want to? Both of them seemed rather ominous, and I didn’t want to find out exactly why.

I didn’t manage to get far though, since Kaylee was behind me. I quickly backed into her, without realizing it, and felt her grab my shoulders. I tried to get out of her grasp, but she seemed to just grasp tighter.

“Are you sure she’s the one?” Devin asked. “You know if she isn’t, you’ll pay the price, Riley.”

“I’m certain.” Riley answered. “As I said, she has the mark in her blood.” As he spoke, I continued to get out of Kaylee’s grasp, I started to feel almost weaker and weaker. I knew it wasn’t that, exactly. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. Instead, I guess you could stay that my legs, my body over all but it was more noticeable with my legs, were starting to feel like water. My nerves were being toyed with, somehow, and I had no idea how the hell it was happening.

As I continued trying to fight out of Kaylee’s grasp, which was getting to be notably more difficult with each passing second, Riley approached. He didn’t say anything, just grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. I didn’t know what was going on, exactly, just knew that it wasn’t anything good, it couldn’t be anything good.

I tried to look away, but something compelled me to keep eye contact. I couldn’t… I couldn’t focus on anything by the red of his eyes. I didn’t have the capacity at the time to notice it, not truly. His eyes, and his touch seemed to be drawing me in, and there was no way that I could pull away.

The last thing I can remember from then, was Riley’s eyes seeming to glow, seeming to absorb the entirety of me, my body, mind, and soul. I found that the longer I was there, the more I was willing to give myself over to him.

I have no idea how long it was before I come to my senses again, nor did I know what had happened. All I knew, was that when I woke up again, I was bound to a table, faint, groggy and very disoriented. I couldn’t make sense of anything, and it was similar to when I woke up a few weeks ago to the constant beeping.

It was nearly instant, once I was awake, fully conscious and aware of what was going on, that I heard something off to the side. I didn’t know what it was, or who it was as I was able to tell that it was someone saying something. After a minute though, I was able to pinpoint the voice, recall who it was.

“I see you’re awake.” Riley’s voice said, and I felt almost as if I was being shoved against a wall and violated, or killed. His voice wasn’t as calm, nice, sweet as it had been before. No. This time, it was rough, sharp as shattered glass, and just as deadly.

“I… wh—” I started before being cut off. My throat hurt, felt almost as if something was being torn out of me. I didn’t know what it was, but it hurt… almost more than I could handle.

“Don’t talk, Rebecca.” He said, although it sounded more like an order. I found myself getting silent, listening and doing as he said. I had no idea why I was listening, but… I was.

“Good. Now, I’m amazed you’re awake.” He started.

“Most people never wake. Only those that have been like you, Sirens, have ever awoken again.” I didn’t know what to say, even if I could. I found myself just stunned, did he just call me a siren? Weren’t those just mythological beings? Did they not exist…? Before I could question him on it, or even consider, he continued speaking.

“The sole fact that you woke, is perfect proof that you are a siren, and indicates that you are, most likely, exactly who we are looking for.” He said, a rather dark grin to his voice.

I couldn’t think, I could barely breathe with how tightly I was bound. What he was saying was far too much.

“What do you want with me!?” I asked.

“Huh? Oh, no one told you? Well, it’s rather simple, actually. If we spill your blood, then no one will be able to argue our rule of the world any longer.” He answered. It was a rather cliche plan, and I couldn’t help but wonder if that was actually what the true reason was. Of course, I wasn’t about to ask, since there was no way that he would answer me. All I could do, was wait, and find out.

Well, wait and see if I survived long enough to find out.

Riley didn’t say anything, and it didn’t take long before I heard his footsteps retreating. He was gone before I could say anything more, and I was left alone, silence echoing through the room and seeming like it would drive me insane. Perhaps that was their goal, make me outright loco. Maybe that’s all they wanted… I had no idea, and I knew I wouldn’t find out easily.

Before I could even attempt to find out though, I had to get the hell out of the binds, and off the damned table. I, of course, was not having an easy time with it. The leather belts and the nylon ropes, were really tight, and ridiculously secure. Using the little tricks I’d learned over the years though, I did manage to get out. Of course, it took me nearly thirty minutes to do so, not exactly an act that Houdini would be proud of, but at least I got out.

I carefully got off of the table and cracked my back. It needed it, I had no idea how long I had been lying prone there, and honestly? I don’t think I want to know, even now.

I looked around, not knowing where I was, and wishing to get some sort of an idea. From what I could tell, since there wasn’t much light, it looked as if it was an operating room of sorts. At first, it didn’t occur to me as to where that was, why it was an operation room, but about the same time that I felt a rather shocking amount of pain in my arm, I remember that Kaylee was wearing a nurses uniform.

Was I in a hospital? I didn’t even know. The past few weeks were a blur to me, I didn’t remember anything notable, aside from the couple of instances. Even now, I still do. Perhaps it was all locked away by my subconscious, perhaps they somehow managed to erase my memories. I know that’s possible, now, but I still doubt they did. I don’t know though.

I stood there, looking around as the pain scaled up and down my arm, before finally looking to my appendage. What I saw there, was that it was rather poorly stitched up, a rather nasty gash had someone managed to get there. What I wanted to know, was what it was from.

I couldn’t help but wonder that as I looked around again, this time looking for something along the lines of gauze. It didn’t take long before I found some, and even less time for me to get a rather simple, and probably ineffective in the long run, wrapping around the gash. I made a mental note that I would have to go and get that looked at, properly, after I was out of there. I knew I would get out of there, or at the very least, I was trying my hardest to convince myself that I would get out of there. I think some small part of me was convinced, or knew, that I wouldn’t survive. Or at the very least, wouldn’t be myself any longer.

Without dwelling on it, and while trying to shove my fear aside, I made my way to the door, and out. The hall was dark, the few lights in the area seeming to flicker slightly. It was rather ominous, and it made me damn happy that I was looking for a way out.

“Where the hell is the —” I started to ask where the exit was, but stopped. I heard splashing… why would I hear splashing down there. Nevermind that, I could smell the ocean, and it felt like home to me. I’d always loved the ocean, any body of water, really, and I quickly found myself making my way towards the sound.

When I finally reached the room, I was shocked. Inside the gigantic room, for it had to reach about 5o feet across, at least, there was a huge body of water. It was salt water too, I don’t know how I knew that so easily, but I did. I didn’t even register the smell of the salt in the air.

In the water though, there were … creatures. At the time, I couldn’t believe what I’d found. There were at least a dozen of them, most of them were female, but there were a couple of males in there as well, which surprised me. I thought mermaids were only women. What were the men called? Mermen? That didn’t sound right to me, but I didn’t dwell on it as I stepped forward. Instantly, I found myself being pulled to the surface of the water. One of the mer… men?, had reached up and grabbed my hair. I could see that he had the body of a well-toned pretty boy for his torso, and it looked like his lower half was that of a shark - including the twin pistols that were a trademark of sharks.

I found that hard to believe, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from them for a moment before looking at his face, as best I could.

“Who are you?” He asked me. I just sighed.

“My name is Rebecca Knight.” I answered. “I’m just looking for a way out.” That seemed to appease him for the moment, at the very least, for he let go of my hair and let me sit up a bit.

“Are you another of those that are trapped here?” One of the mermaids asked as she approached. Her hair was a gorgeous shade of teal that seemed to shift to cyan as it reached the tips, and it matched her eyes perfectly.

“Yes… I am. I woke up here weeks ago.” I answered honestly, and with a nod. There was no reason to lie to them, was there?

“What is this place?” I found myself asking, even before my brain was able to fully understand that I shouldn’t ask them that. I didn’t know if they would have an unbiased answer, or if they would be biased towards the place in either a good or a bad sense.

The merman just sighed slightly as he looked to me, before looking to the mermaid that had approached.

“This place? It’s hell.” He answered bluntly.

“They are looking for someone that will allow them complete control of everything on this planet, whether they be mortal, magical, or a creature.” He continued. I didn’t get a chance to say anything.

“And all of us here, we’re all test subjects. Either here to be tested to find out if we are the one they are looking for, or here to be used as something to test various ‘treatments’ on.” He added.

“What? What would they do to you? Aren’t… aren’t you guys overly durable?” I asked.

“Not really. You’d be surprised. Fish are rather fragile creatures, one could argue.” The mermaid stated.

“What they have done to some of those that are here, and others that have never returned, I don’t think I want to know.” He continued. “It takes all we have to stay alive most days, as well.”

I listened to his tale, his story. He bore a lot to me, I guess I was one that was easily trusted. I wasn’t going to complain, any information I obtained, I figured I could use, would be extremely useful.

At the end, he’d asked for my help, asked that if I managed to find a way out, that I would help them escape. I agreed, of course, for I saw some of the scars and open wounds that some of them had. They had my sympathy, definitely, and I found myself just praying that they weren’t someone that I couldn’t trust.

They did give me one interesting piece of information. The one of them that had been their medic had been taken. Her name?

Kaylee.

It seemed that the woman I’d met before, wasn’t there of her own volition; at least not completely. It was possible, if not probably, that she’d been coerced into helping to save the others that were there, or that were back in the ocean she called home. I had no way to know, but I know that when I last saw her, there was something odd in her eyes, something I couldn’t put a finger on then, but couldn’t forget.

As I left, I just sighed slightly, and started heading the direction I thought was East. They had mentioned that they were pretty sure that an exit was to the East, but weren’t sure. I took their suggestion, solely because it seemed as if they needed help just as much as I did, if not more so than I.

I was walking for nearly an hour, I think, before I found a door that seemed to be barricaded more than the others. It had several locks on it, and there was no way that I thought it was the exit. If I were to guess, it was the way into the lair of the beast, so to speak. It was probably where the diabolical plans of all this resided, where the ruler of this place sat dormant, waiting, watching.

I steeled my nerves, since they were jumping a mile a minute, end sighed slightly as I put my ear to the door to listen. It was mostly silent on the other side, which was odd, I’d expected to hear something, anything, but instead it was pretty close to dead silent in there.

“The hell?” I wondered aloud, not picking up on the footsteps that were approaching me as I focused on the door. I didn’t notice the other person until I heard Riley’s voice behind me, and felt his hand in my hair, pulling me away from the door.

“I knew it wasn’t a good idea to leave you alone.” He snarled as he quickly unlocked the door and shoved me in.

Inside the room, I could barely breathe. It felt stuffy, unnatural, and ridiculously unbalanced in there. I don’t know what it was that felt unbalanced exactly, but something did, and it didn’t feel right to me. I didn’t get a chance to comment on it, or really think anything of it, as I was shoved to the floor.

While on my hands and knees, I noticed something on the floor. It seemed that there were far more ants than one would have expected in a room like that. They were traveling almost rhythmically as well. Then again, everything seemed to have a rhythm to me, so it wasn’t surprising. I always found I could concentrate better if I found some sort of beat, some sort of backing ‘music’ in my life. It was something that I’d always thought was odd, but I found myself thinking that less at the moment, since Riley had claimed I was a siren. I may not have had time to dwell on it, but it was enough time for me to figure that maybe, just maybe, he was right.

“The little bitch decided to snoop” Riley’s voice snapped out as I got to my feet and looked around. Almost the entire room was dark, I couldn’t seen more than ten feet in front of me. I could feel though, that the darkness was deep, that there was several feet, if not meters, in the darkness. I knew, as well, that I would end up lost within the depths really easily. I’d never been good with navigation, after all.

“Just as well.” Was the reply. I couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from, since it almost sounded as if it was coming from all around me. It was … odd, to say the least. What was it that one was to think here? Where was one to focus? I quickly found that I couldn’t focus, the air in the room was making it hard.

Everything was starting to get hazy, but not like how it was when Riley had grabbed me before I woke up, bound to that table. It almost felt as if my head was being filled with cotton, I guess would be a good way to explain it.

“Perhaps it’s high time we stepped up our game. We’ve had her for nearly two months now-” I panicked a bit. Two months? Seriously? How had I lost so much time? “-it is high time that we set into motion what we have had planned for generations now.”

I didn’t get a chance to say anything, to move, to even breathe, before Riley shoved me towards the darkness, the shadows. I attempted to stop, tried to avoid going in there, and I did succeed… for a moment. It was short lived, that success, for there were suddenly a pair of shadowed arms reached out and grabbed me. They pulled me in far quicker than I could prepare, and I found myself on my knees in the darkness.

I looked around, but I couldn’t see anything. There was nothing there as far as I could see. Even looking behind me, towards where it was that I had come from, and all I could see were the shadows. They were everywhere, and it didn’t take long before I realized that they were what I felt that was suffocating me when I walked in. How Riley wasn’t affected, I don’t know, and I don’t think I want to know.

“You’re the one.” The voice said as I, barely, heard Riley’s footsteps retreating. As the door closed, I felt as if my only means of escape closed with it. I was trapped, and I was quickly finding that I could barely even move, barely breathe.

“I’ll make you one with me, and you’ll help.” The voice continued. “With you, we will be able to make it that we aren’t feared, at least not as we are.”

“Wh… what? What do you mean?” I asked, curious.

“We’re feared because no one understands what we are. All of us non-human, non-’normal’ creatures.” The voice answered, some anger to it as I felt some shadowed hands that I couldn’t see grasp me. I felt their grip around my arms, my legs, arms around my torso, my head… my neck. It was getting harder to breathe, and I was sure that they would kill me.

I wanted to fight them off, I desperately wanted to, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t move, and it was getting to the point that I could barely even think. It was as if it was starting to meld into me.

“We will use you, use your abilities, and make it that we’re feared because we deserve it.” The voice snarled. “We’ll own them, control them. We will make them our fucking pets!”

That was it. I couldn’t let that happen.

Every instinct within me was fighting with the hands, the paralysis, the death that seemed to be on the horizon. I wouldn’t give in, I couldn’t give in… no… no. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t!

I felt the grasps loosen a bit, it seemed that my determination was enough for the moment.

“What are you doing!?” The voice snarled before I felt something pull me up to my feet. Moments later, I felt as if I was on a cross or something that I couldn’t see. I was above the ‘ground’, somehow I knew that, and just hanging there, limp, my arms out as it felt as if I was being pulled in half.

“I will have you. And you will help.” The voice threatened as I felt … something… get close to me. I couldn’t breathe, and it didn’t take long, before everything was… gone.

My name is Rebecca Knight.

I was an eighteen year old fresh highschool graduate before this. Before I was pulled into this world, this place.

I’d always been afraid of death, and of how I seemed to always be able to get people to do what I wanted. I’d always chalked it up to just be a very charismatic person, but it seems that wasn’t the case. It would take me a long time before I would naturally die, but as I am now, I’ll never die. Not so long as it wants me kept alive.

I was a siren. My shocking blonde locks and deep sea blue eyes helped verify that when I learned it, even if I didn’t truly believe it at the time.

My voice was my power, and I knew that. I always had, and I always will. Now though, it’s far stronger than it had been before.

Of course, everyone thinks I’m insane. ‘There’s no such thing as sirens’ I’m told.

‘There’s no such thing as mermaids, or mermen’ they say.

I know they are wrong, and I know that what I house inside of me is something that could destroy life as everyone knows it. Of course, I will never let it out. I will never allow it to be free. When I finally go to the grave, it will come with me. It will be buried with me. I have it locked away, locked and there is no key to unlock it.

I could get out of there, I could use my voice and get out of this asylum, but no. I’m not going to. I’m going to stay here where I’m safe, where I know that the thing inside of me will stay hidden. I’ll let them think I’m insane, that I’m completely and utterly off my rocker.

I’ll maintain this illusion.

It’s for the best.

It’s for everyone else.

I don’t know what happened to the merpeople that I had met. Nor do I know what happened to Riley or Kaylee. I don’t think I truly care though.

I’m now twenty-seven, and I’m telling my tale. Perhaps… perhaps someone will find this, and will believe me. If no one does though, it’s just as well.

I can keep this world safe.

Even if it kills me, I will keep that thing inside me.

I swear it.