Chapter Text
Laura loves nothing more than a good night hike, or so she told herself (and her dad, when he asked where she was going at 11:06 PM). The night was a gorgeous one, not too warm, a gentle wind, and she could just make out the Big Dipper through the trees. The woods around the trail were alive with the noises of frogs and crickets and probably some other freaky insects that she didn’t really want to think about just then.
It was reading week, and per Laura’s request (which she was currently regretting) Carmilla was staying at her dad’s place with her. It wasn’t that she hadn’t enjoyed Carm’s time with them, but at times she could be…difficult. Like when Laura called first shower and Carmilla tried to shower with her, or right now, when Carmilla found some old writing of Laura’s and laughed at it without thinking.
Laura knew that Carmilla didn’t really mean to make fun of her, but she still felt she needed to get some fresh air. So, cue the night hike in the woods behind Laura’s house. Even though the occasional owl hoot or opossum hiss freaked her the hell out, she was managing to enjoy herself.
After about a half an hour of walking, she decided to turn back around. Three seconds later, she came face to face with a blonde holding a baseball bat. She felt herself lose her footing and managed to cry out before hitting the ground.
/
Laura woke up a little bit off the trail next to a fallen tree. There was a throbbing in her head and something sticky trickling down her back. The animals had become unbearably loud.
She let out an audible grunt of pain and stood up, brushing herself off. As soon as she got her footing, her ankle twisted out from under her. She crumpled, feeling a hot pain shoot through her leg and up to her hip. She tried to stand up again, this time using a branch for support, and succeeded for about .2 seconds before falling again.
After six more attempts with various surrounding objects, Laura noticed that the pain was starting to spread from her foot to her torso. Everything from her diaphragm down felt unpleasantly warm and sticky. She noticed she was sweating through her shirt.
After a few more minutes of this, Laura realized that she no longer had control of her legs at all. They twitched spasmodically, leaving her in a half-seizure state. The warm feeling was trickling up her torso and was almost to her neck. She decided to give up on standing and began a crawl to her house.
Laura had made it about five yards when the pain became unbearable. She could feel her abdomen pulsating and contorting under her. Defeated, she rolled over to face the sky. The cool ground felt nice on her back, she thought, and closed her eyes. She noticed that the warm feeling had drained away, replaced by a cold sensation similar to frozen steel. Eventually, the cold feeling became more of a neutral numbness, and then she couldn’t move at all. Her breathing transitioned from quiet panting to a heavy and ragged gasp.
Oh, she thought, so this is dying.
She continued to stay still, putting all her energy into breathing and staring at the constellations above.
She didn’t remember falling asleep. She slept for what seemed like hours, drifting through dreams.
When she woke up, she could walk again.