Leon just thought Lena was amazing, so smart and determined to figure things out. He thought she was a real help in keeping everyone safe.
"You're right, Lena," he'd say, his voice full of thanks. "We have to do everything we can. I'm so grateful you're helping. You see things I don't."
He thought her late-night trips to the beach were brave. Her talks with the fishermen were smart research. Her worried looks just showed how much she cared. He believed she was working day and night to solve the mystery, not knowing she was the mystery.
Lena's act was perfect. She knew how humans thought, what scared them. She used their own fears to hide what she was doing. She played the worried wife, the smart detective, the kind neighbor all while secretly feeding on the people she pretended to care about.
The messed-up part? Lena knew it. She, the queen who was kicked out, the siren who just wanted a safe place, was now the biggest danger to everyone. She was so scared of losing her siren side, but the way she saved it cost her her human heart. She became the monster she was pretending to hunt, a dark secret right in front of everyone's eyes, a killer acting like a protector. And Leon, the man who loved her and trusted her more than anyone, had no clue. He saw her as the only one who really cared.
With each new strange death, the fear in the little beach town grew stronger. Water, which used to give them life and food and fun, now just meant terror. They looked at the waves with dread, not knowing what waited beneath.
Now, the soft sound of the waves felt like hushed warnings. The cool touch of the tide pool felt like the start of a deadly hug. Even just getting water felt risky, like playing a game with death. Lena, the monster living among them, kept hunting smart, turning the water that gave life into a way to kill.
Her sixth victim was a traveler, just trying to cross the little river by the village. He stopped to drink, scooping up the cool water in his hands. As he bent down, Lena, hidden in the muddy water, attacked. A hand shot out, grabbed his wrist like iron, and pulled him under before he could even shout. The river, which was just a way to get through, became his watery grave.
A young woman was washing clothes by herself in the stream. The sound of the clothes hitting the rocks stopped suddenly with a splash. She thought it was just a playful otter. But the "otter" was a monster. Lena rose from the water, her eyes shining with a strange hunger. The woman screamed, but the sound was cut off as Lena dragged her down. The water swirled red.
An old man went to the deep spring, the one that gave the village its water, for the eighth time someone died. The spring, which had given life for so long, now brought death. As the man lowered his bucket, Lena came up from the dark water, quiet as a shadow. She grabbed him, her touch burning with the life she
had stolen, and took his last breath. The spring, once a sign of life, now whispered of a cold death.
Her ninth and tenth victims were a surprise, even for the fearful villagers. It was the local leader, relaxing in his office. He'd finished a long day and was just enjoying a glass of water. His office was far from the sea or any big river, so he felt safe. He was wrong. Lena, now stronger from all the life she'd taken, could even control the water in his glass. As he lifted it to drink, the water inside twisted, like a snake, and wrapped around his throat. He choked, fell, the water spilling on the floor – a scary sign of how far Lena's power reached.
Now, the villagers lived terrified. Water, their old friend, was now the enemy. They stayed away from the beaches, the rivers, even the spring. They whispered about a water monster, an angry ghost, a curse on their town. They locked their doors at night, scared to even drink the water from their own wells. All the happiness was gone, replaced by constant fear. The very thing that kept them alive was now what they feared most.
Lena had fully become a hunter, but she was also clever. She knew that sooner or later, people would start looking at her, the new person in town, the outsider. So, to keep her secret safe, she started spreading lies, gently changing what the villagers thought, making sure their fear pointed away from her.
She started with little whispers, ideas dropped into normal chats. "I heard the monster comes from the sea," she'd say to the baker while buying bread, her voice sounding worried. "Maybe it's some creature we made angry, a vengeful spirit from the deep."
At the village well, she'd talk quietly with the women getting water. "They say it can even control the water itself," she'd say, her eyes wide with fake fear. "Maybe it's a water demon, punishing us for something bad we did."
She even went to the village elder, a man everyone respected for his wisdom and knowledge of old stories. "I've been reading old tales," she told him, sounding serious. "There are stories of creatures that can look like humans, that trick people with beauty and kindness."
Once she planted these lies, they grew fast. The villagers were already so scared and desperate for answers that they grabbed onto Lena's ideas. The whispers turned into stories, and the stories became what everyone believed. The fear of what they didn't know, the fear of anyone different, got stronger, making everyone suspicious and paranoid.
Lena watched, feeling a cold satisfaction, as the villagers started to turn on each other. Their fear made them not trust anyone. They looked for signs of the monster in their own neighbors, their friends, even their families. The village, which used to be so close, broke apart, everyone suspicious and scared.
And through it all, no one suspected Lena. She was the worried neighbor, the helpful newcomer, the one who seemed to really want to find the monster and keep the village safe. She went to the funerals, saying sorry to the sad families, her eyes looking like she was about to cry. She went to the village meetings, offering ideas, saying how worried she was, making sure everyone believed the lies she had told.
Leon saw how dedicated she was, how much she seemed to care, how worried she was for the villagers, and he admired her even more. He thought she was a light in all the darkness, a strong woman who wouldn't give up and would protect their new home.
"You're amazing, Lena," he told her one night as they sat by the fire, the scared sounds of the village outside. "You're so strong, so brave. You make me believe we can get through this."
Lena smiled, a cold and fake smile. "We will, Leon," she said softly, sounding like she really meant it. "We will find this monster. We will protect this village. This will be our home."
But inside, a dark voice whispered, "And I will keep feeding."