Chapter Fourteen: Dilemma

Laura turns on her camera, preparing for a video while Perry and Mia whittle stakes. Carmilla sits next to Perry on her bed, casually sipping at a grape soda. Mia sits near a pile of stakes on Laura's bed with LaFontaine lying behind her, hands bound behind their back. I sit near a map of the campus and continue flipping through the pages of my book; trying to commit the spells to my memory.

"Welcome to midterm week at Silas." Laura says. "Students are scrambling for their exams. The stage is being built for the big party…"

"Party…" LaFontaine sings with a smile on their face.

"And in an underground cavern who-know-where, a horrific sacrifice is being prepared. That's the bad news." She says. "The good news is that we haven't heard anything about any other girls going missing, and with LaFontaine still hogtied and headbanging, the vamps are still two shy of their magic number. Even more awesome than that, is that we have totally researched up some mystical vamp-killing, evil-ending sword that is gonna level this tilt-a-whirl of a playing field." She turns to Carmilla. "You're gonna go out and grab that soon, yeah?"

"Soon." Carmilla tells her.

A shiver runs up my spine at the thought of the blade, and I study the text in front of me harder.

"Good." Laura says. "I will feel a lot better when we are all together and heavily armed." She sighs. "I wish JP was here, but someone," she glances at LaFontaine. "seems to have misplaced our non-resident librarian." Suddenly Laura hisses and grabs her head in pain. "Ahh."

Carmilla looks at her. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. That necklace did a number on me." She looks at Carmilla. "I feel like I had a whole other brain crammed into my skull."

"That…that'll pass."

Her hand falls down to her neck. "Ugh. That is not helping either." Her hand plops down in her lap. "But I think it's also this sit tight plan. I mean; what if the vamps just take two more tonight and make with the sacrifice anyway?"

Carmilla shakes her head. "Laura, this plan keeps you safe. It keeps your friends here safe. That's all we can do." Laura looks at her before a spark shines in her eyes. "Laura…" Carmilla says warningly.

"You're right; it's all we can do, but what if there were more of us? Remember when I first put the videos up online and all those people that I'd never even met just wanted to help?" She says, not knowing that I embedded her videos into multiple emails when I first uploaded them for her. "There is a whole campus full of people out there and what do you bet they don't want some vampire cult kidnapping their friends any more than we do?"

"Laura-"

"With that many people, we can search every basement and cave until we find them. It's…perfect!" She turns to Carmilla with a look of excitement on her face.

"Laura, that's…" Carmilla tries to interrupt but the blonde continues on.

"I will go get the troops rallied, and you go get the sword, okay?" She smiles. "Your mom and her loopy demon light thingy aren't even gonna know what hit 'em." She kisses Carmilla on the cheek and runs out of the room.

Perry looks at Carmilla, who remains sitting on the bed. "Don't you have a sword to go get?"

My grip on the book tightens at the thought of the sword. I couldn't reveal the secret of my people. Myself sure, but I would never place the others in danger.

Perry sits near LaFontaine, running her fingers through their hair and Mia sits on Carmilla's empty bed, toying with the stake in her hands. I remain in my initial spot, stuck in my warring thoughts between the safety of my people and the safety of this school. A hand on my knee causes me to look up. Mia looks at me with worried eyes and mouths the words 'are you okay?'. I attempt a smile and shake my head, signaling that I do not wish to discuss it right now.

Laura holds an icepack to her head. "Yeah. That could've gone better. Ugh." She groans. "So, I got up on the big party stage and I explained to the assembled crowd that the dean of students was a vampire who planned on sacrificing five of their classmates to some ancient brain devouring hungry light, and that it was time for all of Silas to rally together…and then, unfortunately, I was hit in the head with a tomato." She puts the icepack down. "Turns out Danny really has not gotten over…things. But, before the Summer Society could pummel me with more various fruits, the Zetas showed up. Turns out Will and Kirsch are missing and the last place anyone saw them was headed to this dorm. So, the only reason I sit before you now, untarred and unfeathered, is because they couldn't agree on who had a better case of using me as a human piñata. And like all of their arguments, it quickly escalated into a free-for-all, with paintballs and quarterstaff combat and no concern for the destruction of property. So, I snuck to safety when they set the party stage on fire."

"I wanna go to the party…" LaFontaine mutters.

Laura continues on. "So much for my big plan. The campus is a war zone and I don't know what could've happened to Kirsch and…I don' know what to do about LaFontaine or Betty and…Carmilla's still gone and I'm starting to get worried and-" Suddenly her computer pings. "And apparently my video cache is full from a giant raw file from…" She looks closer. "Wednesday. But that should just be…"

We watch in shock as a video of 'Laura' pops up. "Hello, sweetheart. I thought it was time we had a little talk."

Evening has arrived and we're all still stuck in our thoughts after learning of Carmilla's betrayal.

"It's time." LaFontaine mutters. "It's time for the party. I wanna go to the party."

"I know, sweet. Shhh." Perry pats their leg before continue to pack the stakes she and Mia made into a bag. Suddenly the door opens and Carmilla walks in. Perry shoots up from her seat on the bed and hold out a stake. "Not one more step, bloodsucker."

Carmilla looks at her in shock before looking at Laura, holding out her hands. "What is this?"

Laura plays the video on her computer. "So, what's it to be? Shall we take the prom king here and leave you and the little moppet alone?" She fast forwards.

"Deal." Carmilla says.

"Excellent."

Laura stops the recording. "Were you even gonna tell me?" She asks. "About JP? About Kirsch? About the fact that she possessed me and used me to hurt my friends or was is just gonna be 'sorry babe, no sword, no rescue. That just the way the world is?'"

Carmilla shakes her head. "Laura, that's not-"

"I won't let you take her." Perry tells her.

"Laura, she promised to leave us alone." Carmilla tells her.

"Yeah, just so long as you let her kill my friends." Laura shakes her head. "Y'know, it's not the sword. The sword would kill you and I get that. It's that you just gave up. After everything, you didn't even try."

"Laura, that's not-"

"Go away, Carmilla. Go run and hide." She turns away. "We're done."

Carmilla looks at her one last time before leaving.

Laura busies herself prepping for another video while Perry comforts LaFontaine, whispering quiet words to them.

Mia and I sit on Carmilla's bed. "Are you okay?" Mia whispers.

I tear my gaze away from the door and meet her eyes. "I should go after her."

Mia's brows furrow. "Why? Why do you want to go after her? It's not like you're the best of friends, I mean she betrayed Laura, she betrayed all of us."

"And I will be doing the same if I don't go after her." I close my eyes and sigh. "I can't explain it all right now, but I need to find Carmilla. It's important."

Mia sighs and rests her forehead against mine. "I believe you." After a moment she speaks again. "Just be sure to come back and make sure you stay safe. If you're gonna be in the sky again, I don't want you getting caught by anyone."

"I'll be safe. I promise."

Mia presses a chaste kiss against my lips. "Go. I'll cover for you."

I nod before standing up and walking out the room. I hear Mia make up an explanation to Laura and Perry as I enter my room and close the door behind me. I walk over the window and open it before shifting into my fairy form and flying out and into the sky.

It doesn't take me long before I spot a lone figure standing on a roof, facing the starry night. I land behind Carmilla and shift back into my human form. "Are you just going to stay up here?" I ask, surprising the vampire.

Carmilla looks at me. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting ready to fight with the others?"

"Yes, but we both know that they're going to need more help." I tell her. Carmilla turns away and returns to gazing at the stare. I walk up beside her. "I understand the decision you made. To be honest I would've made the same one. I'd like to believe that I would've fought more or found another way but…if Mia was in the same position I wouldn't have hesitated. I place her safety above those of my friends, just like you place Laura's above us. So I understand the decision you made when faced with when offered Laura's life in exchange for the lives of others." I look down. "But that is not all that I have come to tell you…I too have betrayed my friends." I reveal, causing Carmilla to look at me. "The Blade of Hastur…it is a weapon that I have heard from before. It was deemed too powerful and destructive and therefor sealed away. But it was sealed beneath the sea with great magic by the fae and only a member of the royal family will be able to release it."

"So, we wouldn't have been able to get the sword anyway." Carmilla says. "Why not just tell everyone when that in the first place?"

"Carmilla…you will not be able to retrieve the sword without me."

"…but you just said only a member of the royal family can break the spell; that would mean-"

"The fae are in hiding. Not many know that we still exist and if so, then very few. It is one thing to reveal myself, but if I were to reveal my status…my Grandmother is Queen of the Water Fae and I am a princess. If I were to make that known, I would be announcing that my people are alive and well. Not only would that be considered treason, but I will also be placing them and others in danger. The only one who knows of my lineage is Mia, and her being my Mate makes her exempt from the law. You have no idea the position revealing this information puts me in. If anyone were to find out…" I trail off. "But I am doing this, not just for myself, but for Mia. Though piece of my being is screaming at me to just take her away and get her to safety, I remain here; ready to fight with her and my friends. For her."

After a minute, Carmilla speaks up. "No one will find out about you. Your secret is safe with me."

I look at her. "Thank you. Will you come back with me? I know Laura may not be in the mood to see you but it will take both of us to get the sword. I'm not my grandmother; I don't know how long I'll be able to hold the spell."

Carmilla nods. "Let's go."

We return to the dorm room only to find it empty. Carmilla plays a video, sitting open on Laura's screen. As it progresses she sits down and rests her fingers at her temples as we watch the group depart and go to stop the sacrifice. My heart clenches at the thought of Mia in danger without me there to protect her.

"Godddamnit." The vampire curses. "Of all the imbecilic, idiot, suicidal…you just had to go and get yourself eaten. Oh god, you're somewhere getting eaten."

"Carmilla, we need to go get that sword." I urge, wanting to find my mate as quickly as possible. "It's the only way. "

Danny bursts into the room. "Where the hell is Laura because this isn't funny."

"What?" Carmilla asks.

"I just got a text." She holds up her phone. "'Trapped in basement of old chapel. Come quick. Bring stakes.'"

Carmilla turns away and runs a hand through her hair. "The Dudley Chapel. The Lustig Building!" She stand up, walking towards Danny. "They're under the Lustig Building!"

"You're being serious? This isn't a joke?"

"Only the part that's happening right now, Xena." She says. "Okay. Get down there, rustle up you Brobdingnagian sorority sisters a-and get to the Lustig." She shakes her head. "Hell, even tell the Zetas that's where the missing bros are. Let's go Trinity." I follow behind Carmilla as we begin to leave the room.

"And where are you two going?" Danny asks.

Carmilla turns around. "To do something really stupid." She looks at the camera.

Danny follows her gaze. "Is that thing still on?"

"Yeah, I think we're supposed to be filming our soppy heartfelt goodbyes or something."

"Screw that."

"Good call. See you at the violence." Carmilla jerks her head towards the hall and I follow after her.