"Everyone, this is Laura Hollis. She's new."
"We can see that. So you finally turned someone, Carmilla? She must be very special to you." The glint in the Dean's eyes was far from pleasant, and Laura straightened in automatic defiance.
They were in the Dean's office. Around ten people were sitting and standing along its walls, with the Dean herself sitting behind her elevated desk. Laura recognized Carmilla's brother Will, but the others were new. They looked sort of scary when standing around in a group like this, just a little less than human. One of them, a guy, had red eyes. Eww.
Carmilla shrugged and said, "She wants to join our clan."
Laura stared. She had no such wish, and she was about to say so when Carmilla took her hand and squeezed. Her eyes were very dark, and very serious.
"Yeah, um… of course. Your clan. I heard lots of nice things." She was going to kill Carmilla for this later.
The Dean smiled, stroking a blonde strand of hair from her unlined face. She didn't look nearly old enough to be Carmilla's mother. "You will be tried, of course, but until then, you are allowed to continue your studies here at Silas. I am afraid we have other business to attend to right now, however."
"Thank you?" Laura felt her face scrunch up. Carmilla widened her eyes meaningfully and squeezed her hand again. "I mean, it's a great honor. To be tried by you. Wow."
Before she could say anything else, Carmilla bowed her head, pulled Laura out of the office and closed the door behind them.
"What the hell, Carmilla?!"
"Ssssh, not here!" Laura was dragged down one floor in the darkened Administrator Building - the campus had yet to regain power - and pushed up against the wall.
"Do you realize how fast clanless vampires are killed when trespassing on claimed territory?"
"No?" Laura really didn't. Her breath faltered when she looked up at Carmilla, the close proximity doing nothing for her mental resources. "Is it really fast?"
Carmilla let out a short laugh, supporting herself with a hand against the wall at Laura's back as she leaned in to tiredly rest her forehead against Laura's. "Yeah… yeah it is, Sweetheart."
Once the base station in Styria was up and running (and the bodies of the two workers taken to the morgue), Laura spent nearly two hours convincing her dad over the phone that yes, she was alive, no, she wasn't going home, and no, she definitely didn't want him to pick her up as soon as the bridge was repaired. The whole ordeal wasn't made easier by her avoiding his calls for the past month, or the fact that the "terrorist attack" was all over the news. Eleven dead, more than thirty wounded, and a campus partly in ruins. The media helicopters and even a few drones were yet to clear out two days later, and more than half of the student body were eagerly awaiting air or water transport. Perry had already gone, electing to take an impromptu holiday during the rebuilding and leaving a very lonely LaFontaine behind. Considering Perry's state of mental breakdown, Laura was surprised that LaFountaine hadn't gone with her.
Laura, to her surprise, found herself with a new schedule full of 8 pm lectures and distance courses, courtesy of the administration. While the green flames of the Science Building slowly faded, she burrowed under a soft blanket and looked at cat pictures on Tumblr.
"Laura… there's a reason why the fridge is full of blood packs."
Laura only shrugged and tensed up, anticipating Carmilla's next move.
"It is to avoid this specific scenario, Laura." Carmilla's voice sounded faint in Laura's ear.
Laura swallowed and trembled lightly, but Carmilla didn't even try to push her away this time. Instead, she sighed and just hugged Laura close again in the dim morning light. Time passed, and then Laura very carefully let go of her bite, licked away the remnants of blood and nuzzled into Carmilla's neck as it healed. She hadn't taken as much this time, and Carmilla was still warm, her heart beating dully. Laura let out a shuddering breath and reached up to wipe at her eyes.
"Laura… please don't cry. It'll be okay." Carmilla's hand was in Laura's hair, stroking awkwardly.
"No it won't." Laura fought to regain control over herself, failed, and clutched at the fabric of Carmilla's night shirt.
"It's not that bad…" Carmilla sounded less than convinced herself, and Laura pulled back enough to stare at her.
Carmilla shrugged and grimaced. "So what if it is? Sometimes, life is just shitty." Her eyes softened, then. "Laura…"
Laura just shook her head and Carmilla pulled her down to gently kiss her temple. After that, she let Laura cry.