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.

"Carm, do you know if anybody here had anything against SJ?" Laura asked, her eyes not leaving the sight in front of her. Carmilla turned to Laura with furrowed eyebrows. "Laura. No. This is not our mess, this is a murder. You know? A homicide? A crime of which you call the police to check it out, not try and live out your high school dream of being an investigative reporter and stick your nose in something it doesn't belong in!" Carmilla spoke incredulously, desperately trying to get the blonde to see this isn't something she should be getting involved in.

Laura tore her eyes away from the scene to Carmilla. "Carm....no one knows this store like we do. We can't just wait around for someone else to come in and play hero, we need to figure something! Yes, we should call the police. But wouldn't it be so much better if we have something more to give them than just the body?" Laura retorted. She was getting information whether Carmilla liked it or not.

Carmilla's expression was the definition of disbelief. "Laura if you touch anything then you can get in serious trouble! Even if you are just trying to help, if you disturb anything here you are committing a criminal offence. Do you not get that?" Carmilla searched Laura's face for any sign of relent, but found none. The girl was way too stubborn. "I won't touch the scene Carm. I'm just going to ask some questions to some of the night shift folks." Laura assured the fretting taller woman, throwing her a grin and then grabbing her phone.

"Hey Natalie! You were on shift last night, right?" The blonde asked as she walked away from Carmilla a couple of metres.

'We are so screwed..' Carmilla thought as she let a curse slip from her lips and followed Laura out the store.

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"The only thing she had to say was that SJ was a friendly ray of sunshine. That doesn't help with your investigation at all. Can we stop this and let the police handle it now?" Carmilla sighed, getting a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach that something bad was going to happen.

"Carm, no! If her best friend couldn't think of someone, what makes you think that a bunch of police officers can?" Laura waved her arms in protest, causing Carmilla to shake her head. "What makes you think you can?" She retorted. She made sure that her tone was gentle, not harsh as to not hurt Laura's feelings.

Laura's gaze softened and she stepped closer to Carmilla. "We. It's we not me. We can do this together Carmilla. You're smart, observant and you are super strong so you can kick butt if someone tries to stop us!" Laura grinned when Carmilla let a small smile appear on her face. "And lets not forget that I was a journalism major in college so I am really good at figuring things out. We can do this!" Laura exclaimed, kissing Carmilla's cheek and grabbing her hands. "You've been working here for longer than I have. Think about it. Do you know any employees that might have had it out for SJ?" Laura asked gently, coaxing Carmilla to answer and help.

Carmilla sighed and shut her eyes, trying to think about anyone that might have any incentive. And it honestly didn't take her long to find one.

"Will Luce. He started working here 3 years ago. Mainly in the back to check stock and fill shipping orders and stuff like that. SJ started working here a year and a half ago and she was put straight onto registers. Will wanted to be the face of the store. And just recently SJ became the night manager, and Will being Will probably thought that since he has been working here for longer deserved it more than her." Laura grinned at the information Carmilla had. It was the perfect incentive! Well...it was a bit far to murder someone for something so petty, but to Laura the act of murdering someone is petty, lazy and cowardly. "That's great Carm! Let's go to the station right now! This'll make the investigation so much quicker and easier!" Laura squealed in excitement, letting go of one of Carmilla's hands and dragging her to the police station.

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The police were more than appreciative of the information Carmilla and Laura had and got to work as soon as they could.

The two walked out of the station with a month of and small cash rewards.

After the long day that the two had, Carmilla decided to treat Laura to something.

"Hey. Want to go to Café Konditorei Stockhammer? I know how much you love their sweet treats. And after today I think that you need it." She offered, bumping shoulders with the shorter blonde.

Laura grinned as her eyes shone with disbelief. "Seriously? After me bothering, pestering and bossing you around all day you want to take me to my favourite café?" She giggled, waiting for Carmilla to say she was joking. But it never happened.

"Let me put it this way. Laura Eileen Hollis, your bravery scares the absolute crap out of me. Your thirst to help is unquenchable and it is beautiful. Now, since you seem oblivious to my flirting I feel like I need to be more forward. Will you go on a date to me to your favourite café after scaring the frilly hell out of me all day?" She asked, staring into Laura's eyes with a smirk on her face.

Laura blushed a deeper red than she had ever seen in her life and grinned. A shy nod was given as a non-verbal reply as she tried to settle down her gay heart that was exploding rainbows ad glitter in happiness so that she could form words.

"Yes Carm. I would love to go on a date with you to my favourite café after we just help solve a murder."