Your Devotion - Slashers x Reader [Book Two]

[Chapter 48: Settling Things]

"(Y/n)! It's so good to see you." Cadence greeted you warmly, your kindhearted friend engulfing you in a hug once she'd opened her apartment's front door. "It feels like forever since we've last met up like this."

"Ahahaha, likewise." Laughing lightly, you wrapped your arms around her in return and hugged her back; her comforting attitude calming you down considerably. "How've you been though, Cadence? Amber and Laura haven't been causing you too much trouble, now have they?"

"Well, apart from them wanting to constantly drag me to raves and such, I've been mostly alright." The blonde wryly responded, rolling her eyes as her sarcastic remark made you both release another laugh.

"Yeah, that seems like them." Shaking your head, your voice dripped with sarcasm too - not surprised by your two other friends and their extroverted ways.

"Would you like a drink...? I'm afraid I don't have any alcohol or anything like that, but I do have lavender tea." Cadence offered kindly, leading you inside her apartment before shutting the door behind you both. "I've heard it's extremely good for health benefits."

"Oh...?" You wondered with interest, sitting in her living room's sofa and accepting her offer.

"I'm sorry, it's just that recently I've noticed that you've been acting less and less like yourself nowadays. You've grown paler and seem to be more and more stressed-out." She softly stated, her sharp perception kicking into play whilst you internally panicked. Crap. Cadence really was more on the ball than Amber and Laura sometimes.

Hopefully nobody else had noticed your change in behaviour— "Please don't worry about it!" You quickly replied, brushing aside her concerns as fast as you possibly could. "Really...! It's just...what with the unwanted admirer and all..."

"Well...if you're sure..." Cadence spoke suspiciously, still looking slightly anxious on your behalf. "Anyway, I'd be more than happy to make that lavender tea. I was going to use it myself."

"How come? You not sleeping well?" Glancing at her with curiosity, you hoped it wasn't too serious - praying that Freddy wasn't somewhat involved.

"I'm not sure whether or not it was an actual nightmare, but it was awfully strange." The short-haired girl commented thoughtfully, heading into the kitchen before heating up the hot drink. "Maybe it was because of the upcoming psychology exam..."

"Strange?" You echoed in confusion, crossing one leg over the other while you waited for her to explain. "What sort of strange...?"

"This guy scraped his fingernails along things. Actually, they were more like fingerknives or something. Almost like he'd made them himself...And they made this horrible screeching noise..." Cadence awkwardly told you, finishing up the tea and pouring it into teacups. "It was insane, y'know?"

"Are you serious...?" You stammered in shock, saying a quiet Thank You after taking the warm cup of tea from her.

"I'm sure it was just a one-time-thing though." Waving it off, she smiled and sat down opposite you; drinking some lavender tea herself. "Everyone has nightmares, (Y/n)."

"Yeah...Yeah, they do." You timidly nodded, taking a sip of your own tea and finding the soothing scent to be relaxing. "Like you said, it was probably just because of the upcoming psychology exam, that's all."