The horses were spooked, that much was certain. In fact, he had never seen them act like this; the sound of their stress had woken him out of a deep sleep. He had stumbled out of his tiny little ranch house with a flashlight, groaning with sleeplessness and stress. Honestly, he hadn't really minded-his dreams were becoming horrifying nightmares that had left his mind racing and breath ragged. Although terrified, he noticed it had no effect on his then raging erection that was straining to be freed from his boxers. Leave it to him to get turned on by fucking nightmares. He sighed, and approached one of the horse stalls, calling out calmly for someone to reach their head out for a nice nose scratch.
"Haven?" He whispered, reaching into the dark stall. He heard a snort from the opposite side. "C'mere, buddy. What's the matter?" Joe's eyes strained to see the horse in the darkness. Suddenly, he felt the warm, soft touch of Haven's flank. The horse stepped into the light and Joe's brow furrowed. The poor thing was obviously terrified; its sides were slicked with sweat and the eyes wide and shining.
"Haven, buddy, it's all right now...shh..."
The horse whinnied softly as Joe gave him a reassuring pat on the neck. He paused then, feeling Haven's tangled mane. That was odd, considering he has just groomed Haven just this morning. He pushed the horse's head aside to cast light on the mane and was shocked to see several tiny braids scattered in the horse's hair. Aghast, he stepped back and Haven retreated back into the stall. Joe shook his head, obviously someone had braided the manes after he groomed today. Probably a trainer or something, he would have to talk to them tomorrow. Haven was a horse for fucks sake; he doesn't need his hair done.
Rubbing his tired face, Joe began to walk slowly back towards the house. The wind whipped though the trees, causing the trees and bend and creak...casting shadows that made him feel surrounded. The wind blew past his ears, carrying the sound of a contented woman's sigh. Joe looked around. He was just spooking himself now. As he reached the porch the contented sigh rose into more of a low laugh as the wind picked up speed and he began to walk faster...He stole a glance behind him, feeling like he wasn't alone when-
BAM!
He slammed the house door behind him, cutting off the sound groans of the trees. It was dark inside, but at least it was quiet. He collapsed onto the bed, pushing his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes as he sighed and drifted off to sleep.
After what felt like hours, he woke slightly. His eyes opened a bit, fearing the bite of sunlight, but instead only saw a deep purple haze around his bed. He bolted upright, taking in a shocked gasp as he looked around. There was nothing, only his bed and this endless purple fog. Was he dreaming?
"They don't like me that much." A smooth female voice drifted from the fog.
Joe's head jerked in the general direction of the voice. "Hello?"
"The horses. They don't like me that much."
Joe sat still on his bed. This was a weird ass dream. This WAS a dream, right?
He saw an ivory leg first, bare-footed and gracile, step out of the fog. Joe's eyes traveled up that long, long leg as it met the body of a young woman wrapped in layers of sheer black fabric that was slitted high up the thigh. Her long blonde hair tumbled over her shoulders and over the shining silver pins that held the fabric up at her shoulders. Once glance into those icy eyes had Joe convinced he was dreaming now.
She smiled at his traveling eyes, but as he met her gaze, he looked away in embarrassment.
"I ride them at night."
"My horses?" Joe said suddenly, narrowing his eyes. "You're trespassing."
That sly grin on her face widened. "You don't ride them at night," She moved closer to him, and his body tightened. "They run for me, until they want to collapse from exhaustion. I braid their hair and sing them asleep, to rest until I want to gallop through the fields again."
He swallowed. "I thought you said they didn't like you."
Her eyes hardened and gleamed, "They may not like it. But they do as I command. They are obedient. If they rebel they know what I will do to them."
Joe was frightened by her suddenly dangerous tone. "Do you...like horses?"