Siren Sight

Chapter 3

Even if Neivayka hadn't been immensely curious about the noise, she could not refuse the song's draw.

Right in front of her eyes, the entrance began to churn and undulate. Muted colors turned brilliant as it began to shimmer as if someone had transformed the alley into a colorful lake then thrown a pebble into it.

Unable to resist the beautiful mirage, Neivayka reached her hand out to touch a ripple, just to see if it was as soft as it looked. The moment she moved, the singing grew louder and louder until it was not only in her ears but throbbing through her veins. A tiny voice in the back of her mind screamed to turn around and run, except the song soon drowned that voice out as well.

The moment her hand connected with the water; the world seemed to halt before fading away completely.

Neivayka jerked awake, her mouth opened wide in a silent scream. In a flash, she was out of her bed and looking out the window to confirm the horrible truth… the sun was coming up once again. She had lost another day.

This time, she didn't even bother changing her clothes as she hurried towards the front door. She didn't remember everything that had happened the last two days, but she had a new clue to the mystery before her.

There was something about that alleyway.

She remembered standing in front of the opening right before the world went dark. She just knew the answers to her missing days were back there, and she was determined to uncover them.

Maybe it was some sort of airborne toxin that she was inhaling that caused her to blackout. Maybe, the horn was a terrible driver that kept hitting her. Maybe she was being infected by some mutated virus that was slowly turning her into a zombie.

Those were a lot of maybes with no serious answers. But she was bound and determined to find out.

“Where do you think you are going, young lady?!" Phyllis demanded.

If Neivayka had thought she was going to get out of the house without another lecture from her pseudo-mother, she had obviously been mistaken. She stuttered as she tried to think of a plausible excuse for leaving home so early before school.

“Uh… In… In-house suspension," Neivayka answered.

They did that for people who skipped school right? She wondered in a panic. The answer must have pleased Phyllis because she drew herself up and sneered down at Neivayka with a wide self-satisfied grin.

“Thought you were gonna get away with it, didn't ya?" Phyllis asked rhetorically in morbid glee.

Neivayka looked at her oddly. “Ummm… No?"

The answer once again sounded more like a question. As if Neivayka was asking her mother if that was the answer she had been wanting.

Phyllis just snorted. “Yes, you did. Your so smug and think you're better than everyone. Well, you're not."

Neivayka opened her mouth to argue, then shut it again, knowing it was completely useless to argue with someone so ignorant. No matter how badly she wanted to put Phyllis in her place, she knew it would only play into her game.

“May I go?" Neivayka asked as politely as she could. “I'd rather not get into any more trouble by being late."

“Get out of here. But be home right after school. We have a guest coming for your birthday and if all goes according to plan, then your attitude will no longer be my problem," Phyllis stated with glee, then began to laugh insanely as she sauntered back to her room.

All Neivayka could do was stare at Phyllis's retreating figure in shock. Was it her birthday? No, it wasn't. Her birthday was next month.

She looked at the bland calendar on the wall and realized that it was indeed her birthday. But it had been many years since Phyllis had done anything for her, much less for her birthday. For the last sixteen years, her birthday had been little more than another day. By the time she was eight, she stopped asking for anything or begging for a small party.

Not to mention, making friends was almost impossible for her. Not only was she socially awkward and extremely shy, why would she want to subject other kids to these people?

Why was Phyllis suddenly so interested in her birthday? Neivayka wondered suspiciously. Instead of questioning the crazy woman any further, she just shook her head. With this mysterious “guest" coming tonight, Neivayka really hoped it was someone to take her far away. Anything would be better than this place.

Before Neivayka even realized it, she was back in front of the alleyway, staring down the empty space.

She knew she should go down the alley and try to find some clue to what happened. However, she couldn't force her feet to go forward. In fact, she couldn't get her feet to move at all.

She tried to back away from the opening, then she tried to step to the side of it. But her feet stayed planted firmly to that cracked, stained piece of concrete. She was stuck staring at the opening like it was one of the most fascinating movies she had ever seen.

Right before her eyes, the emptiness shimmered then began to swirl. She saw her hand move of its own accord, and she was unable to halt it. She was filled with a sickening dread that if she touched it, she would be in grave danger.

The song rose to envelop her, yet there was something wrong with the notes. It was like listening to a beautiful symphony, but one of the instruments was severely out of tune.

The warning bells in her head were screaming at her. Though she really, really wanted to listen to them, the song had her in its grasp. No matter how hard she demanded her feet to move or her hand to stop, neither would it listen.

Panic began to swamp her. The moment her hand touched the swirling lake, a scream flew out of her mouth then the world went black.