A Summer of Sadness and Sirens by E.B. Gula
Don’t look down.
The sharp wind grazed Arden’s face, and she pressed closer to the cliff face. Sweat beaded on her forehead, her palms slick. She seized the next outcropping, every muscle and tendon trembling as she climbed.
It was a long way down. Leagues below her lay the Ottawa River, peaceful at first glance but home to white water pockets and hidden undercurrents. Countless stories of accidents and injuries trickled through the nearest county, and Arden hoped she wouldn’t add to the numbers.
A blur of white dove past her, narrowly missing her head. “Damn seagulls!” She squeezed her eyes shut. Not much further. She hadn’t brought the right shoes for hiking, and her leg cramped as she tried to stabilize her footing.
As soon as she overcame the vertigo, she hoisted herself onto the flat ledge. Success, apart from the scrapes and stress earned from her reckless adventure. She remained in a crouched position, drinking in the terrain from the top of the world.
Quite the view. Trees clustered together on the horizon, the clouds close enough to touch. Arden sighed. How insignificant they all were, in such a grand world.
On the surface, staying in an idyllic small town sounded like a great idea. Except the residents were wary of outsiders, and Arden genuinely hated the outdoors. But when she broke off her toxic long-term relationship and divulged her personal tragedy to her closest friend, Cecile dragged her out to god knew where. And she felt obliged to comply, her precious doctorate at stake. Focusing on grad school proved impossible with her mind swirling out of control. Coupled with the hectic nature of her personal life, she risked suffering from academic burnout.
At least her thesis professor welcomed the idea. “Come back when you’re ready.” She remembered the way his face softened when she confided in him, the way his fingers fluttered against her arm. Or maybe she imagined it. Over the years, he always listened to her woes, whether trivial or significant, and made countless accommodations for the sake of her well-being. “I can’t risk having you drop out. You’re too important to the lab. And to me.”
She clung to his every word. After years of study, it’d be a shame to lose out on the one thing that gave her purpose. And she wasn’t referring to her studies.
As Arden stood, her gait wobbled, and she resisted the urge to fling her body back onto the ground and sleep forever. After coming all this way, she had to keep going.
“About time!”
Her friend Cecile waited beneath the shade of a tree, arms crossed.
“You took the easy way out.” Arden swiped at her forehead.
Cecile shrugged. “Better to sit in an air-conditioned car than get heatstroke.”
Arden rolled her eyes and carried on down the dirt pathway. Instead of driving, she hiked the mountain, because she apparently loved things that tortured her. A consistent pattern.
The next uphill stretch tugged at the muscles usually sitting dormant at a desk, and Arden relished the discomfort. Cecile trailed behind her, hoisting their beach bag over her shoulder.
It was probably best that Arden had company. She originally planned to take the vacation solo, but Cecile took it upon herself to join.
When they reached the summit, Arden let out a gasp. Bordered by shrubbery, the lake on the mountain called out to her. The promised summer oasis. Sunlight glinted off the shallow deposit, and Arden adjusted her sunglasses. Other explorers set up camp along the edge, clad in a mix of swimming gear and practical hiking attire. Here, no one worried about dissatisfaction and disaster.
The moment they dropped their belongings, Cecile tore off her outer garments and slipped into the pure water.
Arden hesitated. She brought a couple of books along just in case.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Cecile called from the lake. “Forget about it. You’re not here to work.”
Arden drifted on the current, leaving the main area. It’d be nice to disappear entirely, forget about the daily worries of academia and her aching heart. Her head thwacked against stone. “Dammit.” Rubbing the sore spot, she straightened up. At this point, the water level stood low enough that her feet touched the bottom. Except as she glanced around, there was no sign of Cecile or any of the other swimmers.
Her pulse sped up. Breaking up with her ex was a mistake. Taking time off was a horrible idea. And now this strange force of nature punished her for daring to take a break.
She evened her breathing and pulled her body onto the rock ledge. Translucent fish swam around her legs, searching for food.
Join me. The whisper tickled her mind.
Arden spun around, sloshing around in the clear lake water. She didn’t hit her head that hard.
A faint giggle made her head snap towards the sound.
Her eyes cut towards the approaching woman, glossy black hair cascading down her backside. Barefoot and scantily dressed, she shuffled through the trees as if she lived there. She hummed a familiar melody, and Arden veered towards her, surroundings blurred.
“Have we met?” Arden asked.
She perched on the ledge next to Arden, her eyes yellow in colour and almost snake-like. She just smiled a terrible grin, full of too many teeth. Even so, behind the frightening appearance was an unnatural beauty. Arden couldn’t stop staring.
Eventually, she blinked and dropped her gaze to her bare toes.
“You seem sad.” The woman’s voice carried a sonorous quality.
“I’m not sad. Just enjoying my time off.”
“I could make them all disappear, you know.”
Arden’s head shot up. “Who?”
Her lip curled up. “A man who couldn’t accept your academic drive and took advantage of you for years. And yet another man who pushes you to the edge with his ignorance. Who will never reciprocate your undying loyalty.”
Heat crawled up Arden’s neck. This stranger intimately knew her deepest hurts. Except she couldn’t blame her professor, not entirely. They had a personal connection, and Arden might have loved him secretly, but it didn’t come close to the awful relationship she escaped after several long years.
“They believe they hold infinite power, but they are easy to destroy.” She scraped her tongue over her bottom lip, as if famished.
Arden rubbed at the goosebumps that rose on her flesh. She wasn’t the target of this woman – this creature – yet the uncanny, the unnatural disturbed her. And the unspoken offer. She would take revenge against the men who wronged her. Why, for a stranger?
The woman adjusted her position. “My offer still stands.” She slipped off the ledge, and Arden swore her legs metamorphosed into a scaly tail as soon as her skin made contact with the water.
Arden’s throat closed up, and she watched the undulating ripples in the water until her fantastical encounter vanished from sight.
A shadow loomed over her, and she startled.
“Oh my god, Arden. I thought you drowned.” Cecile stood on the bank, wrapped up in a towel. Droplets dripped from her hair onto the ledge where the woman previously sat.
“I’m okay.”
But was she? Really? When some monster from the depths just offered to smite her unrequited love?
When Arden and Cecile returned to the small town, a group of people clustered around the entrance to the singular pub that doubled as a motel. Typical gossips, yammering away about other people because they failed to have worthwhile news of their own. Arden only caught bits and pieces of the conversation.
“Tragic. He was so young.”
“His poor daughter will grow up without a father.”
“Good riddance, he was a cheater anyways.”
Cecile pushed her way into the ring of gossip. “What happened?”
Arden hung back. She avoided interacting with the locals; they always managed to identify her as an outsider, their noses turned up, suspicion crossing their features. This town already gave her a foreboding feeling, and the dark ambience surrounding them sent chills up her spine. And that woman… If she faced mythical or supernatural activity, she’d be better off returning to the university. She’d rather fight heartbreak and pining than risk certain death.
Finally, when Cecile had enough, she returned to Arden’s side, mouth set in a line. “Creepy.”
“What’s creepy?”
“Apparently, young men keep going missing. They go out to fish or swim, and they never come back. No one knows why. It’s assumed they drowned.”
Arden held back the response on the tip of her tongue. Her theories were absurd, anyways.
When they retired to their room, Arden kicked back on the bed, holding up a book. Her eyes scanned the same line repeatedly. She couldn’t focus. Maybe she should check her email, see how her professor was holding up without her.
Not before she heard the singing through the window.
Cecile remained tangled up in her blankets, breathing heavily.
Arden peered at the river, the moon casting a faint glow across its surface. A breeze tickled her cheek, and the music seemed to get louder. An unfamiliar melody that tempted Arden to brave the strange town in the middle of the night.
She slammed the window shut, heart racing, and ducked under the covers. No beautiful song was worth facing the unknown and the unnatural. Otherwise, she risked drowning too.
On the last morning of their getaway, Arden headed downstairs for breakfast, and halted.
Her appetite dissipated.
The man standing in the foyer shouldn’t be there. Did she imagine his presence, even here? Tingles ran up her spine, and she drew closer. Her attraction emulated the unearthly music from the night before.
He tugged on his collar, his hair messy, out of place. Like her.
Her professor was half the reason why she was losing her mind. She couldn’t decide whether she wanted him there, or wanted to send him back. Keep her personal life separate from her professional one.
As soon as he made eye contact, Arden thought she’d melt into the floor. “Your friend contacted me,” he said. “I thought I should come check on you.”
Cecile! Arden was going to kill her. She shot a miffed glance at her friend, who gave her a discreet thumbs up from her place at the bar.
Arden’s heart seized. This place was too dangerous for him, a prime target. He fit the description of the victims. Young men who intentionally or unintentionally harmed those who offered up their hearts.
“Should we explore?” he suggested. Arden could only nod in response.
They went out to walk the river together, watching as distant motor boats dragged their passengers at full speed.
“Why did you come?” The question spilled out before Arden’s brain could determine its appropriateness.
He shrugged. “Seemed like a nice place for a vacation.”
Not the answer she hoped for, but it could never be more.
“I’ll grab us drinks,” she said quickly. Her feet trudged through the sand towards the beach hut.
Except when she turned back, the drinks perspiring in her hands, her professor was gone.
She turned her back for two minutes. Two minutes.
And then the strange music started again. Panic flared up, and Arden zigzagged around the beach, leaving a swirl of distorted footprints in her wake. Closer to the source, she realized lyrics accompanied the unearthly song.
Come and join me, for the love you deserve.
Finally, she spotted him at a distance, already torso deep in water. She swung her head around. Did no one realize what was happening? But the few lingering bystanders were hypnotized as well.
Tossing the drinks, Arden sprinted towards him. She couldn’t lose him, not like this. She stretched out her arms and called out to him, his name scraping her throat raw. He ignored everything around them and walked further into the depths, entranced by the music.
“Please, stop,” she choked out.
The truth was, Arden owed him her life. Even before she split from her awful ex, the only thing that grounded her was her doctorate. And he was always there, ready to lend an ear, ready to support her emotional needs.
Severe tinnitus slammed her auditory system. Arden fell to her knees in the sand, the wind dissolving external stimuli.
“Please don’t hurt him. He’s not like the other ones you’ve targeted. It’s my fault,” she pleaded with the unseen monster. “Stop singing.”
She grit her teeth and summoned the strength to get up. She waded through the dense water as fast as she could.
Arden reached him just as the top of his head dipped below water. Looping her arms around his waist, she pulled him back to safety.
As she reached the shore, a pair of yellow eyes and sharp incisors peeked out from the river.
Next time, then.
And then the appropriate description surfaced, and Arden sucked in a breath. Folklore described the monsters as sirens. They lured men to their deaths with promises of beautiful music and carnal affection.
Her brain felt woozy. She came so close to losing the person most precious to her, all because she unconsciously accused him of manipulating her emotions.
He snapped out of his daze, his eyes locked on her. Finally appraising her, seeing her for real. “Arden?”
“I’m ready to come back.”
—
E.B. Gula is a former audiologist and science major who ultimately turned to the arts side. When she’s not reading, writing, or studying French literary theory, she enjoys cosplay, learning languages, and watching Korean dramas. Her twitter can be found @Emmbeve.
