Thank you everyone for the feedback, I have taken many of it into consideration. I can't seem to find any reason to quit on this story! My gosh, I have so much in store in the future and I just can't wait to share it with you all. But for now, I think it's best to take this story one chapter at a time. Without any further ado, I present to you all chapter 4! Happy reading everyone!
CHAPTER 04
Marshall mentally checked all the possible hiding spots that the girl could've gone to. He has reached the end of the list, all that was left now was the living room. So she has to be there. The teenager entered the open spaced room and scanned the area with his dark, observant eyes.
"Alright squirt, I know you're here." There was no response, Marshall felt the edge of his eyebrow twitch. The vampire teen hissed in irritation through his gritted teeth as he effortlessly settled himself down on the ground with crossed arms.
Apparently the girl managed to get her hands on a jar of jelly that Marshall was going to use on his sandwich. It amazed him on how cunning the little one can be. The girl was able to swipe something of his without any detection, but hell it's starting to annoy the living crap out of him.
Never had he ever met anyone who had this uncontrollable habit of swiping things that are later to be found either misplaced or eaten. It sounds a bit silly and immature of him to be making such a fuss over a stolen jar of strawberry jelly, but damn he had enough of his stuff being hindered and taken by the child already. It's quite sad really… despite being a thousand year old Vampire, he has yet to grow out his childish fettle. Or perhaps it's just the hunger making him act this way.
A sweet scent of strawberries entered his nostrils, he followed the trail to the source and found the culprit herself behind the couch. She was far too busy enjoying her meal to notice the boy looming over her, "Ahem."
Upon hearing his voice, the girl swirled her head over her shoulder to find the vampire boy looking down at her with a scrunched up expression. The first thing that Marshall noticed was that the girl's cheeks and palms were completely coated with the said jelly. His eyes then took notice of the jar that was nestled on the girl's tubby lap… to his disappointment, it was empty.
Marshall deepened his disapproving frown and eyed at her with much disdain. He wanted to yell at the girl from robbing him of his meal, or in this case, the missing component to completing his ideal snack. But before he could let all hell break loose, his mind came to a halt at the sight of her crooked smile, which revealed her two front teeth and a few chunks of the strawberry jelly that were stuck in-between them.
The sight of it was all but comical, Marshall brought his fist up close to his lips and failed to muffle his laughter. All rage was forgotten on the girl in an instant. It took him a while until he finally regained his composure and ability to finally get his laughter to a stop. He looked down at the girl once again, who was seen staring back at the pale vampire with a questioning look as if she did nothing particularly wrong.
Marshall all but shook his head and stooped down to the girl. "C'mere squirt." The girl, without any sign of hesitation, crawled her way to his open palms that she very much grew accustomed to. And in one smooth motion, she was lifted up in the air by the boy.
He eyed the girl's messy appearance and smirked, "You really can't get enough of those strawberries huh?" The child laughed and wiggled her arms forward to touch his face. Upon seeing this, the boy reacted quickly by extending his arms to avoid the baby's messy palms, which were just barely a centimeter away from touching his face. But miraculously, the girl managed to somehow get a small bit of jelly on his cheek. With a sigh, Marshall licked the substance off with his elongated, lizard like tongue.
The vampire teen quickly found himself being awfully stared at by the girl, fascination and wonder sparkling in her bright blue eyes. Marshall got the feeling that the little one was intrigued by his reptilian tongue when he saw her making grabby hand motions. He couldn't help but smirk at her attempt.
"As if I'll let you touch my tongue with those grimy hands of yours." Marshall teased as he retracted his tongue back into his mouth. The look of the girl's pouty face got the boy laughing the second time. After that, the vampire teen carried the girl with him to the bathroom, determined to clean off the remanence of the jam off her face and hands, leaving the forgotten empty jar behind.
Marshall positioned himself in the air with his trusty Axe Base at hand. The vampire teen's fingers strummed the metallic strings of his instrument casually, vibrant sounds emitted from the large black box below him. This continued over and over until the boy was finally struck with inspiration.
He arched his back and repositioned his instrument on his lap to where he best felt comfortable with. Before his calloused fingers met the strings, a hint of something white caught the immortal's attention. He eyed at the crawling creature suspiciously while still being suspended in the air and unnoticed.
It didn't took Marshall long to identify that the one below him was the human girl. He continued to observe her silently, the boy took note that she was looking around questioningly as if in search for something. Or perhaps someone? Something sinister and playful entered the boy's head, he couldn't help but smile at how wickedly brilliant his mind is.
Marshall floated his way past the little one, and with caution he flipped himself over, making his hair dangle limply in the air. He then elevated himself downward with his eyes fixated at the back of the baby. He stopped himself until his hair barely touched carpeted floor and blew faintly at the back of the girl's neck. By the time she turned her head, she found herself face to face with a sickly looking bug eyed creature with overly sized chompers… But the first thing to have escaped her mouth wasn't what Marshall Lee anticipated. Instead of a shriek, he received a giggle and a good honk on his morphed canine nose.
"Hmph, you're no fun." The boy grunted as his features gradually morphed back to his normal self. He flipped himself to an upright position and crossed his legs before he settled himself down on the floor.
"So what brings you here in the middle of the night squirt? You know it's already past your bed time." The baby simply stared back at him with a blank look, she tilted her head sideways, making the bunny ears flop and slant downward. Of course she couldn't respond to him or even understand a word he says. He knew this very well from when they first met each other. But he couldn't help it, Marshall had the tendency to talk because it was therapeutic to the teen.
Long before the girl was brought to his home, Marshall lived in a silent environment. The silence was nerve wracking to the point where it nearly drove the poor teen insane. So at times when he's not having his usual jam sessions or mumbling out lyrics, he would always speak from whatever popped up from his mind to no one in particular. Some of the things that he said were just comments on minor stuff such as the weather or how dusty his room is, and other pointless things. So if someone were to pop in and see this boy talking to nothing, they would think that he had gone loony. Sure he had Schwabelle and all but she seems to disappear from his sight every now and then.
"What's the matter? Can't sleep?"
The girl's lips twitched and her eyes pointed downwards, the vampire took that as a "yes". He silently wondered if his strumming awakened her from her sleep, if so then he had just to medicine to put the girl back to bed. Marshall set his instrument carefully to the side and reached on over to the girl.
"Cmere." He plucked her up and settled her down onto his lap.
"Sorry about that, didn't mean to wake ya." He ruffled the top of her head, making her hair a mess under the bunny hat. The girl leaned against his hand, the vampire felt the corner's of his lips twitch upward at the noticing how the little one's action resembled much like Schwabelle's whenever he petted her.
"Heh, maybe I should've skinned you a cat hat instead hm?"
The boy brought his hand back and looked down at the child, who in turn looked at him quizzically. He smirked, "Hey, how bout I sing you a lullaby? That always helped me whenever I have troubles sleeping."
Marshall looked troubled and scrunched his brows together, "My mother would always be the one to sing that lullaby to me…"
His eyes grew darker upon remembering his mother. How long has it been since she disappeared? A rush of unwanted visions entered his mind and began to engulf Marshall. His surroundings became blurry, he couldn't move, not even flinch. Marshall had lost all control of his body, that is until he felt something tug onto his grey shirt.
He flinched and the sudden tug and saw the worry in the baby's eyes. He regained his composure in a matter of seconds and shrugged the feeling off like dust.
"Anyways, it's been a while since I've heard it. So the lyrics might not be the same, but at least I know the tune. Just give me a sec to think up the lines." And with that, he closed his eyes and mentally constructed the lyrics. Satisfied at the completion of his composition, the boy inhaled through his nostrils and began to sing.
Now Marshall Lee was known for many things, but the number one thing that he's most known for (besides being a lady's man and a rebellious Vampire King) was that he was a gifted singer. He could bring people to their knees and weep for more, reducing them to the point of submission. Even the tiniest mutter could seduce women to such sinful acts and ecstasy. His voice had the power to ignite and calm the souls of many. Others were unsure if such a thing were to be seen as a gift or a deadly weapon.
But as of now, his words were like honey. Sweet and calming to the ears. His voice gently luring her back into blissful slumber. Her grip on his shirt loosened as his lullaby almost came to an end. By the time he finished his verse, the girl was out like a flame.
Marshall has been trying to teach the girl speech, so far the girl hasn't made any progress whatsoever. The boy thought that by educating the infant the basics of just simply saying a few words would help him know when she was hungry or tired instead of just bawling her eyes out.
"Repeat after me, I. Am. Hungry."
The infant's mouth moved, but all that came out where just incoherent words. Marshall sighed, after his twentieth attempt to get the girl to say "I'm hungry", he finally called it quits. Maybe he should start something more simplistic?
"Maybe we should start with just words instead of sentences..." The boy scratched the side of his head, "how about names? How does that sound squirt?"
The baby was silent at first, but after a second or two she finally responded with a clap and a giggle. Marshall smirked at the delay enthusiasm, "Great, now how about Schwabelle? Schwa. Bell."
She said opened her mouth, nonsense escaped her lips that resembled far from the said word. The boy let out a grunt.
"Alright, how about Squirt? Sqa. Ert. SQUUIIIIRRRT."
And again, nothing but nonsense babble. The boy's shoulders slumped at another failed attempt, he looked at the girl with little hope.
"Third time's the charm… How about Marshall? Mar. Shell."
The girl hesitated at first, her lips began to quiver, "Ma…Ma.."
The boy's ear's twitched at this, his eyes widened in surprise at the sign of hope. "That's right, Mar. Shell. MAAR. SHELL."
"Ma…M-mua…" The boy could feel the tension, he found himself nodding at the girl, encouraging her to continue on.
"A huh, go on squirt. You almost got it. Marshall…"
Everything, even time and space, seemed to have slowed. Every moment, every second has the boy at the very edge. Could it be that the girl will finally utter out her first lucid word?
"Mua… Muashrew."
The boy's face fell in a matter of seconds.
"… Mushroom? No no no, Marshall. SHELL. Not shro-"
"Muashrew, muashrew, muashrew!" She felt so enlightened at the word to even notice the dumbstruck look on the teenager's face. The boy let it sunk in and let out a faint chuckle. He didn't want to bother on correcting the ecstatic girl in front of him. It felt… wrong. Despite the mispronunciation of his name, he couldn't help but smile at how much she glowed over one word.
"Oh well, at least it's something."
It has been over a week since Marshall brought the girl to his home. And over the days, his house became much less quiet. His home would always echo the cries and laughter of the small child, which the boy wasn't really accustomed to hearing since he was so used to silence and sometimes the soft pitter patter of his zombie cat.
The bubbly laughter always seemed to have infected the air and somehow made his home less gloomy and more, more… The boy didn't know how to describe it. But all he knew was that the girl's presence had this affect on his home and himself. And the vampire teen didn't know if he should take it as a good thing or a bad thing. Sure there were times when he would have to play Mister Mom and clean up after the little squirt over every mess she made… but other than that. There was something about her that he just can't really seem to properly detail.
During the day, he would find himself engaged in an activity with her, an activity that he found both foreign yet still very enjoyable in a way. Other than the typical game of hide-and-seek, he added on his list of self discovery is that the human girl would laugh over almost the simplest of things. He found it amusing to see that every absurd facial expression he made with his morphing powers, the girl would burst out laughing to the point where she is near to tears and exhaustion. The vampire found himself a new indulgent game, a game that he formally made up. He calls it… How long will it take to get the squirt laughing until she pees in her diaper game.
As night approaches, the darkness and silence that he knew so well would creep their way back to his home. Every time he settled the young girl down to bed, he would always find himself questioning the girl's existence. Marshall would run down the why's and the how's in his mind... Could it be that somewhere in the forest, there was a pack, or possibly a whole clan of humans that he somehow have overlooked during his weak state? He would have to hurry out and purge his curiosity by visiting the forest sometime soon.
The only question is, what will happen if he did manage to find them? The other humans? What would he do then? Would they ask him to return the her? What will become of the little Squirt? The vampire was afraid to venture any further at that thought. So he ended up staying within the confines of his living room, strumming away at his Bass guitar until sunrise or when he heard that recognizable laughter echo within his home.
Alright, how was the read? What did you guys think about Fionna's first word? Many of you have been wondering on when I'll be time skipping to where Fionna is older. Well I don't plan on time skipping into years, my plan for this story is to progress gradually. It is to help show how Fionna's infancy will affect certain characters other than Marshall Lee. But I will eventually reach to the point when Fionna gets older (in her canon age;13). So don't you worry, there will be more chapters heading your way~
p.s. I enjoyed reading many of your comments, so please don't stop! I love to hear what you guys have to say!
And another thing, I know there are some readers out there who do not approve of how this story is going. I understand that if you don't like how the story is progressing, then why bother reading it? And also, "to save me from embarrassment?" Come on now, what's to be embarrassed of writing up something that I truly enjoy doing? Sure there might be some misspellings and a mix up on the tenses, but still… I love it and I don't regret it. If you continue on commenting me to end this story, then by all means, go ahead. However, it's not going to stop me from writing.