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Description
The midnight horse reared and drew me in. I had to see, to touch, to ride. I had to. I had to know if it was even real or if it was simply the waves. The magnificent black stallion trotted towards me. I reached out, the tips of my fingers trailing along the horse’s side as it trotted in a circle around me. Such beauty could not be real.

There’s a loud drunken shout from the direction of my friend’s party. I glance over my shoulder, my face darkening at the sight. A massive bonfire and close to forty dead drunk teenagers. I glare back at the spectacle darkly wishing death on all of them. Mock me, tease me, thrown me down. Taunt me, lie to me, betray me. Do what you want I’ll have my revenge, friends of mine no more.

The horse lies down, inviting me to ride, begging me to. I want to do it but... I want them to suffer more. I kneel down in front of it, looking deep into its pitch black, nearly soulless eyes.

“Do you want to help me?” I ask softly.

The black eyes widen and the horse nods vigorously. I smile darkly and rest my hand on its shoulder, guiding it back towards the party. I don’t know why but I know they’ll suffer if I do it, I just do. The horse gets more and more excited the closer to the party we get. Then I hear it, I turn looking behind me in shock. There’s a herd of horses trotting behind me. I stare at them, the same ebony coat and demonic eyes.

I smile slightly looking out at them. I hold my hand out invitingly and then wave it towards the party. That’s all it takes. They race by me coming to a stop in the middle of the party, some lying down others kneeling. The drunken fools all but leap onto the beautiful horses, I rest my head against the stallion’s neck, listening as the first scream echoes out.

“I CAN’T GET DOWN!!!”

There’s no one left on the ground, everyone’s on a horse. My smile widens as the first horse takes off like the devil himself is chasing her, almost flying across the sand in her haste to reach the sea. Others follow quickly, racing towards the ocean. It clicks. Kelpies. I laugh. The screams become more desperate, louder, more panicked. My laughter becomes more uncontrolled darker, more sinister at the same time.

“A feast for you then?” I whisper softly in the stallion’s ear.

The stallion nods again. I can’t help but laugh again. I pull myself onto his back and he gives me the privilege of a glorious ride along the length of the entire beach before we plunge into the inky depths of the wild sea. Death was always a foregone conclusion. I don’t drown though... it’s strange to be breathing beneath the surface of the water, stranger still to be doing so while all around me those I called friends are drowned and devoured. It’s somehow beautiful watching the emerald blue turn a pale crimson. I laugh again, it feels wonderful. I love it!

The stallion dives deeper still, father down, where no light reaches. Yet somehow we can see. I don’t try and escape. What point is there, this is a far more wonderful land than the world above? Suddenly I’m free, floating in the darkness. I can still breath and yet the stallion is gone. I wonder what it would be like to be a kelpie, to be free to search the depths of the sea and drag helpless, worthless humans to it to die, to be able to be a horse, to be free. I want it and I want it badly. I don’t swim for the surface, I dive deeper, looking for the midnight stallion, whom I led to a feast.

The world beneath the waves slowly reveals itself to me, the darkness slowly thinning to a dull grey. I go deeper. There are sharks; they lurk on the edges of my vision and the kelpie feast still going on above me. There is nothing here. Just the open sea and tatters of clothing from the feast. I go deeper still. There are rocks now, harsh, sharp, deadly and blood red. The stallion’s there. He stands proudly on one waiting. I blink and he’s gone, replaced by a teenager with long black hair and cold black eyes.

He smiles and holds out a hand, inviting and then waves it behind him, showing me what I can have. I reach him and reach out taking his hand. The lure of power, of freedom, of strength... of eternity realised. For a second we remain there frozen in time, then we race upwards to join the feast.

~~~~~~

James laughed splashing it the water. His mother, father and twin older sisters reclined nearby. There was a quiet neigh and a lovely black mare emerged from the water. The boy ran over to his family unsure of what to do. His father worked with horses and walked towards the mare slowly, holding his hand out and speaking softly. He didn’t need to the mare trotted towards him happily. The man patted her gently, smiling and reassuring his family that she was quite tame. Then came the second neigh, it was louder more commanding and powerful. A black stallion galloped towards the mare neighing again happily reunited. The stallion proved to be as tame as the mare.

“Papa, can we ride them? We’ve taken lessons!” Emily shouted grabbing her father’s arm.

“Yeah Papa!” Clara begged grabbing his other arm.

James added his pleas as well and their mother said it would probably be fine. The man relented under the pressure and nodded. Emily and Clara mounted the mare with the help of their father and James waited patiently. Of course the ladies got on first so that meant he had to wait until his father helped his mother up as well but he didn’t care he loved horses. He let the mare nuzzle his shoulder while he waited and he patted her neck in return.

“Hey big man you get your sisters to help you up alright?” His father asked leaping up onto the stallions back.

James nodded, asking Clara to try and help him up. He fell twice and was ready to give up when the mare kneeled down. He frowned, he knew horses were intelligent but that just didn’t seem right. He was about to tell everyone he’d be fine when he saw the mares eyes. He sighed and mounted the horse behind Clara. They took a quiet ride down the beach a little before their father declared he’d buy them an ice-cream each if they beat him. They started out at a gentle trot but it soon became a gallop and then something else. James screamed when the mares let out a wild neigh as she picked up speed until it seemed like they were flying.

“PAPA!!” Clara screamed.

“JUMP!!” The man shouted.

They tried, they all tried but it was like they were glued to the horses. Suddenly they were racing towards the sea. Clara screamed desperately, Emily sobbed, their mother screamed for help, their father tried to turn the stallion and James was frozen in mute fear. The horses let out a wild neigh apiece as they closed in on the water’s edge. James managed one desperate cry before the horses plunged into the surf, not breaking pace or slowing down, if anything they seemed to speed up.

“PAPA!!” Clara shouted again.

They moved further out and for a second the horses continued their breakneck paces even though they were swimming. James lost his breath when he saw the reflections. The horses may have looked beautiful on land but their reflections... their reflections were even more so. Their coats were a pure white, shining, unmarred and absolutely breathtaking. Their manes and tales were a soft cyan and interspersed with seaweed. Their eyes were no longer black but a brilliant sky blue! He fell in love with the creatures he saw in the water even as he and his family were pulled below it.

Even as his breath was failing he breathed out. Shocked at the spectacle that awaited him beneath the surface of the waves, there was an entire herd of the ethereal horses. He felt his lungs burning for air and panic took hold he struggled futilely against whatever strange thing help him too the horse and suddenly he was free. He felt a surge of elation and began to try and swim up. Then he heard the choked off watery scream. He turned to see the horses enter an almost shark like feeding frenzy and then he felt a tearing sensation in his leg. One of the horses had bit him and taken an actual chunk out of his leg.

He released the last of his air in a futile, pointless scream as more of the horses closed in. Everything went black soon and he wondered if anyone would ever find out what had happened to them. Everything hurt, it hurt so very much... the darkness was so welcoming.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Police Officer Amelia Stevenson shook her head, wondering why the bloody beach hadn’t been closed. First those teenagers and now a family, it just didn’t make sense. How could forty four teenagers just disappear without a trace? They hadn’t left the beach and if they had drowned their bodies or at very bits of them would have washed up on the beach. She shook her head and looked at the sheet of paper. Two adults a mother and a father, a son and twin girls, things were just getting worse. She finally made it to the beach and was more than a little shocked to see a pair of teenagers there. The beach had been closed for yet another police investigation.

“Hey kids off the beach!” She shouted.

There was a boy and a girl. They both looked tall and more or less beautiful and handsome as befitted their gender. The girl had short spiked black hair and when she turned to look at the officer what looked like black eyes. The boy looked over his shoulder, he too had short black hair but his hung limply in his face partly obscuring his eyes but from the look of them they were black too.

“Wanna go for a swim?” The boy asked smiling.

Amelia felt slightly offset by the closed mouth smiles she received from both of them. Still they looked innocent enough, probably boyfriend girlfriend. She shook her head.

“This place is closed for Police investigation, I need you to scram.” She said.

The girl frowned, tilting her head to the side and watching her curiously. She glanced at the boy and they locked gazes and nodded solemnly.

“We found a... a thing...” The girl whispered.

“But it’s stuck. It’s not far out, we can show you.” The boy finished.

Amelia stared at them blankly for a minute then nodded. She needed any kind of lead she could find and if these two had found something than she was going to do it. She pulled her boots of and stripped down to a t-shirt and shorts. The teenagers stood up and moved towards the water. She walked up to them and they moved, so that they stood one either side of her. She didn’t like it and tried to move backwards. They grabbed her hands, they were so cold.

“It gets kind of wild in the water so it’ll be easier if we hold hands.” The girl said giggling and covering her mouth with her spare hand.

“No, I’ll come back later.” Amelia said trying to pull free.

“Don’t be like that.” The boy said trying to pull her closer to the water.

Amelia snarled and yanked them both off their feet. They yelped letting go of her hands and hitting the sand hard. Amelia turned tail and started running towards the police blockade. She paused briefly when she heard the sound of hoof beats and immediately regretted it. Two midnight black horses were thundering after her, screaming madly. Amelia screamed too. She ran faster than she had ever dreamed possible after seeing the demonically beautiful horses, and they were just that. Beautiful but sinisterly so.

“HOLY SHIT!!!” She screamed reaching the small copse of trees that led to the beaches exit.

The horses screamed again and their hoof beats sped up, Amelia panicked as they neared. She had to make it. She barely broke through the tree line when they finally caught her. They were right beside her and she stopped dead when the slimmer mare kneeled beside her. The stallion stood at her back.

“AMELIA!?” Her partner shouted running towards her and drawing his gun.

“FIRE!! SHOOT THEM!!” She screamed.

The stallion roared and the mare leapt to her feet. It was only quick thinking on her partner’s behalf that saved her a vicious to the back of her neck from the stallion. He shot them both in the side. The mare reared screaming before racing back towards the beach. The stallion let loose a scream of pure furry and took two furious steps towards the man before following the mare. Amelia stared at the retreating horses backs for a moment before turning to her friend and partner Alexander Delars.

“What just happened?” He asked still twitching slightly.

“Shape shifting horses or kids or, or something!!” Amelia said waving her arms wildly.

“We keep this to ourselves, say there are to many dangerous riptides, get the beach closed, end of story. Sound good?” Alex asked.

Amelia nodded, looking back towards the beach.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Come on Mary!” Jack insisted dragging her towards the beach.

The girl frowned looking nervous.

“Maybe it was closed for a reason, Jack>” She said softly looking at the calm waters.

It was night but the moon was full casting a beautiful glow over everything. Then they saw them. Mary gasped in excitement and Jack whistled in appreciation. Two ebony horses danced happily in shallows. Jack wandered towards them clicking his tongue and holding his hand out. The horses paused in their games, one was a slightly thicker built stallion, the other a lithe mare. They both trotted over tamely.

“Come on Mary, let’s go for a ride! They’re both tame!”

Description
The midnight horse reared and drew me in. I had to see, to touch, to ride. I had to. I had to know if it was even real or if it was simply the waves. The magnificent black stallion trotted towards me. I reached out, the tips of my fingers trailing along the horse’s side as it trotted in a circle around me. Such beauty could not be real.

There’s a loud drunken shout from the direction of my friend’s party. I glance over my shoulder, my face darkening at the sight. A massive bonfire and close to forty dead drunk teenagers. I glare back at the spectacle darkly wishing death on all of them. Mock me, tease me, thrown me down. Taunt me, lie to me, betray me. Do what you want I’ll have my revenge, friends of mine no more.

The horse lies down, inviting me to ride, begging me to. I want to do it but... I want them to suffer more. I kneel down in front of it, looking deep into its pitch black, nearly soulless eyes.

“Do you want to help me?” I ask softly.

The black eyes widen and the horse nods vigorously. I smile darkly and rest my hand on its shoulder, guiding it back towards the party. I don’t know why but I know they’ll suffer if I do it, I just do. The horse gets more and more excited the closer to the party we get. Then I hear it, I turn looking behind me in shock. There’s a herd of horses trotting behind me. I stare at them, the same ebony coat and demonic eyes.

I smile slightly looking out at them. I hold my hand out invitingly and then wave it towards the party. That’s all it takes. They race by me coming to a stop in the middle of the party, some lying down others kneeling. The drunken fools all but leap onto the beautiful horses, I rest my head against the stallion’s neck, listening as the first scream echoes out.

“I CAN’T GET DOWN!!!”

There’s no one left on the ground, everyone’s on a horse. My smile widens as the first horse takes off like the devil himself is chasing her, almost flying across the sand in her haste to reach the sea. Others follow quickly, racing towards the ocean. It clicks. Kelpies. I laugh. The screams become more desperate, louder, more panicked. My laughter becomes more uncontrolled darker, more sinister at the same time.

“A feast for you then?” I whisper softly in the stallion’s ear.

The stallion nods again. I can’t help but laugh again. I pull myself onto his back and he gives me the privilege of a glorious ride along the length of the entire beach before we plunge into the inky depths of the wild sea. Death was always a foregone conclusion. I don’t drown though... it’s strange to be breathing beneath the surface of the water, stranger still to be doing so while all around me those I called friends are drowned and devoured. It’s somehow beautiful watching the emerald blue turn a pale crimson. I laugh again, it feels wonderful. I love it!

The stallion dives deeper still, father down, where no light reaches. Yet somehow we can see. I don’t try and escape. What point is there, this is a far more wonderful land than the world above? Suddenly I’m free, floating in the darkness. I can still breath and yet the stallion is gone. I wonder what it would be like to be a kelpie, to be free to search the depths of the sea and drag helpless, worthless humans to it to die, to be able to be a horse, to be free. I want it and I want it badly. I don’t swim for the surface, I dive deeper, looking for the midnight stallion, whom I led to a feast.

The world beneath the waves slowly reveals itself to me, the darkness slowly thinning to a dull grey. I go deeper. There are sharks; they lurk on the edges of my vision and the kelpie feast still going on above me. There is nothing here. Just the open sea and tatters of clothing from the feast. I go deeper still. There are rocks now, harsh, sharp, deadly and blood red. The stallion’s there. He stands proudly on one waiting. I blink and he’s gone, replaced by a teenager with long black hair and cold black eyes.

He smiles and holds out a hand, inviting and then waves it behind him, showing me what I can have. I reach him and reach out taking his hand. The lure of power, of freedom, of strength... of eternity realised. For a second we remain there frozen in time, then we race upwards to join the feast.

~~~~~~

James laughed splashing it the water. His mother, father and twin older sisters reclined nearby. There was a quiet neigh and a lovely black mare emerged from the water. The boy ran over to his family unsure of what to do. His father worked with horses and walked towards the mare slowly, holding his hand out and speaking softly. He didn’t need to the mare trotted towards him happily. The man patted her gently, smiling and reassuring his family that she was quite tame. Then came the second neigh, it was louder more commanding and powerful. A black stallion galloped towards the mare neighing again happily reunited. The stallion proved to be as tame as the mare.

“Papa, can we ride them? We’ve taken lessons!” Emily shouted grabbing her father’s arm.

“Yeah Papa!” Clara begged grabbing his other arm.

James added his pleas as well and their mother said it would probably be fine. The man relented under the pressure and nodded. Emily and Clara mounted the mare with the help of their father and James waited patiently. Of course the ladies got on first so that meant he had to wait until his father helped his mother up as well but he didn’t care he loved horses. He let the mare nuzzle his shoulder while he waited and he patted her neck in return.

“Hey big man you get your sisters to help you up alright?” His father asked leaping up onto the stallions back.

James nodded, asking Clara to try and help him up. He fell twice and was ready to give up when the mare kneeled down. He frowned, he knew horses were intelligent but that just didn’t seem right. He was about to tell everyone he’d be fine when he saw the mares eyes. He sighed and mounted the horse behind Clara. They took a quiet ride down the beach a little before their father declared he’d buy them an ice-cream each if they beat him. They started out at a gentle trot but it soon became a gallop and then something else. James screamed when the mares let out a wild neigh as she picked up speed until it seemed like they were flying.

“PAPA!!” Clara screamed.

“JUMP!!” The man shouted.

They tried, they all tried but it was like they were glued to the horses. Suddenly they were racing towards the sea. Clara screamed desperately, Emily sobbed, their mother screamed for help, their father tried to turn the stallion and James was frozen in mute fear. The horses let out a wild neigh apiece as they closed in on the water’s edge. James managed one desperate cry before the horses plunged into the surf, not breaking pace or slowing down, if anything they seemed to speed up.

“PAPA!!” Clara shouted again.

They moved further out and for a second the horses continued their breakneck paces even though they were swimming. James lost his breath when he saw the reflections. The horses may have looked beautiful on land but their reflections... their reflections were even more so. Their coats were a pure white, shining, unmarred and absolutely breathtaking. Their manes and tales were a soft cyan and interspersed with seaweed. Their eyes were no longer black but a brilliant sky blue! He fell in love with the creatures he saw in the water even as he and his family were pulled below it.

Even as his breath was failing he breathed out. Shocked at the spectacle that awaited him beneath the surface of the waves, there was an entire herd of the ethereal horses. He felt his lungs burning for air and panic took hold he struggled futilely against whatever strange thing help him too the horse and suddenly he was free. He felt a surge of elation and began to try and swim up. Then he heard the choked off watery scream. He turned to see the horses enter an almost shark like feeding frenzy and then he felt a tearing sensation in his leg. One of the horses had bit him and taken an actual chunk out of his leg.

He released the last of his air in a futile, pointless scream as more of the horses closed in. Everything went black soon and he wondered if anyone would ever find out what had happened to them. Everything hurt, it hurt so very much... the darkness was so welcoming.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Police Officer Amelia Stevenson shook her head, wondering why the bloody beach hadn’t been closed. First those teenagers and now a family, it just didn’t make sense. How could forty four teenagers just disappear without a trace? They hadn’t left the beach and if they had drowned their bodies or at very bits of them would have washed up on the beach. She shook her head and looked at the sheet of paper. Two adults a mother and a father, a son and twin girls, things were just getting worse. She finally made it to the beach and was more than a little shocked to see a pair of teenagers there. The beach had been closed for yet another police investigation.

“Hey kids off the beach!” She shouted.

There was a boy and a girl. They both looked tall and more or less beautiful and handsome as befitted their gender. The girl had short spiked black hair and when she turned to look at the officer what looked like black eyes. The boy looked over his shoulder, he too had short black hair but his hung limply in his face partly obscuring his eyes but from the look of them they were black too.

“Wanna go for a swim?” The boy asked smiling.

Amelia felt slightly offset by the closed mouth smiles she received from both of them. Still they looked innocent enough, probably boyfriend girlfriend. She shook her head.

“This place is closed for Police investigation, I need you to scram.” She said.

The girl frowned, tilting her head to the side and watching her curiously. She glanced at the boy and they locked gazes and nodded solemnly.

“We found a... a thing...” The girl whispered.

“But it’s stuck. It’s not far out, we can show you.” The boy finished.

Amelia stared at them blankly for a minute then nodded. She needed any kind of lead she could find and if these two had found something than she was going to do it. She pulled her boots of and stripped down to a t-shirt and shorts. The teenagers stood up and moved towards the water. She walked up to them and they moved, so that they stood one either side of her. She didn’t like it and tried to move backwards. They grabbed her hands, they were so cold.

“It gets kind of wild in the water so it’ll be easier if we hold hands.” The girl said giggling and covering her mouth with her spare hand.

“No, I’ll come back later.” Amelia said trying to pull free.

“Don’t be like that.” The boy said trying to pull her closer to the water.

Amelia snarled and yanked them both off their feet. They yelped letting go of her hands and hitting the sand hard. Amelia turned tail and started running towards the police blockade. She paused briefly when she heard the sound of hoof beats and immediately regretted it. Two midnight black horses were thundering after her, screaming madly. Amelia screamed too. She ran faster than she had ever dreamed possible after seeing the demonically beautiful horses, and they were just that. Beautiful but sinisterly so.

“HOLY SHIT!!!” She screamed reaching the small copse of trees that led to the beaches exit.

The horses screamed again and their hoof beats sped up, Amelia panicked as they neared. She had to make it. She barely broke through the tree line when they finally caught her. They were right beside her and she stopped dead when the slimmer mare kneeled beside her. The stallion stood at her back.

“AMELIA!?” Her partner shouted running towards her and drawing his gun.

“FIRE!! SHOOT THEM!!” She screamed.

The stallion roared and the mare leapt to her feet. It was only quick thinking on her partner’s behalf that saved her a vicious to the back of her neck from the stallion. He shot them both in the side. The mare reared screaming before racing back towards the beach. The stallion let loose a scream of pure furry and took two furious steps towards the man before following the mare. Amelia stared at the retreating horses backs for a moment before turning to her friend and partner Alexander Delars.

“What just happened?” He asked still twitching slightly.

“Shape shifting horses or kids or, or something!!” Amelia said waving her arms wildly.

“We keep this to ourselves, say there are to many dangerous riptides, get the beach closed, end of story. Sound good?” Alex asked.

Amelia nodded, looking back towards the beach.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Come on Mary!” Jack insisted dragging her towards the beach.

The girl frowned looking nervous.

“Maybe it was closed for a reason, Jack>” She said softly looking at the calm waters.

It was night but the moon was full casting a beautiful glow over everything. Then they saw them. Mary gasped in excitement and Jack whistled in appreciation. Two ebony horses danced happily in shallows. Jack wandered towards them clicking his tongue and holding his hand out. The horses paused in their games, one was a slightly thicker built stallion, the other a lithe mare. They both trotted over tamely.

“Come on Mary, let’s go for a ride! They’re both tame!”