*Finn's Age: 19*

Finn's P.O.V

Dear Weenie,

I had lots of fun with you earlier. Should you ever want to come over and hang, I live in a cave just off of the Mountain Kingdom.

Something else too, and don't tell anyone, otherwise I'll suck out your blood.

I kinda like you, Finn.

After what happened in the past 1,000 years, I never thought I would develop feelings again. But when I'm around you, that gets proven wrong. What I'm saying is that I would like to go out with you someday. But it can't be today since you're still too young and I could be arrested due to the laws that state I can't date you until you're 18.

If you're at all interested, come see me on your 18th birthday, and we'll begin a happy future.

Love, the Vampire Queen, Marceline

I smile as I read the note, this being the thousandth or so time I've done it. I found it in my backpack right as I got home from that time Marceline made me her henchman. Sure, that was back when I was 12, but it really stuck with me. I'm now 19, which is a year later than when Marceline asked me to come visit her, but I'm planning on finding her house and stopping by right after Jake and I get home from our day today.

"I tell ya, bro, there are some things in life that are just plain terrifying. Vampires like Marceline, they are definitely at the top of my personal list of things to avoid" Jake vents, walking alongside me as we trek over the plains of the Grasslands.

To be tots honest, I was scared out of my mind too when we first met her, but I learned something very important at the same time. The people who are the bravest on the outside are the most broken on the inside and Marceline is no exception to that. 

"You do make a solid point, man. Keep in mind, though, that what you could see as scary could be viewed as attractive to others" I reply, trying to be equally understanding but a tad contradictory too.

I pause, both with my train of thought and with my walking. Why am I dreamily thinking about Marceline? I mean 1) I hardly know her and 2) she hasn't shown any sign of outward compassion that I've seen. Hmm, maybe just seeing a being with as much beauty as her in the type of low cut dress she was wearing made my mind all wonky with misplaced emotions.

Jake's still going on ahead, obviously not noticing my brief stop. I speed walk back up to him and fall in pace with him. The treehouse comes into view mere minutes later, standing tall and proud against the bright moon and night sky. My first thought is to go in and get some sleep, but I have to stop myself and remind myself that I'm going to go find this cave where Marceline lives at the Mountain Kingdom. I'd waited long enough and I didn't want to wait any longer. So, as we both come up to the front door, I pause as Jake turns and frowns at the fact I'm not going inside with him.

"I'm gonna go exploring in the Mountain Kingdom for a bit" I briefly explain, gesturing in that general direction.

"Ok, man, but be careful" Jake warns, "I've heard talk of monsters being around there after dark."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine" I assure him, "I'll see you later."

My brother bides me farewell and I walk away from the treehouse, the confession note in one hand and the map of Ooo in the other, having just gotten it out to find my way to where Marceline said her house would be. But before I get too far from the treehouse, I give the map a look. Hmmm, it's a bit of a walk, but I can make it. Keeping it in hand, since I might need to refer to it along the way, I look to the closest landmark that leads toward the area and resume walking. It is, admittedly, a bit scary being outside and not being able to see much of anything, but I still have my sword with me, so I'm confident that I can fend off any danger that wanders my way.

The journey leads me out of the Grasslands and through a forest or two before mountains begin popping in abundance. And once I get a bit closer, I notice a cave entrance located under the remains of a bridge. Putting the map away, I take out a torch and light it, walking down the slope and underneath the bridge as I enter the cave and see a small house inside. I smile at the fact that I think I've just found her home, putting the note away and walking up to her front door. I knock and wait for her to answer, but the door just creaks inward and I hesitantly walk inside, frowning at the fact that the door is unlocked. The lights are off and there are cobwebs nearly everywhere, this place looking abandoned for quite some time. Could she have moved houses since the note? Was she kidnapped? Questions begin to form in my mind, but since I ultimately couldn't find her, I should head back and conduct a more in-depth search tomorrow.

Sighing, I walk out of the house, shutting the door anyway and leave the cave to head back to the treehouse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yo, Finn! Back already?" Jake remarks as I come inside the treehouse.

"Yeah" I sigh, "Didn't find what I was looking for."

"Well, that's a shame. But I'm sure you'll have plenty of other opportunities to try again" My brother reassures me.

"Yeah, I'm sure I will too" I nod.

I feel my body tire, my eyes struggling to remain open. Jake soon notices this and catches me right as my body gives in and collapses. I never thought I'd be so exhausted after one night, but to be fair, it wasn't a normal evening for me. My brother stretches his arms around me like a cocoon and enters the treehouse. Once inside, Jake heads right up the ladder and into my bedroom, setting me down on my bed and pulling the covers over me.

"You get some sleep, bro. I'll be downstairs if you need me" Jake says, turning around to leave. 

In the back of my mind, rest certainly is tempting right now, but something inside of me just holds me back. I'm so confused about it because I don't what it could be. My heart's beating like a mini drum and I can't get it to slow down. Still, I want to take Jake's advice, so I turn over and close my eyes. The feeling hasn't gone away, but I do my best to ignore, by way of letting my mind wander. Different things flash in my brain and before I know it, I've fallen asleep. However, it turns out to be the worst possible kind of sleep.

Nightmares.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I look around and see nothing but blackness. It's unsettling, to say the least. I walk forward to see if anything will pop up or come into view, but nothing happens. I turn around and look in all directions, seeing the same emptiness everywhere else. I begin to wonder if this will just be a bunch of dreamless sleeping when the voice of evil speaks.

"So that's where you ran off to, henchman~" Marceline says slyly. 

I spin around and see the Vampire Queen in the same outfit a few hours ago. She grins at me with those large red eyes of hers and despite my fear level rising quite a bit, I find her to be quite pretty.

"Guess I gotta keep better track of you~" Marceline continues, her eyes flitting back and forth "Now, come here!" 

I feel a tight collar form around my neck and next thing I know, I'm being dragged painfully across the ground towards the Vampire Queen. I try to pull away, but my efforts aren't strong enough. Eventually, Marceline grabs me by my neck with one hand and forces me down onto my knees.

"You're going to be a good little henchman now. Otherwise, I'll find that perky pink princess you fawn over so much and suck her sugar dry. Understand?" She whispers. 

Out of fear, I nod frantically. Marceline smiles, then leans down and kisses me cheek softly.

"Good. Now, we must strangle those pixies I mentioned earlier!" The Vampire Queen laughs.

 Marceline vanishes completely, but before I can wonder if this frightening moment has ended, I feel myself thrown backwards through the air.

I hit what feels like a wall and as I look around dazed, I see that the black setting has morphed into the inside of my treehouse. Marceline stands at the opposite end of the room, three pixies bound up in rope at her feet. Suddenly, my body takes on a mind of its own and gets up, walking over to where Marceline is waiting. The fact that I wasn't in control of my body freaks me out more than what is about to have happen.

"You know what must happen Finn. After all, you agreed to it~" The vampire says in a strangely soothing tone. 

I gulp and feel myself sweating. Sure, I had agreed to it, but only cuz I knew she was pulling my leg. I wouldn't do anything like this in any other circumstance. I stand there and hesitate, my hands shaking out of fear. I must've been taking to long, because Marceline huffs in frustration beside me.

"Do it already!" She shouts at me. I spin around and face her.

"No way, Marceline. I'm going to let these innocent creatures be hurt!" I shout back, crossing my arms. 

The vampire pants with rage and her eyes go the darkest color I've ever seen.

"Fine, I'll do it myself. Not that a weakling like you could have handled it anyway" Marceline growls.

 She then pushes me over and opens her mouth wide. Her teeth elongate and multiply, giving her a venus fly trap look. Marceline reaches out with her left hand and makes a strangling gesture. I wait to see the pixies get crushed, but instead feel my enforced collar tighten, choking me with much pressure.

I gasp for air, but am finding it harder to breathe. While Marceline continues to choke me, she sucks in the souls from the three bound pixies. As the souls fly into Marceline's enlarged mouth, I see the faces of PB, Jake, and Dad (Jake's father) in their ethereal matter.

Once the souls have been completely devoured, Marceline reverts back to normal, but when she turns to me, her expression goes from one of evil delight to one of frightened surprise. She quickly lets me go and hovers over me as I fall back on the ground gasping for air.

"Oh, Glob, I'm so sorry, Finn!" Marceline apologizes, looking scared and sad, "I let my anger out on you! I can make it up to you, though~." 

Marceline then cups my face in her hands and presses her cold lips against mine. I feel my heart explode in surprise, refusing to believe that this is happening. Sure, it's just a horrible dream, but still. Marceline pulls back a second later and I taste blood on my lips. I wipe my finger across them and come back with red liquid on it. Marceline winks at me and licks her lips, fresh blood spreading across them.

Then, suddenly, Marceline fades away, the treehouse setting going with her. As a matter of fact, the whole area starts to get fuzzy. Must be a sign that I'm waking up. The strange thing about it, though, is that I didn't want that moment to end. My body disagrees, however, and I'm soon woken up from my nightmare turned dream.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sit up fast, sweating all crazy like. I look around my bedroom and breath a sigh of relief, glad that this isn't just another nightmare. I slump back against my pillows and run a hand over my sweat covered forehead.

Was that dream just my mind throwing back and forth my inner emotions? I mean, I kinda am scared of what Marceline did, but at the same time, I feel like she was stunningly gorgeous. Feeling out of breath from all that emotional stress, I throw my covers off and stand, heading over to my pack, which Jake had left by the ladder opening. But I pause when I hear multiple voices coming from downstairs that I don't recognize. I unsheathe my sword from my backpack and carefully tip-toe down the ladder. But when I reach the kitchen, which is where the noise is coming from, I freeze in horror at the sight in front of me.

Three ghosts and a man with grey skin and white hair are sitting at our kitchen table and eating our food, Jake lying dead on the ground a few feet away with multiple stab wounds in his body. Knowing that these guys are to blame, I grow angry and grip the sword tighter. They're going to pay dearly for what they've done and I don't care if I'm the hero of Ooo or not. They're going to die.

"What the-?" The female ghost remarks upon seeing me, "Ash, I thought you said that the house was clear."

"Huh?" The man, who I assume is Ash, remarks, him and the other ghosts looking over at me too, "Drat! Guess I didn't search everywhere."

"What do we do with him?" One of the other ghosts asks as I slowly begin walking towards them menacingly.

"Easy. We kill him like we did with his dumb dog and this place will be ours" Ash shrugs as I get closer to him, "Mar Mar better get back here soon, though. I'm hankering for a sandwich."

But before he can say anything more, I rush at him with my sword raised. The ghosts tell him to look out and Ash does stand up prepared to fight. But it's only just after he's turned around to face me that he gets my blade through his stomach. His face is a look of shock, Ash clearly not expecting me to be so fast and direct. With my anger burning inside, I slice both of his hands off before completely decapitating him, all parts hitting the floor in seconds. The ghosts are speechless, floating out of the chairs and back in fright. I turn my gaze to them, ready to fight them next, but then the sound of bags being dropped can be heard and I look to see Marceline floating by the ladder. She has a look of surprise and sadness, her body frozen in shock.

"You...you just killed my boyfriend" The vampire manages to say.

"This scumbag...is your boyfriend?!" I exclaim, point to his body and then Jake's, "He killed Jake!"

"Really?" Marceline asks, looking to her ghost friends for confirmation.

"Wasn't our idea" The female one shakes her head, "I would've been fine with scaring the dog off, but Ash got a bit overzealous after the mutt threatened him."

"And you'll share the same fate as him if you don't clear out of here, now!" I warn, turning my attention back to the three ghosts.

But Marceline then surges forward and knocks the sword out of my hand, the blade clattering to the ground as I step back from the vampire.

"Finn, stop it!" The vampire barks at me as I don't look at her, finding her as guilty as the rest of them.

"Get. Out" I say slowly and threateningly to the ghosts.

"Fat chance, human" The female ghost replies with sass, "You can't make us leave."

Grave mistake on their end, since I know plenty of magic from over the years, including a spell that can kill ghosts. Reaching my hand out towards them, a red circle appears over my palm, the same red circle appearing over each of the ghosts. The three then gasp out in pain as, one by one, each poof out of existence until they're all gone, the spell fading. Marceline is pissed, though, and backhands me into my kitchen counter.

"What did you just do?!" She snaps furiously at me.

I duck and dodge a punch, rolling out of the way as I try to run past her to grab my sword. But Marceline sees what I'm going for and kicks me away, sending me flying into the living room and smacking against the wall above the couch. I crumple to the floor and something lands on top of me, Dad's old demon blood sword, which is the family heirloom. I take it out of it's case and hold it up right as Marceline flies at me in a blind rage. It's able to cut her and leave a lasting wound, the vampire gasping and holding her wrist. But then she turns to me and makes her face contort into a hideous monster.

"Run! Run as far as you can, because no matter where you go, I'll find you!" She nearly screams, which I hear as I'm shimmying down the ladder and running out the front door.

I run directly away from the treehouse, the realization that I'm leaving behind my home, nearly everything I have, and Jake, even though he's gone, all just to save myself. It saddens me greatly, but I keep running, knowing that I need to survive for him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I haven't returned to the treehouse since that night, fearing that Marceline will still be there and kill me. Not that it would do me much good, since, true to her word, the vampire has been following me wherever I go non-stop. I've been constantly on the move, never staying in one place for more than a day and always making sure to find a spot to sleep in that only has one entrance and exit so that I can keep an eye on it, going from taverns to caves to even up in a tree. At first, she would try to violently attack me when she found me, but I somehow managed to escape by the skin of my teeth at each encounter. But after the first three days or so, when Marceline continued to follow me and find me, she just watched me. Not with hate in her eyes, but with curiosity and a deeply reserved sadness. It's almost like she's wondering when I'll stop running and attempt to actually confront her.

I sigh and keep a grip on the demon blood sword with my right hand, rubbing my tired eyes with my left. I currently sit in a small cave just off the Mountain Kingdom, kind of ironic given the fact that Marceline's house is over in this area and this whole nightmare started when I went to see if she was at home or not. Speaking of nightmares, the one I had that night was certainly not the last, one popping up every night and being different each time. All of them have me and Marceline in it, but she does something evil before then some seductive to me, leaving me with mixed emotions every time I wake up. So, in truth, I haven't gotten a lot of sleep and it's beginning to show in how little strength I have. I almost think that if I keep this up for much longer, I'll die before Marceline gets the chance to do it herself.

No. No, I won't go out like that. My eyes flit back and forth as a sense of determination rises in me. I can't die without getting revenge for Jake and facing her down once and for all. Even if she kills me, I'll have died fighting instead of running. Besides, I want to know why. Why she let her friends ruin my life and why she went from wanting a relationship to wanting to kill me. And I'll get the answers one way or another.

Getting to my feet and wiping the weariness from my eyes, I walk out of the cave and set my sights on the Grasslands, knowing where I must go. With a determined look on my face, I head off towards my destination, not stopping for any reason. As I enter the Grasslands and see the treehouse getting closer and closer, a storm begins, rain pouring down with wind and occasional bits of lightning streaking across the sky. It would scare me if I didn't have this determination inside me, just like when I come to a stop a few feet away from the treehouse and a flash of lightning reveals Marceline standing there, wearing a red and black shirt with her hair back in a ponytail and her eyes glowing red. I don't falter or show signs of fright, though, because I'm ready for whatever comes next. For this is the final encounter we'll have.

"I'm glad you decided to come out and face me" The vampire admits, the glow in her eyes vanishing as she steps forward, "Because it's long past time that we talked."

"What is there to talk about, Marceline?" I say, making sure to show my anger, "It's like we never even met before and you're not the radical dame I came to know."

"I wanted to explain why I went from attacking you to merely following you around. It's because I don't want you dead, Finn" She says.

"Well, I want you dead" I say, not really meaning it, but ready to do it if I need to.

"Are you actually serious?" Marceline says, her eyes widening in surprise, "You...want to kill me? I'm not some evil monster, Finn. So tell me how you could even think to do such a thing."

"Simple. You and your friends came into my home and took away the only thing that made it a home" I snap, my sword pointed right at her.

"It was never your home to begin with. It was mine first, after all" Marceline reminds me.

"And you let us have it back! Do you remember nothing from when we met?" I retort.

"What I remember was giving a note to a kind and thoughtful boy about coming to see me when he turned 18" The vampire replies in a low tone, her patience starting to wear down, "But that boy never came. In the six years that followed, he forgot all about me and didn't ever try to develop something between us in the meantime. I thought that boy was different from everyone else, that he wouldn't abandon me like everyone else. But he was just like everyone else. He is like everyone else."

"And all that time, did you ever try to come by and hint to me that you wanted that? No, you didn't. So how am I meant to guess that you wanted something like that?" I answer back in the same tone, "And after seven years of not seeing each other, you come into the treehouse with your friends, kill my brother, and try to kill me? They were awful people, especially that douchebag Ash, and they got what was coming to them! Just like you will too."

"Are you so insistent on wanting to fight, Finn? I don't want either of us to die tonight, so please just let us talk this out. My friends never tried to hurt you. Jake was a mistake, one that I would've prevented if I was there to keep Ash in line. We were only going to scare you guys and use that as a way to get us back on speaking terms before then maybe getting things moving forward. But....you killed them! You killed them before they could even try to fight back! Which is why I can't let you get away with this!" Marceline says, trying to remain civil but failing, going from collected to angry quickly, "Thanks to you, I'm now all alone again, just like I was for hundreds of years!"

"It didn't have to be! I grew to really like you! I went over days ago to see if you still felt the same as you did all those years ago! We could've made it work and had a relationship!" I exasperate, spreading my arms out in exclamation, "You wouldn't have had to be alone cause you would've had me! But now that'll never happen, because I don't ever see myself loving someone who destroyed the only family I had left."

Marceline growls and rushes at me, being so fast that she grabs me by my shirt and flings me through the air like I weigh absolutely nothing. I crash through a couple trees and hit the ground hard, the vampire punching the ground next to me as I dodge and cut her across the cheek. She grunts in pain and is able to catch my sword in both hands when she shapeshifts them into werewolf claws. I push down, trying to overpower her, but Marceline doesn't budge. She then pushes me back and goes to bite me, but I step back and slice her across the face again, the vampire grunting in pain a second time before flinging me back towards the treehouse. As soon as I hit the ground, she's on me, punching my chest in so that I can't get back up.

"You can't beat me, Finn. I'm an immortal vampire that's lived for over a thousand years" Marceline states.

"You're also....part demon too...given how the cuts aren't healing" I manage to say, Marceline touching her facial wounds, "So...say hello to...my demon blood sword."

I then stab her through the chest, Marceline letting out a deep gasp as her face contorts into a look of shock. Her hands tremble and go to grab the sword, yanking it out as she falls to the ground. She must've caved my ribs in to the extent where some of them have stabbed into my heart, since my vision is starting to fade and I can feel myself dying. But Marceline clearly is too, seeing as she crawls towards me with very little energy left in her. Surprisingly, though, she collapses on top of me, which is the last thing I thought she'd do.

"If it's any consolation..." Marceline says weakly, leaning over and kissing my cheek, "...You always were the most fun I ever had."

The Vampire Queen then dies, her body going limp as I slowly feel my life seeping away too. But at least I won't have to worry about those nightmares anymore.