Siren of the Dead (Chapter 3)

Siren of the Dead

Chapter 3

Luke lie in bed that evening, listening to the sounds of the rats scurry through the walls and beneath the floorboards. He couldn't bring himself to fall asleep; the image of that young woman in the graveyard wouldn't leave him. The feeling of knowing her, the feeling that he had seen her sometime before continued to gnaw at him. These notions were the cause of his current bout of insomnia.

He couldn't ask his boss about her, he'd likely think he'd stolen from his stash of cheap spirits. He turned to his side and glared at the wall. Luke knew he had seen her once before, years ago. The only difficult idea for him to grasp was where.

He abruptly sat up, his eyes wide at the idiocy he was displaying to himself. The graveyard, where else would he have been able to meet a ghost? Glancing about the darkened corners of the attic and the various sleeping forms of his younger sisters, he quietly slipped on his boots and coat. Tiptoeing down the creaking stairs, he slipped out of their meager flat unnoticed. The wind picked up as he trudged uphill to his destination. In the distance, he could see the rusted fencing and the dilapidated shack his employer resided in. Pulling a key from his coat pocket, he unlocked the aged barring and slipped inside the area.

The more he thought of the fair skinned apparition and her wide green eyes, the more familiar she became to him. Her curls of fire and the shifting of her finely made taffeta gown. As he mulled these thoughts around in his sleep deprived mind; he trekked over the hills and paths until he stopped. His mouth curved into a frown as his jaw tightened at the worn headstone staring back at him. This was where he had first seen the young girl, his father's newly dug grave.

Unbeknownst to him, the object of his thoughts was following him. Ducking behind trees and other objects whenever she felt he sensed her presence. He never did and so her courage grew until she was only a few inches behind the man.

When he stopped, she eeped as she floated through his body and was now in his line of vision. His eyes were cold as he examined the grave before him. The siren followed his gaze, only to sigh in recognition. It was then that Luke recognized he was not alone.

The two stared awkwardly at one another, much like a pair of betrothed teenagers forced to meet for the first time. She shifted nervously and he only pinned her down with his dark eyes, waiting for her to make a move. The siren finally met his gaze and smiled weakly, if she had been alive, she would’ve felt nauseated at the tension between them.

"You should be sleeping." It was a silly, trivial remark that only served as a way to break the silence. He blinked once before stepping forward and running a hand through her. The siren shuddered at the feeling and he abruptly pulled back, allowing his arm to fall at his side.

"Sorry." His response quiet, as if unaccustomed to speaking. It was her turn to blink in surprise before perching herself upon the headstone to his left.

"It's fine." The siren paused before locking eyes with him again, her eyes filled with curiosity. "Why are you here?"

"Why are you?" His voice was sharp, feeling defensive.

"I belong here." At this, the man fell into a sitting position at her feet. One leg bent at the knee where his left arm now rested and his other leg stretched forward.

"Luke, do you still think I'm an angel?"

He faced her, the female's expression was pained and he forced his gaze away from her face.

"No."

A sigh of relief caused him to focus his attention on her again. "Why does that please you?"

"I'm no more an angel than you are a ghost. Tell me, do you remember him?"

"Who?"

"Your father of course." By now the siren was sitting amiably beside him on the grassy earth that covered the man they now spoke of. Her transparent fingertips floated over and through the earth in a maternal fashion. "He misses all of you. He wishes that he hadn't left you so early in life that you had to take on the burden of supporting the family."

The siren took no notice of his sudden stillness as she spoke.

"He very much would like your forgiveness. He also is very proud of you." The siren turned and her face blossomed into a smile. "You have grown into the man he always hoped you to be. You have done the family name justice and are a proper namesake of your father."

Silence reigned once more as he took all this information in. He wasn't sure what action would be appropriate. Luke opted to stand, giving the siren a curt nod and walking home as fast as he could.

What followed was a soft breeze; her voice haunting. Her words touched his face and made all the memories of their meeting and his father return to the forefront of his mind. The apprentice shuddered and used all his will to not run from the graveyard. As he grew further from the land of the dead and closer to the warmth of his home and hearth, he grew calm and the memories of his father drifted back into the recesses of his thoughts.