Thirsty.
So. Freaking thirsty.
But it was late, and Marceline didn't like getting up in the middle of the night for any reason if she could help it. She considered the idea of keeping a glass of water on her nightstand in case of moments like this but then deduced that it would be the reason why she'd have to get up anyway.
She didn't know how long she had been lying there, unmoving, trying but failing to fall back asleep. At this point, she was pretty much just impersonating a sleeping person. She sighed deeply and stretched.
Only.
Something wasn't quite right. Her enervated limbs couldn't seem to reach past a certain point above her head.
Huh.
Deciding that further attempts at achieving slumber would be futile, she turned her head to check the time. Accept. Ow. Not this again. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the sudden throbbing in her head to subside.
After she had settled into the pain, she opened her eyes. She squinted through the blackness, trying as well to blink away the fuzz in her eyes. In a matter of moments, the icy tide of terror rippled and spread throughout her veins and vessels.
What the fuck. Fuck. Fuck what- fuck, fuck oh shit dude what the fuck is this shit what. Her mind rambled panicked strings of profanities.
She was not at home.
She jerked to sit up, but her wrists were caught firmly on something harsh and clunky, forcing her arms to remain spread as she lay flat on her back. To her horror, her legs too, were restrained and completely useless to her.
Who put this blanket on her?
Then.
Then it dawned on her.
Oh god.
She was kidnapped by probably the same sick bastards that had gotten Bonnibel. Fuck. How could she be so dense? She crawled right into their trap and now here she was, chained to, wherever this was. Were they going to come back? Most likely. What were they planning to do? Had they done something already? Can she just go back and start over at the last saved checkpoint?
Her mind raced through miles of uncertainty and 'what ifs', with sprinkles of self-berating for being such an idiot and making bad choices. Something easily deemed traumatic was to come and it was her damn fault for being so, what was it, lazy? Confident? Denialistic? Brave? No, it all really came down to her being all terms relating to, complete and utterly idiotic.
For hours it seemed, she just laid there with her frantic thoughts, feeling like a salad was being tossed around inside her head. It was near pitch black, too dark to study the surroundings and devise an escape plan. She had no idea where she was taken or what she was currently lying in or on.
Waves of panic would peak then fall to melancholy. If something terrible did happen, she'd be leaving behind her brother and her best friend. She pictured herself in spirit form unable to communicate with the living, wanting so much for her loved one's acknowledgment and not being able to get it. Emotions wanting to burst free from her but unable to without a body, making it all the more excruciating.
For what seemed like even more hours had passed. Then. The steady hum of her tinnitus was abruptly interrupted by muffled clacking. Clack clack clack clack clack clack. It sounded. Ominous. Yes. A stiff gut-wrenching, spine-tingling chill braced itself firmly upon her neck and shoulders. This is it. Whatever this was, it was about to happen.
As the clacking slowed to a stop, dim white light beamed through the windows. It took a moment to process the sudden clarity to the setting around her.
Bonnibel's car.
The goons straight nicked the whole bus with her in it.
Her eyes roamed over the windows, the single swivel chair sat casually by her feet, then to the menace of chains that locked her limbs in place. She could hear the hum of a vehicle pulling in next to Bonnibel's car, headlights swiping through the shadows.
Adrenaline coursed through her in hazardous doses, probably betting its life savings on Marceline being able to find the sudden burst of demon beast strength to break free.
Alas, that wasn't a thing that was going to happen, but it didn't stop her from giving a couple of great long tugs on the restraints, to no avail, leaving her heated with fear and frustration. The engine cut off and the clacking started back up, slowly fading out the dingy white light.
Just a moment before the source of the sound had plodded to a stop, a sudden soft orange glow of light appeared evenly throughout the outside of the vehicle. The interior of the car, still quite dim in comparison.
She laid there, physically helpless, mind going through all the horrific scenarios at 10x speed then jumping straight to 110x when the passenger door opened somewhere to the right above her head. As soon as she heard shuffling of someone climbing inside, she went with the easiest course of action; pretend to be asleep.
This didn't help with the terror vibrating through her limbs, as well as her pounding heart making it difficult not to breathe too heavily, threatening to give away her current state.
The car door shut and what she guessed was a sound of a compartment, popped open then shut after a few seconds of shifting around.
Then. Yeah, here goes. More shuffling, until she was pretty certain that the person was right next to her.
For many breaths, she didn't hear any movement. She had to fight the urge to visibly tense her shoulders, she was so creeped out.
The sound of a wispy hiss accompanied by a sheet of cold shock against her face made her flinch.
Her eyes flew open.
Through the weak light she made out a shadowy figure kneeling beside her head, face obscured by the nozzle of a bright yellow spray bottle being pointed at her. She moved as much as she could to see around the obstruction, since feigning unconsciousness would be pointless now, and squinted- whoa holy crap.
Her brain did an entire backflip within the confines of her skull, mind blown and feeling an overwhelming sense of relief wash over her.
"Hey!" Marceline exclaimed. She was saved. Figures, a firecracker would be able to outsmart and escape her captives somehow. "Are you okay?" she asked, regarding the other woman with a mix of admiration and gratitude.
She didn't know what was to come of their current situation, but the one thing she was really not expecting at all was the odd look Bonnibel gave her. It almost looked like she was confused.
Marceline couldn't see very clearly, what with how the light didn't illuminate much of the inside of the vehicle very well. She guessed it had something to do with how dark the tints on the windows were.
"Are… are you hurt?" Marceline whispered.
Bonnibel looked like she had to think about that.
Finally, after what felt like a solid and awkward minute, Marceline heard her sigh. "No, I'm okay. Are you?"
Suddenly she understood why Bonnibel had to think about it because she found herself having to do the same. "You know what," Marceline chuckled, "I'm not really sure but I think so. Think you can get me out of here?"
"I'm able to do that, yes."
Marceline beamed at her response. Cool." Everything was going to be okay. "Think I could probably pick the locks but I kind of need a hand to do that." She laughed.
Bonnibel didn't.
Her dry expression as a response effectively evaporated Marceline's laughter. And when Bonnibel didn't make any moves to undo the restraints her smiles started to waver.
"So yeah, are we on a time clock or…"
"We aren't."
"Oh, cool." She tried to maintain a casual tone, but it felt unsteady in her throat. As if too many words would just jam the circuits causing her to undoubtedly falter.
Finally, Bonnibel moved, reaching a hand to the hem of the blanket and slowly peeled it away from her body before tossing it away. Marceline held her breath, waiting for Bonnibel to get to work any minute now.
"H-Have you ever picked a lock before?"
"Can't say I've ever had to," she replied, hand momentarily disappearing into her sweater pocket and reappearing with a key.
Marceline let the breath she was holding out in a big whooshing sigh of relief. "Me too but seems like something cool to know how to do."
This was a mildly inappropriate time to be funny about things like, freeing hostages, Marceline thought to herself. Still, she couldn't help appreciating the wicked humor.
She stared up at the ill lit ceiling of the car, waiting for her restraints to finally be undone. Her right foot was being unlocked first.
Maybe she could ask Bonnibel for a ride back to her car. Hopefully they weren't too far away from Paul's mansion.
"What happened?" Marceline asked, unable to contain her curiosity. "If you don't mind me asking." She didn't want Bonnibel to feel pressured to tell her about it in case it was too fresh and/or traumatic.
It was getting to be a little annoying to sit or in this case be lying down in silence while Bonnibel did that thing where she took her time to speak. What she eventually said made Marceline frown. "What do you think happened?"
Ugh. She could just say that she didn't want to talk about it.
Marceline scrunched her face in thought, feeling her other foot being unlocked, and decided to go along with it. The woman was saving her after all and deserved to be entertained for that. "Um, well, I waited for a really long time and oh- oh yeah, I'm so sorry, I should've checked to see if you were okay, but I kind of figured you were messing with me or something or maybe had an emergency and had to leave. Didn't have my phone to ask Paul for your number to ask you because I couldn't find my phone on my way out this morning..." Her eyes widened as something dawned on her. "Wait, is it still the same day?"
Bonnibel laughed, "Yes, you've only been like this for a few hours. Had quite a nap there did you?" At least the woman was in good spirits.
"Yeah, I guess," Marceline chuckled, having had her wrists just freed, sat up and rubbed them melodramatically. "Anyways, I finally came out after I'm not even sure how long, saw your car and went to open the door. I didn't see you, but the keys were in the ignition and the car was on. That's when I knew something bad probably happened. I was going to go use a Saucer's phone to call for help but I heard a noise coming from the back and decided to look first. Which I realize now was a really really stupid thing to do..." She paused to get her thoughts on track. "All I remember before I woke up was getting into the car. I didn't even get to see who was back here, or... maybe I did and don't remember."
Bonnibel just hummed in response.
"Have any idea where we are?" Marceline asked.
"Garage. Didn't want to wake you so just brought you home with me."
Marceline mouthed the word 'oh' and bobbed her head, hoping her skin wasn't betraying her by revealing how she felt about the way that sounded.
"Come." Bonnibel continued, "There's some food inside that we can heat up and then after that you can have a bath. Looks like you've had a really long day."
Marceline blinked. "Oh uh, it's okay. I still owe you a lunch and now probably a limb or two. Maybe if you want, we could do that tomorrow. Lunch I mean."
Bonnibel raised an eyebrow. Marceline had to look away from her then. She couldn't articulate why to herself just yet. "We can do that." Bonnibel smiled darkly. "Lunch I mean," she drawled mockingly, making Marceline squirm uncomfortably. Something under her skin told her that it was time to make her way home. ASAP.
"Cool, cool. Think you could give me a ride to my car? If you're not up for it, I could call an Uber… shoot, well actually I could give you cash to call me an Uber." Marceline mumbled the last part sheepishly.
"Your car is here."
"What? How?"
"Brought it."
Marceline rolled her eyes. "Duh. Via what method?"
"Uber."
"Ah. Well, thank you. I owe you a million."
"A million what?" Bonnibel smirked.
Marceline chuckled nervously. "Um, well I don't have it in cash, but I suppose I can do you a million favors. So long as my kids don't have to inherit my debt if I die before paying it all off."
"Hmm," Bonnibel tilted her head in consideration. "Deal, I'll draw up the contract tonight."
Marceline rubbed the back of her neck absently. "Alright, sounds good. I'll uh, just be on my way then. Have to check on my friend, make sure she hasn't drowned in her own sick. I'll come by the lab tomorrow to grab you for lunch."
"You're not going anywhere before you're fed." Bonnibel asserted.
Marceline pouted. "You're adding to my debt."
"Am not. Doing as I say will only resolve your debt quicker. Now, come."
Marceline could only keep pouting as Bonnibel dragged her out of the car by her wrist and into the house. The awful whining in her gut, making it so she couldn't further decline the offered sustenance anyway.