Hey, my first Carmilla fic! Features a sort of mid 1900's feel but the timeline will be revealed a bit later if I continue.
Tell me what you think! If I decide to continue this updates will be pretty slow due to my procrastination.
Rating may change.
Oh and features a heavy Laura/Danny relationship at first, but Carmilla will eventually join the mix.
My father had gone out this morning, ruffling my hair affectionately like I was still child and assuring me he'd be back for tea. I'd woken to unusual British sunlight, as if the day was excited as me.
My father's personal guard had recently left his service and he'd made plans to get a new one. I was always excited when father hired new staff, he was very protective over me and the people he brought home to our estate were normally the only people I'd see and interact with. I'd already planned today in great detail, I'd already woken up , now I'd go to the kitchen and get a biscuit and then write to the newspaper editor, Ms. Lawrence.
My father had betrothed me to her from the time I could walk. The Lawrence family was wealthy and owned a slightly smaller estate next to ours. Danny decided to become a newspaper editor instead of living solely on her family's wealth, a trait I admired greatly, after all Mrs. and Mr. Lawrence are stern and wholly traditional and by extension, unpleasant, people.
After my letter to Danny, I'd meet my father's personal footman in the courtyard in the back garden. Kirsch was my favourite of all my father's servants. He was a large man, stocky, someone I'd normally expect to be in our army, fighting vampires and other dangerous creatures. But he was generally gentle and always refused to tell me why he wouldn't fight the vampire forces.
Vampires had emerged some time ago and all but eradicated the human race. Wars then broke out against Vampire nations for human supplies and while the great vampire armies were seperated the humans started a rebellion, pushing the vampires out of some major cities in Europe and America. The rebellions are still waging, but humans are slowly starting to gain the upper hand and rebuild.
I head down the large spiralling stairs of our manor and across the dining hall, lined this month with red velvet rugs and curtains. Chatter can be heard from within the servant's door to the kitchen and I smile when I walk in, raising my hand at them before they jump up from their breakfast in respect.
"Good morning M'lady, I've left your biscuits on the counter in the hall." One firey haired girl chimes cheerfully, her tight red curls bouncing as her head spun to me.
"Thank you Perry, I've been craving them all week!" I exclaim at the beaming girl excitedly, to be met with chuckles from around the table as the servants laugh at Perry's sudden bashful look.
"M'lady, " another servant addresses me and I look at him, I distinctly remember him as Will and I don't like him very much, he addresses the other servants with an air of superiority and tries to cause copious amounts of drama that usually leaves my father with a stressed frown and tense posture. "Do you know much of the guard we are to receive today?" He asks.
"I do not. Only that he is highly capable if father thinks he can replace Zeta. I'm sure he'll be welcomed to the estate." I look at the table of servants pointedly, but I know there will be no problems with unwelcoming attitudes with an exception of maybe Will. I step into the servant's hallway briefly and pick the parcel of biscuits up from the hallway table. While I clutch them to my chest I thank Perry one last time and head back into the main manor.
After a grand scale back up the staircase I head into my personal study, unwrapping my biscuits and putting them into a jar on my desk, moving the scattered papers that are strewn haphazardly around the wooden surface into a neat pile. I sit at my desk for what seems like ages, pondering what contents Danny's letter should have while nibbling quietly on a chocolate chip biscuit.
I start by writing her name, I'm careful about getting this simple action just right so it takes me a full minute. Afterwards, I decide that my script is imperfect and I crumple the page, flicking it to the corner off my desk with a small huff of frustration. I have to start again a full seven times before I'm happy that I've written the simple five-letter word perfectly, and by then, haphazard paper balls have been spread across my haphazard desk.
'Danny,'
The word just sits there for a moment before I decide what to write next.
'I apologise for my deleyed response to your last letter, exciting events are transpiring on the estate. As you know, father's last guard had to step out after he was injured by a vampire last week and Father's decided on a replacement! He's bringing him to the estate as I write this letter, I hope he's pleasant.
Thank you for your gift, I received it shortly after your last letter love the pillow, and yellow really is my favourite colour! I find myself spending far too many hours in bed because I cannot bear to part with its comfort. Father is quite vexed with my sudden isolation but finds it amusing such a thing as a simple yellow pillow can evoke such serenity from me.
I read your last article on vampire defence for the ordinary person and I found it both informative and amusing. I'm quite sure only you can make slaughtering vampires sound like so much fun Danny Lawrence. How is the town after last week's attack? And how is your estate? Is Lawrence house still standing? I know you're probably worrying about me, but vampires never make it to Hollis estate, I'm quite alright.
My father's been pestering to invite you to dinner again, he's quite taken with you and talks of our marriage more often than I! You're welcome to dinner here whenever you have the time, I'll be eagerly waiting until then to see you again.
Please reply when you can, but do not feel under pressure to do so, I know you're quite a busy woman.
Yours sincerely,
Laura.'
I nod at the letter in silent approval of the work, I'd always felt the need to write perfectly around Danny. She'd never pressure me to try too hard and would never dream of criticising my writing or language skills, she assures me I could write like a child and she wouldn't love my letters any less. I drift into a daydream about the girl, the last I saw here, she'd helped my father in town and had come to the estate for dinner per request of him. We spent the night skirting the barriers of Hollis estate with our hands interlinked sinfully, Zeta trailing protectively behind us.
Danny had pulled me close on a hill near the edge of the estate and we watched the sky bathe in pinks and oranges as the sun set. She had kissed my cheek and brought me home safely and, like the perfect gentlewoman Danny is, bid me and my father goodnight respectfully before heading back to her own estate. I jerk out of my trance when the figure of my father's car came into view, the thin wheels sputtering over the stones of our drive. When i note the sun i see it risen high into the unnaturally clear sky. I must have writing my letter for quite some time. I try in vain to see the figures in the vehicle more clearly as it pulls to a stop four stories below my window.
When it's made apparent that I would not be able to see either my father or the new guard from my perch at my desk, I stand and quickly make my way out of my study, gently pulling my baby blue summer dress away from my feet to prevent myself tripping. My shoes make a clicking sound as I hurry down the stairs again, to meet my father and the new guard before they both need to go and do their duties.
Voices murmur up from the entrance hall, my father's gruff and rough voice is easily distinguishable and contrasted heavily by a much softer, distinctively feminine voice. The thought that he brought Danny home briefly flitted through my head but is quickly disputed. I know Danny's voice and this one was too sultry to be hers. My steps quicken as my curiosity peaks, who is this unfamiliar woman?
I stop at the base of the steps, my chest heaving as I take in the room, my capability to breath is momentarily impaired by the woman I see. I catch her hair first, loose cascading waves of coal black tresses fall well into her slim waist, her eyes are next, locking onto my own and burning me with their dark intensity. Every nerve in my body screamed at me to run but every nerve convinced me to stay.
It's not until the harsh sound of chains yanking and her eyes breaking contact in sharp pain that I see the iron collar around her neck and the chain linked to it wrapped around my father's clenched fist. Her hands shoot up to her collar and she pulls at the unforgiving metal with a hiss sliding from her lips. And only then does it register in my head that she's not human, her fangs are bared at my father as her face crumples in discomfort.
"Vampire!" I squeak, my father brought a vampire into the manor! She jerked towards the sound of my voice almost instantly and I jump back onto the bottom step in fear.
"Ah yes, a witch spellbound her to serve humans, she's a prisoner of war and got a verdict kinder than execution. Do not fret, she is bound to serve and protect you and cannot harm you without your consent. As long as her collar stays on, she's incapable of attacking, and what better guard against vampires than another vampire?" My father explains, reasons, as he jerks her chain again, drawing another hiss from her.
"Me?" I squeak again, making her pull towards me again painfully, her eyes searches for mine again and I am transfixed once more in their depths, I get lost in her dark orbs for several seconds before she breaks contact and looks at my father.
"Yes, I bound her to you and it will physically damage her to be away from you now that she's seen you. You could not possibly be safer with a spelled vampire serving you." He pulls her chain taut and directs her to look at me roughly. "Do you see that girl? She is who you've been bound to, if she is hurt, you are too." He threatens her firmly as I start approaching them slowly.
"No father, do not harm her, she hurts already." I try, uncomfortable with her pain. I can't bear to see the pain in her features, if she's to be my guard, I want to treat her gently, I'd never want another person hurt, so why is this vampire any different? 'She's probably killed so many people herself to feed herself, she's a murderer. That's what makes her so different.' I think and swallow thickly at her blatant beauty, knowing it's only to attract her prey. He releases the chain, pulling the link to her collar off and essentially letting her free to move. Fear spikes me again before she faces me with a sneer and her razor sharp fangs bared. I'm determined not to let her bad circumstances and hostile attitude distract me from the fact she's hurt, and probably terrified. "What is your name?" I ask politely, under my father's protective gaze. When she does not speak I try again. "I'm Laura." I say softly, trying to coax her name out of her. She seemed in no hurry to tell me her name until my father spat a harsh 'tell her!' At the dark haired girl.
"I am Carmilla.." she grunts in an impossibly husky voice, before a smirk snakes across her face, probably at my slack jaw "..my royal poptart."
So this is just a little taste test so to speak to see what the response is like. I may or may not continue depending on the response from you readers! So drop a PM or review :3