The Red Rose

Chapter XXX

We finally left London, and Carmilla, through some contacts she had during her years as an active vampire—I think she was involved with a businesswoman, though I'd rather not delve into that, and Carmilla herself seems quite uncomfortable describing it—managed to get us tickets for a cruise back to the European continent.

I closed my eyes to take a nap as the cruise ship passed through a storm. Carmilla had stayed up during the night, and as I closed my eyes, I found myself in another peculiar dream.

I seemed to be looking out at the sea from a raft, adrift, and slowly I saw a silhouette emerging from the depths, sending a chill down my spine. It was a horrendous scaly creature, resembling some sort of sea cyclops, and it was colossal in size. With nowhere to go, I stood up to face it, until I heard a voice murmur:

"Fly..."

It sounded like the voice of an old man, weak but persistent. I took a breath and tried, after giving myself a push with my knees, to jump, and kicking my legs, I began to rise higher and higher at great speed. From the sky, having evaded the monster, I followed the voice and soared through the clouds until I reached an island, where I descended violently and saw the old man, and I remembered him from my previous dreams.

He had a noble appearance and seemed to be gazing at the sea, at the storm. He wore some sort of gray robe, and I couldn't help but think of the old man from The Lord of the Rings, but since it was a dream, I just shrugged and went with it. Suddenly, beside him, there was some kind of dog, and perched on the top of a tree, a black-winged creature like a gargoyle, long and slender, with horns and seemingly no face or features.

"Ugh..." I muttered with a look of disgust as the creature took flight and left, the old man just smiled.

"Just a dream, you say?" He asked, turning around to look at me, then added, "The dream world is much more than just a dream. It is a realm of its own, with its own rules."

"Who are you? Are you the one who's been sending me these strange dreams since I was a kid? Whatever they are, sir, I don't understand them, and to be honest, the last one you sent was totally unpleasant," I replied.

"I have finally encountered an angel. Guardians of the cosmos. The most perfect creation of Yog-Sothoth." He paused and then continued. "Yes, it has been me. It is a privilege to see one of your kind being born right here, in such a chaotic place. Sometimes my messages can be disturbed, intercepted by a malevolent entity known as, the Crawling Chaos."

"Wow, a fitting name for that thing," I said, recalling my dream with the black hand on my face, then asked, "What do you want from me? and who are you?"

"I am the one they call the Great Lord of the Abyss. I simply wish for you to live and flourish, like all life in this place, and I am certain that the All-in-One conspired to bring you here. To me, you are a unique opportunity for this world."

I frowned, but there was something about this old man that gave me a good vibe, so I nodded. Then I looked over my shoulder and saw that I had some sort of mantle or cloak, very similar to my mother's, but it was translucent, almost transparent.

"It's almost colorless..." I murmured.

The old man smiled and, stroking his beard, said, "The angel's wings take on the color of the guide they follow. Yours has yet to be defined."

And then a bright light appeared, finally waking me up in the morning.

"My dear Miguel, it's already daytime. I'd like to get some rest. We're almost in France," Carmilla said to me.

"Oh yes, yes, forgive me, darling. I'll take a walk outside to see the scenery," I smiled.

Stepping out onto the ship's deck, I could see the vast sea and the beautiful sunrise before me:

"To think that beneath all of this lie such incredible and terrifying things, while people seem to have no idea whatsoever."

As I was lost in my thoughts, the owner of the cruise appeared behind me, saying:

"So, you're the boyfriend of dear Cammy."

"Cammy," I thought, how weird that sounded. The woman had an accent and features that seemed distinctly of Indian origin, and she spoke to me about various marine species and navigation concepts, of which I had the faintest idea, yet she kept asking.

She looked me in the eyes and said, "Don't think anything bad between us. I, too, have had experiences with supernatural beings in my family. She helped me with the effects of vampire bites on humans, and I considered incorporating them into my studies on supernatural marine creatures. She possesses an impressive level of control for an average vampire. Not all humans are ignorant of the supernatural world right under our noses!" She laughed.

I looked at her and asked, "What do you study?"

"The similarities and differences between vampires and mermaids. Did you know they have very similar hunting patterns? Although mermaids can be more... brutal. The sea holds a whole amalgam of creatures, and some of my ancestors have even established contact with the Deep Ones," she replied.

"The Deep Ones?" I asked.

"A type of marine civilization. And now in 3, 2, 1, and..." She pointed with her finger and indicated the coastline, which was beginning to appear. She had managed to time the exact moment the coast would come into view.

She looked at me again and added, "Now I can really understand why she waited centuries to see you. You seem like a good guy, Miguel, and very curious. I have the strange feeling we'll meet again."

Carmilla finally woke up, and we grabbed our suitcases as the ship anchored at the coast. Before heading on our way, we said our goodbyes:

"Goodbye, Micky! Goodbye, Cammy!" The woman hugged us.

"Goodbye... Um, you didn't tell me your name..." I said, a little embarrassed.

"Just call me Nemo. We use nicknames," she said as Carmilla giggled.

"Like the little fish?" I frowned, laughing.

"Maybe, maybe..." Nemo replied.

And so, we set off on our journey to Paris, on our bus.