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“If you don’t remember anything, get ready for a long story.” I addressed Rey. “Even though it might sound unreal, I’m afraid there’s no going back to a different reality now.” I sat down on the plastic of the couch and Alex joined me after some hesitation. He was still uncomfortable sitting near Rey.
“So, where should I start?” I asked because even though Rey might remember the world that existed one month ago, so much had changed that nothing made sense anymore. “Perhaps, I could begin with telling you about yourself. This is your house. Your living room. You’ve lived here with your wife Evelyn.” I paused to see whether that rang a bell. His glance swept across the pictures again. Yet, he didn’t show any sign of recognition. “Evelyn had a bad reaction to a shot and now lives in a mental hospital.” I paused to wait for my words to cause an emotional reaction. He used to suffer so much because of that. The way he almost stopped living when she didn’t remember him, and they could no longer spend their life together. I could relate to the pain because if anything happened to Alex, I wouldn’t know how to go on either. So, how could my words leave him cold now? Did we rob him of his past?
Rey got up and shot toward the window in Siren speed. He gave me a fright because I thought he’d smash into the glass, but he again stopped in time and looked out onto his lawn. I sunk back into the couch, exhaling deeply.
“You could tell me anything.” He said with his back turned to us. “Everything feels detached from me.” He straightened his back and lost the vulnerable appearance from before. Alex’s heartbeat quickened again, being reminded that Rey was still very unpredictable, and we couldn’t be sure what his next move would be.
“I feel the strong urge to fill the holes in my brain with fitting puzzle pieces but what you are saying isn’t helping in any way.” He turned around, his veiled eyes making it impossible for us to read his thoughts. Before he could change his mind about being attracted by Alex’s adrenaline, I tried a new approach.
“You are a glass blower and can create amazing things. Maybe doing something with your hands will bring back some memories. Let’s have a look at your workshop.” I got up and motioned for him to follow. We walked into the shed, which was chilly with the oven having been out for the past month. It still smelled of a long died out fire though and the tools were arranged along the wall and on the workbenches like Rey had left them. Rey’s bed stood in one corner, freshly made. Only from the dust that had settled on the book on the bedside table, you could tell it hadn’t been used in a while.
Rey stood in the entrance, not quite sure where to go and Alex was a few feet behind him. I bit my lip. Alex should have stayed in the house and at least keep a wall between him and Rey.
“This is your kingdom, Rey. Go have a look if anything rings a bell.” I urged him.
He walked to the workbench, picked up a bauble and carefully traced it with his fingers.
He titled his head. “Yes, I know how to do this.” He let go of a sharp breath and his face broke out into a smile. More of a smile than I had ever seen on Rey’s face. Human Rey had worn a hard and concentrated expression. A mask which he had trained to hide the sadness about the loss of his love. This smile, however, transformed him from someone sinister to someone you wished you knew.
Rey laid out pieces of glass on the workbench and I took a seat on my old space on the wooden bench. With my head, I motioned for Alex to go back inside the house. However, curiosity got the better of him and he joined me on the bench. I moved an inch away from him to let him know this had been a reckless idea.
“You were a normal human and this was your job.” I addressed Rey again. “Up until two years ago, I was a human myself and had no idea anything supernatural existed. Now, however, there is a reason why we need to exist.” I sighed. “As you saw with the fences all over the US, our country and the world are in trouble. There is a medical organization named PaNacea, led by Dr. Palmer, who manipulates humans into thinking magic is bad. PaNacea is quite successful in killing magical creatures while the humans hang on to every word Dr. Palmer says. According to him, a religious cult cursed the world and brought a deadly virus upon the people. PaNacea will be their only hope in finding a remedy against the virus.”
“The same PaNacea that produced stomach pills?” Rey asked to my surprise. Up to now, I hadn’t even been sure whether he was listening.
“Yes, you know them?”
He frowned. “I don’t know why. When you said their name, I remembered this fact. I could picture one of their plastic bottles with pills.” He massaged his temples. “But I can’t remember whether or why I took them.”
Still, it was good that there were certain things he remembered. Probably, this meant other memories would return as well. “Those voices we’ve heard in the black space were the Orbiters.” I continued. “They are like our supreme court. Unfortunately, their other plans have failed, and they couldn’t come up with anything better than to send Sirens into the fight against Dr. Palmer. Rather, male Sirens, because as we have seen with you, they are stronger than female Sirens. Up to now, it has only been possible to change women into Sirens. Whenever we've tried to change a man, it has ended in a catastrophe because afterward, he’d attack humans. But we developed a serum with which transforming men safely should become possible, and you agreed to be the first one to be tested.” I quickened my pace toward the end to make it short and painless. I swallowed. “Please, tell me you remember any of this because except for the memory loss, you turned out great.”
He played with the glass ball in his hands and threw it into the air a couple of times, catching it with one hand. “If I hadn’t witnessed everything I did, I would call the ambulance, thinking clearly you are the insane one and not me.” Then he leaned closer toward me and whispered. “Am I in some kind of study and you drugged me and now are testing with special effects how much it takes until I believe in magic?”
I sighed, and Alex pursed his lips. “No, this isn’t a joke. We are Siren’s and Alex is human. You do feel the difference between me and him, don’t you?”
Rey focused on Alex and I took Alex’s hand. “Right. He has a heartbeat and you don’t. So, I should be wanting to kill you?”
“No, that’s exactly what the serum was supposed to change,” Alex said, his eyes wide with surprise that Rey had addressed him directly. “If you don’t feel the urge to kill me, Cathy’s death wasn’t for nothing.”
“Yes, it wasn’t.” I clenched my jaw. “And I guess memory loss isn’t a big price to pay if you have to start a new life anyway. But Rey, we were friends,” I tried again. “Now you are treating me as if I am an enemy. I only want what is best for you.”
“What’s that supposed to be?” He paced around the work shed.
“You can live with us and help us save the world. Over time, you might remember more.”
He walked past the sink over which there was a small mirror. After he passed it, he took a step back to take another look. I realized this was the first time he caught a glimpse of his new self and the irritating eyes. His chest expanded with air and a second later he jumped back with a shriek that didn’t sound human at all. For the first time, he hadn’t calculated his movement correctly and jammed his back into the workbench, sliding to the floor.
“Rey, are you okay?” I went to his side.
“What is wrong with my eyes?” He stammered.
“They are beautiful. Like the ocean.” I said. “Much better than mine. When I don’t control them or wear contacts my eyes are an abysmally evil black.”
“I don’t even know what I am supposed to look like. I knew it couldn’t be like this.”
“So, what do you say.” I got up and held out a hand to help him up as well. “Come back to our house with us and we can decide from there what next steps we can take?”
He ignored my hand and got up on his own. “I’m sorry, but I don’t even know you. If this is my place, I much rather stay here and perhaps I will remember something.” He traced the workbench with his hand. “Plus, I kind of knocked out your friends. Who knows what you will do to me if I come with you.”
Alex tilted his head in surprise.
I sighed. “You didn’t know what you were doing. They have already forgiven you for that. But they must be worried about where we are.”
Rey shook his head. “No, I’m fine with staying here.”
“I get that waking up in chains doesn’t make our house seem like a safe place, but it is. I can’t leave you here alone. You’re not human anymore. There still are some things you must learn, or you might accidentally kill yourself or expose us to the world and then the Orbiters will kill you.” I spoke intensely. “You heard them, right? I can’t let this happen to you.”
Rey pressed his hands on top of his bald head. “I don’t remember anything about who I was and the world I’ve seen doesn’t strike me as very inviting.”
“It isn’t but we can make it better. You could help us with it. Wouldn’t that be a good enough reason to live?” I approached him, and he leaned back a little, making me slow down.
He placed his palms flat on the workbench, pushing his weight onto them so that I could see the muscles in his upper arms. “You seem like a nice person, but you’re asking a bit much. I would prefer to simply blow a few more of these glass balls and make a lamp out of them.”
“That sounds good too. Maybe it will help you remember.” I encouraged him.
“Good.” He walked to the oven and pushed a button and pulled on a lever. “You can leave then.”
“Unfortunately, I can’t.”
His face became closed off, but I didn’t want to lose the connection I had to him. “I just want to make sure you are okay.” I tried.
Rey didn’t answer but just moved around a few tools.
“So, uhm, should I go let Melissa and Luke know you are here?” Alex asked into the silence.
I nodded, and he backed away, not taking his eyes off Rey until he disappeared out of my field of vision.
“And I can stay in my usual spot, watching you work.” I sat back down onto my bench.
“I can’t imagine that I could work being watched by you.” He ground his teeth.
“You never talked much. More often we shared our company in silence. But now I have another question.” I kneaded my fingers. “Aren’t you hungry?”
He earnestly considered my question. “Nope. You?”
“Being hungry for a Siren means you desire a nice, juicy and vitally pumping heart.” I remembered how Roisin first talked about hearts to me and my mouth started watering then as if she talked about the best dish in the world.
“No. Can’t say that my stomach rumbles at that.” He said dryly and snorted.
“That’s odd.” I leaned back against the wooden wall. He had been in transformation for one month. It would be time for a new heart right about now. Maybe that meant he didn’t have to kill someone to stay alive and like Alex had hoped, could take the serum instead. I watched how Rey opened the oven and placed some tools in the orange fire that was flickering inside. That was good news. It would be easier than if he had to go hunting. He only needed the next shot with the serum and we’d see from there.