God's Lonely Man

Lead the Way

Carmilla is lying on her bed, trying to will herself to fall asleep. Will had remained true to his word and didn't tell her mother anything about her and Laura staying friends against her wishes. He had simply said he stopped by Laura's home and "convinced" her to drop the charges.

Her mother had only wished to ask Carmilla if she knew anything about a cop who had apparently also been found in the ditch with their acquaintance. Carmilla said she didn't.

But that's not what's keeping Carmilla awake.

No, that'd be the fault of one particular spunky cupcake.

Carmilla groans. How had this tiny ball of annoying energy squeezed into her mind like this? Was it when she got dropped off at her house, beaten and bruised, to teach both of them a lesson? Was it when Laura insisted to her dad several times she had an alibi for the night both of them buried bodies? Or was it before all of that, from the moment that dork dropped a body into the hole she dug and then looked so adorably flustered that Carmilla didn't have the heart to tell her to get her own hole?

As much as her mother loved her, Carmilla always felt like a tool she used as a means to an end. She was often the alibi for any one of her mother's employees. Or as bait because really, who could resist kidnapping the young, vulnerable child of a crime syndicate leader?

But here was Laura Hollis, daughter of the chief deputy, telling Carmilla over and over again that she was not on the hook for all of her mother's sins, that she was her own person, a person that deserved more than this world had given her. No one had ever told Carmilla this—not even Ell or Mattie. But with Laura, it all seemed so attainable and believable.

No wonder why kicking her out of her life was never an option.

As if on cue, Carmilla's phone rings. She glances at it and smiles, answering it. "Miss me already?"

"Carm?" Laura asks, her voice fragile.

Carmilla's eyes widen. "Cupcake? Are you okay?" She swallows hard. "D-Did my mother—"

"I'm fine," Laura answers. "Well, not fine-fine, but I—Look, are you busy right now? I have a theory but I don't think I can try proving it on my own without you right now."

Carmilla raises an eyebrow. "I'm not busy. Where do you want me to meet you?"

"The morgue."

~*~

"This is kind of an odd place to hang out, even for you," Carmilla retorts as she approaches Laura, who rolls her eyes.

She uses a key to unlock a door on the side of the building.

Carmilla stares at her. "You have a key to the morgue?"

Laura shushes her and they enter the dark hallway. They walk down it in silence for a bit until they turn the corner.

And bump right into someone.

Carmilla lets out a curse and tries to pull Laura back, but she shrugs her off and waves at the person, who has now turned around.

"Thanks for the keys, LaF," Laura says sweetly.

The redhead laughs and takes them from Laura. "Took you long enough, Hollis. My mom's gonna think I have bladder problems or got lost down here." They nod their head at Carmilla. "You, uh, take all your dates to my mom's office?"

"I-it's not a date," Laura stammers out. Carmilla makes a sound like she's offended and Laura ignores her. "It's a long story."

"Right, well... One day you'll have to tell me," they say with a wink.