The Kelpie's Curse (book #1 in the Kelpie's Entrapment trilogy)

Epilogue 2

As consciousness began to come back to her it felt as if she was swimming through a thick visceral sludge every inch forward through her mind seemed to take an eternity. She tried to open her eyes but even getting them to flutter seemed to take an enormous amount of energy that she just didn't have at the moment. She was so tired that all she wanted to do was sleep but something, and she couldn't place what it was, kept telling her that she needed to get up. Whatever it was it whispered that there were people that needed her, that she needed to get off her ass and get out of there before something terrible happened.

She tried to move her hand but even the twitch that she managed to move it hurt like hell, as if someone had stuck hot needles into ever inch of her skin then proceeded to repeatedly beat her with a baseball bat while she was powerless to protect herself.

Why did she feel like this?

What had she done to deserve this pain?

Where was she?

Thoughts like these continued to run through her mind for several moments until the radiating pain became so intense that a small whimper escaped her despite her inability to move. Suddenly she felt hands on her body as someone lifted her into their arms. She did not know who held her but the light pressure on her skin was nearly unbearable. It caused tears to leak from her tightly closed eyes and where the hands touched her felt as if someone was caressing her with a blow torch.

She struggled to move away from the touch, only succeeding to squirm lightly before whoever was holding her tightened their arms around her.

"Shh, calm down." the masculine voice that whispered into her ear was soft and calming but there was something strange about it. She couldn't place it but something about the accented voice awoke some deep fear within her. Without knowing why she got the sudden feeling that she should get as far away from him as she possibly could. Despite the blinding pain that coursed through her with every movement she tried to move away from him again and yelped in pain when he attempted to still her movements.

"It seems I have underestimated ye," he whispered into her ear. "most would nae be conscious let alone moving this soon. Ye continue to surprise me with yer strength, Lassie."

She heard anger and possession in the tone of that accented voice but for the life of her she couldn't figure out why. What had she done to anger him, who was he to her that he sounded so possess-

Brown eyes snapped open as rapid flashes of memory assaulted her in the worst possible way. The pain had attempted to steal her identity from her but that word. She suddenly remembered who she was and who he was and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that he only called her Lassie when he was angry and if that was the case then he was...

As fear filled her eyes she screamed and flung herself away from him, adrenaline helping her to move despite the pain that every action brought her. The movement was not as fast as she would have liked given the water that surrounded her but...

She floated in the water, her hair floating around her as her brown eyes connected with his red ones as her mind went frantic. Her name was Renestrae Frank, she was from Sherwood, Michigan, USA, she had a love for books and the styles of the 1940's, she had an intense fear of water and...

Oh. My. Goddess. Water. She was under water and - and she was breathing, she wasn't drowning. Just how in Hell was that even pos-

Come to me and ye will never feel this pain again.

The remembered thought reverberated off of the walls of her mind, seeming to echo around her. Her eyes filled with anger, hatred, disgust and terror. What the- How the- Why was-

"What the fuck did you do to me!" She tried to shout but her voice came out strained and hoarse yet clear despite the water around her.

He smirked, pleasure seeming to enter his red eyes. "Dinnae ask what ye already know, Renestrae, it's unbecoming." He taunted as he moved forward through the water towards her.

She glared at him as she moved backwards. Her eyes seemed to prickle and burn as she tried to decide what she should do. The fight or flight response grew in it's intensity. Her stubborn pride urged her to fight, to give it her all but her sense of self-preservation screamed at her to run, to get away before he could hurt her more than he already had.

He laughed, finding some kind of amusement in her torment. Her mind told her that she knew exactly what he had done but she didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to acknowledge that he had turned her into a monster like him. She was easily breathing under water, feeling none of the pain that she knew she should have if she was still human. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair! She'd rather be dead than be like him!

"Blue eyes, interesting Renestrae. I would have thought ye would have hated me enough by now for yer Kelpie's eyes to be as red as mine. We will have tae work on tha'"

"Stay away from me." She warned pathetically as she moved back through the water. She didn't want him touching her, didn't want her anywhere near her not when he had already taken her humanity away from her.

"Renestrae-Lass dinnae-"

His voice was cut off as her backward movements caused her back to press against a set of bars at the entrance to the underwater cave. Instantly her exposed skin smoldered against the bars of wrought iron forcing an agonized scream from her throat.

He moved towards her slowly as she collapsed under the pain. She wanted to move, to put as much distance between them as she possibly could but she knew it was hopeless. Even if she wasn't in an extreme amount of pain at the moment there was no way out of this. In her dreams she had been locked inside the cave, away from the Kelpie but the reality was that she was locked inside with the monster. She quite honestly didn't know which was worse.

She didn't have to look up from her spot on the cave floor to know that he was  looming over her, probably getting some kind of sick pleasure from her torment. Suddenly she felt him grab a handful of her hair then pull her up so that she was looking into his eyes. She hated those eyes and she hated him for what he had done to her.

She tried to move her arms, tried to fight back but her body suddenly felt like lead as her energy trained away from her and it felt like a battle just to keep her eyes open.

"Ye're weak because ye're a newborn Lassie, but worry not it will pass." He hissed, pulling her closer to his body as she grew weaker with every passing moment. "I have tae leave ye for the moment, just remember that those little friends of yers have nae gone back to America and I have no problem with gutting them in front of ye should ye try to escape."

She whimpered, the sound itself zapping more energy from her as the blackness of sleep threatened to overtake her at any moment. She wanted to fight, but she knew it was hopeless and she couldn't risk Evelyn's and Kaloria's lives. She'd rather die than see them harmed. Just the thought of this monster using them against her made her sick to her stomach

As her strength failed her and she fell back into the realm of sleep Renestrae made a silent vow to herself. She promised that no matter how long it took, no matter what she had to do she would be free of him someday. Even if she never saw the people she loved again she would do everything in her power to protect them from the monster that had stolen her innocence and humanity.