Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Jaelyn had her newest victim’s humble little shack within her sights, and as she drew back her hood, the moon shimmering off the length of golden curls, she took in a calming breath before she began. Her voice rose sweetly in the air, a hush falling over the creatures within earshot, as they listened to the eerily beautiful tone escaping the woman’s lips. But ah, this was no human woman, of this the surrounding creatures were sure. This was a creature known to humans as a Siren – hauntingly beautiful, known for their voices which lured men to their deaths on the high seas. Why had this one strayed so far from her native homeland? Of this, they could only speculate, as none of this area knew the tale of why this sister of the Sirens had left.

The Siren herself was unaware of the creatures of the wooded area, so focused was she on lifting her voice just enough to wake the little shack’s occupant, though not as much as it would attract attention of the neighbours of this little farming community... She had already plucked a victim from this area, and she knew she would need to move on soon as to not be discovered, but one more little human life to take with her on the road would not do her any harm...

Spying the door to the hovel creak open, she started to walk back the way she had come, knowing full well that her voice would lure the man to her even if he could not see a foot in front of his face – which would not be the case this night as the moon lit up the forest, leading the way for her back to the little glade of wildflowers she had taken up residence in while she was in the area. Reaching the glade with no problem, her voice still strong and eerie in the night’s air, she arranged her blue skirts about her legs as she sat upon a slab of stone that lay near the center of the clearing. Her delicate looking hand grasped about the handle of a wicked looking dagger, her gaze faced away from where she figured the man would come from, a smirk folding onto her beautiful features, morphing her into something sinister.

All she had to do now was sing. Sing, and wait...

--

He awoke from a troubled slumber, confused at first as to why he was pulled from the dreams of days past until he heard a faint sound, a whisper of a tune tickling his senses from the other side of the wall. There was someone singing outside... A woman, from the sound of the higher pitched tone. Whatever could a woman be doing outside at such a late hour? It was dangerous for a lone woman to be outside during the evening hours, a wayward group of highway men might attack, or a wild animal could harm the poor thing... as a man of the small farming settlement, it was his duty to make sure the lady reached home to her family safe and sound.

At least, that was what any man of this settlement would be thinking if they were woken from their sleep to the sound of a singing woman outside in the middle of a cloudless night. The man quickly pulled on his footwear, slipping a small blade into the higher lip of the leather boot, not bothering with a jacket – it was a mild night, and he would need every advantage he could to get closer to the creature. This Maiden was smart... just not that smart.

With a final check to see if the rings were still on his fingers where he had left them, Ezekiel slipped out of the door and into the night, wax and cotton in his ears preventing the Siren from taking his mind over with her song... and followed. Tonight... tonight would be the night. He would find her, trap her, and extract his revenge upon the beautiful creature... and he would love every moment of it.

“The time is now, Jaelyn...” he muttered to himself, his voice drowned out by the woman’s singing...

--

Jaelyn heard a twig snap, a rustling of the brush from a ways behind her, and she smiled, her fingers brushing over the dagger in her hands. There he was... Now all she had to do was to saunter over to him, slam this lovely little dagger into his chest, and take what she needed from him. “Come closer, if you could?” she asked lightly, her voice silky and inviting, and waited. He heeded her call, but something felt off... there was none of the babbling that usually came along with a human trapped under her spell. That was odd enough for her to look over her shoulder.

The man had a knife in his hand.

“Oh, bloody hell!” she screamed, jumping to her feet, her own blade held snugly in her hand. She didn’t know how to fight properly, of course – the ones she usually used this blade against were almost always commenting on how pretty she looked, or how a lady of her calibre should not be roaming through the forests this time of night – not pointing steel at her. “You couldn’t have just gone quietly, could you have?”

The man smiled – a handsome smirk, if Jaelyn had to describe it – and spoke to her, his voice loud and resounding in the dead quiet of the clearing. “I go down screaming, no matter where I am, Jaelyn. You should know this... You were the one who killed me in the first place...”

The woman looked on in confusion. How did this man, tall and well bodied, groomed too well for a man of a tiny farming community, know her name? And how did he keep her song from effecting him? Her eyes searched his form, trying to find something – anything – that would lead her to her answers... She had made no connections with humans, at least none that she hadn’t killed afterwards... Searching, searching, but nothing. Nothing until she came to the eyes, those bright, clear, laughing eyes, the colour of the ocean near the island where she had been born... This was the man, the first one that she had ended up killing on her own all those years ago... The only man of a three hundred soul ship that had made it past the roaring waves, the biting rocks, all the way up the winding trail to her and her singing voice, waiting in the meadow of wildflowers. “Ezekiel...” she breathed, not quite believing it – but those eyes...

“In the flesh!” he chirped, tipping an imaginary hat in her direction, laughing out loud at her confusion. How dare he...

She shook her head, not believing that he was actually before her, in a different flesh with the same windows to the soul as that man. “But... But I killed you! With my own two hands, and this blade – more than three decades ago! This is... This is impossible!”

"Impossible is not in my vocabulary, Jaelyn, not anymore. I’ve been reborn by a gracious God,” he was explaining, rolling his shoulders and looking as if what he was saying was nothing less than normal. “It took a while, but I finally tracked you down..."

“And now that you have found me, what do you intend on doing to me?” she spat, finally adding her voice to his amused tone. “It must have been torturous, watching the rest of your crew die, while you, their Captain, was the only one to survive to shore... Only to have your life snatched away! You going to kill me?” Her full lips turned up into a smirk as she tossed her hair, the blond curls bouncing against her back.

Beginning to circle the siren, his blade held loosely in his grip, as if not taking the mythical creature before him seriously, Ezekiel spoke. “There is a saying that I learned – not once, but twice, mind you – from two separate mothers. They are both wise, wise women... Would you like to hear what they told me?” Ezekiel paused, allowing Jaelyn a chance to speak. She did not rise to the bait, though. Without missing a beat, he continued, “’Don’t get mad, get even,’ they told me... and that is what I intend on doing.”

Without a warning, the man slammed foreword, quickly pressing the woman to the little outcrop she had been waiting for him upon. She screamed in anger, kicking her legs out and trying to stab the man with the dagger, but he slammed her arm several times against rocks. Her hand opened on the last hit, the dagger falling harmlessly away, and another cry of anger escaped her lips... He had overwhelmed her so easily! For the first time in all her years, she felt a sliver of fear.

The woman pinned, assured that she was not going to be any trouble, he moved his left hand before her face. Removing the silver ring on his smallest finger, he grabbed at her left hand, forcing the ring onto her fourth finger – the same finger that he still had a ring upon.

Her screams silenced, and Jaelyn’s eyes widened. Her voice had just stopped working as soon as the ring was placed around her finger... What had he done?

Ezekiel wasted no time in gloating his victory, moving away and picking up her dagger. “We humans have a ceremony, you see, which binds one’s life to the other in a bond of love.” Falling to her knees as the man let her go, Jaelyn tried to rip the band from her finger, but she found that it was stuck fast.. Again, she tries to scream at the man, demanding what he has done... but her voice is gone.

And he had the gall to laugh at her. “Oh? Is Lady Jaelyn not so tough without her voice?” he asked, pulling the cotton and wax from his ears, not needing the protection anymore. “Not only am I taking you as my bride, but you are going to help me track down and destroy the rest of your dastardly sisters...” She had had enough of this annoying little human. Picking herself up off the forested floor, she dusted off her shirts, ignoring the voice of Ezekiel as she began to stride away. “By the way, your ring is bound to my own, you should know. You cannot go more then... Oh, this clearing worth, without experiencing great pain. Handy little item, no?”

Rolling her eyes, not believing a word the man said, she broke through the outer lip of the clearing. A sudden pain hit her arm, shooting pain towards her shoulder, her chest... her heart... She fell to the ground, gasping, not able to cry out in pain... she vaguely heard the heavy footfalls of the first man who had ever captured a siren, and she glared up at the man through the haze of pain that was slowly leaving her.

“Until death do us part, Jaelyn – you are with me. It’s best not to fight it...” he grinned down at her toothily, proud of his capture.

But fight she did... tooth and nail, she fought, never stopping, always making life on the road just that much harder on the man. She would protect her sisters from this man. If it was the last thing she did, she would protect them.

...if it killed her.

--

It was five years down the road, and Jaelyn was rather pleased with herself. The last lead the man had towards the Sirens had gone cold, with her help, of course. She was still with the man, but at least they were safe... that was something.

This evening found the two travelers sitting by the side of the road, a roaring fire between them. Ezekiel was eyeing her, as he had tended to do these days, as he was digesting his simple meal of cooked fish. The he had made her cook. That she had burnt. Which served the b*****d right, of course, trying to make her do something for him. Jaelyn’s fine clothes had been replaced with simple clothing, muted colours that made her wish she buried alive so no one had to see how ugly they made her look...

“Would you believe me if I said I love you?”

The sudden question from the man across the fire, his pipe settled in his hands, broke Jaelyn out of her thoughts rather rudely. Jaelyn looked quite startled, her features morphing into suspicion and disbelief a moment later. Just what was this man after, now? He had taken a liking to messing with her, but really, after five years of this ludicrous game, and he was still enjoying himself?

The man leaned back, taking a puff of his pipe, his gaze slipping to the stars. He liked to do that – stare at the stars. He could do it for hours on end... “It is a very odd thing,” the man continued, a slight shake of his head. “It appears that I love you, but in the same breath, I can't help but hate you."

Her eyebrow rose, telling him quite pointedly what she thought of this statement. ‘I thought you were stupid... now I know that you're just retarded.’ A twitch of her upper lip turned into a sneer, which brought Ezekiel into a near-laughing fit, almost as if he could hear what she was thinking in her mind. Hell, maybe he could...

As the man’s mirth escaped him, he sighed with a smile and rolled over to sleep.

Jaelyn would never admit it, but she kind of enjoyed hearing the man’s laughter... even if he was just a human.