Page 62 of Losing My Siren Luna

I miss the ocean so, so much. I miss the freedom and magic coursing through my fins. While Westley starts to search the sand for his hidden treasures, singing to himself, I mindlessly walk to the edge of the water, smiling as the water washes up towards my feet. The grainy sand tickles between my toes, and then the water comes and washes the sand away. It’s a rhythmic cycle, and I love it.

I looked up, staring out at the open water, then almost startled back in surprise.

Someone is out there, watching me from the ocean.

I squint to be sure, not knowing if my eyes are playing tricks on me, but there is definitely someone out there. A human figure floating chest up in the water.

A siren.

My heart skips a beat, then plummets to the ground when the figure dives below the surface, just like yesterday.

“No!” I took a step into the water, my hand stretched out as if I could stop him. “Come back,” I whispered.

It’s really a siren, just like yesterday. I don’t want him to go. I don’t want to lose a chance at finding my real father. Not again.

~

“Miss Ela, what’s wrong?” Westley asks, looking at me curiously from where he is squatting down in the sand.

I can’t find words to answer, still scanning the ocean for some sign of the mystery siren that is again, just gone.

Why does he keep appearing then disappearing just as quickly? Why is he here at all, and why does he dive under the water every time I notice him?

"Come back," I whispered to myself, then felt a pulsing around my neck. I reached up to touch my necklace, but frantic yelling coming from behind me brought me out of the trance that the magical pulse started to put me in.

“LUNA!” Cherum yells, racing down the hill to the beach, “What the mighty hell? Why did you leave on your own?”

I didn’t even turn to acknowledge him, still hoping to see the siren pop up again any second, not wanting to risk missing it for anything. The pulsing from my necklace died down, but I still feel little flares of its magic emanating from it.

“ELA!” Cherum reaches me, grabbing my shoulders and turning me to face him. “What?! What’s wrong?”

I craned my neck to look behind me, still longing for the mystery man to show himself again.

“ELA!” Cherum shakes me slightly.

“Ela, you’re scaring the delta. That man is gone. You aren’t going to find him,”Val tells me.

"I need to find him. He may know how to find my father, Val. I have to find him!"

I can feel her pity for me in my head, "Ela, you don't know that. It is probably just a coincidence. Sirens do come to shore occasionally. This is a port token too."

I want to cry. I want the man to come back so badly, my eyes are burning with unshed tears about to burst free. My craving for the ocean is stranger than ever, so strong, I almost want to throw myself in it, praying for the man to come back to save me. Anything to prove that he was really there and I wasn’t just imagining him in my head, conjuring him up from my desire to return to the sea.

“I,” my throat swells with emotion as I try to answer Cherum. “I….I just-”

What should I tell him? That I saw a fellow siren? I can’t. I can’t tell him what I think I saw or why I’m acting this way. He will think I’m crazy or turn on me. This pack doesn’t accept races other than humans, werewolves or Lycans. If I tell Cherum I think I saw a siren and I’m close to madness because I’m a siren too and miss the ocean, he will either have me committed, or thrown in prison. Lachlan will kill me before I can ever reject him and earn my freedom. My life will just be over, or worse. I could have to repeat this damned loop again. I may wake up on the day of my wedding to Lachlan again.

“Ela, please. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

I bite my lips and shake my head, trying to resist the urge to throw myself into the sea.

When I still can’t say anything, Cherum growls in frustration, then turns to Westley. “Did you see what happened?”

Westley shakes his head, “No, delta. Miss Ela was looking at the ocean, then just yelled ‘NO’ out of nowhere. I don’t know,” he shrugs his little shoulders.

Maurice and Percy are running from the orphanage now, Yasmin close on their heels, as well as one of the teachers from the orphanage.

The teacher runs over to Westley, helps him up and dusts off his clothes before picking him up and taking him back up the hill, muttering apologies and scolding the little boy for not asking to go to the beach. I should tell her that I was the one that brought him down here, but I'm still frozen from Cherum's questioning.