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• The Siren Lore:

  Mary Evans was born in a difficult condition, she barely survived the birth. Her parents, Barbara and Jeremy, seeing her condition, were in despair. They did not know what fate could await their beloved daughter. Doctors also did not give a good prognosis. Jeremy, however, pulled himself together and looked after Barbara and the newborn daughter. Had it not been for his help, love and devotion, Barbara would not have known if she would have managed. Inhabitants of Whale Bay, a small fishing town where the Evans family lived, found out very quickly what had happened to this family. It was a small town where nothing could remain a secret.

  Despite warnings from doctors, Mary grew up to be a healthy little girl. She was a very energetic and curious child, she was interested in everything, especially the ocean and the creatures living in it. Barbara and Jeremy's worries were practically forgotten. The problem was still the girl's face, or rather her right half. On the left she was a beautiful young girl, on the right she had a large scar stretching from the corner of her mouth to the top of her skull. There were rumors that the kids in town were afraid of Mary, they called her a monster among themselves. Of course, their parents denied that their children told such terrible things. It was certain that Barbara and Jeremy did not want to send Mary to public school. When Tommy, her 2 years older brother, attended the local school normally, Mary spent her days at home, mostly with her dad at the top of the lighthouse, Jeremy was the local lighthouse keeper, a job he took before Barbara became pregnant. He read her all sorts of books. Her favorite was the one about the lonely mermaid who found a human friend and was no longer alone. Mary loved the story because it gave her hope that she too would find her soulmate someday. Jeremy, proud of himself having a good time with his daughter looked at the cover of the book. It was a thin book with a mermaid on the cover. Staring with a smile, he suddenly felt a strange chill, and it grew dark around him, looking up, he felt raindrops dripping one after another on his face. There was a crackle of lightning. The man was alone on the boat in the middle of the night during the storm. Again, the same nightmare that he has not had in a very long time, since Mary's birth, that night he had it for the first time, and that nightmare has never arisen until now. Again as then, he heard the same singing, and his limbs became limp and he fell into the water. He sank to the bottom, unable to move, and the mesmerizing song plunged him even more. With the last of his strength he strained his eyes and saw a strange figure, like a large oblong fish, but that it seemed to have a human torso. Jeremy closed his eyes and passed out. He woke up lying on the beach near his home, confused and scared, he ran to his house to check if something bad had happened, because the last time he had the same nightmare, his daughter barely survived her birth. He ran into the house and scared Barbara who was confused by his strange behavior. Jeremy started asking his wife where the children were. Barbara informed her husband that Tommy was in school and Mary was playing with Tommy's teddy bear in her room. She touched her husband's forehead to see if he was okay, then joked that it was probably the result of overwork. Then she said that their daughter, out of nowhere, acquired an amazing talent, and she began to sing beautifully overnight. Jeremy's eyes widened, but then he calmed down and went back upstairs to work. He tried to forget that this situation had ever happened.

  Time passed relentlessly, summer came and a heat wave. Tommy and a group of his friends went to the beach near the lighthouse, there was a small pier. Tommy himself was quite a responsible boy, so his parents weren't afraid to let him go by himself. Mary felt lonely and sad to stay at home all the time. When she once sneaked out of the house unnoticed, one of her brother's classmates called her a monster, which hurt her very much. Her brother stood up for her, which resulted in a fight between the boys. The parents did not find out about anything, and what happened was kept secret by the siblings. After all this, Mary never left the house. Due to his sister's appearance, Tommy was initially bullied by his school peers, but over time he earned respect at school. While Tommy envied Mary their parents' attention, she envied him a normal life. She wanted to sneak out again, even though she knew how it ended last time. She watched her brother and his friends all day, and as soon as he was alone, she decided to sneak out. Tommy sat at the end of a small pier, soaking his feet in the sea and watching the sun go down. He heard a noise behind him, and when he turned to see Mary standing right behind him. Upset at his sister, he asked why she had sneaked out of the house. Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed the girl's hand and dragged her towards the house. The crying Mary started to break free and begged him to stop, he finally let her go. He felt stupid because he loved his sister, but he was afraid that someone from school might notice her, and he knew how the last time it had ended. He apologized to Mary, and after a while the tense atmosphere was just a memory. The siblings sat down together on the small pier and talked for a long time. They opened up to themselves, talked about their feelings and problems. The boy felt sorry for his sister, giving her a little warmth by hugging her. Mary told her brother about what she does all day when he is away. She mentioned singing and urged her brother to agree to a brief demonstration of her skill. It didn't take long to persuade him. Mary smiled at her brother, and after the excitement had calmed down, she began to sing. Suddenly Tommy began to breathe heavily, grabbed his heart and fell straight into the water. On the surface of the water, Mary saw a terrifying figure for a split second. The frightened girl with tears in her eyes ran straight to her parents, but when they arrived it was too late, Tommy drowned. It was a huge tragedy for the whole town, everyone was greatly shocked by it. Mary has not managed to say a word about what she has seen since then. In the end, by combining several hypotheses, it was considered an unfortunate accident. It was considered that an unforeseen tide had suddenly gathered, and Tommy wanted to show off his swimming skills to his sister, unfortunately having poorly assessed his skills. Jeremy subconsciously refused to believe it, the day Tommy died, Jeremy had that strange dream from years ago again. He locked himself in his lighthouse and practically did not leave it. His relationship with his wife and daughter gradually cooled down. Mary also became more closed. Barbara was afraid that after this event she would also lose her daughter, that they would take her away, for leaving her children unsupervised. It was even supposed to happen, but with the support of the people from Whale Bay who stood up for Evans family, it didn't happen.

  Several years have passed since Tommy's death. His bedroom was intact, everything remained as it was in his lifetime. There wasn't a day without crying, Barbara felt lonely, with no support from her husband, who only went downstairs for dinner and headed back upstairs, and there were even days when he didn't come downstairs at all. At first they greeted each other, now there was silence between them. They didn't blame each other, they didn't argue, they just went through the trauma in a different way. Jeremy even stopped sleeping, because of nightmares he could not sleep for a long time, which resulted in exhaustion of the body and a lack of concentration. Perhaps time only helped Mary, who as an almost adult woman began to support her mother in household chores. Barbara was grateful that although she had support in her daughter, she was also disappointed that she could not expect the same from the man who had once been the love of her life. This love has been obliterated over the years, and apparently nothing is left of it. Barbara even thought about leaving Whale Bay, after losing her son, nothing else connected her with this place. The plans for the move were already made up by her, she just wanted to announce them to Jeremy. One evening she went upstairs to see him, because she knew that he himself would not bother to go down. Mary also followed her mother upstairs to overhear the entire conversation. Barbara announced to her husband that she was leaving Whale Bay and taking Mary with her, and that their marriage ended long ago. She wanted a divorce, but without judging who was to blame, she didn't want to cause problems for Jeremy, because after all, she still saw in Jeremy the young man she had loved so much years ago. Jeremy didn't reply, didn't protest, didn't even look at Barbara, just nodded that he understood. As Barbara left, she didn't realize that Mary was standing right outside the door. As Barbara headed down the stairs, Mary came in to see her father. She wanted to cheer him up and say how sorry she is. She became confused when her father mocked her words. He began to talk madly about the nightmares he was experiencing and that she was the cause of them. He also accused Mary of her brother's death and called her a monster for the first time in his life. It hurt her a lot. Suddenly he grabbed Mary's hand and began tugging at her, his mouth smelling of alcohol. He shouted and forced her to sing, so Mary gave him what he insisted on, she began to sing. Jeremy lost his balance and fell to the ground exhausted. He was paralyzed and twisted with pain, and in the meantime he had called his own daughter a monster again. Mary looked at him with contempt and regret in her eyes and left, and when she was out the door, she burst into tears. The next day, Barbara went to wake Mary up, found her sitting on the bed, staring out the window at the gulls flying over the small pier. Wanting to cheer up her daughter, she hugged her and assured her in a caring motherly voice that everything would be fine, and then asked her daughter to pack.Barbara wanted to leave the house as soon as possible, she could not spend a minute longer there, although the move was planned only in 3 days. However, she decided to wait this time out in the motel.

  That same day, in the evening, the police knocked on the door of Barbara and Mary's motel room. They had a sad news to deliver that Jeremy committed suicide. According to the police, the death happened last night, he must have done it at night. As Barbara, shocked, spoke to the policemen, Mary remembered that evening and the situation that had taken place. Was it she who made her father take his own life? The thought was on her mind. The women had to go to the local police station to testify about taht evening. It turned out that the body was found by a family friend who had brought dinner. Not receiving a reply, he checked the house and the lighthouse. He found Jeremy's body hanging in the stairwell in the lighthouse and immediately alerted the police. The news of the incident spread quickly around the town, and everyone talked about it. It was another reason Barbara wanted to leave town. The interrogation did not last long, it was soon found that no third party was involved in Jeremy's death, and his funeral was held two days later. The move, however, had to be delayed by a few days, but as soon as Barbara was able to leave Whale Bay once and for all, she did not hesitate for a second. Together with Mary, she moved forward without turning back.

  They went as far inland as possible trying to find a quiet and calm place for themselves to live. Most importantly, they had each other, they both knew they could always count on each other. They visited half of the country together, and the people they met on their way reacted differently to Mary's appearance, but the women tried to ignore all the reactions of people. Mary was grateful to Barbara for finally letting her experience life, for not keeping her locked up from the world as she did in Whale Bay. For the first time Mary felt free, but in the back of her head she still had a feeling there was something wrong with her. This feeling could spoil every joyful moment, and in times of sorrow it could bring down even more. Mary decided to take a step that at first she didn't even want to think about. She decided to give up her gift, which she began to take as a curse, stopped singing. She changed her singing to playing the piano, and in time she started to play really beautifully. The music gave her a moment of relaxation and escape from problems.

  Years passed, Mary was a grown woman and a professional pianist, she played so beautifully that crowds came to her performances. There have been mean comments from others, and not infrequently, but Mary had learned to ignore them a long time ago. Barbara was proud of her daughter's success. Mary, however, felt a certain void in her heart, but did not know what this void may be caused by. She talked about this with her mother, who concluded that the void might be the reason for the lack of a friend or even love. Mary ignored her mother's words, convinced that she would be alone forever, that no one would ever truly love her. However, after one of her performances, she met Laura, the girl clearly did not pay attention to the appearance of Mary. They both got along very well, they were free artistic souls, which helped bring them closer to each other. Mary found out from Laura that she had been attending each of her performances for a month, but she was always ashamed to come up and talk, she had the courage that day. Laura was a painter, not very successful, barely making ends meet for selling her paintings, but she always managed. Laura's mother died when Laura was still little, so she did not remember her mother, and the only memento of her was a heart-shaped necklace, it was very precious to her and she always wore it. One evening, Laura invited Mary to her apartment, the art studio made the greatest impression on the woman. It was not a large, modest little room with an old and battered easel. Despite its modesty, it was an extremely warm place, full of heart and passion. Unexpectedly, Laura came up with an offer to paint Mary. She nervously laughed and refused, but Laura kept urging her. Embarrassed, Mary sadly said that Laura would surely not want to waste her canvas on a monster like her. Laura, through persuasion, managed to persuade Mary. The woman only told Laura not to embellish anything and paint her as she is, which Laura agreed to. After finishing work, the woman showed Mary the end result as she wanted, nothing was embellished, same scars, same sadness in her eyes. Mary commented on the painting with one word, "Monster." Laura put down the painting and sat opposite Mary, staring at her. Then she began to describe what she saw in her. Hearing Laura's words, Mary could not hide her embarrassment and emotion, tears were pouring into her eyes, so she quickly hid her face in hands, and then burst into tears. Nobody has shown her so much warmth and compassion for a very long time. Even in her dreams, she never dreamed that she would meet someone like that. Laura hugged a completely emotionally broken woman. They sat cuddled together for several dozen minutes, but time did not matter to them. Finally, Laura whispered something in Mary's ear and wiped her tearful face. The women stared at each other for a moment, then kissed each other passionately on the lips. It was a magical evening. Mary didn't come home until morning. Barbara was concerned that she had received no information from her daughter last night, but seeing the joy in Mary's eyes, her anger immediately passed. Laura and Mary's relationship flourished rapidly, the women felt a strong bond with each other, trusted each other, were close to each other. Mary decided to introduce her mother to Laura. The meeting went really well, until Laura did not mention her father. It turned out that her father, like Mary and Barbara, came from Whale Bay, and that he is the new Mayor, and the town has changed a lot after so many years. A seaside resort has developed from a small fishing town. Mary had never asked where exactly Laura came from, and Barbara, as soon as she heard about the town, became concerned, because unpleasant memories returned. Mary felt a strange void deep in her heart again, she had previously thought it was due to the lack of a soulmate, but maybe it was the demons of the past. Laura, seeing the surprised faces of both women, was slightly confused until she found out that Mary and Barbara also came from the same town. Barbara apologized to the girls under the pretext of a headache and went to her bedroom. She had to be alone for a while and think. Mary explained to a confused Laura what was going on and why they had reacted in such a way to the news about the town. Laura felt foolish for her word to bring back painful memories. She hugged Mary to cheer her up. This evening was no longer the same as it had been at the beginning, now mostly silence. Finally, Mary fell asleep in Laura's arms, and Laura slipped away imperceptibly so as not to wake her up. In the morning Barbara wanted to apologize to her daughter for her behavior, but she did not find her, only a short note in which it was written that Mary was at Laura's and she would be back late. At the same time, Mary visited Laura to talk to her. She wanted to go to Whale Bay, told Laura about the void in her heart she felt and thought that Laura would think she was crazy, but she understood her completely. Laura let Mary know that she would always support her and that she would go with her, she hadn't seen her father in a long time anyway. The women agreed that they would leave town in the morning. There was only one thing left for Mary to do, which she feared very much, to pass this information on to Barbara. It was evening when Mary got home. When Barbara saw her daughter she was glad because she thought she was offended by her. The woman's smile faded when she heard about her daughter's plans. A serious quarrel ensued, Barbara considered her daughter's plans irrational. She was sure that it was Laura who told Mary about this stupid plan, in addition she said that since they meet, Laura has a bad influence on Mary. Mary was outraged by her mother's words and tried to ignore them while packing. Barbara did not give up, screamed, cried and begged her daughter to stay. Mary, seeing her mother's reactions, wanted to immediately leave the house and spend the night at Laura's house. Barbara locked the door and did not respond to Mary's requests for the key. The quarrel intensified until Barbara slapped her daughter in an act of anger. There was a silence, Mary waited for some empathy or apology from her mother, but in return she was told that she was to obey her mother and that she had been given too much freedom, that she was ungrateful. Mary, in an act of anger and agitated emotion, did something she hadn't done in a very long time. She began to sing. Barbara grabbed her head and was writhing in pain, Mary demanded to give her the key, it was evident that she felt uncomfortable about the fact that she was causing pain to her mother. As if she weren't herself, Barbara gave her daughter the key. Mary stopped singing and Barbara lay dumbfounded looking at her daughter. She realized that every time she had migraine attacks, Mary started singing. She realized what might have happened to Tommy and Jeremy. She fell to her knees from helplessness and began to despair. Mary tearfully apologized to her mother, then quickly left the house. When she came to Laura she was devastated, but didn’t want to reveal why. The next day, she and Laura left town.

  When they arrived, Mary was amazed at how much the hometown had changed. Beautifully restored buildings, a market square with a fountain, full of tourists, there is a huge pier in the place of the former fishing docks. Lots of stands, it seemed as if people were getting ready for some kind of festival. Laura parked right next to City Hall. Security escorted the women to the Mayor's office, Larry was amazed at the sight of his daughter, hugged her in greeting, then looked at Mary with a scowl on his face. Finding out from his daughter that Mary is her girlfriend, to which he was slightly shocked. The conversation was quite awkward for both sides, so much so that Laura and Mary preferred to stay at the hotel than stay overnight at Larry's house. Laura was embarrassed by her father's behavior, but Mary assured her that she did not feel offended. Laura told Mary about how her father constantly tried to hook her up with a certain boy named Randy who was obsessed with her. Laura hated him, but her father got on well with Randy's rich parents. Mary was not at all surprised why Laura had left the town. The women then went to the old lighthouse. It turned out that no one had been here for a long time. From the locals Laura found out that after Mary's father passed away, the town took over the lighthouse. Initially, it was supposed to serve as a tourist facility, but it was deemed unprofitable, especially as there were rumors that this place was cursed. So the lighthouse was standing and deteriorating, but apparently they planned to demolish it. Mary stood right in front of the door of the old house and could not pull the handle, only the presence of Laura helped Mary to calm down. The women walked all over the house, and Mary told Laura about her childhood, about the drawings on the wall, about the books her dad read every day, about the beautiful view of the sea from her room. At one point, the women entered Tommy's old room. Mary paused and began to look closely at everything around her. She sat down on the old dusty bed and noticed that something was sticking out from under it. She bent down and picked up the thing, it was Tommy's old teddy bear, which she often stole from her brother when he wasn't around. A tear ran down Mary's cheek, it's all just a dark past. Laura wanted to hug her, but Mary wanted to be alone, which Laura respected. After a while, Mary left the room telling Laura that the lighthouse should not be demolished, that it was her home and memories, not just bad ones. Laura promised Mary she would talk to her father who would be attending the pier festival tonight. Laura hugged Mary and assured her that everything would be fine, although knowing her father, she didn't know if it would be so. Mary, at Laura's urging, stayed at the hotel, because Laura knew full well that the conversation with her father would not be gentle. It was almost 8am, Mary didn't sleep all night, she was worried about Laura because she didn't come back for the night. Mary was angry with herself for letting Laura go alone. Mary did not want to wait any longer, dressed quickly and left the room to look for her beloved. Restless, she took to the streets, had the worst thoughts in her head, which made her hardly refrain from crying. She asked many people for any information, but met mostly mixed reactions to her appearance. Two hours had passed and Laura was nowhere to be found. Finally, from a group of people talking to each other, she heard the news of the attack on the Mayor's daughter.

  Mary quickly went to the hospital. She wanted information on Laura's condition. Unfortunately, due to the lack of family ties between her and Laura, she could not obtain any information. She begged but it didn't help. There was no one else at the reception, so she decided to use her gift. The room was covered with a thick fog, which allowed Mary to sneak past the confused receptionist, who was clutching her head in pain. As a result of the singing, the cameras shorted, which further helped Mary remain undetected. Given the information from the front desk, a determined Mary walked down the hospital corridor to Laura's room. When she entered the room, she saw Laura plugged into the drip, she was asleep. Mary could not hold back tears, sat down next to her beloved and began to blame herself. She heard footsteps coming into the room and quickly hid behind the bed. It was the Mayor along with Randy. Mary heard everything, all of their conversation. She discovered who was responsible for the attack, but worse still, who ordered the attack, Laura's own father. She was about to get up from hiding and release her anger, but she remained hidden, hearing the shouts of bodyguards coming from the corridor. The receptionist had to tell them what happened. In addition, Larry lied, alleging that it was Mary who attacked Laura. Since then, Mary has not only been wanted on the hospital grounds, but throughout Whale Bay. Nervous, she tried to contain her anger and calmly wait to leave the hiding place. She had been the victim all her life, had to endure the mean and painful comments from other people, but this day was about to end. She will never be a victim again. After everyone had left the room, she stood up and kissed Laura on the forehead, then gently brushed her cheek, assuring her that she was going to get revenge. As she was about to leave the room unnoticed, she heard Laura's voice. She could barely speak, as soon as Mary heard her, she fell to her knees by Laura's hospital bed. She wanted to cry, but her sadness was muffled with anger. She wanted revenge, not only for Laura but for herself. Laura knew what Mary was up to, and by a twist of fate she also knew what gift Mary had. It turned out that she knew about her even before they met at the theater that night. She read a lot about the events of the lighthouse years ago, and she was fascinated by this story. Mary felt betrayed and deceived, she thought she could at least trust Laura. Again, the most important person in her life had failed her. Laura did not hide her tears, begged for forgiveness, explained how much had changed since that day and how much Mary meant to her. As an apology, she gave Mary her most precious possession, a necklace that had once belonged to her mother. She also guaranteed her help. From the hospital bed, with the help of a tablet, she could direct the signal from the whole town. Laura had many talents besides painting, she also had hacking skills. Another thing Mary didn't know, so many secrets, so many lies. She still didn't know if she could forgive Laura, but she still felt something for her. She was hurt, but decided not to think about it now, and left the hospital through the back door without drawing anyone's attention. She had a plan that only she and Laura knew about.

  As evening fell, Mary stood outside the door of the old fisherman's bar, Laura told her that this was the place where Randy was supposed to hang out. There seemed to be a party going on inside. Mary pulled the door handle, but it didn't budge, decided to knock, but also received no reply. Without wasting any unnecessary time, she broke the door with a kick, and it fell to the ground and smashed the glass in the door. Mary walked in, confusing the youth. She searched for Randy until he finally showed up. The music stopped and he faced Mary. Various rude and painful words passed through his mouth, to which the crowd reacted with laughter. The woman unleashed her dazzling singing, and the room was covered with a powerful, dense fog. As the fog cleared, Randy noticed that everyone except him and Mary was lying unconscious on the ground, and the speakers from which music had been played were now completely destroyed. Confused, Randy looked at Mary, it seemed that for the first time in his life he felt fear. Mary used her gift again, and the whole room was once more foggy. This time it was Mary who was distracted, completely out of control of her voice. Now, she too, like those whom she treated with her gift, felt an immense, overwhelming sadness and pain. She fell to her knees crying, and with the last of her strength she crawled through the fog looking for Randy. Suddenly, a hideous and terrifying face emerged from the fog, it was not human, had sharp teeth, bulging eyes and was covered with fish scales. Mary felt fear as the figure crawled towards her at dizzying speed. The woman screamed in terror, and then awoke. She was in her old house, a dagger in her hand, and Randy was tied up in front of her. It seemed like she'd been daydreaming before, but it was all so real. She didn't know when she left the bar or how she ended up in the house by the lighthouse. She looked contemptuously at the boy who was shaking all over. After a while, Mary realized she had gotten a message from Laura. The mayor is about to fall into a trap. When Mary heard Larry's footsteps from outside, she immediately hid behind the doorframe and waited. She couldn't contain her excitement, it had gone too far. Hatred overwhelmed her. She stared intently at the door handle, listened to every sound. She heard every step, and her expression weirdly showed joy at it. Randy's mouth was covered, but when he saw Mary, he wanted to scream, sweat running down his pale face. The handle was gently twisted and the door slowly opened. Larry was terrified to see the boy tied up. Stressed, he quickly walked over to Randy. With trembling hands, he released the boy's bound lips, then Randy with fear in his eyes made a loud warning scream. Before Larry could react, he felt a painful blow against his back and slid to the floor. Distracted, unable to get up, he raised his head slightly and tried with all his strength to look, he saw Mary holding a dagger dripping with blood. She had a cold expression on her face as she watched Larry's suffering. She said nothing, her expression said absolutely nothing. She seemed absent, on the one hand she was physically there, but her thoughts drifted through the memories. Her whole life passed before her eyes, the times of childhood, playing with her father, mother's support, love for Laura, but all this was covered with darkness and pain, she suffered. She heard voices around her. All the words that hurt her, each one in a loop. She saw all the people she hurt: Tommy, Jeremy, Barbara, the receptionist, the teens at the bar, Larry, and she saw Randy die as well. She was always called a monster until she finally became a monster herself. Throughout her life, she has learned most brutally what hate is, which has now completely seized her. Suddenly the sky lit up, and after a while thunder could be heard, then a stream of rain fell. Mary awoke looking at Larry lying in a pool of blood, he died in agony, barely gasping for another breath which he was using anyway to plead for his miserable life. Mary heard Randy sobbing beside her. The woman untied the boy, who was already in a hurry to thank her for showing mercy, but he could not expect it. Mary sang again, tears streaming down her eyes. She handed the boy a dagger, and he, like in a trance, picked it up and with a quick movement stabbed it straight into his heart, tears filled his eyes, and then he died. Mary gently pulled out her dagger, and Randy's body fell to the ground with a thud. The woman closed his eyes, got to her feet, and slowly headed for the exit. She had done revenge, she thought she would be satisfied with it, but she was not. She felt dirty, cold and ruthless. She saw again the terrifying figure she had seen in the bar, this time this figure was her reflection, which she had seen in the glass. The woman went outside and felt a strange feeling, heard voices coming from the sea that seemed to be calling her. Mary couldn't concentrate on anything else but kept walking towards the cliff. When she stood on the precipice, she perfectly understood the meaning of her void, which had tormented her for so long. At the same moment she heard the phone ringing, it was Laura. Mary took the phone call with a choking voice, barely holding back her tears, and confessed to Laura that she forgave her and that she would always love her. She said goodbye to her beloved one last time and hung up without waiting for an answer. She couldn't hurt at least the one person she loved so much, but she knew she wouldn't be able to give her happiness. Then Mary spread her hands and answered the call. She jumped into the water, she was going to the bottom, and the surface of the water seemed very distant. Then she heard it, singing, her own singing. She closed her eyes and the void was finally satisfied.

  in 'A Calling from the Depths' CHAPTER (Killer: The Siren; Survivor: Aaron Nowak) by Lesimon12 (Simon) Comment by lesimon12 April 7, 2021

• Aaron Nowak's Lore:

  Aaron has always been the rebel type guy. He believed that rules were made to be broken, his parents didn't have it easy with him. Aaron's father was constantly away from home on business trips, which distanced them even further and aggravated the already tense relations. So everything was on the head of Martha, Aaron's mother. Sleepless nights, arguments, worrying about the company in which her son was. Aaron's parents came from Poland, they moved to the USA when Marta's husband got a job in one of the largest international corporations. Martha was already pregnant then, so Aaron never saw his native country. They never even had the opportunity to go three to visit their former Polish families, because Aaron's father was often not at home, and the boy himself was not very interested in leaving the USA, he preferred to meet friends, party and feel the spirit of youthful freedom. Aaron's friends could rightly make Martha worried, as they were not known for good reputation. They were boys from broken families, some of them already had problems with the law, but apparently Aaron was comfortable around them. They accepted him as he is, an eccentric, introverted boy who likes to stand out. Blue hair, piercings and tattoos, Aaron had his own punk style that not everyone could like. He felt free in his group of friends. Among the group of boys in which he was hanging out, there was a boy who attracted a lot of Aaron's attention. His name was Kurt, apparently he had run away from home about a year earlier. He was looking for freedom and peace and acceptance, something he could not find in his family home, where alcohol was constantly pouring out and there were constant quarrels. Kurt was different from the other boys, he had that something about him, an aura that made him different from the rest. He was a free soul, a dreamer like Aaron, and that brought them the closest. Their group often sat on the old pier, it had been closed for a very long time, and since no one was there except them, they could feel at ease there. One warm August evening when the rest of the boys either went home or fell asleep by the fire due to fatigue and a large dose of alcohol, Aaron and Kurt were sitting staring at the sea and talking. Aaron felt at ease with the rest of the boys, but with Kurt it was something else, he could talk about everything without shame, about his feelings, dreams and problems because he knew he would be heard and vice versa. As they sat there, Kurt mentioned his dream and his past. His father was a traveler, he crossed many seas and oceans, but unfortunately he died during one of his expeditions. After that, his mother broke down and sought solace in alcohol. Kurt couldn't take it anymore and one day he left the house without looking back. He shared his greatest dream with Aaron, he always had his father as a hero and wanted to be the same. He wanted to go to sea, see the great world. He did not tell anyone else about his dream, fearing that he would be mocked and not taken seriously. He trusted Aaron who appreciated it very much. Aaron, on the other hand, shared with Kurt the stories he wrote, it seemed that Kurt liked them very much. He saw in Aaron a brilliant writer, someone who could achieve something in life, despite hanging out with someone like him, with outcast. They looked deep into each other's eyes and stayed in that moment. It was a beautiful moment for both of them, a moment they would best prefer to keep forever. After less than a minute of staring at each other in utter silence, their lips moved closer to each other. The passion and intimacy of the moment had been something Aaron had been thinking about for a very long time. That evening, the boys agreed that they would leave town and that they would fulfill Kurt's dream, which had become their dream together. Aaron wanted to implement this plan immediately, but Kurt knew that his friend would only waste his potential, so they decided to wait until he finished his final school year. Aaron was a good student after all, his parents had plans to send him to college, so that later Aaron would work in his father's company, but he subconsciously knew that this was not something he would like to do in life. He was still thinking about Kurt's words from that evening, their shared plan. 

  Months passed, and there was only one month left until the end of the school year. Aaron, unable to withstand the excitement, poured out his dreams and visions on paper, in his stories. One afternoon he was running down the school corridor after class because he was looking forward to meeting Kurt. Not noticing that Mrs. Smith, his English teacher, was standing just around the corner of the corridor, he almost ran into her, but she quickly moved away, causing the boy to hit a palm tree in a flowerpot standing next to school lockers. Confused, Aaron, with Mrs. Smith's help, stood up and embarrassedly apologized for the situation. Mrs. Smith liked Aaron, she didn't blame him for almost running into her. She decided to help pick up the backpack and scattered notebooks and pages. Picking up one of the pages, she read the text on it, it was Aaron's story. She excitedly suggested that Aaron should try to enter a literary contest organized by the city in cooperation with the school. She greatly appreciated Aaron's writing, which made him even more embarrassed, but he agreed to participate. Kurt finally persuaded him to do so, and Aaron could not refuse him anything. When the results of the contest were decided, Aaron's joy was endless, as he won outclassing the competition. His story had a ton of emotion and passion. As a reward, he was offered a place at the University where he could improve his writing skills immediately after graduating from school. He didn't know whether to be happy about it, because he had plans with Kurt. He did not care how his parents reacted, who, as one might expect, thought his son's writing plans were stupid, he cared more about the opinion of the person he cared about the most, Kurt. To Aaron's surprise, Kurt insisted that he accept the award and their plans could wait. Kurt knew how important it was for Aaron, so he decided to support him in it. With time, the parents also seemingly accepted their son's writing plans, only seemingly, because there were often scratchy comments about his life decisions. 

  Their comments turned out to be wrong, as a few years later, Aaron, after graduating from university, became a high-ranking writer, and his teenage short story became a bestseller that allowed him to earn enough to become independent from his parents. He and Kurt moved in together, and their youthful plans from years ago were virtually forgotten by Aaron. Kurt, seeing Aaron's happiness, didn't mention their old plans, but it was obvious that such a life did not suit him completely. Aaron has matured since then, still retains his features from years ago and his famous blue hair, his artistic name became "Blue", but part of him has changed, he has become more serious. Kurt was still an eternal rebel, a free soul and a somewhat alienated individual, he didn't like being with people except Aaron. Once Aaron, in an act of love and devotion to Kurt, proposed to him. It was supposed to be a kind of assurance that despite the fact that he has changed since they met, he still has a great affection for him. Kurt accepted the engagement, because he loved Aaron. For him Aaron was important, someone to whom he set his dreams aside, someone who gave him joy every day. 

  Years passed, and Aaron slowly turned into his father. He was still engrossed in his work and did not devote even the remnant of his time to Kurt. Since the release of several bestsellers from his youth, a lot of time passed until he was hit by a writer's block. He could not write anything from himself, which frustrated him very much and influenced the already tense relationship with Kurt, they rarely spoke to each other. Kurt felt depressed too, his youthful plans were still in his head, while Aaron was engrossed in trying to write a new book, Kurt was daydreaming. On the one hand, he happily recalled the times of his youth and imagined what would happen if their plan from years ago had worked out. From joy, however, he often turned into sadness, because he had the impression that his youthful past was only a faded memory and his plans were unattainable. He wanted to bring up this topic many times, but still, when he was about to say a word, he bit his tongue. He didn't know why he couldn't talk freely to Aaron anymore, the same guy with whom he used to get along so well, with whom they had no secrets. He remembered the times when they would party together, talk and laugh together, and situations that they barely got out of together, like once, in their teenage years, Aaron took the policemen on himself and was chased by them so that Kurt and the rest of the boys from their group could secretly steal whiskey from a bar. Joyful memories covered with the dust of the present. One evening, however, Aaron decided to take a break from work, noticed that his relationship with Kurt was not the best, so he decided to take Kurt with him to his author meeting at a local bookstore, and after the meeting, they would go to a restaurant for dinner. Kurt reluctantly agreed, he hated going out to people, but in the end there was an opportunity to spend time together. The evening went by calmly and as Aaron had anticipated, a meeting, book signatures, and then dinner. He had to soothe his earlier frustrations with the writer's block in his own way, drowning them in alcohol. At dinner, for the first time in a long time, Kurt mentioned his feelings, how their relationship had changed, and their youth plans. Aaron, however, did not focus too much on what Kurt was saying to him, but sipped another drink, not even counting which drink it was. Kurt felt disappointed in Aaron for ignoring and not understanding him. He understood that people change, but he could see nothing in Aaron like in the man he had once loved so madly. There was a storm outside, and the rain poured down in such a stream that it obstructed visibility on the road. Kurt was driving on the way back because Aaron was completely drunk. Kurt didn't hide his nervousness and bitterness towards his partner. An argument broke out between them and many unpleasant words were spoken, which were the result of agitated emotions rather than actual intentions. Suddenly the sky flared up, and after a while there was a powerful thunder. Lightning struck a tree that fell right in front of a car driven by men. Terrified and confused, Kurt didn't know what to do. He tried to stop the car, but the street was slippery with rain, he also tried to get past the tree but it was too close. There was a collision, and the further course of events was no longer known to Aaron, as he lost consciousness. 

  He woke up after 2 weeks in the hospital, he was in a coma all this time. On the cupboard next to the hospital bed lay a pile of letters and gifts from his worried readers. Aaron was shocked, he remembered only glimpses of events, dinner, thunderstorm, argument and lightning, and then nothing but darkness and deafness. He barely got up from the bed and looked around the hospital room. Suddenly, the only thing that occurred to him at that moment was Kurt, he wanted to see him, make sure that he was okay. He wanted to apologize to him for being an ######### to him and for not giving him more due time. He forgot about the pain, tore off any drips he was connected to, got up and left the room briskly. As he walked down the corridor towards the doctor's office, he passed the amazed and confused nurses. He ran into the office without knocking, shocking the doctor. There was no happy news waiting for him there, he got a second chance, but Kurt did not survive the collision with the tree, he died on the spot. These words killed Aaron, he felt his heart breaking into a thousand pieces, he felt enormous pain, not caused by the injuries he had suffered in the accident, but by a broken heart. He fell to the floor screaming in despair. Through the tears streaming into his eyes, he could see nothing. That moment shocked him, part of him died, passed away forever. It's been three months since Kurt's funeral, and Aaron still couldn't get over it. His manager put pressure to meet readers again and finish work on the book, he didn't care what Aaron went through. The parents never liked Kurt, so even they did not try to comfort their son in this huge loss for him. During one of the evenings, Aaron sat over his laptop trying to at least write one chapter of the book, his manager was so intrusive that Aaron at least tried to get something out of himself. Still, he thought of Kurt, everything in the house reminded him of Kurt. He felt excruciatingly tired, he could not sleep because he had nightmares during the night which made him wake up with tears in his eyes. Even the therapies he was taking did not seem to improve his condition at all. He got up from his laptop and decided to take a ride. He went to the place where he used to spend whole days with Kurt and his old pack of friends, the old pier. It has changed as well, has finally been renovated and was normally visited by other people. But Aaron was there alone that evening, leaning against the railing and staring at the horizon. The night was as beautiful as it was when he was there with Kurt. The sky was bright with stars, and the sea was calm. He remembered Kurt's dream, their shared dream, which later ceased to mean anything to Aaron himself. Going out to sea, traveling around the world, being free souls who do not settle permanently and constantly wake up in a new place. It never happened. Aaron was angry, he felt embarrassed to himself, he had failed Kurt so many times, who always did his best for him, and Aaron gave nothing of himself. Aaron took a deep breath, and then suddenly a piece of paper flew in front of his eyes. In one swift movement, he grabbed a piece of paper that turned out to be a job advertisement. Someone was looking for someone to help with an old fishing boat. Could it be some sign of fate? Aaron thought it was a good idea to fulfill their dream from years ago, even though Kurt was not with him anymore, but to go on an adventure alone, he decided to get into practice and answer the job offer in the morning. And so he started helping one fisherman, from there he later switched to cleaning the decks of the larger boats, and then did everything he could to learn to sail. In the meantime, in order not to think about his beloved, who was no longer with him, he was writing something on the side. Writer's block was broken and he had the urge to continue the story, a bit changed. 

  After several years of hard work, Aaron was fully determined to fulfill his and Kurt's dreams from their teenage years. In the meantime, he published a new book which he wrote on the side. It was even more successful than the first one, which made Aaron's manager even more happier than Aaron was. After the publication of this last book, Aaron decided to break his contract and put aside writing for a while. He was driven by different priorities than before. With the money he earned, he bought a boat, packed the essentials in one evening and set off alone. At first he felt a little scared, but also excited. He didn't know if he could handle it, but after a while he couldn't believe it himself, everything seemed so simple now. He felt free, just like Kurt said. On the one hand, Aaron was happy that he had managed to fulfill their dream, but there were days when he fell down. He missed Kurt by his side, wished he could see it, that he did not experience it with him. Beautiful sunrises and magical sunsets, sea breeze, the sound of seagulls as he approached the shore. Even the storms did not tame Aaron's determination. Only his emptiness in the heart was often felt. During one quiet night, as Aaron was getting ready to go to sleep, he heard a strange sound he had never heard before. He stepped on deck and was suddenly blinded by the light of the lighthouse that appeared from behind the thick fog. Soon he heard a strange sound, like a woman's singing. He couldn't tear himself away from it, the melody took over his mind, and the lighthouse was once again covered with a thick layer of fog. Before Aaron looked around, the fog had wrapped around him. He could no longer hear singing, only calling, someone was calling his name. Suddenly he saw a familiar face in front of him, he saw Kurt. He started crying and didn't even try to wonder what Kurt was doing there and how it was even possible. Without thinking, he ran towards his beloved, who seemed to be farther and farther away and then disappeared into the fog. Aaron was devastated and did not know where he was, he felt that he was no longer on the boat, the ground on which he walked felt soft as the sand of the sea. He was blinded again by the light of the lighthouse and the fog thinned. Aaron looked around confusedly and could not determine where he was. He couldn't see his boat anymore. He felt cold and darkness penetrating his body. He didn't know why, but he felt he was in danger, but he couldn't tell what the danger was. But he was soon to find out for himself.

  in 'A Calling from the Depths' CHAPTER (Killer: The Siren; Survivor: Aaron Nowak) by Lesimon12 (Simon) Comment by lesimon12 April 7, 2021

• @tehshadowman33 said:

  Or would that be too spooky?

  I forget, but doesn't China ban depictions of skeletons in games?

  

  I think a mariachi Skeleton like this would be an interesting killer. His face would have different patterns (like sugar skulls). His ability would be for him to play mesmerizing melodies on his guitar (I don't know what those melodies could do yet, but that's an interesting idea anyway). And as the main weapon, maybe a dagger or a whip... or a guitar :D . I found the graphic of this skeleton on the Internet, it isn't my drawing and I don't know the author.

  in Can We Have a Skeleton Killer? Comment by lesimon12 January 2, 2021

• Great concept! I'd love La Llorona as killer in the game. I love Mexican culture, so such a chapter would be fine for me. In DBD we have two Japanese chapters, one Western, it's would be nice if there is also Mexican chapter (and Egyptian, but it's an idea for a different concept). You didn't give an idea for a map in your concept, but I would love to see a map of the cemetery arranged for the feast of Dia de Los Muertos. According to legends, La Llorona prowls the swamps, but we already have two swamps in the game, besides, the developers could make their version of La Llorona. Once again, a great concept! :)

  in Killer/Survivor Idea Comment by lesimon12 July 25, 2020

• @TwistedJoke65 said:

  Wow you did a really great job at this!

  Thank you! <3

  in Artwork of the Piggy by lesimon12 Comment by lesimon12 June 15, 2020