Ah, so dark.

Hongyue stretched out her hands and tried to grasp something. Anything would do, she thought. Anything that would enable her to have the ability to leave here, to obtain a source of light. She was sick of this darkness, this emptiness that always surrounded her.

Eventually, as time pa.s.sed, Hongyue gave up. She wasn't surprised. Hongyue loathed the darkness yet she knew nothing else other from it, so in a way, the darkness was her cursed home. A memory of her past life slowly started to replay.

A six-year-old little siren stumbled along the sh.o.r.e of the rocky island. Her pale, delicate feet had been sliced up by the jagged rocks as she climbed up the cliff in search for food. The path behind her was covered in blood. Her arms and body were also in the very condition, sweat and blood ran endlessly as the sun struck down on her back. He parents had advised her to keep hidden but they also never came back for her. What could she have done? At this point, she needed food. Her stomach ached day and night endlessly, but she couldn't tolerate it any longer. So she came up on land to locate a source of food. Her dry lips engulfed in the fresh air as she felt the world spin around her.

She collapsed.

Hours later, she woke up to a young girl poking her lightly with a stick and offering her food. Taking the food, Hongyue wolfed it down hungrily. She eyed the girl next to her. The girl had dark hair and brown eyes and looked to be about six to seven years of age. Delighted to see someone at the same age as her, the little siren hybrid happily conversed with her new friend as the sky became dark.

"Why were you so hungry?" The little girl asked.

"I was hiding. I didn't have food with me when I was hiding. My parents didn't come back either." The siren murmured as she played with her fingers.

"Why were you hiding?"

Hongyue hesitated for a minute. Her parents always told her never to trust anyone else or give tell anyone of her ident.i.ty. But, Hongyue glimpsed at the harmless girl in front of her. This young girl saved her life, and they seem to be friends, she thought. So the innocent, naive siren told the little girl her ident.i.ty.

"I'm a siren."

"Siren," the little girl tasted the word. Slowly her eyes widened and turned dark, but the young siren never noticed.

"Do you have any more food?" The siren asked.

The little girl nodded.

Days went by as the two played with each other. The little girl would give the siren a share of food, and the two would chat as the sky turned dark. As time grew, the little girl didn't respond as often. The siren herself could feel a sense of tension and the friendly atmosphere was no longer there. However one day, the little girl asked the siren if she would help locate something that she lost. The naive siren agreed thinking it would be an opportunity for her to re-mend their relations.h.i.+p, not knowing of the upcoming horrors of that night.

Hongyue was knocked out unconscious, and when she awoke, she found herself tied up to a wall with spiked nets piercing deep into her skin. She peered up to see that same little girl, her supposed true 'friend' jabbing a dagger into her leg and carving out her flesh.

"Why?" She remembered asking.

"Why?"

"Why?" The little girl sneered at her mockingly. "Of course it's because you're a siren. You don't think I fed you for so long just because I was kind-hearted, did you? Who would want to save an ill-fated freak like you?"

The little girl bit down into the b.l.o.o.d.y flesh that she just cut for herself. The meat was still warm, so the blood flowed out, dyeing the clothing on the young girl blood red. Hongyue felt her heart shaking as her body turned cold.

The little girl gazed up at Hongyue, her mouth was covered in blood. She chewed and swallowed the flesh.

"You know, my mom is dying soon, and my father has just left us. My father is a selfish merchant, so there's no way he'll be willing to help us. All he thinks about is his profit. My mom at this point would be a lost cause, and there is no reason for my father to save me." The girl paused.

"Of course," The little girl turned around and stared at the siren, "Of course, if I were to have some sort of powerful magic. If I were to became a genius then wouldn't my father save me?!"

Hongyue couldn't really remember much later. She could merely recall the two open eyes of a crazed maniac who repet.i.tively carved into her flesh and devouring it in hopes of gaining mystical power. The immoral night with no stars in sight. The cave that stank of her blood and the greed that rolled off the very person she trusted.

Things you hear are not always the truth, especially rumors especially concerning mystical creatures like sirens. Myths like this probably germinated from humans, just like that little girl. In the end, the little girl was left frustrated. She plucked up the dagger and hacked into Hongyue's body over and over until her anger succ.u.mbed. She spat at Hongyue's unconscious body before s.h.i.+fting to clean her blade.

Hongyue who was seemingly lifeless suddenly snapped her eyes open. Her power awakened, surged through her body and forced the ropes to crumble. She s.h.i.+fted her hand to the back of the unaware little girl. No, what little girl, Hongyue fought back her tears, that creature in front of her was a monster. What that girl wanted wasn't wrong but what she did to Hongyue was. Hongyue hadn't fought back because she was hoping it was a cruel joke, seizing on to the hope she had a friend and that friend was pretending to be evil. Now, she didn't need to hold back, she understood what her parents meant. With a wave of her hand, the blood that was on the ground obeyed her wishes and surged upwards slicing off the head of her 'friend.'

Ah, she remembered laughing painfully that night, bathing in the full moon's gentle light as her wounds healed. Yes, she indeed was a monster but so what? The one who hated her and scorned her was the same one wanted her help. Hongyue's eyes turned cold.

Selfish.

Shameless.

Hypocrites!