Hey Nightmare, where did you get them teeth?

Emily's arms clung to Lochlann as she was lowered to the ground, ensuring he couldn't find his way out of her reach. Once he had settled next to her she pressed herself against him as well. Her arms snaked across his back, hiding beneath his shirt for a few moments before finding their way out again. Her finger found their way into his hair again. She held his head with both hands, holding him where she wanted him.

She kissed him again and again, her breasts pressing firmly against his chest. Once or twice she even pulled away to explore his neck as well. The flavor of is skin was almost as intoxicating as powerful emotions could be for her. It was never long before her mouth found his again.

She continued to laugh, nuzzling her head under his chin when they began to settle. "I-It's amazing... I... I think I-I..."

Her head started to throb again. She had endorphins pumping through it as well, so the pain wasn't as intolerable this time. Still, it gave Emily an odd feeling, like something was terribly wrong.

But what could be wrong?

Emily fixed her eyes on his face, a curious look threading across her features. "N-Nothing's wrong... Right..?" She wasn't sure. Why wasn't she sure? Why was there this inkling sensation in the back of her head that she wasn't just enjoying a moment?

She followed Lochlann's gaze to the horse and blinked a couple times. She couldn't really say it wasn't the horse they'd ridden here from the sight of it. She knew it wasn't though, something told here that it wasn't. It was soon confirmed to be the truth when the horse bared dozens of sharp teeth and bit into her shinbone.

Em was screaming. A shrill, panicked, primal scream echoing through the field. Her fingers tensed into fists around Lochlann's hair and clothes, desperately clinging to him to try and pull herself away from the pain. The pain was unbearable, like a thousand razer blades anchoring themselves in her flesh and bone.

She turned back to Lochlann, her expression pleading for him to do something, to make the pain stop. Help never came though, as Lochlann's human form lost substance in that moment. He was like a ghost watching her suffer, unable to even provide her something to hold on to. "L-L-Loch... Lan-nn... Wh-What's h-h-hap-ppen-ning....?!"

Seconds were passing like hours in the agony. Em's tear-streaked face was soon being dragged through the grass. Every beat of the hooves just dug the pain deeper into her leg. Her screaming was being diluted with horrible sobs. Em flailed her fists feebly against the horse, the weak impacts doing nothing to ease her torment.

When they reached the water a new terror flashed in her eyes as the situation seemed to clarify for her. Her hands snatched at the riverbank, pulling grass from the ground. "NO!!!" Was all that resounded through the field as her fingers sank beneath the ripples.

Several moments remained. Several agonizing, breathless moments would pass before the dream came to an end. The kelpie let go of her leg only to bite down harder into her thigh and continue dragging her under the water. Her lungs were already starved for air from the scream, and now they demanded she take a breath even though her brain knew there wasn't any left.

She choked on the murky water, a fire burning in her chest. An impossible fearfulness gripped her throat as she sank even deeper. Was she even being pulled down? It didn't matter. All that mattered where the last few second her body was fighting itself before her vision was consumed by merciful darkness.




Emily awoke with a gasp, quickly falling into a coughing fit as her physical lungs rejected the surplus of air. Fresh tears ran through established groves down her face as her mind and body fully came back into sync. Her eyes frantically blinked away the blurriness to begin darting around the room, an animal response driving back her reason.

The fear and panic emanating from Lochlann signaled danger for her. Her already unstable state being pushed farther. Her big, green eyes finally fixed on Lochlann, and she froze. Many different thoughts started to come back to her, tentative lines being drawn to tentative conclusions. What little movement she made was inching her away from the man she had been so excited to see not half an hour ago.

"Was... W-Was that... You..?"

She leaned back on a hand, which slid out from under her and throwing her tumbling off the bed. Her skull bounced off the floor with a deafening crack, and all the tension in her body was released like a spring. Her flight response engaged, Em scrambled to her feet and fled for the door. She stumbled, crashing into her dresser and falling to the floor again before finally exiting the room and slamming the door.

Her back pushed against the closed portal, baring it from opening again, however feebly. The fear finally seemed to be satiated with this flimsy barrier between her and Lochlann. The wood felt cool against her back, grounding her further into reality.

Her breathing wouldn't calm down. What had just happened? The fear and panic were subsiding, but they were only being replaced with confusion and dread. Where did things go wrong? Everything had been right.

Cold fingers covered her vision as Em pressed her hands over her face. Quiet sobs slowly echoed through the room as she slid down the door to the ground. She was so confused and scared, a fragile little thing that was slowly breaking.

It was muffled through the door, but the pure panic coming from Lochlann was still getting to Emily. It tasted like copper, and the rain, and blood. It was permeating the air around her, choking her. Emily had never felt more cornered then in this moment.

Slowly, the sobbing began to subside. The tears didn't stop, but they room began to fill with silence disrupted only be an occasional hiccup from the small girl. What should she do? She wasn't sure. All of the options terrified her. Leaving the door closed. Opening it to find Lochlann there.

Finding him gone.

Huddling on the other side of the door was all she could bring herself to do. She pressed a hand to were her head had met the floor and found blood when she pulled it back again. It might have shaken her if she wasn't already to far gone. Perhaps it was some kind of existential clarity, or perhaps she just didn't care about it at the moment.

Minutes passed as she sat there, clutching her knees to her chest. She needed to do something. Nothing would get better if she didn't do something.

She pushed herself back onto her feet, placing a hand on the door to steady herself. Her breathing still hadn't calmed properly, ragged gasps raking through her frame. She swallowed, placed a hand on the doorknob, and cracked open the door.

"L..... Lochlann......." Em peeked through the opening, her eyes searching for him. Her face was only partially visible, the blood staining her hair in one place like a macabre dye. The fear was still present in her eyes as tears fell freely, the terrible trembling of her form apparent even at this distance.

She bit down on her lip, hard, mustering the courage to reach a hand through the door ever so slightly. It beckoned him closer. She had to get hold of him. She had to try and keep him from leaving.

"..... Lochlann... Talk to m-me... P-Please..... I... I-I need you t-to... To s-say something...... T-T-Tell me what h-happened... O-Or d-distract me... Anything..." She tried to bite back the sobs, but it was a futile endeavor. Soon she was crying just as much as she had been on the other side of the door.


"I d-don't want to be... Afraid o-of you....."

"I... I know..." When he didn't approach her, Emily's hand retreat back behind the door. Her head tilted down and her tears began marking little spots on the floor. Was it impossible now? Would they not be able to be around each other?

She took many shaky breathes, still fighting the fear that gripped her. Lochlann's unwillingness to be near her wasn't helping. It made her feel like she really did need to be scared. "C-Can you... Tell me w-what you are..? Please... P-Please... Help m-me..."

Em tried to force herself to move farther into the room. Her foot came off the floor and she pushed the door farther open with a creak. Her body wouldn't let her move forward, the foot just landed back were it had been.

"Lochlann please..... I... I d-don't want to l-lose you... I-I... I th-think... I love you................."

He had told her. It wasn't the most comforting thing that could have been done, but it was something. Emily needed to cling to everything she could right now.

"Lochlann... Come h-here... Please... I-I feel so l-l-lonely... I w-want to know... Y-You don't hate me......"

He apologized. She wasn't sure what he meant, but the possibilities pressed in around her heart like a vice. "No... Don't b-be sorry... Come h-hold me... L-L-Like you did earlier... Like e-everythings fine... Like it's o-okey..."