Then, the horse inhaled, deeply, as if smelling her. A low, soft noise rumbled out of its throat.

Madeleine’s heart stopped.

The horse lifted its head. It made another low noise. Instead of tearing into Madeleine with its teeth, it paced around her, toward the sea.

Madeleine sat frozen. The sea behind her splashed and sloshed as the horse walked into the water. What was happening? Had it heeded her pleas and warnings, was it returning to the sea where it had died?

Suddenly, something hit Madeleine between her shoulder blades, hard enough to drive the breath out of her. Then it happened again.

The horse was nudging her with its head.

She tilted forward, gasping, as the horse bumped her with its head once more. Then it whinnied impatiently.

Madeleine scrambled to her feet and staggered toward her phone. It took her a couple of attempts to pick it up, precious moments in which the monster could easily kill her, but no such thing happened. Instead, the horse remained behind her.

Certain she was dreaming, Madeleine slipped her phone into her pocket. She didn’t seem to need it right now, if it was even working at this point. It didn’t seem like the moment to stop and check.

The horse nudged her shoulder with its nose again, pushing her away from the water, in the direction of the seawall.

Madeleine stumbled forward. A few steps in, she stepped on a rock that tilted beneath her foot, and nearly fell again.

The horse caught the back of her jacket with its teeth and dragged Madeleine back to her feet. It made another impatient sound, as if telling Madeleine to be more careful.

In this impossible way, Madeleine made her way back to the seawall. The horse walked behind her. Halfway up the steps, the wind kicked back in, cutting through her jacket as the whisky’s warm protection officially wore off. Her feet and bottom were soaked from landing in the water, and her toes felt like blocks of ice.

Knees trembling, she reached the beginning of the central thoroughfare. As she did, the horse bumped her shoulder again and made a sound of warning. Unable to help herself, Madeleine turned and looked up. Closer to the streetlamps, she could see that the horse’s eyes were indeed a flashing yellow—although when they rolled a certain way, they looked almost red.

This close up, away from the sea and all its terror, she noticed something else too. The horse…smelled nice.

Which shouldn’t be possible. Shouldn’t it smell however monsters smelled? Like fire and brimstone or something? Instead, the horse smelled like the sea. Not the rotting smell of earlier, but like the first time you caught the scent as you approached from shore. Refreshing, exciting, the hours ahead full of possibility.