Frankfurt, Germany
4 years ago

Beautifully coloured flowers wrapped around her bright orange hair of flames and a large moss green backpack clung to her shoulders. It was a remarkably cold evening and Perry had only brought a small cardigan along with her since she figured she was going to be inside of a warm room for the remainder of the day.
Perry was so excited she had gotten into a University in Los Angeles. She’d seen and heard so many amazing things about America and she knew that Los Angeles was at the centre of it all. Her eighteen year-old brain couldn’t even fathom all of the marvelous things she would be exposed to and could try her hand at.
Luckily her best friend since grade school, Susan had gotten into the same university as her. School started in a month and their flight was in a few weeks. It was the only thing Perry could talk about.
“We’re going to be in California! Los Angeles! Can you imagine how great our lives will be, Susan? All of the lights and the movies and the fun! Something different…”
At this point in time, Susan was undergoing some type of “Early-mid-life-crisis” is what Perry called it. She insisted that her name was no longer Susan, it was LaFontaine and that she didn’t want to be referred to as “she” or “her” anymore, only “they” and “their”.
Perry just figured it was a little bump in the road that would soon pass over her.

Perry continued to walk past the quiet homes and headed in the direction the sun was setting. Her brothers had told her to meet them at their usual spot, the abandoned train stop that was just a few miles from her home.
They had planned something special on Perry’s behalf since she was leaving them soon…something really big that required her to make an excuse to her mom as to why she was going to be absent all night. She had lied to her and told her that she was going to Susan’s house to spend the night and her mom, thankfully, believed her.
It wasn’t like Perry lied to her mother much anyway so she wouldn’t have had a reason to actually not believe her.

As she continued on, eventually finding herself walking through the large field of slowly decaying grass, she spotted their secluded, abandoned train stop.
The train had shut down years ago, all that was left of it was the train stop and parts of the old, rusty tracks with all types of grass, weeds, and even a tree or two sprouting in between and around the pieces of metal. It was eerie sometimes, aesthetically pleasing other times, but it was the stop that her and her brothers had called their home base for almost half a year now. It was an area that brought Perry both comfort and fear… and she wasn’t sure which one was more prevalent this evening.

By this time the sky was a pinkish-orange, signaling that nightfall was soon to strike the land.
Perry sprinted to the stop and knocked gently on the iron door that the crew used as an entrance, her entire body shivering from the cold.
She waited patiently until the eye flap of the door opened and piercing green eyes were looking down at her.
Perry smiled and the eye flap closed.
After a minute, the iron door creaked open and Perry jumped at the noise. It was intensely quiet out here and the loud creaking reminded her just how far they were from civilization.

The red-head proceeded inside, her grip around the sleeves of her backpack tightening.
The small train stop had, altogether, 3 big rooms and one small room where old tools for fixing the train were kept. The room furthest from the entrance was where they were heading.
“Perfect timing, Perry. JJ has everything all set up, we’re just waiting for nightfall. Then you can complete it.” The man with the piercing green eyes smiled, his deep voice booming.
“What is it you need me to do?” Perry questioned, looking up at him.
His broad shoulders moved as he chuckled, “You’ll see.”

Prior to this, Perry was growing tired of feeling as if she was this predictable, talentless, and insignificant girl. All of her closest friends had something remarkable that stood out about them. Her neighbourhood friend named Katie was a phenomenal dancer, her friend—and childhood crush—Freddie was like the world’s greatest artist, and her best friend Susan was so incredibly intelligent that Perry swore she was the modern-day Einstein. They all had their tags and their unique little quirks about them and Perry…well…she didn’t really have anything that stood out about her other than her bright orange hair (And maybe the fact that she made pretty decent French toast).
Perry wanted a noteworthy trait that people associated with her. She wanted to feel like she belonged to something.
So she went through a period where she took on anything and everything one could possibly think of in search for her quirk she could call her own.
And in that period is when she met JJ—a witty, charismatic twenty two year old Wicca/occult leader with a welcoming smile and the promise of giving her that certain something she could claim for herself.

For some reason, playing around with spells and magic seemed to be the only thing that actually stuck to Perry. Not painting, not crocheting, not the piano—Perry had discovered that she’s actually literally tone-deaf from her piano playing plight—casting spells and dipping her hand into things of the supernatural was her cup of tea.
Although…Perry had been a Wicca-head for six months now and she still was unable to cast a spell that actually worked.
Naomi, one of her more experienced brothers, had promised that it was only a matter of time. That she just needed to practice putting her all into it.
But Perry was certain there was absolutely nothing else she could possibly put in to her spells—she exerted 135% of herself each and every time.
“Patience, Perry. Time & research will bring you to where you need to be.” JJ had promised her.
And research she did; Perry spent hours studying Wicca, Greek mythologies, and learning Latin. She had so many books on myths and supernatural affairs that her collection trumped every one of her Brother’s books of spells accumulated!
And yet, even with all of this knowledge coursing through her, there was still…nothing.

Perry was extremely nervous about tonight for that exact reason. The biggest spell of the year…and it rested on the seemingly incapable hands of Perry. She was terrified and internally freaking the fuck out.
Everything will be fine. Just believe you can do it…Really believe… Perry you can do this!
She attempted to psych herself up before the two Brothers were standing in front of the doorway to the room everyone else was gathered in.
The windows in this large room were boarded up—not the doing of any of the brothers, like I said…the train stop is pretty old—so the beautiful orange & pink ombre that was the sun only visible through the small cracks in-between the boards and a lone un-boarded window.
The old room was lit up with skinny white candles that were placed all around and by a fatter white candle that was burning on top of a timeworn wooden table in the centre of the room.

The Brothers were standing around the table, each dressed as casually as Perry was—just with more layers to protect themselves from the surprisingly chilly room.
“Perry!” A soft voice happily exclaimed.
All heads whipped towards Perry’s direction and she smiled.
“Hey, Perry! About time you showed up!” Brother Pandora teased.
Perry slid her backpack off her shoulders and left it in the room before the main one and then her and the green-eyed man made their way over to the group of 8 nonchalantly.
“Hello everyone!” Perry toothed.
“Welcome Brother Perry! Your timing couldn’t be more perfect. We’ve just finished setting up the send-off ceremony.” JJ opened his arms welcomingly and Perry took her place next to him.
“We’ve just blessed the room. & the sun is setting. I think it’s safe to say we can start now.” Green-eyed man—Perry always forgot his name seeing as he was fairly new—stated matter-of-factly.
JJ nodded and Naomi left the room for a minute and returned with what looked like a crown made of flowers and bark.

Another Brother, Emily, retrieved what seemed like a smudge stick from the metal desk that sat in the corner by the only window that wasn’t boarded up and brought it to JJ.
JJ nodded to Perry and she faced him, smiling meekly.
“Brothers, we are here tonight as a commencement and send-off for our Brother and loving friend Perry.” JJ’s eyes scanned the room as he spoke vibrantly.
“The gods have shown us great favour by sending her our way. Without Brother Perry, we would not have the resilience, the devotion, and the love for one another that we have today.”
Perry was grinning from ear to ear. Never had she felt so special in her life.

               “Of course, we were not meant to keep such bundle of light and positivity here with us forever. Brother Perry will continue to do the work of the gods by spreading her saccharinity to a land far from our reach. America will have her body, but we here will forever be thankful that we were blessed enough to have her heart.” JJ lit the smudge stick with the flame already burning from the candle on the table before continuing with his speech. “Perry, the Brothers of Apollo take you as our greatest pride and joy. Our most dedicated member. Our most loyal and loving friend.” JJ began to ghost Perry with the burning sage. “With this crown of Loyalty & Peace, we bind you to the endearing powers of resilience, love, and leadership that you already possess, and pronounce Apollo’s greatest blessings upon you. For safety, wisdom, and passion in all that you do.”
Perry tipped her head slightly and Naomi gently placed the crown over her head.
“estis calefactiuna cum natura.” JJ ended with a smile, putting out the flame of the sage in his hands.
“Ut matris frater!” Her Brothers boasted in unison.

               Perry was certain her happiness was as prevalent on the outside as it was on the inside.
I belong somewhere. I belong to something. I…belong. I finally belong.
The Brothers all linked hands and recited a quick declaration of faith.
Once that was finished, Perry was immediately flooded with questions and praises from her overly-supportive Brothers.
This had gone on for quite some time before Brother Tony had pointed out that night was officially upon them.
“Are you excited, Perry? Your first major spell!” Emily gave Perry’s shoulders a tight squeeze as she happily shrilled.
A knot formed in Perry’s stomach and she looked around her nervously.
“I—I—I don’t know…I mean—I’ve never—I’ve never been able to—to get any spells to—to work before and—just—well—What if I—just—can’t…?” she stammered, her eyes meeting the floor.
Naomi lovingly brushed Emily to the side and placed a hand on Perry’s shoulder before reassuring her, “Perry. You have the will and determination of a demigod. We have all been witnesses to it. You can do this. If you believe you can, you will. Channel the light that is within you. We believe in you, but nothing can be done until you truly believe in yourself.”
“You’re special, Perry. We’ve all known it. You’ve got this.” Green eyes grinned softly at her.

               If she wasn’t so in-control of tear ducts, Perry just may have sobbed tears of joy.
“Are you ready?” JJ beckoned to Perry, coming up from behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder.
Perry took a deep breath and loosened herself up as if to release any bad energy flowing through her before nodding.
“Your spell book and wand, please retrieve them while we set up the final portion of the spell.” Brother Sid politely requested as the rest of the crew sauntered their way over to the metal table near the window.
Perry obeyed, her heart and stomach fluttering as she made her way to her backpack.
This was Perry’s chance to prove herself. To prove she was just as special as her Brothers had claimed her to be. This was her chance to prove that she was so much more than that red-head girl who makes exceptionally good French toast. This was her chance to prove her significance.
She felt like she had been waiting her whole life for this moment.

               Perry removed her largest spell book from her bag—with some difficulty, the book was extraordinarily large—along with her skinny wooden wand and made her way back into the room.
When she returned, her Brothers were circled around the wooden table, a twig in each of their left hands that was hovering over an unlit candle in their right.
They were positioned so that they left an opening for Perry down the middle, making a pathway to the wooden table in the middle of the room. On the table was a small golden bowl that was lying next to a silver dagger.
Perry stopped before her Brothers, and suddenly a familiar scent that made her stomach twirl began to tickle her nose.
“Mother Perry,” JJ boomed from the other side of the wooden table, “You are strong, resilient, brave, and the backbone of this Brotherhood. As a representation of you, are most trusted, and knowledgeable asset, we present you with the biggest spell anyone has been entrusted with. We are asking you to summon your supernatural doppelganger; the strongest supernatural creature still on the face of this Earth: the irrepressible vampire.”

               Perry’s heart nearly stopped beating in her chest.
She looked around wearily at her Brothers.
“V-vampire?”
“To strengthen the probability of the spell working, your Brothers have all donated a small amount of blood, which we have placed in this golden bowl. In order for the creature to make itself known to us, you must add your blood into the mix before reciting the spell.” Brother Tony explained.
“The candles will light when a supernatural being is near & the combined lights will draw the creature closer to us.” Brother Sid enlightened.
Perry swallowed before stammering, “I—I have—I have to…bleed?”
“To receive, one must give, Mother Perry.” Naomi stated.
Ok…deep breaths Perry…deep breaths. It’s just a little blood…its fine…you’re okay. You’re a Mother now. How does that quote go? With great power comes…something else great?

               “We are ready whenever you are.” Emily smiled from behind Naomi, her red bangs hiding her smiling eyes.
Perry shut her eyes and took one last deep breath.
I can do anything I set my mind to. I am not mediocre. I am not insignificant any longer. I am Perry. I am special. I can do this.
Perry inched forward slowly, locking eyes with all of her Brothers before stopping at the table.
She set down her wand and her large book of spells and traded the comforting skin of the book for the sharp edges of the silver dagger.
Perry held the tip of the dagger up to her vein and kept her right wrist hovering over the bowl of blood.
She was visibly shaking and her heart rate was increasing with every passing second.
“Apollo, give me strength.” Perry begged under her breath before applying pressure to her skin.
The dagger easily penetrated the walls of Perry’s skin and she flinched at the sudden sting. Before long, Perry began to slowly drip blood into the bowl from the small cut in her wrist.

               Once there was a significant amount of her own blood in the bowl, Perry set down the dagger and picked up her book of spells and her wand.
Anticipation welt up in her gut as she flipped through the pages of her book. Perry knew which page it was on, she was just taking her time to get there.
There was a part of her that was still scared of failing and looking like a talentless fool in front of the people that hyped her to be so much more.
Release the bad energy, Perry. Good vibes. Get in touch with your good aurora. I can do all things I set my mind to. I can do anything.
Perry finally got to the page and took yet another gigantic breath.
JJ smiled at her encouragingly when Perry shot him a quick glance and she released the last of her anxiety out in one final sigh.
With a loud booming voice and a swift wave of her wand, Perry recited the Latin words from the text, “Date immortuorum ad lucem!”

               Silence.
Perry attempted to clear her mind one last time before passionately chanting, “Date immortuorum ad lucem!”
Stillness.
Perry’s face was beginning to match the colour of her hair.
She looked up at JJ once again, but this time his smile was gone and his eyes were hard.
Perry cleared her throat.
I. Can. Do. This.
“DATE IMMORTUORUM AD LUCEM!” Perry shouted one last time, waving her wand intensely yet fluidly.
A few Brothers shifted uncomfortably, but aside from that, nothing happened.

               “Maybe it just takes a few minutes…” Emily silently suggested.
All the doubt Perry had smacked against her like a wave and she could feel every aspect of herself dismantling right there before everyone’s eyes.
I’m…nothing.
The tears of joy Perry was fighting back had transformed into tears of grief and they were much stronger. She couldn’t hold her frustration in anymore.
Perry began to sob.
“I—I’m sorry…I wasn’t—I wasn’t meant to have a “quirk”…I’m not special. I’m average. Average Perry. I can’t do anything…I just—I need a minute.” Perry cried before she ran out of the main room.
She made her way into the small room where old tools were kept and threw herself onto the floor once inside.
Perry was absolutely heartbroken.
She truly believed that she wasn’t special and that she was just not one of those people meant to stand out in any way.
She was born to be an average, insignificant and predictable girl…just like her rabbi had told her.
“Thanks, Apollo!” Perry sarcastically cried.

               It’s been two days.
Mircalla had been traveling on foot for two days.
She had escaped her mother’s reign in Austria and had so far only gotten to Germany.
I’m too Goddamn slow. If I don’t find anything to eat soon, one of mother’s goons will surely catch up to me.
Or worse, she’ll send Mattie.
Mircalla needed to leave the UK. Change her name, disappear, become something and some else. She needed to be as far from Mother as she possibly could be. The minute mother hears of her fleeing, Mircalla knew there was absolutely no going back.
She had already tried to kill her once…this time there would be no try, only do.

               If I’m lucky enough, maybe I’ll die of starvation out here before mother gets a hold of me.
Mircalla knew that even if she managed to leave the country and hide from Mother’s radar, it was still only a matter of time before she was found.
Mother was going to kill her.
No one, not even her favourite child Mircalla Von Karnstein, says ‘no’ to Mother and lives for very long.
Seeing as Mircalla said ‘hell the fuck no’ and fled, well…she knew she had a whole other world of suffering coming.

               It was pitch black outside and she was traveling in a grass field that was just a few weeks from decaying completely.
She was seriously weak and lightheaded and the overbearing ache in her throat made her feel like she had just swallowed a tub of acid.
Oh the hell with gallantry, the next lot of humans I set my eyes on I am devouring.
As she continued to walk on, she couldn’t help but admire the twinkling stars over her head.
They were the only thing that stayed consistent throughout the entirety of her existence, and they would continue to shine on even when she no longer can.
She found comfort in them.

               Mircalla nearly tripped over something metal that was in her path while her head was in the clouds.
She looked down and saw a derailed train track that was rusted to hell.
These tracks might take me to civilization.
The vampire picked up her speed and followed the tracks for as far as she could.
Although she was slow, she was still significantly faster than any human could possibly imagine.
As she moved along, however, that delicious smell that she knew far too well caught her nose.
Blood. And lots of it.
Mircalla didn’t have to look at herself to know that her fangs had made themselves visible and her eyes had matched the colour of the night sky.
It was almost as if she had no control over herself anymore as she zoomed past the track and into a seemingly abandoned building that was flickering with light on the inside.

               There was one window that was open and she looked into it to see who her unfortunate victims were about to be.
From the looks of it, they seemed to be some sort of cult.
There were candles scattered across the room and they were all carrying candles in their hand and holding what looked like sticks in their other.
Almost instantaneous with her entrance, the candles the individuals were holding lit up.
“JJ!” a blonde girl called.
A man with curly brown hair faced the group and gasped.
Mircalla met eyes with him and she smirked.
Oh boy do I love ruining cults.

               “It worked! Perry’s spell worked! A vampire! Can you believe it? A vampire is before us!” JJ praised as he began to make his way towards her.
Mircalla laughed and slowly made her way from around the table in front of her, tracing the top with her finger as she moved.
“Aren’t you all just the most naïve pair of mortals? Magic,” she scoffed, “You slay me.”
As if he heard nothing she just said, JJ questioned, “What is your name?”
Mircalla walked up to him, her strides slow and her hips swaying gracefully.
She twirled a finger in one of his curly locks and smiled a devious smile at him.
Now was a chance to start over. Become someone new.
She thought for a second before slowly saying, “Carmilla. Carmilla Karnstein.”

               “Amazing. A real life vampire!” Someone from behind her gawked.
“Yeah well, I hope you all have enjoyed your first and last look at one. Because, well, I’ve got places to go, things to see, and I’m just making a… pit stop.” Carmilla turned and saw blood sitting in a bowl on a table next to her.
“Seriously? Did you all just…bleed yourselves into a bowl? Not that I don’t appreciate the formality of being fed, but what the fuck?” Carmilla dipped her finger in the blood and brought it to her mouth.
That was it. That was all she needed.
“B—being fed?” A red head stammered.
Carmilla smiled, her fangs a lot more threatening to the group now.
“Oh come on. You idiots were attempting to summon a vampire. Even if you had summoned me, you all were essentially ringing the dinner bell…and mama’s hungry…” Carmilla ended the conversation there and began to tear into each and every one of their throats.

               The sensation of going from on the verge of starvation to having more than she could have bargained for was blissful. She could go for the next several weeks without blood at this point.
The whole ordeal took about two minutes. One of them attempted to stab her with a silver dagger—something she was very much not prepared for—but she was able to send the dagger flying out of the room and snap their neck before moving on to the next victim.
She had drained at least half of them dry of their blood, and she was sitting in the middle of the bloody room, laughing to herself and licking the blood off of her hands when she heard a fast-beating heart.
Carmilla looked at the doorway in front of her and saw a puffy-eyed red head girl in front of her with fear plastered into her pretty white skin.

               “Y—you…You…killed…them. My-my…my spell…it worked…you-re a—a vampire…and…and…you—you just…you killed them…everyone…everyone is dead…” The girl stammered. She was clutching the silver dagger in her hands and Carmilla couldn’t stop the laugh from escaping her lips.
She was drunk off of her extreme satisfaction and continued to lick the blood off of her hands.
“Oh you Wicca-heads…Gotta love your determination. Or else I’d probably have died out there. So you’re this ‘Perry’ I’m assuming?” Carmilla rose off of the floor, the blood all over her clothes barely visible since her entire outfit was black.
“They’re dead…they’re dead, they’re dead, they’re dead & it’s all my fault!” Perry screamed as she continued to scan the horrific scene in front of her.
Carmilla rolled her eyes, “Listen gingersnap, I need to be on my way. You can either, A: take advantage of the good mood I’m in and flee the scene like…right now or B: you can join your friends here and become my meal to-go. Either way, you’d better decide fast. Because there’s still lots of blood to go around and any vampire within a hundred mile radius will be able to smell it. And I won’t be your only threat tonight.”

               The frazzled girl scanned Carmilla in utter horror for a second.
Perry shook her head slowly, tears pooling down her eyes as she collected a bag that was against the wall of the doorway in front of Carmilla and ran out.
Carmilla smirked after her before looking around the room herself.
“I’ve made quite the mess, haven’t I? That’ll give whoever mother sends after me something to do. They’ll be too busy covering up this little incident to come after me. That should give me an extra day.”
Carmilla scanned the bodies around her for clothes with little to no blood on them.
The blonde that had tried to stab her had a drop of blood on her black and white striped shirt, but it was going to have to do until she could get her hands on some other clothes.
She stripped the body of the shirt before peeling off her own top and leaving it in the mess of the blood.
“Something to let them know I was here.”

Carmilla walked over to the blood-filled bowl and dipped her finger in it to get one last taste.
She couldn’t help the devious smirk that had made its home on her lips as her deep voice hummed,
“You were right, Elle. I am the exact monster you thought me to be…and I love it.”