Chapter 3-Troubling Thoughts

Chapter 3

“Beautiful….. Yet dangerous….lured men to their deaths….” Sawyer whispered, horrified as his fingers flipped through the many pages depicting the beings that were the sirens. The painted images of distorted mermaids, all furious, all damaged with the burden of their rage, confused and terrified him, as their blood-red eyes, and scaly mouths of rows of sharpened incisors glared at him through the pages.

“Hey these sirens sound like a whole bunch of fun.” Marilyn snorted, shriveling her nose in disgust as she too perused the many cold words of the seemingly warmed pages, innocent in their facade of knowledge and learning.

“You act as if they’re real, which they are fortunately not, Marilyn.” Sawyer replied in what he hoped was a scholarly tone. For some reason, he wanted to hide what he had seen from even his best friend, the mysterious yet devastatingly beautiful creature that had both terrified and intrigued him. This creature, who had sung its song for him, a miraculous stream of notes both harmonious and malicious in nature that had enthralled and enraptured him completely and irreversibly. Her voice, as euphoric and saccharine as it was vengeful and sharp, still played over and over in his uncomprehending mind.

“Oh, really? You’re honestly going to play the denial card and pretend whatever monster you saw down there doesn’t exist and that you were hallucinating?” Marilyn glanced at him with a painted expression of disbelief and wariness. Sawyer cocked his head at his friend, and noticed her guarded eyes swimming in contempt and fury.

“Yes, I believe what I saw was simply an illusion. Nothing more.” Sawyer gulped, knowing he wasn’t very skilled at the art of lying, especially where Marilyn was involved. Marilyn responded by narrowing her eyes and slamming the book shut, creating a small breeze to her chocolate locks.

“We both know you saw something, Sawyer. Something the rest of those men didn’t, something so extraordinary and unreal it doesn’t seem true. Denying it isn’t going to help us figure out what it was and I want to help you, Sawyer. I want to know what this creature is, and if it's one we need to eliminate, or one we need to protect.” Marilyn told him, looking him right in the eyes with a grim-lipped frown.

“You’re right. I was being foolish to think I could hide anything from you.” Sawyer sighed, and Marilyn smirked, leaning forward and gazing at him intensely with eyes lit by the flames of the fire.

“You got that right, buddy. You can never hide anything from me. Ever.” Marilyn told him in a somewhat serious tone, and gave him quite a hard punch on the arm, which caused him to wince and cry out in pain. As if awakened by his cry of pain, his mother swooped into the doorway and sighed in relief as she realized Sawyer was fine, just momentarily in a state of pain thanks to a certain someone. He glared at Marilyn, and rubbed the sore spot on his arm before his mother cleared her throat, alerting them of her presence.

“Alright, Marilyn, I think it's about time you go home. Sawyer needs his rest.” His mother chastised from the doorway, her arms folded neatly across her chest and her loving yet warning smile shot straight at Marilyn.

“Alright, it’s about time I head home too, I’m pretty tired-” Marilyn began, glancing at the time on her phone and gasping.

“What now?” Sawyer grumbled, and she yawned rather loudly.

“It’s 3 am, for cripes’ sake. I’m freaking exhausted.” Marilyn replied, tucking her phone into her bag and leaning forward for one last hug, as Sawyer’s mother impatiently tapped her fingers against her arm, clearly waiting for the girl to leave.

“Don’t tell your mother or father what we’re trying to do or what we’ve discovered. This is just between you and me, okay?’ Marilyn whispered into his ear as she hugged him gently. Bewildered, Sawyer began to reply when she pulled back and cheerfully swung her bag over her shoulder.

“Thank you for coming, Marilyn. He really needed a friend tonight after such a scare.” His mother thanked her, wrapping the girl in her arms and giving her a maternal hug.

“Of course. I’m off to get some much-needed sleep after this wonderfully eventful night. Glad you’re not dead, Sawyer.” Marilyn winked at him as she left the doorway and yanked open the front door, entering the chilly night as the snow fell onto her heavy jacket and hair. His mother bid her goodbye once more and shut the door, encasing the warmth of the house, and glanced at her son worriedly.

“Honey, are you sure you feel okay? Does your head hurt or do you feel warm enough? I could get you a cup of hot chocolate, some more blankets…” His mother rambled, fiddling with the blankets on his bed nervously, chattering incessantly.

“I’m fine, Mom. Really. How is Dad holding up?” Sawyer asked, resisting the urge to roll his eyes as he thought of his father, of his petrified state, of his glassy eyes staring at absolutely nothing at all, at the pulse that seemed nonexistent just a few hours ago on that wretched lake. The lake that was once familiar and harmless, now darkened with the mystery of the treacherous creatures that lurked, ready to strike and ready to kill at anyone that dared disturb them.

“I’ve been better.” His father replied gruffly from the doorway, his mouth  twisted into a grim frown and the jagged scar glowing with flickers of gold and flaming orange from the light of the fire.

“I’ll let you two be alone.” His mother nodded knowingly, and smiled rather forlornly, shutting the door and gliding off to the kitchen for some cathartic cooking. His father, staying as silent as the still waters of the lake, plopped down on the bed and simply stared at his son, his expression unreadable.

“How are you feeling?” His father finally asked, his knuckles turning pasty white from clenching them tightly on the blankets.

“Tired, but fine. I’m honestly not feeling horrible, Dad. I’m okay.” Sawyer told him and his father pursued his chapped lips, biting down on them pensively.

“Listen to me, son. What happened, I’m not entirely sure myself. Whenever I try to  think about what went wrong, all I get is a bright flash and then nothing. It hurts when I think too hard about it.” His father gestured to his scar and winced, a bolt of pain hitting him right in his dreadfully vivid scar.

“Best not to think about it. As far as I’m concerned, it was a terrible coincidence and completely random. The engine probably gave out, or some big fish ran into the boat. Whatever the reason, I’m just glad we’re safe now.” Sawyer chose his words carefully, revealing nothing about the creature or that he found the lake to be quite dangerous and full of lurking evils, evils he was sure to uncover sooner or later.

“I have a feeling something went wrong, son. It wasn’t the boat, that boat has been running fine all these years and it wouldn’t stop working just because it's old. I can’t quite figure it out but I know that lake is dangerous. And I don’t want you going anywhere near it until I know what it is.” His father told him seriously, his eyes narrowed in suspicion as he pondered what could have possibly caused such a devastating attack on his son and the fishermen on his most beloved boat.

“Dad, come on. You’re being ridiculous-”Sawyer began, but his father held up a beefy hand to silence him.

“I’m not taking any chances, Sawyer. I love you, and I’m not going to risk you getting hurt again, by whatever horrible thing is out there. You are not going into that lake again. Period. If I catch you near that lake or on that boat, you’re going to face consequences. I’ve already discussed this with your mother, and she’s agreed wholeheartedly, we don’t want this to happen again. That was way too close, my son. I thought I had lost you.” His father murmured softly, and Sawyer noticed the immense worry lurking in his father’s deceivingly strong and steady eyes. His smile was immensely sad, and full of fear and love.

“Sorry, Dad. I’ll try not to die again. But I’m fine, really.” Sawyer cracked a grin, hoping to lighten the mood as his dad’s eyes crinkled and his smile brought his lips to a full circle grin of impish joy.

“I’m just so glad you’re okay, Sawyer. Now get some rest, you’ve been through enough tonight.” His father smiled and ruffled his hair, though Sawyer grimaced and inched away from his hand. The light was switched off but the flickering glow of the fire illuminated the room, giving off a cheerful and warm vibe to the room as outside the sheer cold lingered and draped over the lake as a silent adversary. Sawyer already felt his eyelids drooping with exhaustion. This time, no song was played in his mind and the notes of his thoughts were silent and alarmingly subdued. This time, the song was silent, and it was one he did not welcome entirely.