“Well…” Harper shifted so she was sitting up straighter. She knew she should be working, but she didn’t really want to abandon her pursuit, either. That felt more important than scanning in overdue library books.
“If you didn’t feel up to working because of Gemma running away or whatever, then you could’ve just said so,” Marcy went on. “You didn’t need to sneak off on false pretenses. ”
“No, we didn’t,” Harper said quickly.
Marcy narrowed her eyes, apparently hearing the conviction in Harper’s words. “What are you doing?”
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“We’re, um…” Harper glanced back again at Alex, who hurried to provide a reason.
“We’re, uh, we’re reading … books,” Alex responded lamely.
Harper gave him a severe look, like she thought he was an idiot, and Alex shook his head and shrugged.
“What are you reading?” Marcy asked. When neither of them answered, she bent down and picked up the nearest book, which happened to be called Sirens: Handmaidens of the Sea. “This is what you meant by sirens?”
“Uh, yeah,” Alex said.
“Those really beautiful, creepy girls,” Marcy said, putting the pieces together rather quickly. “You think they’re sirens?”
“Well…” Harper swallowed and decided to answer honestly. “Kind of. Yeah. ”
“And they took Gemma or had something to do with her running off?” Marcy asked, her voice keeping the same monotone it always had, betraying neither a hint of skepticism nor belief.
“Yeah,” Alex admitted. “We think so. ”
Marcy seemed to consider this for a moment, then she nodded as if it all made sense to her, and sat down on the floor.
“Have you figured out a way to get her back yet?” Marcy asked.
“Not yet,” Harper said cautiously. “We’re still looking. ”
Marcy held up the Sirens book. “Have you looked in this one, or do you want me to look?”
“You can, if you want,” Harper said.
“Yeah, that’d be great, actually,” Alex chimed in with more enthusiasm than Harper, who was still a bit reluctant to trust Marcy’s acceptance. “There are a lot of books to cover. ”
“Cool,” Marcy said, and opened the book.
As Marcy began to read, Harper exchanged a look with Alex, but he just shrugged and went back to reading his own book. Harper couldn’t let it go that easily, though. She wanted to, but even after actually seeing the monsters, she’d found it hard to believe in them. And Marcy seemed to trust it with almost no evidence.
“So … that’s it, then?” Harper asked.
“What?” Marcy lifted her eyes to look at Harper.
“You just…” Harper shook her head, unsure of how she wanted to phrase it. “You just believe in sirens?”
“I don’t know. ” Marcy shrugged. “But you guys seem to, and I’ve never known either of you to be totally insane, so I figure there must be some truth to it. Besides that, I always knew something was off with those girls, and they fit the bill as sirens. ”
“Oh. ” Harper smiled wanly at her. “Well, thanks for the help. ”
“No problem. ” Marcy smiled back and readjusted her glasses. “My uncle saw the Loch Ness Monster once, too. So I’m a bit more open to things than you. ”
Bewildered, Harper shook her head. “Okay. ”
“Not that I don’t appreciate the help,” Alex said, as if something had just occurred to him, “but shouldn’t one of you be at the desk in case someone else needs help?”
“There’s a bell up there,” Marcy said. “And this is more important, right?”
Harper normally took her job seriously, but Marcy was right. And Harper had an awful suspicion that if they wanted to help Gemma, they had better do it soon. Or it would be too late.
THREE
Revelations
Despite the fact that the three of them had spent the entire day scouring mythology books, they hadn’t been able to find out much more about how to help Gemma. But when Harper came home from work, she was feeling better than she had since the night Gemma left.
It was reassuring to have Alex and Marcy working with her, even if Marcy wasn’t all that helpful. Harper wasn’t alone, and that made saving Gemma feel more possible.
That feeling of hopefulness evaporated the instant Harper walked through the front door and saw her father.
Brian stood in the middle of the living room. It looked like he’d walked into the room, then forgotten where he was going or why, so he just stopped. He hadn’t shaved that morning, his eyes had bags beneath them, and his skin was ashen.
“Hi, Dad,” Harper said as she closed the front door quietly behind her.
He looked up at her with a ghost of a smile on his lips. “Hi, sweetie. ”
“You didn’t end up going to work today?” Harper asked him.
When she’d left for work in the morning he’d still been home, but Harper had been hoping he’d go in. He didn’t have any paid time off left, and their whole family would be in really big trouble if he lost his job. Not only was he the breadwinner of the family, but his health insurance helped keep Harper’s mother in assisted living.
“I thought she might come home,” Brian said, his normally warm voice sounding gravelly from exhaustion and sadness.
“Have you eaten today?” Harper asked, walking past her father toward the kitchen. “I can make you something. ”
“I’m not hungry,” Brian said.
“Come on, Dad. I’m making you something. ”
Harper went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. She pulled out lunch meat and mayo, and by the time she’d started making him a sandwich, Brian had wandered into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
“Have you heard from her?” he asked.
“No. ” She slathered the bread with mayo and refused to look back at him as she spoke. “You know I’d tell you if I had. ”
“I just don’t understand why she’d run away,” he said, with a now-familiar frustration taking over. “She had so much she wanted to do. And she was even dating Alex. Why would she leave? Even if she was mad at me. ”
“She wasn’t mad at you,” Harper reassured him. She put the sandwich on a plate, then set it in front of her father, still without really looking at him. “You know this wasn’t about you. ”
“But it doesn’t make any sense!” Brian insisted. “I called her swimming coach today, and he said that her times have been amazing lately. She worked so hard for that. Why would she blow it to run away with some stupid girls?”
“She’s sixteen, Dad. ” Harper went over to the sink to start rinsing off what few dishes had piled up, just so she’d have something to do. “Teenagers are unpredictable. ”
“But you guys weren’t,” Brian said, speaking louder to be heard over the running water. “Gemma may be strong-willed, but I’ve always known what I was getting with her. It’s like the last week she’s turned into something else. ”
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Harper accidentally dropped a plate, and it clattered loudly in the sink.
“And the timing couldn’t be worse,” Brian went on. “There’s that killer on the loose going after teenagers. ” He took a labored breath. “Something’s happened to her, Harper. ”
“Those were all boys,” Harper said, trying to cut off his train of thought. “And I saw Gemma leave. She told me she was running away. She’s fine. ”
“She’s not fine!” Brian shouted.
Harper leaned against the sink and closed her eyes. For a moment all she could do was breathe in deep to keep from freaking out. Her hands were trembling, and she wanted to cry. She had to convince her father that everything was all right, when in reality she had no idea if Gemma was okay or if they’d ever see her again.
“I went to the police today,” Brian said, and his tone had leveled out again.
“Did you?” Harper
asked cautiously. “What did they say?”
“They’re looking for her,” Brian said. “They don’t prioritize runaway teens, and with everything that’s been going on lately, they’re going to do what they can. ”
“That’s good. ” Harper had finished with the dishes, but she left the tap on, preferring the sound so it would drown out the silence and tension in the room.
“Harper, turn off the water,” Brian said. “I need to tell you something. ”
She shut off the faucet but grabbed a rag to wipe down the counter, continuing her attempts to busy herself.
“Harper. Sit down. I need to talk to you. ”
“Just a sec, Dad,” Harper said, scrubbing at a nonexistent spot on the counter.
“Harper,” Brian said, with a firmness to his words that made Harper flinch.
She draped the rag over the sink, then went over to the table and sat down across from him. The whole time she kept her eyes lowered, afraid of how she might react if she looked at him directly.
Seeing her father so haggard like that, she was terrified she would spill everything to him. But she couldn’t tell him about the sirens or what had really become of Gemma, and not just because he’d think she was insane.
In fact, that would be better than if he believed her. If he knew that Gemma was a siren, that she’d run off with actual monsters, he would lose his mind trying to protect her, and Harper couldn’t bear the thought of that.
“I have bad news,” Brian said gravely. He reached across the table, wanting to take Harper’s hand, but she wouldn’t give it to him. “When I was at the police station, I found out something. ”
She gulped, swallowing down the painful acid in her stomach that wanted to rise. She wasn’t sure what else Brian could’ve possibly found out. And she wasn’t sure that she could handle any more bad news.
“I don’t know how to tell you this, but…” He paused, trying to form the words. “Bernie McAllister has been murdered. ”
And then in one horrible rush it all came back to her, pulling all the air from her lungs and twisting her stomach in knots.
Harper had managed to forget about it until now. But that wasn’t quite right, either. She hadn’t forgotten it. It would be impossible to forget about the death of someone who’d been so important to her.
Her mind had blocked it out, giving her a few more peaceful hours when she didn’t have to think about it. But now it was back, the image of his body eviscerated in the trees outside of his cabin.
Bernie was one of the kindest people she’d ever known, a gentle old man with a soft British accent. He’d helped care for both Harper and Gemma after their mom had gotten hurt in the car accident.
Then the sirens had killed him, gutting him like a fish and leaving him to rot as they danced and sang and tore up his home looking for valuables. The worst part of it was that he gladly would’ve given them anything they wanted, and not because they were sirens who put a spell on him, but because Bernie wanted to help everyone.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” Brian said, his own voice thick with tears. “I know how fond of him you were. ”
Harper put her hand to her mouth as silent tears slid down her cheeks. With the image of his body burning in her mind, she realized she had to form a response. Her father didn’t know that she’d already found out Bernie was dead, and he couldn’t know.
“How…” Harper croaked, barely able to force the word out around the lump in her throat.
“They’re not sure yet,” Brian said, but he lowered his eyes when he said it.
Harper had a feeling that the police had told him more than he was sharing with her, and for a split second she hated them for that. Brian didn’t need to know the details of it. Everyone should be spared that gruesome image if they could be.
“They found his house ransacked,” Brian went on. “They think it was some kind of robbery gone wrong. ”
Harper wondered if there was any truth to that. Had the sirens gone to steal from him, and he’d been a casualty? Or had his murder been their primary goal, and the robbery an afterthought?
“He had a doctor’s appointment in town yesterday, and when he didn’t show up, the doctor sent the police out on a well-being check,” Brian said. “With a man of Bernie’s age living alone, the doctor was being cautious. But nobody ever expected to find him murdered. ”
“Do they have any suspects yet?” Harper heard herself asking. Her hands were trembling, so she put them on her knees, squeezing them to keep the quaking at bay.
“Not yet,” Brian admitted. “But they’re looking. ” He paused. “They think it might have been the same person who’s been killing those boys. ”
Harper nodded numbly, knowing for a fact that the same monsters who had killed Luke Benfield and the two other teenage boys had also killed Bernie.
“At least you just spent time with Bernie,” her father said, trying to change the subject and put a brighter spin on everything somehow.
It had only been on Saturday, a few days before, that Harper and Brian had spent the afternoon on Bernie’s Island, catching up with him and checking out his garden. She knew she should’ve found some comfort in that, a warm last memory with an old friend, but there was no comfort for her.
“I know this is a lot to take,” Brian said. “Are you holding up okay?”
“Yeah,” Harper said unconvincingly.
Fortunately, before her dad could press her more about how she was doing, her phone started ringing in her pocket. As she fumbled to get it out, her heart raced in hopes that it was Gemma, but then she saw the number. It was only Daniel again.
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She stared at the screen and considered whether to answer it. Part of her really wanted to. If she was being honest with herself, it would feel really good to hear his voice, even if she wasn’t in desperate need of a shoulder to cry on.
But the logical part of her won out, and she clicked ignore. He might know something about Gemma, but Harper wouldn’t be able to hold it together in front of her father if Daniel told her something about her sister.
If Daniel had found something, he’d leave a voice mail, and Harper would check it the very second she was out of Brian’s sight. And if Daniel hadn’t found anything, not answering would save Harper from having a conversation with him. She couldn’t have him distracting her right now.
“Who was that?” Brian asked, his voice brightening at the chance that it might be about Gemma.
“It was just, um, Marcy, from work. ” Harper stood up abruptly and shoved her phone in her pocket. “Sorry, Dad, I’m not feeling so well. I think I need to go lie down. ”
Brian started to say something, but Harper was already leaving, rushing upstairs. She didn’t go to her room, though. She went to the bathroom, making it to the toilet just in time for her to throw up.
When she’d finished, she sat down on the cold tiles and rested her head against the wall. She pulled her phone back out. She clicked on the voice mail, just to be sure Daniel hadn’t left any message, and he hadn’t. Harper quickly scrolled through her contact list for Alex’s number.
“Hello?” Alex answered.
“We need to find Gemma,” Harper said.
“Yeah, I know. ”
“No. ” Harper shook her head, as if he could see her. “I mean, I don’t give a shit what she is or what the girls are. I’m done researching. We need to find her. ”
Alex let out a sigh of relief. “I was thinking the same thing. We need to find her, and bring her back, by any means necessary. ”
FOUR
Withdrawals
Gemma woke up in a cold sweat despite the heat. The glass door to the balcony was open, allowing the wind to blow in, billowing out the curtains and filling the room with the sweet scent of the ocean.
The unfamiliarity of the room only added to her panic, and she sat up quickly, her heart racing. She was gasping, b
reathing in the salty air in heavy gulps, and that helped a bit. Her head still pounded, and the watersong rang in her ears.
That was the worst part. Everything about the last few days was horrible, but the watersong made it impossible to think or rest. It haunted her dreams, keeping her awake in the night, and made it so she couldn’t even feel comfortable in her own skin.
She wanted to crawl right out of her body, but she couldn’t. She was trapped in it, trapped with that incessant music and those awful girls in this colorless house.
That was the best way to describe the beach house—colorless. Penn had picked it out, choosing the most luxurious property she could find on the ocean. Even Gemma had to admit that it was nice, very high-class and expansive, but it had to be the whitest place she’d ever seen.
The room she stayed in—the one that Penn had informed her would be “her” room—was entirely white. Not eggshell or ivory or off-white but pure, startling white. The walls, the curtains, the bedding. Even the artwork on the walls had a white frame, surrounding some kind of abstract painting in swirling shades of white and gray.
And the rest of the house was more of the same. What little color did manage to seep into the house was always pale gray or the occasional muted blue. It was almost unbearably pristine.
Gemma didn’t know how anyone could live like this, but the home owner wasn’t very helpful by way of answers. Not that Gemma had tried talking to him all that much. Penn and the other sirens had cast their spell on him, turning him into a mindless sycophant, and Gemma didn’t really have any urge to interact with that.
Besides, her mind was preoccupied. Not only did she have that awful watersong gnawing at her constantly, she felt like hell. It was like the worst flu she’d ever had. Her entire body ached, from her bones to her skin. Nausea would sweep over her in awful waves, and it was all she could do to keep from throwing up.
“I take it you didn’t sleep well,” Thea said, seeming to magically appear in the doorway to Gemma’s room. Her red hair hung loose around her face, blowing back in the breeze like she was the star of a music video.
“I slept fine,” Gemma lied. She threw off her blankets, which were drenched in sweat, and climbed out of bed.
Thea snorted. “I can tell. ”
Gemma went over to her dresser—also white—and rummaged through the drawers for fresh clothes. She’d taken very few outfits with her when she left home, but Lexi had given her plenty of hand-me-downs.
The only thing she’d taken with her that really meant anything was a picture from home. It was of her, Harper, and their mom, taken shortly before the accident, when their mom still lived at home.
That picture—her one true possession—she kept in a drawer, buried beneath her new clothes. She’d left it in the frame, hoping that would protect it when she carried it in her book bag through the ocean, and it had, some, but the picture was all warped and wrinkled.
As she pulled out her clothes, she looked at it for a second, missing a family she knew she’d probably never see again, then hurried to cover it back up with clean panties and slammed the drawer shut.
“Did you want something?” Gemma asked. “Because I need to get changed. ”