Running through a forest in the middle of the night, pursued by irate villagers with torches and pitchforks, made getting pricked an inevitability. Thorns, branches, trees, all growing in the earth. Once the blood began oozing out, other things, tiny things, unseeable things started seeping in. Things like spores, things like bacteria, also growing in the earth.
When the edges of the crater pierced Lophii's flesh, bacteria began to migrate into the soil, bacteria influenced by its most recent host, ancient bacteria, leaving a glow around the immense scales scraped off onto the surface. Caught, Lophii's body played dead, but her eye rolled in fear, in anger, in shame. The bacteria, as if knowing that they would die outside a host, escalated their activity, climbing onto any living thing, via any route available, and made their way into the juiciest part of the hosts.
Lightning illuminated the soaking forest, the grounds, the toppled towers of Silas. Driving rain floated earthworms from their homes, glowing bacteria onboard. In the forest, already bloody and stumbling from the battle, LaFontaine tripped, sustaining the first scratches. The bacteria hitched a ride. And it was a very short trip to their brain.
LaFontaine discovered escape routes and observation posts in the new digs and somewhere along the way lost Perry, not noticing until the red-lipped redhead reappeared, arms stiff with dried blood.
Bloody Perry wakes them up.
As awake as LaFontaine could be. As if they are not inhabiting their entire body, more as if they're a tiny person attempting to control their body remotely, sometimes in and sometimes out of range. But Perry, bloody Perry. They need to connect with Perry. Haltingly, LaFontaine moves to Perry. The words manage to escape their mouth.
Something is in the way. Something— unseeable.
Perry, bloody Perry. Perry covered in blood. Carmilla distancing herself. Laura distracted. Danny— missing. Dead kids. Vampires. Trap doors. And how many of those cookies did they eat? Blood is a vector.
Air chokes down their throat like sawdust. They can't get their breath. Something inside elevates their excitement. Adrenaline. War. Adventure. More explosions, more bodies, more blood, more boom. It's LaFontaine, but more than LaFontaine. Their hair seems brighter. Their eyes seem wilder.
Carmilla notices first— LaFontaine's smell tinged with forest floor, humus, iron sweat and blood (always blood, but with a greenish zest now)— LaFontaine, yes, but more.
Perry, no longer covered in blood, sustains the stain of it nonetheless. Manic panic electrifies her, and she seeks comfort as usual from LaFontaine, but S— LaFontaine seems remote. There, but not there. And Perry— static, buzzing, paralyzed almost, with fear, with dread, with disgust— Perry notices she's also remote. It takes so much effort to get through to the surface, and once she's there, she can sense, remotely, that she's louder, considerably louder than usual.
Carmilla's ears ache. Everybody is so loud. Each voice seems to have been launched rather than simply spoken. All she wants to do is get back to cuddling Laura, so why won't they all just go away?
Carmilla's enthusiasm alarms her. Usually she's only enthusiastic about sleep… and putting things down, maybe, and— and Laura. No— no, that's new. She begins to observe more closely. But it's hard, so hard, like she's grown a thick shell around herself, and being in contact with Laura is the only thing that will melt it.
Carmilla knows the story. Good doesn't always triumph. And the beloved— grows old. Always. Better to to attend to her now.
Laura can't concentrate. Laura's thoughts drift to the events of the last several days— or is it weeks?— but as soon as she lights on any one thing, she finds herself zinging from contact with Carmilla's lips or arms or hand or… There was something she was doing, what was it?
Saving Silas, right. Good triumphs over evil, and they'll all live happily ever after…
The new digs are pretty plush. Smaller, but with greater potential for expansion. The bacteria settle in, sensing soon, very soon, they will be spreading out, moving on.
Colonizing.