“Wait, wait.” You wave a hand in Charlie’s face, wishing there was a drink in your hand now. “He was eating the women?”

Charlie nods. “Yup, he’d drag ‘em under and keep ‘em for a few years or so, then kill and eat them over the course of the next decade or so.” He frowns. “I tried asking how the girls could live under water for so long. All Julie would give me was that it was faerie magic.”

The bar’s started to clear out, so almost no one is there to notice you gag at the image of a demon horse munching on a rotting corpse for a decade. Charlie seems resigned to the fact. It’s one he’s obviously had to live with for years. He’s leaning back in his chair, tired eyes scanning the chalkboard to see what might still be in the kitchen. The server brings out a basket of fried pickles when he asks for one. The waitress is around his age and slips her number under his plate as it slides onto the table.

Charlie isn’t a bad looking guy; even in his sixties, he’s still pretty trim. The bar lighting is flattering for his skin tone, highlighting his mixed heritage, even if it deepened the haunted look in his eyes. If you hadn’t known about him, you’d assume he had just had a rough week based on his state of dishevelment. Charlie gives the waitress a winning smile but doesn’t touch the scrap of paper with the elegantly curved digits. Instead, he ignores it for his food.

“Sorry, kid,” he says between munches. “I haven’t eaten all day.” You nod that it’s fine and let him finish the platter. You feel nauseous at the sight of the grease on the plate, but Charlie licks the crumbs from his fingers and the corner of his mouth.

“So, what happened to Julie if she had the iron ring for protection?”

Charlie stills. “I actually don’t know. I wasn’t there when it happened. The only thing I remember about that day is that they found the body of this ancient alligator, kind of the town mascot, laying on the rocks. Before you ask, he was picked clean too.”

“It ate a whole alligator in one night?” The nausea is back. Charlie just nods, mouth pulled down in an almost impressed curve.

“Julie let me stay in her house that night, not like I’d leave with that monster on the loose, but we camped out on her couches and woke up when she got the call.”

“Why’d they call Julie?”

“Well, you see, the town had been under the protection of Colleen’s bargain for so long, her descendants were kind of the unofficial leaders when it came to the weird stuff. Stuff people that came after the deal wouldn’t know about. It was Julie’s job to protect them from the Kelpie.”

“Sounds shitty.” You watch Charlie nudge his plate to the edge of the table, the sliding porcelain taking the number with it.

“You don’t know the half of it.”

.     .    .      .     .    .

Julie didn’t get a chance to turn off her phone alarm the next morning. Instead, her phone blasted “Back in Black” to let her know that the sheriff was calling.

“Yeah,” Charlie heard her mumble out around a yawn. The sleep in her voice would be obvious to anyone, but the sheriff didn’t seem to care. Charlie could hear his growling drawl from the other couch. “’Kay, I’ll be there in ten. Don’t touch the organs.” Charlie groaned and sat up when she did.

“What is it with that thing and organs,” he grunted and stretched, popping his sternum in the process. They’d both slept in their jeans and shirts from the night before. Suffice to say, this wasn’t his most comfortable awakening.

“Kelpies hate the organs. Won’t touch them with a ten-foot pole.”

“Makes sense.” He watched her pocket a knuckle duster that looked to be made out of iron, and head out the door. “Hold it, wait for me.”

Julie brandished her key at his face. “You’re stayin’ right there, City Boy. It tried to eat you last night and I’ve gotta get to the river. No point in risking it.”

“What am I supposed to do, then?” Charlie had always hated being benched.

“Write your story. It’s what you’re paid to do isn’t it?” With that, she slammed the door, leaving him alone in an apartment that wasn’t his. He didn’t even know where the coffee was for God’s sake.

After an hour of stumbling around and cursing anything and everything, Julie, the Kelpie, the town, he settled at her kitchen table with a pot of brew and a legal pad he’d borrowed from Julie’s desk. When she didn’t come back after an hour, he figured it was safe to use her computer. There wasn’t a password. Another hour later, he’d edited what he’d already written and was working on a second draft. How long did it take to bury a gator?

A timid knock pulled him out of the trance he’d worked himself into as he drained the pot of coffee.

“Charlie, you in there?” a familiar voice asked. “It’s Nanny. Juliet said you’d be here?” In four steps he was yanking the door open, dread already curling in his gut.

“Where’s Julie?” Nanny looked like she’d been crying. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her bandana canted to the side and her previously crisp uniform looking like she’d been wringing the material in her hands for an hour at least.

“That’s why I’m here, Sweetie,” she sobbed. “She wanted me to warn you. She’s in the hospital, the police are talking to her.”

“What happened?” Charlie knew he shouldn’t yell at the small woman, but panic was crawling up his throat with its claws out.

“We don’t know!” She wept into her apron, her voice coming out muffled. “She was in shock when I left! All I know is that she’s hurt, and her ring is missing. She’s scratched up all over and it tried to bite through her shoulder. There was so much blood!” Charlie didn’t need to ask what “it” was. The Kelpie had obviously come to call.

“I’m taking you to the hospital.” Nanny started leading him out the door. “She wants you there.”

Julie was in terrible shape when they arrived at Anderson’s only hospital, the frazzled doctor waving them through as he handled her and his assistant handled the more routine patients who were waiting for attention. Nanny barely glanced at him and marched Charlie down the hallway to Julie’s room. Pale and sunken against the white covers, she barely acknowledged their appearance.

“Sweetie,” Nanny whispered. “You awake?” Julie’s eyelids fluttered but didn’t open as she nodded. Nanny maneuvered them inside around the bed, turning the lights on as she went. Charlie had to catch his breath at the sight of the young woman who had become something of a friend over the past few days.

Nanny had been right. Julie looked bad. A white bandage peeked out from under the collar of her hospital gown. If he had to guess it was for the shoulder bite. Her previous injuries were still there, the healing scratches on her arms wrapped in clean, new material. Her face looked like it had taken the worst of the attack. There were slowly darkening splotches over both of her eyes from a, most likely, broken nose. Her left jaw and cheekbone were practically one large bruise and there was a laceration on her forehead that had been stitched up. Charlie counted eight stitches.

The part that shouldn’t have surprised him was that her hands were busted. Each knuckle was scabbed over, signs of how she’d fought back. Charlie felt a bit of pride at that. It vanished when he got to her right hand, replaced with nausea and anger at the beast. Her right ring finger was missing, the stump covered in white gauze that did nothing but highlight the absence of the digit. The anxiety he’d been fighting since Nanny knocked on the door was raging behind his teeth, wanting to come out in a slew of angry words. Instead he held them back, softly gathering up Julie’s left hand and waiting for her to open her eyes. When hazel orbs finally squinted at him, unassisted by her glasses, Charlie broke.

“I thought you said they wouldn’t touch iron!” he hissed. Anger and fear had melded together in a ball under his ribs, making his tone rougher than he intended.

Julie gave him a wan smile in response. “I guess it’s like a dog with an electric fence,” she whispered. “If they’re determined enough…” The sentence was left hanging as a few other figures pushed their way into the room. Miss Janie shoved him out of the way and wasted no time in wrapping Julie up in a hug. Julie leaned into the touch, letting the older woman sooth her in a soft tone. Charlie retreated to Nanny’s side. She was nibbling on her finger and staring out the window nervously.

“Are Julie’s parents coming?” He asked. He though it was odd that so many others were arriving before parents. The two other women that had marched in with Janie settled themselves on the chairs in stiff silence. Their iron ring adorned hands clutched the chair arms.

Nanny shook her head. “Juliet’s daddy was a drifter, doesn’t even know she exists. Her momma died when she was fifteen. Miss Janie raised her with her alongside her grandmother after that.”

“Is her grandmother coming then?”

Another head shake. “Mrs. Andrews started developing Alzheimer’s a year ago. She’s in a nursing home in the next town. Best one Julie could find.”  So that was it? Julie had been placed in charge of this mystic problem for years without having any back up besides the women in this room? Charlie felt a brief wave of sadness wash over him before he heard Julie clear her throat. He watched as she painfully adjusted herself to be sitting up in the bed, before addressing the room.

“Ladies, and Charlie,” she greeted. “We’re under attack.”

“Are you sure we should be including the Outsider?” one of the newer ladies interrupted.

“He’s here because I want him here, Mrs. Dubose,” Julie snapped. “Do you have a problem?” Even from her hospital bed, Julie held a commanding presence. Mrs. Dubose frowned, but shook her head and let the younger woman continue.

“As I said, the Kelpie has been attacking more often now that the river is connected again. The sheriff has informed me that they found a pile of bones in the woods. Older ones from the night of the hurricane. It seems some of the missing persons reports from after the evacuation were due to the creature. It still needs to eat though.” The women in the each room reacted the same way. There were no gasps or murmurs. Instead, their faces hardened and they glanced at each other as if calculating who would be next. Charlie didn’t have time to unpack that the sheriff was in on this before they were dissecting the situation.

“If we’re to offer a bride,” Mrs. Dubose’s neighbor piped up, “It’ll have to be soon, and one of the granddaughters. All of our children and us are married. It’s a breach of contract if one of us did it.”

“That eliminates Janie,” Mrs. Dubose agreed. “She has no children.” Janie glared at her, as if the reminder was a sore one.

“My grandbabies are all too young,” Nanny put in. “Four and five. They don’t meet the requirements.”

“My oldest does,” the first woman agreed. “But she’s in Sacramento.”

Mrs. Dubose snarled at the room. “You aren’t coming after my babies,” she shrieked. “Not when it was my sister he stole last time!”

Julie made a placating motion with her good arm. “Mrs. Dubose. We won’t.”

“I’m confused,” Charlie interrupted. They’d practically forgotten he existed. “What are the requirements and what happened to your sister?” Mrs. Dubose sneered at his question.

“My sister was one of the three girls that got dragged down years ago, before we built the dam.”

Charlie nodded, feeling sympathy for the old bat, but not a lot as she’d been sneering and snarling, practically since she walked into the room. He made a ‘continue’ motion.

“The bride requirements were specific,” Julie answered. “It had to be a girl older than thirteen but younger than thirty. She couldn’t have been married before, and had to be a descendant from one of the original families.”

“It seems there’s someone in this room who fits that description perfectly,” Mrs. Dubose drawled. Her eyes seemed to drag over Julie in a threatening way. Everyone else in the room stilled, all except Janie and Charlie, showing expressions of guilt. They’d all been thinking it, he realized. They just hadn’t said it. Julie nodded at the old witch, not looking offended in the least.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” she agreed, to the obvious shock of Mrs. Dubose. “I’m the right age and bloodline. My family holds the original contract.” Her eyes scanned over the rest of the room determinedly. “I’ll convince him to make me the last bride. We’ll end this once and for all.”