Chained (The Siren Series #2) (10 page)

“
Slippery little thing aren’t you.”
Naaz commented.

I carefully picked myself up and saw Naaz
standing in her now long dead jungle.

“
What is wrong with you? Why are you
trying to kill me all the time?” I asked.

“
You mistake me, little one. I’m trying
to teach you.” Naaz replied.

“
You call that teaching!” I said
pointing to the destroyed stairs.

“
If I am to help you, I want to make
sure you know of your full abilities.”

Naaz raised her arm and I quickly dived
across the garden, taking refuge behind a large stone fountain that
held green mossy water.

“
You cannot hide all your life, Ellie!”
Naaz yelled.

She’s right. I cannot hide from all my
problems all my life. Naaz struck the fountain again and again
tempting me to move. I quickly threw myself around the beaten up
fountain and screamed, tearing up the concrete floor. I had
surprised her, sending Naaz rolling up into the air and finally
falling into a dead flower bed.

“
Sorry!” I yelled while trying to
suppress a giggle.

Within a blink of an eye, she was back up on
her feet as if nothing has happened. She stared at me and smiled
her frightening grin.

“
How was that?” I asked
sarcastically.

“
Good, but I want you to do more.” She
said.

More? What more could I do?

“
I did tell you that I had a Siren?
Yes?” she asked.

“
Yeah, you did, when you were trying to
strangle me!” I replied.

Naaz gave me a sly smile and ignored the
comment. “Well, she used to do
things
for me. The little Siren would use her powers and lure many
people here that we used.”

I didn’t want to hear her talk anymore.

“
That’s enough, I don’t want to know.”
I said.

“
Fine with me, but Siren’s can
influence without even touching, and that my dear I want you to
do.”

“
But I’ve never done anything like that
before. How do I do it?” I asked.

“
Close your eyes and concentrate.” she
said.

I did as she said and closed my eyes. Did she
want me to do anything else? I felt stupid, standing with my eyes
shut tight.

“
Naaz?” I called out but she didn’t
answer.

Should I open them?

“
Let go, what are you do-.” said a
voice. “Ellie?”

I opened my eyes up to see Marcus standing
next to Naaz.

“
What are we doing out here?” he
asked.

“
Training.” said Naaz. “Now, Ellie,
make Marcus fall in love with you, while you are over
there.”

“
Are you nuts?” Marcus
yelled.

“
I’m not doing that!” I
said.

“
You need to, you might need it one
day.” she replied.

“
It could go wrong and I don’t want to
hurt him.”

“
Look, she said she not doing it now
can I go back inside.” he said.

Naaz gripped his arm as he walked off. “Don’t
you want to help Ellie?” she asked him.

Marcus didn’t say anything, he looked at Naaz
and then at me. “Fine.” he said.

“
Good.” Naaz smiled.

“
But what if it goes wrong and-.” she
cut me off.

“
It won’t, now close your eyes and try
to call upon that power you have inside you.”

I closed my eyes again and tried to call upon
any power that I had inside me. Something pierced through the
darkness of my mind and a figure of a man came towards me. It was
Marcus, something wasn’t right with him. His eyes adopted a glassy
stare and I didn’t like what I was seeing, I didn’t like seeing him
like that. I wanted the image gone from my mind and quickly opened
my eyes. Marcus was now standing arms length from me with the same
stare I pictured in my mind.

“
Mistress?” He said
nonchalantly.

He swayed on the spot, waiting for his
commands.

“
Turn him back, please Naaz.” I
begged.

She nodded and placed a hand to his chest,
within a few minutes he blinked and returned to life.

“
I’m so sorry, Marcus.” I
said.

“
It’s ok, I did it for you.” He said as
he rubbed his forehead.

“
Are you ok?” I asked.

“
Just a little headache that’s all.” he
replied.

“
I’m very impressed, Ellie.” said
Naaz.

“
Thanks.” I mumbled to her.

Naaz disappeared back into the building
leaving Marcus and I alone.

“
I’m sorry I did that to you.” I
said.

“
I’m a little in awe and a bit scared
of what you can do. When I was under it felt like I was trapped, my
body was moving but I couldn’t stop it.” he said.

“
That’s horrible.” I said.

“
Yeah.” he replied.

“
I’m going back inside now.” I
mumbled.

“
Come on, I’ll walk you back.” Marcus
said.

That afternoon we remained in the living room
with the warm glow of the fire. The four of us remained silent as
we sat. We were all lost, we were stuck. I couldn’t find a way out
of this mess and everyone was looking to me because I was the
‘golden child’. Rhea was silent and not her usual self, she had her
nose in that book that she brought along with her. I picked myself
up from the floor and went over to Rhea, whose eyes were rapidly
scanning each of the pages.

“
What are you reading?” I asked
her.

Rhea quickly snapped the book shut. “A very
old story.” she replied.

“
I’ve seen that book before. You were
reading it at your house.” I said.

“
You have quite the memory, Ellie. This
is a very special book.”

“
What so special about it?” I sat down
at her knee like a little child hoping for a bedtime
story.

“
This book has no words.” she
said.

I was confused, no words? “If it has no
words, then how do you read it?” I confusedly asked.

Rhea gave a little giggle. “No it doesn’t,
but it is a very special book none the less. It lets you speak to
very important people.” Rhea gently stroked the book as if a
loveable pet.

“
Would I be able to talk to
them
?” whoever
they are.

“
Sorry, Ellie, it would destroy your
mind. But hopefully, in time I can teach you.”

“
How?” I asked.

“
Touch the book.” Rhea passed the
battered tome towards me and I could feel the power flowing into my
body, quickening my heartbeat. It was something I had never felt
before, not even when I touch Rhea for the first time. It made my
entire body shiver with power. My body seemed to feed from it and I
wanted more, but I quickly gave it back to Rhea.

“
Did you feel it?” she
asked.

“
I’ve never felt that kind of power
before.” I replied.

“
Not many people can stand its power,
but this is what will end it all, Ellie.”

“
A book?” I asked
doubtfully.

“
Yes.” Rhea replied.

The book that she caressed in her lap didn’t
look much, but whatever it was harnessed great power. “You think
this book could stop everything that is happening?” I asked.

“
Yes, I’m sure of it.”

Was I about to put all of my faith in a book?
If Rhea held so much faith in one single tome then maybe I should
too, but lately my trust in her was fading away but I had no choice
but to trust her.

“
Rhea, will Naaz really help us?” I
asked.

“
I hope she does, but she has held onto
a lot of anger.” Rhea then let out a sigh.

“
Well, I hate to say it but she is
powerful and we may need her.” I said.

“
I’m surprised to hear you say that
Ellie, since she has attacked you twice.” said Rhea.

“
I think that’s why we need her,
because she’s dangerous. She can get things done.”

“
Hopefully, she will help us in the
end.” Rhea said.

“
Yes, but will she need a bit more
convincing?”

“
No, she doesn’t, but when it all comes
down to it I hope she decides to stand with us.”

“
You’d think she’d betray us, even
though she’s your friend?” I asked.

“
Well, friend is a bit of a stretch,
but whatever we had between us, I hope that she still feels
something for what we once had.” Rhea said.

There was odd silence between us. Something I
couldn’t put my finger on, was Rhea judgment being clouded by Naaz.
Since coming here she was not herself.

Naaz then floated into the warm cozy room and
eyed us. She then stopped at Rhea and jerked her head towards the
door. Rhea agreed and walked out of the room with her. Sophia and I
gave each other a, ‘what’s-going-on-look.’

There was silence in the room. Marcus had
decided to sit in the window again, watching the rain splatter on
the rooftops, it seems he looked a bit hypnotized by it all. Sophia
took a seat next to the glowing fire and I took an empty spot on
the rug beside her. We both sat and stared into the spitting
furnace. As I continued to stare, the flames seemed to dance
endlessly inside the fireplace. We were captivated by its amber
flames.

A few minutes past in pure silence, waiting
for Rhea’s return.

She came back into the room and ushered us to
follow her. The three of us walked out of the warm room and out
into the bitter coldness that was the dark hall. Naaz stood firmly
in the middle of her cold dusty home. Her eyes locked onto mine as
I walked closer. (Oh god what is she thinking now?)

“
We need to act now. The leaches are
running around killing innocent civilians and they will expose us
if they continue.” Naaz’s voice was cold.

“
What can we do, we couldn’t even get
close to her last time.” Marcus spoke.

“
True, but you didn’t have this.” Naaz
pulled out a glass orb that swirled with a bright light in her
hand. The radiant rays escaped the ball and headed straight into my
chest. My body ebbed with a warm feeling, soon it started to spread
throughout, tingling my fingers and toes.

“
What’s that?” asked Sophia.

“
This is called a wisp.” Naaz
replied.

“
How did you get this?” Rhea was in
awe.

My head became fuzzy and heavy, the tingling
sensation continued to spread and I felt fluffy and light. It
wasn’t a horrible feeling, but a nice one. I felt calm, self
confident and slowly I could feel my body rising up off the ground,
or what it felt like it.

“
It’s just a glass orb, it doesn’t look
like much.” said Marcus.

Were they not seeing what I was seeing? The
bright orb seemed to glow with a rhythm, like a heartbeat. Was this
thing alive?

“
It’s part of her.” Naaz pointed at me
and the gang turned towards me and their faces lit up.

“
Ellie, you’re glowing.” Sophia
cried.

“
What?” I looked down at my hands. They
were right, I was glowing as if someone had flipped a light switch
on inside of me.

Naaz took a step forward and placed the glass
orb into my hand. As soon as my fingers touched the heavy glass, a
fierce wind gathered around me, throwing my hair up into the calm
storm. Everyone took a step back, hoping to avoid the power I
commanded. The orb in my hands warmed my entire body, fueling me
with energy I had never felt before, not even Rhea’s book felt like
this. As I squeezed the orb tightly, more power flowed up through
my hands. The wind then died around me and I was in amazement.

“
What the hell was that?” I
asked.

“
That orb you hold in your hands is
part of you, part of your history” Naaz explained. “It’s made with
Siren magic, their blood.”

“
What!?” the room erupted into
gasps.

“
Blood?” This thing I held in my hand
was made from Siren blood?

“
Yes, Siren magic is very powerful,
you’re handy little creatures when you want to be.” Naaz
explained.

I gave Naaz a disgruntled look and stared
down at the orb.

As I tightly gripped the orb with both hands,
the warm power swirled around my fingers, until a warm wave pulsed
around the room, engulfing us in its gentle glow, giving everyone’s
skin a bright shine.

“
Did everyone feel that just now?”
Marcus asked.

“
I haven’t felt like that in years.”
Rhea said.

“
Yeah, it was like a warm hug. Was that
you, Ellie?” Sophia asked.

I shrugged at the question.

“
So will this help?” I
asked.

“
Indeed it will. You will use it to
fight off the darkness and keep away those foul leaches.” Rhea
replied.

“
We need to go back in.” Naaz
said.

“
Are you nuts? We almost died in there.
Ellie almost didn’t make it.” Marcus said.

“
Marcus is right, Naaz, it’s too
dangerous to go in there.” agreed Rhea.