*Finn's Age: 20*

Finn's P.O.V

The worst fear of all is when your best friend, who you've been through the thick and thin with, becomes someone whom you don't recognize anymore while they come to not recognize you either. It makes you wish that you knew what had happened to cause them to become this way and to have prevented it in the first place. But you know that it's now too late, just like I know now that it's too late. Marceline, my best friend and all around radical dame, is now this ravenous, desperate shell of herself, relentlessly pursuing me to drink my blood. I have no clue what set her off, since she hadn't tasted any blood, let alone my own, in years. But what started as a rather harmless favor quickly escalated into more violent, starvation-fueled acts that left her chasing me anywhere I went once I started refusing her. The worst part about it, though, is that she always catches up to me and manages to forcefully drink from me. The only way I've  survived and not been sucked dry is by being able to escape her grasp each and every time. But I can't run forever and she knows it too.

"Finnnn~? Where are yooooooou~?" The vampire calls out to me, floating around the bases of the forest trees, "I have a real craving for your sweet, juicy redness, so could you help a girl out and let me have a nice, long drink~?"

I hide up in one of the trees she's floating around, hugging the neck of the tree with both arms and legs as I intently keep my eyes pointed down towards the ground. Marceline doesn't know that I'm up here, but she can smell me close by, which doesn't bode well for me. And when she briefly pauses by the trunk of the tree I'm on, I put my hand over my mouth, slowing my breathing as much as I can, and doing my best not to move a muscle. Her nostrils temporarily morph into slits as she sniffs the air, trying to pinpoint where I'm hiding. It feels like my heart is beating out of my chest with this high sense of anxiety I'm feeling. But after sniffing around for a bit, she doesn't look up, sighing and floating onwards.

"Finnnnn~! I won't bite, not too hard at least~! It'll be fun for both of us, just come out and let me feed~!" Marceline calls out as she heads off further into the woods.

I wait until I can no longer see her before I remove my hand from my mouth and let out a sigh of relief, that encounter being too close for comfort. But now I gotta get away, preferably in the opposite direction, but where exactly should I go that she won't look for me? Because after running for so long, I'm beyond tired and if I go on for much longer, I might just pass out and Marcy might just kill me from drinking all my blood as a result. Swallowing down that dreadful thought, I slowly begin climbing down the tree, going limb by limb and doing it as carefully as I can so not too many noises will bring her back this way. I do it quicker than I though, lightly crouching when I hit the ground. But when I brush myself off and turn around to see if I'm still in the clear, my heart leaps into my throat out of fear when Marceline tackles me to the ground. She pins my legs down my putting both her knees on them and then pushes my arms to the side with her hands, the vampire having completely trapped me.

"C'mon, Finn. Did you really think I wouldn't smell you when you were so close~?" Marceline smiles, "I merely wanted to trick you into thinking that I didn't notice you so that you'd come down of your own accord and make it that much easier for me to get you."

"Leave me alone, Marceline!" I reply aggressively, struggling and pushing against her strong grip.

"But why should I do that when you're the very thing I refuse to lose now?" She asks, her face hovering closer to my neck, "I would die of thirst if I wasn't able to drink your sweet, sweet red. But I won't today. And I like that you keep running from me. It makes it that much more fun~."

Licking her lips, Marceline closes the gap and pierces my neck with her fangs. It's a painful and weirdly pleasing feeling, which I'm ashamed to admit, and I try to push her off, but I don't have the strength to even come close to making a difference. But as I hear the slurping and satisfied moans of the vampire, I begin to feel a warm sensation dawning on my skin. Marceline then hisses in pain, her grip loosening and giving me the chance to push her off. Quickly looking up, I see the morning Sun is rising and peeking through the trees. Without even thinking, I run through the trees towards the edge of the forest, Marceline chasing after me once she pushes through the pain. Like those other times, I feel that rush of adrenaline course through me as I sprint past trees and brush through low branches, the end of the treeline approaching. And when I reach it, I skid to a halt and merely step into the sunlight as Marcy stops in her tracks knowing that she can't go any farther. The vampire knows I'm essentially out of her reach, even though we're mere feet away, and she's not happy about it.

"Cram it all to the freaking butternubs!" Marcy curses, then looking to me, "Come back, Finn! I don't want to hurt you, I promise!"

I merely give her a flat expression before turning around and walking away slowly, letting it sink in for Marcy that I'm not going to indulge her. But my mind quickly goes back to finding a place to hide, since I now have a window of opportunity due to daybreak dawning and Marceline not bringing anything with her to protect her from the Sun. And, as if by luckily happenstance, a familiar location off in the distance enters my field of view, making me think of my old friend Princess Bubblegum. She's been around for quite a long time, probably just as long as Marceline, and she's the smartest person I know, which makes her the perfect person to ask for help. It's also been a little while since I visited her or her kingdom, so I'm sure she'd love to see me again.

I trudge my way towards the Candy Kingdom, not having the energy to run since my adrenaline has faded after stepping into the sunlight. I also feel a bit dizzy from the sudden blood loss, Marceline's frequent feeding causing me to lose more blood than my body can make up for fast enough. My vision swims a couple times on the way, but I don't fall over, being able to make it to the front gate in a mostly steady frame of mind. The Banana Guards are as docile and welcoming as ever, letting me in despite them not quite recognizing me. But the citizens certainly remember me, lots of them remarking on how long it's been since I was here and how much more grown up I look. I mainly smile at how different the place is, more people around, some buildings gone and replaced by newer ones, and the castle looking bigger than it used to. It's a refreshing sight to behold for sure.

When I enter the castle, I see the main hall has changed to incorporate a throne at the far end, which I'm happy to note has Princess Bubblegum currently sitting on top of it. But her crown isn't the same, looking even more regal while Bubblegum herself, clothes and style-wise, also looks more regal. The main hall is completely empty beside the two of us and because of that, she had noticed me pretty quickly when I entered. PB smiles widely when realizing it's me and gets down from her throne, rushing across the room to hug me. It's a nice feeling, one I haven't gotten the chance to have in a while.

"I thought you'd never come back" Bubblegum admits, "But I'm so very, very happy to see that you didn't forget about me, Finn."

"Hello to you too, PB" I say, smiling, "How are things? This place has definitely undergone some...renovations since the last time I was here."

"It's QB, now, actually" Bubblegum kindly corrects me, gesturing to her crown, "I became Queen a couple of years ago."

"Really? Congrats!" I lightly clap.

"Thanks" She nods, "It was definitely a challenge leading up to it. Multiple protests from citizens made me realize though that the way I was running this place wasn't working and that I had to be willing to change for them. So, I did my best to be more compassionate, caring, and sympathetic to their issues and things turned around like it was nothing. The coronation came not long after that, in which I told them how I would not break from this new way of ruling and would work to revitalizing the kingdom into a better one."

"Well it certainly shows by how much more people are here, not to mention the nice new buildings" I say, casually looking around.

"Oh my good Glob, Finn! What happened to you?!" The queen exclaims in horrified surprise, apparently noticing the blood trickle down the side of my neck from where Marceline bit me.

"Marceline" I sigh, Queen Bubblegum's face falling, "For no apparent reason that I can think of, she just started going on a craze for craving my blood, so much so that she'd chase after me constantly and try to keep me from escaping her."

"Say no more, Finn. I'll let you stay here for as long as you'd like and keep you safe for as long as I can" She assures me.

"Are you sure, QB? Because she always seems to find me and I don't want your people to get hurt if she decides to battle her way through them to get to me" I tell her, just now thinking of that and having second thoughts about staying here.

"I'll issue a mandatory curfew and have the Banana Guards on high alert come nightfall. In the meantime, you look tired and in need of something to eat. Why don't you go get some rest and I'll have one of my servants bring you something to eat" Queen Bubblegum suggests, "It pains me to see you like this. I'll start working on some plans to subdue her because, while I'd like to have faith in my army, Marceline can plow through them like they're nothing, so we should expect that she'll make it into the castle."

With all due respect to her, Bubblegum needs to work on her bedside manner, because her putting the thought of Marceline breaking in here won't really help me ease into sleep very easily. Still, I thank her for her hospitality and agree that some rest would be nice. The queen herself then takes me to one of her guest bedrooms up in one of the castle's towers. It's a nice looking room, but I'm too tired to account for all the fancy details, merely taking my shoes off and getting under the covers. Bubblegum then pats me on the head and wishes me sweet dreams before my exhaustion takes over.

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When I wake back up, I immediately look outside the window of the guest room and feel my stomach drop. The Sun's going down, which means I slept all day and haven't had a chance to prepare for anything! Globdammit! My anxiety rises, but before I can fully panic, I look to see food on the nightstand next to me and decide to vent my stress into that. Sitting up, I eat quickly, but not too quickly as to where I'll get a stomach ache later, assuming I'll still be alive enough later to not feel it anyway. When I finish, Bubblegum enters the room and I stand up as fast as I can after putting my shoes on.

"I'm sorry I slept too long!" I apologize, the queen chuckling.

"Don't worry, Finn. I could've woken you up when I brought you your food earlier, but I let you sleep because you needed the rest more than anything" She smiles, "The curfew is now active and the castle has been put on lockdown. Depending on what happens, we might have to keep it locked down until we can contain her. But, one problem at a time. I've pulled some Banana Guards back from the gate so that we'll have some more protection in here, but again, I'm not counting on them stopping her. For now, come with me and I'll explain what I've come up with so far."

I indeed follow her, the queen taking us down the tower and back into the throne room before having us traverse a couple of hallways and enter through a door on her right. And wouldn't you know it, it's a library, one that was definitely put in here with the castle renovations since I had never seen one here before. Bubblegum then takes me over to a table placed between two bookshelves that has a couple candles and an open book on top of it. And as she begins explaining to me what she's found out, I briefly scan the pages and see it's about vampires, though it's also a bit hard to read given the weird way it was written.

"I was able to find the book I had on vampires, since I suspected that this is something that's exclusive to Marcy's kind, and after a bit of reading, I was able to find out a couple of important things that are helpful to our current predicament. The first of which being that the reason she's able to keep tracking you down is because of your scent. All species have a distinct smell to them and given her enhanced vampyric senses, she's able to smell you from over a mile away" Queen Bubblegum informs me.

"Huh" I nod, that making sense, "Is there any way we can nullify either her sense of smell or my distinct scent?"

"I was hoping you would ask that. Yes, there is" QB smiles, grabbing a jeweled bottle of some liquid off the table, "If you would just hold still, close your eyes, and hold your breath, I can do just that."

Not seeing any problem with that, I do as she asks and feel this spray slowly covering my body from head to toe. When Bubblegum says she's done, I open my eyes and breath in, a strong scent of something sweet assaulting my nose. I cough a couple time before I'm able to control my breathing again, the smell quickly registering in my head as the exact same kind of scent that QB normally has around her.

"What I just sprayed you with was my perfume" The queen reveals, smiling at me as she sets the bottle down, "It's strong enough to keep any vampire from sniffing you out, especially Marceline."

"Great, thanks" I sigh, hoping that I can wash this off as soon as this situation is resolved.

"But the main thing I wanted to show you was this" Bubblegum says, gesturing to the book as we lean over the table, "I believe I've found the reason why Marceline's been acting so out of character. Read this."

She then taps a particular passage and I lean in closer to read it.

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𝕮𝖗𝖎𝖒𝖘𝖔𝖓 𝕭𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉𝖑𝖚𝖘𝖙

Ä ḟṛëṅżïëḋ ṡẗäẗë öḟ ṁïṅḋ ä ṿäṁṗïṛë ḟäḷḷṡ ïṅẗö öṅċë ëṿëṛÿ ḟïṿë ḧüṅḋṛëḋ ÿëäṛṡ ḋüṛïṅġ ẗḧë ṁööṅḟäḷḷ ċÿċḷë. Ṁäḳëṡ ṿäṁṗïṛë ṛëḷëṅẗḷëṡṡ äṅḋ ïṅċṛëäṡïṅġḷÿ ṁöṛë ḋäṅġëṛöüṡ. Ḋö ṅöẗ äṗṗṛöäċḧ ṿäṁṗïṛë öṛ ḷëẗ ẗḧëṁ ḟëëḋ öṅ äṅÿ ḅḷööḋ, öẗḧëṛẅïṡë äṅ öḅṡëṡṡïṿë äḋḋïċẗïöṅ ẗöẅäṛḋṡ ẗḧë ṡöüṛċë ẅïḷḷ ḅë ċṛëäẗëḋ. Ḳëëṗ äẅäÿ ḟṛöṁ ċḧïḷḋṛëṅ äṅḋ ṡṁäḷḷ äṅïṁäḷṡ. Ṫö ċüṛë ṿäṁṗïṛë, ẗṛäṗ äṅḋ ḳëëṗ ẗḧëṁ ċüẗ öḟḟ ḟṛöṁ äṅÿ äṅḋ äḷḷ ṡöüṛċëṡ üṅẗïḷ ẗḧëÿ ḧäṿë ċäḷṁëḋ ḋöẅṅ. Ṡḧöṛẗëṡẗ ẗïṁë ṛëċöṛḋëḋ ẗö ḅë 24 ḧöüṛṡ.

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"A moonfall cycle? Has the moon been a different color or something recently?" I ask Bubblegum.

"No, it hasn't" She shakes her head, "I'm guessing it's some kind of moon phase that specifically affects vampires that is normal to the rest of us."

"Well, looks like I'm screwed" I comment after standing back up straight, "Cause this has been an on-going thing for at least a week now and since she hasn't seemed any less bloodthirsty when she finds me not even 18 hours after her previous attack, looks like the whole 24 hour deal won't be my saving grace here."

"Indeed...that is concerning" QB replies, biting her lip and thinking, "But I'd still like to try it out. But instead of it being 24 hours, let's try it for 48."

"But how are we gonna do that? Knocking her out for that long won't be easy, but keeping her awake for that long and restraining her will be even harder" I ask.

"Can you get in contact with her father?" Bubblegum asks me anxiously, "Maybe he knows a way or two."

"No" I shake my head, "Mr. Abadeer didn't ever volunteer his phone number the last time he was in Ooo. I get the sense that he doesn't like to be bothered."

"Well, I suppose there's also the possibility that she'll get tired of your blood, since too much of anything is bad for most people" The queen says, trying to sound hopeful but not sounding sure of herself.

The walls and ground then shake, a loud, breaking sound coming from the throne room. Bubblegum and I peek out into the hallway right as another loud sound echoes down from the main hall, but this time there's also the sound of doors creaking open. Uh, oh, Marceline's here. Queen Bubblegum quickly pulls me back into the library and locks the door, ushering me away from it. She then gestures towards a closet built into the room, opening the door and making sure we're both inside before she closes it. It feels a bit weird being this close to Bubblegum, since our bodies are technically touching and I don't have a crush on her anymore, but she and I both react professionally to it. At least as professionally as you can when you're scared of a hungry vampire coming for you.

More sounds of things breaking are heard, which must be Marceline punching through locked doors to open them and see if we're inside or not. My heart thuds when the sounds get closer and closer to us, it nearly leaping out of my chest when, through the slats in the door, I see a pale fist punch through the wood of the library door and turn the knob from the inside. Marceline then floats into the room and begins looking around, quickly noticing the table with the book, candles, and perfume bottle. She picks up the bottle and sniffs it, probably recognizing Bubblegum's scent and knows that a library isn't the place for a perfume bottle. The vampire tosses it up and down in the air, grinning victoriously, and then calls out to us.

"I know you're here, Finn~" Marcy says with a creepy sweet tone, before it turns harsh, "And I know you're here too, Bonnie. Thought you could hide my prize from me where I wouldn't think to find it? I know you're both in here, so come out now or I'll start breaking things."

I briefly share a glance with Bubblegum and we both shake our heads, knowing that it'd be stupid to reveal ourselves now.

"Fine, then" Marceline smirks, floating right over to the cabinet and punching her fist through to open it, "Dumb move to hide in the only thing that can be hidden in."

I then punch her in the face before she can do anything else, Marceline reeling back in pain as Bubblegum swipes the perfume bottle from her hand and sprays it in the vampire's face. Marcy coughs profusely, but the two of us take that moment to flee the library, running right out the open door and into the hallway. It's completely dark and having to rely on Bubblegum's grip on my arm makes it that much scarier. But I trust that she knows where she's going and we barge into the throne room again before taking a detour down into a stairwell that leads towards her lab. I can hear the angry, rapid breathing of Marceline catching up to us, my anxiety rising even further as Bubblegum and I sprint down the stairs and burst into her lab. We slam the door closed and I put my back against it as Marceline reaches the other side, her ferociously yanking on it as Queen Bubblegum turns the lights on gets an air chamber on the other side of the room prepped.

"I'm adding some sleep-inducing aerosol into the filtration system" She quickly explains, screwing in something and rapidly pressing buttons on the device's control panel, "When I say go, let her in. We're gonna trap her inside and knock her out!"

I nod rapidly, Marceline still banging loudly on the outside of the door as I feel it's hinges beginning to break.

"Ok, now!" Bubblegum calls as I open the door.

The door slams open but she's not outside, a brief moment of silence ensuing as I back away from it. But then I feel her, invisible, pulling my legs out from under me and dragging me towards the other end of the room before becoming visible again. Marceline licks her lips, a crazed look in her eyes as she says she's thirsty. But Bubblegum brings her queen scepter, that she apparently has, around and in front of the vampire's throat, pulling back and beginning to choke her. Marceline struggles angrily as Bubblegum drags her back towards the air chamber. But Marcy then wiggles her way out and swings at the queen before going to bite her. Bubblegum blocks Marceline's bite by putting her scepter up horizontally, stopping the vampire's fangs from getting to her before pushing her back and hitting upside the face with the butt of the scepter. I don't want to leave QB on her own, so I run over and try to keep Marceline's hands behind her back. But that quickly backfires as the vampire just turns with a hungry smile and pounces on me. She gets even more happy when I grab her head, but instead of putting it so where she can feed like she's thinking I will, I slam it into the wall, creating a sizable dent. Marceline gets pretty stunned by that, which gives Bubblegum the chance to grab the vampire, drag her towards the machine as I'm getting up, and toss her in. But even as the aerosol starts filling the tube, Marceline is back up and punching the glass, the material quickly beginning to fracture.

"This is not good. Uh, take this" The queen acts quickly, grabbing a sticky note off one of her lab tables and pushing it into my hand, "Go to the vault and put this in. I'll meet you there after I've gotten what I need to plan b her."

The tube then starts shattering and I sprint out of the room, running my way back up the stairs and not looking back once. I hope that Bubblegum will be ok. She's a tough woman, but Marceline's a force to be reckoned with. But I push those thoughts aside as I come back into the throne room and run down the hallways that lead towards the back end of the castle. I fling myself around corners, not stopping for a second as I find the hidden staircase behind the statue and run down until I'm in the outer vault chamber. I halt to a stop, walking over to a torch and holding the sticky note under it so I can read the code, before running over to the keypad and anxiously typing it in.

The vault locks hiss and retract, leaving me to turn the small crank wheel and strain to pull it open enough for me to slip inside. Once I'm in, I pull as hard as I can to close the door, the locks re-engaging as I take a moment to catch my breath. A long, thin walkway stretched forward to a circular platform off in the distance. Normally, there'd be traps to worry about, but since I put in the code, I won't have to worry about those. Same can't be said for Marceline, though. Sighing, I run down the walkway with whatever strength I have left, my feet echoing against the walls as I reach the end and stop. With my hands on my knees, I look up at the vault door and wait. I have my fingers crossed that nothing bad will happen, but of course, that isn't the case. More breaking sounds echo down the walkway as the vault door creaks, creaks some more, and then thud, the locks disengaging. Marceline then opens the door and hovers there, the torchlight behind her making he look like just a floating shadow. She then zips toward me faster than I ever seen before, being too quick for the traps closing from the walls, ceiling, and floor to catch her. I stand up straight as she approaches, the vampire floating right up to me and ensuring that I'll have nightmares for days to come.

"I've enjoyed our on-going fun, but I think it's time I put this to rest. Permanently" Marceline says in an eerily calm tone, "From now on, I'm not ever letting you go."

With my strength pretty much depleted, it's not that hard for her to knock me to the ground and keep me pinned like she did earlier, knees on my legs and hands on my wrists. But instead of just going on ahead and biting me with her fangs, she cuts my neck a bit and runs her tongue up to catch the red.

"Mmm~" Marcy hums, "Sweet, tasty, delicious blood~."

She continues to lap up the red liquid running down my neck with her tongue, wet, licking sounds able to be heard from her actions. But then a dart plants itself in her shoulder, Marceline pausing and looking behind her to see Queen Bubblegum standing a few feet away with a rifle in her hands. Bubblegum shoots her a couple more times, but Marceline hisses angrily and turns her attention away from me, suddenly flying at the queen with clawed hands and red eyes. Bubblegum doesn't flinch and just keeps hitting her with more tranquilizer darts. And right as Marceline's about to attack the queen, the vampire falls to the ground unconscious. Sighing in relief, I hold the spot on my neck that's bleeding and get to my feet, walking over to QB as she loads another mag into her rifle.

"You're a real lifesaver" I remark graciously.

"And I'd gladly do it again" She smiles, bending down and hefty Marcy's body over her shoulder, "For now, though, let's get her to the medical ward."

Seeing no reason to argue, I keep pressure on my wound and follow her out of the vault, not having to worry about the traps since they're only activated when someone tries to enter, not leave. As we're heading to the medical ward, Bubblegum turns the lights back on so that it doesn't feel as creepy running around in the dark, to which I silently thank her for. Luckily, it's not as far as I thought it would be and we soon reach our destination. Dr. Princess is waiting for us, almost as if she had been in on Bubblegum's plans and knew what we were doing, but I don't question it. She has us take Marceline into a sealed-off room, with a window built into the wall, and set her down on this bed with metal clamps on it. The doctor assures us that it's enchanted to ensure that she can't break out and we leave the room, my wounds getting tended to next. And once it's all said and done, Dr. Princess says that she'll call us if Marceline shows any signs of change before Bubblegum and I leave and head back to our rooms, her wishing me a good night.

Over the next few days, I take it easy and recover, doing a lot of sleeping and eating to regain my strength. Bubblegum lifted the castle lockdown and dismissed the curfew as soon as Marceline got restrained in the medical ward. The queen did check up on me as much as she could and we even did a few fun things together as we waited to hear about Marceline. It's hard for me to get the images of her out of my head, but even despite everything that's happened, I still want my friend to be ok. On day three, we finally got the call from Dr. Princess that Marcy had regained consciousness and was acting normal again. Once we heard that, Bubblegum and I headed right down to the medical ward and stood by the window looking into her room. And as I look in, I have a clear view of Dr. Princess sitting next to the restraining bed while is sitting up with her legs dangling over the edge.

"Do you have any recollection of what happened?" The doctor is asking the vampire.

"It....feels like it was so real, but it was just a nightmare, right?" Marcy asks, a bit of hesitation in that last bit.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you, Marceline, but that was no nightmare" Dr. Princess tells her, Marceline's eyes widen in fear, "According to Finn and Queen Bubblegum, you chased after the human for a week on end and frequently scared him, pinning him down and drinking his blood. It was only after he came here and the queen knocking you out and restraining you that the crimson bloodlust was able to dissipate. And, if we're lucky, we can see about learning more about it and training you to be ready when it strikes again in another five hundred years."

"....I.......I..." Marceline is unable to form words, her hands trembling as she's forced to come to terms that she did all those things, "I can't believe.....I did something so horrible.....to my best friend. I........I."

"If you want to speak with them, they're watching us behind the window over there" Dr. Princess says, pointing at us as Bubblegum pushes a button to the make the glass see-through.

Marceline frightfully looks our way and nearly cries when she sees the bandages on my face. The vampire hesitantly stands up and slowly floats over to the window, giving an apologetic glance to Bubblegum before looking at me. But when she puts her hands on the glass, I instinctively step back out of fear, too many memories of her acting all crazy and scary still fresh in my mind. But when Marceline sees that, and realizes that she's just scarred her best friend into being afraid of her, she breaks down crying, removing her hands, turning away and floating over to a corner of the room, facing away from us and sobbing into her knees. Dr. Princess kneels down next to the vampire to comfort her as I step back up the glass and Queen Bubblegum puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder. The doctor tries to say something reassuring to Marceline, but when it doesn't work, she sighs, shakes her head, and looks at the two of us.

"She's going to need a lot of rehabilitation, though I suspect that she's not going to forgive herself for this" Dr. Princess admits as I sigh sadly and can only stare at the broken vampire.