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It was how everyone learned of their future, who would be their love. Soulmate was the word used. The man (or woman) of your dreams, they said. It was simple, implicit; once they were in your dreams, they were a part of your soul and you were a part of theirs. Two souls inexplicably, inseparably tied to one another. On the eve of adulthood, everyone saw the dream master. Everyone was slipped in to swim amongst the dreams of their soul, as the dream master helped guide them to the most meaningful sleep they would experience.
Mircalla was excited, she could feel the excitement trembling through herself. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet as she waited. The next day would be her debut, her thirteenth birthday, but that evening was her visit to the dream master. Her parents had told her time and again how important the evening was, she was to be announced and promised to her suitor as soon as she woke in the morning.
Her parents had packed her away in a carriage, telling her this was a trip she must make on her own. When she arrived the dream master had welcomed her with a soft smile and a courteous bow. “Countess.” He spoke softly as he led her into the cottage. “We have much to do, m’dear.” She nodded gently, waiting for him to continue. “You’ll find your lodging to your liking, I hope.” There were soft sounds behind her and in walked a boy. “Ah ha, Baron.” The boy looked at Mircalla with a gleam to his eye that made her skin crawl, before bowing. The dream master moved between them as he cleared his throat. “Baron, your lodgings shall be down the road.” The boy bowed again before leaving. “You have my sincerest apologies, Countess Karnstein. He should not have been here.” The dream master walked her through the process, with Mircalla hanging on his every word, eagerly awaiting her first meeting with her soulmate.
The room she was led to was lush with every manner of bedclothes, furs, duvets, quilts, and more pillows than she’d ever imagined. She did as she had been instructed and found the place amongst the scattered comforts that she felt the most at home. She curled up around a pillow the hue of wheat grain in the summer, a quilt as dark as a moonless night pulled tightly up to her shoulders and let her eyes settle closed. A deep sigh resonated out of her lungs as she dropped into sleep.
Mircalla blinked, her eyes unfocused as she looked around. Her eyes bounced, roaming over the darkness that was her surroundings. Then there was light. A girl. About the same height as her, glowing, she radiated sunshine. Mircalla took a deep breath, her features filled with confusion. How could a girl be her soulmate, her love? There must be something wrong. “Hi!” The girl’s voice came soft, worry written in her tone. “You look lost. Are you lost? I mean I don’t think there’s a way you can be lost. You’re my soulmate, right?”
Mircalla’s brow tightened, creased as her eyes travelled over the girl. The girl’s skin glowed as if kissed by the sun, her pink lips pulled into a shy smile. Mircalla’s eyes flowed over her rounded cheeks and down her caramel and mahogany toned hair. Mircalla looked at what the girl was wearing, her eyes widening as she noticed that the girl was barely dressed at all; she wore a small chemise and awfully short leggings. Mircalla’s eyes drifted over the bare skin, her heart racing, before moving back up the girl’s body to settle on her eyes lit from behind and glowing in hues of chocolate and amber. Mircalla could feel the pull that was centered on the girl in front of her. “How can you be my soulmate? You’re a girl.” Mircalla heard the question before realizing she had asked it.
The girl giggled softly, bringing an involuntary smile to Mircalla’s lips at the sound. “As far as I know, love has no gender. You love whoever your soul is drawn to and clearly, mine is drawn to you.” The girl took a step toward Mircalla, slowly, gauging Mircalla’s reaction. Mircalla felt herself step forward too, following the girl’s lead and smiling when the girl smiled. “So since we’re here, what’s your name?”
Mircalla felt herself reach forward slowly, as the girl moved into her space. Each step closer softening the tug in the pit of her stomach. The girl slid her hand down Mircalla’s arm and intertwining their fingers. “I’m Countess” She paused for a moment, unsure if she wanted to give her real name. “Carmilla von Karnstein. Who are you?” The girl’s eyes widened as Mircalla spoke, her annunciation precise.
“Laura. I’m Laura Hollis.” Laura’s smile widened, and Mircalla felt the soft squeeze of her hand. “Do you feel it too?” Mircalla’s brow creased at Laura’s question. Laura pulled her hand from Mircalla’s and too one step back. Mircalla felt an instant twinge of pain and sadness at the loss. Laura stepped forward again and slid her hand back into Mircalla’s. “The pull? It’s like we’re magnets.” Mircalla wasn’t familiar with magnets, but she knew she didn’t want Laura to step back again; she nodded gently. Mircalla could feel the world around her brightening, the darkness that surrounded them slipping away. Laura watched Mircalla’s face soften with fear. She leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “I can’t wait to meet you. I’ll see you again soon.”
Mircalla awoke, her heart happy and saddened at the same time. She looked around the quarters the dream master provided. Her heart dropped, she couldn’t tell her parents that her soulmate had been a girl. She couldn’t tell anyone. She wouldn’t. She ventured out into the morning, her carriage carrying her back to her life. She smiled softly to herself, at least she had Laura. Mircalla’s parents waited anxiously for her return. Her handmaid announced her presence as the carriage rolled onto her estate.
“Mircalla! I’m so happy to hear about your soulmate.” Mircalla watched as her mother’s eyes shone with delight. “Baron Vordenberg and his son was here first thing this morning to let us know.” Her mother’s words sent uncomfortable shivers down her spine. “He announced his son’s intentions. You two will be married following your eighteenth birthday! We’re so excited for you, darling.” Mircalla sighed under the weight of her parents’ excited gaze. Her mind reminding her that she didn’t have to lie to them, but marrying the baron meant she’d never actually have Laura, the thought stuck angrily in Mircalla’s mind.
The years passed in simplicity. She was forced to stomach the Baron on various occasions, pretending she looked forward to their nuptials. She always escaped to see Laura in her dreams. Laura was there most nights, dressed unusually and grinning sweetly, lighting the darkness that only Mircalla could feel. As Mircalla’s eighteenth birthday neared she feared she’d have to tell Laura. They had only grown closer through the years. Mircalla could feel the attraction to Laura even stronger than the first night, it had grown exponentially each time they met in her dreams. Every dream ended the same, Laura whispering how much she couldn’t wait to meet Mircalla. Mircalla dreaded breaking Laura’s heart.
Mircalla never got the chance to tell her. She spent the night before her eighteenth birthday as she had most nights, with Laura in her dreams, positive that she would tell the girl the next night, the night before her nuptials. It was only fair that Laura have the chance to find another. Mircalla felt the life pour out of her, blood staining stony walkways. She was almost happy, as it meant she wouldn’t have to suffer through a life with Baron Vordenberg. Sadness clouded that one positive as her last thought before dropping into darkness was of Laura.
Mircalla settled into her routine with Mother; carriage wreck, friendship, hand over her new friend to Mother, and move on. She’d been doing it for almost two centuries. But this time was different, the girl before her looked so similar. Brunette with golden brown eyes. She didn’t feel the same pull, but she couldn’t bring herself not to give it a shot. She hadn’t dreamt of Laura since the fateful night before her birthday; they hadn’t been together in her dreams and it tore Mircalla apart. Ell pulled at her in a different way and Mircalla gave in, her heart wanting to be able to let go of Laura. But Ell wasn’t Laura; Ell was afraid, not accepting, harsh, not loving, Ell was nothing that Mircalla had come to expect from love. Laura had spoiled her, and she couldn’t think of anyone else.
Ell was the reason Mircalla started seeing Laura again. Well, Ell and Mother. She laid trapped, her movements constricted, her elbows sliding against rough wood, her breaths coming only in blood. The coffin was dark, Mircalla couldn’t bring herself to stay awake and she couldn’t stop herself from hoping as she drifted into the familiar darkness of sleep.
“Oh, Carm! Thank god! Where have you been?” Laura’s voice resonated through Mircalla’s core. Laura stood across a room, leaning against a table, dressed unusually as always. She dressed as a male, a male child, pants hugged her legs accentuating her slim hips, her toned shoulders bare and sun kissed. Mircalla’s eyes settled on the girl’s face, graced with a soft smile and blazing milk chocolate and butterscotch swirled eyes. Mircalla couldn’t stop her eyes from taking in every inch of Laura that she could.
“Are you an angel?” Mircalla’s voice was soft, shy and oddly hopeful as she looked at Laura.
A laugh bubbled up out of Laura’s throat, building and brimming with energy. “No. I’m no angel.” Laura winked as a mischievous smirk spread across her lips. “If anything, I’ve got a little devil in me.” Laura giggled softly before clearing her throat and asking her question again. “Where have you been?” Mircalla paled as the thoughts simmered in her mind, helping take girls, helping hurt people, laying in a coffin.
“Sorry, cutie. I’ve been a little tied up.” Laura’s eyebrows furrowed at Mircalla’s response, her tone somehow both empty and filled with sadness. Laura’s eyes did the same thing Mircalla’s did, they slid from Mircalla’s tousled onyx curls, to her thin, pale face, her eyes skirting the edge of Mircalla’s picturesque jawline and skimming down her thin frame, clothed in a white dress shirt and her legs sheathed in leather britches. Laura stepped away from the table, her hands reaching behind her back and held there as she took another cautious step towards Mircalla.
“I’ve missed you, Carm. I thought something terrible might’ve happened to you. Did you have a good birthday?” Mircalla couldn’t hold back any longer, her feet carried her the rest of the way to Laura. They stopped a hairsbreadth from each other. They both sighed contentedly, Laura’s hands still behind her back. “I know your birthday was a while ago, but I couldn’t let it go uncelebrated, besides it must be coming again soon.” Laura stepped back and pulled her hands from behind her back with a grin. “So I brought you a cupcake!” She held the confection up to Mircalla’s face.
“Cupcake, huh? I like the sound of that.” Mircalla couldn’t control the smile spreading across her face. “A while ago. That’s an understatement, don’t you think there, cupcake? I mean I haven’t celebrated my birthday in almost two hundred years.” Mircalla’s voice was nonchalant as she spoke, her eyes watching Laura closely for her reaction.
Laura’s eyebrows rose in surprise, then furrowed as she tried to think of it. “But how? I mean it’s been a year maybe, a year and a half I guess. And you haven’t aged. You’re still like me, same age. I turn eighteen tomorrow.” Mircalla could feel the confusion settle over both of them.
“Well, I don’t age anymore, I haven’t in, as I said almost two centuries.” Laura stepped forward again, her eyes settling on Mircalla’s eyes, roaming over her features.
“But how?” A frown pulled at the sides of Laura’s mouth. “I haven’t even gotten to meet you.” Laura’s eyes pooled with tears, watering down the honey tones in her eyes. “Are you dead?” Laura’s voice was soft and sad as she asked.
“In a manner of speaking, sweetheart.” Mircalla’s eyes never left Laura’s, the magnetism the both of them felt hadn’t waned one iota since they’d last been together. Laura’s emotions pulled at her as if they were her own. “It’s a long story.”
Laura nodded softly. “We’ve got time.” Laura paused, exhaling a deep breath as her voice shook when she spoke again. “Unless you don’t plan on seeing me again.”
“Oh, cutie. I don’t think there is a power in this verse that could stop me from seeing you again. I’ll tell you everything you want to know, and probably somethings you don’t, but first one question.” Laura smiled and nodded her encouragement softly. “What age were you when we started this?” Mircalla motioned her hands between them.
“Oh. Eight.”
Mircalla gasped, rolling the information around in her head. “You were sent to the dream master at eight?!” Laura could her the surprise heavy in Mircalla’s voice.
“Dream master? What now? No. Soulmate dreams are done by the dream lab the first time, it’s been that way for a really long time. No one is supposed to have soulmate dreams until they hit eighteen, the age of majority. I got lucky. I don’t like hospitals and labs anyway.” Laura shuddered involuntarily at the thought. Laura looked around her eyes settling on the fading background. “Looks like that’s it for tonight. I’ll see you again, won’t I?” Laura’s voice took on a panicked edge.
Mircalla nodded with a tender grin. “Of course you will, cupcake.”
Laura’s smiled spread as she leaned up and settled her lips over Mircalla’s. She pulled back slowly, a sigh escaping from her lips and grazing over Mircalla’s. “I still can’t wait to meet you.”
Mircalla spent the rest of her decades in that coffin, waiting for each time she would see Laura. Each meeting she told Laura more and more about herself. Laura’s face remained the same; the more Mircalla told Laura about her life, the more the glow in Laura’s eyes seemed to take on an air of respect or reverence. Mircalla told Laura her real name and Laura grinned widely. Her response simple. “I think Carmilla fits you better, Carm.” Mircalla nodded and she was at once and always Carmilla. Every meeting was a different story, sometimes Laura told Carmilla stories.
The coffin shook, and rattled. Carmilla could hear loud explosions all around her. The night she freed herself from the coffin was the night she told Laura about the girls and her mother. Laura’s response was in typical Laura fashion. “We have to save them, the girls. Just think they could have a soulmate waiting out there for them. I can’t imagine what I would have done or felt if I’d truly lost you. We can work from the inside, undermine your mom’s whole plan.” Carmilla laughed, but nodded at her.
They devised a plan; Carmilla returned to her mother to play dutiful daughter, all the while she would do her best to get them to run, to keep them free from her mother. Carmilla and Laura had their first fight over the plan. Laura didn’t think she was doing enough and Carmilla didn’t think she could do more. Laura offered her help, but received a scoff in return. Time seemed to be passing slowly for them both. Sometimes Carmilla wouldn’t see Laura for a year or two, her dreams an empty and lonely place during those times. Each time when Laura would pop up again after her long absences, she’d ask how Carmilla could possibly miss her, telling Carmilla they’d spoken earlier that day.
Carmilla didn’t understand how time was passing, she breathed a sigh of relief every night Laura showed up. She let herself drift into sleep hopeful every night.
“Carm! I start college tomorrow! I’m so excited.” Laura’s voice broke through the din of her solitary dream. Carmilla’s eyes drifted down Laura’s form right before she launched herself into Carmilla’s arms. Laura was dressed in flannel pajama pants and a green tank top, Carmilla had grown accustomed to the fashions over the years, learning that Laura had always dressed normally for her time. Carmilla’s eyes landed on Laura’s, only for Laura to lean in and capture her lips. Carmilla could feel a smile pulling at the edges of her lips, threatening to break their kiss. Carmilla slid her tongue over Laura’s bottom lip, deepening their kiss and earning a gasp in response. Laura leaned back slowly, breaking their kiss with a smile that spread across her face. “Whoa, there. PG-13 dream here. I have a roommate you know. I think she might find it a bit much if I get all hot and bothered by my dreams.”
“Roommate? I’m not sure I like that idea. It ruins all of my fun. Especially because I have to be my mother’s pawn again soon.” Laura sighed and took a step back, her hands gliding down Carmilla’s arms and into her hands.
“We’ve talked about this, Carm. You can stop her. I can help.” Laura raised her hand to stop the inevitable scoff that was on the tip of Carmilla’s lips, before reaching down and grabbing hold of Carmilla’s hands again. “You just keep doing what you have been. We’ll meet sometime. And that’s when we’ll make our move. You know we can bring her down.”
Carmilla leaned in again, sliding her hands out of Laura’s and cupping her cheeks. “Yeah, cupcake, I know.” Carmilla leaned her forehead against Laura’s. “I can’t wait to meet you, cutie. I can’t wait for this to be more than a dream.”
Laura’s smile broke across her face, as she shifted capturing Carmilla’s lips quickly. “You’re such a sap.”
Carmilla saw Laura every night for the three weeks. Carmilla could feel her heart race as she realized they seemed to be in the same time, finally. Carmilla returned to her mother and Silas university, accepting her room assignment with an annoyed huff. She didn’t look at the paper more than necessary, she didn’t want to know her roommate’s name. Any girl there could be a target and she was loath to get attached. Carmilla let herself settle into her apathetic and cold veneer as she walked across campus towards Crowley Hall.
She made her way through the dorm with a huff, her eyes scanning dorm room numbers. She paused at the door, rm 307, decorated with nametags of Betty and Laura. She groaned to herself, rolling her eyes as she looked at the cutesy nametags and letting her eyes pass over the white board scribbled with messages. She let herself sink fully into the façade she had created over the centuries, before kicking open the door with an annoyed grunt.
“Uh, who the hell are you?” Carmilla’s head snapped up immediately; she knew that voice. She’d know that voice anywhere, but she knew it most in her sleep. Her eyes landed on Laura sitting at her desk, her eyes gradually making their way up Carmilla’s leather clad legs and over her toned bare stomach. Laura’s cheeks were coated in a deep blush as her eyes slid up and admired the girl in her door way.
“Carmilla. I’m your new roommate, sweetheart.” Laura’s head jerked up the same way Carmilla’s had. Her ears savoring the silky, sultry, smooth quality of Carmilla’s voice.
“Carm.” Laura’s voice came out breathy and soft, as a prayer. Carmilla let a smirk settle over her lips. Laura was out of her chair in an instant, closing the distance between them as fast as she could. Carmilla wasted no time, closing the door and doing the same.
Laura slammed into Carmilla, throwing her arms over Carmilla’s shoulders and aligning their bodies against one another. Carmilla’s hands landed on Laura’s hips pulling her as close as she could possibly get. Laura leaned in, with a squeak as she captured Carmilla’s lips with her own. “I knew I couldn’t wait to meet you.” Laura’s voice was a breath against Carmilla’s lips, before she leaned back in and captured Carmilla’s lips again. “This is even better than a dream.” Laura’s voice came soft as she broke their kiss again. Carmilla smiled with a mumbled ‘mhm’ before claiming Laura’s lips as her own.