A Place to Hide

The pier was an awfully crowded place to be on a Friday night. Anna was on one of her excursions again, exploring the world outside of the academy. It was hot, so she'd picked a pair of shorts and a crop top to keep herself cool, despite the sun having been down for a little while now. She didn't feel terribly out of place - there were plenty of tourists here still in their swimwear, likely from a day at the beach, or similar clothing to her own.

Looking to escape the crowd for a bit (her claustrophobia was creeping up on her), Anna took a turn down between two of the buildings and slipped into the alley behind them to see what was back there.

A few boys stood by a green dumpster, smoking and drinking out of bottles wrapped in paper bags. As soon as she'd turned the corner, they all turned to look at her. Anna gave a casual smile and continued to look around. "Hey, come have a drink with us, won't you? 'S good stuff," one of them waved his paper bag at her. "No, thanks, I'm not of age," she declined politely. Unfortunately, it seemed the group wasn't of age either, and not going to have 'no' for an answer. "C'mon," another started to weave towards her, clearly unsteady on his feet, "we can have some fun together."

The next thing she knew, Anna was being chased. Being polite hadn't worked at all with these people. Of course, running back out into the crowd would have been the obvious option, but they'd effectively blocked her exit before she realized she needed to be running. Turning around, Anna took off down the alley towards the end of the pier.

A propped-open door provided sudden relief for Anna's flight. With the boys at her heels, she reached out and yanked the door open, kicking out the doorstop and slamming the door shut behind her. Out of breath, she leaned against the door and tried to get the world to stop spinning.

Tags;; @Kaya

Anna had barely caught her breath by the time she realized a huge hulk of a person was approaching her. Her mind was so frazzled by the panic of her flight that she wasn't sure how to explain her presence in...wherever she was, but she begged to speak to the owner so she could properly explain herself and maybe get out of here another way than through the door she'd just entered, for surely the boys would be waiting for her on the other side, and then she wasn't sure what would happen. She wasn't nearly big enough to fight them off.

The owner who approached her with another guard seemed pretty upset that she was here. Anna quivered a little beside the big man while her brain scrambled for words. "I'm sorry," better to ask forgiveness than permission? "I was being chased."

Something inside her felt...off, and she wasn't sure if it was from being so spooked by all of this. It was like, when she looked at the woman, she felt some sort of weird connection to her. "Please. I don't want to cause any trouble. I might be a siren, but I have no idea how to defend myself yet, and they might still be out there." She had no idea why she'd provided that information, it just sort of...came out, like it was being pulled from her lips without much thought.

Tags;; @Kaya

Anna was cut off before she could say any more, and nodded cautiously in response to her question. She swallowed hard. Had she said the wrong thing? For her own sake, she hoped not. Anna had no choice in the matter as she was more or less herded along up a flight of stairs and into what looked like an office.

When the woman demanded that she sing, Anna raised her eyebrows at her. This lady was all intimidating and such, but she hadn't expected such a request. At least it was something she knew she could do. "Okay..." Anna looked around for a moment and spotted a lute hanging on the wall, pointing to it, "may I?" Once given permission, Anna took it carefully from its spot and stroked the strings gently, testing the tuning. Much to her surprise, it was already tuned perfectly. This woman kept her artifacts in very good condition.

Sing...sing...pick something, Anna. Anything.

With a few strums of the lute, Anna was off.

"Sunday morning, rain is falling
Steal some cover, share some skin
Clouds are shrouding us in moments, unforgettable
You twist to fit the mold that I am in..."

She pulled music from the strings with her fingers, which made her performance stronger, and carried easily over the classical music that had been playing in the room. It wasn't a traditional performance of her selection, with some added in lilts and riffs to make the song even more pleasing to the ear, and maybe to show off a little of her vocal talents...she had no idea what it would mean for her if the woman ended up not liking it.

The woman joined her, and Anna almost felt herself being physically pulled in towards her. Was she a siren, too? She finished the song without pause or fault, despite the sensations that the other woman's voice was causing. Their voices together had created a rich duet unlike Anna had ever experienced. Singing with this woman...felt like eating the best cake in the world, with the tones coming out rich and smooth on her tongue like dark chocolate.

Anna politely returned the lute to the wall once the song was over, feeling...proud that she had pleased the other woman with her song. From her words, it was easy to discern that she was a siren, too.

"I'm new to the island," she explained, "and new to...all this. I didn't know I was a siren until a few months ago. Can...can you teach me about it? All I know is what I've read from some old book they had in the library at the academy...I'm attending college there." There was hope in her eyes. Finally, someone who knew more about what she was than she did. Someone who could teach her more.

Anna wasn't sure how to feel about the notion of eating flesh, and it being...appealing at all. She also wasn't sure how to feel about knowing that this woman ate it on occasion. She did like seafood, though, so that explained a lot. Sushi was actually kind of a staple in her daily diet.

"It...wasn't really a waking up and suddenly being one, I guess I've been one my whole life, I just...never knew. My parents died when I was twelve. They never told me. It wasn't until I got the letter from the academy that I started asking questions."

At the woman's offer, Anna's eyes widened. "I mean...yeah, that would be great, actually." It would mean that she would have to juggle studies and a job when the semester started up, but she was pretty sure she could handle it. Anna had always been good at school without much extra effort on her part. "Oh. I'm Anna," she added, after realizing she'd never even introduced herself. "Anna Perez."