Among Demons : A Siren's Voice

Ch. 11 : A Painful Tale

*Lora Nex*

Watching how Nick and Devin interact with each other was very funny, with both of them bringing up old stories from their childhood, making fun of each other for random things, and stealing food or drink while we sat around in the lounge. It was hard to stop myself from giggling or outright laughing at the antics, especially with how happy I was feeling now that I could actually make noise.

The simple fact that I could finally make a sound had me giddy. And the excitement that the potion was slowly weakening inside my body lifted my entire mood. It was probably a little silly or stupid from someone else’s point of view, getting all gleeful over being able to laugh. But that one simple thing had me over the moon.

A Siren’s voice was a vital part of ourselves. It was unique to us and our power, vibrating with our Core and echoing our emotions through every single sound and word we spoke. Simple little noises like groans, hums and even the click of a tongue held energy that we as Sirens could feel and use to express ourselves. So being able to convey joy through my laughter meant the world to me after having gone so long without hearing my own voice at all. Not even while I was fighting off the Hunter, opening my mouth to cry out in pain only for no sound to ring from me. Or the breakdown I had while leaning into Devin, feeling nothing but sadness and pain shake through me. My muted sobs caused me to feel so lost and disconnected with my own body, stretching out my tearful episode for longer than it should’ve lasted.

“Lora.” Devin walked up to me with two soda cans in her hands, smiling as she sat next to me at the dining table. “Here you go. Are you feeling hungry or anything?” She asked as she slid a can to me. “Do your injuries feel ok?”

I shook my head to the offer of food, not really feeling hungry at all. But nodded to the question about my injuries, moving around and motioning to my side which was feeling much better than it had just this morning.

She stared off at the others who were preoccupied with their own things, popping her own can open and taking a sip. I did the same and glanced back at her, noticing the hesitant and worried look that was growing on her face. Wondering if she was alright, I grabbed the notepad and pen I had set to the side and asked her if anything was wrong.

She smiled and shook her head, sighing before looking back up at me.

“Nothings wrong… I was just struggling to ask you about… you know…” She looked at me with a cautious and pained expression before continuing, sighing once more. “What happened to you, Lora?” I stiffened at her words and tightened my grip around the can that still rested on the table. “What happened to put you in that Hunter's line of sight?”

I sucked in a deep breath as my memories started to fly through the stage of my mind, stunning me as they replayed the most painful parts over and over again.

The fear. The panic. The torment.

Seeing my father drop to the ground with a gaping hole in his stomach, his raspy voice urging me to run. My body, trying desperately to maintain my composure while trying to escape safely with my nephew. Being forced to give up once his life was threatened and then being violently torn away from his side once we arrived at that deeply hidden part of the woods. The long weeks inside that earthen cell, fighting off those Hunters when I learned their true intentions. And the final moment I had spent there, fighting them off in my weakened state, hoping to find some place to recover quickly so I could follow them in order to find my nephew.

I jumped a bit when Devin gently touched my arm, pulling me back from the memories that had started to consume me. I smiled at her weakly, thanking her with a nod for pulling me out of it.

Taking a few seconds to collect myself, I relaxed a bit before writing out my next question and turning it to face her.

‘Is there a computer I could use?’

She arched a delicate brow at me a moment later, watching me as I pulled back the notepad and wrote on it some more.

‘I think it’ll be easier to type it all out instead of handwriting it.’

I smiled sheepishly, feeling a little silly for making such a request. But Devin smiled and stood up after my explanation, motioning for me to follow her.

She pointed for me to sit on the sectional, opening a hidden closet type space in the corner between the speaker system and the pool table. Inside it were some portable tray tables, a broom, a mop with a small bucket, and a few shelves filled with other things I couldn’t see clearly. She grabbed one of the tray tables and closed the door, setting it up in front of me with a smile. She then moved over to the speaker setup once more, looking through the shelves and large wicker baskets. It didn’t take long for her to pull out a laptop from inside one of them and return to me, setting it up on the tray table and turning it on.

“Take your time, ok?” I nodded as the device powered on, not needing a password of any kind before the homepage popped up.

She moved the little mouse a bit and opened up an empty document page for me, straightening up again and patting my shoulder before walking away.

I don’t know how long I stared at that blank page, but when I finally pulled myself together, gathering my thoughts, I sucked in a breath and began to type. It was a struggle at first, trying to find a way to start my story. And I kept deleting things and retyping them until I finally found the right words to explain how I had come to be where I am now. But once I was past the beginning of it all, moving through the loss of my father that had me fighting tears, I was able to sum everything else up pretty well. Though I did go back and add a few pieces of information and re-organized certain events so it all flowed more smoothly.

A little over half an hour passed when I pulled my fingers away from the keyboard, my eyes looking at the final sentence that I had typed out leaving me feeling a little panicked and afraid.

‘Please, help me find my nephew.’

“Need some help?”

I jumped a little when Nick approached me from behind, leaning forward on the backrest of the sectional as he smiled at me. His hair was a bit messier than it had been a little while ago, with some dark blond locks curling a bit in or around his ears. The smile he showed me, so bright and warm, helped ease the tension that had taken over me as I typed out my life's tale. And once again, I noticed how peaceful and… safe I felt being so close to him. Especially compared to the other Humans in the room with us. They still felt so very intimidating to me, though I know now that they were very kind and welcoming people that clearly cared for Demons of all kinds.

But their large physical builds, so packed full of muscle, were still a bit much to me. They were just very physically intimidating, even as Humans. But with Nick, it's an almost instant sense of comfort and safety that helps me relax. It was confusing and interesting to me, since when I first noticed it, I chalked it up to the obvious fact that he was much leaner than all the other men. Still had muscle on him, but wasn’t so bulging with it. And he didn’t give off an aura of shoot-first-ask-questions-later like the others.

Shaking my head slowly, clearing my head and pausing for a second, suddenly questioning myself and wondering if I should really reveal my story to him and everyone else. But I easily shoved those panicked doubts and fears aside and scooted a bit to the side, patting the space next to me, smiling a little at him.

Nick moved around the sectional and plopped down next to me, motioning with his hand if he could read what I had typed up. I nodded and leaned back against the cushioned backrest, feeling strangely nervous as I watched him take the light device from me. I stared at him while he read it, my eyes focused on the expressions crossing his face and he learned about what I had gone through.

Sadness was the first emotion I picked up on. Then anger, confusion and worry swirled in his hazel-green eyes. And by the time he reached the end, a deep but cool rage settled on his face before he turned to look at me. His face softened and he reached out to hold my hand in his, showing me nothing but concern and sadness. There were also silent questions flashing through his eyes as we stared at each other. It felt so very soothing to see him react like this to what he had read, though a part of me was also guilty that he felt such dark, negative emotions because of me. It was such a strange and confusing combination, and only confused me more when random thoughts started to flit through my head, all of which involved ways that I could help him erase such emotions.

I blinked the thoughts away, pulling back once I realized that I had been leaning towards him slowly without realizing it.

“Thank you.”

His soft words startled me and I felt my eyes widen in shock and confusion. Feeling lost, I arched a brow at him, silently questioning his words as he smiled a little and scooted a little closer.

“For trusting us enough to tell us.” He nodded towards the laptop and frowned, sighing as he said, “I understand how hard it is to open up about something so painful…” His gaze became unfocused and I started to wonder where he had gone. “You’re honestly a lot stronger than I am.” These words were much softer and clearly meant for my ears only, stirring up a mass of emotions I couldn’t fully grasp. “I’ve still got things I haven’t told anyone… including my sister.” We both moved to look at Devin who was leaning back on the pool table, smiling at Nyla and Danny who were playfully fighting about something I couldn’t hear.

Nick chuckled and shook off the dark aura that had descended on him, pressing his shoulder to mine as he smiled.

“She’s got enough dirt on me anyway.”

I smiled back and chuckled a little, setting the laptop aside so I could stand. I then moved the tray out of the way and stretched a bit before grabbing the device again. I headed towards Devin who was still smiling while she stared at her phone, a sweet and loving look making her eyes glitter. It made me hesitate a bit seeing her like that, especially since her fiance had left a short while after we had come back from shopping, kissing her goodbye quite passionately out in the hallway. But a second later her gaze moved away from her phone, locking on me while she tucked her phone away in her back pocket.

“Did you need help with something, Lora?” She asked, moving away from the pool table and nodding at the device in my hands.

I shook my head and extended it out to her, watching her take it and see the many pages I had used to type out what I had gone through. She nodded again, more serious this time, and focused heavily on the laptop, moving to place it on the pooltable as her eyes moved, clearly already reading its contents.

Her body seemed to react to the words I had typed, tensing, flinching and appearing anxious in certain moments before she just hugged herself. A look of anger and sadness filled her pretty face by the time she reached the end and I was left stunned when she rapidly turned and hugged me tightly. I stayed stiff for a few seconds, having not expected such a reaction from her. But I soon relaxed and hugged her back, albeit a little awkwardly. When she pulled back from me I caught sight of Nyla and the rest of the Humans gathering around the laptop, smiling or nodding to me before focusing on the screen.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Devin muttered, sounding deeply pained and strangely guilty. “And I don’t want you to worry about this anymore, ok.” A look of determination took over her delicate features and I felt myself respond more to her following words. “We will do everything we can to find your little nephew and track down your sister too.”