Vienna 1695 Count Hochstein's Celebratory Gala

The sound of clopping hooves stopped and the carriage lurched to a halt.

Her heart lurched with it. They had arrived much sooner than she had expected, or wanted if she was being honest. She tried to get her shaking hands under control. Her legs as well, it wouldn't do trip over in front of everybody as her first act. She would have many an opportunity to humiliate herself during tonight's festivities she was sure, might as well try to postpone it as long as possible.

She could hear the sounds of relaxing violins and the buzz of many voices outside the carriage. Despite getting here faster than she thought, they were at least a little bit late. The carriage door opened and she took a deep breath before sitting up and moving towards it.

Before she could leave a firm hand gripped her shoulder, it came with a voice that gripped her just as tightly.

"Remember how important this is to me Mircalla. I have other engagements I must attend to tonight, so I will not be there to manage you through the gala. But rest assured any failures on your part I will be made aware of and the consequences will be severe. Embarrass yourself, and by proxy, you embarrass me. I will not tolerate that, do you understand?"

"Yes, father," she said.

"Good. Now go, remember to say and do everything I told you and you'll be fine."

With that, the hand left her shoulder, allowing her to gratefully climb out of the carriage and onto the ground below. The driver, who had opened the door for her handed her a piece of paper without a word before heading back to his seat. The carriage behind her started moving immediately, leaving her alone on the side of the road with Count Hochstein's personal palace before her.

The Field Marshall's palace was a place of luxurious beauty. She stepped into a small courtyard lined with extravagant water fountains in front of a façade of marble columns. The Palace was large and extended in a rectangle outwards with a number of large towers while a circular chapel stood at its centre. She had been told of a huge garden on the other side but had yet to see it. Around the courtyard, small groups of people congregated. Women in large frilly dresses like hers and men in immaculate suits.

She headed to the entrance. Slowly walking as she willed her shaking legs to hold her up. She tried to ignore the dubious looks and in some cases the laughter of the people she moved passed. She wished she'd had the courage to look at their faces as she passed, even if it was only to smile and nod at them. To show them she wasn't afraid. But her head felt like it was being weighed down and instead she mostly stared at the ground in front of her.

She reached the entrance and looked up to see two guards in full armoured regalia, a plume of red hair on top of their gleaming helmets. They both held two spears, barring the way in. She held up the piece of paper to them, hoping they could see it through their visors.

"Countess Mircalla-" her voice was hoarse and cracking so she swallowed and started again. "Countess Mircalla Karnstein, daughter of Count Regarld Karnstein. I'm invited, I have an invitation."

She moved the paper a little closer to one of the guards faces hopefully.

Wordlessly the guards moved their spears out of the way.

"Thank you," she said and quickly rushed through.

Once inside she made her way to the ballroom, where the majority of the festivities were taking place. The lavish room was full and noisy as royalty and upper-class citizens of the Empire alike squashed themselves into it. All knowing that anyone not in this ballroom might as well not be anybody at all.

Unless you had a proxy to take your place, as such was the case with her father and her. He could not be here so he would be represented by his daughter's presence. Symbolically, of course, nothing of actual consequence was going to be discussed at the gala. This was to be a celebration, nothing more.

Her father's instructions swirled through her mind. Mingle, make friends with everyone you can. Make sure you meet the Field Marshall and congratulate him personally on his victory. Make an impression on him and all those around him when you do.

Simple instructions, but as always she found it next to impossible.

No one intentionally engaged her. She stuttered some small talk in the direction of those taking food at the banquet tables, but what they didn't ignore was dismissed with irritated hand gestures or cutting remarks. Those she approached melted into the crowd and anyone she bumped into made every excuse in the book to disengage with her.

A group of girls, Countesses like her walked passed. Their 'leader' Countess Vilgebray spotted her and the tall girl's eyes lit up.

"Oh if it isn't Mircalla, so nice to see you here. Such courage, to show your face to the world again after what happened in Prague. Or before that in Frankfurt… or before that in Graz. I'm happy to see you have that courage, you always provide us such entertainment at these events," she put a hand to her mouth and tittered as the group walked away from her, their laughter ringing in her ears.

By now the rejection felt familiar, but it still stung. She took a small respite in a library she found a short walk away from the ballroom. She so wished she could hide out in it forever. At least none of the books refused to open their pages for her. It was nice to find something that was content with her company.

But her father would be furious if she did not at least try to congratulate the Field Marshall personally. So with a heavy heart, she dragged herself away from the peacefully dark and quiet library back into what was beginning to feel a lot like the lion's den.

She found Field Marshall Count Hochstein sitting down at a table at the head of the room. He watched proceedings as an endless line of people came up to fawn over him. His cheeks were bright red from wine as sweat glistened off his bald head down a round face.

She lined up with the rest of them, and soon enough she came face to face with him.

"Count- I mean Field Marshall Count Hochstein, I am here on behalf of-"

"What? What are you mumbling child? Speak up. Up!" Hochstein yelled boorishly and laughed. Everyone in the vicinity laughed with him.

She took a breath and tried again.

"Field Marshall Count Hochstein, I am Countess Mircalla Karnstein, here on behalf of my father-"

'Karnstein eh?" Hochstein interrupted, his voice appeared to only had one level, deep, loud yells. "Regarld couldn't even face me himself, so he sends his hapless daughter in his stead. How like him."

He laughed again and again the crowd laughed with him.

She hesitated, unsure if she should continue.

"Tell me, Regarld Karnstein's little runt, do you even know what we're celebrating here?"

"Of course," she piped up, desperately trying to remember the words her father had told her to say. "We are celebrating your recent victory, glorious victory, over the French army at Deepey-"

"Dieppe, child, it is pronounced Dieppe. Perhaps if Karnstein would educate his daughter as well as he hides her, he'd actually have a daughter worthy of the latter."

With that, Hochstein forgot her and stepped up out of his chair to announce it was time for a dance. She turned away slowly, letting the crowd push her back from the spotlight. Well, her father had told her to make an impression, but most like that was not the impression he meant.

Suddenly someone was at her side and talking into her ear. She recognised the voice as Vilgebray, her tone a hiss.

"I'd think twice about joining in on the waltzing Mircalla. There are significant people here I mean to woo. It would be unfortunate for me if they were distracted by your embarrassing presence. Unfortunate for you as well, I assure you my girls will make certain you suffer a painful fall. Do yourself a favour and keep to the outside, where you belong."

She wished she'd said something, anything to stand up for herself. But like always she couldn't quite find the courage. So instead as the people danced, she found a seat to watch from. There for the rest of the night, she sat. Not for the first time and most definitely not for the last, isolated and alone.


"What the hell is going on at this school?"

In response, Carmilla put a hand on Laura's shoulder.

"Hey, whatever it is, we're not going to find out by shouting at them while we're surrounded by the scary guys with big sticks, okay?"

Laura sighed and visibly calmed down.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I just can't believe those kids were just laughing about it. They were happy that Lexi and the other kids went missing. And then principal douche-face shows up with his douche…face and kicks us out! 'The people from IDSS are here for our protection'," her voice went up a few pitches to mimic the receptionist. "What a load of crap. They're there for the same reason we couldn't get into Abigail Bishop's student account. Because someone there is super shady and is trying to cover something up. Certainly, know who I'm betting on."

"Principal douche-face?"

Laura nodded.

"Who else? God that guy was infuriating. Who does he think he is…"

Carmilla let her rant. She was fairly certain that Laura found it therapeutic. These kinds of rants certainly seemed to empower her. Like a battery that ran on fighting injustice instead of electricity. During their last days at Silas, it had been one of those rants that had turned her from a defeated, despondent girl back into the fighter Carmilla knew and loved. Rants and big speeches, an important part of the Laura Hollis diet. Carmilla could still remember the first one she'd heard from Laura back at their dorm room. Her argument then being that the people at Silas, Carmilla included, deserved better. She was quite certain it was at that moment she'd first truly started to fall for her.

"Strangle him, strangle him!" Laura was reaching the tail end of the rant. "Those bullies too maybe. We can't let whoever is involved in this get away with whatever they're doing. We have to get in there, find proof to bring them down and get those missing kids back."

Carmilla waited for a second to make sure it was over. Then she nodded.

"Sounds good, but maybe, for now, we should get going before they decide to murder the nosy detectives and bury them under the school somewhere after all."

Laura blew out a breath.

"Fine, I guess we can't do anything else right now."

The unloading of furniture and equipment was winding down by the time they got back to the car park. The trucks had left, while only a couple of the vans remained. The work day close to an end as the sun began to set on the horizon.

A gaggle of students had gathered around her new motorcycle. One of them stretched out an arm to touch it.

"If you want that arm to stay attached I wouldn't do that," she barked at him and then to the group as a whole. "Beat it, or else."

The group scattered, muttering sullen curses under their breaths.

"If it's any consolation," she said to Laura as they grabbed their helmets, "looks like we finally get that spa we've been looking forward to."

Laura bit her lip anxiously.

"Yeah, about that," she said and trailed off.

"No, no Laura, come on. It's getting late, what else can we do today?

"I want to go check on Kellan."

Carmilla groaned loudly.

"Look, I know, I'm sorry," Laura said and cupped her hands around Carmilla's face. Then she brought out her most effective weapon, the puppy dog eyes and beseeching face. "I'm really worried about her though. She's alone in that house. She's exhausted, I don't think she's been eating. Her child's missing, Carm. All I'm asking is that we check."

Laura could be difficult to refuse at any time, but when she was like this, Carmilla found it to be next to impossible. She groaned again before answering.

"Okay fine, we'll check on soccer mum. You have to do any cheering up though, that's not my thing."

That earned her a kiss and a smile. Perhaps the sun wasn't setting yet after all, from where she was standing it still looked pretty bright to her.

The drive back to Kellan's home was invigorating. She'd had the idea of getting a motorcycle for some time now. Ever since a vivid dream at the cottage of her running across green fields as the panther she used to able to transform into. The dream had reminded her of how much she missed the feeling of racing through the world being a panther gave her. Freeing and empowering at the same time. Nothing could catch her once she got up to full speed. No human, no vampire, perhaps not even Mother herself. A brief horse ride through Florence had served as another reminder soon after the dream, after which she'd decided to try and find a way to replicate the old feeling.

She hadn't told Laura any of this. It had been hard enough to assure Laura she was perfectly happy with her human transformation without admitting there may have been one or two things she was sad to lose. She didn't want Laura worrying about her being secretly unhappy when in truth becoming human had brought her unparalleled joy.

Now with this motorcycle, she could bring back one of the few things she missed.

Night had fallen completely by the time they made it back to Kellan's home. The motorcycles bright headlight shone through the dark suburban streets, casting shadows of everything it touched. A few of the shadows moved rapidly away, street cats most like. The darkness was such that Carmilla almost missed the house and braked hard enough for the tyres to screech loudly. To the delight of everyone relaxing in their homes nearby, she was sure.

"I hope we didn't make too much of a disturbance," Laura said as they got off the bike. "People looking at us right now probably see two trouble makers on their big noisy bike. A couple of no good rapscallions about to make trouble in the neighbourhood."

"Yeah, I'm sure anyone peeking through their curtains will start calling the police in a panic after seeing you," Carmilla drawled. "If this place is at all similar to Florence they'll be streaming out of their houses bearing you gifts in no time more like."

The door opened before they reached it. Kellan came out in a nightgown, eyes wide, and a phone in her hand.

"Hi, I didn't know it was you at first, wow is that a motorbike?" she kept going before either of them could answer. "I saw it pull up through the window. I know you have a room at a hotel, but I was still hoping you might come back or call. Not that I was waiting or anything, I was just..."

She ran out of breath and stopped there.

"We do have a room, but we wanted to see how you were going before we headed there," Laura said.

Kellan's smile was tired but genuine.

"Thank you, that's very kind. It's getting chilly out here. Please come inside."

The house didn't have any lights on until Kellan switched some on as they came in. Carmilla noticed a small chair next to the front door window. Carmilla saw a vivid image of the woman sitting on it in the dark clutching her phone as she stared out the window, desperate for any news.

Yeah, maybe Laura had been right to check on her.

"Have you had anything to," Laura started then stopped. "I mean, Carm and I are real hungry actually. Any chance we could have something here? We could talk about what we learned at the school over dinner."

Carmilla smiled. That was clever. Kellan probably would have brushed off directly being asked to eat something, but Laura had framed it well in making it an opportunity to talk about her missing daughter in Kellan's eyes.

Besides, parents loved cooking for people. The good ones anyway.

"Oh, of course, we have plenty in the pantry. Do you two like pasta? It was Lexi's favourite."

As food cooked, Kellan took a moment to move the lone chair away from the window. When she noticed Carmilla looking at her, she flushed a little and bit her lip.

"Just cleaning the curtains a bit, needed some extra height."

Carmilla just smiled and nodded. No need to embarrass the woman. It also wasn't like Carmilla was a stranger to brooding in the dark. Maybe instead of taking a chair away, she should have pulled a second one up. Carmilla could have shown her how it's done.

It probably wasn't as excellent as the room service Carmilla undoubtedly would have called up had they went straight to the hotel, but she had to admit the dinner was good. She'd been human for a little while now, but the pleasure of good food still felt fresh and wonderful. They sat around a large rectangular dinner table. Kellan had wiped off the sheen of dust from the top and thrown a white cloth over it. She and Laura sat together while Kellan took a seat at the table's head.

As Carmilla ate, Kellan started her bombardment of questions.

"Did you learn anything at my school? Did you talk to Principal Stevenson? Or Ellen? You should have brought me with you I could have been helpful. Are my posters still there? I put up these posters."

"Yeah, we saw the posters," Laura said, answering the last question first. "And we did talk to both Principal Stevenson and Ms Gravenberg, one a little more than the other to be honest. Principal Stevenson may have kinda kicked us out."

"What?" Kellan said, aghast. "Why would he do that?"

"He said he wanted to let the police handle the investigation and he didn't like us talking to his students. That's what he said, but I," Laura paused. "You said Lexi was confident that people at the school were involved?"

"Yeah, she was more vague on that than the monster, but yes she seemed sure. Wait, do you think Principal Stevenson has something to do with this? I've known Harry for years. I wouldn't call us friends but."

She seemed at a loss for words.

"We don't know anything for sure yet, but there was a lot of stuff there that was, let's go with sketchy," Laura said. "Did you know about the private security guys they have over there now?"

"Private security? Oh, wait yeah, I remember them talking about that around when Abigail went missing. I thought it was ridiculous. Armed thugs walking around students, how would that make things safer?"

"We think it has less to do with protecting students and more to do with stopping anyone from finding out that something real shady is happening at that school. We also learned that Abigail had been visiting the library a lot before she went missing. We tried to get into her student account, but it's been locked. We think she might have been investigating the disappearances while she was at the library and something might be on that account someone at the school didn't want people knowing. You said Abigail and Lexi were close friends and working together on this. Maybe they were taken for the same reasons."

Kellan brought a hand to her mouth, muffling her words slightly.

"I can't believe this. I know it's silly, I could get over the idea of monsters and… everything I've learned about you two, but this is unbelievable," her eyes grew fierce and the hand slammed on the table. "If Harry Stevenson thinks he can do something to my daughter and hire thugs to get away with it, he has another thing coming. What's the plan, how do we get to him? Do we go to his house or-"

"Whoa there," Laura put a hand up. "First thing, we don't actually know anything yet. This is all speculation and theories. Second thing, if we decide to do anything. It will be Carm and I doing the, well, whatever it is we end up doing."

"Right of course, sorry I got a little carried away there. I just really wanted to thank you. You've already done more than anyone else has ever-"

"Hey, no," Laura waved her off firmly. "We haven't done anything yet. Thank us when we get your daughter back."

Nothing of much importance was said for the rest of the dinner. Small talk, mostly between Laura and Kellan as Carmilla piled on as many helpings as she could manage. She noticed Kellan brighten up and even crack a smile a few times at the table. Food and people to talk to seemed to be doing her good.

Shortly after they finished, Laura shivered, apparently cold. Kellan immediately offered to turn the heating on.

"I can do it. I saw where the panel is. Have to go to the bathroom anyway," Carmilla said, getting up from her seat.

There had been such confidence in Laura's words when she had told Kellan to wait until they got her daughter back. From anyone else, she would have thought them either arrogant or only for show. Not from Laura though, Carmilla knew from experience that Laura fully believed they would find Kellan's child. She probably hadn't even thought much about the possibility of failure.

Carmilla had though and she wished Laura wouldn't be so eager to assure Kellan of her daughter's impending rescue. She knew Laura would move heaven and earth if that's what it took to find the girl but after being missing for so long…

She really needed to have a talk with her about lowering expectations. She didn't want her taking it too hard if there weren't any kids left to save by the time they worked this out. It would be so like Laura to blame herself, regardless of whether that was fair.

She was on her way back to the living room by ways of a corridor connecting to the bathroom when she overheard Kellan and Laura continuing the conversation in her absence.

"Oh, I don't know about that. It's not my story alone to tell," Laura said, sounding almost bashful.

"Please, come on. Give me something nice to think about for a change, if only for a moment. When did it happen? When did you know?"

Carmilla stopped moving, old habits of lurking in the shadows coming to the fore. She stayed in the corridor to listen as Kellan encouraged Laura with a few more 'come ons' and 'pleases' before Laura gave in.

"Okay fine. I'm not sure if I can really answer that though. There weren't any signposts or anything. I think, there was this party, my friends and I were planning to, well, okay we were planning to ambush and capture her at it, which we actually kinda did and kept her in a chair for like four or five or nine days but never mind that. Misunderstanding, Carm's over it. Anyway…"

Carmilla could only imagine how high Kellan's eyebrows must have gone.

"When did it happen? Well, I think that's when it started for me. I'm not sure for her. I'm certain she found me naïve and irritating when we met. This tightly wound dork who wouldn't stop annoying her. I can't hold that against her, that was pretty accurate."

Laura laughed.

"But she kept saving me. I would be dead so many times over without her. It wasn't just the 'saving my life multiple times thing,' though. She opened up to me about herself and the more I learned about her and the more we spent time together, the more I realised how incredible she was. She's had to endure stuff I can't even fully imagine, pain and evil. But through it all, she's still her. This smart, funny, beautiful… hero. Not like a knight in shining armour hero from a story. She's better, because she's real and yeah, that means sometimes she can be frustrating and mean and she doesn't play well with others to put it mildly, but."

Laura paused for a second.

"It's who she is and I'd never change a thing. I feel so lucky every day I get to spend with her. Every day she puts up with me," she chuckled and finished with a simple. "I love her."

Why had Laura wanted the heater on again? She herself felt nothing but warmth right now.

It probably would have been rather awkward if she burst into the room right now. So instead, she found the panel in the corridor and turned the heating on.

"Got it," she called, "coming back."

She could almost see Laura jumping a little in her seat at that.

"Alright then," Carmilla said as she got back to the dinner table. "We should probably get going."

Kellan's face went downcast.

"Oh, of course, you must be tired and you've already explained to me everything that's going on. I mean, I'm sure I could whip up some desert…"

"We can stay for that," Laura said, predictably. Just a little longer, she mouthed to Carmilla as Kellan got up and headed to the kitchen.

"Yeah, fine," Carmilla said. "Laura, can I talk to you while she does that?"

Looking for privacy, they ended up in the missing girl's room upstairs. Laura walked over to the window after turning the room's light on.

"See the shoe scrapes? I think Lexi climbed out of this window the night she went missing. But where she went off to is the real question. Maybe she-"

"Yes, that's very interesting," Carmilla interrupted and turned her around into a kiss.

They fitted together so well now, like a hand into a glove. Her hands gently guided Laura's face closer while Laura wrapped her arms around Carmilla's waist. Both pressing each other close as their mouths met. The long kiss was deep, Laura's lips warm and soft as they always were against her own. As soon as she finally broke it, she pressed her forehead to Laura's and spoke.

"I love you too."

Laura crinkled up her nose and winced.

"Guess you overheard that. Sorry, I don't know what it is about her, I just find myself talking for some reason. Are we sure she's a teacher and not like a therapist or something?"

Carmilla gave a tiny shake of the head. "Don't worry, I'm not complaining. This isn't how I complain."

Laura laughed. She disengaged from the embrace and sat on the bed. Carmilla leant herself against the wall next to the window.

"What do you think?" Laura asked.

"About what?"

"About the missing kids of course. I mean, I think I made my thoughts pretty clear on Principal douche-face but what do you make of it all? I've just realised I didn't really check in with you. I'm sorry I shouldn't forget to do that. We're in this together and no, this isn't flirty flattering, you're one of the smartest people I know. With everything we've learned so far, I wanna know what you think."

She took a moment to answer, crossing her arms over her waist as she thought.

"Well, first of all, thanks for asking Detective Hollis, always nice to know my intellect is valued in this relationship," she put on an extra purr in her voice and got the desired result of a giggle. "To be honest, I can't disagree with anything you've come up with. There is definitely something going on at that school. The hired goons as 'security', all the new stuff the school is suddenly able to buy and a Principal unwilling to even talk to private investigators? Yeah, you're right, there is some bullshit happening there and I'd bet it has something to do with the missing kids too. I think you're on the right track. I'd have said something if I thought otherwise."

Laura nodded.

"Thanks, that's nice to know. Not exactly an expert investigator over here and the stakes are kinda pretty high."

"You're doing great," Carmilla assured her. But, you need to prepare yourself for the worst and know it won't be your fault no matter what happens.

She couldn't say the words out loud though, not right after she'd perked Laura up with what she'd said previously.

Laura laid back on the bed with a sigh.

"You know what's silly? Even though it's trivial compared to everything else, I can't stop thinking about how horrible those kids were. Bullies through and through, can you believe kids could care so little about their classmates being in danger? Hell, they were happy about it."

Carmilla's eyes flicked downwards before she spoke back.

"Yeah, I actually can believe that pretty easily."

Laura sat back up.

"Okay, I know that voice, that's the dark and broody voice. Want to talk about it?"

Carmilla waved her hand.

"No, no it's nothing, forget I said-"

"Come on," Laura said, her voice somehow both insistent and gentle at the same time as she patted a spot next to her on the bed. "You can if you want to."

Carmilla hesitated at first, but with a smiling shake of the head she took the spot offered to her and sat next to Laura on the bed. Laura put an arm around her when she did so.

"I can believe it pretty easily because there was a time when I was the one those kids would have been laughing over being in danger. In fact, when I died at that ball, I'm certain many a glass of wine was clinked in celebration."

She felt Laura's shocked intake of breath next to her, but otherwise, they remained silent, not wanting to interrupt her. Her fingers began to play up and down Carmilla's thigh. They felt so nice.

"I wasn't always like this, how I am I mean. 'Doesn't play well with others-'"

"Oh my God, Carm I'm so sorry I-"

"No, no I'm not upset at you saying that," she kissed Laura on the cheek. "What I meant was, I wasn't always like I am now, but I have always struggled to make friends, even as a human."

"Yeah, I remember about that. I can't believe how horrible your father was. I wish I could yell at that guy, does he have a grave somewhere I can at least glare at angrily?"

Carmilla smiled.

"I do happen to know where it is. Maybe we can waltz on it one day, if that isn't too macabre for you. I think I remember one time when Mattie cast a spell for a hundred birds to shit on it for my birthday. But anyway, it wasn't only him, my… peers, I guess you could call them, weren't too fond of me either. I kind of get it now. I was an outsider, locked up in my castle while they were bonding. So I was an easy target for them to feel strong, to have someone who they could treat like all the men treated them. To pull me down in the same ways they were. I didn't know that at the time though, so it felt like they hated me for no reason at all, or worse, that there was something wrong with me."

She shrugged.

"Look, there's no reason to get all teary eyed about it. Obviously, things changed at the ball and it was a long time ago. I guess dealing with those kids at the school reminded me of it is all."

Laura's eyes were soft. She brought up her other hand to caress Carmilla's cheek.

"I'm still sorry though. And angry. I think I want to yell at those girls now as well. I've said before that I wish I'd known you back then, I think this just makes me wish that even more."

Carmilla turned to face Laura fully, her lips curving upwards a little to hint at a smile.

"That would have been something to witness. Laura Hollis yelling at Lord Karnstein in front of his Royal peers and telling off the Empire's most prominent Countesses while she was at it. You would have been little Mircalla Karnstein's hero. She'd probably have proposed to you on the spot."

"Well, the more I hear about Mircalla Karnstein, the more I think I would have accepted."

Laura probably didn't realise it, but that was absolutely the best thing she could have said. Carmilla leant in and kissed her again. If they'd been in their own hotel room instead of a teenage girl's bedroom, she doubted she could have stopped herself from going further. Instead, she spoke again.

"Those missing kids, Kellan's daughter and the rest, if they are anything like I was, the idea that someone like you were invested in saving them. After getting nothing but spite from everyone else, it would mean the world to them. It would have for me."

"Someone like us," Laura corrected firmly. "You're invested too."

"Sorry to disappoint but no, getting us to that hotel spa finally is what I'm invested in."

"Nope, don't believe you," Laura said. "I think you're feeling bad for these kids because you had to go through something similar to what they were."

"Who did we think was secretly a therapist again?"

Laura smiled but didn't respond. Carmilla sighed in defeat.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I wouldn't mind giving those kids something I never got myself for a very long time. The knowledge that someone out there cares enough to help."

Laura leant her head on Carmilla's shoulder.

"Thank you for sharing all that with me. I know that kind of stuff is hard for you to talk about."

"But I tell you stories all the time."

"Not ones like that, the bad ones. I appreciate you trusting me with them."

"Well, if I can't trust my fiancé with them who could I trust them with?"

Laura pecked her neck with a kiss. The feel of Laura's breath on her skin was amazing.

"I can't overstate how much I now love that word."

They sat together for a time in comfortable silence, until a mischievous glint came into Laura's eyes.

"So, now we're all in agreement that you care about finding those kids. That means you have to agree to this next thing I'm going to propose without getting mad."

Carmilla narrowed her eyes.

"Why do I suddenly get the feeling I've fallen into a trap?"

Laura took a deep breath and stood up off the bed.

"I was thinking about this on the ride here and during dinner but I wanted to hear what you thought first. Something is going on at that school and I want to find out what that is now, not tomorrow or the next day, now. I say we go back there later tonight. We sneak in and find out what the Principal or anyone else there is hiding."

Laura's jaw was set, her eyes determined. By now Carmilla knew what that meant.

She sighed. God damn it. At this rate, she was never going to get to enjoy that spa.