I Hate Myself but I Love You

Chapter 48

Laura's POV

"Carm, why do you have a Nerf gun?"

She keeps a straight face as she says, "I like to have fun, cutie."

"I know that, but why do you have a Nerf gun?"

Carmilla smirks and kisses my cheek. "I've got to keep my air of mystery, don't I?"

"So you have no idea where it came from."

"Not a clue. Maybe the Ginger One brought one from campus. Or maybe your father was planning to bombard us with plastic pellets while we sleep." She wiggles her fingers dorkily, smiling and looking accomplished when it makes me giggle.

"Laura, Carmilla!" My dad yells, standing in the doorway to the cabin. "The computer's flashing and it's saying something about you having a message."

I look at her, alarmed. "Your computer can talk?"

"No. This is not good."

We walk quickly into the cabin. My shoulders are tense and my fists are clenched, ready to fight a pile of sentient metal. But we walk in to a calm room with the light above the screen blinking.

Dad points to the screen, where there's a pop-up saying that JP wants to Skype with us. I breathe out a sigh of relief. I really don't want anything else to go wrong, so the fact that Carmilla's computer hasn't come alive wanting to terminate most of the human race or something is really comforting right now.

"Hey, where's Danny and Mattie?" I ask.

"They left to get the supplies, kiddo. We found where they are quicker than we thought. And I think Matska was irritated at Danny about something." He shrugs, giving me an apologetic look. "Sorry I don't know more than that."

"It's okay, Daddy." I hug him, smiling when he gives me a bear hug in return, lifting me off the ground for a moment before setting me back down.

"Hello, Miss Karnstein and Miss Hollis." JP's voice comes from behind me, making me spin back around to face the laptop. Carmilla must have accepted his Skype request. "I'm afraid I don't know you, sir. Yet you look remarkably similar to Miss Hollis. Are you by chance her father?"

Dad looks impressed. "Yes, I am."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Hollis. I am JP, a friend of your daughter's. And though I would love to chat longer, I have an urgent message for you all." His face takes a grim expression. "I am afraid that Miss Perry will be making her move shortly. I don't know the details of what she's going to do, just that it will be soon."

"Thanks, JP. We have an idea, but for your safety I'm not going to tell you." Carmilla says. "We'll come soon."

"Save the world, Miss Karnstein." He gives a little wave before cutting off the Skype thing.

"No pressure." Carmilla murmurs, leaning back in her chair.

I grab the nearest chair (which just so happens to be the one Carm spent so much time in while I was changing). I reach out and hold her hand, waiting for her to look up at me before speaking.

"Hey. We're in this together, alright?"