Secrets Dyed in Blood

18

Astra's POV 

"Duendecillo del caos!" Carmilla hissed as she walked up to me. Worry plagued her crimson jewels. "How dare you leave so close to the extermination!" She snapped at me. Her hands cupped my cheeks. "Are you alright?" 

"I-I...need to sit down," I stuttered out. My body could barely hold me up as the aftershock wreaked havoc on my body. Carmilla guided me to one of the chairs littered around the library. 

"Where did you go?" Carmilla asked softer. I felt her body shift around me until she sat right next to me. "Flor de luna, you look pale. Where were you?" I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. 

"I visited Stolas. And then I went to heaven," I stated as casually as I could. My weak voice defined that I was anything but careless. Carmilla's eyes widened as she stood in front of me. 

"You went to heaven!?" 

"I did," I agreed. "I went to see Michael." 

"The arch angel!? How in the hell did you get an audience with him? How are you not killed?" 

"Michael wouldn't dare try. He and I have a history. If there was one angel to trust, it would be him." Carmilla's eyes narrowed as her face turned grim. 

"You should never have walked into heaven's gates! That would make you a wanted target by the exorcists!" 

"Let them come," I stated as I stood. "This is not the first time I have fought angels." Carmilla's hand fell to my arm. 

"You may have put a target the size of Brazil on your back!" Carmilla seethed with anger that I had never seen before. At least, not towards me. "Do you not realize that you could get killed? Why bother going to heaven? What did you think you were accomplishing?"

"I was trying to give Charlie's dream a better chance than going through an angel that has her head so far up her ass that she can never think straight." Alarms blared off around the building. Carmilla and the girls looked toward the exits while I stared out the windows. The extermination was beginning. A strange feeling crawled up my back. Something...felt wrong. Out of place. I gently slid past Carmilla and toward the front door. "I need to see what is happening outside." 

"Why!?" Carmilla looked like she was ready to pull her hair out. Her growl took me by surprise. 

"Something isn't right," I admitted. My shoulders tightened on instinct. Something different than angels were coming. But what? What could possibly do that?

"Astra please, stop!" Carmilla's voice shook as she spoke to me. 

"But I will only be a moment," I argued softly. 

"Please! I don't want you to leave me right now!" Carmilla's plea stopped me. I turned around and witnessed the tears that brimmed in her eyes. She was shaken. Whatever I was feeling, she felt it as well. "Please, Astra." I slowly turned back, and her daughters slowly took a step toward their mother. "Girls, go to your rooms. Astra and I...we need to talk." The two hesitated before they left us in the library. Carmilla stepped toward me. "Remember the angel's head that Velvet brought to the last overlord meeting?" I nodded. "That was from me. I killed that angel. I used the steel in my slippers and sliced the head off because they almost attacked my daughters. And I...do not want to cause any more war and bloodshed, especially after learning there were years of war that you had to endure. Please, I don't care if you dealt with it all before. I don't want the chance to lose you like I almost lost my daughters." Tears slowly fell down her cheeks. "Please, Astra. Something feels wrong. I'm - I'm scared! I want us to go somewhere and not have to worry about a damn bit of it. Please, my love. Please."