Carmilla Read online

  Concern is written all over Danny’s face, and her feet drag on her way out the door. As she leaves, I hear her mutter, “Seductive. I’ll show her.”

  * * *

  •

  I sit down at my computer with a bag of candy, racking my brain for ways to lure Carmilla into the trap we set. I guess I could get bitten. Not liking that one. What would Mina Harker do? She’d totally act alluring and sexy and get chomped on. I remind myself that I’m not Mina.

  I thumb through a stack of books for ideas. Dracula, not bad, I like it. The Vampire Lestat, a favorite. Twilight, just no. Bella putting Edward so high up on a pedestal, being her be all and end all. The damsel in distress. So 1950s. Dog-tired, I drift off, head planted on my forearm across the desk.

  I startle awake, clutching my neck and mumbling, “Black as the Pit, and terrible … terrible.” I rub my eyes, focusing on a shadow on my windowsill. It’s Carmilla, smoking a cigarette, smoke rings billowing above her.

  “You’re here?”

  She turns to me, her regal profile all mine to see. Hair flowing past her slight shoulders, covering a tight white T-shirt. The moonlight falling perfectly over her.

  “Been here awhile. You were having another bad dream. At least it sounded like that.” Her voice is soft. Like she cares.

  “Yeah. I can’t seem to escape them. What are you doing?”

  “Counting the stars. So beautiful. Tranquil. It’s so comforting. To think of how tiny we are in comparison. All the lives we’ve led, the people who’ve crossed our paths.”

  “You really are a philosophy major,” I crack. Though now I know she really has lived in other times.

  She drifts my way. “I think your unconscious wants you to give up the vlog and get to your lit paper.”

  “Huh?”

  “You were dreaming about the Kipling book you said was on your reading list.”

  “You remembered,” I say, surprised.

  “One of my all-time favorites. ‘Black as the Pit, and terrible as a demon, was Bagheera.’ I’ve always loved that. So beautiful it makes you cry.”

  The depth of her words and the way she articulates them almost suck me in. I see pain behind Carmilla’s eyes and feel her tortured soul. It’s speaking to me, in poetry. Stop listening, my inner good judgment tells me.

  “Dangerous as well. You know, giant black cat and all,” I say. She gets closer. I feel her breath. I fall into her eyes. “Hey, the Zetas are having a party,” I continue. “I know we had a rocky start, but how about if we go together and hang out. Look at the stars.”

  She’s an inch from my lips, then I almost feel hers graze mine. “I think I might like that very much.”

  Oh no. This is going to be harder than I thought.

  It’s her eyes.

  • EIGHT •

  My bed is closet carnage as I search for the perfect outfit to bait a vampire. I hold up a tank top, supertight. Not me. Next up, a midriff top with short shorts. Too obvious. I put my favorite plaid pajama bottoms on and check myself out in the mirror. I’m definitely comfy but don’t think it’ll do the trick. I try a sexy dress. Flowy, white. Neck and shoulders on display. Over the top? Probably, but I’m owning it.

  Danny walks through the open door. (I finally gave up worrying about locking the door since everyone pretty much treats this place like a subway station.) “I brought you some liquid courage,” she offers, handing me some tequila. She puts her phone in her pocket and just looks at me. “Is that what you’re wearing?” she asks.

  I’m self-conscious as all hell so this isn’t helping. “Not sexy enough?”

  She gets her flirt on. “That is not the problem. You’re totally working the brooding lover thing. You could really tone it down. You know?”

  I’d like to yell, No, I don’t. Just speak the words so I know if we are a thing or not. I know fighting vampires doesn’t lend itself to romance, but I’d like to know where I stand before I go into battle. Instead, I keep quiet about that and go somewhere else. “Wanna hear my plan?”

  “I’m all ears. But damn, you look amazing. Makes me wish I was a vampire,” she flirts. Yes, this might be a thing. Just not right this second.

  “We’re going to hit the luau for a bit. Have a drink or two to loosen her up, get her off her game. I’ll ask her to go for a walk, then the Zetas will grab her. Fingers crossed she doesn’t ingest me first. That’s the plan.”

  “Just be careful, please. Text me as soon as they have her. I worry about you.” I can’t get derailed by her lavender smell or her perfect hair. Stop it, Laura. Focus.

  “Promise,” I assure her before she leaves.

  Back to my makeup. I add some black eyeliner and soft pink lipstick, then spray some dry shampoo in my hair to give it a tousled, sexy look. Or something like that.

  Carmilla sneaks in. “Don’t you look like a virgin sacrifice,” she purrs. I turn to see my vampire roommate in a corset and leather pants, with a bottle of champagne and two glasses.

  “I’m not the one wearing a corset. Which is … wow.”

  Carmilla fills the glasses. She is flat-out the most beautiful person who has ever been in my sphere. She is intoxicating. Vampire or not.

  “What’s happening here?” I ask, trying not to show that I’m about to faint.

  She hands me a glass, gets close. “The more I thought about a bonfire with those morons and a roasted pig, the less appealing it sounded. Parties are for new beginnings, glowing possibility. So I brought the party here.”

  She’s good. I sip the champagne, checking out the bottle. It looks super expensive. “Where did you even get this?”

  She raises her eyes. “I have my ways. There was champagne at the first party I ever went to,” she shares, edging closer to me.

  “You say it like it was a hundred years ago.”

  She reaches for my wrist, running her fingers from the crease in my elbow down to my hand. Her touch feels like cashmere. Softer than soft. “You aren’t wearing your bracelet. If you don’t have it on, it can’t protect you.”

  Does she mean I’m not protected from her, or from someone else? My head is a muddled mess. “Oh yeah. Right.” She’s unnerving me. I can’t pinpoint what I’m feeling. I just know it’s a lot of unknown.

  Her sweetness fades. “If you didn’t like it, you should have just said so,” she says like I hurt her feelings.

  “No, no. I do like it. I like it a lot.” Her tenderness flusters me. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but I think this is a big deal to her. Like she truly wants me safe. I’m not sure if I can go through with the plan now. Time to call for reinforcements. I reach in my pocket for my phone, but Carmilla nabs it.

  “I was just going to text Danny and the girls,” I explain. “Bring the party here. Like you said.”

  Carmilla tosses my phone on the bed. “Maybe I don’t feel like sharing right now.” She closes in on me all suggestive-like.

  “That almost sounded flattering, but you made it sound like I’m a snack or something.” Really, I’m not sure I can do this.

  That comment seems to strike a funny bone. Her howling gets deeper and longer. “You’re wound so tight. I should know better than to get involved. But there’s something about you, Laura Hollis, that I can’t resist.”

  “My fashion sense?”

  She leans in alarmingly close, cups my chin. “Definitely not that.” She’s either going to kiss me or bite me. I ready myself for either. As her lips inch closer to mine, I lick mine nervously.

  Her warm breath tickles my face. Those eyes take hold of mine and don’t let go. Like it or not, I’m drawn to Carmilla and I want her to kiss me. I consider making the first move, then chicken out. She’s moving in now.

  It’s on.

  Just as it’s about to happen, someone kicks the door in. Did Carmilla lock it?

  “What
are you doing? Get away from her!” Danny screams, yanking Carmilla away from me.

  “What the hell?” Carmilla yells right back.

  LaFontaine rushes in. “Get her, boys!” In a flash, I see Kirsch karate-chop Carmilla, then Will knock her to the floor. They hold her down while Danny ties her hands and feet with ropes at lightning speed. LaFontaine flies across the room. Will jumps up and puts duct tape across Carmilla’s mouth. Kirsch adds a garlic necklace along with a slew of crosses draped on her. It happens so fast, all the flailing limbs, the swinging fists, the shouting voices. The whole time, my heart is pounding against my chest. I should have aborted the mission. This is all wrong. My brain is in a blender with all of my feelings.

  When the dust settles, I can’t believe my eyes. Our room looks like a full-on hurricane blew through and left a wake of mass destruction. The mattresses are upended. Danny’s eye is swollen, turning shades of purple, and Perry is cowering in the corner clutching a cross. A cross.

  I rush to Danny’s side, checking her eye. “Are you okay?” I look over her shoulder at Carmilla. Something in my chest tugs at me. Hard.

  “Better now. I knew she had you trapped.” She did this for me. I can barely look at her. I was about to kiss Carmilla and she was trying to save me. I feel terrible. So conflicted.

  “My gut told me this was the time,” she continues. “It was like I could sense you needing me. That’s why we rushed in.”

  Feeling worse.

  Danny turns around to Carmilla. “Your plan didn’t work.”

  Carmilla is steaming. Epically pissed off.

  “If anyone cares, I think I’m bleeding,” LaFontaine says. “Something hit me on the side of my head. It hurts. Help. Anyone?”

  “Did anyone see where the Zetas went?” I inquire.

  LaFontaine manages to answer. “Those idiots stepped over me to get back to their party. Kirsch was mumbling about getting a pig sandwich before it was gone.”

  “So we’re stuck with the fallout?” Perry asks, pointing to Carmilla.

  I can’t focus on my confusion. I have a job to do, and I promised myself I would see this through no matter what. I can’t let her eyes distract me. Again.

  I adjust the camera to get Carmilla directly in the webcam’s eye. “Time for a party, Silas. We’ve got our vampire. No more of her flirting with unsuspecting girls or hunting them down. It’s over. We win. Now we just need to un-pod Nat and SJ then find Betty and Elsie.”

  Okay, we still have a lot to do.

  I’m scared to look at Carmilla. I steal a glance and don’t like what’s looking back. It’s betrayal. I got caught up in the heat of the moment with her. A moment that never should have happened. Anyone sucked into her eyes would have done the same thing.

  Wouldn’t they?

  Perry applies an ice pack to an angry lump on the side of LaFontaine’s head. LaFontaine winces. “That hurts.” I swear Perry presses harder.

  “Now what?” I ask.

  Carmilla is spitting nails, red-hot mad. She’s trying to wiggle out of the ropes so hard that the chair scrapes along the floor. Her grunts are getting louder and angrier.

  Danny gets up in her face. “This was so worth it. How does it feel to be trapped like those girls you took?”

  Carmilla jerks her head back and forth.

  I settle my hand on Danny’s shoulder to encourage her to leave Carmilla alone. When my eye catches Carmilla’s, she turns away.

  I don’t like the way that hurts.

  A bloodcurdling scream and a rumbling from outside stun us all into stone-cold silence.

  “What the hell was that?” I ask.

  “Can’t be anything good,” LaFontaine answers.

  Kirsch rushes in, carrying a half-eaten sandwich. “Come quick. I think someone tried to take Natalie, and Sarah Jane’s not breathing. I think she might be dead.”

  “Oh my God,” I say. “That can’t be. We have the vampire. There’s just no way.”

  Maybe he’s drunk.

  Carmilla growls.

  “We need help,” Kirsch squeals. “We have to find Natalie.” He takes a bite of his sandwich.

  “Someone has to stay with her,” Danny snarls.

  Perry points to Carmilla. “She’s not going anywhere.” The ropes are so tight that her knuckles are turning white.

  “Dudes, come on!” Kirsch yells.

  We race across the moonlit campus to the Zeta House. The lawn is littered with empty plastic cups and it reeks of stale beer. The DJ is still rocking the party that’s in full swing in spite of the fact that Sarah Jane is motionless near the firepit. The pig on the spit eyeing us makes the creep factor multiply. LaFontaine checks Sarah Jane’s pulse.

  But it’s too late.

  • NINE •

  We trudge back to my room, all somber. This is quite a predicament. Carmilla couldn’t have done this. It’s impossible — she’s been restrained for hours.

  “I just don’t get it. All the signs were there. They were pointing directly to Carmilla. No question. Sarah Jane shouldn’t be …” I know my voice is cracking. I’m on the verge of tears. Perry pats me on the back. If we were wrong, and it seems like we were, then I did a horrible thing to Carmilla. I lift an eye toward her and she snarls before turning away.

  Fair.

  We 100 percent screwed this up.

  Danny dashes in, waving two index cards.

  “These were in their rooms on their beds. It’s the exact same drivel that was on your card. Same muck stuck to them as was on the one left for you. It’s all connected somehow.”

  LaFontaine shadows Danny with a pair of test tubes. “I’ll take some samples. We’ll figure out exactly what this sludge is.”

  Danny is thinking out loud. “Someone kidnapped Sarah Jane and Natalie, right? But why a second time? Why go through the trouble of giving them back, then kidnap them all over again?” Not to mention killing one of them.

  Kirsch walks over. “I don’t understand that either. It was supposed to be fun. We had beer pong and everything.” I almost feel sorry for him. He’s all about the party.

  Out of nowhere, he lunges at Carmilla, grabbing her neck. “Why would you do this to her?”

  We all leap to stop him, but it’s Danny who pries him off Carmilla. “She wasn’t there, Kirsch. She’s been tied up here for the last few hours. It’s not her.”

  Carmilla screams through her duct tape. I can’t even look at her. This is all my fault.

  Kirsch backs off, chilling out. “Thanks, Summer Psycho. I’m just freaking out about Sarah Jane. I liked her. I need to be with my bros.”

  I reach for his elbow. “Hang on, the bros can wait. We have to figure out why this is all happening.”

  “Let’s review. One dead girl. One captured vampire,” LaFontaine says.

  “Now what?” I ask.

  Carmilla shifts around in her chair, banging it on the floor to get our attention.

  LaFontaine checks her out. “This is a bit of a dilemma we’re in.”

  “I never wanted to kidnap anyone,” Perry snaps. “This is a monumental mess. I think I’m breaking out in hives.”

  I state the obvious. “We need to untie her, Danny.”

  “What if she’s involved somehow?” Danny says.

  LaFontaine is on Danny’s side. “I’d like to point out that it took six of us to subdue her and she still seems pissed off so I’m not in favor of unleashing the beast.”

  “It’s not her!” I insist.

  “Pretty sure it’s illegal to hold someone hostage,” Perry points out.

  “I could take her to the bio lab. I bet there’s all kinds of things we could learn with a little probing here and there. Blood work. Standard stuff.” No one jumps on LaFontaine’s bandwagon. “Or maybe she could answer a few questions or something.”


  “Look, this is my doing,” I say. “I’ll take care of it. She’s our only lead. I’m not letting her out of my sight. I’m keeping her here with me.”

  Carmilla glares at Danny.

  “We’ll wait it out until she tells us what’s going on,” I continue. “Stay focused. We have to Girl the Hell Up. If we get caught, it’s on me. What’s the worst they can do? Expel me? At this point, that doesn’t sound half bad.”

  LaFontaine, Perry and Danny rally around me as I roll Carmilla closer to us. She’s still refusing to make eye contact with me, but I force the situation by kneeling in front of her. “We know you’re a vampire. Don’t bother denying it. We saw the pictures of you with each of the girls at the parties. You’ve been stalking all of them. So where are they?”

  Silence.

  I go at her again. “The sooner you tell us the truth, the better. What do you have to say for yourself?”

  Nothing.

  “You might want to take the duct tape off her mouth,” LaFontaine says, chuckling.

  Crap. I rip the tape off her mouth in an attempt to be a badass, but I really don’t mean to yank that hard and it has to hurt like hell. Everyone winces along with Carmilla, and I come so close to apologizing but have to stick to the badass of it all if we’re going to get Betty back. Carmilla works her jaw to stave off the hurt.

  I try a kinder approach. “So, Carm, how did someone go missing and another get murdered when we’ve got you tied up with us?”

  “Because I didn’t have anything to do with it, you idiots. The person you all are hunting is still out there. You’re wasting your time.” Is she baring her teeth, or is that my imagination?

  I’m safe as long as she’s still tied up. Danny paces around her. “Do you think we’re dumb enough to take your word for it? That you’re truly innocent just because you say so?”

  “Be logical. If I were a vampire, do you think I’d just sit here tied up?”

  It’s a fair point, but LaFontaine isn’t giving an inch. “That’s exactly what a sneaky vamp would do.”