I started at her, shocked, until I found the words to speak, “What are you talking about?”

“The Deadly Pedal Sirens! They live, well they don’t live, it’s more like walk, in the Lost Maples Forest in Texas! In all the places, you had to go there!”

“Well, I’m sorry, but I didn’t know that deadly creatures were going to be here! What do they do?” I begin playing with my hands, trying to not stare right at Myopa.

“Well, they were created by a rebellion fairy group who hated that the hotel and places nearby cut down their trees and built things over them. So they had to flee, but before they did, they casted a spell on all of the trees. Now once a week, pink pedals from certain trees will all come together and start swirling and twisting to form three bodies out of pedals. Then the pedals all fall down and three ladies appear under the pedals. The are created to seduce anyone nearby with an enchanting song that lures them into the forest, where the trees, given on the command of the sirens, kill all of the victims! Then the sirens disintegrate into pedals and await for the next week.” Myopa, seemed to get more and more quicker as she went along with her explanation.

“What do they look like?” I asked.

“Very sexy, and probably the most gorgeous ladies there have ever been. They mostly seduce men, but woman can be seduced just as easily with their song. I’m going to see if dad can set you guys up with some protection. One more thing before I go. Make sure they do not I repeat, do not, find out that you and Jenny are Mermaids. If they do, well have you ever heard of the Mermaids the Faun Family?”

“No.”

“Exactly!” Myopa’s face disappeared and her last sentence spooked me out the most! I went into the bedroom and told Jenny and Julie the story.

Julie collapsed on her bed and hollered out, “Is there one place where we don’t have to worry about deadly creatures?”

“I guess not.” Jenny commented looking out the balcony window, dominating the left side wall of the room.

“Ok, well I’m going to go down to the front desk and asked about this. Maybe I can find a way to avoid them.” I walked out of the room before the girls could respond to my decision. I took the elevator from our fifth floor and down to the main lobby. I went to the front desk and began to ask questions, “I’m sorry to take up your time but I need to know a few things. I heard from a reliable source that people have been disappearing in the woods. Is this accurate?”

“Unfortunately, yes, but it actually draws more people to the hotel, seeking a ghostly experience.” responded the front desk clerk, putting aside his paperwork.

So you believe that this is a ghost doing this?”

“Well, yes.”

“Uh-huh, right, ok. Well, is there a main spot here at the hotel, where most of the people have gone missing?”

“Yes, there’s a pool, indoor and outdoor. The outdoor one is right next to the forest, and most of our guests have disappeared there.”

“Have you attempted to stop this from happening, or gone into to find them?”

“Well the police have patrolled the area and gone into the woods looking for them, but strangely the police were drawn into the forest as well.”

“Has anyone gone missing this week?”

“No.”

“Ok, I’ve heard enough. Thanks for the info!” I quickly walked away and took the elevator back up to our room.

I entered our room, only seeing Jenny and Julie flipping through channels. I turned off the TV and told them about the information I had received. I sat on the bed with them and we began to think of ways to avoid this. Staying in our room was our main option, but we were on vacation. Besides, the three of us were headstrong and tough. We decided to go to the pool, but the indoor one, just to play it safe.

I brought along my two piece swim suit designed with fish all over it. Jenny’s two piece was designed with the waves of the ocean, and Julie’s two piece was designed with a solid blue color. We splashed around and relaxed for so long that we completely forgot about the sirens and went outside to sunbathe. We were the only ones out here which was nice but also a bit strange.

I closed my eyes, when I noticed three other girls on the side of the pool. I wondered if they were there before and I didn’t see them, or if they just got there. They looked about Julie’s age. The were just lying in their lounge chairs, just like we were. The thought of the sirens began to buzz back in my head, but then I remembered they only come out once a week. Even though the clerk said that nobody has disappeared this week yet, doesn’t mean it has to be today.

I dozed off for awhile, and when I woke up, I noticed I was beginning to get sunburned. I quickly applied more sunscreen, when I noticed that Julie was missing. Jenny was still relaxing in her lounge chair and the girls on the other side of the pool were still there. Then Julie popped up out of the pool, and began to float in the water. I gave a small sigh of relief, but as I went back down to relax, I heard the strangest noise. It wasn’t from Jenny or Julie or the three girls on the other side. It was coming from the forest! I quickly alerted Jenny and Julie. They heard the noise too, and we decided to quickly get back inside. However, as we went for the automatic door, it stayed shut, We tried to manually open it, but didn’t work. We tried knocking and banging on it, but still no reply.

We turned around to see the pool area. Three very sexy ladies emerged from the forest woods, through the grassy lawn and onto the concrete of the pool area. They were about mid 20’s for their age. They were wearing very short jeans, and short green tube tops. Their eyes, hair color, and facial features where very different from each other. Once had blue eyes, blonde hair and a rather small nose. Another had brown eyes, black hair, and real thick eyebrows. The last one had hazel eyes, brown hair and high cheekbones that widened her smile.

They were singing a song that none of us had heard of. The began to walking, barefoot, all around the pool. We obviously presumed them as the sirens, and they targeted the three girls lying on their lounge chairs that were across from us. They easily seduced them with their song and a few gestures. The three girls followed the sirens as though the lights were on but nobody’s home. The sirens came to us next. We tried to back away and began beating on the door again, but they quickly pulled us back and yanked us back on the concrete of the pool area. The three of us just huddled together and watched the sirens circle us. Their song was actually really relaxing, but I quickly snapped out of their seduction and elbowed Jenny and Julie to make sure they weren’t seduced. Jenny elbowed me back, but Julie didn’t I looked at her and she was seduced by the song, and one of the sirens focused on her, stopped in front of her, and sang in front of her.

Jenny and I just played along and acted like we were seduced. The sirens, seeing they accomplished their mission, began walking back into the forest. Jenny and I walked like the others did. However, we knew that they were going to kill us any moment, so we each started mouthing each other ideas of escape while the sirens were still singing their song.

The sirens lead us into a field and they held out their hands, signaling us to stay where we were and they walked to the center, still singing. Jenny and I were still debating over ideas. However, we got so caught up in escape ideas, that we didn’t notice the siren’s song had stopped. I then noticed the sirens just standing in the middle of the field, doing a pose like Charles’s Angels. They were blown away into pedals, and the trees around us began to rustle. Jenny and I stopped acting seduced and tried to snap the others out of their seduction.

However, it wasn’t working, and the trees around us seemed to be getting closer. Jenny and I huddled in the center of the small group and twisted ourselves in circles, trying to keep our eyes on all the trees. Suddenly, vines shot out form the ground and wrapped around two of the other girls. The vines began whipping them around, and they were still seduced and didn’t respond to any of this happening. The two girls were dragged beneath two trees. More vines captured the last girl and Julie! Jenny and I held on to Julie as she was being tugged back and forth. We glanced at the other girl and looked away before she landed very sharp branches.

We tried as hard as we could to hang on, but other vines grabbed Jenny and me! We screamed our hearts out in terror. I was too worried about myself to even glance at Jenny or Julie and I was being thrown and caught everywhere as though I was some kind of dough to just keep on being tossed in the air. I saw the sharp branches began to form and I was being tossed over them! I was going to land on them!

However, even over my high-pitched scream I heard someone say, “Boom, boom!” The tree with the sharp branches under me exploded and I landed hard on the ground. Still in terror, I picked my self up and began to look around. I saw things flying past me as fast as racecars! I saw Jenny was trying to carry Julie out from under a log. I went over to assist, but a root grabbed my leg and began to pull me back. I screamed out and tried to grab the ground with my nails. Right before the tree was about to swallow me, I heard, “Boom, boom!” again. The tree exploded and I quickly got up and ran away. I was able to make over to Jenny and Julie this time and helped Jenny get Julie out from under a log. Trees and vines were exploding everywhere, and things just kept on flying through the air at top speeds.

We carried Julie, who had feel unconscious, to a clearing in the field. Away from all of the tree parts and disembodied vines and roots. The objects that were flying around, all formed together in a group and stopped only a few feet away from us.

They were Inferno Witches! There were about ten or twenty of them! All of them wearing a body length dress that matched their fire color. One of the witches, having white hair, blue eyes, and wearing a white dress, came up to me and said, “Are you three alright?”

“Yes, we’re a bit shaken but we’re fine. Who are you?” I responded, shivering a little bit from the recent event.

“I’m Onia, Head Witch of the Ember Sisters. These witches here are members of my team. We were told to come here by the King of Atlantis.”

“But were in the middle of a vast forest. How did you find us?”

“Actually, we found you by your sunburns. Your sunburns gave off excessive heat which we were able to track miles away.”

“During that whole fight scene, I kept on hearing someone say “Boom, boom.” Who was that?”

Onia gestured one of the Inferno Witches to come over by her. The Inferno Witch she called over had red air, freckles, and a pale face. She then explained, “This is one of our members, Boom boom. Her ritual creation was a bit different. Instead of giving her fire control, she received fire bombs.”

“Fire bombs?” I asked, beginning to back away just in case.

“Oh no, don’t worry, Only Boom boom can set her bombs off by saying her name. Look,” Onia whispered something in Boom boom’s ear and Boom boom outstretched her arms, clutched her hands into fists, and the back side of her hands facing up. She then quickly flipped her hands over and released her fingers to flatten them. Small orange and red glowing balls appeared in both hands. There were about five balls per hand, and then Boom boom tossed them at a few trees and yelled, “Boom, boom!” The trees exploded and the debris fell to the ground.

Onia walked back over to me and said, “Now that we know you are alright, we have to be going, but if you ever need us, use one of these.” Onia gave me a big back of what looked like blue gumballs.

As the Ember Sisters flew away, Julie began to regain consciousness. We quickly ran back for the pool area and sat down on a few lounge chairs. We told Julie about everything that happened because she doesn’t remember a thing. The last thing she remembers is the sirens circling us and singing their song. I showed Julie and Jenny the bag of blue gumballs. They were confused as why they looked like that, but they were glad that we had someway of connecting to those witches.

As we start to head back for the hotel building, we heard the sirens’ song again. They were, in fact, walking out of the forest again.

“What? I thought they come out once a week!” I was practically screaming and banging on the door again.

“Nobody ever said that wouldn’t come out again on the same day!” Cried Jenny, attempting to yank the door open. Julie was trying to yank the other door open. This time one of the employees somehow was able to open the door from the inside and the three of us rushed in. I looked behind us and the sirens were coming. One of them seduced the employee who opened the door.

We rushed into the small main lobby, with a few chairs and a couch in the middle, the entrance to the north, elevators to the right, and the front desk to the left.

The sirens seduced everyone around us. The three of us fumbled with the bag of the blue gumballs. We couldn’t get the plastic bag open because we were shacking with terror too much. We tried to throw the whole bag down and started to step on them so they would break, but it didn’t work! Luckily, Julie had a few gold coins in her pocket, but Jenny reminded us of the consequences. I told her that I rather live, and grabbed three coins from Julie’s hand. Jenny had no other choice and grabbed the other three coins from Julie’s hand. We both went to a nearby miniature waterfall and dropped our coins in.

As our rings lit up with blue light, Jenny and I began to beg water discs at the sirens. Julie rushed over to us for protection. However, when the sirens realized that we were Mermaids, the three of them said, not sang, in unison, “ Mermaids, Mermaids, now we see. Time for you to meet harpy!”

The sirens outstretched their arms and enormous wings grew out from their back and attached to their arms. Their teeth grew sharper and longer and their straight hair grew even longer down to their knees. The grew sharp, curved talons, and their eyes turned pointed. Their eyes expanded in width but shrank in length Their skin turned blue and their feathers were multicolor.

The sirens or now harpies, lifted off the ground and fly over us like vultures. They were communicated in a different language of hissing and growling. I made a run for the blue gumballs, but one of the harpies swooped down and tackled me into a couch. She had my arms pinned down with her talons. I screamed right in her face, but she got annoyed and head butted me. I fell unconscious.

As I slowly woke up, I noticed that the air was very chilling. My head was hurting terribly from getting hit. I then noticed that I was on rock hard ground. I was able to sit myself up and look around. I was on top of a small and round , stone pillar. I saw Jenny and Julie lying next to me, unconscious just as I was. I didn’t see the harpies, but I could hear the crashing of waves. There was no land around us, and the sky had no clouds. There were torches surrounding the edge. There were rocks jutting out of the ground, and I used one to help myself to my feet. My forehead was bleeding a little bit, but it wasn’t my concern. I began walking around in the small area. Only about fifty feet wide, and nowhere to go but down in the waves.

Jenny and Julie began to wake up as well. I was able to get them to their feet, and the three of us just stood together, wondering where we were. It was night time, but the moonlight was so bright that we could see everything perfectly. We looked over the edge and saw the long drop to the jagged rocks and crashing waves.

After a moment, we began to her flapping turned around only to see the harpies land in the center of the pillar and transform back into their siren bodies.

“Hello, girls. Good to see you all awake. Welcome to our hell! There’s no use of fighting because we have your precious gumball flares. They won’t help you.” The front siren, who was doing all the talking, grabbed the gumballs from a siren to her left and threw them over the edge. The middle siren then stepped back and the siren on the right began to speak.

“Now we will settle this, once and for all. I understand that you are not a mermaid, am I wrong?” She pointed to Julie, but Julie looked at her with sour face. The siren continued, “As I thought. I will have the privilege of fighting you will my sisters take care of your… aquatic friends. Just to make things fair, I will fight the girl with out any transformations, while you two transform into aquatic beings. Now go!”

The other two sirens grew wings and knocked Jenny and me off the cliff. We did some fast thinking, while we were falling, and threw our cheap bracelets into the water. As our rings lit up, we turned the crashing water into ice and slide down unharmed. The sirens then retracted their wings, and grew scales, gills, and spikes along their spines. They were manipulating the water just like Jenny and I were, but ours was limited! Jenny and I began turning the water in front of us into ice and began to skate around, avoiding the sirens’ attacks The sirens began unfreezing the water and finally cased Jenny and me to fall into the water. However, the sirens were able to walk on the water, which was a disadvantage to us. I froze the water beneath my feet and rose it up, so I could stand, and Jenny did the same thing.

Jenny and I began to just avoid or destroy any projectiles the sirens threw at us. Finally, the sirens dive into the water and began to circle Jenny’s and my ice block. I began to panic, but then I saw that one of the torches had fallen from the edge and got stuck between two rocks jutting from the side. I quickly formed a wave and rode it over to the side. The siren circling my ice block made it collapse then began to follow me. Jenny made her way over to the side as well. I used the water around me to raise me up to the side and grab the torch. As one of the sirens came up to attack us, I waved the torch in front of her and she did a quick scream and dove back into the water.

Unfortunately, our rings went out meaning we were stuck on the small patch of land on the pillar. The sirens began to splash lots of water at us to try and extinguish the flame. For they knew that they were still Pedal Sirens, meaning fire can kill them. So I have no idea why they have torches around the edge of their nest-like thing.

I was able to keep the torch lit, even after all of their ways to extinguish it. As I was keeping my eyes on the sirens underwater, I noticed the blue gumballs floating near us! I whispered it to Jenny and she made a run for the gumballs. It took the sirens a moment to figure out what she was doing, but on of them went darting after Jenny.

Jenny was able to retrieve the gumballs, but the siren slashed her arm. She threw me the bag, and I burned all of them in the torch. It took them awhile, but the gumballs began to ignite in blue fire. I threw them upward and they exploded into a big flare.

Meanwhile, back at the top with Julie and the one siren. They both stared at each other and began to walk in a circle, keeping each other on the opposite side. Finally, the siren made a leap at Julie, but she dodged it and elbowed the siren in the face. Julie then did a double back flip, but the siren tackled her to the ground before she finished her second back flip. The siren began to claw away at Julie, but Julie kicked the siren’s back and pushed her backward onto the ground.

Julie quickly scrambled up, but the siren kicked the back of Julie’s knee and made her collapse to the ground. The siren tried to punch Julie, but Julie moved her head and the impact of the punch left a huge mark on the stone ground. Julie punched back and got a good shot at the siren’s face. She then pushed the siren off of her and pushed herself up from her hands. The siren then charged at Julie, but Julie moved out of the way and the siren couldn’t stop fast enough and ran off the edge.

Julie wiped herself off and began to walk over to the edge where the siren fell off. As she leaned her head over the side, the siren surprised her by leaping up and hitting in the face. Julie’s chin had a bad cut from the siren’s talons. The siren had flown back up, hit Julie, and transformed back to her siren body as she landed. Julie got up and began to get very angry and agitated.

“I thought you weren’t allowed to transform!” Julie yelled at the siren.

“I was never one for the rules.” The siren responded, sending a kick at Julie as she finished her sentence. Julie caught the siren’s leg in the air, and twisted it to make a cracking sound. The siren hollered in pain as her leg was broken. Julie then kicked the siren into a jutting rock nearby. Julie reached into her back jean pockets and pulled out three gun parts and assembled them to make a pistol. She pulled back the hammer and pointed it right at the siren’s face.

“I thought there were going to be no weapons.” The siren said, breathing hard and staring right at the pistol.

“I was never one for the rules.” Julie replied, repeating what the siren had said to her before. Julie pulled the trigger and shot the siren in the chest. Plant ooze began to pour out of the bullet wound.

Julie then heard Jenny and I screaming as the sirens underwater jumped out and attempted to drag us in. Julie ran over to the edge and slide down. Pistol still in hand, Julie began shooting in the water. Unfortunately, that only made the sirens angrier. The sirens could sense that their sister had been defeated.

The sirens sent a huge wave they engulfed the three of us and shot us backup to the top, the sirens following. The three of us helped each other up and prepared ourselves for an attack. Julie’s pistol was washed out of her hand when the wave crashed against us.

As the sirens saw their sister just lying there on the rock, they became more furious and arms blades grew out from their arms and legs. The three of us looked at each other then back at the sirens. The sirens began swinging their blades around and the three of us ran in different directions. The two sirens separated and chased Julie and Jenny.

I did quick thinking and grabbed two torches from the edge and charged at the sirens. I waved the torches at the sirens and got them cornered at a rock.

“Now you will pay for all of those people you helped kill!” I screamed, rage in my eyes.

“Before you do that, you might want to know something,” responded one of the sirens, a devious smile on her face. “Don’t you know what happens if you kill us? A spell is upon us as well. If our death occurs, then you will awaken an even greater beast. She will find you no matter where you run. She is the Goddess of the Forest. All of us bow down to her majesty. Meaning if you kill us, she will kill you. So just be warned. Let us go and you will be safe. Kill us and-” Before she could finish her sentence, I stuck one of the torches in her stomach and she lit up in flames and disintegrated into burnt pedals. I did the same to the other siren. I went over to the last siren and ignited her just to make sure she was dead.

A moment afterwards, the Ember Sisters came flying in and landed on the pillar.

“Are we late?” asked Onia, landing on the pillar.

“Your timing could have been better.” I replied, throwing the torches down and running over to their protection, Julie and Jenny followed.

“What happened here?” asked Onia, looking around at the battlefield.

“Pedal Sirens.” I replied, a bit nervous to what Onia’s repsonse would be.

“Pedal Sirens! Please tell me you didn’t kill them!” Onia hollered quickly. I nodded and Onia became a terrible mess, “Oh dear. Girls, no! Now she will come after you! Didn’t they warn you not to kill them!”

“I thought they were lying!” I responded, beginning to cry a little bit.

“Ok, come on, we have to get you all out of here.” Jenny, Julie, and I took hold of an Inferno Witch’s hand and we went flying up into the clouds.

Several minutes later, we were back at our hotel. The rest of the Ember Sisters left, but Onia stayed. We landed in the forest right outside the pool area. Onia began to explain a few things, “Ok girls, we will be watching over you every moment to make sure you all are safe, but from now on, stay in your hotel. Don’t leave for anything. You fish store is not safe anymore. You must stay at this hotel. Don’t go outside at all. You will probably need to pay for a few more nights to stay. The Ember Sisters will find her and destroy her and then let you know when it is safe to return home.”

I was trying to take all of this in, but one thing kept bugging me and I just had to ask, “Onia, who is her?”

Onia had a very worried face on and began to whisper very softly, “She was created by a now extinct race and as managed to survive. She is the mostly deadly creature there is. Many creatures have tried to stop her, but she just kills everyone of them. She controls every single plant life there is and can shrink down to a seed or grow as tall as a Giant Sequoia Tree! She is the Goddess of the Forest and is known to every race and species. She has very many names, but her real name is very rarely spoken because it is said that who ever says her real name will be her next victim. Although, if you must know her real name, I will tell you.”

The three of us nodded, and Onia looked around and said,

“Her real name is Venus Flytrap!”