Staring right back at me is my schoolmate.

Jace. He belongs to a part of the gang that Spencer and Leo were in, so there were times I would bump into him. They used to rule the hallway with their athletic builds and girls chasing after them.

But now, not anymore.

He's standing in his bedroom on the second floor, still staring at me in disbelief. How is he unaffected by the siren's song?

"The hell, dude?" I mouth my words at him and do big gestures, hoping he can lip-read since we can't scream at each other and alert the creatures. "The singing... Can't you hear them?"

He taps his finger against his ear and shakes his head. "Ear plugs."

Genius. And how lucky is he that he could find ear plugs in his place? He must have seen something, figured out about the sirens and saved himself somehow before he would succumb to their invitation.

I watch as Jace disappears from his window and returns with a pen and paper. He scrawls big, clumsy words on it and shows them to me.

"Are you alone?"

I nod my head and gesture at him. Words form on my lips. "Yes. What about you?"

"Same," he writes. "I left school yesterday to come to this house. Can't find my GF. You?"

My shoulders droop as my expression crumbles. "I'm finding my mom."

We exchange a quick look of sympathy and understanding, realizing how lost we both are, until something clicks in my head.

Did Jace just mention he came from school?

"Jace!" I exclaim so loud that even my voice startles me. But it's not like he can hear me. "Have you seen Miss Campbell?"

His brows furrow in confusion. "What?" he mouths back. "I can't understand you."

"Maddison Campbell! Our Geography teacher! My cousin! Did you see her?"

Jace continues to shake his head and I blow out hot air in frustration. I scramble around the room for writing materials, but can't seem to find any. When I run out of options and return to the window to let Jace know I will head over to his place, he is nowhere to be seen.

The door to my room burst open, scaring the living hell out of me, but the sight of a familiar face calms me down in a split second. He wields an ax in his hand, whereas I'm still holding onto the dagger that Zarius has given.

"Jace?" I squeak before it turns into a low hiss. "What on earth...? You're insane! What if one of the sirens sees you?!"

I don't think he catches my words with those earplugs in his ears, but judging from my annoyed hand gestures, he sort of gets what I'm trying to convey. "Doesn't matter." He shrugs lightly. "My life's already at risk."

"Ours," I correct him. Waving him over, I grab his arm and pull him towards the bathroom. Locking ourselves in, I check if the walls are thick enough to muffle the sirens' song.

I tap on his shoulder twice and nod once. "Okay, Jace. You're good. We can't hear the sirens here."

He removes his ear plugs immediately and runs a hand through his wet, messy hair dramatically. Flinging water droplets in my direction. "Jeez, Delia. You're bold. Are we really having our first date in the bathroom?"

"You're an idiot."

I punch his shoulder, lightly at that, and he holds up his hands in mock defeat, laughing shakily. "Ow! Okay, okay! But man, I'm really glad to see you out here, Delia. I've not seen anybody alive on the streets so far." He let out a sigh of relief. "You're the first."

"I can't say that it has been the same for me." And then I tell him all about our friends and taking shelter at the Black Rose Bar. Found more survivors like us, but I've left them behind to pursue Mom and Mia.

"Spencer's dead?" he repeated bitterly. His lips tremble slightly. "Leo too?" When I respond with a small nod, he rests his back against the wall and tips his head back. Shutting his eyes for a moment to grieve over his friends' deaths. "I snuck away from our group in school and didn't look at any of the bodies. I don't think I would want to, anyway."

I sympathize with him. "What happened to you on that day? I don't remember seeing you."

"Cafeteria," he answers quickly. "We shut the doors and locked up once we heard the commotion and screams. Just to be safe, we barricaded the entrance and went to the back where the kitchen was. That was how we survived; we have food and water. Waited out for rescue, but nobody was coming. I was the first one to leave. The storm was crazy, but I made it here in one piece."

"Jace," I gasp in realization. "Are you saying there are more survivors?"

"Yes, well, there might still be if the monsters haven't gotten to them first."

I hold my breath in quiet anxiety. "Is Maddison Campbell there?"

"Yeah." Jace's instant response has my hope soaring high. "She's there. In fact, she and a few other teachers guided us to safety."

Relief and happiness flood through me—thank goodness that Maddie is still alive. To know that a family member is still alive somewhere out there has fuelled my determination. Now I just need to find her and Mom and find a safe place to survive this apocalypse.

And then there's Zarius too.

I square my shoulders. "I need to head back to school."

"What? Are you insane? I barely made it out alive, so what makes you think going back in is easy?"

"Haven't you realized the creatures out there hate light? The storm's stopping. I'll go when the sun is back up."

He gives me one long, hard stare. "Alright, but I'm not going with you. I've got to find my girlfriend and family."

I nod grimly. "That's fine with me."

A sudden, loud crash comes from outside the bathroom. Both of us leap to our feet immediately, eyes on the door. Jace lifts a finger, telling me to be quiet as he stands right by the door and listens intently for noises on the other side.

The enchanting voice of somebody singing comes through again. This time, it sounds a lot louder and closer that we can actually hear it through the door.

A siren has found us.

In a low whisper, I reach for my friend. "Jace–"

He has shoved his earplugs earlier into his pockets, which means he's not wearing them to protect himself now. When I pull him around to face me, the pupils in his eyes are slowly turning milky white, spreading towards the irises, and he seems to enter a delirious state of stupor.

Crap.

The sirens' song is influencing him.

In a rather creepy manner, he reaches for the door handle, but I haul him backwards by the shoulder and slap his cheeks. "Wake up, Jace! Don't fall for it! It's luring you out there."

No matter how much I shake him, he doesn't seem to notice me and simply stares off into space. I wrestle against him when he attempts to reach for the door the second time. "Jace–"

Something slams against the door—once, twice—and the door splinters open. A nasty screech fills my ears painfully. When I glance up, I'm immediately met with a set of malicious red eyes that belong to an inhuman creature. Her skin is sallow and her upper body is naked but covered by a black curtain of loose braids and tangles. She wiggles her webbed fingers that end in claws and supports herself on her dark, thick-scale tail that connects to her torso. Her pale lips pull back to reveal a set of razor teeth, and she hisses at me.

I don't know if sirens can originally move across the land like this, but if it's the work of the mutation that gives them this ability, it's possible.

Gliding across the floor like a snake, the angry siren knocks me aside swiftly and wraps her hands around Jace's body to drag him out. My ribs hit the sink, sending a sharp pain through me, but I push myself off and chase after the creature who has abducted my friend.

Gripping my dagger, I launch myself at her back and plunge my weapon into her right shoulder as hard as I can. Her scream of pain rips through the air. She releases her hold on Jace but only to twist around and shoves me backwards. We both crash into the bookshelf as she claws at my face and neck relentlessly. I catch her arms and fight against her, my teeth gritting as I exert all my strength to control her movements.

"Delia!"

A voice screams my name, but it's not Jace.

It's Zarius.

He has returned for me like he has promised.

In a split second, he hooks his arm around the siren's throat and holds her in a choke-hold. With a sharp twist, he disconnects her neck with a sickening crunch. Her body falls limp at his feet.

Zarius looks at me, his gaze is full of concern. "Delia, are you alright?"

He offers me a hand and I grab it to pull myself up onto my heels. "I-I guess so. Thanks."

The siren's death means that the spell is broken. Jace wakes up from his trance and the first thing he does is to have a mental breakdown. "W-w-w-what? Why am I out here?" He stares incredulously at me, then at the dead siren, and then at Zarius, who stands behind me. No doubt the change of events horrifies him. "What is t-that thing behind you?! Get away from him, Delia!"

Holding up both my hands, I approach him slowly. "Wait! I can explain–"

Jace snatches the gun that I've tucked into my belt earlier and points at Zarius. "D-don't move!"

"Jace, stop!" I step between them. "He's friendly!"

But Jace isn't listening to me, because he fixes his wavering eyes on Zarius. Sheer terror and caution contort his face when he realizes Zarius belongs to one of the creatures that are roaming out there.

I try again. "Jace, listen to me! He will not hurt us! Trust me! He's not like the ones outside—"

No matter how much I plead, my words end up falling on deaf ears.

Because Jace aims the gun at Zarius and pulls the trigger.

💕