Chapter Four: Investigation

I return to my room after the disaster that was the Town Hall meeting. Turns out, the meeting wasn't called because of the strange disappearances of female students, but because Laura posted her journalism videos on the Silas network, and since the videos contain her speaking about her suspicions of the disappearances, it was flagged as inflammatory content. The dean of students warned us that whoever is spreading the rumors about missing students would face the consequences. At that point, Danny Lawrence; Laura and I's English T.A. and the Vice President of the Summer Society argued that the subject shouldn't be dismissed as a rumor since one of her society sisters is missing. After that, everything began to go downhill once the Zeta's volunteered to protect any coed 7.5 or higher. I'm don't know what they meant by 7.5, but something about that comment caused an uproar with the members of the Summer Society, who suggested reinstating night marches. The Alchemy Department argued that the night marches would ruin some mycological transitions. And then the Zeta's began chanting nonsense and someone began to throw fish into the crowd. Seeing that there was a potential riot on the rise, the dean ended the Town Hall. No questions were answered, no problems were solved, and no plans were made. The Town Hall meeting was completely useless. On the bright side, I was able to give Laura a way to safely post her videos without the University interfering by making sure her video posts go undetected by the Silas Network.

There is something that I'm very worried about. When we gathered for the Town Hall…I felt power in the air, I couldn't pin point it because I was also picking up other supernaturals in the area. The power made felt similar to when I open my earth senses to the campus, but instead of making me feel sick it just made me…terrified. I don't know what causes this feeling, all I know is that it's old, and dark, and consuming. I wish I could talk to my mother about this but if she thinks I may be in the slightest bit of danger, I'll be back in our village before I could blink.

Maybe I can contact Grandmother in secret. I think to myself. Coventina Clairborn is the closest thing I have to a best friend. I love going to visit the palace because she always tells me of our peoples history and even teaches me thinks that I didn't even know I could do, things apparently only those of a royal bloodline could do. While I can't ever see myself every taking the throne, Grandmother made sure that I was well prepared.

"You don't need a crown to be a Queen." She told me. I'm still trying to figure out what she meant by that. What would I be Queen of?

My thoughts are interrupted by a knock on my door. I stand from my desk and walk across the room, opening my door. A tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed male stands in the doorway. "May I help you?" I asks.

The boy smirks, slowly dragging his eyes down my body before meeting my gaze. "My name's Brent. As a Zeta Omega Mu, it is my duty to protect the hotties of this campus."

"Thank you for the offer but I do not require your protection."

"Hotties around the school are going missing. It isn't safe to go out by yourself at night. Who knows what could happen? That's why I should walk you to your classes and stuff. We could get to know each other." He says, leering at me.

"As I said, I do not require your protection. I have no night classes and I do not attend parties. My day is over by the time night falls. I suggest you offer your services to someone else." I tells him, a bit of sternness in my voice.

"Come on…"

Seeing that he does not intend to leave I release a small surge of my power towards him. Brent's body stiffens and his eyes widen. He gulps and rubs the back of his neck with a shaky hand.

"Well you obviously won't be in any trouble." He says, clearing his throat. "I'll go see if anyone else needs my help." He doesn't wait for a reply before quickly fleeing from my doorway as calmly as he could.

Two more Zeta's pass by my door and make their way to Laura's dorm, knocking on her door. I narrow my eyes at the shorter male. He feels just like Carmilla. He must've been one of the other supernaturals that I sensed at Town Hall. Just how many vampires does this school have? I think before stepping out into the hallway, closing my door behind me. I head out of the dorm in search of Laura's dark haired roommate. While I don't know Carmilla well, she's lived with Laura for all this time and hasn't laid a finger on her. I don't trust the other vampire though and there's really nothing I can do without revealing myself.

My search doesn't last long as the vampire I'm looking for is slowly walking towards the direction of our dormitory. "Carmilla!" I lightly jog up to her.

"What have I done to make you think that I enjoy your presence enough to talk to you outside of my room?" She asks as she passes me with a bored look on her face.

I ignore the comment and keep pace with her. "I just wanted to let you know that they Zeta's went through with offering their protection to the coeds."

"Oh joy." She sighs and rolls her eyes.

"A couple of them are at your room." I tell her. "What were their names? Uh…um." I think. "Will and Kirsch."

Carmilla tenses at the sound of Will's name before walking faster towards the dormitory. I stop walking and watch after the girl as she enters the dorms. It's a good thing that worked. Even if Carmilla's reason for going wasn't to protect Laura, it's clear that she likes her space and won't put up with anyone intruding it. She should be able to keep the Zeta's away. I look at the starry night sky before starting to walk back to the dormitory. By the time I make my way inside and up the stairs, most of the Zeta's seem to have cleared out. I pass Will and Kirsch on the way to my room.

Kirsch holds a hand to his neck. "I can't believe she bit me."

I walk into my room and close the door behind me. Maybe getting Carmilla wasn't such a good idea. I didn't want her to hurt anyone. I take a seat at my desk and start up my computer. I check Laura's vlog for updates and see that the whole incident was recorded. While Carmilla didn't use the best technique to rid their room of the Zeta's, at least it was affective. And more people are viewing Laura's vlog. Seems like the anonymous emails I sent out got the attention of some of the student. Laura looks so happy. I'm not going to tell her that while I was cloaking her vlog from the University network, I placed the video in the emails of several students. I'm just glad I was able to help. I turn the screen off with a sigh before readying myself for bed.


The next day was relatively normal. Fortunately I was able to attend all of my classes Zeta free. Danny and Laura spend the evening trying to figure out who's responsible for the missing students. The only problem that night was the loud music playing from Laura's room. For some reason, Sarah Jane and Natalie are acting very out of character…or at least extremely different from how they were the last time Laura spoke to them. If I didn't know any better, I would think that they ingested at least a handful of Water fair dust. But that's impossible since I'm the only fairy here.


The next morning I walk to Laura's dorm. I pass Carmilla on the way and smile at her only to be ignored. I knock on the threshold of Laura's room.

Laura turns to look at me. "Oh hey, come on in." She says, turning back to her computer. "I need to show you something." I sit on edge of Laura's bed closest to her desk. "So, after several hours of Facebook stalking, let me reintroduce to you: Elizabeth Anne Spielsdorf; High school valedictorian, mayoral page." She says, pulling up several pictures of Betty.

My eyes widen. "You spent hours looking for these? You should've come to me; I could've used my facial recognition software to have this information in seconds." I tell her, making Laura's face fall. "I'm sorry. I know you're a little uncomfortable with how easy it is for me to access personal information."

"No." Laura denies, shaking her head. "It's not that-"

"It's okay. You found information that Betty was comfortable sharing with the world. If you had let me do it, we might have learned things that she would rather we not know."

She turns back to the monitor and stares at the images before shaking her head and sighing. "Whatever was happening was happening before she even disappeared. And I didn't have a clue. God, what the hell is going on here?"

My throat tightens as I begin to feel the suffocating aura of power again. Suddenly LaFontaine and Perry rush into the room.

"Laura, you gotta hide quick." The shorter redhead warns her.

"What?" Laura asks.

"The dean! The dean is coming!" Perry tells her before the tall woman appears in the doorway, making Laura and I stand from our seats.

"Uh, hi, miss dean. Can we help you?" Laura asks nervously.

"I'm here to speak with Miss Karnstein." The dean says.

"Who?"

"Carmilla."


I try to remain as calm as possible as the dean reprimands Carmilla in the hallway. LaFontaine presses their ear against the door, eavesdropping on the conversation while Perry stands by the kitchen area with a disapproving look on her face.

Laura speaks to the camera with glee in her voice. "And what kind of thrilling do we find ourselves on now, gentle viewers? Our terrifying dean of students has dropped by unannounced and she's reprimanding my awful roommate in the hallway. So, naturally, I thought I'd share the fun with you."

"This is so childish. You'd think we were still six." Perry scolds.

"Shh! I can almost hear what she's saying." LaFontaine says. "Okay. 'I didn't go out of my way to get you accepted here to have you behaving like this!'." They relay. "Man, she is in trouble."

Laura chuckles. "Well, she's as wonderful a student as she is a roommate."

Perry folds her arms across her chest. "Schadenfreude isn't very attractive, Laura."

The girl closes her eyes and grins. "But so satisfying." She opens her eyes and turns her attention back toward the door when the conversation outside becomes more heated.

"Oh, uh…" LaFontaine listens to the scolding. "'If you don't take care of the situation I will.'" They smile and turn to look at Laura. "Man, all that's missing is 'now straighten up and fly right, young lady'."

"Yes!" The journalist fist pumps. Perry clears her throat, making the blond turn to her. "I know, it's just…she so had it coming."

My fist clench as I desperately wait for the dean to leave the building.

Perry looks at me in concern. "Trinity, are you okay? You seem ill?" She says, making the others examine me.

I try to swallow the lump in my throat and compose myself as best as I can. I clear my throat before I speak. "I'm fine. I skipped dinner last night and I haven't eaten today. I'll be better once I get something in my stomach." I lie.

Perry frowns. "You shouldn't skip meals. It's important to get a health serving of proteins and nutrients every day."

Laura grabs a cookie from the container on her desk and offers it to me. I repress a groan as I take the cookie out of her hand. I don't think I'll be able to eat anything or manage to keep it down while the dean is so close.

LaFontaine straightens up when the door suddenly opens. "Oh, hi, miss Dean sir, your disapprovingness."

"So lovely to have you visiting the floor, ma'am." Perry greets, the smile on her face doesn't hide the fear in her eyes. The dean ignores the students and strides away. I release a sigh of relief as the dean's aura begins to fade away.

Carmilla stalks into the room with her head down. She slides her book bag off her should and tosses it onto her bed before plopping down herself. She rests her arm on one of her knees and rubs her forehead.

An awkward silence passes before Perry speaks up. "Well, as much fun as we've all been having, I'm sure LaFontaine and I have a student crisis to attend to somewhere." She walks towards the door.

Her friend nods in agreement. "Oh, yeah, totally." They say before motioning towards Carmilla. "But before we go, I have some questions for you about-"

Perry cuts her off. "You can ask her later."

"But-"

"Now, Susan." She says; opening the door and leaving, LaFontaine follows after her.

I stand from my seat on Laura's bed. "I'll see you later." I tell Laura and look at Carmilla. "Bye Carmilla." As usual, the vampire ignores me and I take my leave.

Once I'm in my room and the door is locked, I collapse to the floor, panting. That power that I felt the other night…it was the dean. The dean is a vampire, the dean knows Carmilla, Carmilla is a vampire; there are other vampires on campus. Girls are disappearing and the dean's going out of her way to dismiss the situation as a rumor. If vampires aren't feeding on the girl's then what are they doing?

There's something about the dean, something…off. She's a vampire but she feels…tainted, or tied to something. I can sense that she's old and powerful and whatever she's tied to is even more old and powerful.

I shakily stand up and make my way to the bed, letting myself fall onto the mattress in exhaustion. I need to contact Grandmother. I think as my eyes drift close. Whatever is building up seems to be dark and dangerous but my biggest worry is…can I even do anything to stop it?