Author's note: Just a little something for the holiday. Happy Halloween

Usually Carmilla spent her free time at her apartment or in a quaint little café in the city. But today she was stuck in a red brick two bed room house handing out Halloween candy. Only it wasn't candy.

"Raisins are nature's candy," Mr. Hollis had said, holding up a small red box. Laura had her face twisted up in a scowl. She later told Carmilla that one year their house was not only egged but splattered in leftover tomato sauce, "nature's spray paint."

Mr. Hollis had a party to go to (Laura was thrilled he was going out, and on a date no less). Since Laura and Carmilla went to school only an hour away from his house (he insisted after everything that happened, and Carmilla couldn't complain about free laundry) they had agreed to stay there for the night and hand out wrinkled fruit to children. So the girls settled on the living room couch for some cheesy movie complete with chocolate and wine. The doorbell rang constantly. Laura would untangle herself from the blankets and the girlfriend and greet the children. Carmilla never got up. It was better that way, lest they had a repeat of that incident from Target.

All was well and good. The good witches defeated the evil warlock, the kitkats plentiful and the wine was French. She didn't even have any homework. But then Laura's voice carried in from the foyer.

"Oh, look at you. A vampire."

"I vant to suck vour blood. Mwahaha!" It was the voice of a high pitched twerp who probably wouldn't hit puberty until college. Carmilla arched her neck and saw spikey black hair and a red lined black cape. Typical.

Laura jumped back onto the couch, sending candy wrappers flying. "Is the movie over?"

"Just about." Laura nestled her head on Carmilla's shoulder and they watched the rest of the movie in silence.

It wasn't that Carmilla had never seen a vampire costume before. They had been around for decades. But she had always laughed at the fools who had no idea of the world they inhabited, who never even tasted freshly spilled blood. She would sip her special drank and watch them all dance and drink and conjure spirits with plastic boards. An amusing holiday, for sure. But now all Carmilla wanted to do was snap that boy's neck and feast on his blood until he was a raisin himself. She didn't laugh now. That boy was closer to being a vampire than she was.

She wasn't prone to existential angst, but sometimes her new found humanity hit her straight in the face. A cheap costume and a fake accent. That was what her past amounted to.

Laura snuggled closer as the movie ended. "What do you want to watch now?"

"I don't care. Anything's fine."

"How about The Nightmare Before Christmas? It's a classic."

Carmilla threw an arm around her girlfriend. "Why not?"

The stream of trick or treaters died down as the two girls watched Jack squeal at everything he saw. He reminded Carmilla of Laura, so eager. The doorbell rang again, and Laura ran to answer it. Carmilla could hear another stupid Hungarian-Romanian accent, only this time the brat had braces that made him spit his words. Great, just great. It was a big group, followed by another group. Laura didn't make it back to the movie until Jack and Sally were talking about Christmas.

Laura threw candy wrappers at the screen. "She loves you Jack! Stop being blind."

"They get together at the end, chill out."

"I know. I used to watch this with my dad when I was a kid and there duet was my favorite part. I had it memorized."

"Your dad told me. He said you dressed up as Sally one year."

"Yeah. I think it was 7th grade." Laura shook her head. "He made me be chaperoned when I went trick or treating, all throughout high school."

"He was trying to protect you."

"Well when I have kids I'm going to let them run around on their own. Let them have Halloween adventures." She threw her hands up. "And they won't get kidnapped because they'll know three different types of martial arts."

"You want kids?" Laura never mentioned kids that much.

"Yeah. Don't you?"

"Um, I don't know. It never came up. I mean, it's not like I could."

"You can now. I mean, not right now." Laura tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "But someday, if you wanted."

Children. In her childhood her future role as a mother was both assumed and assured, the cornerstone of her purpose. But Carmilla couldn't remember any feeling, good or bad, associated with the idea of motherhood. Only the fear of dying in childbirth. After she was bitten she little to do with little ones. They were of no importance to her.

But suddenly, motherhood was a future she could choose. She wasn't barren anymore, she could bear children of her own. Or she could stand by Laura as she gave birth. Or they could adopt an orphan, a lonely stray with no home to speak of. Her future was so open now. She could do anything.

Carmilla's thought were interrupted by the sound of something splattering against the front window. Something liquid-y hit the house.

"And cue the eggs." Laura sighed. "We'll scrape them off tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"About what I said earlier-"

"I think I wouldn't mind kids." Carmilla grinned at Laura's eager eyes. "Maybe one or two."

"Yay. I already picked out names."

"Oh really."

"Yeah." The girls talked and sipped wine as Jack the skeleton king prepared to deliver presents to the children of the world. Not bad for Halloween.