Silas was burning.
Flames were everywhere, turning the sky as bright as day as they raged across the campus. It was a scene that Borsch would have been proud of. The clock tower's eight faces had ground to a halt, hands consumed by the blaze and their faces scorched to ash. Bodies littered the quad. The water in the fountain ran red and all its statues had vanished, stretching long-unused limbs and joining the battle that raged. The crash of roofs collapsing blended with the screams of the dying and the roar of battle, coming together to create a perfect symphony of chaos.
One of the Dean's faceless soldiers crashed to the ground inches away from Laura, but she didn't so much as glance at him, too focused on the body lying in front of her to move. Her gaze made the full circuit once more, moving from combat boots up leather-clad legs, passing the full chest in its inappropriate-for-battle corset to halt on the pale face resting comfortably in her lap. Dark hair spilled gracefully in every direction, framing the preternaturally beautiful face and the serene expression it wore. Laura would think she was asleep, if they weren't in the middle of what looked like nothing so much as hell.
"Laura!" She stared down at the- at Carmilla, lying there so still in her lap. How could she be so still? Sure, she had been quiet before, curled up on her bed with a book and a pilfered pillow, but never like this. "Laura!" This was the kind of still that you only saw on the dead. But that was okay, right? Carmilla had been kind of dead before. She even admitted it herself – she had been murdered in 1698. Murdered meant dead, but she had spent centuries after her death walking around, so that meant she could walk around again, didn't it?
"Laura!" A hand landed on her shoulder and shook. Hard. Her neck snapped forward, effectively jolting her out of her trance. LaFontaine was standing in front of her, face set in the kind of scowl that Laura had previously only associated with drunk Zetas being a bit too persistent with Perry. "Dude, you need to get it together, this is not the time or place to go into shock." Laura took a breath and looked around, steeling herself for whatever had developed since Carmilla had- had fallen.
It was a nightmare. And Laura knew a thing or two about nightmares.
The Dean's troops – literally faceless, every one was exactly the same as the last, down to the last mouth hole – had been driven back past the art building, but had dug their heels in and entrenched themselves in the pottery pits. The Summer Society had managed to rally every frat on campus, most of the combat clubs, and Legion of the Moon – which, impressive, those guys didn't play well with anyone – and were spread out across the entirety of the quad, trying to contain the monsters that had emerged when the Dean had ripped a hole in reality.
From what Laura could tell, the students were winning. The Legion had taken up a position in the clock tower, smoothly moving to the dining hall when the tower caught fire, and was raining a storm of freakishly-accurate arrows on the Dean's entrenched soldiers. The Summer Society had taken point on monster wrangling, with the girls fighting in teams of three and sweeping through the hellbeasts with efficiency. She really had to remember to ask Danny exactly what the Society did the next time she saw her.
In a moment of extremely good timing, Laura's gaze caught red hair flashing in the melee. Danny had reapplied the warpaint Laura had seen her wearing during the Zeta riots, but this time it had been combined with full combat gear and two short swords. Laura watched as Danny dodged a claw, decapitated a dog-bear-python, and spun to keep one of her partners from getting gored in the back. Midspin Laura saw the Dean appear from thin air behind her, started to open her mouth to shout a warning that would come far too late, and then closed it again when both of Danny's blades found a home in the Dean's throat. The woman collapsed in a heap, and her head bounced once before the third Society girl impaled it with a flaming spear. The trio of warriors clustered around the corpse for a moment before separating, and Danny looked up and waved at Laura over the bonfire the Dean had become.
The redhead sprinted across the battlefield, ducking a screaming javelin on the way. She made her way straight to Laura, but her smile died as soon as she saw Carmilla. She collapsed to her knees and reached out a hand, hesitating for a moment before gently grasping one of the vampire's hands. "Laura, what happened?" After a second of silence, she looked up at LaFontaine. "How did this happen?"
LaFontaine opened her mouth, closed it, shook her head, and tried again. "It was- She- She was incredible. After we confronted the Dean, and she put the university on lockdown, Laura and I got separated from her. I'm not sure exactly what happened then, but after about ten minutes, we managed to meet up with a few Zetas. Thanks, by the way, for getting the word out about what was happening. This could have been so much worse if you hadn't." Danny nodded, her gaze drawn from where it had landed once more on Carmilla. The thought that it could have been worse than it already was was terrifying. This was so far beyond what she could have ever imagined as it was, and she was trained for situations like this one.
A nod to LaFontaine got the story going again. "The Zetas took us to their main base – or at least that was the plan. We got about halfway there before the martial-law sirens went off and the Dean's troops appeared. I'd love to know how they do that, actually. I don't think human atoms can- sorry." Danny had glared, the expression dark and angry. "As I was saying, the troops. They scared the shit out of us. We ran. Every time we tried to go a different way, more would show up. It didn't take us long to realize that they were herding us, but we didn't have a choice. We had to go where they wanted us. We made it to the fountain all right, no real issues there. I had to stab a mutant lizard in the eye when it grabbed Laura, and she decapitated a couple of flaming wolves, but other than that, it went well. When we got here, though, everything went to shit." She sighed, dropping her head.
"The Dean was waiting for us. She knew how important Laura was to Carmilla and she was more than willing to use it. I'm pretty sure her original plan was just to eviscerate Laura and string her up by her internal organs for Carmilla to see, but right before she got her, Carmilla showed up. She literally poofed in, with that nifty smoke trick, and managed to block the Dean's axe… uh, thing. That got the Dean majorly pissed, and the two of them started fighting. I've never seen anything like it, I'm actually not sure I saw most of it because they were moving so freaking fast, but after a few seconds the Dean just stops, pulls back, and tells Carmilla in this frickin' terrifying voice, 'You've made your bed, now lie in it. I hope she dreams of you.' She starts chanting, like twelve of those faceless creeps keep Carmilla from getting to her, and this weird-ass purple, like, energy starts gathering around her hands. Next thing I know Carmilla's in front of Laura and the purple shit hits her. She didn't go down right away, she kept the Dean away from us long enough for reinforcements to save our asses, but afterwards…" A shudder passed through her. Laura sobbed once, involuntarily, before stiffening her spine and chasing every hint of emotion from her face.
Danny closed her eyes, dropping her forehead down to touch the hand she still held. She didn't really need LaFontaine to continue. She could pretty much guess what had happened from there. The scientist kept going anyway, the words spilling from her seemingly of their own volition. "She just… it was like the life was draining out of her. I have no idea what the fuck that… that woman did to her, but it was not motherly. Not motherly at all." She hesitated, glancing at Laura, who had closed her eyes and bent her face away. Danny got the message. Something more had happened, but LaFontaine wasn't sure if it was her place to tell it. The redhead understood. Some things were just too personal to share, even if they took place in the middle of a raging battlefield.
She clutched the limp hand tighter, dropping a kiss on it before she gently placed it back on the vampire's chest and stood. It was impossible, she knew, but she would swear that she felt decades older than she had just minutes before. After the whole debacle with Will and the assault and the neckbiting it had taken time and some seriously Machiavellian plotting on Carmilla's part for her to get over her old grudges and trust the vampire. It had happened, though, slowly and painfully it had happened, and after a long period of tentative truce she had started to care for the other girl. They had both shared things, pasts and secrets and words never before uttered.
It had been a long and arduous process, but one that neither of them would have done differently, and one that came with a third person as well. It had been utterly obvious to anyone who cared to look how much both Danny and Carmilla adored Laura, and she had cared for them in turn. Honestly, the triad aspect had been the easiest part of their relationship, all slotting together like missing pieces of a puzzle, puzzle pieces edged in the strongest of glue.
Everything had just unraveled so fast. Will had caught Laura and Carmilla together, when Danny was in class, and from there he had run straight to the Dean. Five hours later, they had been standing in front of the Dean. Six hours later, the campus had devolved into a war ground. Seven hours later the campus burned and Carmilla fell. It had been seven hours and – Danny glanced at her watch – forty-nine minutes since Danny had been with the both of them, curled up in a blissful ball in Laura and Carmilla's room. They hadn't had sex, hadn't really even talked, just basked in the contentment they all seemed to radiate when they were together. In less than eight hours she had lost one of her People.
Danny narrowed her eyes. No. She would not allow this. Abruptly, she bent and scooped the vampire's body into her arms. No. There was a way. There was always a way. All she had to do was find it. NO. "She came back once. She can do it again." She walked away, carrying Carmilla in a macabre wedding pose. She heard Laura and LaFontaine scrambling behind her, questions spilling from their lips, but ignored them and sped up her pace. She didn't know if there was a time limit for what she had in mind, but she had no intention of finding out.
She crossed campus at a walk that morphed into a flat run without her noticing. Thankfully, the majority of the fighting had died with the Dean, the energy animating the faceless soldiers dissipating upon her death. Sprinting past the freshman dorms, she slowed as she approached the one building on campus that had been utterly untouched by the storm of chaos that surrounded it.
"The library is not subject to the petty squabbles of mortals and their ilk. It has stood for eons immemorial and will stand for eternities to come. The library is not a construct of humanity, but of life itself, and as such is bound by different rules than dominate this plane of existence." Danny smiled darkly, the words coming to her easily. It had been a long time since she had read her student handbook, but some things just stuck with a girl.
Laura skidded to a stop next to her, chest heaving as she panted for breath. "What- What the hell, Danny? What the fu-"
"I can save her." Danny's words stopped the shorter girl's gathering tirade in its tracks. The redhead smiled, genuinely this time. "I know how to save her."
Laura gaped at her, lost for words. Danny gestured vaguely at the building with her head, ever mindful of the precious weight in her arms. Laura huffed and crossed her arms, the gesture comforting in its familiarity. "I'm gonna need a bit more info than that, you know. Not everyone in this freaking school can read minds."
Danny laughed. "Who do we know who regularly spend their time screwing with otherworldly forces?"
"Uh…" Laura looked slightly lost.
Danny took pity on her and gave her a hint. "They're weird as hell and look about as likely to willingly take part in a fight as, well, you."
Laura's eyes widened to a point that Danny wouldn't have thought possible. "You can't be serious." The redhead grinned and nodded. "The Alchemy Club? Seriously? You want to try to get the Alchemy Club to resurrect our dead, vampire girlfriend?" Her arms uncrossed, coming up to wave violently around her. "That sounds like the worst idea ever, Danny!"
Sighing, Danny took a moment to wipe any and all traces of mirth off her face before replying. "I know it's not the best plan, Laura, but honestly? What other option is there? I can only think of one, and it involves a funeral." Her girlfriend's eyes widened again before filling with tears. "That is not an option I'm willing to consider, let alone accept, not until it is the last and only one available. And I mean only. I will take her to the witch-doctors in the deep Sahara before I allow her to be buried again."
Laura brought a hand to her face, scrubbing over it thoroughly, before straightening up again. There was a new light in her eyes, one that Danny knew meant that she had taken on a new challenge. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's show these mouth-breathing chess club rejects some real magic."
Smirking, Danny managed to pull Laura to her for a kiss before both girls turned to the building. "By the way, where's LaFontaine?"
Laura waved the question off. "Oh, she ran into Perry. No force in heaven or earth was gonna get her moving again." Danny shrugged, nodding. It was about what she had expected.
In unison they marched up the marble stairs and threw open the doors. Something skittered in the distance, but they focused on the cowering students who were huddled right in front of them. Danny gently laid Carmilla on one of the circulation desks before drawing both her swords. Beside her Laura had produced a dagger that looked wickedly sharp.
Laura glanced at her girlfriend questioningly. Danny gave a grand gesture at the club, deferring the talking to Laura. The shorter girl turned back to them and smirked, the expression oddly reminiscent of their vampire. "Buckle up, creampuffs. It's gonna be a long night."
The doors slammed shut.
Danny poked her head out of the library doors, looking around quickly before darting down the steps. She seized the limp body of one of the Dean's soldiers and dragged it inside, letting the doors close again behind her.
Inside, pale fingers twitched. Brown eyes fluttered open slowly, and a single white fang could be seen through parted lips.
The vampire stirred, head turning weakly in search of something. A scent was coming from… from somewhere. The scent was delicious. She needed that scent.
Suddenly a body landed next to her with a thud, a new scent coming off it that distracted her from the other. She fell on the body, ripping and tearing at the column of the throat to get at the scent. She drank deeply, blood pouring from the jagged hole and into and over and around her, quenching a thirst that she hadn't even noticed she had.
The body ran dry, and the vampire pulled back, thirst muted for the moment. She looked up, hunched over the body of her meal defensively, and surveyed her surroundings for threats. There was a group of people huddled in the corner, reeking of fear and arcane herbs. She wrinkled her nose. They seemed… She growled. There was a word for them, but she couldn't remember it, and she had more pressing issues. Like that scent.
Turning her head, she took in the rest of the room. Books, more books, a few weapons, and- wait. Two girls, standing tall and proud, neither giving of the slightest hint of fear, but both emitting that incredible scent. Redhead and brunette, what looked to be a foot of difference between them, and both unutterably beautiful.
The vampire stood slowly – or, slowly for her. From the slight stutter in the smaller girl's heartbeat, she wasn't quite in sync with human motions yet. She glided towards them, coming to a stop with mere inches between them. Despite the encroachment into their personal space, neither girl moved, and so the vampire leaned forward slowly, nuzzling her face into the space between their two necks. Once there the scent surrounded her utterly, washing over her, and it brought with her two names. Two names that were so very important, and those two names were enough for the vampire to remember herself.
The vampire stood straight, and Carmilla took Laura's and Danny's hands into her own.
"Hello again."