Disclaimer: Carmilla the web series was created by Jordan Hall and Ellen Simpson, and is based on the novella Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. Hellboy was created by Mike Mignola. This odd little blending of the two, however, was created by me. Here's hoping it works...


It was irritating beyond belief that even though she was in the same town as the university where all the girls were going missing, all she could do in terms of finding out what was going on was still just watching Laura's videos.

Carmilla didn't react well to irritation. She was currently secluding herself in her bedroom, with the rest of the team wisely leaving her alone.

At the moment, no one was making any real progress. Hellboy and Abe planned on heading down to City Hall (and she had to wonder if it wasn't called 'Town Hall' to avoid confusion with the assemblies at Silas) in the morning to ask about Spielsdorf's time there. If she really had been taken while working as a page, chances were someone there was on her Mother's payroll. In the meantime, there wasn't much else they could do. She'd been surprised when a new video had popped up - she knew how long it had been since Hellboy and Abe had been there, so Hollis must have hurried to get it edited, rendered, and posted since then - but at least it had been something new.

Hellboy had been a bit vague when telling her about how their meeting with the girl had gone. That wasn't terribly unusual when it came to him, so she hadn't thought anything of it, but she was starting to wish she'd pressed him for details sooner. She supposed things had gone as well as they could have, given the need to keep her presence a secret, and wanting to keep civilians like Hollis out of danger... but it still could have gone better. The questions had been a bit too specific to have no idea what was going on, yet this cycle of abductions was supposed to be the first they'd heard of it. Fortunately, they'd never actually said the BPRD hadn't heard of any similar cases over the years, but their vagueness on that front hadn't escaped Laura's notice, either.

(And maybe it was getting harder to keep thinking of her just as Hollis, after watching her videos and corresponding with her on Twitter. So what?)

"You still hiding in here?" Kate asked as she opened the door, peeking in.

Having heard her coming, Carmilla wasn't at all phased by the interruption. "I prefer considering it sparing everyone else from my temper." She didn't look up from the laptop on the bed in front of her - there wasn't a desk in the small bedroom, and she likely wouldn't have used it if there was. Sitting cross-legged on her bed as she worked was just more comfortable to her, and more familiar.

"Which I'm sure the others appreciate." Kate clearly felt differently, walking into the room and sitting down on the other end of the bed. "We need to develop a strategy for tomorrow, though, and you're still our resident expert on Lilita Morgan."

"I've never met anyone who called herself that," Carmilla disagreed. "I've changed a lot since 1872. Do you really think she hasn't, as well?"

"Even if she has, the rest of us don't know anything at all about her."

"I guess." She was silent for a moment, replaying part of the video. "Oh, she's good," she said as she watched Bree subtly casting doubt on the BPRD. "Never actually comes right out and says anything that's technically a lie, freely admits she's a vampire, carefully dances around actually explaining anything... She's going to be a problem."

"Maybe so," Kate admitted. "Yet, if anything happened to her, it wouldn't take much to make the leap as to who did it, and the Dean would not keep quiet about that. It would be a public relations nightmare."

Fortunately, Carmilla knew Kate well enough to know what she was actually saying: unprovoked action against Bree Vale was unacceptable. If she started something, that was different. "Yeah, yeah, I know. 'Innocent until proven guilty'." The American justice system had definitely taken some getting used to, particularly when there was a part of her that was used to just killing anyone who got in her way. She knew that had likely been implanted by Mother, and she'd worked hard to shed as much of her programming as she could, but once you started taking lives - once you, for whatever reason, considered them unimportant compared to your own desires, whatever those might be - it changed you. She knew that, on some level, violence would always be her first response to some things. She wasn't proud of it, but wasn't about to waste time denying it.

For good or ill, she was who she was.

She looked back at her computer and had to smile, noting that she'd accidentally paused it on the 'An incredibly boring amount of time later...' title card. It was good that Laura was managing to keep her sense of humor, given everything going on. There wasn't much to the rest of the videos. As much as Carmilla might have wanted the pictures Hollis and Lawrence had been looking at to show Bree stalking the girls, she was clearly being more careful than that. Oh, she might have shown up at one or two parties, but she never got anywhere near the girls. No one was at all of the parties, near all of the girls. It made sense, as that would be a rather careless mistake to make... unless you were actually trying to sabotage things, she supposed. Mother would only need a few of her 'children' to play lure and lead the victims into a trap, and if Spielsdorf had been taken during the summer, there could be as few as two or three of them doing it. (Given her usual luck - to say nothing of Hellboy's - she mentally bumped that number up considerably.) Really, the most interesting thing about the end of the video, to her, was that Laura and - what was Lawrence's first name? Danny? - had clearly been up to something more than just looking at photos while the camera had been off: Laura's outer shirt was gone, Danny was now wearing the plaid shirt that had been tied around her waist, and the formerly made up bed behind them now had distinctly rumpled sheets. They hadn't been getting busy - she knew the signs of that fairly well, given her past, and she wasn't seeing them - but they'd been up to something, alright.

She buried a smirk. None of her business, really. And maybe Laura was kind of cute when she was sleeping like that. So what?

They did at least note Will's presence at the Under The Sea swim team party, and given how he and Bree clearly knew each other from somewhere, Laura combined those two facts to make the deductive leap that he was also a vampire, at which point the video ended. "I can't help but notice she doesn't seem to be staying out of this," Carmilla noted.

"Yeah." Kate grimaced. "Not sure what we can say to change that until we start making real progress without her giving us information."

"Maybe we should have given her our phone number or something, so she wouldn't need to broadcast videos to tell us things?"

"Maybe. Hellboy and Abe are meeting with Mayor Belmonde tomorrow, hopefully that will-"

"Wait," Carmilla interrupted, jerking her head up to look at Kate in surprise. "Whom did you say the Mayor was?"

"Someone named Matska Belmonde," Kate said, watching her carefully. "Why? Someone you know?"

Her eyebrows shot up. "Mattie? Yeah. She's... my sister."

"Which may explain how Spielsdorf was taken."

"I'm going along, tomorrow," Carmilla decided abruptly.

"I thought the plan was not to let your Mother's people know about you?"

"Mattie won't tell her," Carmilla said confidently. "She's actually tried taking Mother out herself, once or twice, over the centuries."

"If I had someone like that working for me, I'd be keeping a close eye on them."

That was true. Caution reared its ugly head, dampening her excitement at the prospect of reuniting with the only one of her 'siblings' who'd been like an actual sister to her. "I'll be discreet," she said, which could mean anything from going in disguise to changing into an animal form and being smuggled into the building. "The psychic can look out for any supernatural means of surveillance, while Leach looks for the more physical kind - regular security cameras notwithstanding. I won't go in to talk to her until they give the all-clear." Just because she didn't usually exercise caution didn't mean she didn't know how.

"Okay," Kate said, sounding somewhat reluctant. "For what it's worth, I hope you're right. We can use all the help we can get on this."

"All the help?" Carmilla asked, gesturing toward her laptop.

"The sooner we get this solved, the sooner Miss Hollis will be out of danger."

Carmilla wasn't so sure. Somehow, Laura Hollis seemed like the kind of person who would just find some new trouble to throw herself headfirst into.


It was a strange experience, sleeping across the room from a vampire.

Intellectually, she knew nothing at all had changed. Whenever it was she'd been changed, Bree had been a vampire since long before Laura had met her. (She hadn't given Laura any details, but Laura could read between the lines enough to pick up on that much, at least.) She'd never bitten Laura before, and wasn't likely to start now... particularly if she hadn't been kidding about being turned off by the high sugar content of Laura's blood. (If that was true, she was totally going to use that as justification to continue her largely junk food diet; she was pretty sure that even her Dad would let her get away with it if it served as an odd sort of vampire repellent.) Bree's behavior hadn't changed a bit: she was still friendly, conscientious, and even respected the chore wheel - in fact, she would even pick up Laura's slack when she got caught up in researching, and never say a word about it. She also continued her religious studies, which didn't make sense as a cover when Laura knew what she was. That suggested her beliefs might actually be genuine, which Laura wasn't sure what to do with.

Still, knowing that her roommate wasn't human, anymore... Well, it was odd. She'd known Hellboy had existed for a while, so it wasn't like she'd never believed there were other sapient life forms besides humanity. She'd just never had one sleeping in the same room, was all. Because Bree had eventually gotten back before Laura had gone to bed, though Danny had left by that point. (She'd mentioned Bree's vampirism to Danny, who'd seemed more nonplussed than anything. Evidently, vampires weren't entirely uncommon at Silas, though they weren't typically as open about it as Bree. Still, knowing Will might be one, too, Laura actually felt a bit safer having Bree around.) "Aren't vampires supposed to be, like, nocturnal, or something?" Laura asked as she watched Bree getting ready for bed.

Bree chuckled. "Been watching The Vampire Diaries again? Or was it Supernatural, this time?" She shook her head. "We're a bit stronger at night, and our eyes can pick up a lot more in low light than yours, but that's about it. Sunlight killing us is a pop culture invention. Not quite as ridiculous as that nonsense about having no reflection, though."

"Yeah, that... doesn't really make any sense at all," Laura agreed. With most of the lights off, she couldn't see Bree all that well, lending the conversation an even more spooky air than it might otherwise have had, but, well, it was Bree. "I mean, if only things with no soul have no reflections, does that mean rocks have souls? Chairs? Beds? By that logic, my pillow should be a self-aware entity. Maybe I should make it a Twitter account of its own."

Bree laughed again. That laughter - so open and honest - was probably a good part of the reason Laura simply wasn't afraid of her. "Exactly. Though I think my favorite made-up weakness has to be arithmomania."

"Arith-wha...?"

"Arithmomania is a mental disorder that may be seen as an expression of obsessive–compulsive disorder," Bree explained. "Individuals suffering from this disorder have a strong need to count their actions or objects in their surroundings. In some folklore, vampires are all stricken with a debilitating obsession with numbers, so that if you throw a quantity of small objects on the ground in front of them - seeds, grain, beads, whatever - they will not be able to resist the urge to pick it up and count it; this affords the victim time to either run away or kill the vampire." There was a crinkling sound from near her desk, and Bree, assuming a puppet's Transylvanian accent, added, "Three! Three cookies! AH AH AH!"

Laura's eyes widened. "Oh! That's why...? Huh. That's actually pretty clever of them."

"True. Can't really get mad at a kid's show, either, so most of us just let that one go."

Which implied there were others that wouldn't get that kind of consideration. "So, I take it that means no Twilight marathons?"

Bree didn't take the bait, though, and audibly shrugged. "Eh. Only seen the first movie - and that was the RiffTrax version. That series is a bit too stupid to be offended by, and if people start thinking that's what vampires are like... Well, that works out for those of us who aren't covered in body glitter."

"I guess." Though that likely meant bad things for those people who couldn't recognize the danger staring them right in the face. That was just as true of some regular humans as it was vampires, though. She heard Bree getting in bed... and realized something. "You're doing that on purpose, aren't you?" she asked, almost suspiciously.

"Doing what?"

"Making noise, so that I know where you are. I didn't think anything of it before, but now... You could probably make most ninjas seem like loud, bumbling idiots, couldn't you?"

"It hardly costs me anything to be aware of your limitations." Which pretty much meant that she was doing exactly that, Laura decided. Being reminded how comparatively limited she was didn't make her feel great, but it actually kind of did reinforce Bree's claim that she wasn't going to lie, to Laura or anyone else.

"Well, thank you for that." She paused. If Bree was going to be that considerate, shouldn't she try and do the same? "About your blood bottles..."

"It isn't human, don't worry."

"That's not what I mean." There was an edge of curiosity to the silence in the room. "We do have a microwave, you know. If you wanted to heat it up. It can't be that good cold."

"I do sometimes do that when you aren't around," Bree admitted. "The smell is more noticeable when it's warm."

And it might well gross Laura out. "Well, now that I know, there's no reason for you not to warm it up all the time. If I can get used to that musty smell in my Bio classroom, I can get used to that."

Bree was silent for a long, contemplative moment. "Thank you, Laura," she said quietly, sounding genuinely touched. "I may just take you up on that. Speaking of class, though, I know you have a morning one tomorrow."

"I know, I know..." Sleep just wasn't coming easily that night. It wasn't just because of Bree, either. During their incredibly boring examination of the hundreds and hundreds of pictures (and she had to admit, the Alchemy kids had been thorough in their documentation), after the little... break they'd taken, Laura had pointed out that they were always meeting in Laura's room, rather than Danny's apartment. That was fine for her, since she wanted to document their investigation for her Journalism project (the BPRD's presence made posting her videos for all to see so that they could all work together somewhat less of a priority, she supposed... though only somewhat, until or unless she had some other way of getting information to them), but some privacy - and no risk of people just walking in like they lived there, too - would be nice, sometimes. Because she found that she really liked kissing Danny. And touching her. And... Well, they hadn't actually gone further than that, yet.

That was actually why Danny hadn't invited her over. Her apartment was fairly small, since she didn't have a roommate to split expenses with her, but it was bigger than any of the dorm rooms, and, as Laura had noted, much more private. Danny's reply to that had been oddly flattering: "I don't trust myself alone with you." In the dorms, there was always the risk of interruption. Without that...

Laura hadn't been quite sure how to react to that. Part of her wanted Danny to make a move like that, to take things that much further. (A part of her that involved her hormones, she'd admit.) But she wasn't quite ready for that step, yet. That Danny was willing to wait, despite obviously wanting Laura badly, made her feel better about their whole relationship. She wasn't interested in just a physical relationship; she wanted it all.

Not that it made waiting any easier, especially when Danny insisted on looking so mouthwatering.

Her dreams weren't exactly PG, these days.


In the tradition of small towns the world over, Trofaiach's Rathaus (which was just the German term for the chief administrative building, not indicative of what kind of people worked there, no matter what Hellboy thought) was modestly-sized, and had little to no obvious security. To Carmilla, this meant she didn't have to dodge any official security cameras. As for any hidden security measures... Well, that was why Thorne and Leach had come along.

Thorne, at least, didn't have to accompany them the whole way. He'd been able to get a feel for the building from the main lobby, and there didn't seem to be any noticeable psychic or magical surveillance. (Not during the day, anyway. Carmilla was willing to bet that anyone trying to break into someone's office - especially Mattie's - after everyone had gone home would be in for a big surprise.) The building was largely stone and wood, so Leach was able to pick up on any metal present fairly easily. Admittedly, not being able to get close to the ceiling or tops of the walls limited what he could do, but any camera that was small enough to go unnoticed but powerful to pick up sharp enough details to potentially identify her would register on their more mundane equipment, and they weren't getting anything, either.

Though, if pressed, Carmilla knew that Mother didn't need to rely on technology. She was connected to all of her children. Nothing intrusive - not without being right in front of them, anyway; as Carmilla had noted, Mother was capable of just reaching into her children's heads and making changes, if she felt the need. More than that, though, if she was that close, she could tell what they were thinking, unless they took special effort to block her, and if she wanted in, she could batter down their defenses... and make them regret defying her. It was entirely possible that all she'd have to do would be visit Mattie and inquire about the BPRD's visit, and she'd see what Mattie had done, whom she'd talked to. She was willing to take the risk, though. As long as Mattie made it clear they didn't learn anything from her - and they already knew about Spielsdorf, so Mother would have no reason to doubt her - Mother likely wouldn't probe too deeply.

Besides, one way or another, she would eventually be learning of Carmilla's presence. It wasn't like they were risking giving away a huge secret.

That ability of Mother's to sense her offspring had been one of Carmilla's biggest worries, in the BPRD's early days. Tracking down an amulet that would block that (without harming any vampires that came into contact with it) had been one of the first - and nicest - things Professor Bruttenholm had done for her, later topped by arranging for the same symbol to be tattooed onto her back in magical ink. (She still wore the amulet, anyway, just in case.)

Despite the lack of any surveillance devices, Carmilla wasn't about to relax quite yet. There were still people around who could see her, and she wouldn't put it past Mother to have a mole in the Mayor's Office - aside from the actual Mayor, of course. That was why, after today, Liz would be accompanying Hellboy and Abe out into the field; that way if anyone mentioned seeing a petite woman on the team, everyone would believe they'd meant her. It wasn't foolproof, but it would do for now.

And really, Hellboy wasn't the only one who wanted matters resolved sooner, rather than later.

She'd missed the Old World craftsmanship evident in the houses and buildings of Trofaiach, she realized. That was true of the City Hall, too. Polished marble floors, antique-looking wooden chairs and tables. It was a lot warmer, with more personality, than most government buildings in America - somewhat ironic, she supposed, given that her Mother (who could easily be the poster girl for the stereotypical Evil Vampire) was ultimately in charge. She didn't think she'd ever been to the town before - in the old days, she hadn't always known where Mother had taken her - but there was just something about it that said 'Styria', to her.

That, even now, a small part of her thought of as home.

The hints of modern technology, like the computer on the Mayor's secretary's desk, just seemed jarringly out of place. On the other hand, it helped remind her of where and when she was, and why she was there. "May I help you?" the secretary said stiffly. She looked to be in her mid-20s, with short brown hair and matching eyes, and the occasional nervous glances she darted at Hellboy and Abe suggested she was entirely human. She must have been fairly new, too, to be phased by looking at a pair of paranormal investigators; Carmilla imagined anyone who worked for Mattie would be exposed to all kinds of strange sights in short order.

Well, she was happy to speed that process along, if she could. "We're with the BPRD," she replied, deciding not to comment about how the woman kept focused on her as much as she could. Not yet, anyway. "We're here to see the Mayor."

The secretary tugged at the front of her gray suit jacket. "Do you have an appointment?"

"Oh, she's expecting us," Hellboy commented; Carmilla and Abe knew him well enough to detect the amusement lurking in his voice.

Mattie's secretary didn't. "May I see your credentials?"

Carmilla smiled. She couldn't help it. "As some old friends of mine were fond of saying, 'These are my credentials'," she said, gesturing to Hellboy and Abe on either side of her.

The woman swallowed hard, then let them through without further argument.

"Hutch would be proud," Hellboy murmured as they reached the door to the Mayor's inner office, and Carmilla's smile widened. He would have been, she thought, slightly wistful.

No time to get lost in her memories, though. She had something to focus on in the here and now that was much more important. She hung back a little, letting Hellboy's broad form hide her from sight for the moment. She wanted to make her entrance count.

Mattie was wearing a black power suit. Carmilla frowned. Mattie had always enjoyed looking fashionable, yes, and it was certain that the office of Mayor would require her to dress a bit more formally than she had in the past. Still, seeing her looking like that was just... wrong, somehow. She'd never been interested in holding that kind of responsibility, either.

She looked up when they entered, taking in both Abe and Hellboy before focusing primarily on the latter. No surprise there; he was the more attention getting of the two. "Is there something I can do for you gentlemen?" she asked coolly.

"In fact, there is," Hellboy replied. "We have some questions for you about one of your former pages."

"That sounds like something you should take up with Human Resources."

"Why do I get the feeling they take that title a bit more literally here than most?" Abe asked Hellboy, seemingly ignoring Mattie.

"This place does certainly give off that vibe," Hellboy agreed.

Mattie had never liked being ignored. "What page?" Her tone had gotten distinctly sharper.

"Elizabeth Anne Spielsdorf," Hellboy told her, watching her carefully.

Her expression didn't flicker in the slightest. "She worked here over the summer, I believe. Solid worker, and the job isn't exactly difficult enough for any of the pages to make an impression, unless they do something wrong."

"You didn't notice any... shifts... in her behavior?" Abe prodded. "Lapses in professionalism, preoccupation with recreation?"

"She was a high school graduate about to head off to college," Mattie said flatly. "I'm sure she found time to have some fun? Is that all?"

"No, actually," Carmilla spoke up, stepping around Hellboy. "Not even close."

Mattie went very, very still. For a long moment, nothing moved in the office. "Mircalla...?" she whispered, looking like she'd seen a ghost.

"Hey, sis. Miss me?"

Mattie gave a muted, incredulous laugh, a smile tugging at her lips... then in a blur of motion, she was suddenly in front of Carmilla, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. "Oh, you have no idea...!" She laughed again when she finally stepped back, though she stayed within arm's reach. "We thought you were dead!"

"Technically, we both are."

She swatted her arm. "You know what I mean! How...?"

"The coffin Mother buried me in was exposed by an Allied bombing strike, and I got loose." Gesturing toward her fellow agents, she added, "Someone else found me first."

Mattie apparently hadn't quite taken in the BPRD jacket she was wearing. "You're... with them?"

"Yes," Carmilla said simply. "As far as purposes go, this far outstrips being bait in a supernatural con game."

"I suppose I can't argue that," she muttered. "Why would you come back here, though?"

"To stop Mother, once and for all. I was hoping you'd help us with that."

Mattie looked physically pained. "I... can't."

"I know you've tried to kill her yourself, before."

"Exactly." Mattie tugged at her collar, tapping her bare neck. "That's the problem."

It took Carmilla a few moments to realize what was wrong with that picture. "Where's...?"

"When we heard about the bombing, figured out that your coffin had been hit... I tried again. I had to. When I failed... Mother decided to take precautions against any further attempts on her life. She took my necklace, Mircalla. If I even support any efforts against her, I'm dead."