The storm rolled in without warning. One minute the sky was the deep purple of twilight, and the next heavy clouds had hidden the stars and emptied themselves over the campus.
Laura looked up as the heavy drops began to hammer against the window, obscuring her view of the quad within seconds. She thanked whatever forces were out there that she had decided to stay in her room to study instead of going to one of the class buildings like she had planned. There was no way she would have been able to make it back without emerging looking like a drowned kitten.
Snuggling further into her blankets, she happily went back to her reading. However, she was only able to read a few more lines before the faint sound of thunder in the distance made her glance up at the window again. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Carmilla's head snap up as well, her skin blanched paler than normal. Weird. Laura pretended not to notice and lifted her book back in front of her face. But instead of returning her attention to the words on the page, she kept her gaze on Carmilla over the top of the binding.
She was acting strangely, even for an undead creature of the night. She had put her head on her knees, and was holding her hands over her ears. Laura could hear her muttering something under her breath, but it was too low for her to make out.
Another crack of thunder sounded outside, and Carmilla cringed, turning wide eyes back towards the window.
Laura tried to mind her own business, but couldn't keep her curiosity to herself.
"Are you afraid of thunderstorms?" she asked incredulously.
Carmilla whipped around to look at her, pinning her with a glare. "No," she said between clenched teeth. "I just – "
A bright flash of lightning lit up the window as an enormous peal of thunder echoed right overhead. Carmilla's head thunked against the wall as she jerked backward, flinging her arm up to shield her face.
Laura jumped off her bed, her hand outstretched towards her roommate. "Carmilla!" she cried in alarm.
The other girl held up her own hand palm out, stopping Laura in her tracks. "I'm fine," Carmilla said as she turned her face into the wall. "Just… just give me a minute."
As Laura watched in concern, Carmilla drew in deep, shaky breaths, her forehead pressed against the wall. Every so often the thunder would rumble again, and a tremor would run through her body. One hand clutched at her own stomach, while the other fisted in her sheets, her knuckles white with the force of her grip.
Laura hovered between their beds, reluctant to return to her reading when her roommate was so obviously distraught, but unsure of what to do. Finally, she made her decision, and took the two steps over to Carmilla's bed. She perched on the edge of the mattress and tentatively reached out to touch Carmilla's ankle, murmuring, "Carmilla…"
As soon as Laura's figures made contact with her bare skin, Carmilla flinched violently, jumping back and flattening her shoulders against the wall. Her head snapped up, and Laura could see her eyes were huge and dark, the pupils blown.
Laura snatched her hand away, holding them both up in surrender. "Sorry! Sorry. I just wanted to know if I could do anything to help."
Carmilla's face contorted into a grimace. "You could leave," she snarled.
Laura recoiled, her expression crumpling, and Carmilla quickly turned away.
"Please," she whispered into her shoulder. "I just …" The rest of the sentence trailed away into an indecipherable mumble.
Despite herself, Laura shifted closer, straining to hear the other girl's words. "What was that?" she asked timidly.
Carmilla turned back towards her, and Laura was startled to see tears in her eyes. Her voice trembled as she repeated, "I don't want you to see me like this."
Laura's face softened, and she put her hand on the sheets next to Carmilla's, close but not touching. "A few weeks ago I thought you were a kidnapping, murderous fiend from hell," she told her roommate. "Trust me, 'afraid of thunder' is hardly the worst thing you could be."
A tiny, watery smile appeared on Carmilla's face, only to be wiped away the next second as another crack of thunder sounded outside their window. Seemingly without thought, she grabbed Laura's hand, drawing it into her lap as she scrambled closer.
Only when the thunder passed did she appear to notice her grip on Laura's hand and how close they were, their shoulders almost touching. She quickly dropped Laura's hand and started to move away again, muttering, "Sorry."
"No, that's ok!" Laura said quickly. "You can, uh, we can… If you want…" She opened her arms slightly, giving her fingers a tiny wiggle.
At first, Carmilla didn't move, only stared searchingly into Laura's eyes. Then, seeming to find what she was looking for, she curled into Laura's embrace, wrapping her arms around Laura's waist and resting her head on Laura's shoulder. Both girls let out almost inaudible sighs.
They sat there for a little while, just breathing, until Laura broke the silence. "You can talk to me about it. You know, if you want to," she offered.
When Carmilla simply turned her face further into Laura's shoulder, Laura was afraid she had said something wrong. But then Carmilla began to speak, her voice low and rough, her cool breath ghosting across Laura's collarbone.
"It brings me back to when I first woke up from my imprisonment underground. I had been trapped in that coffin for so long, my senses deprived of any stimulation, that I had all but forgotten how to use them. Then, all at once, they were being bombarded. The piercing light of the muddy sky, the screams and stench of dying men… It was all too much; I couldn't make sense of it. I didn't understand what the bombs were. I thought they were thunder."
She shuddered again, and Laura rubbed her hand up and down her arm.
"That's why you're afraid? Because the thunder reminds you of the bombs?" Laura asked.
Carmilla nodded against her shoulder. She remained quiet for a few minutes, but Laura could tell her story wasn't over yet.
Soon enough, Carmilla continued. "I couldn't understand what was going on. My mind had become muddled in my long confinement. I could no longer make sense of my surroundings. I was overwhelmed by the sights, the sounds… but most of all, the smell. There was blood everywhere. So much blood. My thirst was too strong; I lost control of myself. I must have drained every body in the area.
"Finally, my bloodlust abated, and my mental faculties returned to me. But they were of little use. I didn't recognize the war-torn, broken world I had woken up in. So I did the only thing I could: I fled. I ran as far as my weakened body would allow, and when I ran out of strength, I fell to the ground and I wept."
Laura could feel tears pricking her own eyes. She hugged Carmilla closer to her, as if her presence could somehow keep the girl's demons at bay.
"You don't have to run anymore," she whispered into Carmilla's hair. "You're safe here."
Carmilla pulled back, and Laura was once again afraid she had said the wrong thing. But Carmilla didn't move fully away, only sat up and looked into Laura's face. The two girls' eyes locked, and Carmilla's were full of so much vulnerability and hope that it broke Laura's heart.
The next second, so quickly Laura wasn't sure who had instigated it, their lips were crashing together. The kiss was sloppy and feverish and tasted of both their tears, but they both sank into it, clinging to each other as if they were drowning. Carmilla cupped Laura's cheek in one hand and tangled the other into Laura's silky hair, while Laura clutched Carmilla's hips hard enough to bruise a normal human.
When they finally drew apart, Carmilla tucked herself back into Laura's chest, hiding her face against Laura's neck. Laura slowly leaned them back until they were laying down, their arms wrapped tightly around each other and their legs entwined. She stroked Carmilla's hair, content to simply be there for the girl as she cried herself to sleep.
Thunder rumbled far in the distance, but for now, the storm was over.
A/N: Title taken from a line in "The Lightning Strike (What If This Storm Ends?)" by Snow Patrol