The Heart of a Kelpie [GirlxGirl]

Chapter 19: Know Me

Logan
I'm in a nightmare. I must be. There's no other explanation for... for this.

The ebony monster from my darkest dreams has come to visit me once again. The creature is just as breathtaking, just as menacing with its sharp teeth and seemingly soulless eyes.

Muscles flow underneath the skin, like a rip tide lurking underneath ocean waves. This Kelpie promises hopeful chaos, painful pleasure, peaceful disorder, gainful loss...

Crimson red, the color that runs through our veins, drips from the creature's gruesome jaws, congealing between its teeth. The liquid streams down an ebony coat, covering the muscled chest in its stickiness. The contrast of blood red moon and midnight are alarming, almost overshadowing the glowing turquoise eyes that seem to flicker with rage and hunger.

Like when I read the words of Ana's letter, my vision fails. I can only see the towering monster in front of me. I watch its nostrils flare, presumably basking in the scent of fear and blood. Its ears constantly move in every direction, no doubt listening for any more victims to pursue.

What's

              Happened?

                                    Alistair...

                                                       Kelpie...

                                                                           Oh...

                                                                                       Gods...

I open my eyes, startled at the fact that they had closed. My gaze is now to the ground, my knees digging into the stone and dirt of the alley's floor. I'm practically curled into myself - barely keeping my body from completely folding inwards. Tears are continuously streaming down my face, but they abruptly stop. My limbs are shaking, and the stuttering release of air from my lungs brings me to a realization.

It's coming...

                      ...towards me.

As if in another body, I listen - detached - as four hooves clash against the dilapidated paving.

The hoofsteps pause. My entire body tenses, spine curling inwards as I bend further to the soil, wishing to be safe beneath the cold rock. I press my forehead into the jutting stone, ignoring the discomfort my position causes. My breathing, still shallow and rushed, pounds to the thrumming of my heartbeat.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

I chance a glance at the stone a few inches away from my head.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The life liquid, stolen from Alistair, pools between the cracks of stone and tile. I don't need to look up to know the blood is coming from the creature's maw. I let out a choked sob, clenching my eyes shut and digging my head back into the dirt. I feel some of the splatter land against my forehead. My eyes burn again, fresh tears re-wetting my blotchy cheeks. Snot bubbles out of my nose, mixing in with the now salty and wet earth that serves to block out the demon above me.

"Please..." I wheeze out, my mind overrun with thoughts of fear and bouts of numbness.

I don't know whether to plead for mercy through a quick death, or to beg for freedom.

I don't have the chance to dwell on either choice.

Warm breath scalds my increasingly frigid skin (either due to the night's typical cold, or from fear, I don't know.)