Blood Feud

It's Over

Carmilla watches in horror as Lophiiformes collapses, multiple streams of blood trickling down their body.

The Dean raises her gun, training it on Carmilla. Tears stream down her face. "Two Elders cut down tonight. Centuries of existence. Can you even imagine? All those years. All that to end like this–– for what ?" She scoffs in disdain, now aiming the gun at Laura. "For her?"

Carmilla clenches her jaw, stepping in front of Laura.

"The first of our kind. We were lost. More than lost. The first among the dead. And we gave you all the world. Shared the gift," the Dean snarls, her voice cracking. "And for her you cast off your crown and choose to live in chains. Shed blood and surrendered your Elders to time."

"Oh, Mother. How could you have lived for so long and still be so blind? So wrong?" Carmilla laughs dryly. "I'm not chaining myself to Laura. She freed me." She swallows hard. "She's freed us all. And if you can't see that, then you really are lost."

The Dean shakes her head. "Don't fool yourself. You're just a shell. A broken thing home to the girl whose family I killed."

She pulls the trigger and empties the clip. Once again, Carmilla readies herself for the pain. It's worth it, to protect Laura.

And once again, the pain doesn't come. Instead, she feels herself be shoved out of the way.

She lands on the ground and there's a whimper in front of her. Carmilla's eyes snap open.

No.

Laura had pushed her out of the way and gotten hit instead. The Dean blinks in surprise as Laura lets out a growl and places a hand on both of her adversary's shoulders. With a roar, she pulls apart.

And with that, Lilita Morgan's reign of terror, a senseless war embroiled in anger and hatred, comes to an end.

Two halves of the last vampire elder are tossed to the floor. And so does Laura.

Carmilla pushes herself up and rushes to Laura's side, tears streaming down her face. "No, no," she mumbles. "Laura, no..."

"Holy shit," a voice exclaims nearby.

Carmilla looks up to find a bloodied and bruised–– but alive–– Mattie. She pauses in the hole in the communications room, taking in the sight of the three slain vampire elders. Then she looks down at the werewolf Carmilla cradles in her lap.

"Laura?"

Carmilla nods, sniffling. "Mama Klaus did something to her... So she could make Laura change..."

"Ah." Mattie jumps down, walks over to Mama Klaus's beheaded body, and squats down, rummaging through her pockets. "Nanoparticles injected into her bloodstream. Can be controlled with..." She produces the device Mama Klaus had used earlier. "...this." Mattie presses a button and Laura lets out a long howl as her bones re-shift. The change begins to revert. Mattie takes off her cape and drapes it over Laura's human shivering form.

"Hey," Laura says weakly, looking up at Carmilla.

"Hey, " Carmilla replies softly.

Laura groans in pain. "Ow."

Carmilla lets out a sob. "We'll get you to the medical wing and your annoying friend can fix this in no time," she says, fooling no one.