The flickering firelight cast long, dancing shadows against the walls of the Treehouse as Finn, Jake, and Kael settled in for the night. Jake was in the middle of a particularly gruesome ghost story, his voice dropping to a low, gravelly whisper.
"And as it waded through the carnage that it had wrought, the vampire smashed their skulls just for the fun of it!" Jake widened his eyes, his face contorting into a mask of faux-terror.
Finn gasped, clutching his pillow. "No way!"
"Yes way, it did," Jake continued, leaning in. "And also, the vampire hunched over its victims and breathed their vaporized blood mist!" He began making a strange, warbling sound with his tongue that sent a shriek through the room.
Kael sat at the table, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. He watched his brothers with a faint, knowing smile. He knew Jake was just trying to get a rise out of Finn, but he also knew that in Ooo, stories usually had a grain of truth buried in the drama.
"Ah, jeez! Jake, is this stuff true?" Finn asked, looking genuinely spooked. "Or are you just trying to mess me up? You have to be honest."
"Oh, it's true, man," Jake lied smoothly. "I heard it through a reliable source. Some say it haunted this very tree!"
Finn's eyes went wide. "This tree?!"
"Good niiiight..." Jake teased, stretching his body toward the stairs.
Kael stood up and patted Finn on the shoulder as he headed toward his own bunk. "Don't let him get to you, Finn. Jake's 'reliable source' is usually his own imagination. Go to sleep."
But sleep didn't come easily. The storm outside began to pick up, and a branch tapped rhythmically against the window. Kael lay awake, his skin prickling. Suddenly, a flash of lightning illuminated a pale, scary face pressed against the glass. Finn's scream echoed through the house, followed by the sound of him scrambling downstairs.
"Jake! Jake! I saw someone outside the window!" Finn yelled.
"Relax, buddy," Jake's voice drifted up. "I made that story up. I was just trying to scare you."
Finn started to argue, but the window suddenly blew open with a violent gust of wind. The candles flickered out, plunging the house into darkness. Kael sat up instantly, his boots hitting the floor. He didn't need light to know that the atmosphere in the room had shifted. It felt cold colder than the rain.
"Hey, guys. What's up?" a voice drawled from the ceiling.
A tall, pale girl with hair like a spill of ink was hanging upside down from the rafters. She hissed, sending Finn and Jake into a panic. "I'm Marceline the Vampire Queen," she announced.
"Are you gonna smash my skull and breathe my blood mist?!" Finn yelled.
"Don't suck our blood!" Jake cried.
Marceline laughed, a cool, melodic sound. "Calm down, weenies. I'm not gonna do that." She landed gracefully and lit a few candles. She explained that she didn't eat blood, but rather the color red demonstrating by sucking the pigment out of a strawberry until it turned a ghostly grey.
"I encountered a school of goldfish beasts," she said, recounting her travels. "And I fooled around in the Fire Kingdom. But seriously, guys... get going."
"What?" Finn asked, stunned.
Marceline used a flick of her finger to move a picture frame, revealing a faded 'M' carved into the wood. "I carved in this tree years ago. Way before you rascals started squatting here." With a wave of her hand, she psychokinetically flung the brothers—Kael included—out into the pouring rain.
"Good night!" she shouted, slamming the door.
Finn stood in the mud, fuming. "She can't kick us out of our house! Get down here and fight me!"
"She's a vampire, dude!" Jake pleaded, trying to pull him away. "Vampires will kill you!"
Kael stood back, watching the house. He saw Marceline peer out of the window, tossing a red-less crumpet at Finn. "She's testing us," Kael muttered to himself. "She's not just taking a house; she's bored."
The Hunt for a Home
To keep Finn's spirits up, Jake suggested "house-hunting." Kael followed along as they looked at a drafty castle and a swampy shack, but nothing felt right. Finally, they found a massive, abandoned cave.
"So whaddaya think, man?" Jake asked after they had spent hours cleaning it and building a makeshift house inside. "I'm feelin' completely satisfied. Nothin' else could go wrong."
"Aww, yeah, I know, too," Finn agreed.
"Hey, Finn," a voice echoed from the shadows.
Marceline was back. She floated into their new home with a smirk. "Wow, pretty awesome party ya got here. Oh, I just wanna show you somethin'. This cave belongs to me, too!"
"What!?" Finn screamed. "You can't take our home twice!"
"Yes, I caaaannnnnn!" she sang, strumming a power chord on her axe-bass.
Finn had reached his breaking point. "It's vampire-fighting time!" He lunged at her, but Marceline laughed and swiped him aside. She grabbed Jake, threatening to bite him and turn him into a zombie.
"Let go of Jake!" Finn yelled.
"Make me," she hissed.
Finn slapped Jake out of her grip, and the battle truly began. Marceline transformed into a massive, shadowy bat-monster, her eyes glowing red. "No one... makes me... let go... of Jake!"
Kael watched carefully. He saw Marceline's movements they were fast, but they were playful. She was enjoying the fight. As she lunged for Jake, she let out a mock-snarl. "Your blood is mine!"
She snatched Jake and appeared to suck the life out of him, tossing his limp, shriveled body to the ground. Finn let out a primal scream of rage and sprinted forward, landing a solid punch right in her face.
"Ow!" Marceline gasped, shifting back to her human form. "That actually hurt, Finn." She laughed and, to everyone's shock, kissed Finn on the cheek. "Why didn't you just kill me?" Finn asked, blushing and confused.
"'Cuz that was fun! I haven't fought like that in years! Thanks, Finn."
Jake popped his head up, perfectly fine. "Naaah, before she bit me, I used my powers to shrink all my guts and blood over my thumb!"
Marceline leaned back, looking at the three brothers. "You guys are pretty hardcore. I can appreciate that. Tell you what... keep the tree fort. It's a gift from me."
As the brothers ran back to their original home, cheering and screaming with joy, they dived into Finn's bed. But the peace didn't last long. A strange, small worm was sitting on the blankets.
"Hug me... wawawawawawawa..." the King Worm droned.
Kael sighed, climbing into his own bed. "It's going to be a long night."