Forever Charmed

Fear Itself

Carmilla leans back further into the couch and chuckles. "Well, I am here already."

~*~

"Are you sure you don't want to get in the water?" Laura asks, splashing around in her father's pool.

"I'm sure," Carmilla says without looking up. Laura had given her a tour of the house, including her father's library. Carmilla had perused the collection for almost an hour before selecting a book to carry around with her.

The tour had also included her childhood bedroom–– lots of Doctor Who memorabilia, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars DVD's, and some posters of Wonder Woman.

"Besides, cutie, it's Friday the 13th. With the level of clumsiness you possess, it'd be smarter to cover you up in bubble wrap and lock you in a room."

Laura rolls her eyes and does a few laps before getting out the pool, wrapping a towel around herself.

And yet, it took all of Carmilla's willpower to keep from staring at Laura in a bikini.

Laura sits down at the pool chair beside her and Carmilla continues to focus intently on her book.

"Whatcha reading?" Laura asks, drinking from a bottle of water.

"Camus," she replies without looking up.

Laura cranes her neck to look at the cover before humming. "The Stranger. 'I had been right, I was still right, I was always right. I had lived my life one way and I could just as well have lived it another.'"

Carmilla quirks an eyebrow and finally glances up. "You've read this?"

Laura shrugs. "Dad read it for me once when he was getting ready for a part. I don't remember much, but I remember that bit."

"I was always more partial to 'I looked up at the mass of signs and stars in the night sky and laid myself open for the first time to the benign indifference of the world," Carmilla says.

Laura snorts. "You would be."

"And what about you?" Carmilla snaps. "Picking the quote about how your path is the only path."

"What is that supposed to mean, Miss Dark and Broody?" Laura demands.

Carmilla narrows her eyes in a sneer. "Like, oh say... the path of not using your powers. It's not out of sight, out of mind, cutie. The demons are still there. In fact, now you're closer to them than when you were living with the dimwit squad. And your powers are weaker."

"I'm not defenseless," Laura points out with a pout.

Carmilla shakes her head, losing her patience. "What's the point of having powers if you're scared of using them? If you can't control them and something attacks, you'll be as dead as your m—"

It occurs to Carmilla too late that she's gone too far. Laura's eyes widen and her mouth opens and closes a few times before she grabs her cellphone. She stands and mumbles something about calling her father to check in before running back into the house.

Carmilla drops her book to her lap with a sigh.

To be honest, she was all for Laura breaking out on her own. She'd be less likely to blurt out that Carmilla is her whitelighter if they were alone.

But it was her job to keep her safe—both until the sacrifice, and then perhaps to protect her from it. And, unfortunately, Laura was safer in a house filled with witches than she was in a house alone.

Good going, Karnstein. Damned if you, damned if you don't.

~*~

Laura huffs as she storms into her dad's study, flinging her phone onto the table. She sits at the desk and slumps forward until her head hits the table with a thump.