Chapter Eight: Plan
The next day as I make my way across the quad I'm stopped by the sound of my name being called. I recognize the voice immediately and turn to seek out the beauty.
"Trinity!" Mia jogs up to up to me. "Hey." She pants.
I smile at her. "Hey."
"I was uh, I was just wondering…"
"Yes?"
"I know you don't really go to parties, but there's this luau thing tonight."
I nod. "The Zeta's are throwing it; are you going?"
"Yeah and I was just thinking, you had bad experiences at parties before…maybe it would be different if you knew someone there?"
"Are you asking me to go?"
"No! I mean, yeah I am. I just thought we could hang out together since our last meet up was interrupted."
On account of me having to save my friends from flying, fiery books. "I'm sorry about that."
She shakes her head. "It's no problem. So…what do you say?"
I blink. "Yes! I'll go to the party."
She beams at me. "Great. I guess I'll see you there."
I nod. "You will."
She shifts from foot to foot. "I'll just let you get to class then. Bye."
"Goodbye." I smile and watch her walk away before it occurs to me what I just agreed to. The plan! We're supposed to capture Carmilla tonight. As if I didn't have enough anxiety already, it basically skyrocketed at the fact that I just agreed to spend time with my mate again. Not only will she be at the party, but now I have to keep her occupied and away from any potential danger the plan may bring. I groan and continue on to class.
Later that evening, I stand in front of my wardrobe, wondering what to wear. I don't want to be in a dress if I happen to be in a fight. I move push the hanger aside. I know better than to wear a white top around frat boys. I push that aside as well. I finally settle on wearing a blue spaghetti strap tank top and jean shorts with strappy silver sandals. I walk over to my bed and crouch down; pulling out the satchel grandmother gave me from underneath it. I flip it open and search around for a few moments before my hand finally clutches the small object. I stare at the water crystal ring and sigh, hoping that I won't have to use it anytime soon.
I try to brush aside my worry, thinking of my conversation with my parents earlier today. Luckily for me, I was able to reach my mother while she was at the restaurant and dad was on his lunch break, which made the conversation as short as possible. After the shock of mating with a human wore off, I found myself being scolded for telling my grandmother before them, my mother quickly gave me her 'special' brownie recipe. I had to repeatedly explain to her that I will not use fairy dust to lure my mate to me.
After making sure that the satchel was safely tucked away, I lock the door to my room before making my way to Laura's.
I knock on the door and seconds later it is cracked open before I am fully pulled in by a pale arm that belongs to LaFontaine. "'bout time you got here." They say. I look around the room and see Perry sitting on Laura's bed while Danny stands near the bathroom door.
"Where's Laura?" I ask.
"Getting dressed." Danny grumbles. It's obvious that she is still unhappy with this plan.
"I still think this is crazy." Perry says.
LaFontaine scoffs. "Do you have any other ideas on how to catch a vampire?"
"Carmilla is not a vampire, she's just-"
The argument is interrupted by the opening of the bathroom door. Laura steps out, dressed in a white, off the shoulder, floor length gown with ruffles. We stare at her in silence.
"So…" She drags out. "What do you think?"
"Perfect." LaF nods with a grin on her face.
"You look like you're about to flee your brooding lover across the moors." Danny tells her.
"It's a lovely dress." Perry shrugs.
Laura turns to me. "Trinity?"
"If your father were a king; you would be the perfect virgin daughter to offer to potential suitors." I stammer, not wanting to accidentally insult her.
"Oh…thanks?" She says, slightly baffled.
"Remember the plan; you head to the party and play it cool for a while before leading vampirella away to the Zeta ambush." LaF explains.
"Got it." Laura nods.
"We'll see you there. Let's go guys." LaF opens the door and holds it open. Perry stands from the bed and walks out. I begin to follow after her.
Danny hangs back for a bit. "Stay safe." She tells Laura before heading out as well.
Once we're out of the room, LaFontaine closes the door. As everyone heads their separate ways, I wring my fingers at the thought of seeing Mia at the party. Here goes nothing. I think before continuing on to the party.
I look around the mass group of people, trying to avoid colliding with the drunken dancing bodies as I search for a familiar face. I find the drink table and grab a bottle of water. Music blares in the air and people begin to move faster to the song. I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn around.
"Hey, you made it!" Mia smiles.
"Yeah." I glance at her figure, seeing the raspberry red flowing tube top, black shorts, and strappy black heels. I fight to stop my eyes from lingering on her long, smooth legs and look back up at her. "You look beautiful."
Mia's eyes drop and a blush tickles her cheeks. "Thanks. You too. I mean, you look great."
"Thank you." I smile. Once again, we fall into an awkward silence. "Do you want a lei?" I blurt out.
"Aren't they all gone?" She asks, looking around.
"I'm sure I'll find some." I tell her. "Stay right here." She nods and I begin to navigate my way through the crowd.
I scrunch my nose at the fake and plastic lei's that hang around the partygoer's necks. I break out of the crowd and find a shadowed spot on the lawn. I check for any wondering eyes before kneeling to the ground. I may not be a full earth fairy, but I'm still half. I place my hands on the ground and concentrate. After a moment, colorful flowers begin to grow and wrap themselves around my arms. I stop the flow of magic and remove my hands from the ground. I stand up, letting the colorful lei's fall from my arms and into my hands. I smile and place one around my neck before making my way back towards the party.
I return to find Mia waiting patiently where I left her. "For you." I hold up the lei.
She gasps. "These are beautiful. Where did you find them?"
"I have my ways." I try not to think about the lecture I would receive from my parents if they ever find out that I used my powers in public just to impress my mate.
"Will you…?" She motions, stepping closer to me. I slip the lie over her head and lift her soft brown hair from under it. She steps back and smiles at me. "Should we find somewhere to sit?"
Soon, we find a spot at the fire pit and chat, making conversation about anything and everything, even joking about the rivalry between the Zeta's and the Summer Society. Mia's eyes flicker over the crowd and the smile on her face dies.
I try to follow her gaze but cannot see whatever she is focused on. I look back to her. "What's wrong?"
She blinks and looks down, shaking her head. "It's nothing."
I continue to look at her in concern. "What?"
She seems to be contemplating whether or not to speak before sighing. "Do you see that guy over there; the one with the dark blond hair in the blue shirt?"
My eyes search the crowd not far away from us and lock on a scraggly haired boy at the beer pong table, a scantily clad girl on his arm. "Yes." I say, turning back to her.
"That's Max; my ex." Mia tells me.
I bury the surge of jealousy and focus on my mate. "What happened?"
Mia brushes her hair away from her face. "We met in tenth grade; he wasn't popular or anything, but we just clicked. We were high school sweethearts. We would've broken up when we graduated because we didn't think our relationship would survive the long distance, but when we found out that we were going to the same school we stayed together. The whole summer, all we talked about was what we were the things we'd do together once we got to college." She shakes her head and chuckles bitterly. "A month into the semester; he dumps me out of nowhere. He said he didn't want his experience to be ruined because he's weighed down by a girlfriend." She looks over back over at him. "I guess that was just code for 'wanting to be able to sleep with anyone he wanted to'."
I bravely place my hand on top of Mia's, bringing her attention back to me. "You are a kind, intelligent woman who's beautiful inside and out, and he is a fool for letting you go. You're going to find someone better than him. Someone who won't let a single day go by without letting you know how much they love you, and how grateful they are to be worthy of your love."
Through my speech, Mia's eyes soften and she continues to stare at me. Once I'm finished, she begins to lean in. I slowly go to meet her, but our moment is shattered by a hand landing on my shoulder.
"Time to go." LaFontaine grabs my arm and pulls me along.
I stumble after them in confusion when it occurs to me that I completely forgot about the plan. I turn back to look at Mia, but cannot see her around the moving bodies. Once we break away from the crowd, I notice Danny and several Zeta's quickly making their way towards the dormitory.
Everything quickly fades into a blur as my mind goes back to the near kiss with my mate. By the time that I'm snapped out of my thoughts, I try to ignore the pain in my back as Laura speaks to the camera, motioning to a bound and gagged Carmilla. Danny touches a forming bruise on her eye and LaFontaine holds a hand to the back of their head.
"Vampire captured! Even though I was unable to text for help, in an unbelievably lucky series of events, Danny got worried about my crazed plan and came to check on me." She turns to the tall girl. "Thanks. How's your eye?"
Danny looks at Laura. "It's better now that you're safe."
"Also, I got my head smashed into a table, if anyone cares." LaF speaks up. "Trinity got kicked into the wall. And I'm pretty sure that Zeta guy Will has a fractured clavicle. I can't believe he went back to the party."
"Bumps and bruises and the dubious legality of holding someone hostage in their own room aside, I think this is cause for a little celebration. Guys, we did it!" Laura smiles before looking down at Carmilla. "And now that her reign of terror and flirting is over, we'll unpod SJ and Natalie, we'll find Betty, and-" She is interrupted by the sound of a blood curdling scream. We turn our attention towards the door. "What was that?!" She says, turning back to us. "We caught her fair and square! There is not allowed to be some new horrible thing."
Suddenly, Kirsch burst into the room. "Laura! You gotta come quick. It's SJ and Natalie! I think somebody's trying to take them. I can't find Natalie and I think SJ's…I think she's dead!"
Later on, Perry rubs Laura's shoulder and Kirsch sits on Carmilla's bed with his head down. I sit on Laura's bed in solemn silence.
"I don't understand. We caught her. This shouldn't be happening. Natalie shouldn't be missing and Sarah Jane shouldn't be…" Laura trails off.
The door opens and Danny and LaFontaine walk in.
"Well, you were right." Danny says, holding up two pieces of paper. "These stupid cards were there in both their dorms."
"And I took a bunch of samples." LaF holds up their syringe. "We'll figure out what the sludge is."
Danny looks at Kirsch. "It looks like the plan was to take both of them, so maybe what happened to Sarah Jane was an accident."
"She fell." Kirsch says.
Laura looks at him. "What?"
"We were all watching the fire from the third floor balcony. And then…and she kept asking me to go to the party…and I kept telling her 'babe, we're at the party'. And then…and then we noticed Natalie went missing, and-and everyone went to look for her. Except SJ, because well, I was worried about her, so I told her to stay put. And I locked the door and she should've been safe. And then we heard her scream, and then…they've must've tried to take her and she must've fallen." He looks at the bound vampire. "Hey, why'd you do that to her, huh? What did she ever do to you?!" He takes her by the shoulders and shakes her.
Danny quickly steps in and pulls him away from her. "She wasn't there, okay? She wasn't there."
Kirsch wraps his arms around the tall girl. "Thanks so much, psycho. I'm gonna…you know, at times like these a dude needs to be with his bros." He strides out of the room. Danny closes the door behind him.
Laura sighs. "Oh my gosh. This is such a mess. What are we gonna do now?" Carmilla coughs, bringing our attention to her. "Oh, crap." She groans.
LaFontaine nods. "Yep. That is a dilemma."
"This day just keeps getting better and better." She looks at Perry, who frowns.
"Well, don't look at me. I didn't want to kidnap anyone to begin with!"
"Well, we can't just let her go! She still might be involved." Danny argues.
"Also, and I'm just throwing this out there, but it took, like, eight people to subdue her and she seems kinda angry." LaF adds.
"Right." Laura nods. "Definitely not untying angry vampire."
"You can't just keep a hostage in your dorm room, Laura! I mean, I know this is Silas, but somebody is bound to notice if you keep a girl trussed up in here for God knows how long." Perry says.
"You really think that, huh?" LaFontaine says, smiling at their friend's denial. "I could take her to the bio lab. I'm sure there's all sorts of things we could figure out through some minimally invasive probing." Laura and Perry send them strange looks. "Or a voluntary questionnaire."
"We could take her to the summer society department. There's a storage room in the back…" Danny offers.
"No!" Laura says. "She's our only lead. She stays exactly where she is until she tells us what's going on and how she's involved. If we get caught, you guys can just blame me. Worst thing they can do is expel me, and by comparison, that's not seeming too dire."
"It'll seem dire once they start your tribunal." LaF tells her.
"My what now?"
"You really need to read your student handbook." Our Floor Don advises.
"Okay, no. Focus." We huddle around Laura and Perry covers Carmilla's ears. "If we're gonna break her, we need to girl the hell up. United front. No mercy. Am I right?" She looks at each of us and we nod before backing away. "Okay." She looks at Carmilla. "Alright, vampire. We know that you've been stalking those girls and we know that…you're a vampire! So the sooner you 'fess up and tell us what's going on, the better this is gonna go for you because we have got a…spatula and a stapler and we are not afraid to use them, so you better start singin'!"
"Uh, Laura…she's still got the…" I gesture to Carmilla's mouth.
"Oh, right. Uh, maybe this will get you talking." She rips the tape off. "Ooh." She grimaces in sympathy before schooling her features. "So, spill. How do two more girls end up kidnapped and murdered when we've got you tied up here?"
"Because I didn't do it, you dimwits." Carmilla says her voice thick with annoyance.
"You cannot seriously think that we're dumb enough to believe you're innocent just because you say so."
Carmilla rolls her eyes. "Yeah, 'cause that seems like a stretch. Look, if I were really a vampire, would I just stay here, tied up, proclaiming my innocence as some sort of trick?"
Laura shares a look with us before nodding. "Yeah. That's completely, exactly what a vampire would do. We have, like, forty hours of video documentation. Bet you wished you'd watched my project now, huh?"
"Fine. So I'm a vampire. But I couldn't have made off with either of the two cupcakes because I was here with you, and then I was here being ambushed by toddlers the whole time."
"Well, maybe you have some kind of…vampiric accomplice!"
"Do I strike you as the type of person who plays well with others?"
"Well, if you weren't snacking on coeds, what were you doing following them around at parties?"
"I'm a popular girl. I get a lot of invitations. Not everybody has to resort to bush league* investigative journalism to get their kicks."
Laura's face scrunches in frustration. "You're a vampire!"
"Yeah, but not a kidnapper!"
"She's got us there. Assuming she's up to something diabolical just because she's-" LaF is interrupted by Laura.
"An undead fiend from the pits of hell?"
"I'm from Eastern Europe." Carmilla says but sighs when she is met by silence. "Potato, potahto."
When someone knocks on the door and begins to open it but Perry and LaFontaine rush over and keep it cracked. "Oh, hey! Yeah, we're actually good for beer shots right now. But thanks for thinking of us." Perry says. "What? Uh, no. We're rehearsing a skit. Uh, yeah, the torture scene from Arsenic and Old Lace. Mhmm. Yeah, there's a torture scene. Want more info? Buy tickets." She closes the door and walks further into the room. "Okay. As much as I appreciate that we have this whole hysterical vampire thing going on, I think it's time that we just deescalate…
"Deescalate?" Laura asks. "She just admitted to being a vampire."
"I know. And that's insane. So, maybe she's just insane and instead of holding her here hostage we should take her to student health services. I hear they have a great collection of strait jackets and tranquilizers." Now Perry is the one receiving strange looks. "Well, what other option do we have? Keeping her here tied up, watching her every second? Starving her until she confesses?" At that, Danny and Laura share a look.
Once that it was decided to proceed with Perry's fluke of an idea, we all took our leave. I walk up to my door, only to see the lei that I gave Mia hanging around the doorknob. I pick it up and look at it in confusion.
I arrive at Mia's dorm and knock on the door. "Mia?" I ask and knock again.
The door opens, revealing an unfamiliar girl. "She doesn't want to talk to you."
"Excuse me?"
"Whoever you, Mia doesn't want to talk to you."
"But I need to explain-"
"She doesn't want to talk to you." She interrupts me.
"What about her lei?"
"There's a reason she gave it back." She says before closing the door in my face.
I stare at the door in shock, pain filling my chest at the thought of my mate rejecting me.
