Cliffside Romance

TW: death, drowning

A pair of alluring bourbon-colored eyes was the last thing he saw before his alarm began to shriek, waking him up from a bottomless dream in the early hours of Sunday. Javier reached to his phone on the mahogany night-table near his bed and pushed the power button gently. The dark screen lighted up, its bright luminescence made him squint. A jolly picture of him and Ellie, his fiancée, was taken last year on a boating trip in the Rhine. His affectionate, fierce, and beautiful Ellie, who has left him far too early. He even wore the wedding ring he would supposedly be wearing on their wedding that would never take place. 

The horrendous accident that happened last summer, has taken Ellie from his side forever. That stormy evening when it occurred, the couple was stuck in the small rustic cabin in the small town of Sankt Goarshausen. A roof over their heads and the heat from the burning wood sheltered them from the heavy and cold raindrops. Everything was going perfectly before the fight happened. Javier still remembers her messed up burgundy hair, teary eyes, and the taupe jacket she grabbed before heading out to the stark rainstorm. From that point onwards, he would rather pretend not to have any recollection of it. No matter how hard he tried to forget, the last moments he spent with Ellie still haunted him, visiting him during the witching hours, along with the bourbon-eyed woman who always visits him since the fishing trip he took with his friends during the senior year of college. 

That bourbon-colored eyes, which was set by the universe to catch a glimpse into his wounded soul almost every night. The gaze that terrified him, yet the same that he was drawn into. Her charming smirk, long golden locks, and her orbs would be the death of him. He felt peccant, gawking at a girl in his dreams while his soul was aching with the loss of his beloved fiancée. For Javier, it felt so wrong– yet so right. Maybe that was the reason why he went back to Sankt Goarshausen, staying in the exact same cabin as last year. Maybe it was time to start something new, while at the same time trying to heal the deep-rooted throb in his heart. After all, his Ellie is now just a memory to him.

When the dawn was breaking and the songbirds started singing, he figured it was the best time to go for an early jog and enjoy the fresh morning air on the right bank on the Rhine. Javier was a man of routine, who had a morning regime that he religiously does every day, just basic stuff, brushing his teeth, washing his face, and having his first dose of caffeine. Mornings at the small town by the river were quite chilly, without the courtesy of a gilet in this weather, he might catch a cold. And all of his plans for the rest of the day would be blown away.   

====

As he stepped outside the cozy cabin, Javier zipped his sleeveless jacket up, which fitted him snugly. He popped a pair of earphones in both of his ears, while he let his favorite set of songs accompanied him during the early jog. The tender morning breeze swoops his auburn hair like a soft caress, wiping his tiredness away for a brief period. He stopped abruptly when he saw the golden morning beam shined on a flaxen mane. She sat on the edge of the river as she hummed softly to an unfamiliar tune. Even the singing of thousands of perching birds cannot beat the beauty of her voice. Perhaps the universe sent him an angel today to guide him. A singing angel. The young man was in awe that he forgot to blink.

Just a few moments before he decided to take off, the blonde-haired woman glanced at him, giving him the sweetest smile. “I still make that face whenever I see the valley during this hour,” the woman stated, “it is breathtaking, isn’t it?”

Javier let out a broken laugh while he twirled with the frail cable of his earphone. “I have to agree that it is stunning around here,” as their eyes met, his heart stopped for a second or two. That pair of eyes, the bourbon-colored eyes he recognized from his dreams. 

“I’m Lorrie,” She extended her hands, offering him a handshake, “and you are?”

Without answering the young woman’s question, he bolted out and went back to his cold cabin. A long cold shower was all he needed to clear up his clouded mind. 

====

Later that evening, he went to the local pub, drinking his confusion away with a couple shots of alcoholic beverages. He swirled the glass, half-empty with the throat-burning bourbon. 

Bourbon.

The color of her heavenly eyes.

Javier shook his head and chugged the rest of the liquor quickly. Now he knew what he must do, he must leave this town immediately and return to his miserable two-room flat in Mainz. He ordered another glass of liquor and planned to spend the rest of the night getting drunk in this antique pub. 

That was his plan before the woman he met that morning took a seat beside him and ordered a pint of wheat beer. She crossed her legs elegantly as she leaned to the table, thanking the bartender after he handed her the beer. That voice, so melodic, so hypnotic, and strangely mystic. He tried to ignore the girl, but he actually cannot.

He began to speak, “I apologize for my behavior this morning, it is quite early, and I might not be quite awake, and I am having a really really rough time lately. I didn’t mean to do that honestly; I truly don’t know what had come into me.”

Lorrie looked at him, then took a sip of her beer. “It is fine really, no biggie.”

“You can call me Javi,” He gulped, tapping his finger at his full glass nervously, “Lorrie, short for Laura I assume?”

Her eyes just bore into his fragile heart, so gentle yet so intimidating at the same time. She pulled the corner of her lips slightly, then spoke, “Not quite, I reckon you are not from here?”

“No, I’m just a tourist,” He chuckled, averting his gaze to the glass on his clutch. Trying to compose himself when he is right beside the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen was insanely difficult for him.

“Many people went to the bar by themselves to escape from life problems, even just for an hour or two,” she whispered as she scooted closer, making Javier flinch a bit, “I believe you do too, huh?”

When she moved closer, he drank the who liquor only in one big gulp. He stared straight to her hypnotizing gaze, so enamored that he forgot to breathe. “You have no idea.”

Lorrie tucked her hair behind her ears, smiled shyly, then leaned to the bar table. She reached to his hand then caress it gently like the morning breeze. What can a broken man do, receiving such gesture except to yield to the tender touch? As the worlds spun around him, at least there was an anchor that kept him standing tall. 

====

They spent the whole night laughing and talking about subjects he found ridiculous until the bartender had to kick both of them out. They walked and walked through the tiny town, hiking to the top of the Rhine’s famous rock structure, which the name sounded foreign to him. 

Loreley.

Sheltered beneath the starry sky, they lie together side by side on the grassy rock structure. Their fingers intertwined as they savored the cold midnight air and the smell of grass surrounding them. Javier never felt like this before, drunk because of a presence of a certain person. Not even with the late Ellie.

Ellie.

His heart throbs painfully as the feeling of guilt engulfed him. The auburn-haired man stood up, but Lorrie’s steely grip preventing him from going. She rose before him, gripping his wrist tightly until it hurts.  Her bourbon-colored eyes even glow in the darkness. She then grabbed the golden ring on his middle finger and then tossed it down to the river. 

Despite the woman’s surprising act, he did not even try to stop her. He was paralyzed. A drop of tear fell from his tired eyes. All of this was too much for him. Lorrie pulled him to a tight embrace. She whispered, “You like to think that you are in love with her, but you are not. You are in love with me, the girl in that visits you in your dreams.”

“Wha- What do you mean?” He stuttered

“You are not a good person Javier. A good person did not push people off a cliff, especially their own fiancée,” She pushed him away slightly, then gave him a quick peck on his lips, “I just knew you needed a little push so that we can finally be together.”

Javier could not digest a word she said, the anger within him just exploded instead. He grabbed her shoulders and brought her to the edge of the rocky structure. “I would never hurt Ellie! I- I- I did not mean to push her off.”

“But you did.” Her eyes looked at him sharply, if only looks could kill. “Are you going to kill me, Javi? Your eyes are exactly as angry as that night where your Ellie died, I saw her memories shortly before she died. I own this place. I am Loreley, I jumped off this rock once and became immortal. Even the rock where you’re standing right now is named after me.”

His heart beats so fast that it might jump out of his chest. He pulled her into his arms, then kissed the top of her golden hair. Maybe this time he can do it right. “I did not know what came into me, it- it is a lot to digest,” He then pulled away and observed her pretty face, “will you forgive me?”

“Gosh, do you not even want to know what I actually am?” Her alluring eyes met his as she asked quietly, “Okay, I’m a siren, and yes, I will forgive you—under one condition.”

“A siren,” he scoffed; everything started to make sense now. Her melodic voice, her pretty face, her mystical behavior. Maybe he was under her enchantment, still and all he could not care less. Everything felt wonderful, a feeling he never felt for long. “what do I have to do to earn your forgiveness?”

“Come with me, then I will forgive you,” Loreley squished his hand, then lead him downhill towards the docks. She then submerged half of her body in the cold river, pulling Javier along by the back of his neck. Sensing Javier’s nervousness, she caressed his jaw with her scaly palms, soothing him. “Don’t be afraid, just– trust me.”

The siren pulled the young man underwater as she did with the other sailors throughout the years who were enchanted by her beauty and her voice. When the water started to fill up his lungs, Javier tried to swim to the surface, however, Loreley grabbed his ankle and dragged him deeper and deeper to the darkest abyss. As the siren noticed that life has been sucked out of the miserable man, she laid his lifeless body alongside the remains of his lover on the riverbed full of algae. The algae that matched his lightless eyes. Lorrie smiled to herself then whispered to his ear.

“All is forgiven.”