Just Pretending (Bubbline/Sugarless Gum)

Bound Below

Bonnibel ended up falling asleep outside, after hours of searching for anything that might hint at a hidden entrance. She hadn't expected how massive the garden - or forest, really - facing the back of the therapy center would be.

She woke up to the feeling of a worm crawling over her hand and she gently brushed it off, before brushing herself off. It could hardly be considered dawn, but she felt rested enough, or rather, anxious enough, that poor sleep wasn't bothering her at the moment. She got back up and decided to keep walking, assuming she'd be able to find an irregularity at some point that would reveal the location of Marceline and her captor. She judged that that tree man she and Marceline had seen a couple of days ago suggested the location was outside somewhere, she just had to find exactly where.

After some time, as she started to feel the warmth of the day creeping through the trees, she saw movement in her peripheral, and she rubbed her eyes, making sure she wasn't hallucinating. She heard something in the underbrush nearby and she spun around, trying to find the source of the noise. She figured it was probably just some animal, so she cautiously approached.

As she approached, she saw something she hadn't noticed before, despite crossing this area only a few hours earlier. Thanking the daylight, she traced a faint but definitely there trail of footsteps going around a dense thicket of trees. She grinned to herself and followed the path, and soon found herself in front of a group of unfamiliar berry bushes, which only took a few moments of examination to realize it was carefully disguising a trapdoor. Holding her breath, she listened around her, making sure she hadn't been followed. After a moment of silence - as silent as a forest could be - she opened the trapdoor into a stairway that led into blackness.

She carefully descended down the steps, careful not to trip in the growing darkness. Thankfully, the darkness didn't last for long as the stairway eventually descended to a circular room that split into three hallways, all lit by an overwhelming rainbow of colors, which came from small crystals embedded in the walls. Having no idea which hallway could lead the right way, she randomly chose the one in the middle first, as it was the biggest of the three.

This hallway had many rooms, and after peeking into a few, she realized seemed to be living quarters of sorts and very nicely maintained. She heard voices at the end of the hallway, behind the biggest door, and slipped quickly into a random room as she heard a door slam. She pressed an ear against the door and heard a familiar voice approach, asking, "What are you thinking?"

There was a moment of silence, then a softer, masculine voice replied, "Nothing."

"Oh come on," the first voice tutted, coming closer now, "I think we deserve something good today. I'm talking good, filling, sweet."

The softer voice sighed, a bit farther behind the other, then said, "You always say that."

"We made a big catch last night!" Whoever was talking was right on the other side of the door right now, and Bonnibel held her breath. "Let's go crazy big today, she tastes better than anyone we ever tasted before." Could they be talking about Marceline? Also, she could swear that the initial voice sounded like Skurk, which made enough sense, considering Marceline's suspicions of her the night before.

After the voices, now arguing about their taste preferences, trailed out of the hallway, Bonnibel slipped out and carefully shut the door behind her. She wasted no time and quietly followed after the voices, hoping wherever they were going would lead her to Marceline.

She slipped back into the main room, and peered around the corner into the next hallway, and saw two shadowed figures disappear through a doorway near the end. She saw movement and realized something was crawling out of a hole between a piece of uncharacteristically bland wall and ceiling, and skittered down the hallway, following after the two people from before.