Marceline groaned as she stretched her arms and legs away from her. Her eyes felt like they had been jammed shut with the crusty remnants of tears.
'oh yeah, just what I need when I wake up'
Using her hands to force her eyelids open, Marceline noticed something peculiar in her sleeping arrangements, primarily that she was lying in Finn's bed again. She gasped at the sight of her body laying in the cacophony of tangled sheets, a scene all too familiar to the vampire queen; it echoed with memories of laser lights, glow-sticks and cold beverages laced with magic potions that somehow led to waking up in a stranger's bed.
"Oh my grawd" Marceline said as she face-palmed herself, mostly out of instinct. Tired and hungry, she crawled out of the fluffy bed but underestimated the distance to the grou d and ended up falling and slamming her forehead against the wooden floorboards.
'What happened last night' Marceline thought to herself through closed eyes. She stroked her forehead to dull the throbbing pain that began to manifest itself. "Finn" she moaned "Get me some STRAWBERRIES."
Silence
She tilted her head upwards, scraping her chin in the process, and saw the emptiness of the bedroom. Judging by the appearance of the night sky through the window, Marceline had slept well past 24 hours. If it was this late into the night, then Finn and Jake would have surely been home; normally Finn didn't stay up after dark unless he was hanging out with Marceline. However, given that she had inadvertently infected Finn with lycanthropy, it looked like the vampire queen would soon be spending the rest of her days alone.
xxxFlashbackxxx
It was night time and the moonlight casted an eerie glow on the interior of Finn and Jake's tree-house. Shadows of tree branches appeared like sharpened claws on the darkened floorboards. The cold winds outside whistled and howled, causing the shadows in the rooms of the tree-house to dance.
"Hey Finn did you ever find that ruby sword?" Marceline said as she opened the door to the hero's tree-house. Inside she was greeted by the sight of an unconscious Finn lying on the wooden table in the living room, face down, mouth open and with no sign of breathing. His shirt was off to reveal an imposing burn scar on his back, but it wasn't the only thing that Marceline noticed. Scattered all over Finn's upper body were purple bruises decorated with minuscule cuts. It looked as if an infant had taken a red and purple marker and drew all over Finn's pale skin. "Whoa, what happened here?" Marceline said, her voice fighting back a chuckle.
"You know you shouldn't be laughing" came a voice from the kitchen.
Marceline made a face in the general direction of the voice. "I wasn't laughing" the vampire queen replied. She took a seat on the green couch and spotted a jar full of red twizzlers near one of the armrests. She grabbed one and stuck it into her mouth so that it jutted out like a farmer with a piece of wheat between their teeth, or in Marceline's case fangs. Meanwhile, Jake came walking out of the kitchen polishing a glass cup with a rag.
"Uh-huh…let's be serious Marceline, my bro looked like he almost got himself killed this time" Jake said as he cast a saddened glance towards Finn.
Marceline eyebrows were raised and automatically sucked the red from the piece of candy in her mouth. "Did he say what happened?" She said, her voice feigning boredom.
"No, just that he was going after the ruby sword and that he got scratched up by some really dumb why-wolf. By the looks of it, he really messed up the guy but barely made it out with his skin. Man this kid has got to be more careful. He could get killed out there without me." Jake's hands were shaking and began squeezing the rag against the glass he was holding.
"Isn't he a hero and all. He can take care of himself."
'That boy has got some guns on him.' Marceline grinned, eyes transfixed on the hero's biceps. They weren't as thick as muscle princess' but they were powerful enough to wield a sword that could carve through armored foes like a cake.
"You didn't see him when he was crawling over here Marceline." Jake's voice was beginning to rise. "He was crying the whole time he was making his way across the grasslands. Finn would have been grinded up by a giant if I hadn't been where there for him and smashed the guy's head in." The gray candy piece fell from Marceline's mouth.
"I'll be leaving Finn so that I can move in with Lady Rainicorn soon. And I'd like to know that my brother is safe and free from any bad influences." Jake said, glaring at Marceline. She turned her head, pretending to look at the jar of red candies. "Hey…when you walked in here didn't you ask about the ruby sword?"
"Yeah" Marceline frowned and crossed her legs. "What of it?"
"Finn didn't tell anyone about his quest. How did you know about it?" Marceline's mind went blank as Jake walked up to her, stopping in front of the coffee table where Finn was still laying. He was now standing across from the vampire queen, eyes boring into her faintly red eyes. "Marceline, I know you like to play tricks on people. Did you have anything to do with this?" Jake pointed an enlarged finger at Finn.
Marceline put on the straightest face she could manage. "No, of course not Jake. And I was talking about the ruby sword game that Finn was playing on Beemo." She felt as if those large dog eyes were burning a hole right through her.
Xxx End of flashback xxx
Slowly, the vampire queen dragged herself off the floor and searched the house for any sign of Finn the hero.
As she flew through the house, the same sights and smells from her first attempt at searching the house greeted her. The bathrooms were empty, the kitchen stank of meat and the living rooms were cluttered with either debris or filth that had yet to be cleaned. She threw her head back in disgust at the stench of bacon emanating from the kitchen, now rotten. 'Didn't Jake teach Finn how to clean?'
Marceline herself felt unclean for sleeping in Finn's bed after deliberately making an attempt not to. Each touch of fluffiness and warmth from the animal pelts only brought images of a rumpled male body, looking tired and inviting, next to her, groping her arm. She didn't know why such imaginings were at the forefront of her thoughts or that they made her body shudder and her back prickle with intense heat. She hated always sensing that she wasn't alone; that she always had to be on guard for someone that existed yet wasn't there, with her. Marceline's uneasiness was only exacerbated by the sensory barrage from the mess in the room.
She opened the door to the fridge, hoping to find some strawberries, but finds nothing of interest. Black fizzy soda and a burrito whose contents could only be guessed were the only edible items left. Hoping to find something red in the burrito, Marceline squished it with her thumb until a green paste began to ooze out from a corner.
"Ugh." She whispers to herself. "Guess the guys already ate everything before they left." She slammed the refrigerator door shut and opted to escape the dizzying miasma of smells in the kitchen that was beginning make herself feel dirty.
Seeing herself in the mirror didn't exactly help pacify her anxiety about being unclean when she entered the bathroom again. There were drool stains smeared on the skin beneath her lower lip. Yellowish green debris caked the edges of her eyes. On the arms, Marceline sported multiple stab scars, small, circular and always in pairs. She was drop dead gorgeous, to a coprophiliac.
She poked and prodded at one of the tiny puncture wounds that had already healed, feeling the upturned flesh, the folds of disrupted skin. "Fang marks." Marceline murmured to herself. 'I need to leave this place. Not enough shades of red to eat. Too many bad memories I can't stomach.' Her eyes were now focused on a picture of Finn and Jake next to the sink.
Xxx Another flashback xxx
'Okay Marceline you can do this. You are the vampire queen. You can tell Jake what's going to happen to Finn on the second full moon.' She thought to herself. It was night time and the air was crisp and cool but beads of sweat continued rolled down her forehead. If she had a working heart it would have been beating like a drum. She knocked three times on the old door. On the final knock, it opened with an abrupt swoosh.
"Hey Marceline what's up." A perfectly healthy looking Finn greeted. He was wearing a deep red flannel shirt and was leaning on the door frame with one leg to prop himself up, arms folded across a ripped chest. His hair had grown slightly the last time Marceline saw Finn, so much so that a small segment of lusciously blonde hair protruded from the opening of his signature hat. Even under the dim light of the moon, it shined brilliantly. A smirk played on his lips.
Marceline raised one of her eyebrows. She wasn't expecting a distraction; the appetizing red of the shirt, the large muscles that promised blood and the alluring blonde hair; they all screamed eat me, drink me. "Were you expecting me?" She asked, hands at her hips.
"Nope." The two teens exchanged paralyzed smiles at one another; Marceline couldn't make heads or tails of Finn's relaxed posture. They stared into each others eyes until the muscles around their mouths cramped from holding their awkward expressions.
"So are you going to invite me in hero boy or are you just gonna stand there looking weird?"
"Is that a rule for vampires? You can't come into a person's house without an invitation?" Finn said with a questioning look. "I've read that in a book about vampire lore."
"This is my place on loan to you guys. Remember?" Marceline shoved Finn aside and entered the tree-house living room. She didn't bother turning around to see the human boy stumbling backwards a bit but saving himself the embarrassment of falling over. "It would have been the gentlemanly thing to do" Marceline replied in a posh accent. "When you two weenies die, I'll take my digs back." Marceline's lips pursed. She immediately regretted making the statement. A pang of guilt settled in her stomach; she knew how close that date would probably come. Finn didn't seem to take the remark as much though; he was still recovering from almost falling over in front of someone.
She had to talk to Jake alone, which meant that she would have to get rid of Finn somehow. "Sooooo Finn" Marceline said in the most innocent voice she could muster, hands behind her back. "Wanna have a jam session at my place?" She was rocking on the heels of her boots.
"H to the yes!" Finn exclaimed aloud while extending his arms upwards but frowned afterwards. "Well I would but I don't know if Jake would like that. He's been uber protective of me since that whole incident." Finn rubbed the back of his furry white hat.
'Yeah sorry about that Finny.' Marceline imagined saying the words to Finn but thought against it; she wasn't going to admit her own involvement. "I think I can convince your little dog that you should to come over to my place. Just wait outside near the front door." She waved her hand towards the door as a signal of dismissal.
"Thanks Marcy, Jake should be in the bedroom playing Beemo. And tell him that he should stop pining over that scratch mark on my arm." And with that Finn somersaulted out the door.
"Will do." Marceline yelled. She flew up the ladder to the bedroom in the tree-house, knocked on the door and opened. Inside, Marceline found the still body of Jake hunched over and sitting on a small wooden crate. It was dark in the room despite the candles that sat at both sides of the yellow dog. For a moment, Marceline thought that Jake had gone to sleep in a sitting position. However, when she got closer to Jake Marceline found that he was looking at a photograph of him and Finn in front of the tree-house. The picture must have been taken years ago because Finn was still wearing blue shorts and black shoes instead of the boots and jeans he wore now.
They were both smiling.
"It was taken when Finn and I first found the tree-house." Jake said, finally breaking the silence between them. Marceline gave a start; she had been hovering next to Jake for what seemed like an agonizingly long time.
"That was around the time I decided to move in with Ash." Marceline replied in a hushed voice.
"Yeah, I know." Jake said nonchalantly.
"How can you remember or even know something like that? You weren't even there!" There was a hint of anger in Marceline's tone.
"I know because I saw the memory of it in your head when Finn and I saved you from that jerkwad." He said flatly and began scratching the surface of wooden crate.
"Oh." It was Marceline's turn to initiate an awkward silence. Jake continued staring at the photograph until he broke it with a sigh.
"Listen, I know that eight years doesn't seem like that much to you Marceline but to the living, time is finite. Every moment is precious, every birthday…every kiss." Jake gazed at a photograph of Lady Rainicorn on a dresser, it was visible in the moonlight that pooled around it. "And every smile." He said, settling his eyes on the image of him and his brother.
A hand rested itself on Jake's shoulder, it was Marceline's. "Don't forget Jake, vampires were human once too."
"Yeah." Jake plucked Marceline hand off of his shoulder and turned his head away from her so that he was facing the candle to his right. "I need to ask a favor." He silently stood up. "When I move in with Lady Rainicorn I want you to look after Finn for me when I can't be there for him."
"What?" Marceline was caught off guard by Jake's request. A few days ago he was accusing Marceline of being involved in the near maiming of Finn and now he was entrusting her with his safety? "Before you go any further I need to tell you that– "
"I'm not going to be there for my brother all the time. I realized that when I decided to move in with Lady Rainicorn and again when I saved Finn when he dragged himself all scratched and bruised up to the tree-house." Jake was still not facing Marceline. He took a few steps away from the vampire queen, ending up in front of the ladder leading to his bed. "He needs a friend that can be there for him Marceline…you hang out with him enough." He said it as if it were a reluctant confession.
'If only you knew what I did to him last time when I hung out, Jake.' Marceline stopped floating, dropping red cowboy boots onto the floor. "Finn has saved hundreds of people from monsters over the years, ask one of them to take Finn in…maybe" She bit her lip she didn't need the burden of taking care of Finn on top of curing him. "Maybe even Bonibelle or Peppermint Butler."
"He's been making more frequent trips to the candy kingdom but I don't think he likes it there." Jake's head sags as he climbs the ladder and lays himself in bed. "You're the only one that can do this." He quickly blew out the candles with stretched out lips, ridding the room of light and any hope Marceline had of telling the yellow dog of Finn's disease. She scowled, opened the bedroom window and flew out. If she hadn't made such an abrupt exit, Marceline would have noticed the word garlic written in big bold letters on the wooden crate Jake was sitting on.
Xxx End of Flashback xxx
The sound of a broken window startles Marceline from her thoughts. It's quickly followed by the creaking of floorboards signaling the heavy footsteps. For a brief moment, Marceline's mind sparks with the idea of Finn finally returning from wherever he's been, that he's returned healthy and unchanged.
'He had to get back sometime' Marceline surmised. Though she did so to quell the giddiness that began spreading throughout her body.
Suddenly gazing at her own reflection, Marceline realizes she was still wearing Finn's clothing.
'Crap, crap, crap'
She makes a mad flight back into Finn's bedroom, undresses and unceremoniously dons her old clothes from last night (or the night before), still fresh with the scent of perspiration. The sensation of old vampire musk drenched fabric pressed against skin wasn't pleasant but it saved Marceline from making an impromptu explanation for showing up to the owner of a person's house and dressed in their all too fitting shorts. Giving one last look at herself in the mirror, Marceline puffed out a breath of air to ease her anxiety and flew down the hollowed out tree branch leading to the living room.
Silently, hidden amongst the shadows, she slithered across the floor until flattening her body against the green couch opposite the kitchen. 'A little surprise hello couldn't hurt Finn.' Her grin turns into a full blown smirk, all traces of her previous guilt trip receding from her expression.
Now in a low crouch, her eyes peered over the top of the couch expecting to see a tall blonde but instead focus on a silhouetted figure in the shape of a wolf standing on its hind legs. A gasp escapes Marceline's throat at her surprise but her hand cupping her mouth cuts it off halfway through. The clattering of glass bottles and unwashed dishes banging against each other ceases and for a moment Marceline's eyes run wide with the fear that she's just alerted Finn and Jake's kitchen pilferer to her presence. The feeling subsides when the unmistakable sound of crunching chips comes and assured her that the intruder had just found a snack to pacify their gut with.
"This burglar is going to be sorry they chose to steal from Finn's house" Marceline whispered, hardening her face into the epitome of malice.