Carmilla's Feast

Sabrina was escorted by limo down a beautiful scenic road towards what assured her to be the most beautiful wedding she had ever attended. An acquaintance from high school was getting married, and despite reconnecting online with this friend over three years ago, she had not seen Truly since graduation. Sabrina cringed at the thought of it. Being the top of her class, socially speaking, she had the “privilege” of hosting senior prank ten years ago. She hated the thought of it but knowing she was about to see Truly made it impossible to forget. Running late to the ceremony, Truly became the pranked rather than the prankster. Sabrina was filled with remorse and was so happy to have an outlet after all these years to finally say what she learned a long time ago. She was wrong, entitled, snobby and borderline idiotic with what she believed she could get away with in high school. This apology prompted a terrific online friendship. Truly was intelligent, artistic, and even though she didn’t come from much, she was incredibly kind. Shuddering at the thought of it, Sabrina attempted to brush it off as she gazed outside the tinted limousine windows in awe of the array of diversity between the trees that made up the canopy over the road.

Sabrina was surprised that Truly was able to forgive her many years before she could forgive herself, which even now she still struggles to accept. The canopy of trees parted ways as they exposed an immense open landscape. There she saw a Victorian styled mansion that was sitting pretty on the side of the ocean as she prepared to exit the limousine. As the door opened, Sabrina was welcomed to what felt to her like a whole new world.

She stepped outside onto the cobbled road that led her towards the patio of the house. As the day was nearing sunset, Sabrina couldn’t help but absorb the magnitude of extravagance that every tree, and flower had around them. “What majestic views!” Sabrina thought to herself as she made her way around the mansion. she eventually made her way into garden where the ceremony was accommodated. It was a rather small wedding given the size of the space, but that made her feel welcomed; It made her feel as if Truly truly wanted her to be there. “Punny" she thought to herself as she giggled at her own play on words. Her eyes were drawn to a beautiful golden statue of a woman holding a sword in one hand, and a flower in the other. Sabrina admired every detail of this beautiful oeuvre. The name of the statue read Carmilla, deliverer of balance. May you lay in peace.

“What a beautiful tribute to such a divine woman" Sabrina thought to herself. She was then approached by a large man. He was a very heavy-set man. His big beer belly kept space between the two strangers as he hugged her while introducing himself. “Well, hello there dear! you must be Sabrina, right? Truly told me all about you and her other invitees… So happy you could make it to our humble home! I’m Truly's father, Stephan. Welcome, my dear” he said in a strong southern accent. “Thank you so much! I’m honored that Truly chose me for such a small wedding list!” Stephan raised an eyebrow. Sabrina questioning her wording, immediately rephrased herself. “What I meant to say was that I love intimate weddings…” She was nervous, and the fact that she wasn’t allowed to invite any plus ones, left her really on edge.

“Only those who truly love you are here to share with you the love you will have for the rest of your life”. These truly word plays weren’t going to end in her head all night long she thought. “Well now, I wouldn’t say that!” Stephan interrupted her. “We have more guests arriving after the ceremony. We are all in for a very fun filled, cleansing night!” Stephan said with a mischievous grin. The look on Sabrina’s face changed from awkward but welcoming to jumbled. Stephan was called over by another guest, “Well, I'll let you get settled in now. You go run along now, have a pig of a time! You deserve it!” He said with such a sincere smile, but his pig comment made her stomach turn. “Pig of a time and a cleansing night...?" she thought to herself. Forgetting his perplexing comments, she focused on the wedding. Taking a stroll around, she was hoping she could recognize anyone she knew from school. To her complete shock, she did! The violin, cello and bass players were all classmates of hers. They weren’t the nicest of the class, but it made her feel better to know that she wasn’t the only changed soul. At least, she hoped they changed.

“Please find your seats and rise for the bride!” The wedding began promptly, and Stephan was officiating the wedding. There was Truly in an elegant ball gown walking down the aisle. She carried a bouquet of wildflowers, with a golden sword like Carmilla's in a jeweled golden sheath. Sabrina, remembering Stephan’s comment was wondering, “Why would guests be showing up after missing the main purpose of the day?!” Sabrina thought, but she felt so much peace and so blessed to be present. Seeing Truly stand next to her husband Jacob and hearing their sincere and personalized vows made Sabrina forget all the anxiety she had while arriving. The ceremony lasted mere moments, as Truly's father declared them husband and wife. Rather than kiss, they touched foreheads and smiled before returning to position.

The wedding changed. What was once a wonderland of beauty was now succumbed with an overcast. The flowers and trees started losing their saturation as a war-like cry was shouted “For Carmilla!” Truly yelled. Two thirds of the crowd echoed after her as they were aware of what was coming. Truly unsheathed her sword and with one move, removed the cello players head from her body as blood slowly, just like a fountain, covered the instrument. The crowd started fighting with only a few running away; what was once a green landscape was covered in red…

Sabrina stood there in shock; she couldn’t move. Truly, wiping the blood from her chin, gave a demonic smile that was pointed directly towards her. Twirling the sword around her body, Stephan grabbed Sabrina as she tried to run away, and told her “It’s your turn to be the pig at this grand celebration! FOR CARMILLA!”

“FOR CARMILLA!” the remaining guests hollered back. Stephan dragged Sabrina as she was kicking and screaming, but he wasn’t fazed. Truly followed them, looking happier than ever. “Why are you doing this?! Why is everyone killing each other?!” yelled Sabrina as more people arrived just to join in on the massacre.

“Let us pause for a moment and enjoy this view! I know just how much you love the landscape around here right, Sabrina?!” Stephan held her in place to bask in the glorious bloodshed he had just instigated. Sabrina’s eyes locked onto Jacob who was a mere ten feet from her as he had one of his groomsmen in a head lock. Pulling him back by the hair, he slit his throat vertically from chin to chest. “FOR CARMILLA!” He yelled as he licked the blood off his knife as he let the lifeless body hit the ground. He looked at Sabrina with devilish eyes, laughed hysterically, and moved on to his next victim. With some long strides he headed towards an older woman in a lavender silk dress. Stephan looked on in reverence as Jacob made his way. He longed to see this confrontation between the two as if he was waiting for it all his life, and he had an itching to see her dead.

“Hello mother, I told you we would have our time.” Jacob said. His mother looked back at her newly married son without fear and replied, “I believe I vaguely remember” she said with an assertive tone. She had complete confidence, but it was this confidence that confused him. She came prepared, and without a moment’s hesitation, another groomsman jumped from the top of the pavilion as two daggers were stabbed into Jacobs back and shoulder. Struggling to speak, Jacob looked at his younger brothers face and whispered, “Brother… after all she’s done to us… why…?”

“And to think that you were my favorite child...” Their mother laughed as Jacob’s pulse began to weaken, and after a few minutes of blood loss he drew his final breath. Standing up from her station she walked towards his brother, and gracefully caressed his cheek. In response his brother held her hand with admiration. “And now you’re my favorite…" she said with a smile on her face as she pulled a sword out of what looked like an umbrella, and cut his head clean off his shoulders. “Idiot” and with a maniacal laugh she strutted away. After seeing such a scene Sabrina couldn’t stop herself from screaming.

Stephan took a deep breath to calm himself and after such a disappointing turn of events he said “Well… That should be enough sightseeing for you. Let’s go cleanse that demonic little soul of yours.” Sabrina continued screaming foolishly, as if someone in these devil games would try to save her. In a last-ditch effort, she bit Stephan’s finger clean off with sheer adrenaline.

“Agh!” he screamed as he dropped her. Fainting from the sight of his own amputation, Sabrina took this opportunity to make a run for it. However, Truly was fast and caught up to her in moments. Grabbing Sabrina from her hair, she attempted to slash her body with her sword. The space between the two was enough for her to cut deep into Sabrina’s side, but it wasn’t enough to be fatal. Because of Truly’s loss of balance, she landed a sloppy hit. Sabrina tumbling over was already losing a lot of blood giving Truly time to grab her. As Sabrina was being escorted into the mansion, she was laid down on the kitchen floor next to pile of corpses. Sabrina looked around hoping some of the people she knew were able to escape, but to her sadness they weren’t. The bass and violin players were dangling off the spiral staircase. Their near lifeless bodies were tied upside down from their ankles as people took turns stabbing and slashing them mindlessly as if they were piñatas at a children’s party.

“Awe you like that eh? That’s your fate, Sabby” Truly used Sabrina’s high school nickname as she crouched beside her on the floor. Sabrina thought it sounded so posh back in the day, but now it’ll haunt her for the rest of her life, or at least would if she would make it out of this nightmare. Sabrina began sobbing with what little energy she had left.

“Why are you doing this?! I can’t… I… I’m so sorry!”

“You really thought I’d forget about what you did to me and my family? Covering us in pig’s blood as a twisted form of a senior’s prank?! I don’t think so. You left me devastated! What about those freshmen you victimized into doing all your dirty work? The questions they had no answers to because you threatened them into doing your grimy deeds without question or they would become the next ‘toot-toot Truly’?!” Sabrina sobbed in pain, but not from her stab wounds. She was a monster in high school. During graduation all guests were instructed to wear white to the ceremony. The school colours being white and red, she thought it’ll be hilarious to combine them for her senior prank during the final freshman initiation as she maintained “school spirit”. She told the freshmen it was just “paint”, and that they should not open these cans of paint until the graduating class had already passed. They were to drench the faculty that was waiting to open the ceremony in what the freshmen thought was paint. She knew no one would agree to pig’s blood. The blood wasn’t even her idea, but her boyfriends at the time who worked in a slaughterhouse and had access to such gore. He collected the blood, and despite Sabrina not being able to stomach such an idea, she caved in after her boyfriend insisted. Running late to the ceremony, Truly and her family became soaked in pig’s blood along with the rest of the faculty. She didn’t have it easy leading up to graduation either, because once she farted in the science labs and ‘Sabby' would never let it go. Truly couldn’t walk pass her without Sabrina shouting “Make way everybody! Here comes toot-toot Truly!”.

Sabrina couldn’t stop crying. She knew she had no way to escape this, and whatever this “cleanse" meant, she knew she would not be walking out of this alive. She remorsefully looked up at her old classmates, both clinging on for their dear lives. She had their full support in high school as they were trying to “fit in” with Sabrina’s crowd, and she was the reason they were hanging on the verge of death.

Jacob’s mother came in shortly after and walked over the piles of bodies to address the guests. She had enough. “You know the rules! Kill them and end their suffering! Carmilla shall cleanse you and bring balance! The deed is done! But torture would purify no one’s soul!” Mumbles and groans could be heard across the room as they ended the lives of the musicians. With a slice from their groin to chest cavity, they ripped open their bodies, pulled out their organs, and let them hang there for the remainder of the night. Sabrina trying to hold in her screams, led to a sob. All she could do was remind herself that her old acquaintances had to feel pain no more.

The woman walked around the kitchen while looking every attendee in the eyes and continued her speech. “I thought we had a purpose here! To attend to be chosen to live! To allow judgement to be cast onto the sinners who have no remorse for their evil actions! Carmilla does not accepts the souls of victims who have been tricked into participating in her sacrifices! Who are you to cleanse those souls who have not consented to the wishes of our savior?! This is no feast, it’s only murder! You shall all be killed for your sins, for your wretched way of thinking! To believe that YOU. ARE. CARMILLA?! You self-entitled idiots! Carmilla sacrificed her very children to save her country from their slaughter. Carmilla purified her family to prevent murder! And here you are to bring along high school grudges and past relationships for your own vengeance? There is no one pure in this manor! In MY home that my dear husband was brutally murdered for the deed!”

Stephan shakingly walked into the room. “You devil woman, you deserved to die with him. If I would’ve found you, I would’ve…” She cut him off to continue. “Would’ve what? Killed me too? That’s precisely why Carmilla spoke to me in my dreams the night before and told me to go hide and escape by the ocean. I have been purified and chosen by her year after year to survive the night. You on the other hand, tortured and murdered your own best friend just for him to sign over our manor… You have not been chosen by Carmilla. None of you have! So, with her permission, we end the sacrifice, right now.” Her smile grew until it could stretch no more. “Let the feast begin!” A man covered in black stood behind Stephan with a gun to his head as more of them flooded the room. Each pointed their gun to their designated target. Every single attendee except for Sabrina, had a gun to their head. This included Truly as well. The woman had her plan executed perfectly. No one protested, and as if accepting their fate, they all closed their eyes praying to be released from themselves. Stephan looked panicked as he began sweating and begging for the feast to never end. “Carmilla’s feast is a legacy we must follow. You have no authority to end it, we must honor her wishes to purify the evil among our families!” proclaimed Stephan.

“I am” she replied. That was her cue, as every gun was fired as all the victims’ bodies simultaneously hit the ground. Sabrina screamed. “Oh, shut up. What are you? A trembling pig?” The woman said to her in disgust.

“You’re allowing me to live?”

“Don’t make me regret it now, be gone from my sight.” Sabrina had still been stabbed, and with her loss of blood she could still die from her wounds. The road to get to the mansion was long, and she had no way to leave. “But I…” The woman cut her off “Carmilla shall decide if you survive the night. Now Leave! Float in the ocean as I did all those years ago.” She explained as she held a gun towards her. It took every ounce of strength Sabrina had to stand up as she walked towards the shoreline, and into the water. The salt water burned as it touched the inside of her flesh. She felt at peace, as she floated and allowed her body to be moved. The current pulled her away from the property and into the dark void of the night. She didn’t believe in God, but maybe, just maybe, if she believed in Carmilla as strongly as the woman in the lavender dress, she would be spared. “Carmilla, float me to safety, I have been cleansed.”