Monday came along and I was distracted in my English class. Thinking back to the weekend with Sarah, I went over the things she confessed in my mind instead of paying attention to the lesson. I was still baffled about what I had learned, but thankful to know I could confide in her about myself just as she had done. It was a lot to take in at first, though. To think that she was a witch and from a long line in a family of witches. It finally dawned on me about the Osborne witches from Salem. They were Sarah's ancestors.
She first brought up the subject by confessing to me that she was eavesdropping on Peter's and my conversation with Professor Jones Friday after class. It made me uneasy at first, but when she told me what she was I felt relieved. Sarah even showed me a few tricks with lighting candles with her mind and had some books floating in the air of her apartment before we headed out to a bar for drinks. She also told me that she too saw the glow of my eyes when I sang on stage with Sebastian. Sarah was intrigued and asked me questions about my family.
We had a good time that Saturday. Morning classes finished, and as always, Sarah and I met up for lunch. I was eager for the day to be done, so I could find out what Professor Jones had planned for the lesson. The Bartholys, Sarah, and I all hoped he had discovered something to explain what I am. I was willing to be open to anything that would help determine my situation and what to do about it. Sarah asked me if I had talked with my family about it, by which I had explained that I wasn't about to let them know I had a supernatural ability. They would try to put me in an asylum.
Later that afternoon, Peter and I left our Music Appreciation class to head to Myths and Legends. "Your heart rate has escalated some. Are you nervous, Lydia," Peter asked me. "A little," I admitted. He put his arm around my neck and kissed the top of my head while we walked to our last class of the day. I couldn't help but smile at his warming gesture that was so comforting. (What would I do without you, Peter?) I decided to sit with him that day in the back row of the auditorium. A few students were staring and whispering as we walked past them, holding hands. Peter had a slight smirk on his face, so I knew he could hear what they were saying. When we sat down I leaned over to whisper, "So what are they saying about us?" He whispered in response, "They are questioning whether you are my girlfriend or not." (Ohh!...) "And... am I?" I dared ask him with a curious smile. Peter suddenly became shy, lowering his gaze to the floor, and slightly grinning. (You are so adorable when you're like this!)
Before he answered, Professor Jones started addressing the whole class. My attention turned to him speaking, so I moved to face forward in his direction. All of a sudden, I felt Peter's breath on my ear, which sent a shiver down my spine. He then whispered, "If you want to be." I turned my head to the right to look at him. Leaning back in his seat, he was looking ahead towards the professor, but grinning in a way that was almost smiling. I must have turned three shades of red, blushing so much when I took his hand again to squeeze before turning back towards the front of the class. I was so happy at that moment, I almost forgot what I was eager to hear today's lesson for.
"I would like to let you all know that today's lesson is going to be different than what we originally discussed at the beginning of the year. The university's administration has approved for an addition to the curriculum," Professor Jones started off with. "Today, we are going to take a look at the supernatural culture of Greek and Roman mythology." A student raised her hand to ask a question, which she continued when he invited her to speak. "Do you mean we're going to talk about the Greek and Roman gods?" "Not specifically. We will be discussing certain humanoid creatures and their abilities granted to them by the gods and/or goddesses, as well as why they were given those gifts."
Professor Jones then walked over to the chalkboard and flipped it to reveal the writing on the opposite side. The words were written 'Persephone and the Sirens.' He began the lesson by asking, "With a show of hands, who here knows the story of the goddess Persephone?" Many students, including Peter and I, raised our hands. One girl kept her arm up to ask him a question. "That's the goddess kidnapped by Hades, right?" "Yes, it is. Very good," he stated before asking another student to dim the lights. Turning the projector on, a slideshow of pictures were portrayed on the screen pulled down, hanging on the wall.
Some of the images were of paintings, some were photographs of artifacts and statues in museums. The professor began speaking again by saying, "Some authors stated the count of sirens were from two to five, but later on, writers mentioned both the number of sirens there were and their names. Here are a few of those names: Peisinoe, Aglaope, and Thelxiepeia or Parthenope, Ligeia, and Leucosia. Other writers give their names as Thelxinoe, Molpe, and Aglaophonos or Thelxiepeia, Peisinoe, and Ligeia.
"They were 'eye pleasing' and had lambent voices. The name is said to be connected to these words here: σειρά (seirá or rope,cord) and ειρω (eírō or to tie, join, fasten), resulting in the meaning 'binder, entangler.' For example, one who binds or entangles through magical song. Originally, sirens were shown as male or female, but the male siren disappeared from art some time in the fifth century BC. Later sirens were depicted as beautiful women, whose bodies, not only their voices, are seductive."
One of the guy students close to the front made a cat call whistle out loud, which stirred some laughs from classmates. "Okay, that's enough. Let us continue," the professor said as he clicked the button on the remote he held in his hand to move on to the next slide. "Found in his notebooks, Leonardo da Vinci wrote, 'The siren sings so sweetly that she lulls the mariners to sleep; then she climbs upon the ships and kills the sleeping mariners.' In 1917, Franz Kafta wrote in The Silence of the Sirens, 'Now the sirens have a still more fatal weapon than their song, namely their silence. And though admittedly such a thing never happened, it is still conceivable that someone might possibly have escaped from their singing; but from their silence certainly never.'
"Sirens were the daughters of the river god Achelous with Terpsichore, Melpomene, Calliope, or Sterope. 'Winged maidens, daughters of the Earth Chthon.' Greeks portrayed the sirens in their 'meadow starred with flowers' and not as sea deities. Roman writers associated the sirens more closely to the sea, as daughters of Phorcys. Therefore, bringing about the origin of the mermaids as we know of them in today's time.
"It was in the 'Fabulae of Hyginus' where it states the sirens were given wings by Demeter to search for Persephone when she was abducted. You will also find the Hyginus having Demeter cursing the sirens for failing to intervene in the abduction of her daughter Persephone. They were fated to live only until mortals who heard their songs were able to pass by them unharmed.... Here we read that Hera, queen of the gods, persuaded the Sirens to enter a singing competition with the Muses. Muses won and they plucked out all the Sirens' feathers and made crowns out of them. Stephanus of Byzantium writes, 'Out of their anguish from losing the competition, the sirens turned white and fell into the sea at Aptera, where they formed the islands in the bay that were called Leukai, which means White Ones.' Today, it is known as Souda."
Professor Jones had a student turn the lights back up as he turned the projector off. He continued to speak about sirens and death. "A classical scholar, who lived from 1814-1911, Walter Copland Perry observed: 'Their song, though, irresistibly sweet, was no less sad than sweet, and lapped both body and soul in a fatal lethargy, the forerunner of death and corruption.' Their song is continually calling upon Persephone. The term 'siren song' refers to an appeal that is hard to resist, but if heeded, will lead to a bad conclusion.
"That is all for today. Everyone will need a list of the reference material on the subject that our library carries, so please come up to get a copy from the podium. It will also include the week's assignment. I do want to point out one thing before everyone leaves. A select few of the students with the highest grade for the first quarter will be chosen to accompany me abroad to Rome, Italy during Winter Break this coming December. All expenses paid round trip tickets, including room and board at a luxury hotel. The decided amount of students will be four gentlemen and four ladies. It will be revealed, which eight of you will be chosen, with plenty of time to get your passports. I want each and everyone of you to work hard for that grade because the trip package has already been purchased."
It was incredible to hear Professor Jones announce the news. He had to have come up with something over the weekend to already have planned such an extravagant field trip, and for it to be approved so quickly. I waited with Peter and Sarah for the rest of the class to leave. Walking up to the desk, I looked to the Professor, waiting not so patiently as I should have for answers. He looked at each of us and was, apparently, not surprised to see Sarah there. "Sir, I am guessing you found out quite a bit by having that trip to Europe planned and initiated so soon," I said with anticipated hope.
"Yes, I did discover some insight on the matter. The three of you are already at the top of the class, so it was an easy decision to incorporate Greek and Roman mythology into the lessons and plan a trip to visit the museums in Rome. I came in early this morning to present my idea to the Dean and he agreed without hesitation." "But 'all expenses paid' tickets and hotel? That's a lot of money for nine people." "The Dean and I came to an agreement that I could use my archeological licensing, using this trip to allow students to research History in the heart of its culture. The university paid for everything. The round trip tickets and hotel booking for that week was taken care of during lunch hour today."
"That is seriously awesome, Professor!" Sarah stated with enthusiasm. "Miss Osborne, I am glad you are here with Miss Canteles. She will need all the friendship support she can get." "Does that mean you learned something about my family then, Sir?" "I did indeed. Why don't we all go sit in my office," he offered. I had a bad feeling about it all when he said that. It meant something serious, but we all followed him without question. In the office, we sat in the three armchairs in front of the long cherry oak desk. The professor had many artifacts and books located on the desk and shelves along the walls. Looking out the window, you could see the planters and water fountains out in front of the building.
"I was able to look up information from your family tree dating back centuries. There I found two other similar cases to yours. Both women in your family lived centuries ago and they were about two hundred years or so apart, but records state they behaved in the same manner." "What do you mean?" I asked when he paused. "Both women were awaiting execution for mass murder of men. They were able to use seduction as a tactic to lure their prey. Instead of executing them immediately when they were caught, the authorities locked them up in solitary confinement. I was able to access archives, showing there were pictures taken of parchments well preserved with writings, declaring the eyes glowing like the sea."
"I'm a descendant of crazy murdering lunatics. Related to serial killers. Lovely!" I said sarcastically. "This is too much!" "I can understand your reluctance, but there is one explanation as to why these women were the way they were while the rest of the family were normal." "I'm sorry, Professor. You're right, so please, go on," I requested. "I came to the conclusion that both women suffered from a tragic event that triggered the magic energy; once dormant, but then awakened. Your eighth great grandmother's third child died in her arms from a fatal illness. Your fourth great aunt was in a house fire where she was the sole survivor. It stands to reason that your family carries the gene of a siren in your blood, but the magic is only unleashed when traumatic events occur."
I started to panic because I knew exactly what triggered mine. Not daring to look anyone in the eye, I wasn't ready to tell them what really happened to me that night. I wanted to block the memory of it. To forget, but fate would have it come crawling back to the surface from the depths of my memories to devour me once again. Peter sensed my state of being and placed his hand on mine in my lap. I then realized I was fidgeting with my sweater when he stopped my hands from shaking. "Miss Canteles, Lydia, it will be alright. You can tell us. Please do not bear the burden alone," said the professor encouragingly.
"I, uh... w-witnessed my ex boyfriend turn into an animal, a gorilla, and kill our high school teacher deep in the woods outside of the city where I used to live. That was the night I ran away. I just drove off in his car, and didn't care where I ended up. "That jerk deserves much more than a taste of his own medicine, if you ask me," Sarah said, declaring what she'd like to do to him. (Sarah, if you knew the full truth. You would do a lot more than that.) I slightly grinned, but let it slip away when I saw the professor looking at me with such sad eyes. Those eyes seemed more in depth of emotion than I would've thought the situation I explained was called for, but I didn't think much of it.
"Sir, I am now worried more than ever that I'll eventually go on a ripper binge," I admitted honestly, and in fear of what was to come. "I will not let that happen!" Peter said as he squeezed my hand. "I do not believe it will. Your ancestors gained the power over time, but they did not have the means to learn to control it before it reached its full capacity. I am positive that, with Nicolae's help, you can learn to control it before it gets to that point. Even Peter here seems to have an innate ability to calm you down when your heart is racing. I have complete confidence that you will not lose yourself, Lydia." (How did you know my heart was racing just now?)
"And you also have me to talk to about anything whenever you need, sweetie," Sarah reminded me. "Thank you, all of you. I will read up more on sirens with those references you gave us, Professor." "Good, and you may take this as well." He handed me a file, which contained all of my ancestral documents he obtained. "Thanks again." We all said our goodbyes and went home after stopping in the library for the books we needed for the siren assignment. I played with Lorie for a while and then sang dark melancholy songs to her when it was time for bed.
The child had a strange taste in music at her age, but then again, she really was older than six, counting her years as a vampire. It seemed to work to get her to go to sleep, so I decided to do that every night when she was restless from having a bad day. I wasn't the only one who needed comforting during the night, but since singing was, in a way, therapy for me too, I was glad to be there and sing for her. The strange morbid child was growing on me. After Lorie drifted off into slumber, I went to bed, feeling peaceful despite of everything going on in my life.