Disclaimer: still don't own Adventure Time! *sigh*
Chapter 2
Peppermint Butler-
Warm, wet blood pulsed against his mouth. Peppermint Butler drank it eagerly, relishing the taste and texture. The moon was new and the darkness made it easier to feed without fear of witnesses, to hide the stains of blood and to make the
clean-up less conspicuous, in short, the perfect time to feed. While he was silently congratulating himself on choosing such a good time to feed, his victim was gradually emptied to a dry husk. Peppermint Butler felt his claws and teeth shrinking and dulling and felt his demonic nature recede. With the bliss of feeding came the vulnerability of hiding away his true nature. Now he was little more than an average candy person. He moved the heavy goblin woman so her puncture wound faced the sky and no blood would leave tell-tale tracks for others to follow.
Although he was used to it now, Peppermint Butler couldn't help but hold a very slight irritation towards his friend Death. Death was the one who reincarnated him, they were close enough that he would even let Peppermint keep his all his memories of his previous life and of his time in the Dead Realm but did this second life have to come with an annoying necessity?
His obligation was that every month he would need to hunt, kill, feed and dispose of a sentient creature at least twice his physical size. Death told him that although He had a new body, if he didn't drink fresh blood every month his past monstrous form would return and he would be kept away from fulfilling his duty to Death, guarding Princess Bubblegum. Death also said that the monthly hunt would hone his strength and skill
'as if I need to practice. I am one of the best hunters there are, if not the greatest' thought Peppermint Butler ruefully. As if to spite his friend, he raised the corpse from the ground and carried it in his arms at eye level. He made his way to the goblin cemetery. It caused less suspicion if you buried your kill where others of its species were laid to rest. Determined not to pant or rest until he reached his destination, Peppermint Butler walked briskly, avoiding obstacles and witnesses with ease, even in the unyielding darkness of the night. After making intricate false trails to confuse anyone who might follow, round, colorless objects finally came into sight. He had arrived.
Marceline-
Marceline confirmed that Death's Door had been opened. Bonnie was carrying around a resurrected plant, although she couldn't sense it's newborn aura. Ever since that revelation, Marceline flew around Ooo, searching for demons, threats or anything vaguely evil. Tonight she was especially hopeful because it was a new moon. Demons loved the darkness and loved the loss of light, however temporary it was.
When she scented blood she followed its enticing aroma to a dense part of the forests near the Goblin Kingdom. The small beads of goblin blood were only just noticeable to the vampire's sensitive eyes. She wasn't sure if she should be happy with this new lead or consider it a threat. Her dark orbs scanned the forest around her. There was a patch of slightly flattened grass and, was she mistaken? The sweet smell of candy. "what the stuff?" she wondered aloud.
Candy people didn't have blood, they had sugar in their veins. She sniffed the air some more, to make sure she wasn't imagining it. She wasn't. That was a candy person smell, no mistaking it. What was a candy person doing near the Goblin Forests, during a new moon and with goblin blood? Surely a candy person wouldn't kill someone? They were too sweet (no pun intended) and stupid, with the exception of Bonnibel. At least now Marceline had strong scent to follow. The Vampire Queen's eyes lidded themselves halfway as she let her nose lead the way.
Peppermint Butler-
He chose an empty plot of dirt beside the fence. After brushing away some weeds he lowered the body to the ground and began his task. With his back protected by the fence Peppermint Butler could safely face the direction of where he just came from, to see if anyone had followed him. He knew he was being overly cautious but it couldn't be helped. Once, before he started using the techniques he knew now, a child of his past victim had managed to follow him. That had been a night of many firsts. The first time he fed twice in a night, the first time he had been discovered, the first time he had extinguished the bright light of a child's life. Peppermint Butler didn't mind feeding twice in a night, as long as the neither of the victims were children. An innocent face twisted in revulsion, horror and angry accusation was an axe-blow to his conscience (yes, he had one, no matter how small).
Wrenching his thoughts away from that depressing path, he focused on the task at hand. Flinging his shovel over his shoulder methodically, the dark, rich soil was gradually emptied and all that was left was a large hole. Once it was deep enough he quickly threw the body in and started returning the soft loam to the earth it came from. Movement caught his eye, a silhouette high above the trees. Quickly he ran to a grave with a relatively fresh bouquet of flowers and snatched it up, pretending he was visiting the grave of a long lost friend. His thoughts ran in every direction, frantic, but trying to attain the face of a person in genuine sorrow.
He was excited, wondering if he would get to feed again. Apprehensive, what if it was a child again? A flying child was unlikely but still, he couldn't help but wonder. Most of all, he was irritated and disappointed with himself, even with all this caution a mortal had managed to follow him! Even more degrading was that this was Ooo! A very, very large majority of its citizens were either naive or stupid or both, how could they have tracked him? The flying creature got closer. Peppermint Butler brought false tears to his eyes. Even with the water his sight was still remarkable. He saw now that the creature was a girl, around Princess Bubblegum's age, beautiful, with two minuscule holes in her neck and the tips of fangs protruding from her upper lip. A vampire in Ooo?
Marceline-
Marceline flew in time with the cool night breeze, taking her time. This candy person was cunning, she would give it that. The false trails it made went through nearly the whole forest but its scent was a dead give-away. The smell was strongest at the Goblin Cemetery. Visiting a dead friend on a pitch black night was nothing a candy person would do and the dead goblin blood was here as well so, looking at the facts, the candy person probably murdered a goblin. Neither answer was likely though.
'I'll just ask it myself' thought Marceline. For some reason, the thought filled her with dread.
'you're the Vampire Queen,' she scolded herself, 'Vampires don't get scared of little candy people'
The graveyard came into sight, a large piece of land surrounded by wrought black iron, dedicated to dead bodies. Standing in the midst of it all was a white circle with red stripes, looking down sadly at a grave with flowers in hand.
If you reached the bottom of this chappy I love you! If you are review I will love you even more!
Also, mangoisme, thank you! My first review! I FREAKIN' LOVE YOU