Hollstein: One Shot Prompts

Don't Run In the Direction of Bloody Footprints

Carmilla and Laura are co-workers at the local bookstore and are heading into work like every other morning when they find bloody footprints outside. And...well Laura Hollis is in this so the rest should be fairly self explanatory.

"I'm telling you! Harry Potter is the greatest book series ever created, and there is no way in Hell or Hogwarts that you'll be able to convince me otherwise!" Laura huffed, trying to close off this heated debate over what book series is better.

Carmilla was arguing for Warriors. A series that follows the adventures of four Clans of wild cats—ThunderClan, ShadowClan, WindClan, RiverClan and Skyclan while they fight for their clans loyally.

"Okay Cupcake, I am aware that no one will be able to change your opinion on the status of Harry Potter considering the fact that you keep on going on and on about how you see J.K. Rowling as a literary god. All I'm saying is, in the aspect of my own self interest, I think that Warriors is better." Carmilla replied calmly, shrugging her shoulders at the smaller girl before digging for the store door keys in her pocket.

Laura sighed heavily and silently grumbled behind the raven haired woman. Even if Carmilla was the master of brooding, Laura strongly believed that Harry Potter should be everyone's favourite book.

The blonde was so distracted staring off into the distance as she thought about the wonders of the Harry Potter universe that she didn't notice that Carmilla had stopped walking. Laura walked right into her, causing Laura to topple backwards even though Carmilla was unaffected. Laura groaned, rubbing her rump in order to sooth the pain as she brought herself to her feet. "Carm, what the heck!" She chided the taller woman, who didn't give her any other reply than a point to the ground near the front of the store.

The blonde huffed but looked in the direction Carmilla pointed to. And when she did her eyes widened.

There was footprints. Of blood. There was bloody footprints that led straight out of the store door.

The pain Laura was feeling in her butt was now long forgotten.

A new feeling of concern and the urge to investigate overcomes her and she practically jumps to the door, her own keys now in hand, and sprints through it.

Carmilla blinks a few times as she processes what happened and then proceeds to run in to catch up with Laura. "Laura! You do not run in the direction of bloody footprints!" She yells to the stupidly courageous girl in the store.

The sight she meets Laura at is horrific. There is blood pooled in a large section of the floor and splattered on some of the bookshelves. A close look at the victim's hands and you can find cut and bruised knuckles. The victim didn't have a shirt on, "vae qui fata sequi mortuis" carved into the stomach. On the roof was a fan, hanging from said fan was SJ, one of the employees who worked the nightshift at the bookstore. Her head had dried blood stuck on the left side of her face. Though some of her neck was covered by the noose hanging her from the fan, Laura could make out some bruises that appeared to be resemblant of hands. Anywhere else housed random slashes or stab wounds.

It really was a horrifically violent murder. It made Laura both sick and disgusted. It made Carmilla both disgusted and extremely cautious. They had no idea of the time of the murder. The footprints were dry along with the blood on SJ's face, but the blood on the pool of blood on the floor seemed about as fresh as you can get.

Laura was determined to bring SJ justice.

Carmilla was determined to get Laura out of there. She would be damned if anything happened to her. She was Carmilla's Laura. And the two would totally be dating if Laura wasn't so oblivious and Carmilla wasn't hiding a mountain load of insecurities under her broody, indifferent attitude.