Carmilla

LA was expensive. You knew that before moving here, but the need to get out of your mother's house and away from her bullshit was greater than your fear of becoming homeless. There was also the fact that your now ex-fiancée, who your brother started calling She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, had used you for your access to your family's money. So, naturally, you moved to the other side of the country and ran away from your problems like usual. Only this time, you tagged along with your brother while he went to school at some overly priced Ivy League establishment for some over exaggerated Law degree that you could care less about.

You tried college. Five years of it, to be exact. You had a degree. Hell, you had two degrees, but Philosophy and Literature could only get you so far in today's job market and working for your mother's extremely successful law firm, like your sister, was the last thing you wanted to do. So, you quit the whole school thing. Your mother wasn't too happy about that little tidbit of information. In fact, the second you told her you were done, she told you to find another place to live and said you no longer had access to your birth father's inheritance and trust fund from the law firm. You were 21 with two college degrees and now, homeless, and your mother couldn't care less.

This all left you where you were now: just turned 22, on month seven in LA, and your savings had run out. You had sixteen dollars and 47 cents to your name and your month's rent was due at the end of the week. It was Wednesday and this was your second extension. Basically, you were completely screwed. And not in a good way.

Of course Will and Mattie didn't have a problem with lending you money, but you had a problem with taking it from them. You had hoped to find a job before you ran out of money, but obviously things didn't work out so well. You were fired from the last two jobs you worked. When you mentioned your predicament to Will last month, he immediately offered up his couch, in his off-campus apartment, to you free of charge. At the time you had refused, but desperate times called for desperate measures and you ended up calling him two hours ago to come pick you up after his class after your landlord refused another extension with a promise to kick you out if you couldn't come up with this month and last month's rent in two days. That was impossible for you, so you told him it had been a pleasure, gave him the change from your pocket, promptly flipped him off, and went upstairs to pack your things.

You were standing outside on the curb, in front of your former apartment building with a duffle bag full of your clothes hanging off your shoulder, a backpack with your laptop and journals in it on your back, your pillow tucked under your arm, and a small suitcase packed to the brim with your books and other personal items at your feet, when Will pulled up in his decked out jeep with the windows rolled down and some shitty rap song playing through the speakers. He turned down the music with a toothy grin when you raised an eyebrow at him through your aviator sunglasses and he greeted you with a 'Hey ,Kitty' as soon as you opened the passenger side door. He immediately unbuckled his seatbelt and wrapped his arms around your neck in a hug only a brother could give. You didn't last very long before you found yourself with your arms around his shoulders and your face buried in his neck. It had been way too long since the two of you had any brother sister bonding time.

Laura

The house was massive. Like, big enough to get lost in, massive. Three stories, scary black fence around the entire property, a garden in the backyard, circle driveway, it even had a chandelier light over the front porch. On the main floor there was the keeper's master bedroom, with a full bathroom, where Perry and Lafontaine stayed, a den that housed a beautiful white grand piano and a set of chairs that looked out over the front of the property. Also on the main floor was another bathroom, the living room, a laundry room just off the kitchen, which was complete with an island and breakfast table, and off the main hallway was the dining room, complete with a fully stocked bar. On the second floor was where the guests stayed. It had been modified and renovated, after Perry's mother inherited the old Victorian mansion, so that there were five bedrooms and four bathrooms. Two of the bedrooms were singles, leaving the remaining three bedrooms with two twin beds in each. One of the bedrooms had an extra bunk bed as well. On the third floor of the house, was the rec area. There was a fully stocked library with bookshelves covering every wall where previous guests had left books for future guests, there was a game room with a pool table and a large couch in front of a flat screen tv and several gaming systems, then there was a large sitting area separating the two. You also found out from Laf that there was a secret door in the pantry that lead to an attic above the rec area, but Perry deemed that absolutely off limits and told you not to tell any of the other guests.

Apparently, Perry's Great Grandfather left the property to his only granddaughter, Perry's mother, who turned it into a sort of hostel where students or travelers could stay for extended periods of time. Perry ended up taking over the business after graduating college, with a degree in business, making sure to give her mother a percentage of the earnings every month. You and Perry and Laf have been friends since your freshman year when Perr was your floor don in the dorms and Laf was her roommate.

When Perry told you she had an opening at the house, you jumped at the opportunity. The property was only a 35 minute walk, that could easily be made into a 15 minute bike ride, from the newspaper where you got a job and the rent wasn't outrageous either, even when you refused the "friends and family discount" that Laf proposed. Essentially, it was ideal. You even got your own bathroom for the time being and you didn't have to share a room with anyone.

Perry introduced you to all the residents at dinner the first night of your stay. There was Danny and Mel in one room, Natalie, Sarah Jane, and Betty in another, and JP paid the rent of two people because apparently he needed the space for what Laf called "his experiments". You didn't ask too many questions about that one, but took a mental note to stay far away from Room 5. You found out that Danny was Bi, Betty, Mel, SJ, and Natalie were straight, but were all allies to the LGBT community, and JP was asexual. They all seemed like great housemates and when you told them you were as gay as they come, they didn't even bat an eye.

To say you were excited was an understatement.