This was not the fic I had originally intended to write, but things got out of hand. Inspired by my favourite line from Into the Woods and someone wanted a human Carmilla AU. So here was my take on it. I might write other parts for this at a later time. Enjoy!
Cheers!
It had been a trap.
The four of them spent two weeks holed up in the Styrian village. The villagers were surprisingly nicer and provided them with supplies once they had emptied the diner's pantry and cupboards. Something about saving their village from the reign of a tyrant?
Well, it was kind of them anyways. All the villagers were still frightened of Carmilla. Watching someone disembowel someone else, even if that someone else was a cannibalistic Mama Klaus, tended to have that effect. Unfortunately, the villagers were only able to provide human food, leaving the vampire to hunt in the surrounding forests. Needless to say, Carmilla was displeased to find that she was going to be drinking moose blood for the next while. Although she was pleased to find herself a bear to snack on.
But at the end of the two weeks, they decided to head back to Silas and check on the situation there. They couldn't feel any residual tremors anymore. Carmilla couldn't sense anything at all either. This time, the trek across the mountains was easier. Maybe because they were better equipped this time and it was downhill.
Clothed in several extra layers and carrying backpacks of water and rations, the journey back only took two days. At one point, Carmilla got tired of their whining and tore a thick piece of bark from one of the nearby giant trees. Sledding through a forest was a bad idea, even when you had a vampire with you. Laura had the bruises to prove it. Her tailbone still hurt.
When they reached the campus, they were totally unprepared for the silence. The entire campus seemed vacant. It was like a ghost town.
Destruction lay all around them. The amount of rubble and ruin made the Lustig battle seem like child's play. There were scorch marks everywhere, the clock tower completely blackened. The chemistry building had been torn in half. One half lay on its side where it was supposed to be, the other half was sitting haphazardly on what used to be the arts building.
Arrows and other makeshift weapons dotted the quad. A barricade of sorts had been formed in front of the library. Cars, dumpsters, furniture, whatever had some weight to it. Not that it mattered, by the looks of the Grecian fountain that had been tossed through the centre of it.
Stunned, they stood at the gates, one half was lying on the ground, the other was dangling limply by one hinge. "Danny," Laura gasped. The tall ginger had refused to leave with them when they fled. She said she had responsibilities to her Summer Society sisters. But she promised that she would get everyone out safely and not to do anything crazy. Hurriedly, Laura pulled out her cellphone. There was no signal in the mountains but maybe by some stroke of luck- yes! One feeble bar.
She dialled Danny's number quickly. The lit TA's number had long been ingrained in Laura's memory. There was a pause and then it started ringing.
"Come on. Pick up, Danny!" Laura huffed in frustration.
"Cupcake. Wait, listen." Laura lowered get flip phone to her chest, straining her ears to hear what Carmilla was picking up on.
Music. The theme song from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Danny's ringtone.
LaFontaine had been poking around a pile of broken weapons a good ten feet away but at the sound of the ring tone, they paused. Then they bent down and from the pile of weapons, fished out a cracked cell phone. The phone itself was covered in bloodstains.
"Danny!" Laura gasped. Her knees felt like jelly, she could feel her legs buckling beneath her and if Carmilla hadn't raced to her side, she surely would've fallen.
"Hi, you've reached Danny. I'm sorry I can't come to the phone right now but shoot me a text or leave a message. Thanks!"
There was a sharp click as the voice message ended. What they didn't expect was for a familiar but unwelcome rumbling to start again. Startled, Perry grabbed LaFontaine by the arm and hauled her away from the sharp pointy things. She scooped up a spear that had definitely seen better days. You know, just in case. Laura struggled to regain her footing and clung onto Carmilla even more tightly, "What in the world?"
The rumbling got louder and louder as Carmilla surveyed their surroundings wildly, trying to pinpoint its exact location. Suddenly, she threw herself to the side, taking Laura with her, as an explosion of rocks and dirt filled the air. Where they were standing only moments ago, now housed a giant crater.
"I knew you'd be back, Mircalla."
The Dean.
She looked a lot better than Laura remembered. She looked younger, stronger, not some desperate being clinging to the side of a cliff. There was an aura about her, a menacing aura, an aura that screamed danger, one that wanted to devour... the devouring light. The Dean and the Lophiiformes had combined. No wonder Silas looked like this. No wonder Danny... No, Danny was a survivor. There were no bodies, so no proof that anybody was dead.
"Uhm, guys. The gates?" Laura looked up to where LaFontaine was pointing. The gates that had originally lay demolished, had floated up to their rightful places and snapped shut with a clang.
"Oh don't worry about that. It's just a charm I placed," the Dean chuckled darkly.
The air around the gates shimmered and then the shimmering spread, lengthening and rising until- "A barrier charm. So we can't escape." Carmilla flexed her jaw. She was not at full strength. Animal blood, while filling, was not quite as potent as human blood. She also didn't have a legendary, light devouring sword to use this time.
The barrier was problematic though. An impenetrable dome surrounded the entire campus. They couldn't flee, not again. Perhaps...
"Don't bother, Mircalla. I've designed this barrier with you in mind. Not only is it a perfect dome above ground, but it extends well below ground. It goes deep enough to block all the underground passageways."
Perhaps not. But maybe. Carmilla felt around in her back pocket for her phone. She glared at her mother, her fangs already coming out from their hiding places. From behind her back, she fired off a quick text to LaFontaine. "I thought you were above being used. Always be the one to use, not be used." Carmilla quoted as she helped Laura to her feet. She was stalling now, things were going to get really ugly and she needed the humans out of here.
"I'm not being used, dear Mircalla. I made a deal. I offer up myself to the Lophiiformes as a vessel in exchange for revenge on you," the Dean smirked. "A win-win situation in my books." She flicked her long black hair over her shoulder.
"That's all you want? You could have the world with this power. But instead, you want me?" Carmilla asked incredulously.
"Yes, sweet girl. The Lophiiformes will take over the world regardless of what I do. My ultimate goal will be fulfilled in the end. So why not take back what belongs to me? You are mine, Mircalla. I created you. I made you who you are today. And you belong to me. I'm hurt by your betrayal. Betrayal is not something I take lightly. Why would you ever turn your back on your dear mother?"
"You're no mother-" Before Laura could even finish her sentence, another explosion at her feet cut her off. Carmilla tackled her out of the way, rolling across what used to be the quad.
They came to a stop, with Carmilla cradling Laura's body gently, protecting her from further harm. "Let's not piss off my dear mother anymore than we have to alright, Cupcake?"
"You, you nosy little brat. If it weren't for you, I'd have Mircalla's unwavering loyalty still," the Dean growled, taking a step forwards. The ground quaked beneath them as she moved.
"Perry, LaFontaine. Get Laura out of here. No matter what happens, do not turn back. Head for the library, that place is the oldest and has the most fortification charms. Do not let her come back. No matter what you hear or see. I've texted you instructions. I know that I haven't been the easiest person to deal with-" They ducked behind the remnants of a wall as another explosion rocked the ground.
"We got this," LaFontaine grinned and clapped the vampire on the back. "See you soon." They hefted Laura to her feet. "Come on, Laura. We gotta move."
"What? Where are we going? We can't leave Carmilla to deal with the Dean by herself!" Laura's voice rose with each syllable as Perry grabbed her other arm and began dragging her towards the library.
"We're going to find Danny, Carmilla will be fine. She's a big girl, she knows what she's doing," Perry responded, her voice matching Laura's in terms of pitch.
Carmilla watched them dart behind another pile of debris and then out of sight. Time to deal with her mother, now if only she had a weapon. Frowning, she scanned the ground around her and spotted a familiar shape. Danny's spear, a gift from the goddess Artemis herself. Not quite the Blade of Hastur, but Spear of Artemis had a nice ring to it.
Laura flinched as sounds of another explosion reached her ears. So apparently, the return of the Dean-Lophiiformes also meant the return of her minions. They were swarming the campus as Perry lead the way to the library. Swiftly and calmly, she dealt with a humanoid lizard creature. The efficiency with which Perry wielded a spear was really quite frightening.
"Come on children, there's a shortcut through here," Perry rammed the blunt end of her spear into the wall. Surprisingly that piece of the wall folded, revealing itself to be a lever. The section of the wall next to it gave with a groan, granting them access to a stairway hidden behind the stone wall.
"What? Perry! What is all this? And where did you learn to wield a spear like that?" LaFontaine hurriedly ushered Laura into the staircase, watching with admiration as Perry ran another minion through with the spear. Quickly, she leapt through the closing doorway after them.
"What are you talking about? This is all normal. I had a lot of time on my hands during my freshman year," Perry explained shrilly and herded them up the stairs at a faster pace. There was a loud booming noise as the minions tried to get into the passage way after them. Fortunately they weren't all the smart and couldn't locate the lever. They would break through eventually, but by the time they did, the three of them would be long gone.
"And the spear?" LaFontaine raised an eyebrow expectantly at the bloodied weapon.
"It's a lot like a broom," the reply was curt and they decided not to press the matter.
The staircase itself took them straight to one of the many turrets that dotted the tops of the majority of Silas' medieval looking buildings. It was a secret passage that lead them straight to the roof.
"Uh why are we on the roof?" Laura gaped. From their vantage point, they could see the full scale of the destruction. If you thought the chemistry building being torn in half like a flimsy sheet of loose leaf was bad, you really ought to see the drama building, or what was left of the building anyways.
"The library is the next building over. I know its a little bit of a jump from this roof to that balcony, but Carmilla said library right?" Perry scrambled over the wall of the turret and onto the roof itself. There was a narrow line of stones that ran across the gabled roof. Elaborate parapets on both sides provided some form of cover as they dashed across the roof.
It was like being in fifth grade again, when you had to run across balance beams in gym class. Except in fifth grade, you definitely weren't running for your life.
All of them ducked as a what used to be the face of the clock from the clock tower whizzed through the air like a frisbee. With an earsplitting crash, the clock tore right through the admin building, leaving more rubble in its wake.
"You're mine, Mircalla! Mine! You were always mine and now you'll forever be mine!"
Laura turned to where the voice was coming from. Carmilla was picking herself up from where she had been tossed. The Grumpy Cat Christmas sweater was torn, revealing a bloodied midriff. The vampire definitely looked worse for wear as she used Danny's spear as a crutch to get herself back up on her feet. The Dean easily lifted a block of concrete and tossed it aside like it weighed nothing.
With a wicked grin, the older vampire grabbed Carmilla by the throat.
Laura's mouth went dry.
"You are mine. In death, you are mine forever."
A sharp crack rang through the air.
"Woah Laura, we are on a roof. Perr give me hand here," LaFontaine took one of Laura's arms as the girl sank to her knees. With a grimace, LaFontaine supported most of Laura's weight as they made it across the last few steps and hefted her onto the other turret where Perry was waiting.
Everything else was a dark blur after that. All Laura can see in her mind is Carmilla's broken body and the Dean's triumphant smirk. She had won. They had lost.
Perry and LaFontaine had half dragged, half carried her through the library, which was surprisingly quiet. They found Danny and the rest of her sisters, as well as many other students, huddled in one of the sub basement caverns. Danny looked fine, tired, with a bloody gash across her back, but otherwise okay. Kirsch now had concussion in addition to his previously broken arm. Everyone that Laura knew and recognized was here, which was a good thing. Everyone except Carmilla.
From above, they heard the sounds of more explosions and blasts as the Dean and her minions finished ransacking the campus unheeded.
In one corner, LaFontaine and Danny spoke in hushed whispers, huddled over LaFontaine's phone. They were coming up with some sort of escape plan, a way to subvert the magical barrier. The Dean would not stop until everyone on the campus was dead.
Laura sat by herself in another corner, away from the other students. Perry was the one to explain what had happened above ground. Carmilla had been everyone's final hope, she had beaten the Dean and the light once, they were counting on her to do so again. Everyone avoided Laura like the plague, they didn't know what they could say. Laura preferred it that way.
Soft crunch of debris alerted Laura to somebody else's presence. Perry, of all the people here, Perry was currently the calmest. You wouldn't expect it, with her tendency for everything to remain normal, but she was holding up the best. She looked like she had aged ten years though. "J.P.'s managed to get the library's help. He's refortifying the place with the library's help as we speak. Danny and LaFontaine are working on an escape route." The curly haired ginger sat down next to Laura on a pedestal that used to house the statue of Zeus, or so the plaque claimed. "How're you holding up?"
"I just want Carmilla back. I never even got to tell her that I love her." Laura looked up at Perry with tear filled eyes and that was all the response Perry needed.
"Laura, I have a question for you." Perry paused, trying to choose her next words carefully. "If you could fix everything. And I mean everything. Would you do it?"
"Yes. I would do anything to bring Carmilla back. Anything to beat the Dean," Laura grabbed Perry's hand. "Do you know something?" She shook Perry's hand frantically. Perry frowned and held a finger over Laura's lips. Quietly, she got up and gestured for Laura to follow her.
They made their way out of the room quietly. Everyone else was too caught up in their own business to notice them. Cautiously, they slipped down the hall and to a desolate section of the library. There were no books here, no shelves, no chairs or tables. It was just an empty room. Or so Laura thought.
Perry walked around the room in seemingly random patterns, stopping here and there and prodding things with her foot. Shortly after, she walked up to the wall on the far side of the room and stared at it. Suddenly the wall she was looking at split in the middle with a low rumbling sound.
"Come here," Perry stepped into the hidden room. There was nothing in it, except for an old twisted looking arch.
Laura stood in front of the arch with a look of wonder on her face. The arch appeared to be wooden, or at least petrified wood. The material was dark, blackened, all twisted together and gnarled. On the arch was several words, carved deep into its surface. Vota venerunt, non liberum.
"Wishes come true, not free," Perry traced a finger over the carved words. "This is perhaps Silas' most well kept secret. Once you pass through it, it'll grant you one wish." Perry grabbed Laura's hand before she could rush through the arch. "However, there's a price. Every wish will cost you something. Are you sure you're ready?"
Laura stared at Perry for a moment, thinking. She expelled a deep breath, "For Carmilla, for Silas, I'm as ready as I'll ever be."
There were no steps to making the wish as far as Perry knew. Walk through the arch and make the wish. Perry had never used the arch herself, but that's what she had been told.
The instant Laura walked through, it was like the world slowed down. Her surroundings became hazy and dark, the air was colder and thinner, and it made Laura feel nauseous. Alarmed, Laura whirled around, trying to look to Perry for help but Perry was no longer there. The room had become a blur, all the colours swirling, what used to be Perry was now a kaleidoscope of reds, whites and blacks.
What is your wish?
Her wish? There was nobody else around her, nothing that she could see clearly. But she clearly heard the voice.
Child, your wish?
Oh right, her wish. "Carmilla."
Of course. But wishes are not free.
"I'll pay the price. Whatever price. Just bring Carmilla back to me."
A life is a heavy price. Something of equal value must be paid. The voice paused as if it was contemplating, looking over Laura, determining what was of worth. Your wish is for one of the children of the night. Your price is what makes you human.
"What makes me human?" Like that she was alive? A life for a life?
I have no intentions of taking your life, child. Think about it, what do you have that your dear Carmilla does not? Ah, there we go. Yes, a beating heart. Your heart, for her life.
"Isn't that the same thing as taking my life? Don't I need a heart to live?" Laura was confused now.
You will live, but you will no longer be human. Your heart will continue beating, just not with you. You'll see.
Carmilla groaned, it felt like somebody had just ran her over with a train, repeatedly. Her head was pounding. Somebody was whispering into her ear and running their fingers through her hair. If this was the afterlife, it kinda sucked.
"Carmilla. Come back, Carmilla. Carmilla, we need you. I need you." The voice was whispering in her ear. It was faint, very weak. One hand was rubbing gentle circles into her palm, the other stroking her face gently now.
Laura.
With a gasp, Carmilla's eyes shot open. She wasn't dead, or well, her mother hadn't killed her. Eyes wide, she sat up. Silas was exactly as she had left it. She stared down at herself. The gaping wound in her midsection was gone, completely healed over. The various cuts and bruises that had marred her pale skin before had also mysteriously vanished.
But perhaps what was the most surprising was Laura. Carmilla let out another gasp as she took in the tiny human's appearance. Laura's hair had darkened until it nearly matched Carmilla's, her eyes were completely devoid any life, like black holes, her skin was an ashy grey. "Laura," Carmilla reached out with trembling hand. "What happened? Oh, Laura. This was never supposed to happen. Laura, talk to me. Keep your eyes open."
"She's become a Heartless," Perry appeared at their side, her battered spear dripping with gore. She had a feeling that after Laura stepped through the arch, this is where she'd end up.
"A Heartless?" Carmilla repeated slowly. She had heard of such things in the past, but only as rumours.
"Yes, she made a wish to save your life. And in return, gave up her heart; what made her human. It won't long before the infinite darkness consumes her entirely and she'll exist in a plane of existence of her own. A Heartless. Alive, but not quite alive. Dead, but not quite dead. She'll lose her each one of her senses, one by one. It's the price she chose to pay," Perry explained helplessly, watching the vampire trace Laura's lips with her quivering fingers.
"I do not deserve this. What have I ever done to deserve such sacrifice," Carmilla whispered, her voice stricken with grief.
"Nothing," Laura croaked out, her lips were white now, eyes glazed over. She couldn't quite see Carmilla or Perry, just dark shapes. Her sense of smell was completely gone and all she could taste was ashes, her hearing would go soon too. "You didn't have to do anything. I chose to do this for you." She smiled, for once, she was able to save someone, someone that she loved instead of it being the other way around. That was a victory.
"I think you have a slightly bigger problem to deal with," Perry waved her hand at the horizon, which was getting brighter and brighter.
"What the frilly hell..?" Carmilla squinted at the bright light and wiped away the tears that threatened to fall. Had her mother lost control of her powers? No, this was something else. Her mother had mentioned this during her gloating. She struck a deal with the Lophiiformes. That's right, and the Lophiiformes had fulfilled its side of the bargain when her mother killed her. Now it was her mother's turn.
"Perry, what did you say was happening to Laura?" Carmilla's mind spun, trying to recall everything that she had ever read on the Lophiiformes.
"I thought we were past this and trying to deal with the devouring light here," Perry scowled at the vampire.
"Just repeat what you said! Word for word!" Carmilla growled, gently setting Laura on the ground getting to her feet.
"I said that she gave up her heart to save you! And in doing so, she's going to be consumed by the infinite darkness-" Carmilla cut off the ginger with a wave of her hand.
"So what would happen, hypothetically, if an infinite darkness met an all devouring light?"
Carmilla stared at what used to be the dark figure of her mother. If it weren't for her vampiric constitution, she was positive that she would've gone blind from the sheer intensity of the light. It wasn't that hard to find her mother and the Lophiiformes. She just had to find the spot where all the minions were avoiding, trying to avoid their leader's wrath.
The clock tower. Highest vantage point in Silas. Best place to start emitting incinerating beams of white-hot light. Perry had disappeared in the time it took for Carmilla to scoop up Laura, who had completely lost her hearing at this point and the majority of her sense of touch, and head for the clock tower.
Now faced with her monstrous mother, if she could even be called that anymore, Carmilla was genuinely frightened. She was about to do something crazy with no way of knowing whether or not it would work.
"Theoretically, darkness is merely the absence of light. So introducing a source of that absence to the light might eradicate the creature completely. But it also might go the other way and the light overwhelms the darkness. However, the darkness that consumes and creates the Heartless only does so to the specific entity without the heart. You'd have to make Laura a part of the light in order for the darkness to do its thing."
"So, like the Trojan Horse."
Perry was surprisingly knowledgeable about the whole thing. It really makes you wonder...
A high pitched whine interrupted Carmilla's train of thought, the Lophiiformes was powering up. That meant that time was running out. It was now or never.
Even though every fibre in Carmilla's being fought against this very action, Carmilla lifted Laura's ashen body up to the edge of the light. She had only ever seen her mother do this, to sacrifice the girls. As strong as the Lophiiformes had become from joining with the Dean, it was never going to say no to another sacrifice. Laura floated out of Carmilla's grasp, all her senses gone as the light lifted her up and closer to the center, where the Dean was.
I love you.
Carmilla watched, pain etched on her face as Laura, her beloved Laura, finally reached the Dean. The Lophiiformes did not suspect anything was wrong yet, the darkness just finishing Laura's complete transformation to a Heartless, but there. The darkness had realized that there was more to consume.
Never was Carmilla more pleased to see the innate greediness that all beings and creatures seemed to possess.
It started small, just a minuscule black dot hovering above Laura's chest. Then there were two, and then four. And then it was a frenzy as the darkness multiplied. If the Dean was the center of the light, Laura was the center of the darkness. The darkness spread quickly, rendering the deadly rays useless.
The Lophiiformes shrieked and struggled to get away from the darkness. It's efforts were futile, the darkness was a part of it now. Desperately, it turned one of its own beams of light on itself, blasting a crater through a blackened portion of its body. The darkness pressed on, undeterred.
The ground shook as the Lophiiformes thrashed about wildly, scatter more debris. A hand on Carmilla's elbow forced her to tear her gaze away from the sight. It was Perry. "LaFontaine and Danny have got everybody out of the library. They're on the outskirts of campus now, outside of the barrier. We're going to need to leave, and quickly. The library is our passage way out and its not going to be there much longer."
"Wait, what do you mean?" Carmilla allowed Perry to drag her towards the library, while she kept her eyes firmly on Laura.
"This campus has restorative magic embedded deep in it, as a failsafe. Should something disastrous like this," Perry gestured at the damage around them, "the magic will kick in once the threat is neutralized. Which will be soon, by the looks of it. The library however, was added on by the Dean. She was the one who installed the sentient building. A sentient building which could defend and repair itself was the only way the Dean could subvert the campus' defences. However, the library is also connected to the Dean. The Dean was the library's source of power, which was why only the library could withstand such an assault. As the Dean got stronger, so did the library."
"Wait, so what you're saying is that the library will be destroyed by the restorative magic because it doesn't actually belong here?" Carmilla gaped at Perry. She knew that her mother had reasons for picking Silas as her hunting grounds, but never could she have imagined how powerful Silas actually was.
"Correct, and the library is currently our only way out. Come along!" Perry chirped a little too enthusiastically, sounding much like the Perry that Carmilla used to know.
"Wait! But what about Laura?"
"It's too late. She's already become a Heartless. There's no reversing the process and that's if she survives this." Perry flapped her hands frantically at the ensuing battle taking place above them. "Now quickly!" she admonished, pushing Carmilla into the library. They scrambled down the crumbling hallways, past the collapsing stairs and through barren bookshelves. Even the books didn't have enough energy to flap at them as they passed by.
Carmilla dodged a falling block of stone and threw herself between a falling doorway after Perry, who looked right at home, using that spear as a pole vault to get over a pile of bricks. Groaning, she picked herself of the dusty ground and found herself face to face with what looked to be a fossilized vine of some sort. There was some writing carved into it too, it was very out of place.
"Perry, what is this?" She walked up to it, running her fingers along the carving. Vota venerunt, non liberum. Wishes come true, not free. She paused and narrowed her eyes, Perry said that Laura made a wish to save her life. Was it through this thing?
"Oh, I had nearly forgotten it was still here." Perry dodged a piece of the crumbling ceiling. She supposed that it would still be there after someone had used it, it had remained all these years after all.
"Is this how Laura brought me back?" Carmilla patted the arch and withdrew her hand sharply when the arch started to flake away. If this arch could bring her back from the dead, then it should be capable of reversing Laura's transformation.
"Yes! But it's disintegrating with the library!" Perry yelled over the sound of the building collapsing around them. She realized what Carmilla was getting at. Laura, she could save Laura. The arch was starting to lose shape, pieces of it decaying away at an alarming rate. "GO, CARMILLA! SAVE LAURA!"
Carmilla jumped.
It was warm. And soft. It was warm and soft. And felt like home. A pleasant contrast to the cold and darkness. Laura became aware of a hand around her waist and a body curled up against her. Someone was humming faintly next to her. Soft fingers were rubbing gentle circles into her palm.
If this was heaven, Laura could stay here forever. Contentedly, she snuggled closer to the other person, breathing in their scent: ink, paper and jasmine. Carmilla. Laura opened her eyes and closed them repeatedly. Was she dreaming? Carmilla looked perfect, even better than Laura remembered. There was a healthy glow to her and this indescribable spark in her eyes. They were in her bed, yellow pillow tucked beneath Carmilla's back and Laura cuddled into her side. "Carmilla?" Laura breathed. Immediately, Carmilla looked down at Laura, joy spreading across her face.
"Laura," they stared at each other for a moment, just taking each other in. And then they were kissing. Laura didn't know who initiated it, but she didn't care. All that mattered was that Carmilla was here and alive. Their teeth bumped clumsily against each others, their tongues danced around each other's, they kissed each other like their lives depended on it. But alas, Laura had to break away or pass out from the lack of air. From next to her, she heard Carmilla take a similar intake of air.
Laura froze, staring at the dark haired girl with her mouth slightly opened. Carmilla smiled back, her grin genuine. Gently, as if she was afraid that Laura might break, she took Laura's hand and pressed it against her chest, where her heart would be. "What in the world?" Laura gasped as she clearly felt the beat of a heart under her fingers.
"I wished for you and I gave up my powers and immortality. They were the price I paid. This heart beats only for you," Carmilla planted a soft kiss on Laura's temple. Laura looked up at the girl, tears welling in her eyes. Carmilla needed to breathe. She had a heartbeat. She gave up her powers. And her immortality. Did this mean-?
"I'm human, Laura."