To Die As Lovers May, So That They May Live Together

Laura

For centuries, this perverted game of cat and mouse prevailed, one chasing the other in an endless round in attempt to find peace. For centuries, Mircalla had tried to quit, tried to escape, tried to end her suffering, but her punishment was final. No matter what she did or how far she ran, Mircalla was forever drawn back to that awful place once again. Without fail, every single time a new reincarnation appeared, Mircalla always came back, unable to stay away no matter how hard she tried. She always wound up here again, on that cursed and blessed land where she and Susanna had loved one another so many years ago. It didn't matter when, where or how, Susanna always came back. And so did Mircalla. And in every single time and place, the story was always the same.

This time, the place that fate had called Mircalla back to was only a few miles away from her old castle in Karnstein. It was closer than the previous reincarnation, but Mircalla was not interested in that. She was interested in the girl she was returning for. What form and name would she take on now? Mircalla could hardly wait as the time for them to reunite drew ever closer. And then the day came, and as with all of the others, Mircalla's accomplice, whom she called Mother, dropped her off at Susanna's newest doorstep with instructions for the father to look after her.

"My child will not have recovered sufficiently to resume her route for who can say how long. I must leave her, I cannot, dare not, delay. How far on, sir, can you tell, is the nearest village? I must leave her there!" Mother cried in grief and frustration, but Mircalla knew it was all only an act. It was an act to help her find the excuse to live right with Susanna at her very house, as they had been doing since the very beginning of these reincarnation cycles. But Susanna's newest father ate it up and, as with all of the others before him, welcomed Mircalla into his own house instead. He insisted that Mircalla stay at the schloss instead of at the nearby town, which was full of all kinds of dangerous riffraff. Mother pretended to consider the option carefully before agreeing and then wheedling away quite quickly to keep up the façade of being on an urgent mission. This left Mircalla alone with Susanna once again.

In time, the two young women, who were very old spirits at heart, would find new names. Mircalla's became Carmilla and, in this life, Susanna's became Laura. It was a pretty name for an even prettier girl, Mircalla, or rather, Carmilla, decided. This version of Susanna looked fairly different from the original, hair a pale gold and eyes a sky blue instead of being a deeper reddish gold with dark brown, but Carmilla still knew exactly who she was looking at. And even though this Susanna seemed far more timid and silly than her original, Carmilla still knew exactly who she was living with. Already, the vampire felt close to paradise, despite knowing how their story would end. But it was an irresistible law of her nature that she come back here and relive out those beautiful and terrible moments, no matter how old the story became.

"How wonderful!" Carmilla had exclaimed when she was finally able to speak with Susanna (Laura). "12 years ago, I saw your face in a dream, and it has haunted me ever since!" she cried.

"Wonderful indeed!" Laura, repeated, overcoming with an effort the horror that had for a time suspended her utterances. "12 years ago, in vision or reality, I certainly saw you. I could not forget your face. It has remained before my eyes ever since!"

As Laura finished speaking this piece, Carmilla felt the place where her unbeating heart rested soften and warm. Although she knew Laura was only referring to the dream in which she and Carmilla met, the dream always being Carmilla's signal that Susanna was back, even coming in parallel to the way the two of them used to crawl through one another's windows for nightly trysts, Carmilla liked to think that Laura was referring to remembering Carmilla back when she was still only human Mircalla. Even though Carmilla knew Laura was only referring to a childhood dream, Carmilla liked to pretend otherwise. She liked to imagine it was Susanna speaking through the years, promising her that she still remembered her even after all this time.