1. Checkers

It all started when Laura asked Carmilla if she wanted to play a game with her.

"It depends, what kind of game did you have in mind?" Carmilla, who was sitting idly in her usual chair and skimming through the pages of one of her many philosophy books, replied.

"Well, earlier I was looking around this place and I found a bunch of games on a shelf over there," – she gestured to a dusty shelf in the corner of the room – "so I was thinking maybe we could play one of those?"

"Alright, go find one." Carmilla said, waving her forward. "And preferably nothing with brightly coloured candy villages. After our little encounter with that Christmas witch I have even less of a desire than usual for sweets."

Laura laughed.

"Okay… not Candyland then!"

The game had been one of Laura's favourites when she was younger, but she was inclined to agree with Carmilla on this one. She skimmed through the selection of games until she found one that caught her interest. It was a wooden case marked "Draughts". Laura looked inside curiously, realizing it was in fact a familiar game, which she knew by a different name.

"Oooh! How about checkers?"

Carmilla laughed.

"You really think you can beat me at checkers? That game has been around for ages, cupcake, and so have I."

Laura raised an eyebrow, spurred on by Carmilla's boldness.

"Okay, challenge accepted!" she declared.

Laura went and retrieved the game from the shelf, and placed it on the table. Carmilla opened it up, setting the circular pieces out on the board in front of them.

"So which one will you be the red or the black?"

Laura thought it over for a moment.

"Red." she decided.

"Suit yourself," Carmilla said. "Black is more my colour anyways. And besides, that means I get to go first."

Carmilla made the first move, advancing her piece a space diagonally forward. Laura followed suit, and this procedure went on for several turns.

"Oh what's that?" Carmilla said, looking at the board. "I can take one of your pieces?"

She jumped her piece over Laura's and held it in front of her, a look of satisfaction on her face.

"Seems like I just made the first capture, cutie." She smirked.

Laura stuck out her tongue. She wasn't going to let Carmilla win. Not a chance.

There was one turn remaining, and it was Laura's. Much to Carmilla's astonishment, Laura had proven herself to be a formidable adversary when it came to checkers, making all the right moves and capturing almost all of Carmilla's pieces. Not only that, but she had even managed to king several of her own pieces. Laura went ahead and jumped her stack of checkers over Carmilla's last piece, then scooped it up.

"I win!" she shouted. She pumped her fist in the air victoriously.

Carmilla groaned. She wasn't used to others beating her. But there was no question about it: Laura Hollis had a serious competitive streak. And Carmilla was determined to beat her at something – no matter how long it took.

"How about we try another game, buttercup?" Carmilla offered. "This time, I get to pick."

She strode over to the shelf where Laura had procured the game of checkers from, taking a look through the selection. Finally she found one she knew she had a chance at. Carmilla brought the game she chose over to Laura. Much like the last one it was in a case; however, it was a much fancier case this time, with carved designs on the outside. Laura looked at it for a moment. "Chess? Oh, this is gonna be fun!"