A/N: Just a little something special for Halloween!
The Last Day of Work
Marian put in her punched card in the stand.
Ding.
The clock from the stand chimes, signaling that she check in for work.
Her last check-in.
She had only gotten the call from Sammy three days ago; he had told her she was only going to record one last episode for the Twins and that will be it. She was offered to play more voices like dancing furniture or talking animals.
She declined.
A part of her wondered why she did that; for over the past year she's fell in love with voicing the Twins and she has made many friends through her co-workers, despite being the youngest person there. Everyone was so encouraging during her first day here at Sillyvision, often telling her to be herself and just let the actress in her flow. They even treated her like an adult when it came to explaining some problems that resulted in her unable to record an episode.
Why would she give all of that up?
Then she remembered; everything wasn't the same as it used to be.
It took three months getting into the job that Marian had begun to notice some strange things around the studio; ink had begun to leak in a few places, everyone had a frown on their faces when they thought they were alone, and Marian could've sworn she heard Joey saying some sort of prayer to Bendy.
Marian honestly had no idea what to think of that.
She tried to ignore these things and continue on with her work; she figured it was some sort of personal matters between the workers and her parents told her not get involved with somebody's personal life.
Then Susie happened.
Although she was told little of what happened exactly, Marian knew that Susie was crushed when she found out her character, Alice Angel would now be voiced by Allison Pendle. She spent a few hours trying to comfort the older woman by making funny impressions of the Twins.
When Susie finally laughed Marian thought she had gotten through to her.
The day after, Susie began to talk in her Alice Angel voice.
Marian had played it off as one of the first stages of grief; denial. It was common for someone like Susie - who had just lost her hopes and dreams like that - and Marian had left her alone on it.
But the denial continued to last for months.
Susie had begun to dress up like Alice Angel, refused the name Susie, and called some of the actors by their character's names.
Marian had finally drawn the line when Susie began to call her either Brooke and Lynn.
She supposed that's the reason why she doesn't want to come back to Sillyvision.
"Hello, Marian," an elderly voice speaks up from behind her after she presses the "Stop" button on her diary cassette. She turns around to see the man who made her into an actress sitting pitifully in his wheelchair.
"Hello, Mr. Drew," she bows to him in respect, something that her parents told her to do when in the presence of elders.
"Can't believe that you're leaving today," Joey shook his head. "Feels like only yesterday that I picked you up from the sidewalk and brought you here to the studio. You make everyone happy just by being in the same area as them."
Marian gives him a sad smile. "Thank you, Joey. I'm still internally grateful that you brought me into the world of acting, I never realized how much I wanted to be an actress until I finished my first recording."
Now Joey's giving her a look that could only be described as puppy eyes. She knows where this is going.
"If you love acting so much, why not stay here?" he asks her the question she knew he was going to say. "You may not be able to voice the Twins anymore but there are still plenty of other characters you can voice."
She sighs, this wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. She gently takes the old man's hand and places her other hand on top of his, her emerald eyes meeting his aged dark ones.
"Mr. Drew, working here was the best thing that ever happened to me," she begins, her tone sincere. "You have given me so many opportunities here at Sillyvision that I want to try those opportunities somewhere else. I can't keep working on the same project over and over again, I want to try new projects. Something that's outside my comfort zone and gives myself a name in the movie industry.
"Don't get me wrong, Mr. Drew, everyone here was amazing. I will be sure to give you all credit if I ever become big like Gene Tierney but this is something I need to do for myself. I hope you understand."
It wasn't a full lie; she did want to become a better actress.
Joey was looking at her with his eyes behind his glasses, trying to process everything that she had just said. After a moment of silence, he let out a little laugh.
"You remind me of the time when I used to be a young lad, Marian," he tells her with a shake of his head. "I wanted to be big too, I wanted all my ideas to be put on the big screen for the whole the world to see. Sometimes, I dreamed so big that I forget that I'm not the only person in the world. It may seem like you're alone on trying to get the big picture but you just gotta remember the people that helped you believe in yourself."
Marian wasn't a hundred percent that remembering the people in her life would be a good thing - especially with the way she's going to leave things with a few people - but she did her best to hide her uneasiness with a simple smile.
"Thank you, Joey."
Saying goodbye to Joey was the easiest farewell she could give; he was dying, anyway. She couldn't change it, either way, she was bound to say goodbye sooner or later. But the last thing he had said to her kept her thinking.
"It's not always a goodbye, Marian," he tells her. "Maybe in a few years time, we'll see each other again."
Marian had wanted to point out that Joey would be dead before the year's over but she didn't dare ruin an old man's hopes and dreams.
She's already seen what that has done to Susie.
Speaking of Susie…
"Oh, Brooke! Lynn!"
Marian did her best not to flinch. I'm Marian!
She turns around to see Susie running up to her, wearing a tight-fitted dress with a bow tie on the front with a headband that consists of a white halo and two little devil horns - her whole Alice Angel outfit that Susie made to make her feel like her former character. Marian did her best not to grimace at the way Susie's wide eyes were shifting from her direction like she's looking at two people instead of one.
"I've heard you two just finished up your adventures," Susie excitingly says in her famous Alice Angel voice. "Golly, I can't wait to see what other kinds of trouble you two are going to get in the future! Especially you, Lynn. You always did know how to run your mouth!"
Here comes the hard part; saying goodbye to Susie as the Twins and not Marian.
"Hey now, I don't always get in trouble," lowering her voice by an octave and putting on a Southern accent, Marian playfully punches Susie on the shoulder. This makes the older woman chuckled.
Clearing her throat, Marian then speaks in a higher octave with her Southern accent. "Actually, Alice, there's something me and Lynn need to tell you."
Susie blinks. "What is it?"
Marian sighs, knowing this isn't going to be easy for both of them.
"Well, we just got the called from the creator and he said that we're off-duty for now," Marian says slowly, trying to word this correctly so Susie doesn't react the same way when she found out she wasn't going to voicing her favorite character anymore.
However, her plan seems to have failed with the way Susie's twitching her eyes like that. "W-What?"
Marian quickly falls back into Lynn's voice in order to lighten the mood. "Aw, don't worry about it, Alice. Brooke and I wanted to take a break for a while. We'll probably see you again at one point in the future!"
Susie's silence only kept worrying Marian, making the young girl wonder if she only made things worse for the older woman.
Then came the question that tumbles from her black lips. "W-When will you two be back?"
Marian quickly switches to Brooke. "Well, we don't know. But hopefully, it won't be long!"
That seems to be enough for Susie. "O-Okay…"
"Aw, don't look so sour, Alice!" Marian jokes lightly in Lynn's voice. "You've got plenty of other friends here, I'm sure they'll help you the same way Brooke and I always did!"
That was Marian's last chance to get through to Susie, she just needs to accept the fact that she might need some serious help. Please, Susie, for me…
Then, to her complete horror, Susie just laughs at that sentence.
"Oh, Lynn, you and Brooke know as well as I do that you both can do better than any of these dimwits on trying to cheer me up," she mellowly waves her hand. "But if it really means so much for you two to take a break, then I won't stop ya'll."
Marian's eye twitched slightly. "T-Thanks for understanding, Alice…"
That was the worst goodbye she had ever given.
Marian was glad that she was out of the studio now and currently walking down the sidewalk so nobody could see her cry.
Why did everything have to change?
She asks herself as the tears roll down her cheeks and into the sidewalk. She didn't even bother to rub her eyes.
"Frère Jacques..."
Marian froze when she heard that familiar song echo from the wind.
That was Brooke's voice. But, wasn't that also her own voice that she heard singing?
Convinced that she's only hearing voices due to her memories of the studio, Marian kept on walking.
"Dormez-Vous?"
Marian stops once again. Was that Lynn?
"Sonnez les matines…"
Maybe she was going insane like everyone else at the studio. That could only explain it.
So Marian continue her walk to home, allowing the two voices of the Twins to finish their song. Even if the last line sent shivers down her spine.
"Ding dang dong, ding dang dong…"