The night remained in the most sublime calm that the foot of the mountain could offer. The orange lights of the lamps, hanging from the beams of the short roof adorned the front of the pension building. The ground that gave light squeals to slow palaces, and thunderstorms to the foot of an elephant.

Laura was watching the dark figure closely. Strange. Not so much. But certainly, intriguing. Not that she ever witnessed others in the same situation, with their forehead on the table and the hurt drowning in the bottles.

Surely a man would have been beaten. But a woman surrounded by booze, wearing tight boots instead of thin shoes. Daringly male pants. This would not go unnoticed by the blonde's eyes.

Frightened she asked Perry who she was.

"Do not know. She came here much earlier, got five sandwiches, and left. Came back a little before twilight, dirt in the mud. I couldn't even see her face. I sent her to the bathroom. As soon as she got back, and started drinking ... a lot." Perry omitted the part of having cleaned up all the dirt on the floor. Mud, leaves, green slime that the lady of the house thought was vomit.

The woman holding the blonde's eyes woke up, shoved a few bottles, and made a sign-waving her hand down, calling. Laura forced herself to walk without looking away from her. Stopped, leaning her waist against the edge of the table, looking at a face covered with a very dark fringe.

"Please..." The voice was hoarse and sleepy. "...could you bring me more of these." She pointed between two bottles.

"But you haven't had enough?" Laura replied, and she didn't even work there. But her heart made she feel tender in front of someone so fragile by alcohol.

"...I did not drink, it is not..." The head weighed forward. "... not even far...quite..." Carmilla looked at Laura's face. "...you have...a smell..." She slipped her hand to the belly of the Galician blouse. "...so good..." Said biting her lower lip and squeezing the blouse of the other between her fingers.

Laura looked into those black eyes before they closed behind the curtain of hair, and their owner fell asleep leaning on the bench. Laura sighed without really knowing what had happened.

The door beside the drinks opened behind the counter.

"Could you not bring these things here?" Perry frowned.

"Okay, change the boarding place." Replied Lafontaine carrying a bear's paw. "Ah! You've seen me do worse, but look, this time it wasn't even me, who cut a bear's leg." LaF held out a hand holding a skinned bear's paw.

"That's why I said not to bring these things here, it's getting blood all over." She said picking up a cloth behind the counter.

Their discussion caught Laura's attention. Something about a trail of destruction, animals, trees, and even the ground. Scattered. LaF kept trying to argue over the lines of Miss Brushed Floor.

"As it is, tell it all." Laura entered in the middle of the chat. One highlighted the clean floor. The other tried to tell about the great and frightening troll trail. And the third supported the superfluous idea of an incredible adventure story for the local newspaper - three handwritten sheets for some drunk think it's toilet paper - but the journalist just flushed more.

"I'm not saying no, but it should be very strong." LaF showed the bear's paw.

"Strong. What else?" The blonde was already pulling a shabby notebook out of her pockets and a pen with a chewed tip. "Tell me more." Perry fell silent over the drip drips on the floor, their enthusiasm was like that of children when they unearth a bottle cap in the mud. She was well aware of Laura's curiosity, which had been further fueled by her father keeping her under the hawk's wings. And LaFontaine, well, they had grown up together, always left her at grandmother cares, who owns the pension and; ever; LaF parents always took a long time to come back from business trips.

"It's fine children, come on to the kitchen." Said Perry pushing those two.

Laura sat in the chair opposite the salon door, LaF at the head, and Perry had his hands in a very long ladle beside the stove. The aspiring journalist kept writing down everything the veterinarian on duty said. The pension owner served them a plate of potato soup with some bread. And if it weren't for the scent and the hunger, the two treasure hunters would have spent the rest of the night talking.

"Beware that it's too hot." Perry warning came a little late for Laura, who, already waving her tongue out of her mouth, LaF raised an eyebrow at Perry, holding back her laughter.

"Shut up LaF." Laura scolded.

"I'm not...laughing" It couldn't be helped, hide that smile was impossible. And a cascade of laughter tumble on the table. However, a high-pitched sound silenced anything or person over the entire city.

In the distance the warning sirens rang.

"I already turned off the lights outside!" Danny came in almost knocking over the back door and locking it right after.

"I will wake the guests!" Perry shouted running into the hall followed by LaF that, turned off the lights of the place.

Danny and Laura too. They passed two more rooms, warning to protect themselves. When almost down the hall. The blonde ran back to the salon even under Danny's protests. The alarm still sounded, so there was time, her knees shook from thinking what would come after the warning noise ended.

She ran to the door, bolting it. Her eyes shifted to the corner table and, as soon as he touched Carmilla, the alarm stopped. Avoid flooded her chest at the sound of planes hum. She grabbed the vampire by throwing herself under the table.

Bombers.

Panting, her chest pumping fear, she closed her watery eyes, clutching her head in her hands and, uselessly ordering her brain to expel the memories of the crashes in her panicked mind. Frightened yelps were heard in the darkroom. When he then felt a pair of hands go up back, her torso being wrapped in something warm and soft.

"...your smell is very good..." Carmilla's breath warmed Laura's neck, who tried to process everything.

"There you are!" Danny yelled at the hall entrance. The lumberjack grabbed them both by the collar, dragging them behind the counter. "What were you thinking?" She faced the journalist. "It was to protect yourself, and..." Danny saw Laura shiver curled at the sound of airplanes. The Amazon lowered her shoulders, sat down next to the other, and pulled her to rest. "It's ok, it will pass. It'll be okay, don't worry." She clutched the ax between her fingers while calming her friend with the other hand.

It was a calm winter night. Only one more.

***

From the author: Hey Creampuffs how's it going? Only Carm could do this, all the world falling, and she: your smell is very good.

Just she to ignore the bombers.