Day 10 Kelpie
What lead you to now?
The nearly watery grave within the dark waters bobbing up and down kicking and flailing your arms for dear life against the currents. Against the water dark and dreary. Towards the small plot of land you saw before that monster could come back to get you. The water splashed and sloshed around as you swam around in the darkness. Throat, nose, and lungs burning from coughing up water and spitting it out. Get away! Get away! You had to get away!!
"Darling!?," a voice called out over the waves making you momentarily stop horrified and look around floating in place. "My beloved lotus! Where are you?!"
No. Not HIM again!!
That crazy horse was the reason you were in this mess in the first place!! If he hadn't insisted on bothering you then none of this would have happened!! Ever since that crazy donkey found you and decided that you both were Soulmates you've been having nothing but trouble!!
Living next to a swamp wasn't really an ideal place to live to be perfectly honest. It was dark, dreary, and full of who knows how many creatures to you it seemed like a nice quiet place for you to settle down and start over after a bad break up. The housing was cheap and your few neighbors were really nice. There was just one strange thing. The locals told you to never go into the swamp especially at night for the local swamp was ruled over a fearsome creature for hundreds of years and eats those who wonder too deep inside.
Oh yes. You've heard about the legends before coming here. It was a great tourist attraction during the summer actually.
Apparently there was a Kelpie in the swamps. A fearsome cannibalistic creature that could take on the form of a horse and a man and lived in the waters. There was also ghost stories of an ancient cult that lived in the woods and kidnapped people traveling on the roads or near the swamps to sacrifice to their Kelpie god. You didn't really believe in such things however. Come on. A cult and swamp monster? That's a classic ghost story only found in horror movies and scary books.
It was true that there had been lots of unusual disappearances in and around the area but it was probably due to the rough waters and actual REAL predators that lived in the swamp like alligators, crocodiles, giant pythons, bears- Things you actually believed in and knew that was real unlike the stories of an imaginary cult and swamp monster. So you herded the locals warnings for going near the swamps at night, but only because you were scared of actual threats not imaginary creatures.
Or at least you thought it was imaginary.
You had to have a run in with the stupid Kelpie on your farm when he decided that YOU were his object of affection.
It had started one day in town. You were just grocery shopping for a few essentials and had ran into HIM in the store. He was tall like six almost seven feet tall. Long beautiful blonde hair that cascaded down his back and the most unusually beautiful yes you've ever seen. It was like a rainbow was captured in stain glass. You couldn't help but stare at the unusual man browsing the meat stand the butcher had. He was humming literally tapping a finger to his chin as he eyed the meats before him. Next him him were two women both dressed exactly the same. Long white(slightly dirtied dresses-) and sandals.
Oh NO!! NOT HIM AGAIN!!
"My Lord, why not get the lamb chops this time?," one suggested to him gesturing at the said meat. "You've had it less compared to the other meats."
"I know but it's just so difficult deciding what to eat when I get tired of the regular food. Fish and offers gets boring once and a while y'know?", he replied back to her as he just continued to stare at me meats.
You could only stare at the man goofily dressed in strange clothing. The only normal thing about him was the bandana on his head. You stood there glancing between them and the meat racks were the pork you needed for dinner was. Should you continue waiting or ask them politely to move out of the way? You were debating on just abandoning the idea of dinner altogether when suddenly the man turned and caught your gaze. You both stared at each other for a second before he lit up.
"Why hello there!!," he loudly shouted way too loudly appropriate for a market place and waved a hand to you. "I see I have an admirer!~"
.... Your brow rose. "Um.. Actually I just need those pork chops in front of you." You gestured in front of him as he turned. "Do you mind?" He didn't say anything at first staring at the pork before taking a step back silently. "Thanks."
Wordlessly you just scooted over, grabbed two pork chops, and just threw them in your shopping basket before leaving. Not really thinking much about the strange man and women behind you. What you weren't expecting was to hear the footsteps behind you as the man abandoned his place as the butcher sold his meats.
"Y/n, my darling!," he gushed out following you as you groaned annoyed in your head. "We haven't seen each other since I slayed your other suitor. Don't you want to-"
At which point you had turned around and slapped a hand over his mouth with a glare that shut up the man. "Will you shut up?!" Nervous eyes glanced hastily around the marketplace as people walked around the stalls, a few giving you strange looks. "The last thing I need is people knowing what happened to him and thinking I had something to do with it! I don't care about what you think our previous deal was, I want nothing to do with a crazy horse and his cult!!" With force you pushed him away from you(or pushed him as much as you could with him built like a brick wall-). "Just leave me alone and stay away from me already!!"
His face was blank as you quickly walked away, ducking between people to hide. Douma stood there unblinking even as the two women concerned caught up with their dear leader.
"My Lord?," one spoke lightly poking his sleeve as he stood there, "Are you quite alright?" Her head turned to where you had disappeared. "Who was that woman?"
"...Oh. No one special." He forced that usual grin on his face as he turned back to them. "But I think I'll get pork chops tonight! "
You had hoped you had seen the last of that Kelpie at the marketplace. The stupid mule kept showing up at your home with gifts and whines and literally sometimes you'd walk in to him waiting in your own house like he owned the place!! You were REALLY tired of dealing with a love struck pony. But you never thought you'd be in this situation. Tending to your garden one moment before hearing footsteps behind you. Next thing you knew there was an incredible pain in your head and you blacked out on top of your carrots and onions. The next time you woke up you were somewhere cold and laying on something hard...Was that wood? Did you trip and fall on the floor?
"It's amazing what soap and some makeup will do!! Doesn't she look beautiful with her hair braided like that?!"
"Lord Douma will be so pleased with his monthly sacrifice!"
When you fully woken, you were horrified by the sight before you. You were sat in a chair staring at least ten to fifteen different women you had never seen before all looking crazed and doting manic smiles on you.
"What the hell?!" You tried to get up but was terrified to find yourself tied up with ropes to a sturdy wooden chair. "WHERE THE HELL AM I?! WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!"
"It doesn't matter who we are. In the end you won't be around long enough to know us a significant amount anyways. It's almost time for you to go to eternal paradise."
You shrieked and screamed out as hands grabbed the chair around you, half dragging half carrying you out a rather large side door to where your horror found much more people! Men and women all wearing the same bland white clothes and sharing the same insane grin. You were dreaming! You had to be dreaming about some kind of nightmare as you were dragged out into the chilly night air and were horrified to find yourself dolled up in some kind of lacey white gown with literal flowers braided into your hair and through your screaming and thrashing you tasted what tasted like cheap lipstick on your mouth. Despite your thrashing and cursing at them, you were powerless to stop them from heaving you up and setting you down in what sounded like a wooden floor, but it wasn't a floor.
THESE NUT JOBS WERE PUTTING YOU ON A BOAT!!
An old, crudely made boat that looked like it would sink with the slightest touch. You screamed out and pulled and pulled against the restraints that held your wrists. Pain interrupted across your skin as the ropes rubbed the skin raw, but your left hand was starting to slowly slip out from under the ropes. The fear and panic building as the boat creaked under the weight of your body as they pushed your boat off into the unknown of swamp water and trees filling up the space between you.
You tugged and tugged and HEAVED until finally something gave. Your hand pulled free from the ropes and someone yelled something pointing at you. But it was too late since you were too far away to do anything about it. You scrambled, managing to get your other arm free before working to untie the ropes around your legs heart pounding as the boat filled with water, and the panicked shouts of multiple people were coming from the shore you ignored in favor of getting your right leg free. You were frantically pulling on the other leg when the scariest thing had occurred.
A hoof emerged from the water and placed itself on the edge of the boat.
You shrieked as the boat tilted forward as a second hoof joined the first and then the most grotesque horse head slowly emerged from the dark waters slowly, water dripping off it's bulging scaly skin as it's horrific kaleidoscope eyes landed on you..and then it's horrible maw just dropped open.
"Lotus?!"
You shrieked out as finally the boat tilted all the way and you were plunged into the same water as the ugly monster in front of you. In your frantic thrashing somehow you were able to get your other leg loose. You didn't know how but you didn't question it as you kicked yourself to surface and filled with adrenaline started swimming as fast as you could towards the nearest land you could see in the dark. Now here you were, clothes clinging to your body with petals from those stupid flowers leaving a trail in the water as you attempted to get away from the ghost story come to life.
"Y/N, COME BACK!! I CAN EXPLAIN!!"
Like hell he could!! THAT WAS HIS TRUE FORM?!?! If you knew what he truly looked like, you never would've let him kiss you with that horrible image! You just swam and swam reaching out to grab onto wet reeds and muddy banks as you crawled your way out of the water and made a dash for it. Bare feet squishing and thudding against the swampy ground as you made a break for it heart pumping and running as fast as your legs could carry you through the darkness of the swamp until another horrible sound behind you entered your ears.
THE SOUNDS OF A HORSE RUNNING.
Fuck!! You had forgotten about his second form!! That stupid centaur mimicking form of his!! You barely had time to react when an arm snatched you up and you screamed again immediately going to fight whatever had a hold on you.
"Darling, please stop fighting me."
"LET ME THE HELL GO YOU HELLISH SPAWN!!" You WAILED looking up to see the handsome face of the man whom usually presented itself to you now looking hurt at you in his arms. "PUT ME DOWN!!"
"Now I can't do that. You'll only run away from me permanently then!" He whined pulling you closer to the point he held you like a child would carry a teddy bear in one arm. Your kicking and hitting didn't seem to be doing anything to him. "*sigh* All that hard courting gone to waste. Now I have no choice but to go the difficult route...Oh well."