The Kelpie

Looking back, I feel like I should’ve known what was happening. Although, I would’ve had to believe in something that should’ve never been possible. Three years ago, I took a trip to Scotland for the summer. I was on break from college to see a friend whom I’d met when she was an exchange student at my high school. As my first trip abroad, it was exciting. I considered several potential dangers; I wasn’t that naïve, but nothing could’ve prepared me for what I’d experienced in Lochcarron.

After becoming so stiff from driving for some time, seeing a sign that said, “Lochcarron” was just what I needed. I was rounding a bend between the beautiful green hills sparsely covered by treacherous stones and steep inclines. When the picturesque lake came into view, I pulled off to the shoulder of the road. I parked the car and reached into my bag to rummage around to find my camera case.

Once I’d snagged it, I made my way to a steep and rocky ledge a short distance away from the vehicle, excited to stretch my legs. I stood at the edge of what seemed like a straight drop. But because of the large stones, I could climb down to the water’s edge. Although, I still had to be careful not to scrape up my bare legs, exposed by my shorts.

In the shade of a few large overhanging stones, there was a nook for me to situate in and snap pictures of the striking view. As I was about to take a picture of myself standing with the lake as my backdrop, without paying attention, I stepped backward, forgetting how little there was of solid ground for me to stand on. I felt my heart stop, unable to breathe when my foot hadn’t connected with a stone.

As a result, I dropped my camera and tumbled into the nearly ink-black water of the little shaded cove. Instantly, a rush of ice-cold water consumed me, which almost made me inhale. I connected against something hard under the water, knocking the air from my lungs.

For a second, I assumed it was a stone coated in algae until it moved of its own accord in response to the impact. Whatever it was, it was big. I panicked and broke through the surface of the water before I swam and hauled myself out of the water in record time.

The water was moving as I backed myself against the stones where I had stood before. A rippling trail was being drawn just under the surface, as though something was prowling, waiting for a chance to pounce. Whatever it was, I couldn’t tell, but it was big.

The waves began gathering height rapidly, and they were now covering my shoes and crashing against my shins as the movement under the water became frenzied. No questions asked. I immediately began scrambling up the rocks, not wanting to look back and possibly see what was looking at me. Whatever it was, its stare felt like a soft and eerie caress on my back, causing the sensation of pins and needles on my skin as goosebumps raised.

Once back at the car, the wind picked up abruptly, making me feel like I would freeze if I didn’t change quickly. I crawled into the back seat and removed my dripping clothes before exchanging them for dry and warm ones from my suitcase. Then I wrapped my long copper hair in a towel I had stored in my overnight bag.

Nervously, I stared out the window toward the ledge. It felt like whatever was in the water would come crawling or leaping onto that ledge. But surely that’s ridiculous. Still, I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I hastily continued my drive, hoping to forget about the ominous sense that clung to me like a second skin.

It was late morning as I pulled up to a small but beautiful cottage overlooking the water, where I spotted my friend Jennifer Campbell already waiting for me. Her long bright red hair flew wildly in the windstorm that had snappishly appeared earlier. She waved at me, and I smiled in return as I opened the car door, only to be hit with the full force of the current. I thought the howling wind sounded eerie from inside the car, but with no barrier, it was just as deafening as it was creepy.

Jenny jumped into action to help me retrieve my bags. Despite the warm season, the air became oddly frigid, and I was ready to get inside to warm myself. I’d hoped Jenny wasn’t waiting out here too long. Not that she was ever one to complain about anything. She’d always seemed to be more of a doer and less of a talker.

We’d both hurried into the cottage and reveled in the warmth radiating from the blazing fire in the stone fireplace. We tossed my bags into a bedroom and headed to the kitchen.

“Sorry Brooke, but I didn’t have time to pick up very much today, but I’ll head back to the store tomorrow,” Jenny stated as she opened the pantry. I told her not to worry about it and that all I needed was coffee.

After a few drinks and no small amount of catching up, I mentioned what had happened earlier at the cove. “I’m not a marine biologist, but I wouldn’t think anything that big would live in the water here. Just how big can the fish get in a lake like this?”

She looked at me oddly and said, “Well...they can get pretty large, but not as large as your description. You may have just been startled.” Our attention turned to the window, which was now rattling with the force of the wind. The sky had grown dark, and waves violently thrashed against the shore. Strangely, the howling intensified, and the oddest part was that the louder it got, the more animalistic it sounded. We looked at each other with an unspoken question, accompanied by a strange sense of unease that grew with every crackling pop from the fire, which still blazed.

I was restless, unsure of what to do with myself. Part of me wanted to sleep through the storm. I was more than tired enough from the trip. However, the other part of me felt too anxious and felt like there was a need to keep watch. For what. I couldn’t be sure. The cold was seeping through the walls, reaching out or creeping toward the fire, with the desire to snuff it out, preventing it from spreading its life-giving warmth. Perhaps it was because I’m not used to storms like this, but then again, even Jenny looked ill at ease, and she grew up in this area. My gut told me something was wrong, but I cannot comprehend what.

We awkwardly agreed that we should go to bed and get an early start, both of us refusing to acknowledge the elephant in the room. I quickly re-braided my copper hair and began my nightly routine. That would usually knock me out. Although sleeping felt like a near-impossible task, I drifted off with my head tucked tightly under the thick quilt.

____________________________________________

The night was only lit faintly by the moon cascaded in black, ominous clouds, and all I could catch was a glimpse of the black waves crashing against the shore. The thrashing waters combined with the windstorm created unbearable white noise. Suddenly overpowering the torrent’s sound was like an animal’s shriek, which made me jump. Hoofbeats against the packed soil approached like rolling thunder growing louder. The icy wind beating against me and the deafening crash of waves were overwhelming, but I turned toward the new sound as though it had demanded my attention.

But before I could see what would emerge from the darkness. I was suddenly startled out of my deep sleep. The sudden jolt caused me to fall off the bed in a tangled mess of sheets onto the hard floor.

I was stunned but immediately snapped out of it when the sound came again more firmly. I realized it was Jenny knocking on the door.

“Brooke, you alive?!” she called out.

“Yeah,” I grumbled while unwrapping myself from the sheets. Resisting the urge to fling the door open out of frustration, I only opened it enough to peek through the threshold. I could see that Jenny was already dressed for the day and glaring at me with her striking emerald eyes. Somehow, the coloring made the looks she would give others more intense.

With a questioning look, she said, “Get ready!” clearly wondering why I was still standing there.

“Get ready for what?” I replied cluelessly.

“The hike we planned over the phone.”

I looked at her, dumbfounded for a moment. “There was a bad storm. I’m pretty sure today wouldn’t be the best time for a hike.”

Jenny gave me a Cheshire cat grin and explained, “After storms are the best times for hiking. There’s alot that washes up from the lakebed.” I raised my brow.

“So you mean scavenging, not hiking.”

Walking down the short hall wearing a big smile, she called, “Hiking. Scavenging. Same thing. We’re still walking around, aren’t we?” I sighed and shook my head in defeat before closing the door.

I approached the mirror in the room’s corner and gazed at the dark circles contrasting my pale complexion under my grey eyes. I looked as haggard as I felt. Strands of copper hair were sticking up at all odd angles from my braid. My tank top is twisted, enough to reveal the Celtic shield knot tattoo between my shoulder blades. Taking a deep breath, I strengthened my resolve to get ready and made my way to the bathroom in the hall.

An hour later, I was strolling along the shoreline with Jenny, which was refreshing now that I was clean and fed. I looked over at her, and she was still focused on her hunt, scanning the bank. Even though she had already picked up a few odds and ends from the waterline and even stumbled across a silver pendant in good condition. Jenny was determined to find more. Though she made some off-handed comments about the necklace looking familiar, I was busy looking around at the scenery.

I couldn’t help but find it surprising to see birds happily chirping and the sun peeking through the clouds after such a violent storm. It gave me a sense of relief. The heavy atmosphere from the previous day seemed to have melted away along with the cold and tension it had produced.

We scrambled onto some rocks that the water continuously lapped against, so we could see if anything was caught in a crevasse, but we stopped when our senses were assaulted by an awful scent. Not by the smell of algae, but by something putrid. Decay, and it didn’t smell like fish.

My eyes were drawn in the direction that Jenny was already staring in. A flock of birds picked away at something obscured by some larger stones. We approached cautiously, but I stumbled, causing the birds to scatter in a frenzy of flapping wings and screeches. Jenny gasped, and I looked up, only to be petrified by what I saw.

It was a young woman’s corpse, waterlogged, and partially decayed. The poor girl appeared to be around our age. Her clothes were torn, possibly by the rocks, and her eyes were missing. However, there was apparent damage that had made it appear that something large was feeding on her. Chunks of flesh and muscle had been torn away, revealing bone and some of her organs.

Because of the horrific scene, I turned and vomited while Jenny pulled out her phone and called the police. It wasn’t long before the officers arrived to examine the scene themselves while Jenny and I were questioned. Before being sent back to our cottage with a few expressions of pity from the officers, I watched as Jenny handed the silver necklace over to one of them.

One of the older officers approached me, introducing himself as Ross Morrison. He looked concerned, and it was because I looked like I was going into shock. However, he seemed kind and tried again to engage in conversation, but I could barely hear him, and I didn’t feel capable of speech at that moment. I just felt cold. He looked a Jenny and said something to her. But I wasn’t sure what. She only looked slightly better than I did.

Once we reached the cottage, we collapsed into chairs, both of us thoroughly chilled by the event. I kept my head down, staring at the grain on the wood floor, tracing it with my eyes, when Jenny spoke.

“I thought that the necklace had looked familiar. I Know…. knew that girl. She went missing a few weeks ago, but people assumed she’d run away. Her parents aren’t the best people. Ava was a sweet girl. I used to work with her a few years ago at a shop in town.” I remained silent a moment and was about to speak before Jenny cut me off.

“Perhaps we should change the subject.”

I nodded in agreement. I knew I was still looking a little green and was about to excuse myself when Jenny spoke up. “So no lunch, then?”

She meant to lighten the mood, but all I could say was, “You’re right about one thing Jenny. There is alot that washes up from the lakebed. More than I’d like to know about.”

The rest of the day passed in silence. As I was getting ready for bed for the evening, I was shocked to hear a horse’s whinny. I looked out the window toward the lake a short distance away. There was the figure of a horse galloping in and out of the water. It splashed playfully, as though without a care in the world. I recalled the dream from the previous night. It was so odd. I opened the creaky window for a look at the beautiful animal whose white coat reflected the pale moonlight like it was dusted with silver.

He must’ve heard me because he halted, tilted his head to look in my direction, and studied me for a moment before snorting and throwing his head to toss his mane as an arrogant gesture. As if to make his point, he flexed his muscles, pawing the ground, and bowed his neck before trotting off down the nearest path. I thought it was odd that a horse would run loose by the town and one with so much attitude at that, but I brushed it aside while I closed the window. Regardless, now that the night was peaceful, I would not miss the opportunity to sleep.