Haunting Melody

As you are reading this I have no doubt that I have gone through
with my plan. I know that you must wonder what happened to me and why I
did not explain to anyone where I was going. Hopefully you will
understand what I have written. I am aware that it is not believable
and that you will think I am insane, please take heed of what I
say&;#8230;

Time and time again I've found myself being the first person to
approach someone new or to ask a certain question. It's as if the fact
that I am able to approach people who do not know me quite easily,
means that I have been given a job, in essence I automatically take the
role of someone who "meets and greets". Unfortunately this has also got
me into trouble quite a few times. Normally, however the people who I
speak to out of sympathy towards them (I have often been a newcomer)
end up being very nice and friendly, many of my closest friends are
people who I made the effort to meet.

About a year ago now I took on my role again to meet a new person in
my social circle. We were all at one of the parties, which are common
amongst myself and my friends. This one happened to be held on a
gorgeous yacht, which belonged to one of my friends. A man who was
extremely well off and had made his money working in computer software.
I have to say I have never found the man to be particularly interesting
but I was never one to miss an extravagant party.

I arrived a whole half an hour before the yacht was near leaving,
although the party itself had begun a whole two hours before. The party
was going to last throughout the night and everyone was dressed in the
most modern and stylish fashions to come from the catwalks in the
current season. The usual people were around and there was nothing
special about the party apart from its wonderful location. There were
almost always new people at parties that would either fit right in or
just fade away into a different social circle. All events however hold
that group of people who seem to relish finding something strange about
a person and then talking about it to everyone around them, behind the
persons back of course. On this occasion there didn't seem to be
anything unusual about the newcomer. She was pretty although not
outstandingly so, and she seemed fairly friendly if a little shy. She
wore an attractive dark blue dress, which flattered her body. She
neither stood out nor blended in however and she seemed quite likely to
just fall in with whatever group was the friendliest towards her. Being
myself I said hello and introduced myself and some of my friends and we
began a perfectly amiable conversation, "hi I'm Lucas and this is Sara
and Paul." I gestured to my friends who were crowding around trying to
shake hands and say hello to the poor girl both at the same time. In
the end she managed to disentangle herself and smiled.

She had a very pretty smile and it's something I've always noticed
about people. You can tell a lot about a person through their smile. I
always find that I can judge someone quite well just from his or her
smile, some people have honest smiles and some people have fake smiles.
Her hair was long and very dark and when she spoke she had a strong
Irish accent although I couldn't tell whether it was northern or
southern. I still don't know which is which although I'm told they are
easily distinguishable. Her name was Neris, and she told us that
friends of the family had invited her. She was new to the area and she
found it was a pleasant place to live. As she spoke I found myself
liking her more and more and there was no doubt that I was attracted to
her. After a while my friends and I left her to another group of people
who had just approached, I didn't know them very well and found myself
slowly being pushed out of the conversation. It's always been my
preference to leave a conversation before I had nothing left to say so
I moved away.

Throughout the evening I noticed Neris walking around the party she had
definitely found it easy to make friends and I noticed more than one
man in the crowd wanted to be more than a friend. I found myself
smiling everytime I noticed a man fail to impress her, although I knew
my chances were not very high it made me happy to know they were still
there.

The group I mentioned earlier who are likely to dislike anyone who was
a newcomer had been talking behind her back and throughout the night I
heard many rumors. I however had no doubt that they were all unfounded.
There was one rumor that the poor girl had lost her entire family in a
mysterious boating accident where she had been the only survivor. I
could believe that such a thing had happened but our vicious associates
had furthered the rumor by mentioning the fact that it was a suspected
murder with the only survivor being the only person who could be a
suspect. Personally I have never agreed with gossiping, although I, as
much as anyone else like to hear about people's backgrounds just incase
I say the wrong thing. On this occasion however I found myself becoming
quite angry at the rumors as if they were a personal insult or that I
was involved with the woman in some way.

Looking around the room I couldn't help but notice the same reactions
from many men in the room although they like myself were careful to
remain cordial in manner as they disagreed with their friends. To be
honest with you I couldn't help but notice the most peculiar feeling at
the time. As I looked around the room it seemed as though every woman
in the room held that the lady was a strange sort, yet every man in the
room disagreed, saying she was a lovely girl who should be treated more
nicely.

My own two friends who I mentioned earlier you would recall, were no
exception to this. Sara and Paul are two of the least judgmental people
I know of and yet they were involved in a heated disagreement about a
woman they had known barely an hour. Paul was taking the side that she
was thoroughly pleasant and had definitely made sure she would be
invited back many a time. Sara on the other hand claimed that everyone
who had spoken to the girl had found her both arrogant and to be a very
rude person. Now it may just be me who has a low opinion of my own
friends but I couldn't help but begin to wonder if there was more to
these arguments. It seemed every man who spoke to her saw what they
wanted to see; an attractive young woman who was very pleasant with a
wonderful sense of humor, every woman on the otherhand seemed to see
what they wanted to see. I know your thinking "but none of them liked
this person" that is my point. I know every woman who reads this will
believe me to be very sexist but I will say it anyway. Every woman saw
someone to talk about and to "bitch" about. They said the woman had a
poor sense of dress that she was rude and arrogant and that she was
repulsively unattractive. This to these women was exactly what they
wanted.

At this point I realized I had been thinking far too much about this
woman but the more I walked around the party and attempted to join in
pleasant if trivial conversation I found the subject harder and harder
to avoid. Strange though it was I realized the only people in the room
not talking about this woman were the people who were talking directly
to the woman. I have never seen such a strange thing at a party. I mean
to say at the beginning of the evening the woman didn't make a dramatic
entrance and barely anyone seemed to notice her at all. In fact I don't
recall seeing her until at least an hour after we had set sail. This
was another thing, which confused me, as it was if anything unusual for
someone to be able to hide from a party of this size for an entire hour
before they had met everyone.

We had now been sailing for four hours and yet no one was tiring,
people who come to parties like this quickly learn how to pace
themselves and people were only just beginning to feel light headed
from the wine we had been served. Suddenly two things happened at once,
the first was unsurprising considering the atmosphere, which had begun
to ascend over the party. Two men ended up in a fight, one had been
talking to the others wife and no doubt they had a disagreement in
which the man had upset the wife. The husband seeing this had rashly
decided to attack the other man. The other thing that happened was
peculiar in fact I have to say it was an incredibly bizarre occurrence.
This woman Neris whom had been the topic of conversation all night
began to sing. It was the most haunting melody I had ever heard. The
two men who had begun fighting became more violent, and others joined
the fray.

I myself never one to back out of a fight found myself walking away I
seemed to be the only person on board who realized what was going on. I
happened to be standing behind the lady when she began singing and so
could not hear her as well as the others. For some reason however I
found myself feeling very aggressive this is unusual for me I rarely
anger like this. I have a quick temper it is something I am embarrassed
about actually, but my anger is very quick and it takes a long time for
me to snap. On this occasion however I felt myself slowly becoming more
and more angry. It was as if someone was taunting me constantly and all
I had to do was hit the person and it would end. I know it sounds
strange but I felt like I thought a boxer must feel when they are in
the ring. I had an opponent and my anger was entirely on them all I had
to do was fight them.

In no time at all I found myself watching an all out brawl it was a
ridiculous and shocking site. Everybody on the boat was fighting. I
mean really fighting; the injuries I saw inflicted on others where
horrific I saw a woman smash a bottle straight into a man's face. It
took me a second to realize that the two were actually Mr. and Mrs.
Thompson the hosts of the party. All the time this was happening this
woman's singing became louder and as her singing intensified it seemed
as though the fighting did too. I found myself trying to find reason in
the midst of my anger. I was still stood behind the woman and out of
the way of the fighting itself but now when I looked around I found I
was the only person in the room not involved in the violence. The shock
of what I was seeing seemed to bring my senses back to me and I moved
to the other end of the hall where the band equipment was. Don't ask me
why I thought to go there but for some reason I felt as though I wanted
to listen to something else.

I didn't feel for a second as though the music had anything to do with
me. The fighting also seemed to be just for those other people and not
for me at all. When I reached the band equipment I reached out and
picked up a large set of headphones. You know the ones I mean those
that cover your entire ears. Once I had these on the sound of Neris'
voice was very dim in the background and I felt myself feeling much
calmer. It only just occurred to me that it may be the sound of this
strangers voice who was sending all these people who I knew to be
perfectly calm and rational into this violent rage. I thought it was
quite possible that this woman was driving all these people who were
one minute politely attending a high class party and talking about
their spare time in their wealthy lifestyles into this terrifying
violence.

At this time I was quite terrified for myself I thought that if this
woman found I was not affected by her singing anymore she may change
her tune so to speak and send all my friends and associates in a rage
directed solely at me. For a split second I considered running for the
upper deck and throwing myself over the side of the boat. I realized
that this was a ridiculous idea all the people I knew would be left on
this boat until eventually they killed each other. I have to admit that
I have made myself sound more heroic than I am my ulterior motive was
of course that I was a long way from dry land and I would not manage
the swim back. However I found myself lost for a way to save anyone. If
I got close to the woman her song even with the headphones would
enchant me. As soon as that song had a grip on me I could not possibly
stop this woman. When I was under her spell before, although only
mildly affected I still felt nothing but love for this woman. Then I
looked at the equipment and knew what to do.

I have never been a proficient guitarist or any other type of
musician. My first instinct had been to pick up the guitar and play a
song as loudly as I could to mute the woman's singing. However I knew
of no songs well enough and I didn't believe that playing simply noise
would do any good against a song. It was a melody, which enchanted
these people not just the sound of her voice. I acted quickly I could
not bear to see the acts of cruelty these people were inflicting on
their own close friends. I gripped the microphone as tightly as I
could, I could see my knuckles had gone completely white. I have no
doubt that this sounds completely ridiculous to you because of the
situation but I had the most terrific stage fright.

I closed my eyes and offered a silent prayer that this pathetic
attempt would work. My voice although never particularly weak has
always been something I have found hard to control and although at
times I can have a wonderful singing voice at other times I have
sounded like a whole family of banshees. I opened my mouth and the most
beautiful song I have ever heard came from within me. I have never
heard this song before and now I know that it was not a song I will
ever remember or recognize but it came from within me like a savior, or
the answer to my prayer. I don't remember anything more from that
moment I am told that I was carried off that boat and was found
unconscious. I can no longer speak my voice is gone completely no
doctor has been able to help me or explain it.

The people at the party never see each other anymore seven people were
killed it was impossible to know who did what. The few people I have
heard from since the event don't remember a thing about it. Stranger
still is that no one who I have managed to ask has ever heard of a
woman by the name of Neris. I still hear that melody sometimes and the
song rings in my ears as I write this. It's louder than it has ever
been and I am afraid. With no voice of my own I cannot sing and I
cannot call for help. I am alone and no matter how much I try to block
the sound from my ears the song will not go, I fear she is within me
now and that if I could sing the song would come out. I am glad I
cannot sing but I cannot live with this song anymore. I am returning to
the sea where hopefully I will find rest. Do not look for me I cannot
be found and please beware of a woman ever named Neris I have just
understood her name, now I pray you will never meet her&;#8230; the
siren&;#8230;