Page 4 of Cursed By a Siren's Kiss

As I looked upon him, the fear obvious on his face, all I could see were the faces of the children chained in the hull of a ship. They’d been forced to work their days away with the sailors under the searing hot sun. Their dirty and tear-stained faces as the ship had sunk, their limbs still held by restraints astheir tiny bodies sank with the ship he had attacked. His greed causing countless, needless deaths. Their screams still echoed in my dreams.

“I set you free!” Captain Jack growled, baring his teeth. Wind ruffled his hair and clothing, his back toward the expansive ocean as he faced me.

“You sank the ship I was on. You destroyed all the other children on that ship. How could you not recognize who I was? I’d watched you shove your blade through the captain’s chest. I stood right there.” My grin twisted into a sinister expression, reflecting the revenge that had consumed me for over a decade. “Then you pulled me from the water days later, after you had slaughtered my people. I’ve been biding my time, patiently waiting for this moment, for retribution.”

With those final words, accompanied by the captain’s shocked and betrayed expression, I impaled him upon my blade, giving him a swift kick that sent his dying form into the water. His screams echoed out over the sea until the water garbled his cries, the sharks latching onto their next meal. I stood there, watching as crimson spread and painted the water with my victory.

Turning, I faced the crew as my men tossed the last corpse. “Well, my crew, I am Captain now, and I have some grand plans for us. Some of you already know some of what I have planned. Are you still with me?”

Chants of ‘Captain Kipp’ resonated through the air as they cheered. I’d planted these seeds over months, and it had played out exactly as planned. I ordered the men, my men, into position. Their cheery songs of victory rang out into the evening as we sailed away from the island that began it all.

It didn’t take me long to fill Captain Jack’s sailor shoes, and soon I became the most feared pirate upon the vast seas,accumulating unimaginable wealth and fame. My men wanted for nothing, their loyalty mine for all time.

Gradually, a realization crept upon me like a somber shadow. The curse concealed within the fortune bestowed upon me by the sea witch began to manifest its insidious nature. Gold brought no joy, conquests brought no satisfaction. My heart, tainted by darkness, knew only loneliness, and the void within could never be filled.

Too late, I comprehended the crone’s foreboding warning. The allure of power and the insatiable grip of greed exacted a profound toll. The magic of the cursed pearl had taken hold of my body and soul, dooming me to an eternity of hollow pursuits, forever yearning for the meaning and love my heart craved. The curse consumed me, an unrelenting force that refused to release its hold.

Years later, I embarked on a quest to seek out the elusive crone, desperate to find her. Yet, the island had moved, and my search proved fruitless. I was forced to reach out to her in the realm of dreams, caught in the clutches of a tormenting nightmare. In this vision, the sea witch appeared, her teeth blackened and a cruel smile adorning her face. Her words drifted upon the winds as I awakened from a restless slumber.

Only a siren’s kiss can break your curse for it was the kiss of a siren’s death that plagued you, her ethereal voice whispered.

Clarity flooded my mind as I sat bolt upright in the bed of my captain’s quarters. I knew what I must do. I needed a siren, for without her intervention, the dark magic that held me captive would consume my very essence.

Chapter 3

The Wickedness Lurking

The Pirate

“Another dead end, Captain,” the man to my right informed me as I stared blankly at him. I couldn’t recall his name. Just another first mate in a long line of first mates. I missed Willy. At least I could remember his name…

The darkness within me must have attempted to leak out as I’d been lost in thought because the first mate blanched, stepping backward as he stared at me through wide eyes. That had been happening more often lately; a fact that worried me. I never remembered my actions in those moments. It was as if I lost myself to the darkness as it consumed me piece by piece.

I turned, dismissing him, and his fear of me, without a word. I stood at the helm of my ship, the sea breeze rippling through my dark hair. To the outside world looking in, I was every inch the notorious pirate captain—rich, feared, unrivaled in power across the seven known seas. Everything I wanted was mine for the taking, but it had come at too-steep a cost. I knew that now.

I had everything I’d bargained for, but it left a cold, infinite emptiness. At first, the glint of plunder and taste of victory had satisfied my greed and ambition. As the years stretched on, a never-ending hollowness grew within me. Everything I wanted was worthless.

The ocean glistened and rippled the same as it always had, glittering beneath the warm rays of the sun. The days had melted into years and the years into decades. It all turned meaningless. An endless loop that brought no joy, no sense of accomplishment. Just an empty void. Not even the regret of forcing the sea witch to give me this power could fill this void. I now knew it for the curse it was.

No one looking upon my tall, commanding figure would ever guess the darkness festering within, not truly. They might sense it from time to time when it consumed me, but I’d become quite good at reining it in over the years. Even those with the sight couldn’t see the wickedness lurking beneath my skin. My attitude, however, now that had become twisted and dark as that void continued to grow within, eating me alive from the inside.

“Set it on fire,” I demanded, my voice a low rumble as I grasped the worn wood of the helm with a white-knuckled grip.

“Set what on fire?” the man asked.

We both looked out at the woods containing the village that had once held the sea witch. A village I’d spent untold years searching for. My gaze hardened, anger tightening within my gut as it simmered. Nothing. We’d found nothing.

“The village,” I’d said between clenched teeth, as if a part of me wanted to hold the wicked words in.

“But…” the first mate began, his words trailing from him as if he couldn’t fathom my decision to burn a village to the ground.

My icy black eyes glared at him. He was new. He didn’t know me well enough yet. He’d learn all the wicked things inside ofme soon enough. Everything was mine for the taking. Anything I wanted. Except the ability to break this damn curse.

“There might be people hiding who we didn’t find, or they might come back and find their village burned to the ground and their food storage with it,” the man said, rooted to the spot with an unsure flicker behind his eyes as he watched me.

My gaze snapped to him and his braveness, then I smirked, and he shrunk back. I knew he wouldn’t be on this ship for long. Probably gone by the time we left the next port. This man reminded me so much of myself at his age. I hoped he did leave the ship, hoped he left this life before he ever found more than he bargained for, before he ended up like me.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion. I said burn it. Now!” I demanded, knowing these very words would be what sent him over the edge. I’d secured his future just as I’d cursed mine. He may never thank me for it, but he’d be off the ship and have hope.

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