From the author:

Soldiers, how are you? Tell me what are you thinking of the story, I'll love to hear you guys. Hug the wolf and let's go one more ONE MORE NIGHT!!!

The song of the chap.: Paul Haslinger - Keep Watch Over the Night

***

"Where am I?" Laura asked in a weak voice echoing through an endless white room. Her body was light, floating in the air. Nothing was visible. She didn't know if she was flying or falling. "Am I dead?"

Would she have died?

"Run! Run Laura!!!" A female voice reached the journalist's ears, along with measured steps. Suddenly corridors and doors emerged all around, passed and stayed behind, giving view to more doors and corridors, stairs...

Laura whirled down stairs, landing in a large elegant lobby with a polished floor. She lifted her face, trying to ground itself, but as soon as she spotted three women at the end of a hallway, she was pulled into another path.

"Come this way!" A woman in a pale dress grabbed her wrist. Dragging her into a pink-carpeted room, they passed a second door and exited into another hallway, hearing curses before the door closed behind them.

"Wait," she asked, being dragged into another series of corridors.

"No time now, shut up and run, woman!"

At a glance she caught sight of the corridors, and more doors than she could count ran as if something terrible was chasing them, and perhaps it was, for an icy despair gripped the blonde's bones.

"Here!" shouted the woman, throwing her into a room. Laura did a somersault, ending up with her legs on the bed, her neck bent, her head on the floor, and the dress's hem on her nose. "We'll be safety here; for now." The woman sat in a chair in front of a small table. "Tea?"

"Tea?! Wait a minute, what, what?!" The journalist turned on the floor in the middle of so many layers of dress, nervous, confused, without knowing why. Never saw that woman in front of her.

"Calm down, you are safe here; I mean, for now at least, or I hope so," the woman took a sip of tea.

"But what's going on?! Who are you?" She straightened up in the opposite chair, squeezing the back.

"My name is Ell, and..." she paused. "Well, it doesn't matter at all. I mean, I'm no longer alive that I need a name, so,"

"So, I'm dead?!" she exalted herself.

"Yes, almost like dying, I still can't say it, proper. It will depend on you. I know it's confusing, but you're in great danger Laura, but we'll have a little time, sit down." She offered a cup of tea, dark as coffee, served from a flowered porcelain kettle.

Laura sat down, barred by a sanity taken from nowhere. And analyzed everything possible. She could feel the air in and out of her nose. The golden handle of the cup was real. The tea tasted not the best. She felt something, but does the dead feel too?

Okay, I think I'm alive. Thought, but suddenly a burning thunder crunched her arm, making her shriek in pain, threw her hands over the running and vivacious, warm crimson between her fingers.

"Damn Mariele!" The woman in front of her grabbed her arm, making pressure to stop the blood, ripped the sleeve of her dress and bandaged the wound. Laura ended up falling off her chair with the tear in her arm throbbing. "Must have been Mariele, she's the one with these knives."

"My arm is burning!" She screamed, like buried in burning embers."

"It's the poison!"

The blonde fell backwards squirming, her back coming off the floor, jaw locked, teeth almost fused together from clenching. Then the pain eased, covered in tea. Ell set the kettle down on the table, nervously clasping her hands, snorting and holding her nose.

"Forgive me, but was necessary."

"Oh, thanks," said, looking at the room. It was a large bedroom, cold walls, no windows, Victorian furniture, bed covered with a heavy dark canopy, the bedspread was white as snow, falling with ruffles to the floor of reddish brown wood. They paired the table with Ell - buy a light two in an ad for an antique house - the lace dress in layers down to her ankles. How did she run that fast, dressed like this? Hair tied back with two spirals of curls running down behind her ears against her exposed collarbone, in a princess dress, a rose crest adorned her chest, in combination with a golden ruby ​​crimson necklace.

"Laura, I need to ask you something, but it will be a bit intrusive if I don't ask for your permission."

"Ell!" Roared a woman at the door, accompanied by two others, they were the same ones Laura had seen at the end of the corridor, scarred red, their dresses torn by combat, eyes hellish red as those of a dark beast.

"You found her," said the woman approaching with a chair leg oozing crimson. "Now it's one less." She stepped on the journalist's dress and raised the club to the ceiling. So everything flew, the floor flew, no, it was the rug pulled away. In midair, Ell grabbed Laura's waist under her arms and hurried her away from that bedroom.

"Wait, what they want?! Hell, someone says something! NOT EVEN CARM EXPLAINS ANYTHING TO ME! Carm..." rambled in her mind. A wall crumbled, giving way to a dark, crooked hallway.

"After them!" Laura's voice echoed down the hall, but was a stronger tone, like wasn't her at all. Behind them came the three crazy women scolding all kinds of curses, but they found nothing. Like the two girls had disappeared.

***

The passage was upside down, but it took just one step from them, and the floor became the ceiling, the ceiling became the floor, the corridor behind her, a solid wall. They walked for a few meters, checking each door, locked. At one point, the floor was wet with something very dark with a metallic scent. Ell was pacing the doors, so did the journalist.

"It's her, all from her; this place, you got very close..."

"What?"

"There's a part of her in you... the one I've never seen... never accepted..." she muttered.

A crashing noise came from one door, one of the last in the pitch. The blonde approached, the sounds became more frequent and more violent. She could see through the gap, a man panting, his shoulders rising and falling, his back bending him forward, his arms dangling between his bowed legs.

"Carmilla," Laura said, upon noticing the unconscious vampire on the bed in the bedroom. A ghostly shiver froze her spine when the man's red eyes stared at her, but Ell closed the door.

"Better not to see it. Some of these doors are locked. You're not ready, not yet... but you have part of it inside you; even without knowing, even without being prepared..."

The journalist looked confused. Until now, she didn't understand the events, however...

"Get out of the way! Carmilla is inside, she is in danger!!!" Laura pushed the fairy-tale princess, but the room was empty when she entered. "Carm!" She called, walking around the room seeking the vampire, even under the bed.

"You love her?" Ell asked, closing the door.

"What?" said the journalist on the sheets.

"I asked if you love her. You know she is what she is. A creature of the night, something abnormal, a freak," she questioned, with a taste of revulsion in her voice.

"Of course I know!" Laura suddenly felt a little angry at the way Ell spoke of Carmilla, a disgusting tone, as if it were the doom of the world. "I know she's a vampire, but she's no freak! She acts that way of hers, but she's not bad, she..."

"SHE'S A MONSTER!" yelled Ell.

"SAY IT AGAIN!" roared Laura, pulling the rude girl by the coat of arms on her dress. "SHE IS NO MONSTER! SHE IS..."

"YOU LOVE HER?"

"YES! DAMMIT! I LOVE HER!" cried falling to her knees, the tears warming her face, heading to the ground. "I love her... but... I... love..."

"I wanted to know. I had to know. I made a mistake, long time ago, when I decided to love, but I loved half. After a long time, I got it. When you love, you don't love half, not even part of someone, you love it all; light and dark, the good part and the bad part. Don't make the same mistake as me Laura, love her but, love her completely; but I think you already love her like that," she smiled cruelly.

Laura's eyes were watery, she was crying, with a weight falling off her shoulders. Finally, said what she was feeling and, which reminded her of the room, the voice: Mircalla Karnstein, Mircalla, Mircalla, Karnstein.

"Mircalla,"

"Mircalla Karnstein," cursed Ell, clenching her fists. "She," the voice twisted, formal and calm tone, to the angry and desperate one. "Laura, take care of Mircalla, love her the way I never did, that I never accepted... I never forgave..." Her face darkened, a wound opened on her neck, dripping blood to the ground. "Kill me..." The last thread of her voice came out.

"Ell?"

"I'll kill you..." she growled. "I'll kill you," the girl covered in blood advanced on the journalist, knocking them down "I'll kill you, and kill the others, then use you to get Mircalla back!" She vomited blood on the blonde.

Ell had fangs popping, eyes red. She choked her. Laura felt the woman's fingers tighten around her neck.

"Mircalla is mine!!!" she screamed, spitting more blood. "Mircalla will be mine!" She laughed grotesquely at the ceiling.

Laura was gasping for air, her neck tightening, reached out, but not in panic. She knew what she wanted. The fireplace tools toppled over, and Ell jumped back with her torso pierced.

"She's not a thing of yours! You won't hurt Carmilla, not with me here!" The journalist advanced with the fireplace poker. It was only to pass out, but the noblewoman wanted to make the blonde pass out forever.

Laura didn't know from where those reflexes come from. Surely a splash of warm blood on the face must help. In a second, Ell pulled her dress up, tearing everything, but underneath it, there were blue jeans and a shirt with a doggie sweater.

"YOU WON'T HURT HER, I WON'T LET IT!" The place shook when her eyes met, unbalancing them both. Laura took aim, and the vampire dropped to her knees with the piece of metal skewered across her chest.

"Take care of her..." The calm face showed up once more, before falling away forever.

The journalist sat down, coming to her senses. What had she done? Hands painted by the same in the red puddle. There were others, perhaps all of them, sharing Ell's desire. So whatever, or wherever, she was. She had to help Carmilla out of her walking nightmares.

"So, I'm inside me, inside my mind, that choker," she lamented. "They're using my body for something bad, and I have to do something about," she tore the remains of the dress, took a strip of cloth and tied her hair, took the poker, and went to the door. "Hang on Carm, I'm coming," she opened the door and.

The white room again.

"Carmilla!!!" called, her voice swallowed by the immensity. Her neck pressed, the head hanged forward; the body fell floating once more, ice blowed her back, a strange warmth steamed chest, and a wooden ceiling took her eyes.

Her mouth was dry as sand, her body heavy as a truck, sore and locked like the brakes on that rusty truck. She risked a move and hurried hands cupped her face.

"Not yet." It was Carmilla with dark circles under her eyes, paler and slightly thinner. "Welcome back, cupcake," said, with the face lying on her chest.

The blonde opened her mouth to ask, but blood came out in place of her voice. She forced her vocal cords and more blood spurted out.

"Don't, don't try it. Not yet, cupcake," The vampire's hands held the journalist's head.

Laura didn't understand a thing, but whatever bad thing about those crazy women was over. It ended badly, but Carmilla was alive. She was fine; she was safe. A sniffling pink snout crept under the blanket, crawled carefully until the head of a huge wagging dog came out of the sheet. It was Chello.

"Got it, stay with her," The brunette licked the blood on the journalist's face, closing her eyes to enjoy the taste, then stood up, going to the exit. A despair took Laura's heart, regretting the departure. The dog jumped out of bed facing the door with its tail down, ears turned back, ready to fight, stayed in that position for a long time, until it barked angrily living the room.

The journalist's sense of time was horrible. She couldn't tell how long she was there, but time stopped when a woman with green hair carrying Carmilla on her back kicked the door.

"Damn, vampire!" It was a woman with green hair past her shoulders, muscular body, beautiful and completely naked. She threw the brunette onto a second bed, tearing all the rags from her already torn clothes. "Damn Carmilla!" She turned the vampire on her stomach, the red ran and dyed the sheets. The woman picked some herbs on the nightstand, and chewed some leaves, then passed it on the patient's back, who moaned at the sudden contact. "This will ease the pain, for now. Sleep, I take the watch." The woman left.

A few minutes passed in silence. Carmilla was snorting. She must be in pain.

"I'll not sleep cupcake, it wouldn't be fair to you, since you can't sleep," she smiled the vampire face down and bare back. Laura couldn't understand her cold neck. She touched it. "No, it's still bruised inside, that's why you can't speak. So, don't take off the necklace, ok? I know it's the crystal, the one who won't let you sleep, but it won't let you die either."

What?

The blonde's gaze translated over eight hundred questions.

What you mean, crystal? What happened? For God's sake, was another creature? Where are we?

And there she goes on endless questions.

"I think I'll have to say it, right? Beyond three questions; even if you don't even remember the first ones," she whispered, her footsteps creaking on the floor.

Something had fallen. This thing was a vampire crawling from the neighboring bed to the blonde's bed.

"I really have to fulfill your time," Carmilla, wrapped in a sheet, sitting on the edge of the bed. "No way I can explain anything without telling you everything. No loose ends, so I'll tell a story, my story. The story of Mircalla Karnstein."

That name echoed through the room, along with the memory before that, of that name repeated over and over like a terrible omen.

"It all started right here. Austria 1680. Mircalla Karnstein, the youngest daughter of Count Karnstein. I had a relatively normal childhood. I had one or two problems, but nothing that a belt wouldn't solve. Then when I turned fourteen, those marriage hassles began. Several nobles were interested, signing an agreement with my father when I was less than eleven years old." Carmilla made a face of disgust. "Wrinkled old men and hypocrites, my father arranged a marriage with a big tub of lard just before I turned fifteen. I got rid of saying, he was an elephant pacifier." A giggle escaped. "One by one I dismissed telling the truth. My father get mad, saying I was throwing away good marriages. Until I turned eighteen, and my father accepted anyone, and I earned the name, Hellcat," laughed remembering Laura's laugh when heard that from Thalia. "To arrange marriage, my father took me to France, a huge and luxurious ball in Versailles. I dismissed all who dared. I didn't want any of them, frankly; I was way more interested in girls in dresses, ornate or not, in lace or rags. They were more interesting creatures, but who said my father understood? That anyone would? I got more alone, more angry and sad inside; dying in a corset and crying over expensive dresses. My father took the time to replace all the female servants with males. He thought he could cure me; you know."

Laura held Carmilla's hand, looking into her eyes as her breathing changed, along with the sadness wanting to drain away. The vampire asked her not to move, but the blonde didn't want to know, pulled her cradling her head to her chest while she leaned back against the bed. She stroked the brunette's hair for her to continue.

"That's when he showed up. When I met him. The one who changed everything, the gray phantom," Carmilla's voice was warm, as if she remembered an old and dear friend. "Like the others, wanting to start an empty conversation, but; was different. Didn't wear half the fashion clothes, discreet, even in prince's clothes, gray wig, and less arrogant. He was the only one that made me laugh in that palace of lies, freed me from some idiotic suitors. He was the first one who attracted me, enough for us to dance two songs. We stopped the hall, everyone moved away for our dance, the night was ours, we yielded more comments than I could even imagine. I didn't saw my father anymore, but I didn't even want to see him, I wanted to go with that person, I didn't understand what attracted me so much about her, but then I found out when we talked on the balcony, because I had said that I had never met a man like him :

Maybe because I'm not a man.

"I had never felt redder in my life, but that explained so much. I went to the room with her. Wanting to know more. I wanted so much. She was the first one who had awakened this in me. I didn't know what it was, but I knew she had something to do with. She was kind, hugged me, but was weird, like she knew me. Then she laid me on the bed." At that moment, Laura's hand closed in the brunette's hair. "Don't get mad. We went little, because, when I thought we were going on something, well; my throat burned. She hugged me, I hugged back. Fire burned from her mouth on my neck. I didn't understand what was really happening, but I got weak, feel cold, until everything faded away. She was a vampire and drained me. When I woke up, I met; my mother; mother in death. She was elegant, ancient, and powerful. She explained to me what I was, that I was turned by a vampire, but because I was too powerful, I devoured him. There were bodies all over the room. She said how big was my power, that I had killed his servants. Her coat was all torn and bloody on my side. And I was no longer human, belonging to the night, so; alone. This woman adopted me. I traveled the world in the night. Everything was more, every smell, every touch, every sight, every sense of mine stronger. I got to know the clans, and each one had a function. Mine was to sniff out and find young women, pure in body and heart, and I was good at it. I got a ruby ​​necklace for my talent. I won them all for my mother. With each conquest I got a gift, an extra ruby ​​in my jewelry. Like always, one more game, one more conquest. But this time, it was my heart that got conquered. Her name was Ell, she was very mature for her age and, beautiful, I fell in love when everything supposed to be a game," She paused melancholy. "When we kissed for the first time, was unusual. She felt it too, but she even denied it; they would never accept, and when it came time to deliver her, I couldn't. I planned the escape, away from everyone she wouldn't be afraid to take over our love, but on the night of the escape, everything went wrong. The clan caught us. And my mother was kind enough to reveal my secret." Carmilla gave an extremely cruel smile. "I had never told what I was, of course. The reaction couldn't be good. She found out about me in the worst possible way, and I found out what a beautiful curse in disguise I had won. That damn choker controlled me, made to erase my humanity, little by little and without realizing it, I ate and killed without caring. I killed her entire family, one by one agonizing before her terrified eyes.

MONSTER!

"She called me." Laura's arms hugged tighter. "She was right. As I drained her, she cried, screamed, and I devoured every drop of her panic, every drop of fear, hate, and disgust. In the end, I saw her die while being dragged to my eternal prison, a coffin of blood. I plunged into darkness, lost my mind in that hell. Until I woke up here, in this century. I'm not sure, but the plane was falling, and she appeared wrapped in wings of blood. My true mother. She took care of me, ripped that crap down my throat."

Blood of my blood.

"An ancient vampire from another world. Apparently, she met an ancestor of mine and gave part of her blood to save her. This blood passed through the entire family, but showed its colors with me only. I was never abnormal, didn't become, I was born. I was born different, so I never got along with almost anything that was said to be right, or normal, for girls. For almost a year I learned about myself, about the other world, about fighting, fencing, about pairs. I also received books, along with other gifts, my gauntlet, this crystal. I am convinced that my world is not this one, but the other one. However, when I asked to go with her, she gave me a nice NO, but I insisted so much that she gave me Death Kiss, a key sword. She said that if I really wanted, the sword would take me, but she said too, that my pair would be here, so I shouldn't go. So she left, and I spent the last few months trying to go to her world, my world, that's why I came here, because the sword showed my old home, and now she's gone." A dense silence seized the space until Carmilla pulls away and stared Laura's eyes. "Remember when I talked about pairs. I never believed, until I met you, I know the idea is ridiculous, I know I'm a monster, and you also know now, because between pairs things can't be one-sided, you both have to want the same. You don't have to believe in anything, especially coming from a monster, but I'm beginning to believe it, when you I see you, because the pair scares you and encourages you, makes you weak and strong, and I feel that way with you." The brunette's voice was full of pain, of an almost solid despair. It was as if, after the entire story, the worst part was talking about the pairs.

Sad, pure sadness. Laura held her hand over the vampire's face, with all the sweetness in her eyes, pulled her until their lips entwine. Something was different in that kiss. Warmer, tender, loving. Carmilla tasted like tears, but then she wanted to kiss her until the tears were sweet and joyful. The two fell to the side of the bed without breaking the kisses.

The journalist's hands were on the other's waist and thighs. Her lips froze at the touch of her breath between breathless intervals. The vampire's arms were protecting the patient's head. Her legs intertwined. Slow kisses gaining rush.

"Stop," Carmilla asked, but Laura couldn't hear. "Cupcake," the vampire held the blonde, both panting. "You're still not well, and if I get excited, I won't be able to control the colors, please."

They embraced. Laura hid her rather sad face at not having what she wanted.

"The crystal doesn't allow you to sleep, so I'll stay awake with you."

The blonde looked into Carmilla's eyes and closed them with her fingers, giving her a goodnight kiss, like it says:

You can sleep, babe.