Mistress of the Damned

Flipp

Standing on the bow of the ship, I was breathing in the salty air from the Bay of Blood. I had finally developed my sea legs and had never felt better. Maybe I could get used to living at sea.

I closed my eyes and lifted my head towards the sky. I let the sun beat down on my skin and for the first time since the entire trip began, and I suddenly felt grateful. I never thought I would admit it, but the Sirens had saved my life. I wasn't going to believe that it changed anything between us, or that we were suddenly friends, because I knew that was foolish. Friends are not, I would not be alive right now if it wasn't for them.

“Hey, why don't you do something useful with yourself? There's a lot that can be done on this ship and you shouldn't be just standing there.”

I turned to find a Siren behind me. He had a look of repulsion on his face. The Sirens really did hate me.

I glared back at him. “I paid my way on the ship, I'm not an employee. I don't work for you. So, back off.”

“Oh, you think you're something special?”

I was growing tired of the attitude that was on the ship. I smirked and moved closer to the Siren. “Maybe I am.”

He grabbed the front of my shirt, and I quickly swung my tail into action. It swung around my body and wrapped around his legs. One minute he was standing tall, and the next minute he was flat on his back on the deck.

I heard clapping behind me, and I turned around to see Xagon walking up to us.

“It's about time, Flipp. I knew you had it in you.” He looked at the other Siren. “Treant, get up. How could you let a monster get the best of you?” he said while laughing. Xagon winked at me, letting me know that he was joking. I rolled my eyes.

“She has cursed this ship. The rats, Xagon. What is going on with all the rats?”

I furrowed my brow and looked at Xagon for an explanation.

I could tell by the look on his face that he had serious concerns. “We have been finding dead, and sometimes skinned, rats all over the boat. We’re not sure who’s doing it.”

Treant pointed at me. “She’s a Demon, who else could be doing it?”

“Me? You think I enjoy skinning rats? Are you out of your bloody mind?”

“Get her off the boat, Xagon, or we are all doomed.”

I looked around the boat and saw that many of the other Sirens had stopped working and were watching us. There were concerned looks from them, and I started to feel sick to my stomach. I felt like I was about to be stoned by the crew of the ship.

“Look, if I had the ability to curse people, trust me, I would not be in the predicament that I find myself in. I’m not a Witch.”

“What about the food that's gone missing?” someone shouted.

I looked to see who it was, but I couldn’t pinpoint where the shouting was coming from.

“Silence,” Xagon yelled.

I narrowed my eyes at the growing crowd around me. I wasn’t sure if I was going to have to start fighting.

“I know that things have been weird lately,” Xagon said to the crew. “We have been seeing weird occurrences of dead rats, animals stripped of their flesh, and food going missing. Neither I, nor Azil, have any reason to believe that it’s Flipp causing these occurrences. I expect the lot of you to get back to work and leave our stowaway alone.”

I cast Xagon a dirty look.

“I didn’t take any of your food. Why would I? I’ve been fed regularly.” I took some dried bread from one pocket, and the ginger Azil gave me from another, and I tossed at on the deck in front of the Sirens. “Take it, I don’t give a damn.”

I looked at each one. I didn’t see any friendly faces in the crowd. They had judged me immediately as the enemy, and there was nothing that I could do to change that.

Treant stepped forward. He was clearly not a fan, and he was getting the crowd worked up.

“I say we tie the Demon to mast and sacrifice her to the Goddess of the Sea, so she will bless us with safe travels. We have seen enough already. We are being cursed.”

“You cannot be serious,” I said dryly. “You can’t actually believe that you can sacrifice anyone to the Goddess of the Sea.”