Chapter Text
1
Sailors are easy to lure to the rocks. The dulcet tones of my singing easily hypnotizing them. Suddenly, all they can think of is needing to reach me. I promise all they could ever want, their deepest desires.
And I bring them death.
Bones and sunken ships litter the rocks below the waves. Blood stains the stones where I lounge, singing my deadly song.
Fish are tasty, but drowned sailors taste even better.
Fog swirled around my rocky outcrop, but I could still hear the creek of a boat in the distance.
Could this be my next meal?
I started softly with a gentle hum, low enough they wouldn’t notice, then I opened my mouth and started to sing, keeping my voice sweet and quiet.
The words were not in a human tongue, twisting through the mind, relaxing and coaxing closer.
Slowly, a row boat started to emerge from the fog and I could faintly see two humans inside.
Then a gun shot went off, the bullet missing me by inches.
Throwing myself off the rock, I hissed, baring my teeth, song dying in my throat.
I could see the humans clearly now as their little craft drifted closer. It was clear that they hadn’t been rowing it, the currents bringing them to me.
Both in tattered clothing, both splattered in blood, one with darker hair, mortally wounded, a large amount of blood staining the left side of his shirt, sitting in the bottom of the boat and leaning against the other, unconscious and in pain.
The other had much lighter hair, his startlingly blue eyes wide as he watched me, a gun shaking in his hands as he held it out stretched, pointed in my direction.
I could see the one who was awake taking in my form. The long flowing hair, the naked human upper half and the fish tail that was my lower body, my razor sharp teeth and claws that I used to rip his kind to shreds.
I… was having an emotion. There was a feeling in my chest that I couldn’t place. This was not how things usually happened. I was used to ships of men lusting after me, seeking kisses and tender touches as I pulled them deeper into the water, or men seeking to hunt me, anger filling their eyes until my song wormed their way into their minds. Never had I encountered something like this.
Slowly, I pulled myself back up onto the rock, inching closer as the blonde haired man trembled, his eyes going a little wild from fear.
As I moved, I kept my eyes on his, ignoring the gun and the danger that it posed.
“P-please.” The word passed his lips, a plea to be left alive, not wanting the death that my kind usually provided.
A smile played on my lips and I started to hum.
The fear intensified in his eyes, his finger tightening on the trigger and then his eyes glazed over and his body started to relax.
“Good boy.” I whispered, finally sliding close enough to pull their boat up against my rock.
Gently, I took the pistol from his hands and tossed it into the waves to join the bones and sunken ships. He wouldn’t need that anymore.
Reaching out, I caressed his cheek, leaning closer to look at a cut there. It seemed that these two had barely escaped something deadly only to float into the clutches of another. Poor things.
I pressed my lips to the cut, a gentle kiss and the taste of his blood on my lips. The cut began to close, as I eased the healing for him. Then I turned my attention to his friend.
Sliding into the boat, I rested lightly on his friend’s chest, peering down at the wound in his side.
As I did, the blonde haired man tensed, his fear for his companion helping him pull from my tune.
“Don’t-!“
I looked up, eyebrows raised as I met his fearful eyes. Opening my mouth, I let my humming switch to song, increasing the hold I had on him, reassuring, but he struggled, fighting. I could see it in his eyes and from the way his hand gripped the side of the little boat.
He must really love this other human to be fighting so hard.
I reached up, taking his face in my hands, careful not to put too much weight on his companion as I pulled his face down to mine.
“Easy, sweet one.” I whispered, before pressing my lips to his. For a moment, the human’s eyes went wide before they glazed over once more and his body relaxed.
“There we go.” I murmured as I pulled back to peer into his eyes.
Even fully under my control like this, his brow was still creased with worry.
He would have been fun to play with, I think. Maybe another time.
Turning my attention back to the black haired man, I pulled his shirt out of the way so I could more easily access the damage. Someone had stabbed a sword into his side. It was quite the grisly wound.
This would take more than a kiss to fix.
Bending down, I let my tongue glide along the wound and the man jerked, crying out in pain, the swiftly closing gash searing like a hot coal pressed to his side.
The blonde twitched, wanting to react, but unable to pull from my control. Sweet boy. I wondered if he’d be able to pull free if I gave him enough time… or if I were to kill his companion.
Glancing back down at the black haired man, I found deep blue eyes looking back at me, the pain having woken him.
Confusion crossed his face as he found a half naked individual resting against his chest, then he glanced down at the where the wound had been, pressing a hand to the spot before looking back at me.
Pressing my chest to his I smiled at him, watching the confusion intensify, his eyes flitting between mine, panicked.
Leaning closer, I pressed my lips to his and felt him relax as the other one had, the panic leaving him just as quickly as it had appeared. Soft and pliable.
I draped my arms around his neck, kissing him for a while longer, enjoying the feeling of his lips before pulling away to whisper in his ear.
“I’d love to keep you, but I don’t think you or your companion would survive for very long.”
A shudder ran through his body and I giggled softly.
“Let’s get you two to shore. You don’t belong here.”
When they woke, they were lying on a beach not too far from a large port town, a fog rolling in from the ocean.
I hoped they’d remember me. I’d remember them.