Taeyeon dreamt of home, her home deep beneath the ocean. It wasn’t like she had expected when she first became a Siren.  She thought Sirens slept on the ocean floor, wrapped in seaweed and using shells as pillows. When she her home she was stunned.

She lived in an underwater cave filled with wreckage from ships they had sunk together. They had managed to put together quite a home. Rich carpets and tapestries from all over the world, jewels and trinkets from the hundreds of cargo ships they had put down. The cave was pitch black in the night so you couldn’t appreciate its beauty but in the daylight, the sun shone through the holes in the roof of the cave mouth and through the jewels embedded in the cave. It caused a mesmerising effect of the coloured light shining and bouncing all over the caves.

All the Sirens had separate ‘bunks’ on the cave walls, in reality they were really large hollowed out holes in the walls. She dreamt she was lying down in her bunk watching the others swim around. She could see all the faces of those she now called family, especially Nana, who had been like an older sister to her when she first became a Siren. She showed her the ropes and helped her adjust to her new life, showing her that she was not alone in her situation. The Sirens that were there were all there because they had been abandoned, forsaken by those close to them. Nana had been thrown off the ship by her own father, a general in the Navy. Sirens used the pain of their past life to help them in their new life. Nana, for instance, used her knowledge of the Navy and battleships to order the others where to pull apart the ships and which ships to sink first in order to disrupt entire armies. It was revenge and it felt good.

All of a sudden Taeyeon’s dream changed. The peaceful scenario of the underwater caverns started to turn red before her very eyes. The blue sea turned red like lava and Taeyeon grew hot, unbearably hot. She was trying to move from her bunk but she couldn’t, it was like she was paralysed. And then the worst part came. She felt like she couldn’t breathe. It reminded her of when she was cast off the ship the first time and she felt the cold water surrounding her, threatening to enter her lungs. She felt choked, gasping for air while her neck and throat felt constricted.

Then Taeyeon woke up and she understood. Fire everywhere. Smoke filled the air of the cabin and was rising up the walls quickly. Taeyeon tried to move where there was no bales of hay but the shed was almost completely filled with it. Scrambling to find safety despite her injured leg, Taeyeon was afraid, very afraid. She tried to open the doors but they were locked. She banged on the door hoping someone would hear but no-one came.

“Help me! Please, somebody! Anybody!” She cried desperately.  The fire grew closer and closer, lighting every straw of hay and burning to black ash and glowing embers. She could feel the heat fanning her face, growing ever hotter. Sweat dripped down Taeyeon’s face and back as she desperately tried to scramble away from the fire.

She screamed like never before.

She screamed until grew hoarse and hurt.

Her shrill scream carried all the way across the village to the tavern. The high-pitched shriek silenced everyone in the tavern as it grated on everyone’s ears and made them wince. Some of the people stood up, interpreting this as an attack, their swords at the ready.

“What the hell was that?” Yoondo asked, pulling his axe out, the metal glinting in the light.

“I don’t know.” Geunyong replied gruffly. Onew was suspicious already of the scream.

“No human can make a sound like that.” He muttered under his breath. A few of the other Siren hunters heard him and their heads shot up immediately. Even in their drunken state, they were able to pick up their weapons and sprint out of the tavern doorway into the dark night. The village was dimly lit in the night but across they could see in the distance the bright glow of fire.

“What on earth?” Yoondo muttered.

“It’s the hay barn! It’s on fire!” Geunsuk shouted as he squinted in the distance. Onew’s stomach dropped as the words penetrated his mind.

“Oh .” He hissed before beginning to sprint to the barn. The sound of footsteps pounding the hard ground echoed around the entire village and windows started to light up as people looked outside to see what was going on. All you could hear was the shouts of the villagers as they began to run to the village well to gather up buckets of water to fill the water pumps.

As Onew and the crew neared the shed they could hear Taeyeon’s screams.

“Help me! Please, help me!” Her cries were slightly muffled by the barn door and the crackling of the fire.

“There’s someone inside? Who?” Geunsuk asked horrified as they got near the door.

“Is there someone there? Please help me!” Taeyeon’s voice was a mix of fear and despair from behind the door, making Onew’s stomach drop further. They tried to move forward to undo the lock on the door but it was metal so it was scorching to the touch. They couldn’t unlock it. Yoondo moved forward and started to hit door with his axe, splintering the door.

“Help me open this door!” He shouted gruffly, pulling the axe out of its wedge and hitting the door again, his forehead covered in sweat. Other men joined him and the wood door started to crack. There were tens of people fighting to run back and forth between the well and the barn to pour water over the flames. Suddenly there was a loud creak coming from the barn followed by an almighty crunch, that made everyone stop in their tracks.

Then the roof of the barn broke and collapsed in on itself. Taeyeon screamed again but it was a broken scream that cut off halfway through as the roof of the barn landed with an almighty thud.

Onew ran forward and hit the door full on with his shoulder, breaking the door down. Ignoring the shouts of the people behind him, he ran inside. The smoke clouded his vision and made his eyes water as he rushed inside, coughing and spluttering. He squinted through the thick haze of smoke looking for Taeyeon. Suddenly he spotted her small form corned by the roof structures that were on fire, she was trapped and couldn’t move. He ran forward and held out his hand to her, he could barely see her face through the thick smoke. Taeyeon reached out and took his hand, holding on tight. Once he felt the warmth of her hand on his he pulled her towards him, using his other hand to scoop her up and hold her against him tightly. He ran outside into the cool night air, both of them coughing and gasping for air.

“Taeyeon!” The doctors’ wife hurried forward in shock as she saw Onew holding her. Onew let go of Taeyeon as the doctors wife wrapped an arm around her and helped her stand. Taeyeon was panting and sweating, delirious with the smoke that she had unwillingly breathed in. Onew was doubled over, gasping and coughing hard while Geunyong slapped his back hard. The rest of the village was meanwhile putting out the fire, and it only took a few minutes to extinguish the fire seeing as most of the barn and hay had been burnt to embers. After all the drama, most of the village had gone back to their houses, leaving only a few people behind to look through the wreckage.

Taeyeon was sat down on the back of a cart wrapped in a thick blanket waiting for the doctor to finish up helping the other. Onew walked up to her, his feet making quiet steps on the cold grass.

“That’s