Whispers

There were beasts where they went to look for them. Things that were fashioned in the likeness of the night. They never showed their faces under the glow of the sun. So it was hard to tell that anything lived here.

The island was so quiet, even birds were absent. No insects creaked, and no tree was brave enough to wave their branches for there was no wind to stir up their courage, and neither did they lose a leaf to the ground for nothing decayed here. Everywhere was tidy. The grass was well-trimmed. 

The men moved with caution. They had been warned not to make it across the sea, neither should they seek out the sisters. But here they were, doing the exact opposite of caution.

False courage led them on. The stillness around them made them feel deaf that they were even scared to make a sound, and they talked with hushed voices, not wanting to give themselves away. But one of the sisters was the land. And she knew and told the others of their guests' arrival.

They were waiting in silence, and this silence was like a thing to be honoured for even the stones that would have crunched made the shoes of the men soundless, scared of what may show up at the littlest noise.

The men communicated through signs and eye contact. Their intent was to honour the silence and not give anything away. Guns and swords were in their hands, they were well armored, but not armoured enough.

The whisper of the red one was watching in mid-air, and it looked down at these men with loftiness. Death wasn't welcomed here, but if it would take a moment of death and decay to deal with these men, she would take that chance.

She was despising the men when the heart of one struck her, and she saw he moved with fear. Fear for her and her sisters. No doubt, he had heard extensively about them to be this scared. His heart was in his throat, and he looked all around him, cautious for what may show up, but not hoping to use even the weapons around him to save himself.

Rose would make him her light. Maybe, a kiss of death to pass the time if he could stand it. But his heart, it was restraining her from thinking the worst for him. The deaths of his companions, she had very detailed with the crushing serpents she had sent, but he was the blight on a perfectly smooth plan, a rock so to speak. So little he stood, but his heart was so big like a giant, and the blood pumping in his veins, perhaps, she should give him a rose.

"What are they doing here?" Gold Steele's whisper said in a quiet voice to Rose's whisper.

"They have come to find us," Rose's whisper replied. "They crossed the seas, a violation of the warning we gave to them, and they have come to lay perils for us. Or should I say they've come to expose themselves to us, their perils."

"I've seen the one you like," came the whisper of Kathryn Steele. "The one with the big heart."

"Can we kill them now, sister?" asked the whisper of Violet Steele.

Rose's whisper smiled. "The serpents will crush them. I don't want them disturbing the island."

"And how would we clean them up?" Crystal Steele's whisper asked.

"You are the sea, Crystal," Violet said, and Crystal looked at her. "You could wash them up, no?"

Crystal looked at the men. She remembered she was in love with one. Kyle McBride. She would like to be his bride someday, and he was a man. A man like these men. Perhaps, they weren't all evil. "Shouldn't we talk to them to see what they want?" she asked, and looked at Rose.

"We know what they want," Rose said. "They have very well come to seek it. Look at their hearts. You could feel them inspire false courage within themselves."

Crystal again returned her gaze to the men. She saw the one with the big heart. She knew Rose would spare him. "The Whites are still around. We aren't sure what weapons they possess to frighten, or imprison us with. Or maybe, they've found a way to kill us. We should spare these men to see who truly holds valor."

"And for those who don't?" Kathryn asked, looking at Crystal. "What do we do to those who lack it? Love them? Bed them? Need I remind you, these creatures, these cretins"—she looked at these men—"killed our sister, Claire? +"

"Claire is still around," Crystal put up her defense. "She is still the cold. She's still here with us."

"Perhaps we should leave their fate in her hands." Kathryn gave Crystal a mocking smile.

"Perhaps, we should." Crystal stood her ground.

Rose ignored her sisters. As always was her habit of looking past things, she was looking past Crystal's refusal to be one in mind with them in this. She was the blood beneath the skin of all men, so she looked for him. And in seconds, she found him. His heart beat true for her sister. She turned to Crystal, blood-red eyes locked with Crystal's cerulean blue eyes, and Crystal knew what Rose had discovered.

"Crystal!" Rose said, and nodded.

"I'm sorry, Rose," Crystal said.

"When did this come to be?" Rose demanded.

Tears welled up in Crystal's eyes. "When you told me to watch the seas."

"But you are the sea. Why didn't you kill him? Have you forgotten your duties to this family? Love is only a mirage. One day it's here, and the next, it's gone."

Gold, Kathryn, and Violet were looking at Rose and Crystal in confusion.

"What is happening?" Gold asked. When no one answered, she personalized her question. "What is happening, Rose."

"Crystal... I'll rather let her be the one to tell you herself," Rose said.

Crystal looked up, rivulets of tears now streamed down her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I fell in love with a human."

But they all understood her tears. It was a poor time to attack. Crystal was anything with water in it. Her tears, they may be, deceiving one to think how sorry she was, but the rest of the Steeles knew she wasn't sorry. She was only arming herself in case one of her sisters made a move against her.

"No matter," Rose said, looking down at the men. "Those men will die." But it was only a lie she told herself. She intended to spare one. And with a nod, she sent forth the snakes.