JPG typed away into her new, high-tech, special-model, handmade laptop. She was busy trying to find someone, anyone, who might be able to help her find her missing roommate. The other girl, AJ, had been gone for a week straight and hadn't even left so much as one little note, text or call. JPG was starting to get genuinely worried for her safety and the lack of help coming from anyone else within the university was equally unsettling. Busy trying to take matters into her own hands, JPG failed to hear her dorm door open. At least until the one who opened it spoke.
"Hey," the voice was casual, low, quiet, unbothered and vaguely amused. JPG whipped around at once in surprise.
"Umm, excuse me, but, who the hell are you?" the young inventor demanded, but she sounded more confused than angry. The girl who had just burst in looked a few years older than JPG, but clearly she was still a university student because she wore the school's badge on her black dress.
"Alison," the new girl replied as she sauntered right into JPG's dorm as though it were her own. "I'm your new roommate, sweetheart."
For a moment, there was only silence, JPG unable to process what the heck was going on, let alone respond to it. Alison, meanwhile, gave the young inventor another amused smirk before plunking down on AJ's bed like she owned the place.
"That's not your bed," JPG said stupidly, unable to think of anything more intelligent to say than that.
"It is now," Alison replied with a shrug as she spread herself across AJ's sheets, already looking quite at home and ready for a midday nap.
"But what about my old roommate?" JPG asked, still unable to sound like anything other than an uncertain child. She wanted to try and exert some control over her own territory and kick this intruder out, but mouth and mind were both failing her and all she could do was fumble and sputter.
"What do I care about her?" Alison scoffed, pulling a book out of the suitcase she'd brought into the dorm with her. "All I know is that, according to the dean, I live here now. So that's that," Alison shrugged as she opened her book and began to read.
"Look, I'm not going to try and start anything," JPG began shyly, still unsure of how to speak with this strange new "roommate" of hers.
"Good. Then don't," Alison replied, not missing a beat as she paged through her book.
"But you really need to get out. Now," JPG continued over Alison's interruption.
"Why? What's the matter sweetheart? Can't handle a little change of plan?" Alison still didn't look away from her book as she teased JPG.
"No," JPG said slowly, but she finally grew cross enough to think of something mildly intelligent to say. "And first off, I'm not your sweetheart," she said. "Second off, I can't handle knowing that this stupid school is trying to cover up a missing persons case just because it's too afraid to fess up to the fact that it isn't as good as it seems. I can't handle knowing my roommate could be seriously hurt, or in danger, or even dead! And no one is going to do anything about it because no one in this whole bloody school wants to! They're all a bunch of cowards!"
Once again, only silence reigned as JPG's frustration seemed to radiate off her body in waves. This time, though, it was Alison who responded, finally lowering her book. Her eyes were serious, but her voice was almost comforting.
"Listen up, Sparkplug," she began. "While I don't disagree with you that this college is as crappy as it gets, I do disagree that you're going to help anyone or anything by merely shouting about it."
"I know shouting doesn't help-" JPG began, annoyed, but Alison cut her off.
"No, no, that's not what I meant," she said and JPG was surprised enough by this to not be annoyed by Alison interrupting her. "I mean that if I were you, I wouldn't go around screaming about how this school sucks, even if it's true. The dean isn't exactly the most forgiving of those who besmirch her or her school's precious names," Alison's lip curled in disgust and, for a split second, JPG thought she saw an unusually pointy tooth. But even more than that, JPG was surprised by the deep hatred she could hear within Alison's voice. It was strained, obviously held down by immense self-control, but it became clear to JPG that Alison might know more than she was letting on...
"Ok," JPG allowed. "So I won't besmirch her or her school. But is trying to find a missing person really so criminal?"
"No," Alison allowed. "But it is foolish to seek out that which the school, or the dean, is actively trying to hide."
"But it isn't a criminal offense?" JPG repeated and, for the first time in quite awhile, Alison smiled.
"No, I suppose not," she said, and for once, she was genuine, and not teasing or sarcastic.
"Then how does one find a missing person when the case is being covered up by the school?" JPG asked. "And how does one remind the dean that the mere act of trying to find said roommate is not inherently rebellious or wrong?"
"I don't know," Alison replied. "But how about we find out?" and then she rose off the bed to join JPG at her computer.
Without even asking permission, the new girl grabbed JPG's laptop away from JPG's desk and began to type furiously.
"Hold up! What are you doing!" JPG demanded in alarm as a forest of windows suddenly appeared on her screen.
"Pulling up the campus map, roster and tracker, along with lists of students, staff and schedules so that I know when and where I can look without being caught," Alison replied, still typing away like a fiend.
"Ooookay? And why?" JPG asked, befuddled and astounded.
"To find your roommate. Tracking her is our best bet," Alison replied, pulling up a map with red dots that were moving all around campus.
"The school tracks us?" JPG sounded horrified. Alison nodded grimly.
"My father is one of the dean's favorite workers. He has access to most of these sites. I stole his password list and now I can spy on the student body too. If we want to find your girl, this is where we start..." then Alison pointed to an icon at the top of the window, a magnifying glass.
"What's your roommate's name?" and JPG could only stutter a reply. While Alison typed it in, scrolling through some of the other many windows she had open, JPG could only gawk. The campus map with all the red dots, the students, was freaking her out.
"I've been using my father's account to mess with him and some of my more annoying classmates," Alison said as she scrolled through the map. "Now, though, it's time I use it to do what I've always wanted to: to find out what some of our sneakier staff gets up to when classes are done. Thanks to you, I can use a computer that I know my father won't try to monitor or hack. He won't be able to trace this computer because I see you have an onion router in place. Good thing! Now, I can spy on whoever I want, whenever I want, and all without father ever finding out!" Alison seemed eerily proud and excited by this. "Now, let's see if we can't find your roommate, and what the dean is up to..." and JPG could only stare. Was college supposed to be this weird? Or was it just this new roommate? Either way, JPG knew that this was going to be one odd year...
AN: Randomly got inspired to write a short EtN-Carmilla crossover fic. It's based off the first 2 episodes of the Carmilla webseries, only using Alison and JPG instead of Carmilla and Laura. But it's slightly AU-ish (aside from the character swap) because in the Carmilla series, Carmilla doesn't warm up to Laura this quickly. However, as both Carmilla and EtN deal with lesbian vampires and their blond human GFs, I had to do this crossover fic, no matter how random and weird it is.