Music Recommendation: Up the Down Trench- Thomas Newman
Marceline stepped out of her room in the middle of the night with her body covered in a black cloak and a hood over her head. She didn't need a lantern in her hand as she knew the way outside the mansion, like the back of her hand. Instead of using the entrance, she sneaked through the back door and left the mansion.
She reached the edge of the town and mounted the horse that she had ordered to be tied at her disposal, the vampiress quickly left Skellington town, heading towards the forest named Palavista.
On reaching the forest's heart, Marceline finally pulled the horse's reins to stop it from clip-clopping further and unmounted from the horse.
An owl hooted at a distance, leaving a trail of eerie silence behind it. The silence of the forest surrounding her didn't intimidate Marceline. She reached the place she had been earlier this morning.
"You are more desperate than I thought," came a voice not far from where she stood, belonged to the witch.
"I like to finish my work than leave it hanging in the air," Marceline replied, trying to find where the witch stood.
As the witch moved towards the vampiress, one could hear the scrunching of the dried leaves as it was being stepped on, "If you want something from me, I am guessing you have brought the virgin human that I told you I need for my own use."
Marceline had been in such a hurry that she had forgotten the witch's deal. She said, "I will get the virgin human once you complete my job."
The witch chuckled darkly, standing three steps away from Marceline and moving her index finger in the air, "Not so fast, vampiress. First comes the fulfilment of my demand and, then comes the fulfilment of your wish. Don't take me to be one of your servants who will do your bidding." She said in a low voice, "If you want something from me, then you need to follow my rules. Got it? Now go bring me a virgin girl," the witch waved her hand, turning around and starting to walk away from Marceline with her hunched back.
Marceline clenched her jaws in frustration, and her hands turned into fists. If her brother had not defanged her, she would have ripped this witch's head from her body for talking to her in such a rude way. But without her fangs in her mouth, the witch knew she couldn't threaten her.
"What if I give you the name? And the location of the virgin person? Will that be enough?" Marceline didn't have time to go back and forth, and she had to be back in the mansion without anyone's notice.
The witch disappeared into the darkness, and Marceline scoffed in anger. She decided to bring Eve as the sacrifice, and with that thought, she mounted the horse and left Palavista. An hour had already passed since she had left the Moriarty mansion.
On her way to Skellington, Marceline came across a quiet village. She noticed small houses; outside one of the sheds, there stood a young girl who was probably no more than fifteen. The young human girl had come to the shed after hearing the mooing of her beloved cow.
Marceline wondered if she should perhaps use this one for now and save Eve for later, after all, she wanted to make sure to torture Eve. She wanted to drink Eve's blood to the point where the lowly human would beg and cry for mercy.
Halting her horse, she unmounted and headed towards the young girl who had just finished feeding the cow and was making her way back to her house. Silently creeping behind the girl, she struck the girl's head, and Marceline dragged the unconscious girl to the forest.
Once again, returning to the forest, Marceline loudly let the witch know, "I am here with a virgin! Where are you?"
"Hmm, a young one. Though not ripe enough, she should do," the witch took a keen look at the unconscious girl and then took hold of the person before dragging her by the hands to her den.
Marceline followed the witch in darkness, heading deeper into the forest. On reaching the witch's den, the vampiress was surprised at finding many jars filled with liquid. There were many animals caged for the witch's use, and soon the young human girl was thrown into a bigger cage before being locked up.
The witch stared at Marceline, her slit eyes glowing in the dark and she questioned, "Did you bring something that belongs to the one whose fangs were fixed?"
Marceline fished her dress pocket and pulled out the fangs she believed belonged to her younger sister, "Here they are."
The witch took a look and tapped on the island's surface, which had a circle and markings drawn on it, "Keep them here." She then lit the candles in the room.
"Will you be able to tell who fixed my sister's fangs by this?" Marceline impatiently asked the witch with wariness marring her face because she knew not to trust the witch completely.
The witch walked to one of the cages, opening it, she pulled out a ferret. She came back to stand near the island where the marking was. Taking hold of a dagger in her hand, the witch gruffly replied, "I won't be able to see the face or know the name, but I will connect with this person who helped bring back the fangs. Once the connection is made, I will know where the person resides and will make a mark so that you can identify this person."
Marceline was satisfied knowing this, but then she changed her mind and said, "If you mark the person, they might hide and it will be hard for me to find out who it is. You might as well cause severe pain in the person's body," she smiled with wickedness.
The witch agreed, liking how this vampiress thought, and she nodded, "That can be done."
Using the dagger, the witch cut open the alive ferret's chest and pulled out its heart. She placed it at the centre of the circle. She whispered spells under her breath, while the candles around them blazed brightly. She threw her head back as if tapping and channelling into something. She declared, "The person is in the same town as you have been living! Has been there for a long time. So close."
This person who had fixed Allie's fangs, had stolen her happiness and light from her, pushing her to the shadows. Marceline wanted the person to suffer yet simultaneously be alive, and in a condition where she could regain her lost fangs in her mouth. She ordered the witch,
"Tomorrow, once the rays of the sun touch the land in Skellington, let this person's leg start to hurt and rot like an aged human."
The witch threw powdered ash into the circle marking, causing fire to blaze in it. She informed, "It is done."
Marceline wanted to see who had dared to hide their ability, leaving her to suffer being fangless. Soon. Soon she would find this person and restore her lost pride.
