It was back in this world. Those were the words that went through the Witch Doctor's mind over and over. He sat on the dirt wood floor, his dreadlocks resting on his knees and his shirt off. The room was completely dark besides two candles in front of him and the room was thick with the smell of incense. In his lap was a bowl of water.

His eyes were locked on this bowl of liquid as he began to meditate, his eyes rolling in to the back of his of his head as he searched the land for the beast. It was his arch enemy, the yang to his yin, it held everything he despised, and by the powers that be, he would kill it.

It lusted for, she could feel its eyes constantly on her naked body whenever she dressed or undressed, it never showed itself, only occasionally sent a nightmare of itself or of her pass with Ice King. The ones with Ice King were bearable; they only caused her a little amount of pain, she at least knew they would never happen. But the ones with the unnamed, seemingly faceless man, they were the scariest. She was always his, always his bride.

If it hadn't been for Finn staying with her throughout all of these days she was sure that it would've taken her, but thankfully the human seemed to scare off the shadow man. Finn was never far behind her, and when they could feel its presence in the corner of the room from time to time they immediately went upstairs and locked them. They had discussed leaving the house, but to go to another house was to bring the demon onto those who didn't deserve.

Always his grin was upon them, and several times Finn had to sleep in the same bed as her. She constantly cried, the once strong hard core rocker girl turned into a mess, not sure how long their lives would be like this. But that question was answered soon; on the second day of their imprisonment it made its move.

Finn was in the shower while Marceline was in her bedroom, right outside the bathroom, trying to relax from the constant threat of the thing. Her mind was whirling fast, and she could barely focus on a single letter. She gave up, tossed the book aside and picked up her bass and strummed it lightly.

Everything seemed to stand still in just that moment, there was no movement from her, she had stop plucking the bass entirely and sensed the silence, Finn had stopped whistling a merry tune and it seemed that the only noise was the shower. Marcy knew what it was before even realizing she did. It was the silence before the storm; it had happened so many times before in her life, it was the moment just before shit hit the fan.

And it did. A large thud then a high pitched boyish scream came from the bathroom and Marceline scrambled up, no longer wielding her bass as an instrument, now wielding it like the axe it was. The door to the bathroom swung open, just by itself, and she could hear the screams that came from it. They chilled her to the bone, but if Finn had been so strong protecting her, than she could be strong as well.

Marceline went as fast as her legs would carry her, the axe in a position so it could be swung quickly, but the image in front of her frightened her to the extent where she could do little more than watch in horror. Whatever he was, he stood there back turned to her. His skin was pitch black and a mist that was colored like a shadow was constantly around him; his hair was a thick, slicked back crimson red. From behind him she could already tell he must be beautiful, the muscle definition on his back pointed this out. But she could feel that underneath the handsome exterior was a bitter thing that wanted everything it could have.

He held Finn in a single hand, the human completely naked, he was unconscious and blood seeping from his nose and with his great might, the man threw Finn against the wall. His head hit the plaster wall along with his back with a dull thud, punching a large whole in the smooth surface of the wall. She snapped out of her haze and swung the axe the way she had been taught by her father, the air whistling at how fast she brought the axe down.

The Shadow Man spun, grabbed the neck of the axe and kicked her in the stomach, disarming her and sending her backwards into her room. He threw down the axe and walked toward Marceline. She lay on the ground, trying to stand but quickly he stopped her. Stomping on her heel with all his might, resulting in a thick crunching sound and a spike of pain hitting her to the point where she neared the point of unconsciousness.

She lay on the ground now, unable to stand up thanks to her broken ankle. But she crawled towards the ladder; she had to keep fighting, if she didn't she was done for, out for the count. He giggled, and kicked her in the side so she lay flat against the ground.

Finn's eyes were open and they stared back at each other, he was in the bathroom sitting up against the plaster too weak to move. Blood seeped from both his mouth where a tooth had been knocked out and he as well bled from his nose where no doubt the beast had knocked him, he mouthed the words while tears streamed down his face. 'I'm sorry'.

She shook her head at Finn as the shadow man sat down in front of her, crossing his legs and pulling her into his lap, she pushed at his chest but it did nothing. For the first time she saw his face. It was handsome, gaunt with no facial hair what so ever. But underneath, she sensed the inner ugliness, the true hatred he felt toward everything. He wore a suit, but no shoes, his feet long and ending in three claws.

He pulled her close in a hug and she whimpered in pain, her ankle hurting and her mind disgusted mentally. "Marceline, why don't you just hug me back? I'm not a bad man." He smiled at her, like the smile of a dirty sales man. He would give you whatever you needed, but when the time came he would stab you in the back for a profit.

"You're disgusting." Her ears were ringing before she even realized he had back hand slapped her and was chuckling full heartedly.

"Looks like you will have a disgusting husband then! Our children will also be half disgusting yeah?" He said, kissing her cheek, making her shiver as his cold lips touched her.

"W-who are you?" She asked staring at his violet eyes that seemingly never blinked.

"Don't know." The Man of the Shadow said in complete honesty.

She nodded and said nothing more; instead he was the one who spoke. "So, I don't have many friends around here, so Finn will be our best man honey. You go slip into something more comfortable while me and Finn go ready up a few things. I'll be back up a bit, see if we can't maybe get you preggers before the ceremony yeah? Don't even think about leaving through the windows, else I'll gut your friend, bring you back and we can have the wedding and eat him." Kissing her on the lips, he got up, practically tossing her off onto the floor; he went to Finn, grabbed him by the hair, he was still completely naked at this point as they headed down the ladder.