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Each inhale sent more dirty air into Carmilla’s lungs, drying her throat and filling her mouth with the musty scent. How much mud and dust must have built up inside of her by now? Years, decades, longer maybe she’d been here, intertwined with her dead Loreli. Loreli, who had loved her, pushed her hair out of her face to kiss her gently, and hurt her so goddamn much. To Loreli, words were not for communicating so much as for sharpening into arrows and shooting Carmilla with ruthless precision. They weakened her, caused her to ooze blood from a hundred wounds, but never quite pierced her heart.
But no more. She’d made it right this time. She’d gone back and fixed things, letting Loreli’s body go cold in her arms instead of bringing her back. She could still remember it though, remember every insult and reproach and passive aggressive comment digging under her skin and undermining her trust in reality.
The first thing Carmilla noticed was the bits of dirt falling into her mouth. She coughed, dry and hacking. The second thing she noticed is when it happened again, but it kept flowing and flowing over her face and didn’t stop until it closed off her breathing and pressed onto her chest. Her vision blurred and her lungs burned. She saw a glimpse of sunlight above her before her eyes clouded and she passed out without a sound.
When her eyelids fluttered open, the light around her was blinding. After so long in the dark, the fluorescents burned her eyes. She squinted and saw she was in a sterile white room that dwarfed her in size. Around her were people in long white coats, muttering things that she just barely caught.
“Medical anomalies… exhumed after over a century… foul play suspected…”
One grabbed a scalpel with clear plastic gloves. Carmilla was seized by a sudden shock of fear, helpless and paralyzed. The man was coming towards her, clutching the blade.
“Have to make a Y incision…” she heard distantly.
Then, white-hot fear solidified into action. She sat up, knocking the scalpel out of his hands, hearing it clatter to the ground. The look of pure terror and confusion was starting to make this all worth it. With inhuman strength, she threw him against the wall. Her teeth met his neck, piercing his veins and arteries. The lovely metallic taste of blood quickly replaced the dirty must. She swirled it around inside her mouth, letting it pass over her tongue and teeth. When she swallowed it, she felt a sudden rush of power. She grabbed the scalpel and stabbed him in the chest for good measure, blood rushing over her hands and staining her clothes.
Carmilla- no, Doctor Carmilla- could get used to this.