Chapter 2

Watching Dean and Carla grovel on the floor like dogs over the pearls turned my stomach.

Before Evelyn died, they had treated her very differently.

Two weeks earlier, my younger brother, Nico, had set his heart on a new dirt bike that cost more than eight thousand dollars.

Dean and Carla didn't want to spend that much money, but they also couldn't stand the thought of disappointing their precious son. So they set their sights on Evelyn's savings instead.

For years, Evelyn had washed dishes at restaurants near the docks, collected scrap metal to sell for cash, and mended fishing nets for people in the neighborhood.

She had spent most of her life saving every penny she could, finally putting away more than ten thousand dollars.

That money was supposed to support her in old age and cover her funeral expenses.

Evelyn refused to hand it over.

Dean lost his temper. He kicked her to the ground, grabbed her by her graying hair, and dragged her straight into the backyard.

I had just come home from school when I saw it happen.

I rushed at him like a madwoman, sank my teeth into his arm, and threw both arms around Evelyn to protect her.

"Stop hitting Grandma! Don't touch her!"

I screamed and sobbed, but Dean kicked me hard enough to send me flying.

Carla rushed over, seized me by the hair, and dragged me off.

Then they locked Evelyn inside the drafty fishing shed and bolted the door.

"Leave her hungry for a few days. She'll hand over the money!" Dean spat viciously.

For three straight days, they didn't give Evelyn a single drop of water or a bite to eat.

They locked me in a small upstairs room, too, refusing to give me food or water.

In the middle of the third night, I smashed the window and climbed out. A shard of glass sliced my wrist so deeply that I could see the bone.

Ignoring my bleeding hand, I made my way around to the kitchen's back door. I stole half of a cold sandwich.

Then I pressed myself against the broken wooden door of the shed and slowly pushed the bloodstained bread through the narrow gap.

"Grandma, please eat a little. Just one bite..."

Evelyn's weak, ragged breathing came from inside. She didn't take the bread.

Instead, her withered fingers reached through the gap again and again, gently stroking the back of my hand, raw and blistered from the cold and streaked with blood.

"Mara, go back... Don't worry about me. They'll beat you to death..."

Nico got up in the middle of the night and spotted me. He immediately started shouting.

Dean and Carla came running out, dragged me away from the door, and pinned me to the frozen ground.

Carla took a sharp awl used for repairing heavy canvas out of the toolbox.

Then she drove it into the back of my hand, again and again, leaving hole after bloody hole.

Inside the shed, Evelyn heard my screams. She pounded on the door desperately until her voice was hoarse from crying.

When they finally opened the shed on the morning of the fourth day, Evelyn was already dead.

Dean was only worried that her dying in the house would cause trouble. He wouldn't even arrange a funeral.

He simply said he'd contact the funeral home the next day and have her cremated as cheaply as possible.

Now, that same old woman who had frozen to death inside the shed was being treated like a queen by the entire family.

Dean heard Evelyn say that the pearls could continue growing and hurriedly leaned toward her.

"Mom, what do I have to do to make you happy? Just tell me. I'll do whatever you say."

Evelyn's stiff neck slowly turned. Her gaze settled on Nico, who was playing on his phone nearby.

"Have your grandson keep the pearls against his skin all night."

The living room fell silent for a moment.

They had all heard what the blind man said that morning. A Siren had taken over a dead woman's body, and the creature was evil and dangerous.

But the temptation of the pearls was so great that it easily clouded their judgment.

When Nico heard that he had to keep the pearls warm, he kicked over the chair beside him.

"No way! Grandma reeks! The smell is making me gag!"

Dean walked over and slapped Nico across the face.

"You little bastard! A thousand dollars for one night. You in or not?"

Nico clutched his cheek, hesitated for a moment, and reluctantly nodded.

That evening, Carla found a red bandanna and carefully wrapped six pearls inside it. She tied the bundle tightly against Nico's belly.

Later that night, I sneaked downstairs again, hoping to light another candle for Evelyn in the backyard.

As I passed the front door, I heard a faint rustling outside.

I crept over to the window and peered out.

The blind man from that morning hadn't left.

He was crouched beneath our front porch, his shriveled nostrils twitching furiously.

His sightless eyes, rolled back until only the whites showed, were filled with greed and madness.

"Ten years, Siren. I've finally caught your scent again."

His deranged whisper sent a chill down my spine.