The Nightmare [w/ story]  
I woke up in the middle of the night with tears streaming down my face and my throat dry, drenched in sweat. A goddamn nightmare that outdid the falling abyss nightmares back at the motel. NightSwift was still asleep next to me, which wasn’t much of a surprise to me. Girl was always a heavy sleeper.  
I tried going back to sleep, but I couldn’t. I was too shaken up. I went downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle or two of some strong cider. Not long after, I was gulping down shot after shot, trying to calm my nerves. It didn’t work that well, I was still trembling and scared shitless. Nonetheless, I kept drinking…  
“Babe?”  
I looked back and saw NightSwift standing at the doorway, rubbing her eyes a little. “You alright?”  
“…Yeah, just had a nightmare.”  
She walked over and took a seat next to me. “Looks like it shook you up pretty bad.”  
“Yeah, it did.”  
“…You wanna tell me what it was about? I mean, you don’t have to.”  
I took a deep breath, then told her everything I could recall…  
I woke up in some kind of cell in what looked like a facility, wearing nothing but a weird collar and a tag clipped onto my ear. First thing I noticed was I was a Tanuki, again, polka-dotted arms and everything. I looked over to my left and saw my brother slumped over in a cell next to mine, sporting the same collar and tag. I called out to him and asked where we were, to which he responded with:  
“Smith’s Tanuki Breeding Facility. You should know that already, Sis.”  
“…What? How long have we been here?”  
“What, did they drug you so much that you got amnesia or something? We’ve been here for over four years, now.”  
I couldn’t understand what he was talking about, but then it hit me. What if everything that happened to me ever since I ‘became’ Mel, my baby Danny and my relationship with NightSwift, was all just a very long dream? That none of it ever happened, and the whole time I was just a drugged out breeding slave?  
No, I didn’t want to believe it, that couldn’t be the reality I was truly in, but then I noticed something on me. Something small that I never had when I was Bling, but always had ever since I was Mel…  
A scar, as thick as a catscratch, going from the left side of my neck all the way down to my chest. I never knew where the wound came from or why it was there, but it was there when I woke up as Mel.  
I was completely devastated, the life I thought I had turned out to be a huge fantasy. I broke down and cried right then and there, not stopping until the door to my cell opened and some guards came in armed with needles and tasers…  
“And then I woke up…” I was shaking uncontrollably with tears streaming down my face.  
NightSwift pulled me in for a hug. “At least it was just a nightmare, you know you’re not stuck in some dream.”  
I clung onto her tightly, burying my face into her chest. “I really hope not…”  
“Hey, hey…” She gently lifted my chin up to face her. “It was just a nightmare, Mel, none of it was real. I can promise you that. Tell ya what, let’s go on a short walk and then we can cuddle when we get back. How’s that sound?”  
I sniffed. “Yeah, I would like that…”  
She gave me a quick kiss and soon we were out of the house. It was a chilly night, but it was to be expected in a place like Stalliongrad. If anything, it was a little warmer than usual. We didn’t get very far, only walked to the end of the block and back, but it was nice. I had always wanted to spend more time with just NightSwift.  
After the walk, we went back to bed and cuddled. I was finally relaxed and soon enough, I fell asleep in her arms… Only I woke up a few hours later with a stinging pain on my neck, chest, and left shoulder. On the bedsheets were… blood? I rushed to the bathroom and looked in the mirror to see blood all over my oversized t-shirt. I took it off and discovered something very concerning…  
The scar had reopened, and it was bleeding like crazy. How the fuck it happened, I had no idea. It was hurting like hell, though, so I grabbed a rag and started cleaning the wound. Then I saw something in the mirror, a ghostly black figure with white eyes was standing behind me.  
I shrugged it off. “NightSwift, I’m fine, you don’t need to summon a Guard.”  
“What are you talking about?”  
I turned and saw NightSwift standing at the doorway, looking confused and very concerned.  
“The Guard right beh~~” I stopped when I looked back and saw that the Guard was gone. I checked back at the mirror and got the same result.  
“Babe, I think we need to get you to a clinic. You’re starting to scare me.” NightSwift said while she walked towards me.  
“I’m fine, it’s just a small wound.”  
“Not if it’s bleeding like~~” She stopped mid-sentence and looked around the bathroom.  
“…Um, babe?”  
“Just take the first-aid kit and go back to our room. I’ll be right behind you.” She sounded… off, somehow, like she was hiding something to protect me.  
I said nothing, but I took the kit and went back to our room. It was off the corner of my eye, but I could’ve sworn that I saw NightSwift glance back at the bathroom before she followed after me. She patched up the wound while poor Percy had to be dragged out of bed to change out the bedsheets.  
Pretty soon we were back on our bed and NightSwift was fast asleep, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was being watched as I slowly fell back asleep. The pain started to feel a little worse as I saw a shadowy figure approach me before I completely blacked out…  
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Something weird is going on.  
Huge thanks to billy2345 for making sure I didn’t butcher NS’s character while writing the story.  
NightSwift @ billy2345