Cadence felt a dread settle over her as she opened her eyes, looking around and finding herself in her room. Except... Something felt off. The room wasn't pitch black; it was almost a sort of soft grey. She almost felt a sense of malaise as she looked around the off-putting room.
She blinked, wondering what the fuck that word meant, and she sat up, reaching for her nightstand to grab her phone and search it up. Except her phone wasn't there, but something squishy was.
She looked, her eyes widening as she saw she grabbed what looked like an anatomically accurate heart, which started beating in her hand.
She couldn't help but stare at it fascinated, a sort of artificial calm keeping her rooted in place, keeping her from questioning what was happening. The heart beat faster and faster, and the room started to shrink as the heart grew bigger and bigger.
She snapped out of it at the last second, gasping as she looked at the engorged heart, quickly covering her face moments before it popped, splattering everywhere.
When she lowered her hands, she was clean, not a single trace of the heart left.
Except now she had a bigger problem, because she was in that same field from her dream two weeks ago, and she saw something moving in the tall grass.
"Fuck this shit," she muttered, turning and walking away, pissed that one of her few lucid dreams seemed to be on crack or something.
The world tilted, and she screeched as she phased through the ground, disoriented for a moment before she found herself on an operating room table.
"Patient is secure," a deep voice said, and her eyes widened as she saw a black and a gold blob above her, both blobs wearing masks and in medical scrubs.
"Surgery may resume," the gold one said, voice soft and feminine.
The black blob brought a scalpel down to her chest, and Cadence realized she had no top, just two black stickies for modesty.
She tried to say something, anything, but her mouth felt like it was full of jolly ranchers, unable to even make a squeak, her lips feeling like they were Flex sealed or something. She inhaled sharply, the scalpel creating a tingly, pins-and-needles sensation as it slowly cut open her chest, exposing her innards for the world to see.
She looked down as best as she could, her head held in place by some leather straps. She could just barely see what was happening, the scalpel dripping a rainbow substance as the black blob pulled away.
The gold one reached in, putting a blue rubber glove over their tendril. Hehe, it almost looks like a condom in shape-
She squealed in her throat, eyes widening as her body jerked, a very spiky feeling blooming in her chest.
"Patient is resisting, apply sedative," the dark blob said calmly, and the gold blob nodded. Cadence's eyes widened in terror of what would happen as the blob moved closer, some whirring of machinery happening above her head.
Moments later, a large, clawed hand started stroking her head, carding the claws over her scalp and through her hair in a very relaxing manner. Cadence calmed down pretty quickly, her body relaxing at the touch.
"Patient is sedated," the gold blob said to the dark blob, who nodded.
The gold blob then reached into her chest again, pulling out a heart-shaped object covered in sheets of metal, bolts easily visible.
Three centipede creatures were crawling over it and nibbling on the metal, which sported multiple holes from the three centipedes, in the colors of red, yellow, and blue, respectively.
The dark blob chuckled darkly, using forceps to slowly remove the wriggling centipedes, setting them in a small box.
"Oh, no no no, look at that," the dark blob cooed, "Looks like your heart isn't all cold steel, now, is it?" A rainbow substance oozed from the holes, the black blob using some pliers to slowly peel away the multiple layers of metal, slowly removing the soft, vulnerable flesh underneath.
"You worked so hard to keep yourself safe from anyone getting too close, yet look at you, letting them chew your heart."
Cadence's eyes twitched as the black blob started poking the squishy heart, giggling at her suffering as she twitched and jerked.
"You've always been weak," the black blob hissed.
"You're stronger than you know," the gold blob whispered.
"You'll always be alone," the black blob growled.
"You'll never be alone," the gold blob cooed.
"You're only wanted as long as you're useful," the blob growled, roughly shoving the heart back into its proper spot, the jagged edges of the metal digging into her skin.
"You're always wanted, always useful," the gold blob cooed, gently fixing the heart's position before starting to sew Cadence back up.
"You'll never be loved," The black blob said firmly.
"You've always been loved," the gold blob whispered, and a scream built up in Cadence's throat.
She sat up violently, screaming loudly, "SHUT UP!"
The world went silent, and she opened her eyes to find herself in a field of black grass.
"Where the fuck?" Cadence muttered, looking around before seeing her dark counterpart. "Oh, fuck me, it's you. C'est tu," Cadence groaned, dragging her hands down her face.
"Really struggling, huh?" The goth punk Cadence smirked, "Been stress eating, recently? I've noticed."
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Cadence snapped, standing up from her seated position as the gothic Cadence moved closer.
"Oh, sweetling, I'll always be here," the gothic Cadence cooed, trailing her finger down real Cadence's neck, "Especially when another of your depressive episodes hit. How long has it been since the episode started? A month or two?"
"It will go away eventually, like it always does," Cadence growled, and gothic Cadence cooed as she grabbed Cadence's chin and forced Cadence to look at her.
"Aw, just ignoring your problems, like always~!" Gothic Cadence cooed, stepping closer. "You know one option is always available~" she cooed, a black noose materializing around Cadence's neck as the end merged with the end of the noose on the gothic Cadence's neck, pulling them flush against each other.
"I will not," Cadence growled, shoving her away but letting out a small 'grk' when the nooses around their necks prevented them from moving too far away.
"Come on~" goth Cadence cooed, and Cadence shook her head.
"No, it's too much work," Cadence snapped, "Not feeling it."
Gothic Cadence giggled, the noose around Cadence's neck disappearing. "Well, enjoy your slice of life, romantic fluff drama!" Gothic Cadence cooed, disappearing.
"It's not romantic!" Cadence snapped, "There is a profound difference between the two! Some difference I cannot fathom, but a major difference! It couldn't possibly be romantic, I've never been interested in romance before, why is this time any different?!"
There was no answer, just Cadence standing in the void. She screamed, stomping her foot. "Thank you for screaming into the void, your scream is very important to us," she muttered, the world around her fading away as she closed her eyes, opening them moments later to find herself in her room yet again.
She sighed, slowly sitting up. She looked at her nightstand, no heart in sight, just her phone. She reached over and grabbed it, quickly ordering a lot of peeled fruit.
She really needed some right now.