A/N: Hi, guys! Thank you so much for giving my story a chance, it means so much to me! This was inspired by an interview with Natasha and Elise, hope you like it!

P.S.: A special thank you from the bottom of my heart to my dear friend Irene for her continuous and neverending support, and for kindly reviewing this first chapter. Ah, Satan will reward you, my dear :)

Enjoy!

"Are they close?" Laura asked, looking through a bush, squinting.

"I'm right beside you, how am I supposed to know?" replied Carmilla, rolling her eyes.

"Well… You're a vampire, use your… super ears or something."

Carmilla looked at her with an incredulous expression. Laura could be incredibly naïve sometimes. Or maybe it was the damage pop culture had caused. Either way, her anger towards Julie Plec grew exponentially day by day.

She crouched down next to her anyway, growling. "If I tear my leather pants because of this stupid mob, I'll murder everyone, I swear to Satan."

Laura looked away from the bush, perplexed. "'I swear to Satan'?"

"Yeah. So?"

"No one says 'I swear to Satan.'"

"I do. I find him more badass than God, no big deal." Carmilla shrugged while still trying to locate the mob.

Laura opened her mouth and held up her hands. "I'm sorry, are you actually trying to tell me that some hideous creature that was sent to hell like a zillion years ago is better than an omnipotent God that gets to hang out with nice and cool people in heaven?"

Carmilla glanced at her from the corner of her eye, a half smile on her face. "The coolest people rarely make it to heaven, cupcake."

Before Laura could say anything else, Perry spoke.

"I'm sorry to interrupt this beautiful, beautiful moment, but are we actually going to discuss religion with a mob chasing us? Can't we do that later, with a nice cup of hot chocolate, when we're safe?" Her voice was just a soft whisper, something no one was used to, given her usual level of anxiety.

LaFontaine appeared all of a sudden breathing heavily, their face all red. Perry rushed to make sure they were okay, with Carmilla looking at them and raising her eyebrows, expecting an explanation.

"Well?" she demanded impatiently.

"Let her breathe! You were the one who asked her to climb those rocks to look for those men!" Perry said, a little angry. LaFontaine just stood there, clinging to their friend's arm, unable to get any words out.

"Oh, I'm sorry, my fault." Carmilla stood up and dusted off her leather pants. "You're right. Make yourselves comfortable. I'd hate for the villagers to find you too anxious, makes the whole stabbing process rather awkward." She tried to walk away, but Laura quickly grabbed her hand in an attempt to calm her.

"Just… give them a few seconds, okay? This has been a pretty eventful evening for all of us," she said gently, smiling.

"Ugh. Fine," she murmured. "But you better run quickly if I tell you to." She crouched down again.

LaFontaine finally spoke. "I saw men with torches coming from the east. Not many, but we should probably get moving, they're not that far."

"Okay, then," said Carmilla, standing up again. "Let's go."

"Wait, can't we just rest for five minutes? I'm exhausted, if you haven't noticed," complained LaFontaine.

"Sure! Why not!" the vampire said, her patience coming to an end. "Or I could just turn into a cat and take you on my back, while we're at it," she said very sarcastically.

"Would you?" asked LaFontaine excitedly, apparently not catching the vampire's not-so-subtle tone.

Carmilla turned and looked at them fiercely, which made it pretty clear for the young scientist that the question was out of place.

Laura got up and walked quickly towards Carm, knowing she was pretty much the only one that could prevent her from tearing the group apart. Literally. With her teeth and claws.

Perry stayed behind with LaFontaine, helping them keep the pace, which wasn't an easy task.

The group walked silently, trying to get as far from the villagers as possible and find shelter at the same time. They stayed as close to one another as they could to avoid freezing to death – Decembers in Austria were cruel and frosty. And in addition to that, it was technically still the 25th, which made the three humans kind of depressed. They'd never imagined they'd spend Christmas day hiking through the mountains.

"I still can't believe they're going after us on Christmas!" Laura had groaned earlier.

"Yeah… I guess they don't get the BBC here and have no specials to watch," had teased Carmilla, which made Laura giggle for the first time in hours.

After thirty minutes of walking, they reached a vast clearing. The trees around it prevented the wind from rushing wildly in there, and the moonlight shone directly over the place, as if pinpointing a fairytale location. No trees or rocks could be seen there, just a large farm.

"We're safe! We're safe! Go, go, go!" shouted Perry, clapping, eager to sit down and relax for once.

"Let's ask if we can stay the night," said Laura. "Carm, you stay here with LaFontaine. I don't want you to scare them off before we can even speak."

Carmilla just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, feeling like a child who's been deprived of fun.

Laura and Perry walked quickly towards the door and knocked gently three times. When it opened, this gentle woman with a bonnet appeared in front of them.

"Can I help you, sweethearts?" she asked with a smile on her face.

The girls looked at each other, perplexed. Laura broke the ice. "We're terribly sorry to bother you this late, and we know it's Christmas, but we are… um… we were… you know…"

"Hiking," Perry helped her. "We were hiking through the mountains and got lost. I was wondering if maybe you could let us, I don't know, sleep in your barn or something? It will be just for tonight." She tried to sound as nice as possible. Laura just stared at the woman with her cutest face. This was a talent she had mastered lately with Carmilla.

"Oh, don't be silly, of course not!" the woman exclaimed. The girls started to worry they'd just lost their chance of survival, but the woman just smiled more widely. "You're not going to sleep in the barn, you'll freeze! I'll get some beds ready for you."

"Thank you so much, ma'am! You're an angel," Laura squealed.

"Call me Annie," she said. She took a look outside and saw Carmilla and LaFontaine standing there. "And tell your friends to come inside. The more, the merrier, especially on Christmas, right? Watch the step, darlings."

Laura went to fetch her friends while Perry showed herself inside. The part of the farm that made up the house was built of red brick. The walls were tall, without any paint on them, and the wooden floor seemed out of place in comparison. The furniture was made of wood too, and there was not a single electronic device as far as she could see, not even a fridge. The stairs that led to the second floor were creaky and slightly rotted from many years of stepping on them. A big fireplace illuminated the main room, where an old man and a twenty-something-year-old boy were sitting on two couches, snoring loudly.

By the time the four girls were inside, Annie was already back and placing plates of stew on the table.

"Make yourselves at home," she said. "You poor things. It must be freezing outside."

They sat down silently, confused and tired at the same time. Everything seemed a little odd.

"I'll get your beds ready while you fill your stomachs. And don't worry about my husband and son, they won't bother you. They've been sleeping for a while now, too much alcohol."

She laughed and walked towards the stairs, but before she could reach them, Laura spoke. "Thank you again for your hospitality, ma'am. But can I ask why you have your farm in such a remote place? Isn't it a little bit… inconvenient and… lonely?"

Annie paused and said, "Well, because this is an Amish farm, of course."

"You've got to be kidding me," let out Carmilla instantly.