Deep Blue - Part 3
The sea became an inky black, or maybe that was just his vision tunneling. His head swooped with hungry shadows ready to swallow him down into that darkness.
The pirate blinked forcefully, shaking his head and tossing away with it the heavy tug of unconsciousness.
He could see, now, that the water wasn't black, but red. With every stroke of the siren's tail, plumes of blood sullied the water.
The siren's movements began to slow, and the claws gripping the pirate's collar eased. He glanced down at her, through the bleary haze of salt water.
The siren's eyelids sagged. With a final languid sweep of her tail, the siren fell still, drifting motionless in the brackish water.
The pirate ripped away from her, kicking for the surface. His lungs ached and his ears popped with the changes in pressure.
Breaching the surface, he gasped in a greedy gulp of air. Coughing and panting, he scanned their surroundings.
The view was different, now, than it was where they’d entered the water. His attention snagged on the hollowed-out, fallen tree that helped orient him: They had traveled a significant distance around the crook of the bay. The fisherman was no longer within sight.
The shoreline wasn't terribly far. He could certainly swim that distance, even if it left him aching.
His gaze traveled back down to the smear of bloody waters around him. The siren was hurt badly...
If he left her, she would bleed to death.
Groaning, the pirate dove back down. He squinted, eyes readjusting to the darkness until he found her again. She looked almost peaceful then, suspended in the silky depths, golden hair floating around her head like a halo.
Grabbing the beautiful, deadly creature under the arms, the cabin boy hauled her to the surface. When he broke through, his breath came ragged with effort.
Keeping hold of the siren, he reclined to float on his back. He kicked his legs and towed her with him.
It was a slow and grueling process, fighting the waves that tumbled over his face to stall his breath. Only able to use his legs to swim, dragging the dead weight of the siren required all the strength in his arms.
It felt an eternity later that the pirate collapsed on the sand next to the beautiful, deadly creature he'd lowered down with care.
But the siren was still bleeding.
The harpoon had splintered in half upon impact, leaving its head buried within the scar of jagged flesh it had carved into the tight knit of her scales.
The sunlight traced the angles of her face, ethereal and unmoving in sleep. She looked like the sort of statue carved of marble that artists spent an eternity molding to angelic perfection. The gold of her tail outshone the sun.
Her blood stained the sand.
He groaned again. "Why do I feel responsible for you?! You just tried to kill me! If I left you here, that would be my right."
The pirate watched the siren as if expecting a reply.
Throwing his gaze heavenward, he murmured a curse.
She would never survive here on the shore, not after his boss had the opportunity to flood gossip through the whole town of what he'd seen.
He shoved to his feet despite the protest of his legs.
"Alright, alright, I won't leave you, Golden. Don't worry."
The pirate slid his arms under the siren, bracing himself before heaving her into his hold. His muscles strained with the effort and he swayed on his feet, off balance.
He clenched his teeth and took one step, then another. He finally stepped into the treeline, carrying the mermaid the painstaking distance back to the abandoned cabin he'd claimed as the place to rest his head since coming to this dull, little town.
Kicking open the door, the pirate plopped the siren onto the bed, shoving the door shut again and letting himself crumple to the floor.
He still needed to tend to the siren's wound, and he would. Just after a moment's reprieve.
After the first slow blink, his eyes were too heavy to open again.
He fell into slumber as though sinking over the edge of a drop-off.
The cabin boy woke to the sound of screaming.
He sat up in a panicked jolt. "What-"
His gaze met the siren's.
Where her tail once was, two human legs sprawled in its place. The spearhead and wound were still there, however, marring the smooth flesh of her bare upper thigh.
The pirate quickly averted his gaze. "What-" he repeated.
Fury burned behind the gold of the former siren's eyes. "What have you done, you insufferable human!" she screamed.
Snarling, she lunged at the pirate, promptly wobbling and crashing to her knees.
The cabin boy caught her by the shoulders.
She recoiled from his touch, hissing and swiping at him with nails far duller than the claws she'd once possessed.
Easily snatching up her wrists and squeezing, the pirate held her still. "Easy. Easy. You've lost a lot of blood."
Their eyes met. Hers, a knife's point. Her bare chest heaved with quick breaths.
The pirate made a point not to look.
He could see the exhaustion sweep over her as she slumped back against the bed frame, pressing a hand to her wound.
The cabin boy let her go, watching her carefully. "I'm going to get something to stop the bleeding and clean that. Don't move."
He felt her gaze on him as he retrieved a bottle of rum, a towel, a wooden spoon, and a spare bed sheet. Returning to her side, the pirate carefully lifted her back onto the bed.
The siren hissed again like an animal and skittered back until she hit the wall. "Get away from me."
"I'm trying to help you, Goldie," the pirate said, exasperated. "That could get infected. Besides, do you expect to walk around with that broken harpoon in your leg?" He paused and blinked. "Granted, I haven't deigned to expect you to walk... at all." He gestured to her newfound limbs.
The siren bared her teeth. "This is your fault! Any siren can give up their tail by venturing onto land and drying out. Such is a disgrace! Should a siren want to subvert herself into human scum, the ocean will indulge her."
The cabin boy raised his hands in placation. "Then when you're better, I'll take you back to the water."
"No," she snapped. Her gaze dropped down to her legs, blonde waves curtaining her face. When she spoke again, her voice was raw and soft. It carved its way through his chest all the same; the warbling hum of a plucked violin string. "It... It cannot be undone."
Something twisted in the pirate's stomach.
He should be glad to leave the ocean with one less monster; to make the waters an ounce safer for fellow unsuspecting sailors.
His thoughts flashed to the heaving storms able to capsize ships; to the rocks and reefs the sailors must avoid, and the gaping expanse of open ocean when no land is in sight.
Sailing the Deep Blue was never about safety.
Dangerous as the creature before him had been, she was a creature of the sea. To take that from her would be to cleave the fins from a fish, or cut the wings from a bird and call it justice.
He swallowed. "I'll do what I can for you, Golden," he said softly, lifting the towel.
The siren flinched, eyeing him pointedly.
Meeting her gaze briefly with a look of what he hoped was reassurance, he proceeded slowly, pressing the towel around her wound. "I need to get the spearhead out. This won't be pleasant. Bite down on this." He held the wooden spoon out to her.
The siren glared but obeyed, taking it between her teeth.
The cabin boy did his best to ease the spikes of the spearhead out without ripping it out straight backward. Harpoons were made to hook into the blubber of whales, not with the intent of slipping free seamlessly.
When he'd positioned the weapon so that he could remove it with the least damage possible, he pulled it out.
The siren shrieked, dropping her head back against the wall.
"Shh, shh, all done, it's done," the pirate said, pressing the towel more firmly against the wound. "You did great. All that's left is to clean and dress the wound." His hand moved on its own, tucking the siren's hair out of her eyes.
Her attention snapped to him. But she didn't bite or claw or hiss.
For a moment, he could only stare, transfixed.
Becoming human did not dull the allure of her.
Clearing his throat, the pirate bit the cork of the rum bottle, spitting it aside. "This will sting..."
He poured the alcohol over the afflicted flesh and the siren softly screeched again.
"I'm sorry, golden, all done, see?" Quickly tearing the spare sheet into strips, he set to work wrapping the wound and tying the makeshift bandage off. "There."
He glanced up at her again. "Oh. Here."
He shucked his white button-down shirt off and wrapped it around the siren's exposed shoulders.
Her face creased with confusion as she lifted one sleeve.
The cabin boy's lips twitched up into a smile. "You put your arms through. Like this." Using gentle fingers, he helped her thread her arms through before working on the buttons, averting his gaze and fumbling awkwardly as he did so.
"There." When he looked back up at her face, the siren was already asleep.
He studied her in the dimming light. Something about her registered as angelic. Nothing so deserving of the title of sea demon.
And yet… It would be foolish of him to let himself become ensnared by the lethal creature that wanted nothing more than to drown sailors such as him. Beautiful as she may be.
What had he gotten himself into?
The pirate leaned back against the wall and listened to the steady swell of the siren's breathing.
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