The smoke rose from the mantelpiece and trailed behind the cloak which stirred it as each candle was extinguished. It created an eerie atmosphere as the smokey mist gathered in the hallway, becoming a barrier between Carmilla and the staircase.

She was backed against the door, only to be thrown forward as it was opened by her mother. For a moment, her mother was still as she looked out upon the street before their house. Then, she suddenly took Carmilla by hood of her jacket and threw her out of the house. Carmilla fell to the ground on her knees, cursing at the impact, dropping her head so her dark hair fell across her face to conceal her features.

She heard her mother shouting at her from the doorway, and she raised her head and eyes, which caught a figure across the street. Gazing over at her through her hair for a moment, she rose from the ground and turned back to her mother. She almost stumbled back down again when her mother threw a bag in her direction; it struck her in the stomach and pushed her back slightly, and she caught it before it fell to the ground.

Her mother began to shout again. 'After all I have done for you, to be repaid like this! You are a wretched, wicked daughter, and you are not to step foot in this house again!' She took a step back into the house, a hand upon the door ready to slam it shut, but she turned back and said, in a quieter, but in no way kinder tone, 'Why couldn't you have been like your brother?'

The door was closed loudly, startling Carmilla, and the figure across the street. For a moment she stood like a statue staring at the front door, like she had been physically stunned by her mother's words. When she finally dropped her eyes to her bag before slinging it across her shoulder, she turned from the house without a single look back and walked through the gate and across the road.

She neared the stranger, who had stopped in her tracks to witness the spectacle. She watched Carmilla still as she came closer into view, her face resembling an emerging thunder storm, and her knuckles whitening at the grip she had on the strap of her bag.

With only a glance, maintaining her expression of pure, unrepentant vehemence, Carmilla made to pass by the stranger in silence. But the stranger spoke up.

'Are you ok?'

Carmilla kept her face down and mumbled a quick, 'Fine,' before setting of down the street at an accelerated pace, distancing herself from the house and her mother as quickly as possible. Only when she reached a turning did she allow herself to glance back, first turning her eyes to her house, which easily trumped every other building on the street, then to the girl she had passed, who had now continued walking in the opposite direction, before turning the corner and disappearing down the street.

'You all right, kiddo?'

Laura looked up from her homework and met her father's smile with a sad, distant one. She twisted her mouth to the side and shrugged, 'I guess.'

Her father put down his oven gloves and sat opposite her at the kitchen table. 'You want to talk about what's on your mind?' he asked kindly.

When Laura thought about what was on her mind, she knew it was silly to think so much into it, but it had been sitting in her thoughts like an itch that she couldn't scratch and had been there since she had witnessed the occurrence.

'I saw a girl getting kicked out by her mom on my way home from school,' she answered sadly. 'I guess it just shocked me a bit.'

Her father smiled, a knowing smile he often gave his daughter. He had been witness to his daughter growing up and developing the gradual kind-hearted nature she now possessed. It was only inevitable; Laura's mother had always been the most compassionate woman he had known in his lifetime, and now that trait belonged to Laura.

But his smile spoke more than recognition, for he knew how such a nature could have not only have positive outcomes, but unfortunately negative ones. There was nothing he would not to do shield his daughter from the harm such a kindly trait could effect.

Laura smiled at his momentary silence and rolled her eyes. 'I know what you're thinking, dad. I only asked her if she was ok, I didn't invite her to stay here or anything.'

Her father laughed at this. 'I wouldn't put it passed you, sweetie.'

Laura shrugged. 'I just feel sorry for her, is all. I hate to think of her out on the streets with nowhere to sleep.'

'It happens to a lot of people, Laura,' her father replied, matching her expression. 'Of course we have sympathy, but we can't help everyone.'

Laura nodded slowly, agreeing with his statement, but feeling something within her that wanted to reject his words. Not because he was unjust, but because she wished it wasn't true.

'I hope she found somewhere to stay,' she said, shrugging. 'Or that she's safe wherever she is.'

Her father smiled at her fondly. 'You're too nice for your own good, sweetie.'

'One day it will come in handy, right?'

He leant over to kiss her forehead, then picked up the oven gloves to take something out the oven.

Although she tried to conceal it, Laura spent the rest of the evening thinking of the girl who had been thrown out. She hadn't seemed like the sort of person who sought sympathy, but that didn't stop Laura from feeling it.

'See you tomorrow!'

Laura waved across to Danny as she, Perry and LaFontaine left the school building, heading across the grounds towards the gates.

'So,' said LaFontaine, 'You coming over after school, L?'

Laura glanced across at them, pulling the straps of her backpack over her shoulders. 'What's the plan?'

'Movie, popcorn, pjs,' LaFontaine said.

'And discussing the homework due in next week,' Perry added.

LaFontaine raised their eyebrows. 'Seriously?'

'Fine. I suppose that can wait until another night,' Perry sighed.

'Sounds cool, but I have to grab my pyjamas from home before we go,' Laura smiled.

The three of them made their way through the gates and turned right in the direction of Laura's house, only something caught her eye and she turned her attention to it. A dark figure slumped against the gates gazing through at the entrance to the school. It was the girl she had seen the day before, only her hair was a little dishevelled, like she had slept rough. Her bag was pulled up over her shoulder, and she pulled it tighter as she set off towards the entrance of the gates as someone emerged.

Laura heard vaguely through the mumbled chatter of students, 'Will...walk away...tell mother...I've changed my...' The girl's voice became progressively louder and clear as she neared the spot on which Laura stood.

'Will, don't walk away from me. I don't want to do this anymore. Tell mother...' The boy she spoke to - Will - seemed to pay her no attention and walked through the gates and passed Laura, head bowed and a slight, almost indiscernible, smile creeping across his pale face.

He, like the girl, was dressed in black, only he was not wearing a coat or jacket, only a shirt, jeans and vans. The girl, Laura noticed, wore boots, jeans and a jacket that looked relatively warm. At least, she thought, that was something if she was sleeping rough.

The girl followed Will further out of the gate, prodding him in the arm in frustration and raising her voice, turning her eyes to the glances she attracted, then lowering it again, and seemed to speak to Will in a lower voice. His smile was more visible now, and chilled Laura rather. Whoever he was to the girl, whatever she was saying to him, her frustration at his negligence seemed to entertain him.

Finally the girl gave up and held back as he walked away from her. She glared at him as he turned back briefly, wiggling his fingers at her and chuckling to himself, his head lowered and his eyes in shadow, then he walked on.

Laura jumped when she felt a hand clamp on her shoulder, and turned to LaFontaine.

'What are you looking at?' they asked. 'We only just realised you weren't behind us.'

'Oh...it was...' Laura turned back, but Will nor the girl was anywhere to be seen. 'Nothing,' she told LaFontaine, offering a smile and a shrug. 'Must have spaced out.'

LaFontaine gave her a knowing look and turned back to Perry. 'Come on,' they called over their shoulder. 'We need to pick up your stuff quickly if we're going to fit in all four Underworld movies tonight!'

'Do you think that is an entirely sensible idea on a school night, LaFontaine?' Perry raised her brow.

LaFontaine shrugged. 'The entire run is only, like, under 7 hours. We can easily fit it in, if we hurry up.' They cast another glance over their shoulder at Laura, who seemed to have become distracted again by 'nothing'.

'Sorry!' Laura called, hurrying after them. 'Coming!' As she reached her friends' side, she turned to LaFontaine and furrowed her brow. 'What is Underworld about, anyway?'

LaFontaine smirked. 'Vampires vs. werewolves. You're going to love it!'

Much to the disapproval of her father, Laura arrived home at passed 11pm and, after a mild scalding, which consisted of him giving her a lecture about teenagers needing sleep for their brains to work properly, and the dangers of walking home alone in the dark ('I don't care if LaFontaine only lives ten minutes away!) went up to her room to get ready for bed.

Once she was ready and in her pyjamas (when she thought about it, there was no point to her changing out of them to walk home) she put her phone on charge across the room by her window and set her alarm, before leaning to close her curtains. Only she paused, hands clasped around the material and gaze fixed upon the street below.

A figure walked below her window, though it was now passed 12am, with a black bag across her shoulder and her hands in her pockets. Her head was lowered and her fringe fell across her face.

This, Laura thought, was either a remarkable coincidence, or there was something entirely suspicious about the girl passing below her window, who had been the same girl Laura's path had crossed with twice before in the last day. Or, the girl was a different passer by and Laura needed her eyes tested, which seemed the most unlikely option of the three. Especially, Laura noted, since the girls eyes almost instinctively lifted to her bedroom window only a few seconds after Laura spotted her, and the girl slowed her step.

Her expression remained apathetic as she gazed up at Laura, with her hands upon the curtains and her head inclined in curiosity. Only one eye was visible to Laura, as the other was tucked away behind the girl's dark hair that cast a shadow over her face, but that did not lesson the intensity of the gaze she held.

Laura knew not what to do and stood like a rabbit caught in headlights. Without thinking about the action, she plucked her hand from the curtain and waved down at the girl, before stilling her hand and raising her brow.

If Laura's gaze had not been as unblinking as that of the girl, she would have missed the small nod the girl gave her before she picked up her pace and walked out of sight.

At the window, hand suspended in air, Laura remained a moment as she stared into the blackness out her window, then slowly pulled closed her curtains and crossed the room to slip into bed.

It took her a good half hour to get to sleep as she could not convince her mind to put her thoughts to rest, and they buzzed about in her head like fireflies. She wondered where the girl was going, why it seemed like she turned up everywhere Laura happened to be at a time, recalled what her father had said, what she had seen the day before, what she had heard of the words the girl had spoken to the boy, Will. But one thought, brighter and louder than the rest, attracted her attention more than the rest.

The thought was of the recollection of the girl's face, in particular, of the nod she had given, and what it had meant. But most of all, though she had never seen the girl in her life before the previous day, why, she thought and thought and thought, could she picture in almost perfect detail the features and expression of that face better than any of her friends', who she had known for years, and even her father's, who had been the first face she had gazed upon when she was born?

It was as though the girl's image was printed indelibly in her thoughts; her eyes and their gaze, her hair falling across her brow, that nod.

She didn't know why any of it was so important to her, but it was out of her control. Her thoughts buzzed around in her head until she fell to sleep and turned and tossed in her bed as she dreamt about the poor girl, and about some dark figure, like a cat or a lizard, beside her bed. Protecting her, or hunting her? She knew not. And whether it made her feel safe from her dreams or threatened, she knew not. All she knew was, when she woke with a start in the morning at the sound of her alarm, the figure was gone and left no evidence of ever having been real.

After having breakfast with her dad and getting ready for school, she packed her bag and set off. The part of her mind that hoped she would run into the girl again could not be suppressed and it tugged at her thoughts as she walked, almost proving the cause of a few too many collisions with passers by.

Everything that told her she wouldn't by chance - or even purposefully as she cast a lasting glance towards the house outside of which she had first seen the girl - meet with the girl again was shrugged away, especially if every previous time had been purely coincidental. Her head told her she would, then it was telling her a lot of other contradicting things that she didn't understand.

But, chance was in her favour and she spotted the dark figure of the girl by the school gates. Laura nodded to herself as she walked - yes, it was definitely a coincidence, she was obviously waiting for the boy, Will, as she had the day before.

Laura considered walking passed her through the gates without a word to wait for her friends, but she had arrived rather early and she knew LaFontaine and Perry would be at least another twenty minutes. And her curiosity, if that's what she wanted to call it, got the better of her.

The girl did not see Laura approach as she had her eyes fixed on the street, scanning the people who came, with her back to Laura. She jumped a little when she felt a tap on the shoulder, and turned slowly.

Laura offered a smile. 'Um, hey,' she said, raising her hand and waving it once.

The girl's expression remained as indifferent as the image she had seen in her dream, but then she raised her brow, then frowned.

'So, um, you probably don't remember,' Laura began, slowly dropping her hand to her side and pulling at her coat. 'I saw you the other day, um, with your mom and, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help but notice she kind of...well, I saw you again yesterday, twice, in fact, and now you're here again...' As she spoke, Laura had unconsciously raised her hands to express her words. '...and it kind of looks like you don't really have anywhere to stay...'

The girl raised her brow again. 'You going to invite me to stay at yours?'

'Oh! No...I mean...sorry. Um, I don't really know you, at all, and...I don't really know why I'm talking to you right now, I just thought there was something a little odd about us bumping into each other four times in the past two days.'

'Mm, odd.'

'But, I guess you're probably here to talk to that boy, um, Will...I kind of heard you talking to yesterday.'

'You seem to be doing that a lot for someone who doesn't eavesdrop,' the girl sighed.

'Right,' Laura looked sheepishly at her feet. 'Sorry about that.' She fell silent, and the girl folded her arms.

'Was there something you wanted?' she asked, as though the conversation were exhausting her.

'Oh,' Laura raised her head. 'Yeah, sorry. I just kind of walked up to you and started a conversation, huh.'

Carmilla sighed. 'Do you always talk this much?'

Laura smiled. 'I guess I do. But, well the thing is...I feel like I know you, but I've never seen you before, so I thought that must have some significance, you know?'

'Oh, so we must be solemates or something.'

'What? Oh, I didn't mean...' Laura felt her cheeks pinking.

'You embarrass so easily, buttercup.'

'Ok, I think I should probably go...' Laura lowered her head to hide her face from the girl and turned to leave.

'It's Carmilla,' the girl called after her.

Laura turned back. 'I'm sorry?'

'I know you wanted to ask.'

'Right.'

Before Laura could even attempt to offer her own name to - Carmilla, she turned and began to saunter away, calling over her shoulder, 'See you around, cutie.'

Laura watched Carmilla until she was distracted by the call of her name.

'Hey, L?'

Not only did this attract Laura's attention, but it caused Carmilla to turn back briefly, though Laura did not see as she had already turned to greet LaFontaine and Perry.

'Hey! You're early for once.'

LaFontaine pointed in Carmilla's direction before she turned the corner. 'Were you just talking to her?'

Laura looked back, but just missed Carmilla. 'Um...who?'

'That girl in the leather pants.'

'Um...no, she just...I dropped something and she picked it up for me and I said thanks,' Laura shrugged.

'Oh.' LaFontaine matched her shrug. ' Ok. So, how was your dad when you got back yesterday?'

'He was pissed,' Laura chuckled. 'Big time. What about your parents, Perr?'

Perry smiled. 'I stayed over at LaFontaine's last night.'

'Oh yeah, as usual,' Laura smiled. 'I'm pretty sure, like, everyone we know assumes you two are married or something.'

LaFontaine suppressed a laugh at that, and Perry blushed and averted her eyes. 'Well,' said LaFontaine, 'we sort of are.'

'Anyway,' Perry cut in. 'We should be getting inside.'

LaFontaine frowned, 'The doors aren't open yet, Perr.'

'Well, we should be doing...something other than discussing...this,' she wiggled her hands. 'Come on.' She motioned her hand as she made her way through the gates, and LaFontaine followed.

Laura smiled to herself, shaking her head and muttering under her breath, 'Totally married,' before following her friends through the gates, sparing one last glance in the direction Carmilla had disappeared.

So, she thought, I guess she wasn't here to see that Will guy.