Behind the Shadows

Sapphire wanted to wipe the smile off the girls face. If the smile could speak it would say this is just a fake smile for you silly little demigods. Sapphire didn't even know who these people were or even what they are, but judging by all their expressions they all thought they were above any sort of demigod. Jake seems to notice the smile as well because he had a fake smile shining back at the girl and anyone who looked his way. Sapphire, however does not put any effort into putting on a smile and scowls contently instead.
"You've been expecting us?" Sapphire asks. The girls pale skin shines in the sunlight as she takes a few steps towards Jake and Sapphire.
"We knew you would call on help eventfully due to your situation, but we could not help it and we came to help anyway instead of waiting on a request" The girl purrs while she watches Jake under her long eyelashes. Sapphire can feel her hands tremble a little with the need to blast this girl with all the water in the ocean. "The pair of you are quite entertaining to watch"
"You have been watching us?" Jake sputters out. The girl nods and Jake swallows looking nervous or maybe he is uncomfortable. Sapphire sighs dramatically and throws daggers at the girl with her eyes.
"My people have been watching the Princess Andromeda for quite some time and we saw the pair of you get off and decided to watch you incase you were a danger" Sapphire and Jake stare blankly at the girl. She notices their confusion. "That's the cruise ships name"
"Why do you want to help us?" Jake quizzes. The girl finally looks at Sapphire and the smile she gives is a real one.
"I can sense you are a child of Poseidon and a strong one". Sapphire's glare does not falter.
"Who are you?" Sapphire blurts out. The girl frowns at Sapphire. She is clearly annoyed at Sapphire dismissing her former statement. When it comes down to Sapphires parentage she really couldn't care less. They rejected her so rejecting them in return only seems fair.
"My name is Milra. I am a siren and so is everyone on this ship". Jake and Sapphire both take a step back. "We will not harm you"
They both take another step back.
"Of course not!" Sapphire spits mockingly at Milra. "You want to sing us to sleep so you can then feed on our emotional pain and then you will gobble us whole" Jake raises his eyebrows at Sapphire in a silent applause for listening in Greek mythology. Milra continues to smile and it makes Sapphire wish that she had some sort of weapon on her so that she could throw it at the siren.
"Because Poseidon has promised us rewards if we help you on your journey back to Long island" Sapphire laughs bitterly."So you won't harm us?" Jake butts in. Milra smiles sweetly at him.
"No"
Jake is silent for a moment before he steps forward and accepts their help. Sapphire considers jumping off the ship and changing her luck at attempting to swim back to camp. She stays put and glares at all the sirens on board. It was a puzzle as to why these sirens looked so human. It made her even more wary of them. Jake grabs her hand and pulls her forward. Sapphire makes an attempt to get out of his grasp, but finds herself trailing after him. The sirens lead them inside the ship and down a set of stairs. Milra is in front with her hair flowing down her back. It makes Sapphire wonder to herself if Milra is making her hair lour Jake forward. The green hair sways side to side slowly and too perfectly. If Sapphire found scissors sitting around she would make sure to cut every strand of Milras hair. Jake and Sapphire are lead in to a large room that looks like it is the mess hall. It has tables lined up along the room. The set out of the room reminds Sapphire of a lunch hall at one of the public schools she went too. The room is all wood. Wooden floor, wooden walls, and of course wooden tables. No one is in the room when they enter.
"Help yourselves to food and I will be back in a while with fresh clothes" Milra sings before the door closes behind her and Jake and Sapphire are left alone in the mess hall. Beside the door is a long table competently covered with food."You know sirens can lie too" Sapphire grumbles to Jake before she stomps over to a table and sits down. Jake goes straight for the food and takes his time drooling over the choices. Sirens could lie and they could also slip some poison into someones drink or meal. Sapphire was not going to take any chances.
"They can also cook great food" Jake mutters around a mouth full of food. He walks over to the table with a plate stacked high with food. He sits across from Sapphire so that she has to watch him absorb all the food. Someone walks in to the room and Sapphire and Jake both look up. Its a boy. He looks about twenty something. Milra had said that there was only sirens on this ship. Sirens were female. This guy was not. It was his eyes that shook Sapphire. They were empty and completely black. It would not surprise Sapphire if the Sirens were using their catch in men as slaves or some sort of pets. Jake stared at the boy and looked startled. Sapphire didn't say anything as the boy walks over to a table, picks up a book and walks back out the room. He didn't even acknowledge their presence. Maybe he didn't even know they were there at all. Sapphire turns to Jake. His face is pale.
"Sirens lie" Sapphire whispers. Jake finally realizes that she is correct. "I think I will try and contact Poseidon and make sure that we can trust the siren"
Jake nods slowly and stares down at his plate not making any attempts to continue eating. Nothing could ever put that boy off his food.
Milra returns with fresh clothes and takes them out of the mess hall to show them to their rooms. Every siren and male that Sapphire and Jake pass completely ignore the pair of them. Jake gets shown to his room first and disappears into it with a final glance at Sapphire. Milra continues down a few more hallways before they come to a halt outside a door."So are they slaves or pets?" Sapphire asks with a blank face. Milras smile does not falter.
"I don't know what you are talking about" She replies. Sapphire looks her in the eyes in search of an emotion, but finds nothing.
"The boys that are walking around this ship" Milras smile slips a inch. Sapphire slaps on a smug smile in satisfaction. Milra 0 Sapphire 1.
"They are staff". Sapphire croaks out a laugh.
"Staff? So the dead look in their eyes is just an act?" Milra avoids looking into Sapphires eyes.
"Would you rather we eat them?". Sapphire scoffs and turns around. She opens the door, steps in and slams it in Milras face. A few seconds later Milras heels click down the hallway. The room is small. It only holds a single bed and a dressing table. If Sapphire made it back to camp half blood in one peace then she make sure to kiss the ground below her feet at camp half blood.

Notes