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They were running again. Looking for a new place, a new life. After all, people had begun noticing the two young women from apartment 214 and how they never seemed to age, even after 7 years. They disappeared during the middle of the night to go unnoticed. They took an airplane from London to New York and soon after continued on foot. And that is how they now found themselves in the forest, making their way through Virginia.
Looking back, Laura giggled and called out “Come on, Carm! You’re falling behind. Seems like someone is getting old!”
The vampire in question simply smirked in response before speeding up and effectively running past a shocked Laura.
Carmilla looked back to throw a wink at her and taunted, “You were saying, cutie?”
The younger girl simply huffed in response and in a playful moment, she quickly jumped and landed on the back of a surprised Carmilla.
“Gotcha,” whispered Laura in her ear before sweetly placing a kiss on her neck. Carmilla smiled softly as she turned her head to the side and kissed her on the lips.
Sliding down, Laura placed herself in front of Carmilla and took a fistful of her hair to guide her mouth to hers. They kissed gently as Carmilla wrapped her arms around the smaller girl and pulled her closer.
Pulling away slightly, Carmilla whispered against her lips, “Laura, wake up.”
Giving one last peck, Laura said, “What?”
“Wake up, Laura.” Carmilla stares into her eyes.
“What are you talking about, I am awake.” Laura looked at her in confusion.
“Please wake up, Laura, she’s here.”
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking, Carm, I a-”
*
Everything was bright. She feels herself on a bed, and when she turns her head to the right, she notices the white walls as well as a constant beeping sound around the room. Detecting movement on the corner of her eyes, she turns around and notices a nurse standing there.
What happened?
The woman smiles gently. “Laura, you’re finally awake. I have a surprise for you.”
Laura in return gives her a confuse look.
The nurse pats her hand and turns towards the door. “You can come in,” she calls out.
Laura stares towards the door and at first nothing happens but then the door opens. It’s Carmilla. She appears to look exactly the same as when she met her. She’s in her leather clothes wearing that same smirk on her face with an air of indifference. And yet she looks completely different. There’s a tightness around her eyes, she looks like she’s about to cry and her smirk seems forced.
“Hey there, cutie.” She nears the bed where Laura is and takes a seat on the chair right next to her. The nurse quietly leaves the room, closing the door behind her.
Laura is still disoriented and confused. “What is going on,” she croaks, “why are we not in the forest. I swear we were just there.” She finds that it was much more difficult to get the sentence out than expected as she finds herself out of breath.
Carmilla looks pained. She bites her lip for a moment “Creampuff, you were probably dreaming.” She gently grabs her hand.
Laura looks towards their hands and that’s when she notices the glaring difference. Carmilla’s hand looks smooth and soft but hers, hers are wrinkled and blotchy. She gapes at them.
Looking around in panic, she looks towards her left and that’s when she finally notices the machine she is connected to with wires monitoring her heart.
She slowly lifts her hands up to her face. It’s not smooth like she hoped it would be, instead it’s the same wrinkled feel as her hands.
Turning towards Carmilla, she breathes, “What’s going on, Carm? Why am I like this, why am I here?”
She faintly hears the beeping spike up as she suddenly goes into a coughing fit. She feels as if her lungs are on fire. Gasping for air, she clutches her chest with her other hand, trying to settle down.
“Calm down, sweetheart.” Carmilla looks at her in concern.
Laura turns her face toward the ceiling, breathing slowly, as her mind tries to take everything in. She didn’t know why or how she was there. They were supposed to be heading to their new place. So why was she at a hospital and most importantly, why did she feel and looked years older? She was a vampire and vampires did not age.
However, she felt exhausted and so when she looked up at Carmilla again, she decided that it was too much. The sleep that she had awoken from was apparently not enough to sustain the energy she needed for her questions, or maybe she was just too petrified to hear the answers. Whatever it was, she let her exhaustion take over and so with one last look at Carmilla, she lays her head sideways on the pillow and promptly falls into a deep slumber.
*
The next time Laura regains conscious the room is devoid of light and of Carmilla’s presence. She blinks several times, and as she’s about to call out the vampire’s name, she hears chattering coming from outside the room.
She strains to listen to the conversation.
“…immune system is extremely weak at the moment from the pneumonia and I’m not sure she’ll be able to recover this time. I think it...”
Her eyes widen as she stops listening. Were they talking about her?
Before she could think of anything else, she suddenly takes notice of her burning chest as she gasps for air. She clutches the sheets as she sputters out coughs in between her intakes of breath. As she hears the door open she is suddenly overcome with a wave of dizziness.
“Whoa, cupcake, breathe. It’s ok, breathe,” soothes Carmilla, grasping one of Laura’s hands in between her own.
Laura does as instructed and soon she’s able to calm down, but she still feels extremely weak. Rolling her head to the side, she stares into Carmilla’s eyes and attempts a smile.
“Carmilla,” she rasps.
“Sshh, sweetheart, don’t talk. Just relax.” Carmilla places a kiss on her forehead. “You’re gonna feel better soon.”
“No, I won’t be,” mutters Laura, “for some reason I’m here and I’m gonna die.”
Carmilla quickly interrupts. “Don’t say that, creampuff, you’re not gonna leave me anytime soon.”
Laura attempts to laugh, prompting her to cough for a few seconds. She gasps deeply as she sputters, “Don’t lie to me, Carm. But you’re here with me, so that’s all that matters.”
With tears streaming down her cheeks, Carmilla smiles weakly. “I’ll always be here for you, Laura. I love you.” She bends down and gently kisses Laura.
“I love you,” Laura murmurs against her lips.
Pulling away, Carmilla whispers, “So how about I tell you a story while you rest, huh?”
Closing her eyes, Laura smiles, “I would like that.”
Still holding her hand, Carmilla sits on the chair, “Alright creampuff, here I go.” She clears her throat before starting, “There was once this really broody and useless vampire. She used to think that she would never able to find the…”
The constant beeping and Carmilla’s voice eventually sooth Laura into a deep sleep. However just as the quiet snores from a sleeping Laura begin, they quickly stop, followed by the flatline.
At the sound, Carmilla stands up as tears quickly stream down her face.
“Laura, please baby, don’t leave me. I love you, sweetheart. Please come back,” sobs Carmilla.
The vampire climbs unto the bed and places herself next to Laura’s body, wrapping her arms around her.
She gently touches Laura’s face before burying her face in her neck as she wails in despair.
As Carmilla’s cries echo around the room, the heart-broken vampire whispers, “I will always love you, Laura, my love, my soulmate.”