Chapter Text
“You picked a fine time to join us, little nugget.” Carmilla teased as she embraced her younger sister.
“Ugh, Carm, I told you to stop calling me that like a hundred years ago.” Genevieve complained, though not too seriously. It had felt like a hundred years since Genevieve had seen Carmilla and she had really missed her.
“You know I’m never going to stop, right? You ARE my baby sister, after all.” Carmilla responded as she put Genevieve into a headlock and proceeded to give her a noogie.
“Carm! Stop! Haha, cut it out!” Genevieve protested as she attempted to wrestle herself out of her sister’s strong grip. After a few moments of play fighting and after a few slightly terrified looks from travelers making their way through the train station, Carmilla and Genevieve made their way out of the building and found their way to Carmilla’s car. “So I heard Mattie showed back up at Silas recently too. How is that working out?” Genevieve asked as they pulled away from the parking lot.
“Mattie is Mattie. Things between her and Laura are kind of tense, but Mattie’s promised not to hurt her.” replied Carmilla. Genevieve scanned Carmilla’s face for any sign that she was joking, but found none. Had Carmilla forgotten about Mattie’s track record for annihilating anyone who upset her or got in her way? “Speaking of Laura, I can’t wait for you to finally meet her! Granted, she’s a little worried about meeting you now that she’s been introduced to Mattie. I told her not to worry because you and Mattie are so different and you would never threaten to use her as a human juice box.” Carmilla spewed as she sped along. Genevieve, try as she might, could not suppress the grin she had been hiding for any longer. She hadn’t heard Carmilla speak like this in a very long time.
“So this Laura must be something special since you won’t shut up about her.” Genevieve ridiculed. “What? Do you LOVE her or something?” If Carmilla could blush, it was plain to her younger sister that she would have been.
“Oh Gen. Shut up. It’s just...she’s different, ok?” Carmilla spouted, looking quite flustered. Genevieve decided to leave her sister be and simply smiled. She was happy for Carmilla. It had been far too long since she had been truly happy. Mother had seen to that. Mother...she had seen to Genevieve as well. Carmilla must have sensed that Genevieve’s thoughts had taken a dark turn.
“Hey little nugget. Don’t look so glum. You’re with me now, right? And you’ll be seeing Mattie soon too.” Carmilla said, attempting to cheer her sister with a light-hearted punch to the arm. Genevieve managed to shoot her sister a weak smile. Back when Genevieve was freshly turned, Carmilla always knew just what to do to cheer her up. A lot had happened since then though. Carmilla’s attempt to make her feel better didn’t eradicate the black spot in her brain that had lingered there for quite some time. It was like putting a band-aid on a bullet hole. A nice gesture, but in the long run it did nothing but remind Genevieve of how much had changed and all that had happened to her.
“Wow...Silas looks like shit.” proclaimed Genevieve. It was much worse than that though. It reminded Genevieve of the ruins of her hometown after the war steam rolled over it. Home...the thought threw the dark shade back over her mind. So many painful memories and regrets flooded Genevieve’s mind.
“Hey, Gen. I’m trying to explain to you what happened here. Where did you go?” Carmilla asked, her brow furrowed with concern.
“Sorry Carm. I just got lost in my thoughts is all. I’m alright.” replied Genevieve, shaking her head. Carmilla parked her car in the secret garage located underneath what used to be the dean’s residence.
“Home sweet home” Carmilla said in a mocking tone. “Your remember, don’t you?”
“Of course. It’s been a long time, but not long enough for me to forget this place” Genevieve replied. She remembered when this was one of the only places she felt safe. How naive she had been in those days. Safe was not a word you ever associated with mother. Genevieve had learned that the hard way. “Well let’s go inside then. You’ve been gushing about this Laura for so long. It’s time that I actually met her” Genevieve jibed.
“Buckle up, little nugget,” Carmilla said with a chuckle, “Laura is little, but she is mighty. At least in intensity”.
“Enough with the warnings! She’s only a human after all. I’ve dealt with worse” Genevieve stated, feigning annoyance.
“Alright, alright” Carmilla conceded, holding up her hands in mock surrender. They made their way up the stairs to the living quarters. At the top of the staircase was a massive, ancient oak door. A wave of nostalgia hit Genevieve as she pushed past it and into the foyer. It was almost as if she had travelled back in time. It appeared as though nothing had changed since she’d last been here, and that was over 60 years ago. But as her eyes adjusted to the light in the room, she noticed the differences. Instead of a massive painting on the wall in the living room, a brand new flat screen tv hung in its place. There were numerous pairs of shoes strewn about the hallway, all of varying sizes. Genevieve figured the tiniest of the shoes belonged to her sister’s newest pet human. As the thought crossed her mind, she scolded herself. Carmilla seemed to think highly of this Laura. How would Genevieve feel if Carmilla had such a blase attitude towards someone she loved? A sharp stab of pain hit Genevieve square in the chest at this newest thought. She HAD loved someone once. It felt like someone had reached their hand into her chest and crushed her heart in their fist.
“Gen! What’s wrong??” Genevieve hadn’t noticed Carmilla come up behind her and put her hand on her back. She also hadn’t realized she was doubled over, hands on her knees, on the verge of tears. She stood up and looked Carmilla in the eyes. If she looked past the intense concern apparent in her sister’s dark eyes, she could see the deeply wounded look in her own reflected back at her. “What-” Carmilla began to say when she was abruptly cut off by a tiny figure barreling into the room. It launched itself at Carmilla.
“YOU’RE BACK!!” exclaimed the small girl as she hung from Carmilla’s neck. Judging by the way her sister looked at her, Genevieve figured this must be Laura.
“Woah there Creampuff, I wasn’t gone that long” laughed Carmilla.
“With all the weird stuff happening around here, ten minutes is too long” the smaller girl stated with a sigh. She let go of Carmilla’s neck and turned to face Genevieve. “Sorry for not introducing myself. I’m Laura Hollis. You must be Carmilla’s other sister. Genevieve, right?”
“Yeah, that’s me. It’s nice to finally meet you, Laura. You’re basically all Carmilla would talk to me about as of late” Genevieve said shakily, the last bit of pain still slowly receding from her rib cage. It didn’t help that even though she was now over a century old and a vampire to boot, Genevieve seemingly did not inherit the flawless social skills her sisters and mother possessed. She would never willingly admit it, but Genevieve was worried Laura wouldn’t like her. She worried that Matska and their mother had completely destroyed Laura’s opinion of Carmilla’s family, dragging Genevieve down with them. Carmilla punched her not all too softly on the arm.
“That’s enough out of you” Carmilla said sheepishly, her cool exterior falling momentarily victim to her embarrassment. Laura laughed.
“Carm, I like this sister much more already. She hasn’t threatened to kill or censor me”. Encouraged by Laura’s approval, Genevieve decided to play along.
“Oh, I wouldn’t judge me too quickly. I am a vampire after all,” she chided. Then in a heavy Transylvanian accent added, “Blood, blood, I want to suck your blood!” as she shuffled toward Laura with her arm holding an invisible cape over the bottom half of her face. Laura burst into a fit of giggles.
“Yep. Much better than the rest of your family for sure. With your sense of humor, how did you survive around them? I’ve tried to find Carmilla’s funny bone, but it doesn’t seem like she has one”.
“That’s my fault. She had to put up with a decade of my constant terrible jokes and puns. I think I may have ruined her on the humor front” joked Genevieve. Carmilla made a face at both of them.
“It was a decade of pure torture, believe me” Carmilla said loftily as she rolled her eyes. No one said anything for a few seconds, then they all burst out laughing.
“So the secret to Carm’s silly side is you! Well then I am even more glad you are here with us now” Laura said sincerely.
“I am very happy to be here” Genevieve smiled. And she was. There wasn’t a place on earth she would have rather been. That is until her eldest sister walked through the front door.