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Soft pink eyes fluttered open, a young heart beating inside an all too fragile chest as the memory of it caving and being squashed beneath a concrete pillar only now was starting to fade. Madoka took in the deep breaths her mom had suggested using to calm down, eyes closing while her chest rose up and down, up and down, relishing in the simple act of breathing. Her eyes quickly passed over the window to her room, hugging one of her plushies as she smothered the odd feeling to go up and check the right lights. It was just something from the street, nothing more.
Another nightmare, one of several these past three days. Sayaka had noticed but she had managed to calm the blue-haired girl, claiming it was just something passing. Well, she hoped it was true. If it wasn’t, and the nightmares of a destroyed city and that strange black-haired girl kept coming…
Madoka shuddered and clapped her hands gently against her cheeks while her head flopped back down on her pillow and mound of stuffed plushies. One hand rested by her side now but the other rested against her cheek, fingertip pushing against the corner of her lip. Almost like if she pulled it back she would find it stained in copper-smelling red again, feel the ache in her pajama-clad chest from it being split in two. The soft thrum of air conditioning helped her cement that she was home and safe, Sayaka was safe, and her mom and dad were safe. A quick look at the clock showed it was 12:30 and a bolt of energy rushed through her. She needed to get back to sleep for school tomorrow!
It was with a sigh the pink-haired girl closed her eyes and pushed the thoughts of cool-looking girls out of her mind, shuffling a bit to try and get to sleep with her large pink bunny squashed tight against its chest, the stitching near fit to burst from how snugly she held it. But no matter how she tried, whether by counting sheep or focusing on her soft breathing, the feeling persisted, and grew even. Something deep in her ached, screaming she needed to check the window.
She opened her eyes once more with a huff and turned so that her feet hung over the edges of the bed, wiggling her toes on the floor until she found her comfy kitty slippers and slipped inside them. Just a quick check and nothing more, just to make this feeling that had carved itself deep in her gut go away.
Slowly she shuffled forward, kitty cat slippers sliding against the floor while something like bile built in the back of her throat, something even worse building in her chest. But, that was silly, she was just going to go take a look out the window! But still, every step closer felt like a mile. Step, step, step…
Madoka arrived at the window and placed her hands on the windowsill, shaking her head to get some of her bedhead out of her eyes. Well, that was weird. The window looked normal, but something about the road looked plastic and unreal. Actually, the longer she looked, Madoka didn’t think she could see a car. So, where were the red lights coming from?
The lights blinked and a face shifted into view in the span of a moment, prompting the pink-haired girl to take a step back. It looked, it looked like-
“Oh no.” Pink hair that flowed down around its neck swayed from side to side as the thing that looked like her shook its head, red lights becoming bright pink eyes as light glowed from them. “No no, that won’t do at all. Here.” Things that looked like wires thickened until they more resembled fingers and pushed through the glass of her window, fumbling for a moment as they unlatched the lock that kept the thing outside.
CLICK.
The window pushed open (how did it do that, they pushed outside) and slowly the thing crept inside, what was clearly supposed to be flesh resembling flat beige more than any natural skin tone. Its hair was an off shade of pink like someone liked the paint sample color but mixed the paint wrong. The teeth were articulated at least, but the tips of all of them looked like they were meant to rip and tear, with even the molars looking less like teeth and more like fangs. It didn’t even have proper feet for a moment, just stubs with shoes painted on.
The window shut behind it. A wound that some might call a smile etched across its face. “There, much better. Now, good morning! Or I suppose,” its head turned too far to look up at the clock, Madoka turning with it to see it still read 12:30, “good night.” A giggle crawled its way out of a corner of the room somewhere, but neither of their lips had moved.
“I-I don’t understand.” Madoka swallowed down her fear as best she could. Maybe she was still dreaming? Y-yeah, that was it, she had just managed to get back to sleep and this was a reallllyyyyyyy weird dream. “Could you tell me who you are?”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” The wound somehow grew wider, a trickle of something like red paint slipping down from the corner of its lip all the way down its cheek, small droplets drip drip dripping into the carpeted floor below. “That was quite rude of me, wasn’t it? To come into someone's room and not even introduce myself.” It felt less like a question and more like a statement. “Well, let me fix that. My name is Kriemhild, Kriemhild Gretchen. And you,” a finger that looked more like a talon came and poked her right in the spot where her chest had been crushed open, hovering above her lungs, “are Madoka. Kaname Madoka if we want to be exact.”
“That’s right.” Madoka shivered as the room around her began to spin, the faint sound of wind rushing past her ears, copper invading her nose. “But, what are you doing here? This is all-”
“Confusing, right? Don’t worry, I won’t take up much of your time. I’m here to help you actually! Well, and to satisfy my curiosity.” The talon pressed deeper, cutting through the material of Madokas pajamas and now pressing against the young girl's skin. “You see, a little crow is going to be coming in soon.” The talon pierced flesh and Madoka gasped in pain. Flashes of her nightmare flitted over her vision, visions of the girl with long black hair screaming out her name in agony overlaying with the reality of what was happening right then. “And she’s going to tell you that if you value your friends, your life, then you must never change.” The giggle again came out from an unmoving grin. “A touch dramatic, but my little songbird always has been one to react over such small things.”
Her other clawed hand wrapped around the loose hair of Madokas head, the sharp points resting on the back of her head while teeth took up the entirety of her vision. Madokas breathing came out ragged and harsh as a talon brushed up against her lung, a soft whimper leaving her while red blood stained her pajamas, tears running down her cheek. “But, as much it hurts me to say this, you have to ignore her. There is going to be someone by the name of Kyubey. He’s going to make you an offer. You have to accept. Y[our] friends, y[our] family,” the talon twisted and Madoka let out a soft cry, “Everyone depends on y[our] wish. To save every. Single. One.”
Gretchen took a moment to tilt her head and pressed her lips against the corner of Madokas. They came away stained cherry red, the faint smell of roses mixed with copper ghosting along her senses. Madoka shuddered in her mirror image grasp and spoke. “You-you’re hurting me.”
“But you deserve to.” Gretchen tilted her, no, its head, tongue lapping at the blood that had coated its lips. “How many times have we failed to save Mami, Sayaka, and Kyouko? Most of all, I remember how many times our dear doll Homura has had to fling herself back through time again and again because of y[our] failure.” The talon cleaved through meat, arm pushing forward and inside until she was buried halfway up her arm through the poor Madoka, hand clenching around her terrified heart. “Mmm, she deserves a treat, don’t you think?”
THU-THUMP. THU-THUMP. THU-THUMP.
Gretchen let out a soft sighing sound that sounded like wind shrieking through deep cavern tunnels, the bright glow of their eyes pulsing even behind fake eyelids. “Mmm, not nearly as nice as our songbird's heartbeat. Oh well. I can make do.” She opened up her eyes again and pulled out of Madoka with a wet squelch sound, Madoka shuddering softly as her skin which had parted like paper now held not a hint of its violation. “Go to sleep, and tomorrow you’ll wake up in paradise.”
Madoka went to sleep in her bed, surrounded by scores of plushies and under the softest of blankets. What woke up the next morning had a wound of a smile and bright pink eyes.