Authors Note:
This story is a sequel to New Beginnings, a story you can find right here on FFN and Ao3. It directly references events from that story
Six Days Ago
Lexi's boots squelched hard on the wet grass as she ran under the night sky. The moisture had soaked through the leather of her shoes and into the thin socks underneath. The sodden socks numbed her feet and she stumbled again and again, getting water on her hands and all over her shirt and pants. Drenched as she was, the cool breeze hit her like a frost, chilling her and causing goose bumps to crop up all over her arms.
She panted out heavy breaths throughout, though she could barely hear them over the oppressive all encompassing noise of croaking frogs and chirping crickets. A couple of times she'd feel one of them on her hands when she fell. Either slimy smooth rubber that slipped away as fast as she felt it or a sickening crunch of tiny body parts that stuck to her palms until she wiped them off on a trouser leg.
It was like the world around her had decided to be a guardian angel of the tough love variety. Doing everything it could to convince her that she should be running in the opposite direction.
Don't go this way, Lexi. Go back home. You won't like what's at the end of this particular midnight run.
She didn't need the world to tell her that though, she could work it out for herself just fine. She hadn't been running as fast as she could because she was being chased or that she needed to get to her destination immediately.
She was running as fast as she could because every second it took her to get to where she was going was one more second to let fear persuade her to stop and turn back.
She kept going. Picking herself up every time she fell and visualising the faces of the friends who needed her when the fear threatened to win out and send her back home, back to a warm bed where nothing had ever hurt her and a mother who would do anything to keep her safe. She thought of them all, but one face, in particular, stuck in her mind. Abigail, she couldn't let anything happen to her. Not without telling her how she really felt. A dark voice in her mind openly questioned whether it might already be too late for that, too late for all of them, she willed it silent and went on.
Finally, she made it to her destination. A small decrepit building of rusty metal surrounded by tall grass and covered in overgrown moss. She found its door in the darkness and kicked it open. The door screeched as it moved, loud enough to hurt her ears as she ventured inside.
Instead of the hard metal she expected, the ground was soft and wet. The moss was growing inside the building as well, covering the ground and the old machinery it housed.
She had been right, this must be the place.
Trying to spin that as a positive and not a terrifying confirmation of being in mortal danger, she squinted into the darkness, looking for a staircase to the building's underground level. It had been on the old blueprints she'd dug up before coming here.
She found them after a few moments and took them, trying as hard as she could to act rather than think.
Things got a great deal worse downstairs. Here there wasn't even a hint of metal such was the growth of vegetation. Water dripped from the wet moss on the ceiling and the ground resembled a miniature swamp complete with a circular pond of dirty water and green lilies.
"Abigail!" Lexi shouted, "Abigail? Anyone?"
If they were here, she couldn't see them and they didn't answer.
But something else did.
Out of the pond, a figure slowly emerged, displacing the water and green lilies. Humanoid in shape and when it emerged fully it stood with a grotesquely hunched back. Its black eyes shone through the darkness, full of menace.
Lexi stood rooted to the spot, fear robbing her of the ability to move or speak. The thing in front of her moved forwards out of the pond, revealing a little more of itself in the low light of the room. Though room didn't seem like the best way to describe where she was now anymore, despite what any old plans said.
Despite its closeness, the darkness robbed her of the sight of its visage. She could see that it was larger than her and that it was wearing an assortment of rags as clothing.
A cricket landed on its shoulder as It made its way to her in a stumbling gait, awkward but not slow.
Lexi tried to will herself to move or failing that, to at least start breathing again. She found that she could do neither.
It reached out a bony hand towards her.
Present Day
Mr Frodo, after his long adventure, had returned to the Shire.
In her mind that was the best way to contextualize how she was feeling right now as Laura relaxed in the familiar surroundings of her childhood home. The wooden table she'd sat at virtually every day of her life before she left for Silas. Complete with the old scratches she'd trace a finger over absentmindedly while eating breakfast and circular coffee mug stains so dug in they might as well have been part of the table from the beginning. The brown, fluffy couch in front an archaic boxy television that should have died a decade ago. The fireplace she'd huddle as near as she'd dare during the winter. So near that once or twice her homework grades had literally gone up in flames.
It wasn't only what she could see, there were sounds too. The chirping of birds that used to swoop dangerously close above her head on the way to school, barking dogs that always wagged their tails at her happily when she walked past. Even Mr Taylor's rusty lawnmower across the street sounded exactly how she remembered it.
It was like her father's home was a picture she'd left when she travelled to Silas, completely unchanged sans a slight fading of the paints.
Well, it might not have changed in her absence, but her return may have added a little something extra to the picture.
"Laura? You there?"
She blinked and turned away from the window to the back garden she'd been looking through on her chair, a fluffy brown mass matching the old couch, towards the voice.
That was probably a mistake if her intention was to try and refocus on the conversation she'd zoned out of. On an identical chair next to her Carmilla sat in her usual languid manner. If she sunk any deeper into the cushions she'd probably become invisible, the black leather of her clothing and the brown leather of the couch becoming one. She was looking at Laura, a small smile on her face that otherwise reflected the question she'd asked.
The mistake was that now she was going to have a lot of trouble looking away. A big part of her wanted to keep staring. She had lost track of how many times she'd had to fight the urge to blurt out something along lines of "God you're beautiful" or something equally embarrassing while in Carmilla's presence. Her current tactic, when such an urge needed to be fought, was to simply move passed the verbal and straight onto… other things.
Unfortunately, she couldn't fight the urge in that manner right now. They weren't alone in the room.
Some seconds ticked by as she gazed at Carmilla's face. The smile grew a little wider and Laura realized she'd already been caught.
A snicker came from the other side of the room.
"Perhaps she has other things on her mind?"
Laura shook her head a little and brought herself back to the present.
Three people sat on the couch facing Carmilla and her. The snicker had come from Mel Callis, an intense looking woman with a personality that somewhat mirrored Carmilla's in its aggressive sharpness if not quite in wit and charm.
"Other things? Yeah, that's okay Laura this stuff kinda bores me as well. If one of the bros had told me that I'd be helping out with stuff like this, I'd have told them they were going crazy from mushroom spores or something. Oh wait, didn't that happen once?"
The owner of the clueless voice was Kirsch, the product of some mad scientist taking the body of a pro athlete and slamming the brain of a puppy dog into it for a bet. At least that seemed like the best explanation for the man or dude-bro in front of her.
"Mushroom spores? Nobody told me anything about mushroom spores, spores are a new thing for me. When did this happen? Did you get any on you? You know what, I think I have something for that, stay right there."
"Dad stop," Laura said, raising a hand at the third and final voice from the couch as she did so to get him to sit back down. "It was ages ago and I was fine. Someone may have gone out of their way to protect me."
The last part she said coyly as her eyes darted sideways. Carmilla kept a poker face but Laura didn't need an outward sign to know that she would have appreciated that. Anything positive Laura could say about Carmilla in front of her dad was very helpful considering what she and Carmilla had confided to him a few days ago.
Her father, bald and portly, complied and sunk back down into the couch. He sat on the right most side of the couch, next to Kirsch. Her father always did that when guests were around. An annoying rogue spring lay under the right side cushion that would poke the unwary with glee.
Putting oneself in danger to protect others, a trait she could recognize as one he had passed down to her. If only the dangers she'd faced in this past year were as trivial as a couch spring.
Since her arrival at Silas University, she'd faced vampires, monsters, ancient Sumerian Gods and a literal attempted apocalypse. Then a few months later she and Carmilla had been drawn into a plot involving an ancient mask capable of controlling minds, hidden somewhere in the city of Florence. In the end, they had needed to survive monsters and armed goons alike to keep it out of evil hands.
Considering all that, a lot of these past six months had been a time of much needed recuperation. Most of which had been spent at a cottage she had found with Carmilla soon after defeating Inanna, Carmilla's 'Mother' and ancient Sumerian Goddess. The cottage had been a perfect find, allowing Carmilla and her to spend some time alone in comfort and peace rather than the mind numbing terror that had become the norm at Silas.
If Laura was honest, she wished they were there right now so nice the place had become. During the aftermath of their latest adventure in Florence, Laura had acquired a substantial sum of money for their efforts, courtesy of a woman Laura still wasn't completely sure whether to call friend or foe. With it, they had transformed the cottage from an abandoned ruin into a lavish home for the pair of them.
But isolated as it was, they couldn't stay there forever without it feeling a little like hiding. When Laura had brought up the idea of spending some time at her father's home Carmilla had agreed.
"Taking me home to show your dad?" she'd said in her usual drawl.
"Come on, it's not like that and you already met. He likes you, I'm sure of it."
"I hope so, considering we're telling him what we've decided."
After arriving a week ago, they had sent invitations to their old Silas friends. Laura feeling that now would be a good time to try to reconnect after their time apart. She hadn't said this to Carmilla or her father, but deep down she knew she'd rather do that here and not the cottage. The cottage had become something special for her and Carmilla as far as she was concerned and she wanted to keep it that way at least for now. Mel and Kirsch had responded to the invitation positively, others had not.
The conversation continued.
"Probably D-Bear," Kirsch said, confidently swinging and missing. "She was always protecting people."
Mel rolled her eyes and Carmilla's expression soured.
"Yeah, she did," Laura said, smoothing the moment over and throwing him a bone. Then to move things along she asked.
"What were we talking about exactly again?"
"Silas," Mel responded, "Kirsch and I have been helping to get it up and running again."
"I'm still surprised any of you decided to stay after Mother was stopped and you were free to leave," Carmilla said, "I imagined something along the lines of rats leaving a sinking ship kind of exodus."
"Well your lovely comparison of rats to us Silas students aside, we Zetas don't give up easily."
Carmilla snorted at that.
"You do realize that those trivial divisions were something Mother made up to keep you in line easier right?"
Mel opened her mouth to start an angry retort before Laura broke in with a placating gesture.
"I think we can all agree on how awesome Zetas are. Like when you gals fought Vordenberg's goons and the way you all stood up to Inanna as best you could-"
"Couldn't actually help us fight her though, too tired or something if I remember correctly," Carmilla drawled unhelpfully.
"So, there's nothing but big, big Zeta fans here. Team Zeta all the way, right guys?"
The two men in the room nodded and gave the verbal assents clearly required of them. Carmilla began to shrug before a look from Laura changed that shrug to a begrudging nod mid movement.
She hadn't expected to play peacemaker quite as much as she'd needed to since Mel and Kirsch arrived. The recent months spent alone with Carmilla had taken the former vampire's edge off so to speak and Laura had temporarily forgotten that how she interacted with her was most definitely not how she did with others.
At the cottage alone with Laura, Carmilla had been almost impossibly sweet and romantic. Had Laura been handed any more flowers she'd probably have gotten hay fever and she'd been given more gifts than a corrupt politician being lobbied at by shady corporations. Carmilla never stopped, candlelight dinners, breakfasts in bed, walks through the beautiful countryside of Styria. It was as if Carmilla had a billion romantic ideas bursting to get out after being stifled for so many years of pain and suffering.
It wasn't only the grand gestures that Laura appreciated though. In between the dinners and the walks and the gifts, the two had become so comfortable together, often lying in bed or somewhere comfy for hours on end, simply enjoying each other's company. Laura was certain this kind and romantic woman was the girl before the vampire, the Countess of yesteryear.
So when Mel and Carmilla had started clashing almost as soon as their guests had arrived, it was only then that Laura fully remembered that Carmilla rarely showed that particular side to anyone but her.
Laura could almost see the thorns springing back up around Carmilla as soon as the number of people not Laura she needed to interact with increased from zero to, well, not zero. The change was stark, her low tones now tinged with more than a bit of condescending passive aggression and her body language that of an irritated cat waiting for the chance to escape. It didn't help that Mel wasn't the type to take that kind of hostility lying down or that Carmilla had very little patience for people who bored her… like Kirsch.
"So the school is back up and running? Like taking in students and having classes?" Laura asked, looking to keep the conversation civil.
"No, not yet," said Mel, throwing one last glare at Carmilla before turning her eyes to Laura. "We're still trying to attract non char grilled teachers and parents willing to send their kids to a university that might or might not still be a death trap."
"We're making progress though," Kirsch said, perking up, "Silas is actually pretty cool without all the evil stuff. Like, good classrooms and labs and dorms and stuff."
"It's got state of the art facilities," Mel clarified.
"Yeah! Guess that Dean Lady was loaded. She must have had a fortune to pay for everything."
"I can't believe that anyone would send their kids back there after all that happened no matter how good the facilities might be," her father said, "if I could go back in time and send Laura somewhere else, I'd do that in a second."
Laura let the conversation continue for the three on the couch without input from her. She was glad that they were no longer sniping at each other, but she found herself strangely indifferent to current events at Silas.
Carmilla noticed and leaned towards her to speak in a sotto voce.
"Thought you'd be more interested in the school you fought so hard for."
Laura turned to look at her before responding and almost fell into the trap of staring too long again.
"Yeah me too, I guess in the end I cared more about the students and staff more than the school itself. Whether they get it running again or not, everyone is still safe regardless. Just doesn't seem that important anymore."
"Well, at least I'm not the only one that's bored then."
"I'm sorry, this is my fault. I dragged you here to deal with all these people. I miss the cottage."
Carmilla shook her head.
"No it's me that's being difficult and I wanted you to do this, or stuff like this."
"Yeah, I remember the conversations. Don't isolate myself, don't become a dark loner like you. This is me getting on that."
"So you do listen to me sometimes," Carmilla said, "guess I forgot that you doing that would mean me dealing with people as well."
"C'mon they're not so bad."
"Well, one keeps talking about something I care nothing about and the other is like if a frat boy athlete had his brain transplanted with a puppy."
"Wow, I had those exact same thoughts and they sound so much meaner out loud. Oh my God, I think you're infecting me with your dark and broody ex-vampire thoughts."
The last sentence came out in a chuckle and she took a playful slug at Carmilla's shoulder. Carmilla clasped a hand over the fist as it connected and began to massage the back of it with her thumb. A few moments later and their hands were together, happily intertwining between the chairs, everyone else in the room forgotten.
There would have been a time long ago when she'd be more annoyed with Carmilla over stuff like this. Back when she had been far more tightly wound. Time and experience had mellowed her in that regard. That and an acknowledgement that being combative and full of cutting wit that spared no one's feelings was as much a part of Carmilla as the sweet and romantic side she shared with her. Ultimately, she'd fallen in love with both sides.
Plus if she was honest, Carmilla really did just say a lot of things Laura thought herself anyway. It could be hard to chide her for a social faux pas when she was struggling not to smile and laugh.
Their eyes met and the moment stretched, she felt herself pulling closer, leaning over the chair. Carmilla did the same. God, how could she make something as simple as fingers caressing her hand feel so good?
"Of course, the way I hear it. There is maybe something pretty exciting for the love birds happening soon as well," Mel's voice cut across from the couch.
Laura blinked and jumped a little, snapping out of the bubble she and Carmilla had entered. She took a moment to process what Mel said and then looked at her father, eyes blazing with accusation.
"Dad!"
He held out the palms of his hands in front of him, mimicking the placating gesture Laura had made earlier.
"I'm sorry, I'm just so excited, it popped out before I could stop myself. My little girl is getting married!" he said, his face gleeful.
The night of Carmilla's proposal in a small garden outside the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital would be a memory forever etched into her mind. The two were recuperating after their hectic Florentine adventure that had left them both exhausted and covered in injuries. She would always remember how beautiful Carmilla had looked under the moonlit night sky, the sound of the chirping birds in the garden, the feel of the soft grass they had lain on for hours afterwards staring up at the stars. But most cherished were the words Carmilla had said to her, lovingly effusive and making it very clear how much she wanted to be with her.
"Or choose anyone to be with. That's the first real choice I want to make as a free woman."
Although right at this moment Laura was more recalling the memory were she and Carmilla had told her father they wanted to keep the engagement between themselves for the time being.
"We told you in confidence," she said, shaking her head.
"Yes, because it came as such a surprise," Mel said and rolled her eyes. "Who could have guessed there was something going on between you two?"
"Congrats, it's really cool, you know, what you're doing," Kirsch said, "right on, you know I got a bro whose mother is a wedding person…"
He prattled on for a while and Laura tuned him out. It seemed she was doing that a lot recently. She'd invited them, but now they were here she was struggling to stay engaged. Just like it had been her idea to come back to her father's home but outside of an initial enjoyment of finding and remembering her childhood things, the experience was falling a little flat.
She didn't want to admit it, but Carmilla was right, she was bored.
The fact rankled, it didn't make any sense. She should be enjoying this. The months of peace and quiet a welcome change to the incredible dangers she and Carmilla had faced both at Silas and then in Florence. The amount of times they had almost died in the past year was more than she could count. Surely for any sane and rational human being, a break from that would be welcomed.
She knew to a degree she did welcome the break, particularly after she had finished recuperating at the cottage. No it was definitely when they had arrived here when she had started feeling restless. That word used to describe the danger they had been in, incredible, was a perfect descriptor. Vampires and ancient Gods at Silas, an underground tunnel complex inhabited by gargoyles and a hydra in Florence, yes she'd been through danger, but there had also been such wonder and amazement and now, well…
Imagine if Harry Potter had to go live as a muggle at the end of the series, would he be happy to be out of danger finally or sad at having to go back to a regular life?
"We haven't made any concrete plans other than it's happening yet," she heard Carmilla say in a restrained tone that Laura knew meant she didn't like the course of the current conversation but was trying to remain civil. They must have started making wedding suggestions, the exact thing they had wanted to avoid people giving them.
"Somewhere private might be a good location. Considering you two are apparently a little famous now," Mel said, "couldn't believe it at first, when I saw you two coming out of the burning Uffizi on the news. But then I thought about it more and it made sense. I guess bad stuff will always keep following you two around won't it?"
She'd almost managed to forget about that final wrinkle to their time in Florence. During the chaos of their battle with a man named Gustav and his cadre of Corvae goons at the Uffizi Gallery, Carmilla had seen fit to carry her mostly unconscious body straight into a crowd of people to find an ambulance. Laura had needed to get used to seeing her face on TV every once and a while since.
"It got a little crazy over there," she said, seizing the opportunity for a change in topic, "but it's not like we're rock stars, I think most of the world has forgotten us by now."
"Uh huh, I guess that cottage doesn't have a television or the internet in it yet, otherwise I don't think you'd be saying that."
Laura put that in the back of her mind. She really hoped Mel was wrong. Famous was not something she really wanted to be right now and she doubted Carmilla would handle having people come up to her in the street very well.
Her father stood up, announcing it was time for him start cooking lunch and Carmilla snatched at the opportunity to get out of the room with a rather uncharacteristic offer to help.
Well, at least it's got to the stage where she considers spending time alone with Dad a lesser of two evils in some situations.
That abruptly left her alone with Mel and Kirsch. There was an awkward silence as they all tried and failed to keep the conversation going.
"I thought the ginger duo would be here as well," Mel said after a few previous fumbling attempts at a topic fell flat.
"Yeah, I invited them but didn't receive a reply. I know they left Silas. I didn't want to stalk them to find exactly where they are now."
"Right here in Canada right?" Kirsch supplied. "At least that's what they said."
"Oh," she paused for a second. "I didn't know they were here, or that they were talking to you two," but not me apparently.
"Not much, a call or two," Mel said after throwing an annoyed look at Kirsch, "mostly so they can find out what's happening at the school."
"Yeah, they both seem to think me and Mel are doing all the rebuilding ourselves," Kirsch said. "But to be honest half the time all were doing is standing around and waiting to see if we have enough money for stuff."
The footage the two had filmed of her and Carmilla in the pit back at Silas flashed unbidden across her mind.
"Yeah, you two seem pretty good at standing around and waiting," Laura said without thinking.
She had to catch herself from bringing her hands over her mouth. She couldn't believe what she'd said. The words had slipped out without conscious thought. There was a pregnant pause as she scrambled to think of a way to smooth it over. Could she play it off as a joke or pretend she misspoke?
"I uh, I mean that uh, sorry I-", great now she was babbling.
She braced herself for a furious tirade but strangely Mel didn't appear angry. Instead, she seemed almost embarrassed. Like Laura, she struggled to get words out.
"Hollis, look, I actually had something I wanted to say. I should have said it a while ago but-"
A shout came from the kitchen, her father.
"Hey Laura, is this another one of your Silas friends? A teacher maybe?"
"Teacher?" she repeated, confused. "I didn't invite any teachers."
She strode past the couch and the wooden table behind it towards the kitchen. As she entered it, Carmilla and her father were staring through a window that looked out from the kitchen to the front lawn.
"Doesn't look like anyone I recognize," Carmilla was saying.
"Well, maybe Laura knows her," her father said.
"Knows who?" she asked and nestled up between them to take a look.
A woman was walking across the street towards the house. She had her head down and her hands ran anxiously through short black unkempt hair. The house was clearly her destination but she seemed hesitant to actually get to the front door. Every few steps she'd stop for a moment to bite the tips of her fingers before shaking her head and moving on. Laura couldn't be sure, but it looked like she was talking to herself.
She wore dark baggy clothing that hung off of her, making her look somewhat frail. She was definitely middle aged. Laura guessed early forties, which explained why her father had thought teacher over student.
Laura didn't recognize her, but it was plain that the woman was in distress. Laura turned and started to make her way to the front door.
"Laura, wait. We don't know who she is," Carmilla said.
"It doesn't matter, she's obviously upset. Let's go find out why."
By the time she'd gotten to the door Carmilla was firmly at her back and the woman halfway across the front lawn. She looked up at the sound of the door opening, giving Laura a good look at her face.
Large and shining green eyes were the first thing she noticed, standing out against the lack of colour on the rest of her face. Exhaustion and desperation were etched all over her, every facial muscle a plea for help.
She started to speak and almost choked for a second, before swallowing hard and trying again.
"Hello, are you Ms Hollis? Ms Laura… Laura Hollis?" her voice had an unexpected hint of a southern twang to it and she over-enunciated her words, overcompensating for her anxiety.
"Yeah, that's me, hello," Laura went with a smile as she spoke, trying to inject as much kindness into her words as possible. This woman clearly needed a hug, literally and metaphorically.
"Oh thank God. I mean, a pleasure to meet you Laura, Ms Hollis, whichever you prefer," she stared at Laura for a moment. "Gosh, so young, I didn't realise from the pictures. Maybe this isn't a good- I don't know..." she trailed off.
"Laura is fine. How about you come inside, we can talk in here," Laura extended an arm out, beckoning.
The woman nodded and hurried towards them. Once she was through the door they found her a chair around the wooden table and sat her down. Her father went off saying something about tea and Carmilla, arms crossed, hovered behind her.
"Okay so you know me, hi, that man was my dad and this is Carm," she gestured to Carmilla.
"Yep," Carmilla said.
"How about you start with your name, work from there?"
The woman took another swallow before speaking. Laura got the impression of someone anxious not to say the wrong thing. Whatever she was looking for in coming here, she must have been desperate for it.
"Mary, Mary Kellan. I also know who she, who you are," she nodded at Carmilla. "Carmilla Karnstein. I saw you both on the news, the Uffizi attack, you were both there. Also, other places."
"Other places?" Carmilla asked in a harsh tone, "what do you mean other places?"
She blanched and her eyes went wide.
"I don't mean, not like as in, I'm not a stalker! I just really needed to talk to you. I thought maybe you could help, no one else will. I… I-"
"Okay," Laura put a hand on her knee to steady her. "Take a breath. We were doing well for a second there, when you said your name. Then we got a bit lost again. How about you go back to that and start over."
The woman took another breath.
"Right, okay. So as I said my name is Mary Kellan. I came here looking for the both of you. It's about my daughter Alexander. Lexi, she prefers Lexi. She went missing a week ago and I'm asking for your help to find her."