Chapter 19: Pretending

Marceline floated idly, darkly, depressingly right outside of Bonnibel's room. It was almost a passive thing, as though she herself wasn't there at all. She was a shadow in the glass doorway of the balcony, residing just outside; watching, waiting, her essence seeping its way into the room. Her head hung low, her eyes looked up into the room, twisted tangles of hair found their way this way and that in the windless night. She felt like an outside watcher on the being that she was, that she had become ever since that year ago, when she had been dubbed a monster, a bloodsucker, a demon.

And it was all perfect Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum's fault.

So she floated ominously, angrily, vengefully right outside her room; waiting, just waiting. She didn't know what for, but she knew something was going to happen. She was going to do something this night. Yet, she had become so detached from herself; even she could not discern what it was. She could see herself, so clearly from the outside, and it frightened her. This person, this thing that smiled wickedly through pointed teeth waiting for her prey was not her, it could not be her. Her eyes glowed demonic, not the usual flares of color that accompanied anger, but sheer terror was struck into others through those eyes. They weren't flames or too big or anything unusual, but still they shone a hollow red, revealing nothing but anticipation for whatever it was this Marceline had in mind. She could see herself so clearly. It scared her.

Suddenly, both Marceline's became aware of the door into Bubblegum's room opening slowly, exhaustedly, and the princess herself entered. The vampire saw herself, or what used to be herself, smile wider, teeth jutting and sharp. She wondered what happened to herself. Still, both of them watched as a tired monarch set a large stack papers on her desk and sighed, sitting down to finish up a late night.

Marceline's brow furrowed. This is her fault. She did that to me, the girl thought, looking at her wicked self who, in frightening reply, turned to look at her as well. She felt scared, looking at whatever it was she had become. But then she realized: A monster. She has turned me into a monster, turned us into a monster. Look what she did…look what she did! Suddenly, she wasn't on the outside anymore, she was in this other her. It was dark and twisted, like chains lacing their way around you in a beautiful dance, only to strangle you once they finished. She came to the realization that she had control of this version of her. That perhaps she always did. Marceline opened the balcony doors slowly, without moving a muscle, and the lights in the room flickered out, leaving nothing but moonlight to flood and hide and create shadows where none had resided before.

The princess jumped at the lack of light, and looked at the dark figure in her balcony doorway that was the Vampire Queen, who still floated still, smiling darkly, depravedly, demonically. "M-M-Marceline!" She gasped in a combination of dread and happiness. A sickening oxymoron. She floated into the room, so still, yet so overpowering, that the girl shrank away from her.

"Hello, Bonnibel." It was her voice. It wasn't her voice. This sound was laced with ink and oil, heavier, thicker; drowning it something Marceline could not put a finger on. It was cold, chilling, quiet, yet filled the space with a sense of foreboding in its command. She imagined it was what the shadows you cannot begin to see sounded like.

The vampire advanced with such composed venom, Bubblegum stumbled back haphazardly, sending stacks of papers from her desk falling unnoticed to the floor. The pink her tried to make her way to the door back out to her palace, sensing something most decidedly off with the vampire. "Wh-what are you doing here?" She dared, trying to distract from the fact that she was backing to the doorway.

But Marceline would have none of it. She moved with devilish purpose across the room, having sealed the gap between door and wall long ago. There was no escape, and why the princess ever thought there was, was a mystery. "Oh…" She cooed in false concern, distaste eminent and overpowering as it slid freely from her tongue, "Did little Bonni not want to see me?" She laughed as the girl reached the knob and twisted frantically at it.

Pink eyes widened in horror as she realized there was no escape from whatever Marceline had become. "Wh-what happened to you, Marci?" She choked out, sweet, addictive fear seeping into Marceline like a drug.

Still, the vampire moved closer, watching as the girl shrunk helplessly as far into the wall behind her as she could. Jagged fingers and sharp nails found their way easily around a candy neck, lifting the small girl up and off the wall, her toes dangling mere centimeters from the oxygen she was being choked of. "Don't you know, Bonni? I've become what you expected of me..." Her hand tightened effortlessly around veins and bone and muscle and delicious, delicious blood. "A cold-blooded killer. A monster. A bloodsucker." She seethed, and sunk razor sharp teeth deep into the girl, puncturing veins and gobbling blood. Bubblegum screamed.

At the sound of it Marceline woke with a start, sweat beading off every pore as she clumsily fell off the couch she had crashed on last night and many night's prior. She held her pounding head and looked around. She was still inside the living room, nothing but grey stone walls that glowed slightly red from the outside flames and a tall ceiling. No TV, no nothing, really. Just portraits on the walls and a bland coffee table next to her. She was most decidedly not in Princess Bubblegum's bed chambers. Damn tomatoes…knew I shouldn't have had them last night…she sighed, tossing the blanket back onto the couch and flopping lazily on top of it once more. Lumping dreams just have to become all lucid and meaningful and junk when I eat them. She screamed a little into the very uncomfortable cushion, willing sleep to come again. And of course it just had to be a fucking nightmare! And of course in the nightmare I was the thing she called me! A monster, a bloodsucker…the thing I'm most afraid of becoming…grod I hate tomatoes…I wish I could hate her…

"All right, young lady; that is enough." Came the deep masculine voice. "You've been lying on that couch for almost a year, Marceline. Now either you tell me what happened or you get out and do something."

Marceline turned her head to the side so he could hear her. "Ugh…Dad…it's like, whatever, okay?" and she buried her face back into couch.

Hunson Abadeer sat down at her feet. "No, sweetie, it's not okay. Now tell me or I'll…I'll punish you severely!" He said, trying his best to sound convicted in the notion. "If you tell me what happened I'll tell you something!" he goaded. His daughter still didn't move. "Marceline I am no longer taking this lightly. Either you tell me, or I'll be forced to relinquish your title as Vampire Queen!"

She turned her head to the side as if it were a task, "You can't. I earned the title, and therefore, it's mine." She said simply, slumping back into her depressive position.

He had had quite enough of her sass. He turned into his full demonic self and echoed, "I am not letting this go, Marceline!" and let out a screech that sent the nearest demons into hiding. He heard his daughter mumbles something into the pillow. "What did you say?" he demanded in his most frightening manner.

Marceline finally just turned completely over, laying now on her back, and said, "I said, 'since when have you ever been able to scare me?' Grod dad…" And simple as that, a very embarrassed Lord of Evil shrunk back to his humanoid form. "Fine, I wanna know why you told me your name was Maddox."

He laughed professionally, as he was inclined to do. "Oh that? Those pesky humans gave me that name. Made me sound sinister or something, I suppose. Now will you tell me what's wrong?"

Clearly sensing that her father was in no way going to drop the subject, Marceline sighed heavily. "Whatever, dad…ugh…it was just like, a bad breakup or whatever, okay?" She mumbled, crossing her arms defiantly over her chest.

He laughed again. "Oh is that all? Marceline we're demons! It comes and goes!" He laughed again, as though it were a commonality to have ones heart broken.

It was at this moment in time that Marceline decided not to laze on the couch in her father's living room. "This like, totally blows!" She yelled at him, completely losing her cool, hair whipping around, eyes flaming. No, it didn't come and go this time. If it did, she'd be completely over the girl by now.

"Whoa, now, Marceline. Just calm down. I'm only trying to help!" Hunson said, as demure as ever.

"Well you like, totally suck at it, Dad!" And with that, she grabbed her axe bass and stormed out of the room, out of the castle, and out of the Night-O-Sphere. And that's how she found herself back in Ooo. She floated around the familiar settings, getting all too tired of them all too quickly. Everything around reminded her off Bonni, and she was sick of it. I don't even know why I went back home in the first place. He isn't like, the best dad. And now I'm here and just…ugh! She dug her axe bass into the ground and yanked it out again. It was clear she wasn't going home and clearer that she had to get away from all the familiar kingdoms and people and settings.

So she wandered.

To say Marceline became a hobo would be a bit of an exaggeration. When she found herself a comfortable enough distance away from everything she had known for the past years, she was on the polar opposite end of the world, in a land whose name she didn't know, surrounded by people and beings she had never seen before. She strummed and sang throughout the day, picking up unfamiliar denominations as she meandered from town to town, spending it all nightly on a hotel room and whatever mystery drinks the owners would give her. She never stayed on the street, always making enough to have a cheap roof over her head. She would start (and end) fights. Enter illegal boxing matches, fighting matches, duels…anything and everything she could do to distract herself from the world and to help build up her walls once more. She left each location with what would have been scars, if she didn't have the capability to heal her skin up at the end of the day. She visited Fire kingdoms and oceans and forests.

In all honesty, it felt nice. Causing mischief, sucking red out of things that were meant to be red, gluing shoes to the floor, fiddling with electronics. For around a month, she even stayed completely in her wolf form and stayed in a pack. It was freeing, not having to think about anything, not having to worry about who thought what of you, because these were all people she would never see again. She spent months convincing herself in every way imaginable that she was completely over the candy princess. That there was no way she'd ever take her back, or be her friend, or let her emotions get the better of her again. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a little voice told her she was being utterly ridiculous, that she would always love Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum, but she pretended not to hear it.

Eleven months of aimlessness finally found her back in Ooo, back home, and with all new emotional walls that could never, ever, be brought down. The small voice in her head laughed at her. Either way, she floated up to the window that used to be her bedroom, only to find a boy and his dog telling ghoulish stories about vampires. She laughed to herself, figuring it was time to have a little fun. She waited for the dog to leave, and pushed on a particular creaky frame she knew about. Sure enough, the boy looked up and screamed at her shadow, and she quickly vanished again, slipping in through another window. Just like that, she hissed, and the two screamed. Chuckling, she asked, "Hey guys, what's up?"

After a hasty introduction and some mild conversation she kicked them out, it was her house after all. Only, a day or so later, a flock of bats made their way across the sky. One of them stopped by and told her about those same two kids squatting (again) in her cave, this time. Of course, she would have none of this, so she made her way over to her cave to kick them out a second time. Lots of implied terror ensued (she would have never turned the dog into a zombie) and the little boy fought her. Of course, she could have easily won (vampire) but the boy got one hit in and she conceded to truce. She kind of liked them after all. She even let them keep the tree house as a gift from her.

The next month, she build up her little home and creeped on the dog and his human for a bit. They went on all kinds of adventures, and she teased them mercilessly when the three of them hung out. Then, one day, she gets a call from the dog asking her to help make someone called 'PB' jealous. She figures why not, even after she finds out that PB is short for 'Princess Bubblegum.' She pretends that the name doesn't make her heart flutter in a good way; it flutters in an angry way, if it fluttered at all, which it didn't. (It did.)

And she pretends the disdain in Bubblegum's voice when she says, "Hey, Marceline…" doesn't hurt.

She pretends the teasing way she says, "Hello, Bonnibel." is in hopes of the monarch feeling embarrassed or angry, instead of happy and excited.

She also pretends that she isn't sabotaging Finn with her 'help' and is truly just making honest mistakes based on what she herself likes.

She pretends she doesn't still love Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum.

A/N

Obviously, Marceline after the break-up. I hope it was enough, I liked keeping it kind of vague, like Marci. But I think the dreams tells a lot about how much it affected her. This one's from Silenthill and Monochrome Masquerade specifically. I know you all were waiting for this one and I hope it was okay... (insert writing insecurities here)
AlexandraAuditore: I know! I'm sorry about the lack of description, it's just that I super duper hate writing it... I'm a feeling type of person I guess, so for me it's all about that. But I'll try to be better...!

PLEASE MAKE SUGGESTIONS! PLEASE MAKE SUGGESTIONS! PLEASE MAKE SUGGESTIONS!

I'm getting a lot of first kiss requests so that'll happen sometime. Also lot's of zombie and Ice King requests, which will also happen sometime, if inspiration strikes. For the rest of you, thank you all so much for the kind words and support! It warms my little would-be writer heart to hear you loving this fic. *Smiles and happiness and heart swelling* ALSO: http:/images1[DOT]wikia[DOT]nocookie[DOT]net/_cb20120502012821/adventuretimewithfinnandjake/images/d/d2/Marcy_in_ *GASM!*

-JD