Chapter Text
Chapter 1
“Perry that was lovely” Laura puts her spoon down after her second portion of trifle. Carmilla had watched in horror as Laura had devoured the dessert, especially as she had only picked at the main course. Even Carmilla had eaten her main course as Perry had prepared steak tartare just for her, so she had no real excuse not to eat it.
“You two take a seat, we’ll have this cleared away and we’ll join you in a minute” Perry stands and begins clearing away the dishes, prompting Laf to join in. Laura stands and watches guiltily as Perry takes the stack of bowls into the kitchen; she seems almost heartbroken as Laf takes the trifle bowl away.
“As I said we’re going away for a few weeks, are you sure that’s you’ll be able to check on our apartment?”
“Of course, dear. Don’t worry”
“Thanks Perry. You’re the best” Laura pulls some keys and a thin file out of her purse and hands them to Perry. “Here’s a set of keys. I’ve labeled them for the main door, mailbox, and the apartment door. In the file are the alarm code and our emergency contact numbers. If you must contact us, use the sheriff’s number.”
“Why the sheriff Laura?” Perry looks worried and at the mention of law enforcement.
“Don’t worry we’re renting the cottage from Emma; I’ve listed her as sheriff, so you won’t be surprised by her ‘office voice’ when she answers.” Laura says with a giggle trying to reassure Perry.
Carmilla and Laf share a look as Laura and Perry go through all the paperwork that Laura has handed over. “So where is this place. Carm?” Laf asks as Laura and Perry busy themselves with emergency contacts.
“Oh, it’s just up the coast, not too far away actually” Carmilla answers as casually as she can but looks in alarm as Laf pulls out their phone. “Erm. You actually won’t find it on that thing, it’s very discrete” she adds.
Laf gives her a strange look. “A town that’s ‘discrete’?”
“Yup, so discrete that you can’t find it unless you’re invited.”
“Sounds spooky! How did you find it?”
“By accident basically, and the curse of my mother.” Laf shudders at the very thought of Lilita Morgan.
Perry knocks the papers into order and puts them back into the file. “That looks like everything Laura, I’m sure we won’t need any of this.”
“There is one more thing, Perry. we will be having a friend house sitting while we are away”
“Oh, who’s that, I’d like to meet them” Perry says brightly.
“If you have a house sitter, why do you need us to check on the apartment?” Laf asks, not unreasonably. Laura gulps and looks at Carmilla who nods.
“No, you wouldn’t want to meet them, they are not-human, but they’ll stay out of your way. You probably won’t even notice them. We, would like you to check on the apartment because you are our friends.” Laura says as carefully as she can trying not to frighten her friend.
Seeing that Perry’s normally pale complexion has gone whiter than usual Laf pats Perry’s hand “Don’t worry Per, I’ll come with you” before looking at Laura “This guest of yours, would they be open to a bit of scientific enquiry? What are they? I won’t judge.”
“Laf, you are not experimenting on my friends!” Laura squeals before continuing in a calmer tone “Can you two just come over every couple of days, please!”
“Of course, we can. Laura. Now you have a good time. Be sure to take lots of photographs and tell us all about it when you’re back.”
#
It’s late when they get to the bar, it had taken a long time to escape Perry’s fussing and worry, but they need to talk to Mike before they go. The bar is not crowded, so Laura takes a booth while Carmilla goes to the counter to order drinks and let Mike know that they need to speak to him.
Carmilla looks up as Mike joins them in their booth at the bar. “You wanted to talk; I’ve got a few minutes now that the rush has died down” he looks around the bar making sure that all the customers have drinks.
“We’re going away for a couple of weeks tomorrow, to chill and take it easy. We’ll be almost off the grid, but you should be able to us gets via the local sheriff. We’re getting one of our friends to check on the apartment while we’re gone.” Camilla passes over Emma’s number.
“Sheriff Emma. Hmm” Mike smirks as he looks at Carmilla’s note before putting it in his wallet.
“Don’t, she’s spoken for” Carmilla warns before turning to Laura who nods in confirmation.
Annie swoops from the ceiling to smother Laura in her own personal cloud of darkness before vanishing behind her
“Not getting used to that” grumbles Carmilla
Laura looks vacant for a moment before focusing on Carmilla. “Remember, Annie has volunteered to stay in the apartment, she’ll come home with us tonight” ignoring Carmilla’s skeptical expression Laura continues her apparent one-way conversation with Annie.
“Are you sure you’ll be OK alone?” Laura worries and then listens to a response that only she can hear.
“There will be people coming around, please don’t frighten them.”
The shadow behind Laura shivers.
“I’m Sorry it’s just that they are ‘normal’ and not like the crowd that come in here” Laura apologizes.
“Cupcake, show her pictures of Laf and Perry. Anyone else she can frighten!” Carmilla prompts Laura who retorts “She isn’t like that” but pulls out her phone and begins looking for pictures to show Annie.
“Well, that seems to be settled, Annie will be our house sitter while we are away” Carmilla mutters to Mike.
“Are you going to be OK away from the city and your supplies” Mike asks her
“Yes, I’m going to be able to get local supplies, don’t worry about me.” Carmilla tries to reassure him but seeing his doubtful expression adds “without biting anyone.”
“Good, but do they know what you are?”
“Some of them, the werewolf will take some winning over I think”
“You’re not exactly a ‘people person’ Carmilla. Be careful”
Carmilla holds her hand to her chest in mock offense “I am a ‘people person’ I’ll have you know”
“Sure, you are” he mocks “just rein in the spiky personality, it sounds as if you won’t have to be as defensive where you are going, and try to get on with people, I’m sure it will be no problem.”
“That’s me. ‘Miss Congeniality” She announces.
Mike is still laughing and Carmilla scowling at him when Laura finishes her conversation with Annie. “What’s going on guys?”
“Miss Congeniality here was telling me how she is going to make friends when you are on vacation” Mike explains between laughs.
Laura looks at Carmilla’s scowl and trying not to smile before looking at Mike to say, “I’m sure she’ll have no trouble making friends.” This causes more infectious laughter from Mike which Laura joins in with.
“Stop that or you are sleeping on the couch, Cutie”
Laura bites her lip and looks down to school her expression, when she thinks she has it under control she looks up and kisses Carmilla “Don’t worry you’ll be fine, I have faith in you.”
#
Robin potters around his kitchen preparing his breakfast whilst his kettle boils. The kitchen is small, but he has everything neatly organized so as he collects the elements of his breakfast his routine is smooth and well-practiced. This cupboard for a cereal bowl, the next one for the box of cereal he takes them and puts them on the table. From another cupboard he takes a mug for his coffee and a glass for his orange juice.
He has just opened the fridge for his milk and juice when the kettle whistles. Robin puts the cold items on the table and takes his mug to the counter by the stove. The coffee jar is next to the stove and from a drawer beneath the counter he takes out two spoons, on for the coffee and a larger one for his cereal. He spoons some instant coffee into the mug before resealing the jar, then he pours in the hot water and stirs the coffee to make sure the granules are completely dissolved.
Robin sits at the table and slowly eats his breakfast cereal, sipping his juice as he remembers last night. It was fun, they’ll have to do it again. He takes a mouthful of coffee and looks out of the window at the garden, now lit by the early morning sun, last night’s rain should help the plants. He finishes his cereal, checking off in in mind things he has to do today, but there is nothing too important.
He picks up the cereal bowl, spoon and juice glass and takes them to the sink, washes them and puts them on the drainer to dry. Returning to the table he picks up the coffee mug and then unlocks the door and goes out into the garden. There is a corner that always catches the morning sun. He has placed a chair in that corner and would normally sit there and finish his coffee, but after the rain it will be too wet to sit on. So, he stands, mug in hand, the sun on his face and enjoys the calm of the early morning garden. This morning is unusually quiet, there are normally birds calling to one another in the trees.
Beyond the garden is a narrow lane and then a patch of light woodland that rises gently away from Robin’s house and its neighbors. The undergrowth at the edge of the trees is now protruding into the lane. Soon it will be time to cut it back before the lane is blocked completely. The lane is now muddy after the earlier rain and the protruding stones glisten with moisture. Robin has in the past explored the woodland but today is not the day to be tramping through the trees. So, he stands still in the warmth of the early morning sunlight enjoying the view and the smell of the wet plants in the garden.
A figure shifts slightly in the woodland as Robin walks into the garden, its dark clothing concealing it among the trees. Slowly it pulls the hood of its jacket further over its head to conceal its face. As Robin comes to a halt next to his chair and raises his mug, the figure raises it’s bow and picks up an arrow from those stuck in the mud next to its feet. Nocking the arrow against the string, the figure pulls back the string and raises the bow to shoulder height and aims at Robin. After a calming breath it releases the bowstring and the arrow is loosed, flying straight towards its target.
Robin takes a deep breath of the fresh morning air, when he feels a sharp stabbing pain in his chest and looks down to see an arrow protruding from his shirt. The white fletching bright against the red of his shirt. He drops his mug as he struggles to comprehend what has happened to him. The mug falls and shatters on the paving stones, splashing his pants and boots with coffee and ceramic fragments.
He raises his hand to the arrow, but it is hard work, and it seems that effort is almost too much for him. His knees buckle and he falls against the chair before landing on the ground and rolling onto his side. Oddly he doesn’t feel anything when he falls. Everything goes dark as he lays on the ground, the last thing he hears is a bird calling in the woods
The figure braces the bow against their foot and removes the bowstring, rolling it up and putting it in a pocket of their jacket. They kneel to place the bow in the bow case that lies nearby. The remaining arrows are picked up and join the bow in the bow case fitting neatly into the space allocated for arrows. They then remove the bracer from their wrist and place it and the bowstring in the case before zippering it shut.
Slinging the bow case over their shoulder they head off up the slope deeper into the woods. They follow the path they made earlier, when they walked from the road to the back of Robin’s house. The journey is not long, but the wet terrain means they have to focus on maintaining their balance and not slipping. Soon they reach the edge of the trees. Through the undergrowth they can see their car parked on the edge of the road. They wait and listen for a moment but can only hear the wind in the trees and the distant call of birds.
They step from the undergrowth and walk to the car checking again that they are alone. They take out their car keys and unlock the trunk. With the trunk open they unsling the bow case and drop it in the trunk next to the jacket and sneakers that already lie there. They then take off the dark jacket and drop it in the trunk, quickly replacing it with the light blue jacket they had put in the trunk earlier. Sitting on the edge of the trunk they remove their boots and replace them with the sneakers. There is a trash bag in the trunk to hold the muddy boots.
They stand and check that they have not dropped anything beside the car and deposit the trash bag in the trunk before shutting it. They take a moment to brush any leaves and mud from their pants before they walk to the front of the car and get in. They sit in the seat and simply stare down the highway before resting their head on the steering wheel and taking a few deep breaths. With their breathing under control, they turn the key in the ignition and set off.
The drive home is quick and there are very few other road users at this time of the day and even fewer pedestrians. Even so the figure takes no chances and keeps under the posted limits and stops at every sign. When they pull into their driveway they activate the garage door remote and wait for the door to rise before driving into the garage. Turning off the engine they let out a huge sigh of relief before checking the mirror to make sure no one has followed them. They get out of the car and leave the garage, using the button on the key fob to close the door.
They fumble for their house keys as a wave of nausea strikes them, they almost force the keys into the lock retching the lock open and rush inside, then they race to the bathroom where they are sick as they empty their stomach into the toilet. They stay hunched over the bowl occasionally dry heaving but there is nothing else to vomit. Rising on unsteady legs they rinse the taste out of their mouth under the tap and soak a small towel, wring it out and hold it to their face for a moment.
Quickly checking that the front door is locked, they stumble to their bedroom and lie down on their bed, still fully clothed to recover, towel placed over their face. Oh God what have I done? Exhausted from the walk through the woods and the vomiting they fall into a fitful sleep. In their mind they see Robin fall clutching at the arrow in his chest over and over again.
Outside in the street life goes on as normal, people walk past nodding at their neighbors and greeting their friends.
Dave Crow, Robin’s neighbor, leaves his house, noting that Robin’s car is still parked out in front of his house. Thinking nothing of this, he puts his toolbox in the flatbed of his pickup and gets in the cab and starts the engine. He looks quickly up and down the street and pulls out and heads to work.
Angie McFly watches Dave’s pickup pull off and head away while, Theo, her Dachshund, stops to investigate something he finds interesting at the edge of a garden. Pulling the dog along, Angie passes Dave’s and then Robin’s house before turning down the narrow road that leads past Robin’s garden and then to the woods. Despite his interest in the gardens, she knew that Theo loved his walks in the woods. This morning seeing that his car was still outside the house she assumed that Robin would still be in his garden.
Pausing by the gate to the garden she looked in but could not see Robin, seeing that the door to the kitchen was open she calls out to him. Not receiving a reply, she looks around the garden and sees Robin lying on his side facing away from her, a pool of blood slowly spreading out from his chest.
Paralyzed by the shock of seeing Robin lying there, Angie stands still for a moment and then screams at the horror of what she has just seen. At her feet Theo runs in small circles distressed by the sudden noise, the smell of blood and the agitation of Angie. The sound of running feet cause the little dog to attempt to hide behind Angie’s legs.
“Angie, what’s wrong?” Aileen Lark asks slightly out of breath after running from the main street. Angie looks in her direction and opens her mouth to speak but can’t, so she points behind her over the gate and into the garden. Aileen follows Angie’s pointing finger, gasping when she sees Robin lying there and turns away and putting an arm around Angie’s shoulders leads her away from the gate and a little way up the road, so that she cannot see into the garden.
Behind her Aileen senses a presence and sees that her husband, Bob, has joined them. “Call 911, it’s Robin” she tells him, he pulls out his phone and goes to look over the garden gate for himself.
#
Deputy Nolan checks that the drunks in the cells are still sleeping their way towards a hangover when the phone rings. He hurries back to his desk and answers it.
“Storybrooke Sheriff’s Department” before he can say more a flood of words pour out of the device. He catches maybe one word in four or five. But by routine he notes the time on his pad and the few words he can make out. He’s sure the caller is Bob Lark, normally a large quiet man but something has got him all riled up this morning.
“Bob, OK this is David Nolan, I’ll be there in a few minutes. Don’t let anyone go into the garden. OK. I’ll call the doctor. Wait for me outside the garden.” The deputy puts down the phone, checks the prisoners before heading out.
#
The ringing of her phone wakes the sheriff from her slumber, blinking her eyes she realizes where she is and is thankful to be in bed and not working her way through endless mounds of reports for the mayor that had filled her dream.
Picking up the phone she answers the call and growls “Sheriff Swan”
“Emma, we need you here. It’s a bad one” a voice pleads with her.
“Dad, I have today off” she says knowing he wouldn’t ring unless it was absolutely necessary.
“I know kiddo, but we need you here, the mayor will want a report on this one.”
Emma turns to look at Regina’s sleeping form “I’ll tell her when I’ve finished at the scene. Text me the address I’ll be there in 20 minutes.” She focuses on the phone trying to read the time, finally the figures swim into focus. Too early. She flops back onto the pillow.
“What was that?” Regina says sleepily.
“Sheriff stuff, I’m sorry but I’ve got to go now. I’ll come by your office later once I have the details. Go back to sleep” She leans over and kisses Regina and whispers “Sorry”
“Are you going to leave without breakfast?” Regina mutters.
“I’ll pick something up from Grannies on the way” Emma reassures her.
“Very well, but no bear claws” the warning, although it comes from the far side of the bed and muffled by the covers, still carries the weight of a royal decree.
“No, of course not” Emma turns quickly to hide the lie and begins looking for her clothes.
“And don’t forget the reports that are due by the end of the week.” Regina reminds her before rolling over. Emma has a flashback to her dream of endless moving piles of paper, she shakes her head and heads to the bathroom.
After a quick wash and even quicker brushing of her teeth she returns to the bedroom, still pulling a brush through her hair and dresses as quickly as she can in the dark. Hopping unsteadily as she pulls on her jeans whilst buttoning up her shirt. As she staggers about she feels a tingling around her as her clothes magically fly into place.
“Thank you” Emma whispers and walks over to the wardrobe. Kneeling she punches in the code and retrieves her service firearm from the safe that’s fitted in the wardrobe. Checking the weapon, she slams home a magazine as quietly as she can before holstering it.
Ready to leave Emma reaches over the bed and kisses Regina goodbye, when she straightens up she just looks longingly down at Regina not believing how lucky she is. At the door she blows Regina a kiss before leaving and shuts the door gently behind her. Walking as quietly as she can through the sleeping house she opens the door to Henry’s room and looks in. Her son is still sleeping. “See you later Kid” she calls quietly before closing the door and heading out to her bug.
#
Emma parks the bug as near to Robin’s house as she can and walks to the deputy manning the perimeter of the crime scene. The deputy nods at her and raises the tape so that she can pass. “Morning Sheriff”
“Morning Steve” Emma nods back at him and walks up to her father who is standing by the garden gate. He instantly spots the bag from Grannies and nods towards it. In response Emma clutches it to her body protectively.
“Sorry to get you out of bed Sheriff, but we really do need everyone on this.” He tells her. Emma reaches into the bag and pulls out a bear claw and takes a big bite and lets out a moan of satisfaction.
“Does Regina know you’re having bear claws for breakfast?” He pushes
“Of Course,” Emma replies, he laughs at the obvious lie, causing Emma to blush slightly.
“So, what do we have here?” She asks trying to steer the conversation away from her breakfast choices.
Doctor Whale confirmed Robin Scarlet died from exsanguination caused by his heart being punctured by an arrow”
“Arrow!” Emma is so shocked she almost stops biting the bear claw.
“Yep, we’ll have it in evidence once the doctor removes it from the body.”
“Time of death?”
“Between 6 and 6:30 this morning”
At the raised eyebrow David explains, his coffee was still warm when I got here as was the kettle on the stove. So less than an hour ago. The call came into the station at 6:45.” Emma nods knowing how unusual it is to have establish such a narrow window for the crime.
“And where was the archer standing” she asks looking around. The boundary with the next property has a thick hedge at least seven feet tall and a similar barrier on the roadside of the garden except for the gate. “The woods over there beyond the end of the garden?”
“That’s why you get the big bucks Sheriff!” He says beaming with pride. “I’ve called in the part time deputies. I hope that’s OK” Emma nods and he carries on. “When they arrive one will guard the scene, the other will go to the station. That’ll free Steve to help us search the woods.”
Emma groaned, a case like this was going to eat up all the department’s resources rapidly and if they didn’t get a break very quickly they probably wouldn’t solve it.
“Can you get your phone and discretely photograph the crowd?” She asks without looking behind her. David nods and pulls out his phone.
#
Laura is panicking as she packs, she is trying to cram everything that she thinks she needs plus a few extras to cover a change in the weather or unforeseen emergencies into her case. Satisfied that she has everything she will need she tries to close the lid of the case and is astonished to discover that it won’t close, even when she leans on it. Carmilla is more chilled about packing and has included a few changes of clothes, underwear, toiletries a few books: the basics. Emma said that they would be able to do their own laundry, so she saw no need to take too much. With her case closed she takes it out and stands it next to the front door.
When she returns, Laura has emptied the case and is trying to make the clothes fit in the case by packing them in a different order. Carmilla sits on the chair by the dresser and watches as Laura tries a third time to cram what looks like her entire wardrobe into the case. Even Annie is watching from a corner of the ceiling, Carmilla looks at the shadow and shakes her head in warning as Annie moves closer to Laura. Taking the hint, the shadow returns to the corner.
Realizing that they will have to leave sometime today, Carmilla stands and walks behind Laura. Taking a gentle hold of her upper arms she whispers in her ear.
“Let me help you, Cutie”
Laura turns almost startled at the interruption and lets out a quiet “thank you.”
“Now we are only going for two weeks do you really need to take all this stuff?”
“Yes, because what if we get invited out, or we need something formal, or if the weather changes the forecast isn’t always accurate”
“Whoa there, Cupcake. I’ll do it. Remember the cottage is only a few hours drive away, so we can always come back if we really need something special.”
Laura stands open mouthed for a moment as Carmilla goes through the piles of clothes arranged on the bed and hands at least half of them to her.
“Put those away, Cupcake” Carmilla commands before turning her attention to the collection of shoes Laura has selected to take and she removes all but three pairs and puts the ones she has rejected back in the wardrobe.
She picks up the dresses one by one, holding them up in front of her and discarding the ones she thinks Laura will not need and quickly reduces the collection to three,. There are two light summer dresses that will be suitable for most occasions and a darker one, which she can’t recall Laura ever wearing, that will do for anything more formal. She lays them down on the bed and hands the rest to a horrified Laura to put away.
“But..” Laura whimpers not having moved since Carmilla took over the packing and is now smothered in clothes.
“Ahh, OK” Carmilla takes back the dresses and returns them to the wardrobe. She then busies herself folding and rolling up the remaining clothes on the bed before putting them in the case.
Standing back, she admires her work as now, not only will the case close but there is a chance that Laura could pick it up. She is about to shut it when Laura stops her.
“My laptop!” and with that Laura dashes out of the bedroom, Carmilla can hear the sounds of expensive electronic equipment being roughly handled and occasionally dropped on the floor. As she waits Carmilla steels herself to say no to whatever Laura returns with.
When Laura returns Carmilla raises her eyebrows at the quantity of electronics Laura is carrying. “No!” she says firmly “we’re going on vacation not moving office!”
“But I need all of this” Laura pleads clutching her electronics tighter to her chest. Carmilla moves closer to inspect the devices and sighs knowing that Laura will Be lost without some of her attachments to modern life. “OK, the laptop and charger and the phone charger but that’s it” she says as sternly as she can in the face of Laura’s pouting.
With poor grace Laura puts the laptop and the chargers in the case, adding a mouse as a small act of defiance. The remaining collection of gadgets she puts on the dresser, tidying the rat’s nest of cables as best she can. Carmilla closes the case and picks it up off the bed and carries it out to the front door and drops it next to her own bag.
“Cupcake, can you check the windows and then we’ll be off.” Carmilla watches as Laura hurries off, knowing she would worry about the windows if she didn’t check them herself. When Laura returns Carmilla goes through her checklist “Windows, checked, stove off, bags packed, Annie is happy” At the last item she looks up to see the now familiar black cloud hovering above them.
“Gas, we’ve forgotten to get gas” Laura gasps, Carmilla pulls her into a hug. “We can get gas on the way.” Carmilla leans in closer, and their lips meet.
“We’re off on vacation, Cupcake, we won’t have to worry about anything. Now are you ready to go” Laura nods
Laura looks up to the ceiling to see Annie hovering near the door. “Annie, we’re off now. Please don’t frighten my friends when they come around. Bye”
Carmilla waves to the shadow and adds “If the one with short ginger hair tries anything frighten them” before following Laura out of the door and shutting it.
“What was that for?” Laura asks while checking that the door is actually locked, just after watching Carmilla remove her keys from the lock. “I don’t want Laf getting too involved with my friends. Come on!”
#
Carmilla carries both cases, taking pity on Laura after seeing her struggle to pick hers up. “What did you put in this; it feels heavier?”
“Oh, nothing” Laura mutters guiltily before dashing off to open the main door “I’ll get the door”
“Cupcake?”
“Honestly nothing” Laura says brightly holding the door for Carmilla.
While Carmilla loads the cases into the trunk, Laura is busy on her phone. She looks up when she feels Carmilla staring at her. “I was just letting Perry and Mike know that we are setting off and will be back in two weeks.”
“Ready Cupcake? Give me the keys and we’ll be off.” Carmilla announces standing next to the car.
“What? I thought that I was driving.”
“No, I’ll drive. You can relax during the trip. OK” Carmilla says oozing sincerity and holding out her hand for the keys. Reluctantly Laura hands them over. Smiling broadly, Carmilla gets into the car, leaving Laura standing.
After stopping for gas, Carmilla heads out of the city and takes the road to the coast, soon they are out of the city and its suburbs and passing through rolling farmland. The farms slowly give way to woods and then thicker forest and quickly the trees seem to be crowding up to the edge of the road. Definitely the right way, Carmilla thinks to herself.
The car drives past a fox standing on the edge of the forest, it studies the machine as it passes and then blinks as it vanishes from sight completely. Happy that the threat has gone, the fox crosses the road.