章 4: Heartless

Satin's heart raced as she pulled open the door. Half praying she would be met with Tea's soft moon glowing cheeks and cheerful smile. Maybe even still in her wedding dress!

To her surprise, there was a beautiful woman in her doorway.

A woman Satin had never seen or meet before. She had big somber green eyes with thick lushes laces. Her face was drawn in a sore bow as her eyes met with Satin's.

The woman had long floating blond hair that tucked itself around her back and whipped out in the soft breeze of the late night. She had on a short skimpy dress that hung in a v neck, exposing her chest. Satin's eyes were drawn downward by a splotch of red that dripped down the front of her dress.

It was blood!

The woman swooned and collapsed into Satin's arms. Satin felt fear prickled up her body; this woman was frozen cold as if she had been long dead.

Then how did she even get to the door?

In a panic, the centaur dragged her in. The woman was light as a feather as if she were nothing more than a ghost in the wind. Satin laid her down on the silk fabric she'd been working with, not caring if it was going to get ruined. Blood dripped onto the once vivid blue, staining it a grim purple color.

"What in the world!" Azuki yowled her usually thin tail, turning into a bottle brush shape. The cat quickly hopped down and sniffed over the passed-out young woman.

Satin grabbed her fabric scissors and made short work of the dress the blond had on, exploring her as well as a hideous wound right where her heart should be. In a moment, as Satin pressed her warm fingertips to the bloody cold spot, she felt no heartbeat.

Satin went pale, but her long unicorn horn lit up as she grabbed one of her sewing needles without thread. She quickly ran the eye of the needle along her glowing horn. A thin magic thread formed and looped thru the eye. She knelt down again, shifting her heavy body around the fallen woman.

Satin's eyes flickered with brilliant glowing white light as she decently, with surgical precision, pressed the needle into the woman's flesh. Stich by sitch, Satin painstakingly sewed the wound shut. With one final pull she cinched the skin together and muttered several strange words, and the wound slowly closed.

The woman slowly relaxed, her breathing evening out. Satin grabbed some towels she had in the small bathroom and began cleaning her up. Gradually. The blood changed the once white towels red.

"What happened to her?" Satin breathed before slowly leaning down and pressing an ear to the woman's chest.

She was still so cold, as if dead but was clearly breathing. Satin ran her thin fingers along the woman's elegant jaw. Azuki slowly creepy closer and sniffled at the woman.

The fur on her back stood on end, and her tail became as big as a fat pine tree. Azuki could smell death, decay, and lust dripping from the woman now that the blood odor had gone.

"S-she's heartless! Satin! Why did you save her! Get away from her!" the cat hissed, putting out her claws in defense.

Satin hesitated as the other woman's eyes fluttered open. The once lovely eyes had become black with no light in them at all. The woman grabbed Satin's arm, making her flinch at freezing cold crawled up to her elbow. Azuki hiss and leaped for the woman. The heartless perked up and, in one sweep of her arm, had slammed the poor cat backward into the wall sharply. Azuki let out a cry and collapsed upon a pail of dresses.

"Azuki!!" Satin tried to move, but her arm was stuck fast as tears welled in her eyes for her fallen witch cat.

"You saved me…." The heartless cooed, "thank you." most telling was the woman's shark-toothed smile. Pointed and fierce-looking, each tooth meant to kill and eat hearts to her liking.

"W-who are you?!" Satin stumbled to her feet and backed away as the woman was pulled to her feet, still gripping Satin's arm.

"Nori is my name." The blond sniffed as Satin was able to free herself. The icy cold feeling was still there, making her shiver as she rubbed her arm with her hand, trying to rewarm herself.

"And it's not my fault I'm heartless; someone stole my heart." Nori huffed. By now, the once long golden hair was slowly clumping together. The blond color dripped down to the floor, leaving a noxious green color in its wake. Her hair split at the ends thick and heavy as they formed long tentacle-like strings along the wood floor. The tentacles pushed her feet off the ground, so she dangled in the mid-air.

"G-get out of my house!" Satin yelped, pointing sternly to the still-open door.

"But you let me in. You know the rules." Nori laughed softly, and her legs fused into a long mermaid fin that slicked out among the fabrics. It was the same horrible green color and smelled of rotten flesh. Spines pressed out along the side of her heavy tail, and it rolled, slamming the door shut.

"You belong to me now." Nori shared a shark-toothed grin.

"W-what?!" Satin cried, "Look - I'm glad I could save you, but I want nothing to do with a heartless! You have to understand!" Satin nervously smiled, slowly backing herself up to her sewing table. Her hands slipped behind her back, and she grabbed the sewing scissors beside the sewing machine.

"Oh, sweetheart, I want everything to do with you, look." Nori reached out and pulled a thread out of the air.

With a tug, Satin stumbled closer to her.

There in her chest was a single thread, a heart thread.

It tied two people together. Forever ever bonding them. It usually happened when someone fell in love - however, in this case - it was because of how Satin had saved Nori.

"As I said, you belong to me now. Your heart will be mine." Nori hummed, slowly pulling the unicorn closer and closer.

"N-no!" Satin screamed and dug her hooves into the wood.

"No one can resist me…." Nori's voice fluxed into a winding song. The words cut through Satin's will like butter. Each flick of a note forcing her subconscious into a deeper sleep.

Satin's eyes glazed over, and her fight relaxed.

Now she was only Inches from Nori's soft cold red lips.

Then the kiss.

Satin had kissed a woman before. It was always tender and soft with a hit of warmth as the lips popped apart.

But this - this was different, lustful, strong, and almost feverish. The pull inward was strong, and Satin deepened the kiss for the better part of a minute. She could feel her own heart pounding in her chest. Satin felt Nori's cold touch slip up under her dress. She didn't care; she couldn't. She was too entranced by the heartless.

Another moment ticked back before Satin felt anything.

Burning pain right along the back of her butt.

Azuki had come to and sank her teeth into her owner. Satin broke the kiss with a pained scream. Her swimming world cleared as the spell was broken.

Satin shoved her away. She realized the cold metal in her hand was the pair of scissors she had grabbed. In one last-ditch effort to save herself, Satin plunged the scissors right into the wound she had healed.

Nori let out a blood-curdling scream as Satin let go of the scissors, leaving them lodged in her heartless chest. Oddly Satin felt her own heart throb heavily as if it had hurt her as well.

The adrenaline was still surging through her blood, and she was able to pry the front door open as it was still pressed shut with Noir's heavy mermaid tail. Once she was free, Satin's heart pounded as she cantered down the road. It still burned as if the pair of scissors had been plugging into her heart as well.

Where could she go?

Nothing was open. Not even the beer stein-shaped pub that was almost always open. Miss Suds had been the one to provide all the refreshments at the wedding.

By parties end, Miss Suds' was drunk and proclaiming she was out of liquor. So the bar had to be reopened the following night.

Then Satin felt it.

The string she had seen was in her heart. It was as if someone had used it to wind around her half heart and pulled. It was nothing like the dull ache she felt with the scissors. This pain was blinding, gut-wrenching, and brought her to her knees.