Chapter 1 Breathing

"Fuck it's hot!"

Carmilla smith sat wedged in the middle seat of a rented Ford Fiesta. Bags blocked what small air conditioning she could get.

"Language"

Her mother Alison Smith sat in the front with her father John, who was driving.

"If you're hot roll down the window"

Carmilla turned towards her older brother who was currently crushing the left side of her. He raised his eyebrows.

"What? the one on this side stuck"

She turned to her sister, who didn't even open her eyes.

"I'm actually quite cold so no."

Carmilla groaned. And covered her face with her hands.

"How much longer then?"

Her mother repeated the question to her father.

"We're almost at the closest town and then it's twenty-five minutes from there. You can and get out when we stop for fuel"

She sat back. Resigned to her fate.

"Don't you think we're all getting a bit too old to be going on holiday to the same summer camp every year?"

She turned to look at her twenty-three year old sister and twenty year old brother. Her parents scoffed.

"It's not a camp, it's a resort community and considering you're seventeen, no you don't have a choice and yes you're siblings do but they want to come"

She turned to her brother.

"Adam is this true?"

"Oh come on, you have fun and we all have friends there. Friends you don't get to see for the rest of the year, apart from now, in summer".

She turned to her sister.

"Louisa. Thoughts?"

It took a moment before she replied.

"I'm asleep"

With short laugh they settled back to silence and continued their drive deeper into the Michigan wilderness.

Finally they arrived at the small town to fuel up. Carmilla went to the loo and then returned. Not wanting to indulge in a freedom that she knew would soon be over. It was just her and Adam in the car. They sat in silence. Before Adam got bored.

"Come on you have to be a little bit excited about coming back?"

A moment of silence passed as she chewed on the thought.

"I just thought we could switch it up this time and... I dunno Paris, Rome, Venice ? Just someplace new and only three hours away from home by plane".

Adam laughed at her petty teen issues.

"So you hate the flying then?"

"And the long drive in the heat"

"Aww come on! that's part of the holiday experience, cramped spaces, unbearable heat and the fast food that makes it all worth it".

He kicked the Mc Donald's paper bag under the front seat for emphasis.

"Besides I think this year, everything could change for you"

She glared at him. Waiting for the backhand to the complement.

"What like a summer romance?"

He paused to look out the window His soft brown hair shining bronze in the sunlight. Trying to choose his next words carefully.

"Something like that, or maybe something a bit bigger. I can feel it, change is upon you".

Before she could ask him to elaborate, the rest of the family entered the car. Carmilla noticed how her sisters hair also shone bronze in the light. Both of their hazel eyes changed from brown to green as they adjusted from the shade of the station to the light streaming in through the car. As they started the twenty-five minute journey, an air of excitement was added to the atmosphere, and while they talked of old memory's Carmilla couldn't help but anxiously twirl her dirty blonde hair in her fingers. They approached the large gates that protected the walled community. Keeping everyone in and everyone out unless you were part of it. As the gates opened for them and they headed towards the house, Carmilla couldn't help but feel nervous about the change that was to come.