"Danny came by again," Carmilla immediately informed Laura.
She set her belongings on an armchair as she entered the parlor room. "Oh, what'd she want?"
"I don't know, I kind of tuned her out. Something about helping, I think. I don't trust her, Laura."
"Stop it," she sighed. "Danny's a good person. And she's our only insider now since Perry had to leave the campus with us over break."
"I'm pretty sure she'd push me off a cliff if it meant getting with you."
Laura rolled her eyes and joined her at the desk. "Whatchya got there?"
"I found it in Mother's office." She opened the file to pull out a transcript of a conversation between the Dean and Baron Vordenberg. "Hopefully we can find something about his plan in here. In this one alone, Mother says, "I will not approve this request for a marine specialist on a landlocked campus. The only water on this campus includes a pool and a small pond by the senior dorms'."
"So, he knew about the anglerfish? Or knows."
"That's why he wanted to join the council."
"What could he want with it? What could it do for him?"
"Power probably, he'd don anything for it."
"I don't think I've met anyone that crazy. The fish won't listen to him, I mean Lilita never controlled it, just kept it docile."
"Yeah, until you came along."
"Well, I didn't realize the angler fish was the source of what was going on," Laura explained. "I thought it was more grounded than that until it was too late."
"I should have expected this from him. He is just like his ancestors. They've always been power-hungry freaks." Carmilla huffed. "In 1664, I was betrothed to the eldest son of Lutz Vordenberg, a sinister and cruel man who ruled with an iron fist." Lost in thought, her girlfriend reached out to her.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Yeah, just I really do not want to live under a Vordenberg in power again, it can only mean bad things for Styria."
Laura moved to the sofa and reached out to her, "Come here, I'm beat from running around campus all day."
Carmilla put the papers back and joined her by taking her usual spot of being her pillow. They slowly dozed off in the quiet house as chaos dominated outside. Eventually, Laura rolled over which stirred her girlfriend up so Karnstein slowly slipped out of their embrace to check on her sister. She swiped the folder and ascended the creaking stairs carefully until she got to Lilita's vacant office where Matska sat in a guest chair over boxes and boxes of files which were now strewn across the desk.
"Hey, find anything you want me to take a closer look at?"
"Nothing yet. Have you found something on your end?"
Carmilla thumbed through her assignment, "Vordenberg knew about the fish but he doesn't say how in here. I'm talked about in here, though." She pulled out an earlier part of their conversation to show her. "I know he's obsessed with my family, but why are they talking about me?"
"I mean you broke the heart of a family member he's never met, what did you expect," she explained with deep sarcasm.
"Mattie."
"I haven't found much of you in here, just your academic transcripts and some notes about your sacrifices. Mother kept great detail, but surprisingly, you do not have many connections to the supernatural here."
Carmilla sat beside her and picked through the files. She rhetorically stated, "Why am I always the bad guy?"
"You are not always the bad guy."
"It sure seems like it recently."
Matska closed the file in her hands and poured her sister a chalice of blood. "Here." Carmilla accepted the offer and relaxed in her chair. "I can sympathize with your confusion, I mean out of all of the information in this room, I have only found scant evidence of the monster existing. Mother was careful of her paper trail and what I can find is reports of earthquakes, nothing more."
"Why am I getting roped into this," she referenced Vordenberg's conversation."
"If I find something, I will let you know, but for now it's just out of pettiness."
Carmilla finished her glass, "Fine. Thank you, Mattie."
She earned a nod from her sister and gave her back her privacy on her way back downstairs to check on her partner. She was still fast asleep on the sofa, draped dramatically across it in an impossibly comfortable position. Carmilla sat on the edge of a cushion and gently shook her leg until she slowly woke up.
"Hey," she yawned. "How long was I out?"
"Probably an hour."
"Mm. You wanna play a round of Underworld?"
"Sure."
"Wait," Laura grabbed her hand to pull her onto the couch for a brief kiss. "Okay, now you can go."
"Oh, I'm allowed now?"
"Yes," she playfully confirmed.
Carmilla returned less than a minute later with the board game which she quickly set up and waited to be joined by her opponent. "One round, right, because you tend to get on a roll."
"Yes, one round, I promise."
Carmilla perked an eyebrow at her.
"One of these times I'll get you."
"Okay," she chuckled as they made their opening moves.
Carmilla messed with her a little throughout the game by sacrificing a few pieces to boost her confidence until Laura caught on and kicked her under the table.
"Come on, if I win- when I win, I want it to be for real."
"Who said I was gonna let you win," she teased with another good move that took out one of Laura's icons.
"This game is crap," she huffed in frustration as Carmilla took another one of her pieces.
"Come on, no shame in losing to the best."
"Wait!" she suddenly interjected and shot up out of her seat. She played her last hand which cleared Carmilla's pieces from the board. "Wait! Did I just win? I WON!"
"What, no, that can't be right?"
As Carmilla looked over the last throw, she collapsed back in her seat and shook her head. "Good game, I was not expecting that."
"I finally beat you! I beat you, the queen of 'Underworld'! Yes!" She planted a firm kiss on her girlfriend's cheek and helped put the game away. "As I promised, one round. Now for my reward, carry me to my room."
"Okay," she agreed with a grin and lifted her into a bridal carry. "For the record, I've never made you carry me to bed."
"I don't have super strength like you," Laura pointed out. As they stood in the doorway, she moved Carmilla's jaw into a better position to kiss her.
Carmilla set her down and closed the door behind herself.
She felt like she was being watched in her sleep and the overwhelming sense woke Laura up. She peaked one eye open to see Matska in the doorway lit by the dim morning sun. Laura slowly sat up and glanced around the room to be sure she was awake.
"Did something happen?" she whispered to their guest.
"You and I need to talk, get some clothes on."
Laura did as she was told, too tired to protest, and joined Matska in the parlor room. The older vampire sat prim and proper in the chair by Laura's desk.
"What's up."
"I know who you really are."
"Not this again."
"You're right," she cut her off. "It's not the same thing. I found something in Mother's office with a picture that looks an awful lot like you." Matska pulled forth a photo of Lilita Morgan with a group of strange visitors including Laura in the far corner. "It's an odd photo with you in it. At first, I thought maybe the photographer took some artistic liberties with the film however I saw the date on the back and could not help but know that Laura Hollis is twenty, not over one hundred years old." Laura took the photograph. "I looked through Mother's contact list to find a name too similar to yours, Laurentius."
"That's not my name."
"Maybe not anymore but that's how I know you, that's why Mother knew you." They sat in silence until Matska finally demanded, "Carmilla should know."
"Just give me time, it would kill her if she knew I wasn't me."
She took the picture back, "I'm giving you forty-eight hours. To come clean to her before I say something."
"I haven't gone by that name for decades. Not since a year after that photo was taken, actually."
"Can you even still do it?"
"Yes, I don't like to, but I can still protect myself," she threatened on her way back to bed.
Laura closed the door behind herself and rested against it as she watched Carmilla sleep. She let out a brief sigh and pulled off her shirt before joining her girlfriend again. Her partner stirred in her sleep and mindlessly asked:
"Where'd you go?"
"I thought I had a breakthrough, but I was just tired."
Carmilla pulled her girlfriend close and immediately fell back asleep, leaving the other woman to contemplate how to tell her everything. Laura lay wide awake in bed even as the brown noise of birds and otherwise peaceful sounds. Gradually, she heard her roommates wake up, the ancient house no longer hiding the locations or secrecy of its inhabitants. It wasn't until Carmilla stirred again that Laura felt it appropriate to get out of bed. They separately went through their routines leaving Laura to lead the Ginger Squad in the parlor room while her partner sluggishly went about her chores.
LaFontaine went over the campus' history with J.P. in the corner while Lola scoured the bookshelves for anything of relevance. Laura sat at her desk to set up Silas News and sorted out her notes from the previous day, highlighting the important information so she could avoid anything they needed to keep hidden. Laura practiced her speech a few times with notes from her team until she felt prepared. The other investigators cleared out the camera's way to let her inform their community uninterrupted. Once through everything, Laura signed off and ended the stream.
"Wow, she actually turns the camera off," she heard Carmilla jibe from the living room.
Laura joined her, leaving her blazer on the chair. "What's that?"
"Oh, just a collection of poems on the supernatural from the Great War."
"What language is that?"
"Czech."
"Impressive. Did you find anything else in that file?"
"Nothing big, just a pile of nothing for now. I don't think Mother knew what he was up to in all of her notes on him. Why did you help him get elected?"
"He made a good case, I didn't expect him to be so anti-non-human."
"I could have told you that."
As they began their never-ending conversation on Vordenberg, J.P., and LaFontaine disappeared upstairs while Lola sunk into her chair.
"Well, you were off hunting with Mattie for nearly a week. You didn't really care about what was happening here."
"I hadn't seen her in years, I missed her. Sorry for having fun."
"I'm not going to get into this with you again. I just have to fix this now before it gets bad," Laura brushed off.
"Would either of you like anything to eat?" Perry interjected.
"No, I'm fine," Carmilla responded.
However, her girlfriend confirmed, "Yes, that'd be fantastic."
Lola left as soon as she could, to Laura's slight annoyance, before she got caught in their debate. The couple stared each other down until Carmilla finally chose to end it.
"Weird question, but was Mattie in our room this morning?"
"Yeah, she was."
"What'd she want so early in the morning?"
"Nothing. It was nothing," she tried to assure her.
"I swear if it's about the whole trust thing. You know what, I'm gonna talk to her."
"No, you don't have to."
"What did you guys talk about?"
The front door slammed open so they both jumped out of their seat to investigate. The door immediately closed again and Danny skidded around the corner. On her forehead was a black 'V' and she looked quite disheveled.
"The Zetas are coming. Grab the bloodsuckers and head to the basement," she commanded. Carmilla sprinted upstairs in a flash to grab her sister. "Laura, help me with the door." Danny pushed her back against it to prevent any Zetas from coming through if they happened to get to the house before they were ready. "Where are Perry and LaF?"
"LaF's with J.P. and Lola's in the kitchen," she explained as she slammed her back against the door.
"Okay."
The vampires came sprinting down in a blur where they could see Carmilla flip the rug up to open the trapdoor. Matska and J.P. rushed into the dank and dark room. Carmilla turned to her girlfriend, "We'll talk about it later."
Before Laura could add her own input, Karnstein disappeared into the hidden room. A few seconds later, LaFontaine came jogging down to put the rug back in its place.
"Laura, help me with the table," they requested.
"Go," Danny encouraged as she peered through the peephole. "I don't see them yet."
Laura nodded and immediately went to her friend's aid. "Okay, we got it from here. Go through the kitchen door so they don't see you."
Danny briskly walked out while the other two pulled the chairs in place to play Underworld. Their hearts raced in anticipation and as the minutes ticked by, they mindlessly played the game poorly until Vordenberg and his goons burst through the front door.
"Where are the bloodsuckers, Micalla and Matska?" he gloriously announced.
"They aren't here, Baron," she declared.
"Oh, I know they're somewhere near."
"They haven't been here since the Dean died."
He grumbled something under his breath while Theo and the other Zetas peered around the house from the entryway. Vordenberg directed them outside to check the perimeter for evidence. "You, Miss Hollis, are lucky I have morals against looting houses for criminals… without evidence. Good day, ladies."
He stayed in the doorway for a few minutes until his lackeys returned without news. He nodded to them in feigned defeat and left the manor. They knew he'd linger for a while longer, so the occupants played the part until the final Zeta left the property line. Laura covered her face with her hands and shook her head, even as the vampires impatiently pounded on the trapdoor. LaFontaine stomped their foot back and let Laura collect herself before they moved the furniture back. The vampires slowly filed out of the basement.
"I am very sorry, Miss Hollis, for causing such trouble," J.P. quickly apologized but she waved him on with a solemn nod.
Matska complained, "It always feels like an eternity in that foul cellar."
"Better than where I was," her sister chimed in.
She joined her partner again by the library where she continued to scope through the book. They shelved their conversation for later yet the awkwardness lingered into the evening as they turned in for the night. Carmilla stood by the door to watch her partner.
"What's going on between you two?" she finally asked. Laura beckoned her over. "If she's threatening you then I can talk with her again."
"It's not that. I am not entirely who you think I am," she confided in her. "My real name is Laurentius."
"The Prophet or the Great?"
"They're one and the same. Our paths have crossed before. A long time ago, centuries ago," she clarified. "We didn't talk but I've known about you."
"Wait, this is ridiculous. I don't get it. What are you talking about? Is Mattie making you say this are you playing, like, a joke on me?" she laughed in disbelief. "What are you even talking about?"
"Just sit down and listen," Laura commanded. "I know what happened to you, I know why, and I know who it was."
"If you really were Laurentius, you would know everything. Everything," she impressed upon her.
"I did, then, but things have changed, That's aside the point."
"No, you don't get to say that."
"I didn't mean to phrase it like that. Your death and subsequent reanimation were vital to history. I knew it would lead to your Mother taking care of Lorphiiformes."
"But why me, why not someone else?" Carmilla asked again.
"Lilita wanted someone new in her coven so she chose you. I didn't protest because I'm not one to make enemies and I didn't see an issue with the person she chose. Whomever she chose would have been destined to your fate. Now you've outlasted your creator." Laura watched her closely.
"Why did you come back to be this?"
"I can't see the future anymore but it led me here."
"Yeah, I really need time to myself," Carmilla said, mostly to herself.
Laura nodded and left her partner to her own devices to speak with Matska in the Dean's office. "I told her."
"Good, I'm sure she was upset, I know you'll understand that in time she'll get over it," she nonchalantly shrugged.
"We don't have that kind of time."
"Carmilla will get herself together; if she doesn't, then I can talk with her." She opened another box to sort through. "I never asked but I'm curious, what are you doing here?"
"Things are getting hazy and I can't see like I used to. I didn't know it would lead me here until I got here and at that point, Lilita had forgotten about me, or at least pretended to. I played the part and now we're here."
"What do you mean everything's hazy."
"We're in the end times, Matska. And I don't know how to stop it like before. Everyone else who helped me over a millennium before is long gone so I befriended people I knew could be helpful like LaF, Lawrence, and Perry. People are going to die, but hopefully, we can stop it before time's up."
Matska pushed the box aside as the gravity of the situation finally clicked with her. "Am I in danger?"
"I don't know, it's all messy. I'm getting flashbacks, I think, and now I'm losing time."
"Can you look again for me?"
Laura greatly considered her request and sat across from the ancient vampire. "Yes, but I can't promise I'll see anything useful or definitive." She held her hands out for Matska to take as she recited her works of antiquity. Her eyes flickered between their natural brown irises to sickly green before settling to an unnatural white. "I don't see you in your form or with your same intent."
She released one of Matska's hands and pointed to the shelves. Books fell into a messy pile on the floor where a hidden plank tore away from the wall and a red box floated toward them. It finally settled on the desk and Laura released her hands. She blinked a few times until she focused back on reality.
"I really can't do it anymore and I think you have been the worst by far. I don't know what's next for you, but I can't help. As for the box, the Baron's weakness is in there. Lilita left this for you and only you. No one else can know."
Matska nodded and they parted ways as she went to the attic to begin going through the contents while Laura chose to sleep on the couch in the living room. It was late in the night that Carmilla crept up to the attic to speak with the only person she knew and could trust. She didn't pay much mind to the odd box in her sister's possession and sat across Matska's makeshift room.
"No complimentary glass?" she jibed.
"You learned."
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Don't be childish, you and I have faced much worse."
"It's different when you're in love with them."
Matska cleared her throat, "Do you need anything?"
"I guess someone to talk to. I just don't understand why it had to be me."
"You had status, Mother knew that, that's why she chose you. You have a natural charm about you that no one else seemed to."
"She saw everything, so who did it?"
"She didn't say?"
"We didn't get that far."
"Luce."
"That momma's boy? I can't believe it," she seethed.
"He's dead, not much you can do now."
"I know. Now I'm pissed that Ginger got to him before I did!"
"I know."
"I really don't know if I can forgive Laura. She didn't save me, she just let me die."
"You don't understand. Laurentia has had to watch many die. Have you ever thought that she has had to watch everyone die? She is the only one left. She's had to lead armies to their demise as a means to advance history. Only she truly understands the horrors of death. You are a child, and being so, you understand nothing." Matska berated her. "You want to be the hero, I can understand, but you choose to fall back on everything unless there's something waiting for you on the other side like Elle."
"You have no right to talk about her. You sided with Mother and Luce on that."
"She ran away after she learned what we were."
"She made her decision, too."
"I know I've said things in the past about her, but Laura is the only person I could approve of. She is the only one of your little pets that could truly understand what you've been through and I can understand you wanting to take a break, but you need to get over yourself."
"I'm going to hunt," Carmilla suddenly stated. She left her jacket, belt, and shoes on the ground before escaping through the old window. Matska let her cool off without protest and proceeded to look through the box.
Karnstein shifted into her altered form even through the dangers of the night. She tore through the pyres for Lophii and narrowly avoided the late-night battle between supporters and Zetas. On her tail, a few followed and shot bolts at her or threw their torches. They gave up quickly once they were overtaken by the cultists which gave her room to disappear into the Styria forest.
She tackled deers to the ground and ripped through tough pelt to drink their sweet blood. Her feral heart swelled from the soothing fluid and calmed her rushing thoughts. As the morning sun rose, she hid in the dense bushes and shrubs to sleep. As nightfall came again, she covered twenty more miles, leaving animal carcasses in her wake. Over the next few days, she tried to make sense of the news until Carmilla found herself secluded in the Austrian hillside she no longer recognized.
During her final night, she could sense someone on her heels. In the distance, a cacophony of crowing could be heard. She immediately raced from her location with a haste she hadn't felt since running away from her Mother centuries ago but to no avail. Soon, she found herself surrounded by a murder of crows that overwhelmed and confused her. She swatted at them, fully aware they were her sister, until she finally gave in and shifted back. Once the skirmish ended, the Corvidae gathered on the ground where they transformed into her sister. Matska knelt before her in her usual gentleness
"We need to go home, sweetie," she begged.
Carmilla responded in defeat, "Okay."
She stood up and embraced her sister for a few minutes in a somber and desperate hug that threatened to kill any human in its strength. Matska held her close, used to her sibling's emotional display yet glad that no one close to her had seen such a sight. She felt honored to be privy to the best and worst of Carmilla.
"Are you ready?"
Carmilla quickly wiped her nose and sighed, "Yeah, yes."
They tore through Austria, a black panther following a flock of birds in a comical chase until they entered Styria and finally honed in on Silas University. They slipped back inside of the Dean's manor where Laura's squad was gathered in the parlor room waiting patiently for them to return.
"Cultists are dying," LaFontaine informed her.
"And?" Carmilla nonchalantly asked for further information.
"They were normal before and when they got pulled away from the pit, they started getting sick and now they're dying."
"Thank you for the update, we'll be back." Matska steered her sister away from the lobby upstairs. She pushed her into the bathroom. "Get cleaned up, I'll be back with some clothes." Carmilla slumped on the tub's basin. "Get the water running, I'll keep the others away until you're ready. They don't understand."
"Thank you, Mattie."
Carmilla let the water run as she refused to look herself in the face. When she washed herself, the clear bath turned red and brown with blood. The dirt and grime from her skin melted off and any damage to her body healed quickly. She let the course water drain while she dried her hair. She couldn't imagine what she looked like when she entered the house and how shocking it must have been to the squad. She guessed that Matska must have prepared them for what they were going to see by the controlled reactions from the other students. Carmilla retrieved her clothes from the other side of the door before secluding herself in her room.
She let the silence wash over her and honed in on the sounds of Silas. She heard careful steps approach the door which she could only guess was Laura's, proven correct by the knock on the door, so she called her in. Laura closed the door behind herself and stood against it.
"I'm sorry for not saving you. I of all people would understand how much it sucks to live forever. You don't realize until your second century how much of a curse it really is, no matter how much your mentor tells you it's not."
Even with her mixed emotions, she couldn't help but want to smile when Laura entered the room. "You don't need to apologize for that. I get you had no power in Mother's choice. I can't blame you for that. I love you still, you know that, right? That's why I wanted space. At least when Elle and I fought, she ran away, it made it easier to want to return. But you never run away, ever."
"Nothing scares me as much as what's about to happen in Silas."
Carmilla nodded and finally chuckled, "I can't believe I called you a child."
"Well, you weren't supposed to find out. No one was."
"Would you have told me if Mattie hadn't forced you to?"
"I guess I didn't know how long we'd last. I was just happy we had time together at all. The future is dark and for the first time in my life, I don't know who to trust."
Carmilla approached her partner and pulled Laura's hand to her lips before kissing her. Even after they pulled away, she gently pressed their foreheads together. "We'll regroup in the morning to figure things out, Laurentius."
Laura playfully pushed her. She took her girlfriend's jaw in her hand, "Do not call me that, please! God, it brings back weird and bad memories."
"Promise, it's got too much history behind it anyway." Carmilla leaned in to kiss her again but was denied.
"What does that mean?"
She wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled her close, "Do you really want to get into it?"
"You're right, that's a conversation for another time."