Marceline’s



Menagerie


ZaneofBane


    


Click, click, click. The sharp footfalls pierced through the silence, a breath of activity in an otherwise lifeless library. Rows of towering bookshelves radiated from the walkway, like the ribs of some long forgotten giant. In a few days, so

"Thirty minutes until you're
on." Courtney cringed as the toneless screech of her manager
carried through the closed door, grinding her teeth in annoyance. The
young star's head was pounding from the night before, a result of
copious amounts of alcohol and not enough sleep, and the last thing
she needed at the moment was the ear piercing squawk of some
middle-aged sow. Running her fingers through her short, black hair,
the guitarist let out a sigh, leaning back against the leather
cush

Shadenfreude
By: ZaneofBane
Like a child with a new toy,
Vanessa affixed her cold gaze upon the squirming individual clutched
within her hand, her eyes gleaming with malice. How fragile the woman
looked, tears staining her pale cheeks. How miserable she looked,
straining her tiny hands against the pale fist which held her. At the
slightest inclination, Vanessa could have squeezed, collapsing her
tiny captive's rib cage and ending her insignificant existence. It
would have been easy; almost comi

The
Show Goes On
ZaneofBane
Despite his bleeding fingers, Adam
continued to scratch at the cardboard wall before him, desperate to
escape. The pain in his digits paled in comparison to the terror
writhing in his belly, the gripping certainty that if he didn't
escape he would die. In pursuit of his next high, the addict had
borrowed money he'd known he couldn't pay back from people he
shouldn't have crossed. The time had come to pay back his dues, and
unfortunately Adam was a bit short on cash.

The
Blue Roses
ZaneofBane
Like thunder, the
engine roared, a constant hum fighting with the screams of the wind.
Two wheels moved the earth, leaving mile after mile of blacktop to
fade on the horizon. Dust battered the rider, beating relentlessly
against desert scorched skin and a blue helmet. Nova couldn't help
but laugh at the feeling of it all.
For four years, she
had roamed the open desert roads of Arizona with her sisters. For
four years, she had tasted freedom the likes of which other's

A
Typical Morning
By:
ZaneofBane
By its very nature,
life is cruel. The strong eat the weak, the fast beat the slow, and
ultimately the one will exploit the many. That is life, and in some
ways that cruelty is beautiful. It's an impartial sort of cruelty,
one which neither discriminates nor holds malice. It's fair in its
unfairness, or at least that's what Riza had been taught. Still, as
she pressed her hands against the glass of her container and stared
out into the distorted world beyond, it

The
Switch
By:
ZaneofBane
Nervously, Dan ran his
finger through his tangled red hair, questioning the decisions that
had brought both himself and the woman behind him to this derelict
warehouse so late at night. He was a typical high school student,
eighteen and full of angst, but rather non-social by others’
standards. Whereas typical students would hang out after school or go
to a virtual arcade, Dan spent his time working at a book store,
reading historical fiction novels when business was