I Hate Myself but I Love You

Untitled Part 58

Carmilla's POV

"Enough! Leave my new body, you pest!"

My vision is blurred by tears I can't hold back. I know Laura's worried about me, but I can't seem to find it within me to reassure her. I took solace, all these years, in the fact that she might have just been killed. After I learned what Maman was doing with the marks, it comforted me to think that at least she didn't suffer long at Maman's hand. But she did. Gods, she did. For twenty years she suffered, and I didn't even know.

I can hear Mattie taking shaky breaths and know that there are tears in her eyes, too. She speaks about her family often whenever we're together, and the love I could always hear in her voice never faded, no matter how many centuries had passed since she last saw them. The stifled crying I hear coming from her breaks my heart. She doesn't deserve this. And if I didn't have to keep my hand down, I'd be wrapping them around Maman's neck.

"Get out of my body-"

"Say my name and you will regret it," Maman hisses. There's something in her voice I have rarely heard. It seems like... fear.

"Stay in my body and you'll regret it. And you haven't seen me fight dirty yet."

"Perr-" LaFontaine says, sounding worried. "You said you were never going to do that again. You never told me why, but you told me to under no circumstances mention it again."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." She replies, but seems to sense that LaFontaine's still concerned. "I'll be fine, LaF."

Perry starts speaking in a language (it sounds like Latin, but I'm not certain). I hope it's Perry and not Maman. Her eyes roll back slightly and a dark mist pours from her. It forms the shape of a body, about six feet tall and my jaw clenches. That's Maman.

I wipe the tears in my eyes away with my free hand, glaring up at her.

"What have you done?" Her voice seems otherworldly coming from a hazy vague shape of her. But I'd recognize that voice anywhere after centuries of it haunting me. It is Maman.

"You are banished from my body." Perry says in a weirdly deep voice. "You are banished to your body."

"You can't do this!" Maman screeches. "You're just a human! My body is lying broken at the bottom of the pit!"

"I am not just human. I'm a witch."

Maman growls, "No wonder I got strong faster than I expected. But you alone do not have the power to banish me to my body."

Perry's head cocks to the side. "You are correct. Alone, I cannot do that. However, with the strength of this circle..." She trails off, smiling (when did Perry get so frightening?).

"No." Maman lets out. There's definitely fear in her voice now.

"I'll be certain to feed you to the giant fish god you love so much." She raises her hand, palm towards Maman's shade.

"No, Perr!" LaFontaine yells. She looks over at them. "That would make Lophii stronger, strong enough to kill us all and devour everyone in the world!"

"We were wrong about that, LaF. That's what the Dean and Lophiiformes want us to think. It'll destroy them both permanently."

With that, Perry utters a few more words, a golden light shooting from her hand and engulfing Maman, who lets out an ear-piercing scream. The dark smog that was Maman disappears and everything goes silent.

Don't worry, this isn't the last chapter. It's getting really close, but it's not the last. Thank you all for reading and stay awesome!