Tess cracked an eye open when her knife came to an abrupt halt right above Tom’s chest. She rubbed the tears from her face, trying to see clearer. “As you would have if you were still here by my side,” Tess said once more. She brought the knife down, only for it to stop mere centimeters from his chest.

“Priestess, what’s going on?” Materas’ shrill voice rang out in the silence.

“I-I don’t know,” Tess admitted as she attempted to bring her knife down once more. She heard Matera accusing the other sirens of not removing protective clothing. She ignored all the shouting as she noticed a shining coming from his pants pocket. Tess reached in and felt a familiar round orb. “My star,” Tess whispered as she inspected the tiny glowing orb. “You went back and got it for me,” Tess looked towards Tom’s unmoving face. It was becoming pale white as the blood rushed from it.

Tess took a shuddering breath as she realized what had happened. “Dad said it would always protect me if I kept it on me,” Tess continued to whisper, not realizing the glowing had intensified.

“Priestess, why is your hand glowing?” A siren asked from across the room in horror.

Tess looked at her hand to see that the glowing had grown too bright to look at. She dropped the orb, which rolled away from her, shielding her eyes. Her siren vision was coming in and they didn’t like bright things.

“Tess,” a male voice called from across the room.

Tess lowered her arm to see a figure standing above the orb. She cocked her head as she tried to figure out where she had seen this person before. He looked so young and homely. Much like a father would. Tess stopped and stood, staring at the figure in disbelief. “Dad?”

The man smiled in her direction. “My little girl. My, how much you’ve grown.” He raised his arms as if to hug her, only to realize he was a projection. “I wish I could be here celebrating your sixteenth birthday with you, young priestess.”

“Dad, I miss you,” Tess cried, moving closer. She reached a shaky hand out, only to pull it back to herself. Would she be able to touch him? “Why did you leave me?”

The projection sighed and looked towards her sadly. “I needed to get you somewhere safe.” Was the only explanation he offered.

Tess knew her father wasn’t really there, but she felt his presence as if he was right next to her. She figured he had put a part of his soul in it. That’s why he could answer her questions directly.

“Tess, I need you to know something,” her father continued. “The path your mother is taking you down is very dangerous.”

“But, I was told that mom was dead,” Tess looked towards her father in confusion. Maybe it was a recording, and she just reacted the way he thought she would.

“No, my little star. You have been with your mother this whole time. She did the same thing to me she is having you do to Tom.”

“Tess, don’t listen to that cursed thing,” Matera called, forcing Tess to remember there were other people in the room.

“Tess, I only wanted the best for you and I had hoped you would’ve been safe with Tom’s family. I see I was wrong, and I’m sorry for my assumption.” Her dad looked over towards Tom’s lifeless body. “I was terrified that she would kill you like she had your brother. I took you in the middle of the night to get you to a safe place. That’s when you met Tom and his family.”

Tess thought back on when she had met Tom. She had clung to her father as he pleaded with Tom’s parents to keep her safe. Tom had been watching from the hallway, not wanting anyone to know he had crept out of bed. She had cried and cried when her father gave her to Tom’s mom, and walked out of their door. He had left her with her book of spells and the orb that he had put a piece of his soul into.

Matera kept calling for Tess in the background, trying to get her attention back. Finally, Tess had enough. “Silence!” She shouted in several voices to the matron siren. “I will tell you when you can speak!”

Matera looked taken aback, but kept her silence.

“Dad, this is too hard,” Tess whispered as she walked closer to his projection, much to the dismay of her eyes. “I don’t know what to do,” she squinted as she came closer, suddenly feeling like a small child lost in the world.

“I have little time left,” her dad’s projection leaned down and hugged her. Tess returned the hug, shocked when she smelt wood smoke on her dads projection. This was a piece of his soul.

“Please don’t leave me,” Tess cried, falling to the floor. “I can’t do this on my own.”

“Listen,” her dad squatted in front of her and lifted her chin to look at him. “Everyone has choices to make. Some of them are right and some are wrong. But we may make the correct choice after a wrong one. It is you who decides where to go from where you are. Understand?”

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Tess nodded her head, sniffling.

“Please be careful, my little star.” Her father stood upright as his projection faltered. “I have and always will love you.” With that, his projection was gone. The orb was now a dull golden nugget.

Tess’ body shook as she took in her empty world. All her friends and family were dead, except for apparently her mother. “Who?” Tess whispered harshly, as she turned to face the sirens. “Who killed my father?” She ended in a shout.

The sirens flinched as her rage was projected on them. None of them dared to speak, all looking amongst themselves.

“Which of you forced me to destroy my family?” Tess stood rigid in front of the sirens, who were now fidgeting. A few of them looked towards the door. Tess noticed the looks and moved her hand closest to the door, slamming the doors closed.

The sirens huddled together. The priestess was only good to them if she wasn’t against them. Matera stepped forward, turning Tess’ attention to her. “Priestess-“

“My name is Tess,” Tess spat out. She felt her power growing, which made little sense to her. She was told she’d only gain her power if she completed the ritual. Her eyes hardened on Matera… another lie.

Matera paused for a moment before continuing. “Tess,” Matera continued. “I was the one who killed your father and ate his heart.”

“Why?” Tess asked after a pause. She felt like all the air had been knocked out of her.

Matera gestured to the surrounding room, an enormous smile plastered on her face. “Why, the same reason as you… power!”

Tess stopped as everything came crashing down on her. She didn’t want this power. In fact, she had gone for years wishing she was powerless. This woman, whether or not she was her actual mother, was nothing like her. “We are nothing alike,” Tess whispered, her hands clasped into fists as she shook with rage. “I never wanted power! I never wanted to rule over a species! I just wanted to be normal!” Tess shouted. She didn’t know when, but she was currently floating in the air. A powerful wind was picking up around her as her power surged.

She saw Tom’s lifeless body beneath her, enraging her more. “You said my powers wouldn’t come in if I didn’t complete the ritual.” Tess lifted an energy ball that had formed in her hands. This was the biggest one she had ever made.

Matera was now joining the other sirens, cowering together. They hadn’t expected her to turn on them. “I said that, so you’d become a siren,” Matera called to her. “You were going to receive your powers, whether or not you did the ritual. We need a powerful priestess so-“

“No!” Tess spoke, several voices surrounding her own. “For as long as I have been here, you have done nothing to make your way in the new age. The old age is dead, and nothing you do will change that!”

Tess threw the energy ball at a wall in a fit of rage. It tore through the stone like it was paper. It landed in the forest near the mountains almost thirty miles away. She floated to the ground near Tom’s sword. She looked at the blade, reading the inscription. True love never dies.

“Now Tess, you need to calm down,” Matera tried to take control once more.

“I need you to be truthful,” Tess yelled, picking up the sword and swinging it towards her mother.

Matera waved her hand to the side, deflecting the sword, catching Tess off guard. “This is the destiny of the High Priestess.” Matera walked towards Tess. “I was a High Priestess. Your grandmother was High Priestess. Her mother was High Priestess. You must accept your duty.”

Tess slowly backed away from her mother, dragging the sword with her. It was much heavier than she had expected. She was becoming drained of energy after everything that had happened so far. Her bracelets hadn’t been taken off yet. “They didn’t become sirens,” Tess whispered.

“No, but they would have if they had known the power granted with the transformation. You only have a little bit of time left before you can no longer perform the ritual,” Matera continued. She used her own magic to propel herself to Tom’s body. She lifted her hand in the air, preparing to rip the heart out and force feed it to Tess. “It’s time to take your place!”

Matera’s hand shot down to Tom’s body, making Tess scream in horror. Tess felt energy build up on herself as she grabbed her mom’s wrist before she made it to Tom. “You will not touch him,” Tess commanded, her voice taking on the sound of many voices once more.

Matera backed away. She couldn’t ignore Tess when she used this voice. Tess looked at Tom, then back at her mother. She took a deep breath, then straightened. There was only one way to end this. “As High Priestess-“

“You didn’t finish the ritual,” Matera tried interrupting before getting cut off by Tess.

“I am High Priestess regardless of finishing the ritual!” Tess silenced her mother, who backed away, her arms covering her eyes as Tess began glowing with power. “And I have decided you will not be allowed to hurt anyone else.”

“And what do you plan on doing?” Matera scoffed, doubting that Tess would have the courage to kill her. She couldn’t even finish the ritual with Tom.

“I will make sure you can find no one else to hurt.” Tess’ voices echoed throughout the room. She walked up to her mother and reached a hand towards her. Matera took a step back, not sure what Tess was planning.

“Be still!” Tess commanded, making Matera stop in her tracks. Matera looked up at Tess fearfully, as she was now planted where she was standing. Tess reached her hand out and touched Matera’s chest above where her siren's broken heart was. “You will no longer be on this plane of living. For the rest of eternity, you will roam this earth. You will cry out, but nobody will hear you. You will try to be seen, but nobody will see you.” Tess looked into the eyes of her mother, as her face was drained of color. “As I say it, so shall it be.” Tess finished, removing her hand.

Matera stood stock still for a few moments, then began laughing when nothing happened. “You! You, child! You think you can destroy me with a few words?” She cackled. Stopping only when she saw Tess looking towards the ground. She followed Tess’ gaze to see her body on the ground, staring off into nothing, a silent scream etched on her face.

Matera looked at her hands, trying to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her. “No, no, no,” she whispered to herself. She rushed over to the group of sirens that were staring toward her body. “Sisters, you see me?” Matera waved in front of the faces of her found family.

None of them reacted to her. Matera fell to the ground in a sobbing mess. The remaining sirens made their way out of the room while Tess was still distracted.