Chapter twenty six ~ edited
I shifted and stretched my arms. I unlatched the stall door and opened it, walking out into the aisle.
"Seth," I whispered. "Woah it's weird saying that. Midnight," Midnight put his head over the stall door and looked at me. His ears were pinned back. He was annoyed again.
I rolled my eyes and unlatched the stall door. "Don't pin your ears back at me. I need to tell you something. Now get your horsey ass out of that stall and shift." He walked out with a snort and stood in the middle of the aisle. He didn't shift. I threw my arms in the air. "Fine be that way. It's about Emily - it's so weird saying your actual names..." I trailed off in thought.
Midnight stomped his hoof and snorted. "Right. Um. Before Caleb and I left for the ride, he whispered to me, 'I know what you are' and then when we stopped on the ride, he told me to shift back and we talked. He's a werewolf like you said. Uh... Star and Shadow... They... Um..." Midnight snorted again.
Tears stung my eyes. "Well... They did try to escape. Um. Caleb followed them in his wolf form and they... They're... Midnight, they're dead." Midnight's nostrils flared and his breathing sounded like a racehorse after it ran a race, only more controlled. "I'm sorry." I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I'm so, so sorry."
He shifted. It felt weird, him shifting in my arms. He hugged me after he shifted. There was a gasp but I ignored it and Midnight didn't seem to notice, or he was ignoring it too.
"Do you know what happened?" He asked.
"Caleb said they got shot by rangers. He couldn't go to them in his wolf form or he would have been shot too." I said tearfully.
"They should've been able to get away after a gunshot wound and gotten help. They couldn't have been killed from that." I frowned. He was going into denial. I pulled away a bit and looked up at him.
"Seth. They didn't just shoot them then leave them for dead."
"They put them down, didn't they?" He asked. I bit my lip and nodded. We hugged again and I sighed, rubbing his back.
"You know, when Caleb told me, I broke down and cried like a baby. You're handling this better then I expected. She was your sister after all." I mumbled softly into his shoulder. "We may have spent most of the time arguing, but I'll always be here for you."
He held me tighter. "I know. And I'll always be here for you." I smiled.
"You... Night... Turned... Am I dreaming?" My eyes widened. That sounded like Stacy. Midnight - no Seth - looked up and tensed. We broke apart and I stood next to Seth, both of us now staring at Stacy. Her eyes were wide as well, from shock. I bit my lip and thought of what to do. It wasn't the smartest idea but eh.
I walked up to Stacy and held out my right hand. "Hi, I'm Shimmer. This is Night. The human version. Ever wondered what it would be like if your horse was human? Well, now you can find out. How often do you have strange dreams?" I asked.
"Ne-never." She stuttered, shaking my hand slowly.
"Oh. Well, how long do you have? We have a biiiit of explaining to do."
"We can't-" Seth started.
"Night! We're telling her. It can't hurt, right?" I grumbled, cutting him off.
"Summer. Seriously! We're not supposed to tell humans about us!" He raised his voice. I turned around and glared at him.
"Summer?" Stacy asked.
"It's my actual name. His is Seth, or you can call him Mr Grump." I mumbled, still looking at Seth.
"Oh really? Mr Grump? Do you know why I'm always a grump now? You keep doing these things that frustrate me. But telling humans, I don't even want to begin listing why we shouldn't." Seth said.
"Then don't." I said. Seth glared at me. I shrugged. "She saw you shift." I said, holding up my hands in the air.
"Because you couldn't do the simple thing of telling me about Em, in horse form, from inside our stalls. But of course, you had to do it in human form."
"Well I couldn't exactly comfort you from inside my stall." I said. He opened his mouth to speak but shut it, softening his gaze. "Exactly. Now shut up or I'll challenge you to a jump off."
"How about a race instead?" Seth asked.
I snorted. "Only because you can't jump." I said with a smile.
"Oh really? Nice. That's so polite. You're going to get payback for that one." Seth said.
I laughed. "Bring it on. What ever it is."
"You two remind me of my aunty and uncle with your bickering." Stacy said. Ok, thanks I guess. Who doesn't love to have someone say you sound like their aunty and uncle?
"You should have heard us when we argued in horse form." I said.
"Let's not bring up the past." Seth groaned. I rolled my eyes, before laughing.
"Ok, so, we need to tell you everything I suppose." I said. Stacy nodded cautiously and we walked into my stall, sitting in the wood shavings. I introduced us again then both Seth and I explained everything that happened.
~*~
"...And then we ended up here." I finished. Stacy sat in silence for a moment, processing everything she had just been told.
"Wow. So horse shifters are real?" Are werewolves real too?" Stacy asked. "I heard you say Caleb and wolf form in the same sentence. So Caleb's a werewolf?"
"Yes, yes and yes." I answered. She was taking this surprisingly well. I was proud of her! There was no 'I'm going insane' talk. She accepted it and was really interested, I think.
"So, what would you prefer I call you; Seth and Summer, Fire and Midnight, or Night and Shimmer?" Stacy asked. I looked at Seth and he shrugged.
"It doesn't bother us really. Just as long as you don't call us Seth and Summer when other people are around. Any other time, you can call us whatever." I said.
Stacy smiled. "Cool. Can I tell mum about you two?" I looked at Seth again and his grumpy-pants-face returned.
"We'd prefer you didn't." I said, not admitting defeat just yet.
"Please. Just mum." I bit my lip and looked back at Seth. I pleaded with my eyes.
He sighed. "Alright. Just your mum. No one else." He said. I smiled and gave Stacy a high-five.
"Thanks! She won't believe me without proof. Do you two mind if you showed her?" Stacy asked.
"I wouldn't care." I said. Stacy smiled.
"If we show your mum what we really are, would you let us go?" Seth asked. Stacy looked down, sad.
"Seth!" I snapped.
"No. It's fine. After you show mum, I'll let you go." She said sadly. I frowned.
Seth you moron!
I gave Stacy a hug after we stood up, whispering in her ear, "Sorry about him." She nodded and walked out of the stall. "You're a piece of work, you know that?" I asked him. He shrugged and I laughed, shoving him out of my stall. "I don't think Stacy will be coming back with her mum until tomorrow."
"Yeah." He said, entering his stable. He folded his arms and rested them on top of this stall door. I did the same.
"I'm really sorry about what happened with Emily." I said.
"Thanks." He said before he stepped back and shifted, turning around and going further back in his stall. I frowned and sighed.
"And I'm sorry about arguing with you." I whispered, shifting. I moved to the back of my stall. I don't even remember if I said goodbye to Star and Shadow. Now I won't get to.
I laid down on the shavings and closed my eyes, letting sleep overtake me and pull me from the day that caused me heartache.
The countdown has begun!
Chapters left: 4