For centuries, this perverted game of cat and mouse prevailed, one chasing the other in an endless round in attempt to find peace. For centuries, Mircalla had tried to quit, tried to escape, tried to end her suffering, but her punishment was final. No matter what she did or how far she ran, Mircalla was forever drawn back to that awful place once again. Without fail, every single time a new reincarnation appeared, Mircalla always came back, unable to stay away no matter how hard she tried. She always wound up here again, on that cursed and blessed land where she and Susanna had loved one another so many years ago. It didn't matter when, where or how, Susanna always came back. And so did Mircalla. And in every single time and place, the story was always the same.

This time, the place fate called Mircalla back to was only a few miles away from her old castle in Karnstein. It was closer than the previous reincarnation, but Mircalla was not interested in that. She was interested in the girl she was returning for. What form and name would she take on now? Mircalla could hardly wait as the time for them to reunite drew ever closer. And then the day came, and as with all of the others, Mircalla's accomplice, whom she called Mother, dropped her off at Susanna's newest doorstep with instructions for the father to look after her.

"My child will not have recovered sufficiently to resume her route for who can say how long. I must leave her: I cannot, dare not, delay. How far on, sir, can you tell, is the nearest village? I must leave her there!" Mother cried in grief and frustration, but Mircalla knew it was all only an act. It was an act to help her find the excuse to live right with Susanna at her very house, as they had been doing since the very beginning of these reincarnation cycles. But Susanna's newest father ate it up and, as with all of the others before him, welcomed Mircalla into his own house instead. He insisted that Mircalla stay at the schloss instead of at the nearby town, which was full of all kinds of dangerous riffraff. Mother pretended to consider the option carefully before agreeing and then wheedling away quite quickly to keep up the façade of being on an urgent mission. This left Mircalla alone with Susanna once again.

In time, the two young women, who were very old spirits at heart, would find new names. Mircalla's became Carmilla and, in this life, Susanna's became Laura. It was a pretty name for an even prettier girl, Mircalla, or rather, Carmilla, decided. This version of Susanna looked fairly different from the original, hair a pale gold and eyes a sky blue instead of being a deeper reddish gold with emerald, but Carmilla still knew exactly who she was looking at. And even though this Susanna seemed far more timid and silly than her original, Carmilla still knew exactly who she was looking at. Already, the vampire felt close to paradise, despite knowing how their story would end. But it was an irresistible law of her nature that she come back here and relieve out those beautiful and terrible moments, no matter how old the story became.

"How wonderful!" Carmilla had exclaimed when she was finally able to speak with Susanna (Laura). "12 years ago, I saw your face in a dream, and it has haunted me ever since!" she cried.

"Wonderful indeed!" Laura, repeated, overcoming with an effort the horror that had for a time suspended her utterances. "12 years ago, in vision or reality, I certainly saw you. I could not forget your face. It has remained before my eyes ever since!"

As Laura finished speaking this piece, Carmilla felt the place where her unbeating heart rested soften and warm. Although she knew Laura was only referring to the dream in which she and Carmilla met, the dream always being Carmilla's signal that Susanna was back, even coming in parallel to the way the two of them used to crawl through one another's windows for nightly trysts, Carmilla liked to think that Laura was referring to remembering Carmilla back when she was still only human Mircalla. Even though Carmilla knew Laura was only referring to a childhood dream for things yet to come, Carmilla liked to think that it was Susanna speaking through Laura, promising that she did remember their love this time around. But it was a foolish fantasy, and the old vampire knew it. No reincarnation ever remembered her, though the thought was tempting.

Carmilla's smile had softened as she inspected Laura. Whatever Laura might've fancied strange in it was gone, and it and her dimpling cheeks were now delightfully pretty and intelligent. Carmilla was just so deeply moved to see Laura, so deeply moved to see her beloved's face again. If only Laura would remember! But she wouldn't. And that was half the torture. But Carmilla was already in love. She was unequally and irrevocably in love with Laura. As much as it would hurt them both, Carmilla would stay by Laura's side until their time ended once more, and she would do her best to make do with what little time they had now before the dreaded cycle would repeat itself again, like the hands on a clock, obeying Father Time and no one else.

"I live in your warm life, and you shall die-die, sweetly die-into mine. I wish for us to die together, to die as lovers may, so that they may live together!" Carmilla had told Laura one night about a month after they first met. The words were cryptic, but intentionally so, as Carmilla was bound to secrecy by an archaic and powerful law that could not be broken, no matter how much she wished it could be. She could only hope that Laura would be able to glean, from that one little clue, what was in store for her at the end of this newest chapter in their love story. But Laura, poor, sweet, innocent Laura, was so blind. She did not understand at all, though she might've wished it. She just could not remember all the secret kisses and stolen nights. When she looked at Carmilla, all she saw was a madwoman, not a lover at all. But that did not stop Carmilla's wild heart.

"You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one forever," she had promised Laura another night, daring to climb atop the young woman and press bold kisses to her cheeks, lips and neck like Laura had done for her centuries ago, even if she could not recall. Laura was visibly afraid of such a forward reaction, but Carmilla did not care anymore. She was too entranced, too in love, with the poor young girl to wait any longer to be with her again. Carmilla could control herself no longer and would not wait a single second to feel Laura's warmth again, even if Laura appeared to be distressed by all of these behaviors and, as she perceived them, peculiarities.

But these feverish behaviors were not signs of madness, as Laura may have thought. Instead, they were cracks in the carefully built up fortress that was Carmilla. Try as she may, the vampire could not control herself. She had waited long enough already to see Laura again, and to have her so close and so personally was an exquisite torture of the highest degree. She reveled in it. She glorified every kiss, every touch, every moment spent together, knowing that they would not last more than this one summer, just like all of the others. But there would be other summers, she just had to wait. But could she? When everything about Laura was so tempting? Her gorgeous body, her loving spirit, her blood that was warm with life? Carmilla knew it was selfish, but love was always selfish. The more ardent, the more selfish. She would spend every second she had with Laura as an act of love and an act of defiance and, in the same way the cycle would not wait for her, she would not wait for it. These summers were precious to the vampire, and she wouldn't let a single one go to waste even though there would be many more in time.

Carmilla felt like a caterpillar while in the normal world, small, ugly, invisible and powerless, only to be a butterfly when those precious summers came. When summer came, when Laura came, Carmilla was free, and beautiful. And so was Laura, in full maturity of a woman, though still learning how to stretch her wings. But then the summer would end, and the two young women would become grubs again. Carmilla would return to the shadows and Laura would have to go through birth and childhood once more, coming out as a new larva every time, though each reincarnation had its own propensities, necessities and structure. But Carmilla did not want to have to wait for another cycle to be a butterfly again.

But cycles were cycles, each step coming in one right after the other, heedless of anything but Father Time. And in time, the past began to haunt both Carmilla and her beloved Laura once again. It came in the form of a painting of Carmilla, back in 1698 when she was still human. Laura was the only one to catch onto the similarities between Carmilla and the lady in the picture and was even gracious enough to request that it be hung in her room. The gestured made Carmilla smile, but it also made her weep, and she had taken the opportunity to share one last night with the young girl in the same way they had centuries ago. She could sense that their time was running out now. Summer was nearly over. All of Susanna's portraits had been destroyed following her death and Carmilla had failed to save even a single one, though her own still remained. The dress she wore in it was Susanna's favorite. It was Carmilla's own last rebellion against what her father had done to her and Susanna.

Following the incident with the painting, Carmilla took Laura on a walk around the river that surrounded Laura's schloss. It reminded both of them of a romantic event in their past, though Carmilla's was further back. The times were different, but the sentiment and memory were not.

"It is so like the night you came to us," Laura said. Carmilla could only smile dryly and she fought the urge to ask Laura which time she was referring to. Of course, she knew Laura was referring to the most recent incident earlier that summer, but how many times had Carmilla played out this same scenario? How many Susannas had Carmilla gone through where they met under the moonlight?

"Are you glad I came?" Carmilla asked instead.

"Delighted, dear Carmilla," Laura answered. Carmilla could only smile. Maybe Laura did not remember anything of her before this summer, but the memories she did have now were still good ones. That would be enough. The vampire rested her head upon the human's shoulder, smiling softly.

"How romantic you are, Carmilla," Laura said. "Whenever you tell me your story, it will be made up chiefly of some one great romance!" Carmilla kissed Laura's cheek. If only Laura would accept it if she did more than that. "I am sure, Carmilla, you have been in love; that there is, at this moment, an affair of the heart going on," Laura shied away from the kiss and Carmilla felt something stir where her heart used to be.

"I have been in love with no one, and never shall," she whispered. "Unless it should be with you."

The next night the pair spent together was the last. Laura had gone off with her father and an old friend to the Karnstein chapel. Or what was left of it. Carmilla had not been pleased to hear about this development, but there was no point in trying to outrun her fate. Instead, she decided only to meet Laura there and see what would unfold. Surely God was testing her now. Surely this was going to be the end of another cycle. And God's sense of irony returned, for who else would show up than the father of Carmilla's latest victim? Carmilla still remembered the man, General Spielsdorf, with rage and hatred. Even now, in a new time and place, the two held a deep desire for revenge against each other and a small battle ensued between the old foes. So, Carmilla's secret was out to Laura that she was a monster, a vampire. The story was over. But how did Laura die in this one? All of Carmilla's other Susannas had passed because of her vampiric bites. This was the first one to die of something else...

Carmilla's "mother", who had been the one to resurrect Carmilla after she was bitten by a vampire centuries ago, had created a strange deal with Carmilla. If Carmilla would help her catch a few special girls every 20 years or so, she would help Carmilla find every reincarnation of Susanna and give her a reason to go and stay with the girl at her house. Perhaps the deal seemed sudden and strange, but the woman admitted that it was because she liked how well Carmilla could charm women, and how vicious she could be when provoked. Carmilla did not want to agree at first, but the idea of having someone help her get into Susanna's good graces was tempting enough for Carmilla to become this woman's worker and "daughter" and, from then on, Carmilla called her Mother.

For centuries, their deal stood. Carmilla captured five girls every 20 years and, in exchange, Mother helped Carmilla win Susanna's heart. So Carmilla and Mother became a tag-team, and it had been Mother who helped Carmilla find an excuse to get to know Laura. In that way, Mother gave Carmilla Laura, but she had no qualms with taking Laura away either...

Carmilla's fourth victim, two before Laura and one before Spielsdorf, had managed to escape. She escaped because Carmilla had been so busy with thoughts of reuniting with Susanna, who was Laura this time, that the girl managed to uncover her secrets and escape before Carmilla could deliver her to Mother. As a punishment for losing a victim and nearly blowing their cover, Mother made Laura a replacement target, allowing Carmilla to grow close to her before intentionally turning the tables so that Carmilla would reveal her secret to Laura in the worst way possible, forcing Carmilla to flee. It was Mother's cruel retribution for Carmilla's shortcomings.

Once that happened, Mother swooped in and took a more direct part in the story. She manipulated Laura into betraying Carmilla and sealing her own fate simultaneously. Carmilla did not get to see how Laura died, having been imprisoned in a coffin of blood by then, but she knew enough to know that Mother had hurt her badly, and all in the name of punishment. Laura would be back in time, like always, but it would take Carmilla a bit of time to find her again. By then, she would be far too hurt and bitter to care, however, betrayed by her own Mother into losing Susanna once again.

AN: This chap is obviously based on the original book, but I did start adding in webseries elements towards the end because I didn't actually get the idea to tie all three in until I was writing this chapter. Originally, this was going to be book only, but that changed and now I'm adding in the webseries, though I'm keeping this Laura as Laura. I'm not renaming her Elle.

Also, this changes the book and webseries a tad. In this story, Elle was not Mother's original target. It only became that way because of Carmilla's failure with another victim, kind of like what happened in S1. Carmilla was a "part-time employee" to Mother. And that victim, unnamed, was the one directly before Bertha (ward of Gen. Spielsdorf). In addition, Elle doesn't find out about Carmilla's secret from "a woman in the village", she finds out from that incident in the chapel, taken from the book.

Also, the way I imagine the timeline to be laid out is as such:

1680: Mircalla is born

1696: She meets Susanna

1697: Susanna is killed

1698: Mircalla becomes a vampire

And then here, she starts hunting for girls around 1870-71 but doesn't get to Laura/Elle until 1872. Laura's last, unnamed incarnation, I would measure, lived sometime in the 1840-50 if we assume each reincarnation was born as soon as the last one died.