"I will make sure to ruin you."
The wind blows my hot face. The words echo in my mind, a shudder running down my spine. "12." Adam stares at me, watching me with a knowing look. He and Lord Rhodon had returned a few hours ago, and the moment Adam walked inside the Villa, I dragged him to my room and told him everything that had happened in the bathroom between me and Ventura, leaving out the conversation of the siren's curse.
"I admit I'm alil jealous. To be having a secret romance with the man you work for. Or 'bound' to." Adam mimics Ventura's voice, earning a playful shove.
"I don't love Lord Ventura. And he doesn't love me." I speak matter-of-factly, crossing my arms and leaning over the balcony railing. Staring out into the sea. The moon was large and bright, leaving nothing to hide from its silvery glow.
"He's a man unable to love..." The words leave my tongue, and I listen to Adam click his tongue in annoyance. I say nothing.
"12. Tomorrow, Lord Rhodon and Lord Ventura will be at the castle throughout the day, as well as the prince. You and I should explore Astrolia." He changes topic skillfully, I glance at him, and he stares with hopeful eyes. I let out a soft, light-hearted sigh.
"Still determined to write?"
"...Even after my realization, I cannot afford to not write...."
He makes me forget the unease I feel.
Adam and I plan things out for tomorrow before bidding each other goodnight. The door closes behind him as my hand grips the golden knob of the oak door before pulling away. Our rooms were located farthest from the stairs. Rhodon in the first room, Ventura, second, Adam, third, and I, fourth. I walk towards my bed and sit down on the edge. It was softer and nicer than my bed in Cornelia. The silence makes my thoughts drift back to Lord Ventura and his words and actions.
It is unnatural and foreign for him to act in such a way. To act brashly and purely on instinct.
Instinct.
Sometime within the night, I fall asleep, even despite the anxiousness that graced my heart and mind and seeped into my very bones. The next day, Lord Rhodon and Ventura leave just before sunrise. It wasn't odd to not be around Lord Ventura as I had been for the last few days prior. Back in Cornelia, I would go days without seeing the man, unless having made a mistake that needed either correction or punishment.
So, me and Adam ate breakfast with just us and met the staff.
The woman from the day before was Priscella, a stubborn and scowling woman, the overseer of everything within the house, outside, and around all of Astrolia. While her husband, Clarin, the chef, was a rather light-hearted boisterous man, with an amazing sense of smell and taste, while their son, quiet and timid, named Stephen. He was that gardener and helped his mother and father where he could. Which made him awfully busy. While the last two servants were two guards, Loren and Lorena. Twins, with the same quiet and stoic personalities. Neither of them spoke and kept to their duty of walking around the perimeter of the Villa. Having done so five times that morning, and before we left.
The carriage takes us through the town, getting to see the people doing their normal chores, seeing the kids play and run up and down the cobblestone street roads. "To think this was us years ago." Adam jolts down everything he sees, and he speaks without looking at him.
"... It's crazy... Though the streets are far cleaner than ours was."
Adam looks at me with a sly grin. "Remember that one time when I fell into the sewer water?" I shake my head, remembering the horrendous smell.
"And started crying 'cause your mom wouldn't let you in the house when you went home because you smelled bad," I remembered the scene vividly, with Adam sobbing and his father dragging him off to the river and bathing him. Due to his mother refusing to dirty the new metal bath she had gotten the week previously.
"I was so scared."
"It was funny."
Ignoring his playful eye roll, the carriage came to a stop just outside the town due to Adam's request. The leather bag latched to my side and a wooden basket in my hand. Holding our lunch, we waved the carriage off, watching it disappear around the bend and back into town. We stood on a tall grassy hill beside the dirt road, while both sides of the hill were covered in a thick wall of trees.
"Off to adventure," Adam spoke with a wide smile, placing his pencil and notebook back into his leather bag and pulling out a wooden stake and a long rolled-up bundle of twine. Tying it onto the wooden stake. "What are you doing?" Watched him place the stake into the ground, using the heel of his foot to make sure the stake didn't move.
"I don't have a map and don't really know the land well. So, the twine we'll lead us back here, so we don't get lost." I nod along as he walks backward, his eyes on the stake, and giving it a hard tug. The wooden piece doesn't move. He smiles in triumph.
"Let's go!" We walk into the tropical forest, taking and sharing our thoughts and ideas on the brightly light forest, the twine creating a way back.
"Look a parrot!" My gaze moves up, spotting a beautiful blue parrot minding its business high above the ground. The jungle was filled with several different unique animals, with perfect coats and feathers, all elegant and beautiful.
We keep walking, sharing our discoveries. "12! 12! Is that a waterfall!?" They don't exist within Cornelia. The sounds of rushing water fill my ears as we stumble across the running water. My jaw nearly drops as I stare at it. Nothing in books nor pictures that I had witnessed could ever have prepared me for the natural beauty of a waterfall.
Before I know it, Adam is attaching the twine to a tree and stripped down to his briefs. "What are you doing!?" I yelp as Adam flung himself into the water, resurfacing with a wide grin. "It's soo cold! Haha!" He laughs giddily, moving around the water with not a single fear. I move away from the water's edge and find a dry patch of grass, placing down the picnic blanket and basket.
"12! 12! Come swim with me!"
"No, thanks."
I watch him touch the waterfall, shrieking at the coldness, before laughing. I kick off my shoes and socks, undoing the pale brown corset, despite my rejection. The wish to touch the waterfall is stronger than common sense. I strip down until I'm in my knickers and brassiere. I inch into the water, using the edge of the water to walk to the waterfall.
"Gotcha!" A yelp leaves my mouth as Adam's arms go under my arms, lodging them in my armpits and forcing me into the water, using his body as a float to hold me up. "You scared me!"
"That was the point." He snickers in my ear before shifting to where he wadded the water in front of me, helping me wade into the deepest part of the pond. Slowly inching me towards the waterfall. "If I drown-"
"You won't. Promise."
He has a wide grin as the waterfall's loud rushing water nearly submerges me as I'm pulled through it. A surprised scream leaves my lips as I cling to Adam, who was chortling as he pulls us to the other side. One arm wrapped around my waist, his the other wiped the water from my face with a laugh, allowing me to see the cave behind the waterfall.
"Check this out."
He moves and allows me to grab the rocky edge of the cave, before hauling himself out and moving to find a ledge so that I could easily climb out of the deep pond. "Move over here. It isn't as deep." I move to the left, till my feet touch the ground and Adam helps me out with a small smile. "That wasn't so bad." I glare at him, and he only laughs, grabbing my hand and pulling me deeper into the cave. It wasn't extremely dark, as sunlight filtered through the cracks of the cave ceiling. The cave descends deeper, gradually getting darker, and the frigid air makes me shiver.
"12. Are you cold?"
"Freezing," I mutter, my hands running along my arms quickly as we walked. Adam walked a few feet ahead of me.
"I was... But it's warm. Like alil too warm." He mutters and, as if I passed into a distinctly different world, the air suddenly warms. I stop in place and Adam does the same.
".. Are you warm 12?" He looks at me with concern-filled eyes. I nod hesitantly. Without a second word, we turn around and begin to run, but the floor is suddenly too slick to run upwards and I go backward, tumbling into Adam, both of us falling deeper into the cave.
I hear Adam say something, the solid floor leaving me as I flailed through the air. It's pitch black and I plunge painfully into a deep pit of water. My heart hammers in my chest, and I frantically kick up to the surface for air, something forcing me deeper into the dark pit. I can't see nor hear Adam anymore.
My thoughts are frantic as I lose oxygen, my eyes growing heavy and my lungs begging for fresh air.
'I need you again.'
The voice echoes from the water, straightforward and simple, my hands fly around, before grabbing what seemed like the ledge of something. In a panic, I haul myself, taking in a deep panicked breath of air and coughing aggressively. My arms and legs ache from my frantic movement.
"Adam!" I screamed out my friend's name, dragging myself out of the water and landing on my side, exhausted and tired. I roll onto my side, moving from the water's edge, and staring at the high rock ceiling. It's dark, a lot darker and I realize I'm not in the same place. Instead of sunlight illuminating the dark, it's a torch.
"Welcome to my abode." I nearly fall and spin around with surprise. A man with crimson eyes and tan skin, he stares at me with a bored expression, his long black hair with streaks of white tied into a ponytail. I recognize him and I nearly leap away.
"You're that siren."
"And you are the human woman that survived my song." I move further away and watch the siren haul himself from the water. He sits on the ledge, and I can't help but stare. He had a long vibrant black and red tail, with a red and blackfin that lined his back, covering his spine.
"Why? Why am I here?"
"Because, human. You will help me, like before. Not like you have a choice, but--"
"Why would I help you?" I cut him off and watch his scales shimmer a brighter red. Before settling in their dark color, he glares at me and scoffs.
"You prefer to starve?" I don't respond, and he clicks his tongue and crosses his arms. "As I thought. I need a patron. And I chose you." He shifts, and he turns to where I looked at him fully. I cross my arms and glare at him.
"No."
He stares at me and looks offended before muttering a 'fine' and diving into the dark water and not resurfacing. Leaving me alone in his cave. I cross my legs and sit down on the ground, sitting in the warm in silence. Refusing to move.
Hours pass, and suddenly my stomach feels extra empty, and my eyes burn with frustrated tears. I find myself inching towards the ledge and looking into the deep water cautiously. If working with Lord Ventura taught you anything, it was to cut your losses.
"How would I be your patron?" Red scales glimmered, and the siren resurfaced with a small grin. I move away as his hands grab the ledge, pulling himself out of the water. "I have not walked amongst man for centuries. So, I do not understand much about the new human age, so you will take care of that. Expend several coffers on yours truly. Acquire clothing, food, and a dry place to sleep. Preferably somewhere extravagant. It is what I desire and deserve."
"I--Why?"
"Simple. I am exhausted of the ocean. I have lived above and within it's waters, for far too long. And you will grant me that reprieve."
He ushers me to sit beside him. Grabbing my wrist forcefully, I yelp in pain, but his grip doesn't lessen. Using his short sharp nails cut my wrist, drawing blood and bringing it up to his lips, he drinks my blood. I watch with wide eyes, watching his long black tongue seal the wound, dropping my arm carelessly.
He does the same thing to his right wrist, not giving me a chance to object, his left hand grabbing the back of my head, forcing my mouth onto his wrist. "This will bind us." It's bitter and sweet and thick, like drinking melted ice cream. After 10 seconds, I pull away with a cough, my throat burns and I cover my mouth.
"Why?"
"I need legs to do human stuff. Your blood with giving me the human legs I need. My blood will make sure you don't die nor escape me."
The world feels hazy, and I feel my body move forward, dropping into the water and the cold.