Speaker 1: Calarogu Shark Media.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Sirens Call a special Romance Weekly and
Ghost Scary Stories crossover event. This is episode three Revelation.
Speaker 1: He opens the external seals, allowing fresh air from the
cavern to mix with our recycled atmosphere. The improvement is immediate.
I hadn't realized how stale our air had become. How
did you know about this place? I press. Kai is
focused on our life support systems, pulling access panels and
examining components with practiced efficiency. I've explored most of the
underwater geography around Black Rock Island. It's necessary for accurate
acoustic mapping. But his answer feels rehearsed, incomplete. I watch
him work, noting again the subtle webbing between his fingers,
the way he seems completely comfortable in this underwater environment
that should be alien and threatening, Kai, I say, softly,
what aren't you telling me? His hands still on the
machinery for a long moment, the only sounds are are
breathing and the gentle lapping of water against the cave walls.
When he finally looks at me, his sea green eyes
hold a vulnerability I haven't seen before. More than you're
ready to hear, he admits, more than I'm ready to
tell you. Try me. He sets down his tools and
turns to face me fully. In the con fine space
of the submercible's cabin. We're close enough that I can
see the conflict playing out across his features, Desire warring
with caution, truth struggling against protection. The structures we saw
down there, he begins, carefully, they're not human ruins, they're
not abandoned. And the song you heard, what about it?
It's not just music, Marina, it's a call, a summoning.
Summoning what Instead of answering, He reaches out his fingers,
tracing the line of my jaw with such tenderness that
my breath catches. You felt it, didn't you, The pull
of the song, the way it made you want to
follow it no matter where it led. I nod, remembering
the compulsion that nearly drew me into the harbor last night,
the overwhelming desire to lose myself in the music from
the structures. That's what happened to them, the missing cruise,
Kai continues. They heard the call and couldn't resist it.
They walked into the water, And he doesn't finish. How
do you know all this? His thumb traces across my
lower lip, sending shivers through me because I know what
makes that sound, because I know what lives in those structures.
His eyes meet mine, and in them, I see depths
that go beyond human experience, because I'm connected to it
in ways I never wanted to be. The admission hangs
between us, heavy with implication. I should be frightened, should
demand concrete answers, should insist we return to the surface immediately. Instead,
I find myself leaning into his touch, drawn to him
with the same inexplicable compulsion I felt toward the mysterious
song connected how I whisper? Instead of answering with words,
he closes the distance between us, his lips meeting mine
with desperate intensity. The kiss is electric, sending waves of
sensation through me that have nothing to do with the
cold of the deep ocean. His mouth is warm, inviting
tasting of salt and something indefinably oceanic. But as the
kiss deepens, something strange happens. The world around me seems
to shift to become more vivid, more compelling. Colours, are brighter, sensations,
more intense. His touch doesn't just affect my body. It
affects my mind, my will, creating a euphoria that transcends
physical attraction. When we finally part, I'm breathless, my thoughts
hazy and unfocused. What I start to ask, The words
come out slurred, dreamy. Kai's eyes widen in horror as
he realizes what's happened. Marina, I'm sorry. I didn't mean.
I tried to control it, control what But even as
I ask, part of me doesn't care about the answer.
All I want is to kiss him again, to lose
myself in whatever he's doing to me. My voice, he says, quietly,
My influence when I feel strong emotions, when I'm not careful,
it affects people. The haze in my mind begins to
clear as his words sink in. Affects them? How it
makes them more compliant, more willing to do what I
want them to do. His expression is anguished. It's why
I work alone, why I keep my distance from Peple,
because I can't always control it. Reality crashes back over
me like cold water. You're saying you can control minds,
that you just influenced me. Not control, he says, quickly. Influence, Suggestion,
and I swear to you, Marina, I didn't do it intentionally.
You make me feel things I haven't felt in a
very long time. My guard was down. I stare at him,
my scientific mind struggling to process what he's telling me,
while another part of me, the parts still affected by
whatever he did, wants to dismiss the revelation and kiss
him again. This is what happened to the missing cruise,
I say slowly. Someone used this ability on them. Kai
nods miserably, but not me. I've been trying to prevent it,
to understand what's happening here before more people disappear. Then
who others like me? He says quietly, Others who don't
share my restraint when it comes to human life. Others
like you? I repeat, what exactly are you?
Speaker 2: Kai?
Speaker 1: He meets my eyes, and in that moment, I see
him make a decision to trust me with a truth
that could change everything between us. I'm what your legends
call a siren, he says simply, and I'm not the
only one in these waters. The words hit me like
a physical blow. Sirens mythical creatures that lure sailors to
their deaths with irresistible songs, the stuff of maritime legends
and ancient mythology. Except the man sitting across from me
is very real, very present, and apparently very dangerous. That's impossible,
I whisper, even as everything I've witnessed begins to make
terrible sense. His unusual diving abilities, his intimate knowledge of
the ocean depths, the way sea creatures seem to respond
to his presence, the song that nearly drew me into
the harbor, his admission about influencing minds, Is it, he
asks gently, More impossible than the structures we just saw,
More impossible than the music that comes from empty water.
I think about the ancient ruins on the ocean floor,
the compelling melodies that seem to bypass rational thought, the
way Kai moves through water as if it's his natural element.
The missing cruise, I say, understanding, dawning. They were called
by sirens by my people. Yes, but not with my
knowledge or consent. His eyes are pained. I came to
Black Rock Island to investigate the disappearances myself, to try
to prevent them. I never expected to find someone like
you here, someone like me, someone who could hear the
song but resist it, someone strong enough to pull back
from the brink. He reaches for my hand, his touch
sending that familiar warm sensation through me, someone who makes
me want to be better than what I am. The
submersible's air recycling systems choose that moment to complete their
reset cycle, filling the cabin with fresh air and breaking
the spell of intimacy that had settled over us. I
become acutely aware of our situation, trapped in an underwater
cave with a man who has just admitted to being
a mythical creature capable of controlling minds. I should be terrified. Instead,
I find myself studying his face, looking for some of
deception of danger. What I see is vulnerability, honesty, and
something that looks like hope. Your people, I say, carefully,
the other sirens. They're responsible for the disappearances, some of them. Yes,
there's a faction that believes humans are nothing more than prey.
They've been hunting in these waters, calling ships to their destruction,
and you oppose them. I oppose unnecessary killing, he says firmly.
I oppose using our gifts to harm innocence who pose
no threat to us. But you have used your abilities
on humans before the question hangs between us, heavy with implication.
Kai's expression grows distant, troubled. Yes, he admits quietly. In
the past, when I was younger, more reckless, I thought
humans were lesser. I didn't understand what I was destroying
when I called them to the depths. What changed? I
spent time among humans, learned about your cultures, your art,
your capacity for love and sacrifice, and beauty that has
nothing to do with supernatural gifts. His eyes meet mine again.
I learned that consciousness, that sentience, is precious, regardless of
its form. The sincerity in his voice is unmistakable, but
questions still swirl through my mind. The song I heard
last night was that you number. That was one of
the others testing the waters, seeing what humans were present
on the island. His jaw titans. When I realized you'd
heard it, that you'd been affected, I've been watching over
you since then, watching over me, protecting you. The others
know there's a human on the island who can hear
the call but resist it. That makes you interesting to them,
potentially dangerous. A chill runs through me that has nothing
to do with the cavern's cool air. Dangerous. How humans
who can resist Siren's song are rare, very rare. Most
of my people would see you as either a threat
to be eliminated or a prize to be claimed. The
implications of his words sink in slowly. I'm not just
a researcher investigating mysterious disappearances. I'm a target marked by
my ability to hear but not succumb to supernatural influence.
What do we do? I ask we get you off
this island, Kai says, immediately tonight, if possible, before the
others realize what you are. I can't leave. I'm here
to invent, mistigate the disappearances, to find answers that might
prevent more deaths. Marina, you don't understand. If they take you,
then help me, I interrupt. You know these creatures, their abilities,
their weaknesses. Help me find a way to stop them.
Kai stares at me for a long moment, conflict clear
on his face. You're asking me to betray my own people.
I'm asking you to save human lives. You said yourself
that you oppose unnecessary killing. It's not that simple. There
are consequences for interfering in siren affairs, punishments that he
stops shaking his head. You don't know what you're asking,
then tell me before he can respond. New alarms sound
throughout the submersible. This time, it's our external senses detecting
movement in the water around us. What is it, I ask,
checking our sonar displays. Kai's face has gone pale. We're
not alone in these caves anymore. On our screens, shapes
are moving through the water, too large to be fish,
too purposeful to be debris. As our lights sweep the cavern,
I catch glimpses of figures gliding through the depths with
impossible grace and speed. Your people, I ask, though I
already know the answer from Kai's expression. They've found us,
he confirms grimly. They know you're here. Through our speakers.
A new sound begins to emerge, not the compelling music
I heard before, but something hi more demanding. The water
around our submersible begins to glow with the same phosphorescent
light we saw around the deep sea structures. What do
they want? I ask, though part of me fears the answer.
Kai's eyes meet mine, and in them I see resignation, determination,
and something that looks like goodbye. They want you, Marina,
and they want me to give you to them. The
song outside grows stronger, more insistent. Through our viewport, I
can see figures in the water, humanoid, but wrong somehow,
their movements too fluid, their forms seeming to shift between
human and something else entirely. What do we do? I
whisper Kai reaches for the submersible's controls, his jaw set
with grim determination. We run as our engine raw to life.
The creatures outside respond with sounds that are definitely not human,
calls that seem to come from everywhere at once, harmonizing
in frequencies that make our hull vibrate and our instruments flicker.
The chase is about to begin.
Speaker 2: A Siren's Call has been a production of Calaogus Shark
Media Executive producers Mark Francis and John McDermott AI assistance
may have been used in the series.