At first Astrid didn’t think it would be possible. Could sirens, of all living things, take our world? Was it even feasible for a mermaid to breathe on water? She thought it was the humans that were taking over their waters, but it looked like she could be wrong.
    It was vile to even look at. The shimmery blue tail you expect in fantasies was instead a muddled brown color, and it traveled surprisingly fast. Instead of flopping around, it shot around on bursts of cerulean water. The top of it was no less horrific. With just a torso and a neck keeping its head up, the amber skin was peeling off and shredded in pieces just hanging off of its chest. Two blurred lavender shells were messily clasped onto her rib cage. Dirty and tangled honey-blonde hair hung down to just past her shoulders, cut choppily. Her face looked like that of a human’s, only she had striking mustard cat eyes.
    She shrieked and Astrid jumped back a little, clasping the hilt of her sword a little tighter. Wiping the anxious frown off of her face, she braced herself for a hit. When nothing happened, she looked up at the siren only to get pummeled in the face by short hits of bubbly water. It left quite a sting on her cheek and a nasty red mark trailed behind.
    Irritated, she ran to the right of the siren and swung at her shoulder blades, exposing rich black blood. It rose and spilled down the siren’s arm.
    In alarm, the siren’s face softened when she realized what had happened. Her eyes burned with fury, as she sprayed a harsh slap of water on Astrid’s exposed arms. The skin beneath the droplets bubbled up and burned. She winced once and slashed at the siren again. This time, she missed by an inch and the siren just got even angrier.
    Quickly, Astrid surveyed her surroundings. They were in a dark alleyway, lit by sunset colored flames surrounding them. The full moon above them gave Astrid a bit of a better view, but the two beige buildings around the alleyway casted a shadow in too. Trash cans heaped to the top with bags and garbage were scattered around littering the floor with old bags of chips and ripped up clothes.
    She jumped up as a scalding hot shot of water was sprayed at her feet. Sloppily, she thrust the sword into the siren’s chest, and moved it back and forth in its body. Cringing, she looked away until she heard the thump of its dead body on the asphalt.
    Looking at it’s blood bubbling up and spilling on itself, she turned and ran to the left, leaping over the ring of flames surrounding her. Sprinting forward, she ran straight out of the flames and into one of the beige buildings.
    When she pushed the rusted iron door open, the smell of sterilizer and medicine wafted to her nose, making her scrunch it up. Flickering, hospital lights shone above her. A young woman with bleached, faded blonde hair looked up at her, tears in her eyes. In the lap of her polka-dotted dress laid a little girl who appeared to be dead. The little girl was wearing tan shorts and a pink shirt that said ‘Shine Bright’ written in fun yellow font. Her brown hair was pulled back in a wavy ponytail. They sat on the ground, cotton swabs and meds scattered around their feet.
    Astrid nodded as the woman looked her up and down. Black, chalky hair, pulled into a messy ponytail. Cargo pants and black laced up boots. A random black tank top she had found in a dumpster. A sword in her hand. She must think I’m homeless, Astrid thought.
    “What do you want?” The woman asked, accusation apparent in her voice. She turned back to the little girl and stroked her hair.
    “Nothing. I just wanted a place to rest for a while, that’s all. I swear,” Astrid replied. The woman said nothing for a minute.
    “How old are you?” She asked.
“I’m 14. The name’s Astrid,” she said.
“I’m 19, and my name is Serena. This is Lucy. She’s 6,” Serena replied.
“Nice to meet you. Hello, Lucy,” Astrid said.
At the sound of her name, Lucy’s eyes fluttered open. Serena choked back a sob and said,
“She was attacked by one of those monsters out there. I couldn’t help her, ‘cause I had my own to deal with.”
Astrid nodded and got up, brushing herself off. Taking a closer look at Serena, she could see faint scratch marks and burns cloaked over her skin.
“Is there anything you need?” She asked.
“No. Unless you can give me hope,” Serena said.
Astrid grimaced and braced herself. “Everything will be okay. I hope. Anyway, do you mind me taking a nap upstairs?” She pointed to the staircase. Serena shook her head.
“Actually, can we come with you? Maybe we can watch each other’s backs,” Serena pleaded. Astrid thought it over.
“Um, okay. Sure,” She said, grateful for someone to watch over her. “Do you have any weapons?”
“No. But you look pretty put together,” Serena said, her eyes shifting over to the sword.
“You can’t use this,” Astrid snapped at her. She looked taken aback.
“Oh. Ok, I’m sorry it’s just that you looked like you could really protect Lucy. Whereas, I’m doing a pretty crappy job of it,” Serena said, swallowing the lump in her throat.
Astrid’s face softened.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that… you know, this sword kind of has a special meaning to it.”
“That’s fine. I guess we can go upstairs,” Serena said, bending down to pick up Lucy. She tried picking up the swabs and medicines next to her but dropped everything. She looked up to Astrid with pleading eyes. Sighing, she took Lucy from her arms and let Serena take everything else.
They walked briskly towards to the staircase, Serena’s untrustful eyes constantly shifting back to them. Astrid rolled her eyes. Sisters.
Lucy was surprisingly light in her arms. You could see her ribs poking through her shirt. Astrid’s lips formed a tight seal as she contemplated giving Serena one of her spare shirts for Lucy to wear.
Finally they got upstairs and Astrid gave Lucy back to Serena. Bracing her sword, she kicked open a dusty gray door. Nothing was inside.
She looked back and nodded at Serena and they went inside. The illuminating moon filtered through white transparent curtains filling the room with some light. A dusty king-sized bed was in the far left corner of the room, dark wooden rods supporting it. Dust was collected all around the room and a heap of stinking clothes lay in the corner.
Serena screeched and ran to the pile, picking up clothes and smiling. They were mostly women’s clothes with some little girl stuff scattered through the mix.
Astrid set her bag and sword down next to the bed and contemplated. Sighing, she turned to Serena.
“Are you sure you want those nasty disgusting clothes?”
“What? These are nice,” Serena said, glaring at her.
“Yeah, if your expectations are that of a hobo. Um… I have an extra white t-shirt that’s Lucy’s size. If you want, I could give it to you. But only if I get to sleep first,” Astrid said.
Serena’s eyes shined with tears. She jumped up and practically tackled Astrid to the ground.
“Yes! Yes, thank you so much! I would love for Lucy to wear something that’s clean.”
Astrid reached down in her bag, and wadded up the shirt. She threw it at Serena, and turned towards the bed. It looked dusty and moldy, but she flopped down on it anyway. Once she was comfortable, she glanced back towards Serena, who was looking through the pile of clothes on the ground.
“Do you happen to have any extra bandages or something? My arm is kind of burned,” she said.
“Yeah, of course. Here,” Serena through the medical bag she had brought up with her at Astrid. She caught it, whipped a bandage out and wrapped it around the wound.
A few moments passed when no one talked. Just when Astrid’s eyes were about to shut, Serena said,
“Astrid? I know this is kind of personal, and you really don’t have to answer, but why is your sword so special?”
She sucked in a breath. Should I tell her? I just met her. Then again, I am trusting her to watch my back through the night.
“It was my mom’s. She… She died when the sirens starting attacking,” she finally replied.
Serena didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry,” she eventually whispered out.
“It’s ok. It was a long time ago. My father gave it to me. But anyway, if you don’t mind, I’m going to sleep now,” she explained.
“Yeah. Go ahead,” Serena quietly said.
She closed her eyes and tried to shut her thoughts out, but failed. Astrid fell asleep with sirens, Serena and Lucy, and thoughts of her mother and father floating around in her head.