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6
Sing Me To Sleep
Katrina
“Mom!” I shouted once more, getting her attention. She glanced up, yanking her hand from the water and backing up from the edge.
Mom seemed to shake herself loose from the grip in which her siren side held her. I remembered all too well what it felt like to fade in and out like that, making decisions in a fog, only to regain my senses and question what I was doing. It was mental anguish, like a swirling cyclone of confusion and chaos. So I pitied Mom, knowing what she was experiencing. It had to be somewhat scary for her.
As the faraway look in her eye dwindled, I placed myself near her, rubbing the siren scale around my wrist with my thumb. “I know you wanted to see the ocean, but this old dock on the bay is nothing compared to the beaches here. You’ll see,” I said, stepping closer to her so that I was speaking softly enough for just her to hear “Do you remember that lullaby you used to hum to me when I was a kid? Did you know it’s actually about the ocean?”
“Really? What a coincidence. I never knew there were words….” Mom’s voice trickled off with a hint of suspicion.
“Yeah, it’s actually a beautiful song. Want me to teach you?” With the last question, I felt my own siren flicker within. She relished at the thought of putting my mom under her spell, of controlling someone else entirely. And I felt a riling in my stomach that made me queasy. I had to stop taking my time before my conscience talked me out of it. I hoped my scale bracelet would help channel enough magic on its own to keep an appearance from my alter ego from taking place.
“Sure, Katrina,” Mom chuckled uncomfortably, clearly aware that my question was somewhat out of place.
I opened my mouth to sing. The scale glowed faintly, but I still felt the shift in my mind and body; the siren within taking the reins of my inner being. Human Katrina faded into the background as her alter took charge. I wondered if my eyes were shining vivid blue yet, but by the way my mom tilted her head and pressed her brows, I knew some kind of change must’ve been visible.
Ignoring my friends watching a few yards away, I carefully formed each syllable and line, my voice rising and falling melodically in a way even I had never stopped to fully listen to before. It was hauntingly beautiful, like no earthly voice could compare. The tone of my voice rang with eerie hints of Cordelia, but my song was lighter; a bit more delicate than hers. Certainly a siren song all my own.
I focused my energy on Mom, each tone and lyric carrying a spritz of power that washed over her. As I sang, the words faded, and it was just my melody driving her on. I told her to step onto the boat, and she clumsily did so. Bellamy and Noah rushed to her to help her over the bobbing hull. Once she was on board, I commanded her to sleep deeply.
At first, she lingered, standing on the boat, mindless and entranced, and for a moment I feared I’d either lost my hold on her or that she was resistant. But a few seconds later her eyelids fluttered and she lost her balance, collapsing into the ready arms of Noah and Bellamy. I stopped singing.
“Get her to a bed,” I ordered, more harshly than I meant to. I watched as they carried her into the cabin, disappearing down the small flight of steps where they’d take her to one of the two sleeping suites.
I had to take a minute to shake myself free of the siren in command of my own mind. I didn’t like to let her have control for long, but I’d at least learned how to reel her in before she got too far—at least for now. When I looked at McKenzie, who watched on with a pale, concerned demeanor, I felt sick again.
“Was it that bad?” I winced, tucking my neck into my shoulders.
“No, no, not at all,” McKenzie muttered, looking around as if trying to relax her expression. “It’s just always kind of freaky to watch your best friend mind control people. I’m not gonna lie, it’s kinda scary.”
“It’s not just scary for you,” I mumbled. “I didn’t know what else to do.” I shuffled my feet nervously and looked down. “Come on, let’s go check on her.”
I made my way into the yacht’s interior, checking the smallest bedroom suite on board. It was simple, with a twin-sized bed pressed to the back wall, an interior wall to the right and a window with an outside view of the sea on the left. My mom rested peacefully on the mattress, her soft breaths rising and falling like the lulling motion of the boat.
“How do we know she’s gonna stay like that the entire trip?” Noah asked softly, as if trying not to wake her.
“I don’t,” I admitted, remembering when I lost my grip on the crewman on Cordelia’s boat. “I guess I’ll have to come in here every few hours and sing to her again, just to make sure she stays put under.”
“And she’s not going to remember any of this when she wakes up?” McKenzie raised an eyebrow.
“I can’t say for sure, but back in Nassau when Milo was controlled by Cordelia—she made him attack me—he didn’t remember any of it when he came to, so that’s my anecdotal guess.”
“Well, I can say for sure.” I wasn’t expecting Bellamy to chime in, but I was glad he offered his input. “When Cordelia would control enemy crews and captains for my father, they never remembered a thing. Quite the perk.”
“Well, that’s good, I guess,” I sighed.
Bellamy hesitated, parting his lips to speak and then glancing down at my mother, who roused a bit in her sleep, turning her head in a way that made us all freeze in our spots. “Just keep her under and we shouldn’t have any problems.” Bellamy shrugged with a whisper. He turned to leave the suite, and we followed him out before locking the door behind us.
Disappointment made me shudder as the siren in me swelled with pride at the sight of putting my mother to sleep. The way her will relentlessly grappled with mine was wearing me down. She was getting hard to control.
7
Lilies and Coconut
Bellamy
