Chapter Four
"So how have you really been lately? It's only been about six months. That's not much time."
"No need to lie Jake. If you were me you would understand. It was enough time. I'm just sick of it. Yah know. I can't run forever. He'll find me sooner or later," I sigh.
"Well, it's gonna be a hell of a lot sooner now. Especially with you being here. You know he has eyes all over this place. Once he's notified that your back, he's gonna be all over you. Just be careful. He's gonna go after the ones that are close to you."
"Hmph, you're probably right, but I think I can handle it."
"Don't worry Marshall Lee. Jake and I will be there for you! Right Jake," Fionna says excitedly. "Yeah," he replies with a smile. "Mathematical! Now, Jake give me my hat, it's time for adventure!" She jumps up and down as laughter pours out of her mouth. Jake digs in his pocket and pulls out a dingy looking rabbit hat that looks as if it is about to fall apart. Ugh, I'm surprise it hasn't just disintegrated by now. She tugs her hat on and secures it with a snap. "Now, onwards we go," she yells as she pulls me and Jake along.
We walk along a dirt trail before coming along a group of trees. Once past the trees, we come near a grass field. It's surrounded by different men, who were fighting like wild animals. As always, Fionna being her curious usual self ran towards the burly men, who were cheering on the sidelines. I don't understand why she always gotta be surrounded by guys. She too independent. Hopefully that won't bite her in the ass. Jake can't be here forever. I sigh as I follow Jake making our way towards Fionna.
"Hey, what took you dudes so long? I just told jumbo here that I could beat him into a pulp. Bastard had the nerve to laugh," she says incredulously. Jake eyes grow wide, and mines can't help but do the same. This guy is like three times her size, and it's very unlikely that he is human. What the hell is wrong with her? I swear she has a death wish. Knowing Jake won't be able to talk her out of it, and she could possibly get brain damage due to this, I try to intervene. No need to add to her already fucked up brain.
"Fionna, when I said I wanted to hang out, this isn't the kind of adventure I wanted. Especially on my first day back. We should do something else," I stated.
"Okay," she sighs. "But, I won't forget those words. I'll be back and I'll make you regret those words," she says as she glares at the huge man in front of her. He just laughs it off and turns back towards the crowd. I'm surprise he didn't respond; of course this only makes her madder. Before she can rant, Jake grabs her arm as we walk away. "You know Fionna, you can't be like Billy. For one, he was a man. Two, he was a very skilled warrior. And three, it's always better to be yourself," he says staring at her intensely. She just huff and mutters under her breathe. "How bout we go to that cool cave over there," she says as she points across the field.
I watch as Fionna boots began to drown into the sunken mud. Before the same could happen to me, I decided to float above the ground. My converses are my babies. As we resend through the cave. The walls start to concave before widening back out. Glittering icicles point out from various sections of the cave. Water seemed to roar throughout the cave, and echo off the walls. I have to be honest this is quite boring. The only thing were gonna possibly find in this cave is a giant teddy bear that Fionna's gonna take her pint up frustration out on, or some hideous breed hidden within the shadows. Maybe I should of stay home. Slept in some more, and waited to visit Fionna. It's not the fact of having too much excitement for today, because it definitely not. It's more of the fact that I'm still tired, and walking in here has done nothing but bring me down. Being in my head sucks, because I get stuck in my head and start to think of my past. The good parts anyway. Suddenly, there's a loud thudding sound that booms through the cage. The sound grows louder as the creature makes it way forward. Dammit, it's a fucking bear. That poor bear is about to get the shit beaten out of him, and he doesn't even know it. I'm no longer sure if Fionna understands humanity, or any life for that matter, as she kicks the creature in its face. And that's saying something considering I'm a vampire. I'm surprise she's even able to make the thing tumble onto its back considering she's only human. It doesn't take much for the bear to disappear. And by the way it quickly turned around, Fionna not the only thing that had an effect on it leaving. Fionna turns towards me and Jake smiling widely.
"Did you guys see that? That was my best record yet. Whoo baby," she yells excitedly. Her voice echo's through the cave as it bounces off the wall towards us. Jake gives her a confused look. I know he's thinking the same as me. That was a little too easy for her to win in only five seconds. It's complete bullshit.
"So you guys feel that," Jake says as he turns his side to side. "It feels as if were being watch." With Jake being a shape shifter, he's a little more sensitive to the things around him.
"No," Fionna replies.
As soon as those words leaves her lips. I feel a quite breeze against my skin. Fog begins to surround me, and breathing becomes deeper as I fight for air. My body starts to feel heavy as I collapse to the floor. Before my eyes shut completely, I see Fionna and Jake collapse as well.
†††
Spots blind my vision as I open my eyes. I shut my eyes again as I try to clear my head. As I reopened my eyes I jump out of my skin, and hold in the scream that was about to erupt from my mouth.
"Oh, Marshall Lee! Your finally awake," Fionna yells in excitement. I glanced around the dim room. There's hardly any light burning through this place. Luckily for me I'm not human. I notice the stone walls and dirt floor. Lifting my body off the floor, I walk around until I see what looks like an exit. The closer I get, the more I notice it's blocked with sharp metal bars with silver thorns sticking out of it. I'm not even sure how we got inside here. There are no transportation tubes, no obvious portals, and not a single lock on any part of this cell. I try to look outside of the cell, but it's not easy. All I can really do is guess that it's a long corridor. I place my hands upon the metals bar, and tighten my grip so I could pull or at least bend the bars. Unfortunately, the thorns pierce my skin cutting me deeply. It seems to get worse as intense heat shoots through my skin affectively burning my hands producing blue smoke. Damn.
"I don't think I'm going to be able to get you guys out," I say as I turn around to face Jake and Fionna. "Actually, I'm pretty damn sure I'm not gonna be any help. Those bars are spell bound. I can try my bass, but I don't know if it will be much help." I look down my chest and realize my bass is missing. What. The. Hell. I look around the cell. It's large, but there are definitely no hidden compartments in this place and no sign of my Axe either. I look back at Fionna and Jake.
"Did one of you take my bass?" I asked. They both look dumbfounded as they shake their heads.
"I have my sword," Fionna says as she glances at her wrist only to find it bare. "Um, never mind. But when I do find out who took it, I'm gonna knock their ass back into next week so they will think before doing it again," she growls. "What about you Jake. You think you can get us out of here," Fionna asked.
"Maybe," Jake said as he took a look at the metal bars. "But, if I do this, chances are I'm still gonna get some sort of damage due to those thorns," he sighs.
"I'm sure you can do it Jake. You can do anything," Fionna expresses loudly.
"Fionna, would you calm your ass down. We have no idea where we are, or who's holding us captive. No need to notify them that we're up," I sighed, shaking my head in the process.
"Sorry."
"Now that that's said, let's get this over with," Jake said walking towards the far end of the cell. He began to expand out of shape and take a new form. His body was now three times bigger than his average size. With a loud roar erupting from his mouth, me and Fionna jumped out of the way as he charged towards the bars. On impact, the bars only bended a little, but not enough for us to actually get out. Backing up midway, he runs twice as hard before. The stone walls shake with each step. Metal clanking rings around us as the cell bars breaks off it hedges and crashes into the wall. Before I could take a look outside of the cell, I halted at the sound of Jake groaning. Jake now sat on the ground mostly naked with loose rags of his clothing hanging off his body. His hands were clutching his head in a tight grip. "Jake are you okay?" Fionna asked. Jake pulled his hands away from his soak sweat matted hair, and glared at her. A little blood trickled from his forehead as he said "Fantastic."
"Fionna, you really shouldn't ask stupid questions. Especially at a time like this," I say as I eyed her before turning my attention towards Jake. "How yah feel. Think you can handle anymore rough housing?" He starts to shake his head, but stops abruptly. "No, I had to use a lot of energy for that spell bounded gate. I don't exactly have enough energy to heal myself at the moment," he sighs. "Sorry, but I won't be much help." I kneel down so he can put arm around my shoulder, as Fionna takes his other arm around her shoulder, we both lift him from the ground. The extra wait drags me down in a hunchback form. I guarantee you that I'm carrying most of Jakes weight. Fionna looks straighter than a pole. Glancing left and right, I decided to make left down the hallway, which seems to be brighter than the right. Walking as fast as I can with Jakes weight on my shoulder, I turn the corner to see an extend hallway with three different corridors. I decide to take the one on the right. The lights seem to get brighter the farther we go. I honestly don't know how far this hall goes. Hopefully were close to being freed because my energy hasn't been feeling the same since I touched the cells door. The ground begins to quake, and a growl erupts from behind us. The feeling is faint, but begins to grow as the growl gets louder, and the ground shakes like a bass. Looking back, I can see a huge creature within the shadows. I instantly grabbed Jake's waist and tossed him over my shoulder. For someone who supposedly lost energy, it feels like I hoisted a truck on my shoulders. Seizing Fionna's hand, I try to run at full speed. My steps feel heavy, and this is definitely not full speed. I can't even flash out of here. I finally come out of the hall. Taking a look at my surroundings, I realized that it's a dead end. The room is totally empty with only one way out. Dammit. I lay down a now passed out Jake in the corner of the room. I turn towards an exhausted looking Fionna. Her face as a rosy hue, and her hair sticks to her face as beads of liquids falls down her neck. The thumping is getting louder as the growls become higher. I instinctively grasp my neck. Fuck. I quickly take a fighting stance and wait. Just as Fionna comes by my side, a four legged creature crawled from the shadows, and blocked the door. It stared at us with dark red eyes. Blood drips from it sharp pointed teeth mixing with the saliva that dripped off its long extend tongue as it swayed rhythmically. Black scales shined in the light as a slimy substance seem to run down its back. Horns seem to protrude from its forehead all the way towards it back. It stood five times my size, and looks fifty times bigger than my body weight. Its tail rises from its body and joins its upper body. The tail look liked a dagger that was stitch on.
"Fionna," I whispered. "You might wanna stand by Jake. Make sure he's okay."
"What the heck, Marshall Lee. There's no way I'm gonna let you fight by yourself," she whispered yelled.
"Get your ass next to Jake now," I growled out. "There is no way your ass would even win this fight," I say harshly. "Jake would never forgive me. Now move your ass."
"Hell no. I said I'm gonna help, and that's what I'm gonna do. You can't stop me!" Fionna yelled. The creature roared as it stomped its feet and headed toward us at full speed. I swiftly pushed Fionna across the room as the creature made impact. I gasped as the air was knocked right out of me. Before the creature could make impact with me, I quickly moved as it hit the stoned wall. It jerked its head to the side before trying to stand up. I rushed to its side, and punched it as hard as I could. Sadly, all it did was tumble to it side. It ran at me with incredible speed, knocking me on my back. Its claws dug into my chest causing me to scream out in pain as it began to lower its claws. With all my strength, I lifted my leg and kicked its face as hard as I could. I watch it made contact with the wall, and abruptly stood up. Pain seared through my chest. I felt as if I was burning with acid. Focusing on the creature; I watch as it spit blood on to the floor. As it bolted forward, I rushed with as much agility I could muster, and headed towards it. We collided with hard crashed causing us to land on the ground. I punched it in the stomach repeatedly as it clawed my arms and face. Its tail began striking my back repeatedly. Missing my chance to strike it again, I hit the wall as a powerful kick made contact with my torso. I coughed up blood of my own. Dragging my body up the wall, I slicked my hair behind my ear as I turned towards the creature. I didn't have a chance as it swiped it giant paws and slammed it into my face. I hit the wall, landing next to a still passed out Jake, and terrified Fionna. Her face twisted into anger as she looked at me. She let out a loud uncharacteristic growl as she turned around towards the creature. "Fionna, no!" I screamed. "Stop!" The creature raced towards her. She let out a startled cry as its tail pierced her stomach. I gasped in surprise as blood poured from her lips. I quickly hopped on my feet, and rushed towards her. I was suddenly pulled back forcefully making my back hit the wall roughly. Chains wrapped around my feet, and slide up my body as it tightened before clasping around my neck and wrist. My eyes widen as I heard Fionna wailed in pain as the creature clawed her body to pieces. I watch the life fall out of her eyes as she whimpers on her last breath. Tears stain my cheeks as my body gives out. The chains are taking all of my energy. My breathing is becoming ragged. I watch as the creature strides towards Jake. I struggle against the chains as it gets closer to him. Screaming out Jake's name doesn't make him stir in any way. I watch as the creature lowers its mouth towards Jakes neck. As it extends its jaw, I close my eyes. I hear a gasp of breathe and a small whimper as Jake dies. Opening my eyes more tears flow down my cheeks. I scream as the creature makes it way towards me. Struggling in the chains, I watch as the creature jaw widens. My eyes bulge out as I get stabbed in the chest. Looking down I see the tail digging into my skin as blood pours out rapidly. I try to scream as its mouth gets closer, but no sound comes out of my mouth.
I gasped as I sat up abruptly. My chest heaves up and down rapidly. My hair is matted to my face, and sweat covers my whole body. I hopped out of bed and walked towards my bathroom. Turning the shower on cold, I stripe my clothes and jumped in. The cold water cools my heated flesh as it sprays over my body. I then put the shower on a warmer setting, putting a little feeling back in my body. I decide to get a drink from the kitchen before heading back to bed. I also have Lady change the sheets before I return. Walking into the kitchen, I grab a bottle of strawberry fruit juice from the fridge and down it. Wiping my mouth off, I shake off the terrible feeling I had in my dream. I'm not even sure how I got home today, or what I did for that matter. Taking a deep breath I walk up to my bedroom. Lying in my new cleaned sheets, I slowly shut my eyes. After a few seconds I begin to breathe in what smells like smoke. Opening my eyes I see a light airy fog. I can see movement from the corner of my eye.
"I didn't expect to see you so soon, but you never really did surprise me. What do you want?"
"I just wanted to see if you were actually here. I didn't expect you to come back here with so much at stake."
"There's nothing at stake. I made sure of that," I sneered.
"Did you enjoy my gift? I'm sure you remembered it well."
"That wasn't a gift. It was terrible act of fear. Unfortunately, you didn't succeed," I sighed. "But of course I remembered it. Who could ever forget that place. Of course they always said you were the best at what you do, father. They must have over exaggerated. You could use some work," I smirked.