Chapter Text
“I had a dream that fire fell
From an opening in the sky
And someone warned me of this hell
And I spit in his naïve eye...”
I stared down at my mother’s body, her hands folded together in her lap; she looked so peaceful.
My mother wore a dark blue dress that used to bring out her eyes when she would smile. Now her eyes were shut, her mouth made to represent a small smile, presumably embalmed to stay that way until she was six feet under the dirt.
I swept my hand over the fabric on her arm closest to me and felt no warmth coming from her. It was odd.
The room around me was small, a vase of flowers I couldn’t name on a table nearby. I could feel people in the background, their movements clouding our privacy.
It felt like I was 6 years old again. The memory of clinging to my father, my face buried in his neck as my eyes peeked over him, staring at people dressed in black clothing filled my head. He’d rubbed my back for 2 hours straight, not once putting me down through the entire service. Even though I had been young, the sadness my father felt couldn’t be missed and I clung to him partially because I was a naïve child who didn’t fully understand the concept of not having a mother yet and partially because I felt like I was the only thing keeping him from weeping uncontrollably. I had looked at his eyes more than once that day, but the joy and happiness my father usually always wore was replaced with a broken look, sad and desperate for this to be a dream.
A dream...
Standing and looking down at my mother at this moment seemed wrong and not part of my childhood memory. I pulled my hand away and to my side, gripping the sides of the black dress I wore.
I had imagined what she looked like so many times, but as I tried to stare at her flawless face the details seemed to get blurrier and fainter, as if time were suddenly racing ahead and my memories of her were failing. I looked harder, squinting until my eyes were almost shut but her face seemed to scramble and fade in front of me, disappearing until it was nothing but a single color of skin bulging out where her facial features would have been.
I blinked and looked around me, now seeing myself no longer in a funeral home but alone in an empty cemetery, the people around a moment before gone. The sun moved quickly behind a dark cloud in the sky, a whisper of wind blowing through trees I could not see.
Who are you?
I turned my neck, scanning all around me. I tried to speak but no sound came from my throat. A flash of black sloped out of my vision and I clutched at my racing heart.
I asked you, who you are!
“Who’s there!?” I tried to say but I only mouthed the words, my head screaming them out senselessly.
Panic filled me and I turned back to my mother, only to find both her and her coffin gone. Instead a small tombstone sat in her place. Her name shone bright on the black slate, white etching filling out the letters and dates of her birth and death.
I couldn’t breathe. Shadows surrounded me, hiding menacing things behind them. Growls and hisses filled my ears, louder and louder until I fell to my knees.
The sun had all but vanished now and black overtook the blue-gray in the sky, the clouds coming together to form one large black blob above me. The shadows leapt around my peripheral, prowling and waiting. I screamed silently, digging my fingers into the dirt, trying in vain to not be afraid. My screams pretended to fill the air around me, trying to push the shadows and their noises away. I imagined my mother appearing, suddenly in front of me, holding me and making the monsters flee like my screams would not do.
But I was alone.
The panic had started to take over my breathing, and my brain felt like ants had taken over, crawling over and inside it.
We will find you.
I shut my eyes, shoving my palms over my eardrums and opening my mouth in a second silent cry for help. The taunting noises around me were increasing so loudly in volume that I felt I’d gone deaf, and my eyes began to fill with water that blurred my vision.
It felt like the only sound I would hear forever more was the panic-filled ringing.
We will find you. We’re close now. Hollis!
We will find you! Hollishollishollisssho—
***
I woke with a start, eyes wide. My breaths came in quick gasps.
I’d been dreaming again. Of woods and shadows and creepy things that went bump in the night. I noticed my shirt was stuck to my chest, drenched in sweat all down the front and I was glad I stopped wearing bras to sleep.
I let out another shaky breath and closed my eyes, wiping my hands on my quilted comforter. A soft whine came from the golden lump by my feet as my 80-lb mutt lifted her head up, perking her ears up at me as if in question.
“Laura, honey, you awake? I made breakfast!” I heard my dad call up the stairs.
“Yeah…! Coming, Dad!” I yelled, rolling onto my pillow face-first. Nala whined at me, thumping her thick tail against my bed and I stretched my hand to her ears blindly, scratching behind both of them and under her chin when I found her head. “C’mon girl, let’s get up.”
I changed my shirt before eventually making my way downstairs, flopping into a kitchen chair and laying my head on the table.
“Rought night, pumpkin?” I just groaned back at him, hearing him laugh and set a kitchen plate next to my head. Maple syrup filled my nostrils.
“Pancakes today!” I popped my head back up and smiled. Leave it to my dad to know how to make everything 100 times better.
***
My dad and I ended up playing a two-hour game of monopoly after stuffing our bellies full of pancakes and delicious hash browns. I was winning by a long-shot and let out a rather rude laugh as Dad landed on one of my more expensive properties, tapping his tiny metal bow-tie to the board. My Dr. Who-themed game board was a Christmas present from him four years ago and was by far one of my most prized possessions. I always won when we played too. I called it strategy, dad called it luck; tomato, potato. Or something. He handed me all of his fake money, lifting his hands in surrender.
“I’m out. You’ve all but robbed me again.”
“I only won by,” I paused to count my haul, “$9,525.00 of fake money. But we can totally play another round! I’ll sell you ‘The End of Time Part 2’.” I suggested happily. Dad just laughed though, leaning back and shaking his head, his arms pulling up into a stretch.
“No can do, Laur-bear. Your old man has a lot of work outside to do still today. Lawn won’t cut itself and it’s already past noon.” He smiled at me and stood up, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. “Besides, it’s a beautiful day today. Vitamin D will do my body some good.” I smiled at that, looking at the crinkles in the corners of his eyes as he responded with one of his own.
“Alright Dad, well maybe next weekend I’ll let you win.” He just winked at me as I let out a quiet laugh.
“I’ll bring you out a sandwich later, okay?” I said as I put the game away, kissing his cheek as he put his arm around my shoulder, smooshing me against him.
“Thanks honey.” I watched as he headed out the screen door, Nala running to join him.
Even if I got to see him almost every weekend, I always enjoyed hanging with my dad; playing games, eating meals, watching a movie. It was just so nice and simple compared to my weeks at school stressing out over homework and exams. It was nice to have a break.
I currently attended Northern Illinois University, a pretty good college located in the northern farming area of Illinois. It was only about a 45 minute ride from home, but not having a car meant staying in a dorm. I hitched a ride home with my roommate most weekends. Dad worked a lot, including Saturdays, and I always felt bad asking him to come get me from school. There weren’t exactly taxis in the middle of the country and I'd yet to find a part-time job that wasn't a bartender or food deliverer. Besides, I felt a tad silly wanting to come home just to sleep in my own bed with Nala when I had a perfectly nice bed back at school. I loved school but of course my dad could read my emotions as transparently as if they’d been written across my forehead and always gave my roommate Betty gas money whenever she drove me home.
After cleaning up the kitchen I went back up to my room and opened my window to let in the early summer breeze blowing, flopping on my bed with a pleasant sigh. It really was a gorgeous day. I could hear my dad trying to start the lawn mower in the shed.
Taking advantage of the wonderful afternoon weather, I closed my eyes and tried for a nap, Nala laying against my back.
We had adopted her a few years ago after I found her walking on the side of the road; she'd only been a few weeks old at the time. It only took two sets of puppy eyes, one coming from yours truly, to convince my dad to keep her; she was adorable, clumsy and absolutely irresistible. Nala was a large mutt with a beautiful coat of golden-brown color, being part golden retriever and part who-knows, and was the sweetest animal I’d ever met.
I used to bring her upstairs to sleep with me when we had first adopted her, which led into the habit of her climbing in my bed after she outgrew her case. But then it turned into more of a habit of every weekend when I was home, my dad would scold us both with a smile as she slunk down the stairs with me in the morning. She was definitely an outside dog, usually sleeping out on the porch or in the kitchen when the weather was bad, but I didn't mind. My dad on the other hand hated the dog hair all over the house, but she was a good girl. The lawnmower started up with a quiet roar.
Nightmares, if I could call them that, had been plaguing my dreams for months now, causing me horrible headaches and a subsequent awful sleeping schedule. I ended up just taking a lot of naps, usually only getting a few hours of sleep at most when I tried to sleep at night and trying to fit in some more throughout the day. Although the sun made it harder to fall asleep, it was calming compared to the eerie quiet and darkness of night that kept me awake or scared.
Dreaming of my mother had really jarred me; I had not dream of her in quite some time. It had been almost 13 years since my mother’s passing and seeing her as if she’d been alive just yesterday left my heart feeling heavy. Pushing my arms under my pillow I pulled it against me and tucked my face into it, suddenly feeling exhausted.
***
I woke an hour later to my phone beeping, telling me I had a text message.
Betty 1:19 PM: Hey girl pick u up at 5?
Me 1:22 PM: Yes sounds perfect :)
Betty 1:23PM: Wanna go to the House tnight w me?! ;)
I smiled, rolling my eyes at my roommate’s horribly-typed out text and responded.
Me 1:24 PM: Suuure lol but we can’t stay too late!
***
Once I heard the lawn mower shut off I went downstairs to make my dad and I sandwiches, pouring two glasses of iced tea before I went outside and sat on the wrap-around porch. Nala plopped down next to me and I fed her some of my crust as Dad walked over and sat on the steps beside us.
“Betty’s coming to get me in about an hour,” I commented, handing Dad his plate. He took a huge bite out of his sandwich and hummed a response. We sat on the porch finishing our lunch and afterwards played fetch with Nala until Betty pulled up our long driveway, the late afternoon sun reflecting off the shiny pearl-white of the BMW her parents had gotten her for her 21st. Don’t ask me what year it is because I couldn’t tell you if I tried.
Jogging up to her I gave her a small hug, “Thanks again for picking me up.”
“Eh, no problem roomie. Ready to go? I want to stop at our dorm and change before we go to the bar.”
“Shhh!” I half-whispered, grabbing her shoulder and steering her towards the house with me. I wasn’t yet 21, but Betty had practically begged me to let her get me a fake ID after our first semester together. It did have its perks, though I still rarely used it. I wasn’t much of a raver or party-goer or anything like that, but I did like to have fun once in a while, and Betty was definitely a fun person to go to a bar or party with. She was a cool roommate as far as roommates went, plus since she had a car she chauffeured me around a lot.
Betty grabbed my bag of clothes as I hoisted my backpack on from where I'd set them in the living room. We headed back outside and she tossed them both in the back seat of her car as I ran back to the porch, my dad waiting for me there.
“See you next weekend kiddo?” He said as I squeezed him tightly.
“Hopefully! I’ll ask if Betty wouldn't mind dropping me off again. I think she mentioned something about a family party next weekend, so she'll be coming this way anyway.” Betty’s parents lived in a town a little farther from school, but she had to practically pass my dad’s house on the way.
“Sounds good. Love you, kid. Call me when you get back okay?” I nodded and gave him another quick squeeze.
“Love you too, Dad!”
“Bye Mr. Hollis!” Betty yelled, starting the car. My ears just about exploded as I hopped into the passenger side, covering them as Betty lowered the volume. She smiled a sorry at me and I gave her an eye-roll.
“Holy Jesus. Can we please not listen to your Katy Perry CD again? I know almost all the songs by heart and it disturbs me that I do,” I complained. Betty however, just laughed at me.
“C’mon Laura, my car, my music! How hard is that?” She turned the volume back up a little and we took off towards the highway. “Besides, you know you like Katy Perry. Admit it!”
I laughed and gave up, singing along with her.
***
Betty all but ran into our shared dorm once she unlocked it and I lumbered behind, tossing my bags on my bed opposite hers. As I started unpacking the few clothes I’d brought home Betty all but undressed and ran to the bathroom.
“Hurry up and change, Laura! I want to get there before it starts getting dark.” I heard the sink running. “Greg is meeting me there in less than an hour! It’s open mic night.”
Dark? It's like 3:30.
“Who’s Greg?”
“He’s that guy I told you about last week!” I heard her spit and turn the faucet off. “The one with godly gorgeous hair! Like a surfer?”
“That’s like every guy you date, Bet.” She tossed a cream-colored shirt in my face.
“Wear that. And whatever, it’s still true.” I just laughed and changed into what she threw at me.
***
Our dorm was about a 10 minute walk from the House Cafe, a little coffee shop that doubled as a bar at night located on a corner downtown. It had stained glass-looking windows on the outside, with a small bar inside for drinks and food. At the back was a small stage as well as a few steps leading to another seating area to the left of the stage. Betty and I showed our IDs to the bartender and got some beers as the first set started warming up.
Betty spotted someone she knew, Greg possibly, and I followed her to one of the booths up the steps by the stage. One of the good things about the House Café was that even though it was one of the more popular hangouts for the college kids in town, it never got too crowded, even on a weekend. Betty introduced me to the person she'd waved at who did end up being Greg, and some of his friends and we all sat in a booth together as two boys started tuning on stage, guitars in both of their hands.
After a few songs by the male indie-duo, I excused myself to the bathroom then headed back up to the bar. I'd already finished my first drink as well as the shot that Betty’s friend had ordered a round of earlier, which had happened to be delicious. It had gotten a bit busier in the cafe and there were a few more people waiting for drinks with me when I got to the bar. Leaning against the bar, I waited and looked around. I knew my fair share of my classmate, but NIU was a gigantic school, spanning multiple buildings across half the town. Having been enrolled for almost 2 years now I had made some friends besides Betty, but sometimes it was still hard to find things in common with people.
I looked over to my right, sighing with impatience. Even though it wasn't too busy, the bartender was working by himself tonight, so he was unfortunately extra slow. As I looked away from the beer he was pouring into a glass, I was met with the darkest, most brilliant pair of brown irises I’d ever seen. A girl clad in black from head to toe was looking directly at me, twirling what looked like the backwash of a dark liquid she had been drinking in a clear glass.
I looked behind me, thinking I was being paranoid, but when I turned back around her gaze was still trained on me. Maybe Betty’s idea to come here wasn’t that awful after all.
I smiled, tucking my hair behind my ear, and took a few steps so I was next to her.
“Hey,” I said, leaning an elbow on the bar beside us. She turned her body more in my direction and smirked.
“Hey,” She breathed at me, glass still being twirled. She continued to stare at me and I let out a nervous chuckle.
“What can I get for you, Miss?” I heard a deeper voice say and then noticed the bartender looking at me, waiting for a response. He must have remembered me from earlier, because he didn’t ask to see my ID again. I looked from him to my empty bottle, to the girl next to me, then back to the bartender.
“Uhhh…” I set the bottle on the bar. “Another one of these, please?”
Beautiful Staring Girl was still looking at me and I remembered her drink. “Do you want another…?” I asked, pointing towards the now-empty glass.
She shoved her glass to the edge of the bar nimbly. “Whatever you’re having, sweetheart.”
I asked the bartender for one more beer rather loudly as he had walked away and he obliged, popping the caps off them both and handing them to me. I handed him a ten-dollar bill and as I did so, noticed his name-tag.
Which read ‘Bart’. Oh my god, like ‘Bart’ender. I tried to hold in my laugh but it came out as a muffled snort.
Bart walked away, ignoring me completely as I shoved my hand on my mouth. He didn't even give me my $2.00 in change but I let it go as I didn't really deserve it and I'd just tipped him it anyway.
Staring Girl continued to stare at me but the side of her mouth lifted up slightly after hearing my unattractive laugh.
“His name!” I loudly whispered, giggling. Staring girl just quirked her eyebrow up at me, a smile playing on her lips. What the hell, Hollis.
I straightened back up and handed the girl her beer, going to take a swig of my own with my eyes staring down at the floor, internally beating myself up for being a dork in front of the beautiful creature in my presence. She was still looking at me as I swallowed and I only then noticed her hand holding the beer bottle was outstretched, waiting for me. She lifted up one eyebrow and I knocked my bottle with hers as a dark blush spread over my cheeks.
“Cheers!” I said loudly, taking a breath as she finally took a drink as well.
“I’m Laura,” I stated, deciding to rectify the name situation so Staring Girl could stop being Staring Girl.
“Carmilla,” She responded, taking another sip of beer. I looked into my own bottle and still saw the liquid came past the label still and took another gulp. “So do you go to NIU too?” I asked, trying to make conversation.
“Where?” She retorted quizzically. Another band had started up on stage right then, with someone else starting to sing into the mic, making it harder to hear. Carmilla shook her head and then looked at the cell phone she had pulled from her leather jacket pocket, brow furrowing. Her jacket looked like it cost more than all my school books combined.
"It's where...here, where I go to- we go to school?" She didn't respond and seemed distracted with whatever she had read on her phone.
“Future reference, whiskey or scotch is my poison.” She, Carmilla, stated and I made a mental note, but before I could say something more or ask why she told me that supposedly impertinent information, she pushed herself away from the wooden bar. After chugging the last of her beer, Carmilla tossed the empty bottle in the small trash bin behind the bar and winked at me.
“Thanks for the drink, cupcake.” And then she disappeared into the crowd and was gone before I could blink.
Betty appeared next to me then, handing me another shot. “Laura! Greg got us more shots! I think he’s nervous about playing. Who were you talking to?” I just shook my head and downed the shot in two spurts, gagging and using my beer as a chaser. “Carmilla.”
“That's disgusting. Who?” Betty yelled rather loudly into my ear, commenting on my choice of chaser as someone tried squeezing past her and shoved her towards me.
“No one,” I responded, cringing. “When does Greg go on again?” And just like that, the subject was changed and Betty was pulling me back to the table, swaying her hips the whole way.
After a few more hours of drinking and horrible dancing, I was slouched in a booth with Betty and a different group of friends that I’d never met before, the nice ones from earlier having ditched us, but apparently Betty was good friends with them as well. She was pretty much friends with everyone when she was drinking.
I’d been unable to find Carmilla again and assumed she was long gone. I’d probably scared her off with my amazing flirting skills and what with buying her one of the cheapest beers they sold here, no doubt I'd made a grand impression. I'd sulked for a bit, but ended up enjoying myself as the evening got later and Betty and I got more alcoholic drinks into us.
She had been talking to two guys who had been buying us bothndrinks for the last hour, Greg having finished his turn on stage and leaving right after. I’d just finished my fifth or maybe sixth drink, having switched to cranberry juice and vodka, which was quickly working its way through my veins and up to my head. I closed my eyes for a moment and when I felt a dull pounding behind them, decided it was time for bed. Betty and I did still have classes tomorrow and it was going on almost 11. My lack of sleep was catching up to me as my head swam and my eyes drooped.
I made my way to the bathroom for the last time and then attempted to find my now very drunk roommate who had disappeared to the dance floor again. I found her rubbing up against some guys who kept calling her ‘hottie’, none of which were people she'd talked to that night.
I pulled her towards the door. “Betty!” I called, “We should probably get going! Class starts at 8, remember?” I hollered loudly at her, barely hearing myself over the music, and hoped she could hear me. All the quieter bands were gone, and some guy with a bunch of crazy guitar solos stood at the stage, playing his heart out. I pointed outside so she might be able to understand what I was trying to say, but she just smiled and continued dancing like a crazy person, hair flying. I grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her towards closer to the door and away from the loud speakers, running into people on the way. Betty almost tripped twice so I held her more firmly as I half-dragged her out, albeit just as unsteady as she was the whole time.
“Betty, I want to go back to the dorm. I’m tired,” I whined, rubbing the side of my temple where a headache was building. She blinked and then went fishing after her clutch, successfully opening it after a few tries and looking at her phone. “C’mon Laurrr, it’s like not even midnight,” she scolded.
“I’m…drunk I think, and my head hurts. Please?” I pleaded. I so did not want to have to try to reason with a drunk Betty.
She scoffed at me. “Laura you’re such a lightweight.” Look who’s talking!? “Greg is going to walk me home anyway.” Greg??
“Greg!? He left like 2 hours ago Betty!”
“Ugh! Laura, just walk back yourself if you don’t wanna wait! I’ll see you later.” And then Betty marched back into the café, weaving her way through the small crowd rather impressively for how much she’d drank.
God, Betty pissed me off sometimes when she drank. I groaned loudly and contemplated the few options I had, the top one being walking back alone, the last somewhere along the lines of dragging Betty by her hair and getting escorted home by campus security. The campus wasn’t that far from the House Café and I’d been out at night before by myself, but I grew up in the middle of the country and I certainly didn’t want to walk back to my dorm alone in a slightly busy city that most called a 'party town'.
Ughhhh. My headache was magnifying and I figured if I sat down I would pass out. The alcohol was still very clearly in my system and probably affecting my judgement skills as I started making my way down the sidewalk back to our dorm.
There were streetlights almost the whole walk back which was slightly comforting as it was practically deserted on the streets. A light breeze blew across me, sending goosebumps down my arms and I pulled my sweater tighter, folding my arms together. As I made my way to a particularly desolated streetlight, my thoughts went back to Carmilla. I’d not been able to track her down the rest of the night and felt a little bummed about it, but figured if I saw her at a bar near campus, maybe she lived on campus too. Thought she did look thoroughly confused when I'd mentioned the school. Weird.
I smiled to myself anyway and thought about what I'd done differently when I had met her.
After a few blocks I passed one of the few other bars that were in town, this one being dingy and of bad company, and heard some really awful country music escaping the open door. A young man staggered out of the establishment rather hurriedly as I got close, a flash of bright green that his shirt was the color of almost knocking into me and I sidestepped to avoid him. My head span slightly at the sudden movement. He started talking to me but I chose to ignore him and waved my hand, murmuring an apology as I started walking again. I was hoping he was too drunk to care and would go back inside and leave me be.
Apparently he wasn’t.
“Hey, I’m sorry lady. Yo listen, I just found this—thing that… Huh. Why you ignoring me?” Drunky slurred after me.
“I’m not ignoring you.” I said pointedly, turning my head and trying to walk faster as he continued to follow me.
“Hey, c’back here. I gotta show you something." No, you really don't. "A par'y trick! Wanna see?” The boy said, his words slurring together.
Please leave me alone you crazy person!
“Um, I’m good thanks.” I’d gotten to the next stoplight which was unfortunately red, one of the busier intersections that still got traffic this late at night. Mr. Drunky had caught up to me, breathing heavily. He adjusted his baseball cap and laughed shortly.
“Jeez you walk fast... C’mon, look. Ready?” And as he pointed his hand at the nearest ‘DO NOT WALK’ sign, a shot of bright blue came from his fingers, reaching the sign and making it shoot sparks and lose power. I flinched, not understanding what I just saw.
Please be the alcohol. Please be the alcohol. I looked up, noticing suddenly how much taller, and closer he was to me and took two steps back.
“You see that? Ya see me do that? I did that! No one believes me but I did that!”
I blinked. “Are you okay?”
Drunky started talking louder and louder, repeating ‘it’s not in my head, it’s not’ repeatedly and pacing around at the stoplight, adjusting his hat continuously.
Oh my god he’s crazy. Literally.
“Um, that was uh, cool but I um—I have to get going so—“ I pointed my thumb behind me, hoping he wouldn’t follow me but he suddenly spun towards me, his right hand shooting out and grabbing my bicep harshly, pulling me closer to him. I let out a small squeak, pulling against him, my eyes widening in fear. This is why I didn’t wanna walk home alone, Betty!
“You don’t believe me either!” The boy screamed at me, frantically twitching his eyes around. My hand that wasn’t attached to the arm he was effectively squeezing the life out of gripped the phone in my pocket, flipping it open and pressing the call button twice. My phone being dinosaur-age was rather embarrassing, but it was simple enough to have the option of pressing the call button twice calling whoever I last talked on the phone with. I was hoping it was my dad. I couldn't remember who I last talked to on the phone.
I waited to hear something other than Drunky talk, he was now kind of just rambling, pulling me around as he took stumbled steps in a circle when I heard a very unfortunate noise from my pocket.
“Hold on! Hold on—yeah hello? Who is this? Oh, Laura? Laura I can’t hear you. He-llo? Laura I told you it’s fine, go back without me. I don’t—sure! Yeahyes! No I don’t want to do the limbo right now? No I—“ And the call ended.
I sadly remembered the last person I called was not my dad, but Betty, and Drunky had unfortunately heard the entire rather loud one-sided conversation from my other hand. He leaned in towards me grabbed the phone from my hand, dropping it to the ground with a small clatter.
“Who was that?”
“Uhh…” Shit. How do I negotiate with a crazy person? “My roommate, she—ah! Please let me go!” I winced as his grip got stronger, my arm starting to really hurt; it felt like there were a ton of tiny needles poking me. The streetlight near us shot more sparks that fell around us and I yelled as Drunky looked around us with panic in his eyes, which were curiously…glowing blue? I was starting to panic as he turned and started pulling me by the one arm down the side of a building.
“What’re you doing? Stop!” I tried breaking the hold he had on me, having learned a few self-defense techniques after my father insisted, but his strength almost doubled mine and my arms were starting to feel numb, my buzz certainly not helping. We rounded the back of the building and he stopped in the parking lot.
“What do you think you’re doing!?” I exclaimed, trying to detach my arm from his vice-like grip. Drunky's glowing eyes flicked to me, his face close enough to my own that I could see little blue electric lines fizzing through them, as well as smell his booze-y breath.
The hell…
My struggle against him grew more frantic then and I began looking around me, hoping for anyone or anything near enough to help. My vision was starting to blur slightly and the tingling in my arm had grown to a concerning ache. The only two lights above a door leading to the inside of the next building flickered and then exploded, glass shards littering the ground.
I screamed, turning my head away. Drunky started whispering incoherently and pulled out a phone he must have had in his own pocket. Pressing buttons, he shoved me aside and I fell roughly to the ground, my head spinning.
Alright, Laura. Let's go. Get up!
After sitting up halfway on the ground for a moment with my rear stinging, Drunky started talking loudly into his phone. I rubbed where he had been squeezing on my arm. His phone was sending off little sparks from his hand as he talked into it, saying something about drinking alcohol and something ‘wasn’t his fault’. I went to stand up and failed, my attempt at making a break for it failing along miserably when I heard someone clear their throat from behind me. Drunky was still being a loudmouth on the phone and was therefore oblivious for another moment.
“What’s going on here, hmm?”
And there standing behind me in her gorgeous leather jacket, with the moon casting her silhouette in the most devastating way, was Carmilla.
Drunky stiffened at her words, dropping his phone to the ground like a hot coal as smoke rose from the device, blue flames shooting up a second after. His panicked eyes shot from to me and back to her with a harsh glare.
“Leave me alone lady!” Drunky yelled, glancing at his phone again only just noticing it was fried.
“I see you got my message earlier, Derek.” Carmilla said, picking at her nails with a bored expression. “Ah, well, it all ends the same either way I guess. Sorry to interrupt your wooing-fest, but we need to go.”
“I don’t care who ya are or who you’re with, but y'better leave me alone bitch.” The boy, now named Derek, yelled and slurred at the same time. Carmilla just smirked at him, her bangs almost covering her eyes with her head bent down.
“Oh, Derek Derek…why must you be a difficult one? I don’t want to chase you, really I don’t.” She made it sound like that was exactly what she wanted to do. Wait, chase? Was I being chased too? Should I get up? My mind cleared long enough for me to try to gain an upper hand in the situation, if only so I could ensure I could get back to my dorm and out of this insane fiasco.
“Hey guys! Hi? I don’t want to get in the middle of anything so uh, let’s just all go home, okay? Or maybe talk about this over...coffee?” I tried to maneuver my way to a standing position, my arms shaky and not helping much. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew I did not want to be any closer to drunk-and-possibly-crazy Derek here, so I took a breath and pushed off the ground.
Standing up was apparently the wrong choice, because as soon as I was upright I swayed.
“I think I’ll take my chances with a chase,” I heard Derek say, seeing electric-blue surrounding his pupils again even though I was at least a few feet from him. A bolt of electricity, similar to a lightning bolt, shot out of one of his hands and flew towards Carmilla, which she easily dodged. At the same time he'd latched onto my swaying body, fingers digging painfully into my shoulder as I felt a electricity go through me from where his palm touched.
Carmilla shot forward then and everything seemed to move in slow motion. More shocks went from Derek’s tight hold, running through my bones, my veins. My head swam and slowed. My vision blurred. I vaguely remembered the alcohol from earlier and thought about puking but also begged myself not to, it really was disgusting. Derek began dragging me backwards with his arm around me, his other hand pointing straight towards Carmilla, screaming at her to stay away. Maybe he's Zeus' son?
I put my hands on his arm to pull it off, the movement seeming to take hours, only managing to hold my hands on his arm as another shockwave went through me. “S-stop—“ I tried to say, but it came out all funny and slow, my knees bending involuntarily. We were heading further away from Carmilla and I tilted my head up, hoping my eyes were sending pleading messages to her as her image wavered in front of me.
“Leave me alone!” I heard Derek yell, though it sounded so far away.
I smelled something burning and I gagged, feeling much closer to all my meals being upchucked at that exact moment.
I let out a dry heave and then I was on the ground, my body slumping to the side as I watched Carmilla land with a smack against Derek's chest, a sharp, thin hand against his throat with the other holding something long and silver. It was arced directly on his neck.
“Make one move, Sparky, one,” She spat.
I laid on the pavement for a moment before finally feeling the effects of tonight coming up. I twisted my neck as the most horrendous bile that had ever left my throat come pouring out, dry heaving and everything in between. My body was shaking, spasms coursing through my body, and I was pretty sure I was throwing up in my hair when suddenly soft hands were pulling me up and brushing my hair away from my face. I made a quiet whimper when my now-raw shoulder touched cold leather and Carmilla’s face came into focus in front of me, though it was a little crooked from her position.
“Hey cupcake, I’ve got you. You’re okay, hmm?” I heard her say. I was so dizzy. She was smoothing my hair back from my face, so close to me now as I continued to throw up. I hoped she wasn't touching some of the puke hair.
I tried to speak to her after the next breather, but it only came out as a dry heave mixed with a sob. She said something else to me, but I couldn’t hear her. I looked into her now pitch-black eyes and felt a tear roll down the side of my face, my body starting to shake. She yelled something behind her and then the world swam again. I felt myself lifted off the ground in one quick swoop, strong arms under my knees and around my back.
Why does my shoulder hurt so bad? I couldn’t remember hurting it. Where was Betty?
My head lolled against Carmilla's jacket and I squeezed my eyes tight, hoping to alleviate the headache I still had. Whoever Carmilla was, I trusted her enough to help me and I prayed that it wasn’t the wrong decision. The cold leather of her jacket was replaced by the leather of a car and a door slamming closed beside me; I was in a car. I squinted my eyes open to look outside through the window and saw Carmilla talking to someone I didn’t know, Derek face-down on the ground beside her. The spasms from earlier that had invaded my body were still threading their way out, pain sending tears to my eyes whenever they reached my right shoulder. Carmilla locked eyes with me for a moment before saying something to her friend who had apparently driven the car before they got into the front seat as Carmilla easily dragged Derek from the pavement to the back of the car we were in, tossing him in the back like a rag doll.
The trunk had barely slammed shut before Carmilla was suddenly in the passenger seat, slamming her own door with more force than was necessary.
“Ready, kitty?” The driver said. There was no response as I felt the car lurch forward and then I was falling into darkness.