Cover of Night |A Vampire Mumbo Fic|

Progress

Grian stepped forward and knocked on the door, with Mumbo close behind. Mumbo leaned against an adjacent wall. Although Mumbo was getting much stronger at night, the daylight was having a greater impact on him.

Grian smiled as the door opened. There stood Pearl, looking a bit tired herself. She smiled. "Hello, Grian. And Mumbo."

"Pearl," Grian said, going straight to business, "We need to ask you about something."

"Oh, alright?" Pearl replied. "Come inside, we can talk there."

Grian reached for the door handle, but found that it instead led to-

A trapdoor?

Several failed attempts at entering Pearl's house later, Grian and Mumbo were sitting on a plush couch. Mumbo felt relieved that he wasn't standing in the sunlight anymore, but still felt weak and lightheaded.

"Are you alright, Mumbo?" Pearl asked, eyeing her friend. She wore a look of worry on her face.

"Mhm," Mumbo said quietly in response, "Just feel a bit sick, is all."

Pearl nodded sympathetically. She pretended not to notice when Grian rested his hand on Mumbo's.

"What did you want to ask me, G?" Pearl asked. Grian nodded.

"You know a lot about astronomy, right?"

"Oh, like, pisces and aquarius and stuff? Well, not really, why?"

"No, not astrology, astronomy."

"Oh!" Pearl exclaimed, "Yeah, I know a bit."

"What can you tell us about the moon's cycle?" Grian asked.

Pearl stood up. "Well, I can do better than tell you," she said. "Give me a moment." Pearl walked into a seperate room, leaving the two boys alone.

"Hey, you alright?" Grian asked quietly.
Mumbo shook his head. "I feel weak," he responded, "Hungry."

Grian nodded and gave Mumbo's hand a squeeze. "I know," he said, "We can fix that soon."

Pearl returned, her eyes looking betwren the two. She smiled to herself.

"Alright," Pearl said, placing something on the table, "This is our current year's moon cycle." Pearl unfolded a large piece of parchment, revealing a detailed map. It showed several different shapes, phases of the moon, and lines that Grian and Mumbo couldn't decipher. It was beautiful, with deep blues in the backround and several shimmering, metallic, golden strokes composing the main illustrations.

"Holy shit," Grian whispered to himself.

The two stared in awe at Pearl's chart. She wore a small, proud smile. "Now," she said, "What exactly do you want to know?"

It took them both a bit to speak. He was still gawking at the chart when Mumbo began. "Do you know if there's anything.. out of the ordinary.. occuring with the moon's cycle?" Mumbo asked.

"You mean, besides the fact that it's three times its size?" Pearl replied. "I can check."

Pearl traced her finger across the lines, which had no meaning to either Grian pr Mumbo, but to Pearl they were clear as day.

"Oh, that is interesting," she commented. Grian and Mumbo both looked at her inquisitively. "Yes?" Grian questioned.

"There's a blood moon coming," Pearl said. Grian and Mumbo glanced at each other. "A.. blood moon?"

"Yeah," Pearl said, nodding her head. "It basically stirs up the zombies and skeletons, making them more aggressive."

"Does it.. only affect zombies and skeletons?" Mumbo asked hesitantly. Pearl looked at him curiously. "Well, any undead creatures, actually." She narrowed her eyes, suspicious. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason?" Grian tried. Pearl raised her eyebrows skeptically.

"Alright," she said, crossing her arms, "What's going on with you two?"

The two looked at each other nervously. "And why do you guys keep glancing at each other all weird?" Pearl added.

Grian sighed. "Do we-?" he asked. Mumbo shrugged and slumped into the couch. "Might as well. Plenty of people know at this point."

Grian nodded. "That's a fair point." Grian also sat down, knowing that explaining this might take a while.

"Okay, long story short, Mumbo's a vampire, he's losing control of himself because of the moon, we're trying to get a cure, and we need to know how long we have until he loses control."

Pearl stood, wide eyed. She stared at Grian silently for a minute before exclaiming, "Mate, you can't just drop something like that so casually?!"

Grian waved a hand at her dismissively. "I know, but we're both tired and need answers."

"Well," Pearl said, quietly placing her hands on her hips, "I can help you there, somewhat."

She looked down at her chart again. "We have about 5 days until the blood moon is here." Mumbo shot up from his chair, startled. "We only have 5 days?!" he exclaimed. Pearl nodded, looking grim.

"Have you guys started on developing a cure yet?" Pearl asked. They both shook their heads.

Suddenly, the group heard someone burst through the door. Scar rushed into the room. "Mumbo, I need to stab you!"

"WHAT?!" Mumbo exclaimed, starting at him.

Grian looked between Mumbo and Scar, confused. "Wait, Scar, how did you even know we were here?"

"I didn't," Scar replied, "I did this to both of your houses, but you guys weren't there."

"Ah, alright then."

Mumbo was still looking startled. "Why do you need to stab me?!" he exclaimed.

"Doc.. cure.. needs blood," Scar said, answering through deep breaths. He had clearly been in a rush to get here.

"Alright, alright," Grian said. He watched as Scar flopped onto a chair, still out of breath.

Grian turned to Pearl. "Pearl, do you have any glass bottles here?" he asked. She nodded and left to fetch one.

Meanwhile, Scar was pulling a small dagger out and placing it in Grian's hand. Pearl quickly returned with a bottle in hand.

Mumbo eyed it carefully. "Is it a bad time to say that I get squeamish around blood?"

"How?" Pearl asked, "You are literally a vampire?"

"Yeah, well, hunger usually overpowers the nervousness. There is nothing appetizing about my own blood."

"Oh, goodness Mumbo, don't be such a baby," Pearl replied.

Grian stepped forward cautiously. He watched Mumbo carefully. "Will you be okay?" he asked.

Mumbo nodded, although every bit of him was tempted to bolt out the door. Scar and Pearl each stood beside him, however, making it impossible for him to escape.

Grian carefully placed the blade on Mumbo's forearm, and made a small cut, just deep enough to draw a good amount of blood.

Mumbo winced as the blood ran down his arm and into the glass bottle. After a few seconds, the group watched as the cut sealed itself up. Not even a scar remained.

Scar and Pearl stared at Mumbo, gawking over the quick healing. Meanwhile, Grian was capping the bottle.

Grian handed the now full glass bottle with a smile. "Scar," he said, "It's time for you to make a delivery."