SIRENS CALL

The night arrives and there I am. Down on my bed and into my thoughts. It was a long day. Yet not one different from the others. The same job, the same procedure.

The old fact that sleep has not found me, not at all since nearly three days. There was no caffeine, nothing similar that could lead to this lack of sleep. At least that's what I thought. Until this night.

My phone rings and takes away the question, where all of this is coming from. 23:41 — bold to call me at this time. It is Cassidy of course. One call I can't avoid. We've been dating for a while.

“Kyle! Are you at home?”, her voice is out of breath.
“Yeah. Have you seen the time? I'm in bed”, I say to her.
“I haven't heard from you in nearly three days”, she answers and sounds upset.
“I know. Work and no sleep”
“No sleep? What? I thought you went home after the party?”
“What party?”
“Your sisters birthday. I mean, you know, before she disappeared”, her voice nearly breaks.

And there is the solution.

My brain gets hit by a wave of emotions. I have no control over my mind and all I can do is let my phone fall to the ground. Siren, my sister. Where is she?

Within seconds, I jump out of my bed, stumbling and sharp breathing. I can hear Cassidy still talking into my phone but my mind drives me away, leads me to the bathroom. It is an intuition, a faded memory that leads me to it. I open the bathroom door and see — clearer as I've ever seen in the last 68 hours.

Blood. On the floor. Mirror. The toilet. It is everywhere. The shower curtain looks painted, as if da Vinci left his marks. I can see a shadow behind the curtain. Someone is in there. My heart beats fast. All I can do is stare. What happened here?

Before I can move my feet, the curtain slightly moves. I can see a hand moving up, slowly gripping the end of the curtain. The hand is thin, coloured grey, as if it's rotten. My eyes can only stare. The hand slowly pulls the curtain back. It is the hand of my sister Siren and yet it is not Siren sitting in the bathtub. Her eyes are empty, cried out with blood. Her body thin, covered in a black shirt and her red hair wet, not by water but mud and something slimy.

“Kyle”, she says and her voice is so soft that I could nearly believe it is my sister. “Kyle, come here”, she says, but I am not moving. She moves her head towards the mirror and gives me a wink. As a reflex I look into the mirror, just to see myself in the same pale and rotten condition as her.

With a scream I wake up. What a weird dream. I must have fallen asleep. It's 7:21am in the morning. Considering I had not enough sleep the last two days it is not enough to make me feel alive. I make my way out of the bed, but stop in front of the bathroom. It's your bathroom, Kyle. There is nothing to be afraid of. I open the bathroom door and there is nothing. Just the usual look. I close the door and turn around, just to let out another scream. Cassidy is standing in front of me.

“How the hell did you get in here?!”, I say to her in rage. My body is shaking.
“Keys? We live together”, she says and looks at me in confusion. “Are you okay? Did you take your medicine?”, she asks. Medicine? What medicine?
“I was just sleeping and had a weird dream”, I say and take a deep breath. Again there are pieces missing. I can barely stand still. Cassidy reaches out to hold my hand and the moment she does, I see Siren, rotten and in front of my eyes. I stumble back.

And then I wake up again. But this time I am not in my flat. I am in a hospital. I sat myself up and the first eyes I meet are the ones from my mother. Her eyes are red, she has cried. “Oh sweetie”, she says, comes over and gives me a hug. I have no clue what is going on, where I am and what timeline it is meant to be.

“I never thought your insomnia would get so bad”, my mother says. Oh yeah, my sleeping problems. But something doesn't add up.

“Where is Siren? Where is Cassidy?”, I ask her. My mother holds me more tight. “Siren offered to bring your girlfriend home. We brought you to the hospital together.” I just stare at her. Cassidy. I need to call her. “Mum, I need your telephone”, I say and panic is rising inside me. My mother just looks in me in confusion. “Mum! The telephone. Now!”

I never typed Cassidy's number so fast. The phone rings a few times. Finally, an answer. “Hey little brother”, the voice at the end says. I can feel my body reacting with goosebumps. Suddenly my mother is gone and the room feels cold. The light is flickering. I can feel the dizziness coming back to me, my eyes falling — I am losing control.

Once my eyes are shut, I know that I am not in the hospital any more. I am back in the bathroom, standing in blood and surrounded by the smell of the dead. I hear footsteps behind me. A hot breath on my neck.

“It is time to come home, Kyle.”

Last night Cassidy Everton and Kyle Blake were found dead in their flat in Brixton, London. Cassidy had drowned herself in the bathtub. Kyle Blake died on an overdose of sleeping pills. The reason for their suicide is still unknown. If you have seen or heard anything, please report to the Brixton police station.

Jasper switched the radio channel and went back to his drawing. He needed to finish it until tomorrow. 23:41 — usually he was sleeping by this time. But his teacher wanted this task done by tomorrow. He had no choice. His thoughts got taken away by the ringing of his phone. Unknown. Probably one of his friends from class. He picked it up.

“Hi! Is this Jasper?”, a female voice asked, very soft and polite.
“Yeah that's me. How can I help?”
“Emily gave me your number. I need some help for the art project”
“Sure. No worries. Who is calling by the way?”

“Siren. My name is Siren.”

26.01.2020 - LC HAMILTON