Authors Note:
Hey, I actually made a chapter two! Again, a short one. I haven't decided if Marceline is good or bad yet, but since I've only got bits and pieces of story pre-decided and I'm just making the rest up as I go, I guess that's okay. Thank you to the couple of people who favorited/followed/reviewed. I honestly didn't expect to get any so that was nice! Anyways, read on.
"Get off me!" I yelled as I shot upright, my breathing heavy. I looked around, surprised to find I was lying in my own bed. How did I get back here? I thought as I pulled the covers off and twisted to climb off the bed.
I walked down the hall of my giant empty apartment towards the bathroom. Maybe it was all a dream. I thought as I turned the faucet on and splashed some water on my face. I grabbed a towel and dabbed at the droplets running off my face and looked into the mirror. I couldn't believe what I saw.
That was definitely not a dream. I thought as I ran my fingers over the left side of my neck where two small puncture holes shown. I can't go to work with these on my neck! I groaned as I ran to grab my phone from the bedroom.
"Come on, Peppy, answer!" The phone rang six times before my right hand man at the candy factory picked up. "Peppy! I need you to do me a favor!"
"Good morning to you, too Miss Bubblegum." The man on the other side of the phone said sarcastically.
"Sorry, Peppy. I'm tired. Good morning." I rushed.
"Thank you. Now, what is it you need me to do?" He said.
"Do you think you could take care of things at the factory today? I'm not feeling too well. I think I need to take a few days off." I asked.
"I don't know Miss, it's awfully hard to sit around and watch machines do everything all day." He said and I huffed out a breath.
"Peppy, please do this for me! It's just a few days!" I heard him chuckle on the other end of the phone.
"Alright Miss Bubblegum, but you owe me!" He said.
"Try not to complain too much, Peppy. At least you still have a job." I said in all seriousness.
"I know, Miss. And I know you could have easily replaced me with a machine, too. Thanks for keeping me on." He added.
"You're welcome. Let me know if anything happens or if you need anything at all, okay?" I said.
"Will do. You rest up Miss. See you in a few days." He hung up the line.
"Thanks, Peppy." I managed to squeeze in before the call ended.
I walked back to the bathroom to finish cleaning up. I pulled a towel out of the closet and turned the water in the large tile shower on to as hot as I could bare. I stripped down and stepped under the steaming water, exhaling a deep breath as the water warmed my oddly cold body up.
I washed and conditioned my red hair that fell down mid back. It felt good to wash the previous day off. I didn't want to think about it anymore, I was ready to forget it. But a harsh reminder of the attack from last night showed itself when I started washing my body. I noticed small bruises running up and town the sides of my torso and all over my arms.
What exactly did that chick do to me? I thought as I examined my bruised body closer. I rinsed off and forced myself to shut the hot water off, though I'd have been perfectly happy to stay under the warm stream all day.
I stepped out and wrapped myself in my towel, wiggling my toes at the sensation of the heated tiles. I wiped at the steam in the mirror with my hand and gazed at the face staring back at me. You're looking a little pale today. Maybe you are sick. Maybe that bitch gave you something! I thought as I turned my face from side to side, looking for the pink blush that usually graced my cheeks.
I got dressed and dried my hair, pulling it back into a loose ponytail. What am I going to do about these? I thought, looking at the small puncture wounds on my neck. I decided on two little round flesh colored bandaids since there was no way makeup was covering those up.
I heard my phone ringing from the bedroom and quickly walked down the hall to catch the call.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Peebs!" The person on the other end of the phone yelled enthusiastically.
"Morning, Finn. What's up?" I said as I picked a pair of earrings off the dresser and put them in my ears.
"Peppy said you weren't going in to work today, you wanna hang?!" Finn said.
"Why were you talking to Peppy? I didn't know you two were friends?" I inquired.
"I dunno, man. Jake always talks to him. They're friends from high school or something. Anyways, you down?" He answered.
"Yeah, I guess. What are we doing?" I said.
"If you wanna come by the tree fort we can make some breakfast and watch some movies maybe? Then I thought we could go to the coffee shop later today. They're doing half price coffees all day so that's a no brainer." He suggested.
"That sounds fine, Finn. I'll be over in thirty, kay?" I said as I hung up the phone before he had a chance to reply and tell me to bring something. I don't know why he even asked anymore, I always bring snacks.
I walked town to the parking garage and hopped in my R8, driving out of the garage and heading for the store. I picked up everything necessary for making bacon pancakes, Finn and Jakes favorite, and plenty of sugary snacks and drinks for watching movies. I paid and loaded the groceries into the car, heading for the outskirts of town.
There on the edge of town, just inside the tree line, was a big old house built around a giant willow tree. It was falling apart, but Finn and Jake managed to keep it livable. I parked my car under one of the big shady willow branches, grabbed the groceries and headed inside. I was past the point of knocking to go in. Half the time when I did knock the boys were too busy dancing or playing video games to hear me anyways. I walked through the living room where Finn and Jake were, to no surprise, playing some stupid video game and yelling at one another to do this and go here and shoot that zombie guy. I walked past them into the kitchen where I sat all the groceries down and began preparing to make bacon pancakes.
The boys must have smelled the pancake batter because they hit the pause button and ran into the kitchen to assist.
"Peebs, we didn't even hear you come in! Why didn't you say something?!" Finn said.
"Yeah, P-Bubs!" Said Jake.
"It's not a problem, guys. You seemed like you were pretty involved in your game." I said as I poured the first pancake onto the griddle.
Finn was a tall skinny guy. His wardrobe consisted of blue jeans and t-shirts and he always had this goofy hat on. Jake was shorter and a little thicker, and fancied the color yellow.
"Those smell so good P-Bubs! Make me some extra, will ya?" Jake said as I swatted him away from the batter bowl.
"You okay, Peebs? You look kinda pale today. And why do you have bandaids on your neck?" Finn said, squinting his eyes and leaning over the counter to get a closer look at my affliction.
"I'm fine, I just had a weird night last night. I'll tell you all about it over breakfast, but first can you please wash some dishes so we actually have something to eat off of?" I gave Finn some minor puppy dog eyes and he melted over to the sink to wash some plates.
"Why do I always have to do the dishes?" Finn asked, sounding like a teenager.
"Because you eat as much as a full grown elephant, that's why! Every time I turn around you've made yourself something else to eat!" Jake replied.
"That was a rhetorical question, Jake." Finn stuck his tongue out at his friend as he turned his back.
"Breakfast is ready!" I said, carrying the plate piled a mile high with pancakes over to the table. "Jake, can you grab the butter and syrup?"
"Sure thing." He said as he dug through the fridge to find the condiments. Once we were all settled in and eating at the table, Finn shot me a look.
"So, you gonna tell us what happened last night?" He said through a mouthful of food.
"It's kind of weird so bare with me guys. I went to the bar last night an-" I was cut off.
"You went to the bar without us?!" Finn said, sadly.
"Do you want me to tell you or not?" I said in a motherly tone.
"Yes, but next time you go to the bar, tell us!" He begged.
"Anyway, I was at the bar and there was this girl there. She was dressed in all black and was covered in tattoos." Again I was interrupted.
"She sounds cool! I should have been there!" Finn said as he shoved another pancake in his mouth.
"I thought she was cool, until she started saying all this stuff about me that she shouldn't have known. Like, personal stuff. And then, to top it all off, she attacked me! I woke up this morning covered in bruises and with two puncture holes in my neck." I finished.
"Oh, god. Finn, we have to move. Now! This girl sounds too creepy!" Jake looked legitimately scared.
"Chill, man. I'm sure she just has some sort of weird fetish and you'll never ever run into her anywhere ever." Finn put and hand on Jakes arm to comfort him.
"She lives in town somewhere. She seemed pretty friendly with LSP. I just hope she stays away from the bar on our nights." I said.
"Thats seriously whack, Peebs. Did you file a police report?" Finn asked.
"No, I didn't think to." I replied.
"She could have poisoned you or something. You should have filed a report." Finn said.
"If it happens again I will. Right now I'm just hoping I never see her again. That was enough excitement for one lifetime." I said as I ate my last bite of pancake.
I collected all the dirty dishes and put them in the sink to wash while Finn and Jake went to pick out our first movie. Once all the dishes were done and a movie was picked out we settled down into the couches to watch. We made it five minutes into the first movie before Finn was in the kitchen rummaging through the snacks I'd brought. We watched three movies, having lunch half way through the second, before we decided to head to the coffee shop. It was about dinner time and already starting to get dark outside. A day well wasted. I thought.
"We'll have to go in your truck, Finn. I can only hold two people." I said as we put jackets and scarfs on to head out into the cold.
"No prob, Peebs." Finn said as he grabbed his keys.
We all piled into the little white pickup with a bench seat. I of course had to sit in the middle. We sang along with the radio on the short drive to the local coffee shop.
"It looks pretty packed." I noticed as we drove up.
"Well who wouldn't want half price coffee?" Jake said.
"Good point." I said as we parked around on the back of the building and walked back around towards the front door. Finn held the door open and we all filed in, getting in the back of the line that had a least fifteen people in it.
I was looking over the extensive menu when out of the corner of my eye I saw her and my heart dropped. There she was, sitting at a table by herself, reading a book and sipping on her steaming cup of half priced coffee. I pretended I didn't see her, hoping she wouldn't see me, though I wouldn't be surprised if she had.
After a few minutes we were finally to the front of the line. Finn and Jake ordered first and I ordered last to pay. I always bought the boys coffee when we went out. I pretty much bought everything when we went out. I kept an eye on Marceline as we walked around the bar to wait for out drinks. I was beginning to think maybe she was so focused on her book that she hadn't actually seen me.
I was facing her, looking right at her when the barista called my name. I held my breath, hoping she wouldn't remember my name, but those green eyes peeled slowly up off her book and stared right at me.
I quickly spun around, grabbing my drink and handing the boys theirs.
"Where do you wanna sit?" Finn asked. I desperately scanned the cafe for a table away from Marceline, but the only one big enough for three people was just a couple tables down from her. Every time I peeked up at her to see what she was doing she was peering at me through her black rimmed glasses.
"Peebs, why are you so quiet?" Finn asked. He slapped me gently on the back, trying to get me to talk.
"I'm just tired, I guess." I said, never looking away from Marceline. Finn noticed I was looking at something and turned to look behind him. He immediately figured out what I was looking at and turned back to face me.
"Holy shit, Peebs, is that the girl from last night?!" He leaned over and whispered enthusiastically. I nodded to confirm his suspicion. "Wow she's...well lets say I wouldn't mind if she jumped me, you know what I mean?" Finn bumped with his elbow suggestively.
"Finn! She atta-" I started to raise my voice which made he cock her head to the side. I leaned in to whisper into Finns ear. "She attacked me."
Finn turned back around to get a better look at her, making it extremely obvious that we were talking about her. She gave me a wicked smirk.
"Finn, stop looking at her! You're drawing her attention!" I smacked him on the arm and he turned back to face me.
"Peebs, I think she's into you. Look at the way she's looking at you. It's like she could eat you whole!" Finn was enjoying this way too much, but I couldn't help but blush at what he said.
"Guys, I don't like the looks of her." Jake spoke up. "I think we should leave."
"I agree with Jake, I want nothing to do with her." I added.
"Man, you guys are no fun!" Finn said as we finished our coffees and gathered our things to leave.
We headed out and around the corner to Finns truck when I realized I had left my scarf inside.
"Guys, I left my scarf inside. I'm gonna run back in and grab it real quick." I said, the boys stopping with me.
"Do you want us to go back with you? Wouldn't want any scary hot girls to jump out and grab you." Finn said.
"That's not funny, Finn. Y'all go on and get the truck warmed up. I'll be fine, I'm just gonna run back in and grab it real quick." I said as I turned and the boys kept walking. I shoved my hands in my pockets and tucked my chin into my chest, trying to fight off the cold as I rounded the corner onto the side of the building.
Looking at the ground, I wasn't able to stop before I ran into the person wearing black combat boots. "I'm sorry, I wasn't-"
"Did you forget something, Princess?" Marceline held my pink scarf up for me to see.
I took a few clumsy steps back as my heart began racing. "Give me that." I said as I snatched my scarf from her and turned to walk back towards the truck.
"Hey, wait a minute." Marceline said and I heard her boots hit the ground as she started to follow me. I felt her hand on my shoulder and spun around, swatting her hand off with my own.
"What the fuck do you want from me, creep?" I said a little louder than I intended.
"Woah, no need to be harsh." She said, putting her hands up defensively. "I just wanted to apologize."
"You wanted to apologize? How about you explain what these holes on my neck are?!" I said, peeling off the bandaids and stepping closer to her, shoving my neck towards her to make my point.
She jumped back, obviously uncomfortable. She pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her coat pocket, fumbling to get one out and lit. She took a long drag off of it.
"Please don't come close to me." She said, blowing smoke out of her nose.
"What is wrong with you? You are a very strange person." I said, observing her odd behavior.
"Look Bonnibel, it was an accident." She said.
"An accident?! Attacking me was an accident?! I'm covered in bruises! I have holes in my neck!" I motioned again to my throat.
"I have no idea how to explain this to you." She said.
"Just tell me why you jumped me last night, that would be a great start!" I was starting to get frustrated.
"If I told you, you would just freak. I've already fucked this up probably more than I can fix. I just couldn't help myself." She took another drag off her cigarette.
"This has got to be the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me." I said, but Marceline sounded sincere so I decided to stick around and hear her out.
"Come have a drink with me." She said, goring into my soul with her green glowing eyes.
I felt oddly obliged to go with her.
"I have no idea why I'm doing this, but okay." She turned and began walking towards the street, one hand in her pocket, the other holding her cigarette. I forgot all about Finn and Jake in that moment and like a magnet drawn to metal, I followed.
We weren't on the main road long before she turned off on a sketchy looking side street and opened the door to a hole-in-the-wall bar. I hesitated before walking under her arm and into the bar. It was dark inside. There was some sort of rock or punk type music playing and a couple dozen people were scattered around, all dressed in black.
"I've lived here my whole life and never knew this place was here." I said, heading for the bar. I was stopped when she grabbed my arm.
"No, lets get a booth." She said, dragging me up a short flight of stairs to an upstairs seating area. No one was up here. I sat on one side of the farthest booth to the left and she sat on the other.
A waiter trotted up the stairs and came over to the booth to take our order.
"Your usual, Marceline?" She nodded.
"And a Captain and Dr. Pepper for her." Marceline said to the waiter. He left back down the stairs to get our drinks.
"What if I wanted something else?" I asked.
"But you didn't want something else." Marceline said.
"Okay, you're right. But what if I had wanted something else?" I pressed.
"Then I would have ordered you something else." She replied as the waiter returned with our drinks. "Thanks." She said to him.
I waited for him to be out of hearing range. "How would you have know, though? You didn't even ask."
"God, are you stupid or something? I don't have to ask. I already know. I thought we went over this last night." She said, taking a drink of her mystery drink, tinted blood red.
"I'm sorry, but I still don't believe you. There is no possible way-" She cut me off.
"Think of a number. Any number, one to infinity. The bigger the better." She instructed. She stared at me as I thought. "Three thousand six hundred seventy-four."
"Lucky guess." I said.
"Then lets do it again. Think of a number." She stared at me again, not looking away when she took a sip of her drink. "Two."
"Wrong." I said.
"Liar!" She yelled.
"Fine, two was the number." I admitted, curious how she'd guessed correctly both times. "How do you do that? Are you some sort of mind reader?" I asked.
"Some sort. It's complicated." She finally looked away from me.
"What do you want from me?" I asked.
"Lots of things, sweetheart." She said as she pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
"Like what?" I pried.
"I'm pretty sure you're too innocent to hear the things I want from you." She smirked at me.
"Oh." I said, blushing as I understood where she was going with that. Her smirk got a little bigger. "What?" I asked at the way she looked at me.
"Nothing, just don't forget I know things. Things that you're thinking." She chuckled as the blood drained from my face when I realized I'd been thinking about her. "No, don't stop thinking. I was liking where you were going with that."
I felt like I could puke. And I desperately wanted to. Not because she knew I was thinking about her like that, but because I was thinking about someone who had just attacked me the night before.
"I need to leave. I can't be here." I said, sliding out of the booth. She slid out and stood blocking my path to leave. "Move, please." I tried to slide by her on either side, but she wouldn't let me through. "Marceline, move."
"I don't want you to leave, and I know for a fact that you don't want to leave either. I know you want to stay here with me and have a few more drinks. I know you want to stumble home with me afterwards. I've seen what you want to do." She said.
"Get out of my mind, freak!" I said, pushing her, but she didn't budge.
"Call me all the names you want, Bonnibel. I'm not moving until you sit back down." She said.
"You can't make me stay here." I said.
"Agree to disagree." Marceline said.
I knew she was right, that I didn't want to leave even though I was scared for my life. But I hadn't felt this much excitement in years, and something about her just made me want to stay. I slowly took a seat back in the booth and sipped on my drink. Marceline stood for a few seconds after I sat before she took her own seat.
"I swear to God, I'm not trying to kill you or hurt you or anything like that." She said. "I'm sorry if I hurt you last night, I didn't mean to. I was having trouble controlling myself." She said, taking a big gulp of her red drink.
"What do you mean, controlling yourself? I don't get what needed controlling? Were you going to kill me or something?" I asked.
"I easily could have." I felt a chill run over me as she said that.
"How? What did you do to me last night?" I pleaded with her to tell me her secret.
"Have you ever seen Dracula?" She said, which confused me.
"Yeah, what does an old vampire movie have to do with this?" I thought on that for a minute. She looked at me like I was a total idiot. "Wait, are you trying to say that you're a vampire? Marceline, that's ridiculous!"
She looked at me with a straight face. Two seconds later she was gone, replaced by a fluffy little bat looking thing sitting on the table.
"Holy fucking shit, you're a vampire." I said, blue eyes wide.
Just as quickly as she'd changed into the little creature she changed back, sitting back in the booth, arms crossed over her chest giving me a crooked smile.
"Believe me now?" She said as my jaw dropped.
"So last night...the holes on my neck...you...oh, God." Marceline was biting her lip, staring at me like I was a meal. And last night I was.
"Yes, that's what happened last night. I seriously didn't mean to, you just smelled so sweet, I couldn't resist getting a little taste." Marceline pushed her black rimmed glasses up onto the top of her head and leaned forward to put her elbows on the table. "And you were indeed sweet." I saw a change in her eyes as she stared me down, and all of a sudden I felt extremely unsafe with her and began shifting in my seat.
She noticed me shift my weight and sat back in the booth, grabbing her drink and chugging it. "Sorry." She said as she placed the empty glass down on the table in front of her.
I began imagining all the ways this could go wrong, all the ways she could kill me. I imagined blood everywhere.
"Stop, Bonnibel." Her head twitched to the side as she saw all the horrible things going through my mind. "I'm serious, you need to stop, now."
I couldn't stop. As hard as I tried, it was all I could think about. Marceline's fingers started twitching across the table.
My thoughts were interrupted as I felt a sharp pain in my shin.
"Ow! What was that for?!" I asked, offended by the kick.
"I told you to stop. You didn't." Marceline was dead serious.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." I felt horrible.
"I don't want to kill you Bonnibel, but that doesn't mean I wont if you provoke me." She warned.
I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. I just stared into her green eyes. I tried not to think about anything. Don't think. Don't embarrass yourself. I thought.
"It wont work. You can't not think." She smiled at me, leaning forwards onto the table, resting her chin on her hands.
"I can at least try." I said.
"Let me take you home, Bonnibel. If you don't want to be here." She said, quite to my disappointment. She smiled at my thoughts of not wanting to go.
"One more drink?" I asked.
"However many more you want, Princess." And the night was gone.