Nightmares Vs Magic

Sirens in mythology and other media are always depicted as merfolk who sing beautiful songs, luring people to their deaths with them. They were typically shown as women, but lately there have also been stories about male versions. The surprising thing about Sirens which I wish more people knew about, is that there are two different types of Sirens. The famous version that everyone knows is mermaids. 

This is mostly thanks to sailors or pirates, who made up stories about meeting and being seduced by a beautiful woman. In reality, they were so lonely while out at sea that their curiosity led them to learn that manatees have the same genitalia functions as human women... The desires of some humans can be a truly, wretched, wretched thing. Those poor manatees...

Any who, disappointing fact aside, these tales came from Northern Europe, and then there are the Greek versions. By that, I mean the Siren versions from Greek tales were half human, half bird hybrids, although, some facts say that the tales came to Greece from Asia, which could make sense considering the Asian image depiction of bird woman. 

I don't know what I was expecting when Bence brought us all down to meet the two Sirens, I just knew that we wouldn't be letting Claire in on the information that the two bodyguards provided were actual creatures from mythology. Bence and I knew well enough that she would either not believe it but make us prove it, or she'd have a field day, and then spread it all over the internet. 

On the third floor, there were two handsome and well-dressed gentlemen, sitting and waiting by Bence's desk. 

They both had wavy hair but clearly weren't related by blood or associated as siblings. That being said, they still seemed similar, mostly because they both seemed so effortlessly gorgeous, like their looks were designed to seduce any human. 

Claire became excited and turned to look between Dove and the two after they all stepped through the door from the stairwell. 

"Are those two going to be guarding my house?!" 

Dove observed them with a practical mindset, but she two couldn't resist admiring their appearances for just a bit, at least the same way a person would look at a gorgeously designed artwork. 

"From dusk till dawn, but we might still have to do some paperwork-" Dove tried to finish, which she didn't as Claire eagerly walked in long, excited strides into the detective's office. 

"Hello! Who do I have the pleasures of meeting today?" She said as she made her strides, with an eager sounding tone in her voice. 

Dove stood back, watching from a distance as she noticed how Claire quickly acted upon seeing the two men at Bence's desk. They glanced up, one from his phone, another from some papers in a folder he was holding, as they both gave her a friend grin and casually waved as a greeting. Neither had even said a word yet. 

"I'm guessing, based on her excitement, those two must be the Sirens, you told us about, right?" 

"Yep! With their subtle powers already in effect." Bence responded from behind her, then turning to check how Annabelle is reacting. 

I had this idea ever since the dollhouse case, but Annabelle isn't affected by much. At least, she's not affected by any powers or illusions that regular humans would easily succumb to. But I was a bit surprised to see her also staring at the two men across the room with a curious look, her eyes squinting as her smile perked, she was almost biting her lip. 

"Mmmh, just imagine if someone killed a Siren in human form and then turned their flesh into sushi." 

Never mind.

Annabelle chuckled, squinting her eyes with glee like a fox when she noticed the two gentlemen staring at her, having heard her, and giving a funny look before turning their attention back to Claire. The entrances woman was smitten as she sat on the desk next to Bence's, trying to hold up a conversation but her eyes were in a daze, like she was trying to focus but couldn't at the same time. 

Dove cautiously stayed put as she lightly jabbed Annabelle's side, the girl shrugging with no regrets. She only began walking towards them when Bence walked past them to go greet the two. Dove chose to stay a good distance behind Bence as she followed, still wanting to do her job. 

"Sorry if this sounds rude or judgmental, I just want to know, were there any female Sirens available? And why Sirens anyway? Is it because her house is at the beach?"

"Well yes, but also because these guys have a higher sense of hearing then us, if there is anyone trying to snoop around, they'll be able to hear it from a mile away." Bence told her, pausing to pick up another empty coffee cup from Laurence's desk and throwing it away. 

"As for if there were any female Sirens available,,," He made another light hissing note as he looked up in thought before glancing back down at her. "The answer is a bit complicated; you'd have to ask them about it."

He greeted the two gentlemen who stood up to properly say hello, still having not said a single word yet, only nodding and politely grinning at whatever Claire was trying to talk about. 

"Thank you for coming, I know you must've been busy, but thankfully, our case is taking place at the same beach you were going to visit anyway." 

The necromancer first gestures to the interns.

"This is Annabelle and Dove, they'll be shadowing us and helping out on land when or if they can."

He then gestures to Claire.

"And this is our client that I told you about-"

"Claire!" The woman eagerly announced whilst holding out a hand for a handshake, not caring which one would respond, as her eyes said she was completely infatuated. 

"Maybe you've heard of me? I mean- I don't mean to sound egotistical, but I am a bit well-known around some parts!" She giggled.

Both the Sirens nodded their heads to her with a polite, curt nod, neither reaching forward to shake her hand. One even kept his hands in his pockets, not like the woman even noticed or registered as she retracted her hand, getting up from the desk that she sat on the edge of, but still leaned against. 

"Right..." Bence said, trying not to let the awkwardness linger, although he did appear as though he was resisting the urge to pinch his brow, wondering he brought the two in, knowing their effects on most people. 

"Anyhow, our interns found evidence of her having a possible stalker, and perhaps possible frequent break-ins to her home. Based on some new information and evidence Dove received just a few moments earlier, we have an image of the most likely suspect, along with a possible reason being some sort of vengeance?"

He paused, stretching the last word as he frowned in confusion, turning to Dove for confirmation, who was standing further away from everyone in the midst of the discussion. 

Dove shrugged. "So far possible vengeance is the only one that comes to mind, as her and her friends may have annoyed him. There's no physical evidence connecting him to this, aside from her words about seeing him in her oddly frequent and vivid nightmares." 

The girl crossed her arms, avoiding making eye contact with anyone, mostly looking between Annabelle and Bence. She leaned against the edge of an empty desk. 

"I asked Bence to at least give her some security to try and confirm all of what he said earlier, nothing is set in stone yet." She said, her tone unsure and both of the Sirens could hear it clear as day. 

They continued to stay silent, but one of them did give her a curious gaze before they all began to make plans for investigating the beach neighborhood. One of the two mysterious gentlemen opened up the folder he brought, but first tossed a cautious glance over to Claire, then looking to Bence. 

'Is it alright for her to be?" He seemed to ask with his eyes. 

"She's entranced by you two right now. You tell me." He shrugged. 

It was true, a Siren's spell is very potent it seems, especially on the unaware. 

The gentleman with the long, dark wavy hair that was tied into a loose ponytail shrugged. He laid the photos out from the folder and onto the table. 

If there is a version of male Sirens, there is of course going to be a male version of Selkies as well. And as if emphasizing the upsetting ways of reality, while the female selkies are typically victims of human men, the male selkies are the seductive ones who either lure woman into the water or are attracted to upset woman. They don't stay long and can willingly leave anytime. 

But then that echoed a question I wouldn't dare to ask out of the blue: What does that mean for these male Sirens we were working with? Are they also tricksters who just struck a deal with Macabre House? Or were they genuinely nice and wanted to help and work with us? The latter seemed more like a fantasy. 

Nonetheless, they refused to talk the entire time, Bence and Annabelle did most of the talking with the case, discussing how to kill two birds with one stone. The two gentlemen needed to head to the beach near the neighborhood to check on some suspicious activity involving Selkie that may be trying to hunt there. In the meantime, Bence is trying to work out a way to help them finish their task during the day so that they can watch over Claire's house at night. This piqued an idea in my head. 

"Selkies, specifically males, like to mess with humans, not just drown them, right?" 

All heads turned to her, interest piqued and a pause of thought from Annabelle who hummed in agreement. 

"I mean, just swimming and surviving gets pretty boring. It's why they tend to show up on shore or perch on high rocks." Annabelle pitched in, shrugging her shoulders.

"Do they have a tendency to break into people's homes? Or stalk women?"

The two Sirens shook their head. One of them, who had short, blonde wavy hair, pulled out his phone and quickly typed something before flipping the screen and tapping the speaker button. The speaker had the robotic male voice that didn't look like the voice the guy would have. 

Normally, they do not stalk, nor does Claire seem the type of women they would go after. 

The green-haired one took the time to type the next sentence on his phone as they all listened to the speaker, before flipping his phone screen over and pressing the speaker button. He used the same male robotic voice, the only one they can use to imagine them speaking.

Male Selkies seduce upfront. Unless she shed seven tears into the ocean at some point or has a boyfriend she's upset with and hasn't seen in a long time, they won't go after her. 

"Then what about pretending to be humans to hang out with the ones who enjoy partying?"

"Hmm, now that, might be possible. Just seducing or hanging around by the shore? With music and entertainment just a few walks away, I bet some Selkies would certainly risk leaving their pelts behind to go and join them." Annabelle responded with a clap of epiphany, something bright sparkled in her eyes as she too took out her phone, searching for something.

"Except that behavior is more fitting towards Nereids."

"What are Nereids?"

Greek water nymphs, daughters of 'the old man of the sea'. Far more playful and less malicious.

Dove frowned in thought, beginning to walk around to ponder as she headed towards one of the many bookshelves in the office. 

I'm not sure if I expressed this enough but this place is really cozy, not like some office with a bunch of cubicles or desks. It's probably because of the lighting or the fact that there's a lot of polished wood carving designs around the walls and such. Even the bookshelves have some sort of polished wood design. Add some rails to square off the desks from the rest of the area and it'll feel like a place for fancy little debate meetings.

"We can see if there really are some, once we go back to the beach." Bence cut in as he looked at a pocket watch of his before slipping it back into one of his pockets. 

"We can theorize on our way there, for now let's head out before it gets dark."

Claire attempted to cling to the arm of one of the Sirens, so Annabelle took it upon herself to block her, linking their arms together as if they were close friends, before beginning to drag her towards the elevator. 

"Dove?" Bence called out, noticing she was entranced by a book she found. 

The girl looked up, using the string of the book to mark her place before closing and putting it back on the shelf. 

"Would it be alright if I rush down to the archives floor for a moment? I have to grab a book."

"For?" He asked, crossing his arm and tilting his head at her, speaking gently. Best not to antagonize someone if you think they're going to do something rash. 

He didn't ask what kind of book, as if he already knew what she planning to go down and get. That or he was waiting for Annabelle to take Claire down the elevator, separate her from Sirens and hopefully snap out of it. The Sirens also seemed to want this, and were waiting their turns for the elevator as one signaled to the other that they were going to go grab something else from one of the rooms. 

Those types of books, the ones that Laurence had once shown her as he gave her a small tour of the basement, Bence was already familiar enough with them to know when someone else was going to consider using one.

"Those are very dangerous; one wrong slip of the page and you just might unleash a creature that likes to creep over people's fences at night."

"I am aware, that is why I'm not planning to use one, I was sort of hoping I could ask you to use it for me."

He gave her a curious look.

"The thing about her dreams are still bothering me. I know you already gave me an explanation and while I would like to just let things be and not care, I just want to be safe in case this theory is correct."

"Joon must be rubbing off on you." He stepped closer, seemingly implying he was going to go down to the archives with her, why else would he have picked up his case to bring with him? Dove still has little experience navigating that floor after all. 

"He does seem way happier when he indulges his curiosity."

He hummed in agreement, looking over his shoulder to the blond Siren waiting for his friend as he looked at something on his phone. 

"We'll meet you outside after this little errand."

The Siren nodded, just in time as his friend came back with a piece of paper that Dove couldn't see nor read the words of. The green-haired Siren signaled to them, holding up five fingers, and pointing up. 

'We're going to the fifth floor.'

He then held up the paper, showing it was a request for an item from the Alchemist Labs.

"Alright, come down soon." Bence responded as they both began to leave, before he then turned back around to add a favor. 

"If you meet Adan, tell him that I still think his blueprints need an update." 

Both of the Sirens gave him a funny look. One wrinkled his nose as he stared him down with a frown paired with a smirk, clearly judging him. The other rolled his eyes, subtly shaking his head but giving Bence a thumb up, humoring him.

I didn't bother to question Bence about his relationship status with Adan, or more like I didn't dare if I still wished to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Traveling down from the fourth floor to the basement was a long trek. Fortunately, both Bence and Dove didn't mind the silence, and it was like a peaceful break from socializing and speaking. 

Down in the Archives, the entrance was different this time since they came through the stairwell door, not the elevator. 

A small desk greeted them with no one at the desk chair. There wasn't even a chair really, just a fancy-looking lamp and a sign-in sheet, so about the same items one would see at the desk facing the elevator entrance area. 

The walls were shelves of books like before, as if the structure of the basement was built with more support and long wood planks to make it more accommodating to hold nearly a million books. Bence lead the way, and Dove followed him just on the third floor, as Dove still couldn't wrap her head around just walking around until they found their destination, simply thinking about it. 

"It's okay if you never figure out how to navigate this space, you can always get either me or Laurence to come with you." Bence said to her without looking as they continued passing bookshelves and different sections with different topics. 

Dove stayed silent, nearly facing most of her attention towards the hardwood floors as they walked. 

"Ah, I'll remember that then..." She responded, although she could not hide the slight feeling of discomfort in her tone. 

Due to... reasons, I typically don't feel comfortable when someone says that or something similar to that. There is no need to elaborate. I'm only obligating myself to explain my mental and physical journey ever since joining this strange agency so as to express and clearly remember my experience here. 

"However, if neither of us are available, there are also lots of other people working throughout the building who know how to walk through this place. And, fortunately for you, I doubt you'll need to come here often. It's filled with a lot of dangerous things, and we'd rather not let our fletching wander down here too much."

Thankfully, this place, despite my short time here, despite my even greater exposure to the things that lurk in the night and corners of my eyes, has always felt like a place of security and stability here.

They stopped in the same large cubicle-shaped room that Laurence had shown to her the first time. The same glass walls and doors that block the books from any intruders, wavering and becoming like gravity-defying water upon the press of the necromancer's palm to the door.

He went through the usual procedure of grabbing a book to check out, though he first looked through the section that should've had ones with empty pages. He seemed to huff in disappointment to himself, knitting his eyebrows together in a frown as he opened, flipping the pages quickly, putting it back, and picking out another. They didn't have much time, so he could only take a random one after seeing it at least had a few empty pages, typing his name into the computer, scanning the book and leaving through the glass barrier again.

"Dove, after this case is finished, I'm going to need you to create a job posting for an archivist, or a librarian." He said, almost in an exasperated tone if he didn't look and sound so composed. 

"Honestly, scratch that. Anyone who can read and write and knows how to organize."

...

After they went back up and prepared to go back, Dove was about to go to Claire's car to drive her back to the beach, assuming she was still too hypnotized to focus on the road. Much to her surprise, it seemed the women was back to normal, acting like her usual self, although she still remembered everything. 

Claire was waiting at the front doors to the building, checking her reflection with her small hand mirror, clearly waiting for when the two handsome men will come out. She still remembered everything, but now it seemed like she was able to focus on other things since the two men were no longer in her peripheral. Dove walked up and asked for her phone again, asking to look again at the photos and videos she had of the suspect in the background.

Bence advised Annabelle to try to convince Claire into leaving back to her house first. The reasons being that he didn't want Claire to be hypnotized again and risk not being able to focus on driving, and he knew she'd be safe so long as Annabelle went with her, stalker or no stalker. Dove offered to drive Claire instead if it was too difficult, but Bence held her back, wanting to talk with her first before they left. 

"If you really want to impress them, you should quickly head back first, that'll give you plenty of time to find a better-looking outfit, maybe even redo your makeup, kill a bunch of birds in record time." Annabelle said to the woman as she ushered her over to her car that Dove carefully parked in the parking lot. 

The confident half-fae looked over her shoulder, winking at the necromancer and intern as she hopped into the car with Claire, continuing to feed more enticing ideas into her ear. 

Fae folks are known to be good at convincing others, it's kinda one of the methods they are known for.

"You're so right! And the saying is 'kill two birds with one stone', not, whatever you said. Silly!" She said before focusing on the road. 

Annabelle rolled her eyes but continued to laugh along with her. 

Bence and Dove went back inside to wait for the two gentlemen after watching Claire finally be convinced and drive off first. They could be heard chuckling together.

"Were there any photos in her phone from the garden?" Bence asked.

"A few, some of the flowers that Vernon showed her, others of the trees and soil with some bones sticking out. I deleted those." 

"How'd you do that? She didn't seem like the type to just let people touch her things."

"I already asked to search her phone twice before, that and I may know a few sleight-of-hand tricks."

He hummed in curiosity, walking beside her as they passed by a few guests browsing through the magic store, before finally getting to the elevator. 

He then suddenly huffed and crossed his arms, meanwhile Dove reacted with a frown as she felt a shiver up her spine. 

"Lucia." Bence firmly said, not even looking up. 

Dove refused to look up, rightfully so as the Wendigo dropped down in front of them, right in front of the elevator entrance. She smiled, though her smile was nothing like Annabelle's.

"Oh, what's wrong? Don't like it when I try to greet you?" She said in a teasing tone, tilting her head, hands on her hips. 

"Where did you come from? There's nothing on the ceiling to cling to." Dove questioned as she finally looked up, squinting at the ceiling, before snapping her attention back down to Lucia. Her eyes flickered over to the pale woman's hands, noticing how the nails appeared to shrink back into normal size. 

"I hope nobody else saw that."

"Shouldn't you be helping Liora? It seems like a busy day at the store right now."

Lucia pouted, crossing her arms. 

"Ugh! I've been doing nothing, but entertaining customers and restocking supplies all day! I'm on break." 

Bence raised an eyebrow in doubt, giving Dove a possible clue that Lucia did this often. 

The elevator finally dinged, with just the two gentlemen they were waiting for, coming out of the lift. Bence quickly and gently ushered for Lucia to go back to helping Liora. 

"Alright, I suggest you get back to work, I don't want another person making some joke about eating the two bodyguards we need for a client's case right now." He told her as he gestured for Dove to usher the two Sirens out quickly before the magic store shoppers got too entranced. 

She walked with them in silence through the maze of isles with knick-knacks and witchcraft items of all kinds as they did their best to avoid any crowded isles. The two even gave a wave to Liora who was helping to package some items into what looked like a present for a person adorned by tattoos. She waved back with a gentle smile. 

Dove let out an exhale she didn't know she was holding as they finally got out.

"That was the most difficult experience I've ever had of trying to avoid people."

One of the Sirens patted her shoulder, either a gesture of comfort, or thanks, she hypothesized it was either of those two. He did give a small grin after all.

Bence came out last. 

"Oh, good. No one followed." He asked, looking to the door or around the building. He used his free hand to rake his hair back, before then pulling out that pocket watch out of nowhere again, clicking it open. Dove couldn't see it, but part of her knew it didn't function like a normal pocket watch.

"Alright, Annabelle had Claire leave first, so I'd like for us to quickly join them soon, just in case something dangerous approaches..." He extended the last word, while carefully reading his pocket watch before swinging it by the chain to put it away into a pocket Dove hadn't noticed. 

"In the meantime, since it's still light out, you two can go check on the selkies in the area, while Dove and Annabelle stay with Claire. Once it gets dark, you'll be guarding her house. Is everything clear and agreeable?"

The blonde Siren nodded and shrugged while the one with green hair gave an 'okay' sign.

I got into Bence's car as I watched them split to their own vehicle. I was wondering why they wouldn't be riding with us, but then I realized we likely had different schedules and destinations aside from this. And they would be staying for the night shift.

"I hope Claire will be alright with having two men stand guard outside her house at night." Dove said, as they were on the road.

"I understand your concerns but trust me when I say these Sirens are good people. We've worked with them for years."

She hummed, keeping her eyes on the road with him.

"If you're curious as to why they have yet to say a word, I'll give you a hint; it's not for the reason you may think it is."