"Maybe home is nothing but two arms holding you tight when you are at your worst." - Yara Bashraheel

Your new roommate is obnoxious. She talks too much and she invites her wet dog of a TA that leaves her smell all over to your room. It makes you gag and light as many candles as you can without burning down the dorm. Even vampires hate fire, no matter your pyrokinesis.

Laura Hollis, little Lauronica Mars, makes you sick sometimes. She eats too many cookies and drinks more grape soda than is healthy for one her size. She also has more interrupting friends than you'd like to know.

There's obviously Danny Lawrence, a Summer Sister sorority and Laura's current girl crush. You don't think you've ever seen the girl so interested in something. They had met through her English Literature class. You like to refer to her as the Jolly Ginger Giant because she's tall and annoying and ginger.

The annoying part is also true for Brody Kirsch, a puppy dog who follows Laura everywhere. His excuse is that "all hotties must be protected" as is the way of his Zeta Omega Mu fraternity. Kirsch isn't around much. Most of the times, he shows up only for Danny to kick him out.

The last two who show up the most are Lola Perry, the floor don, and LaFontaine, the non-binary bio major. The Ginger Squad, as you've anointed them, are almost always around. Mostly because Perry is constantly worrying over Laura like a mother hen and LaF trails behind like a trusty hound.

But you could have been assigned to a more annoying roommate, so you suffer with her. Your mother's ordered you to watch Laura because she's been making video-blogs about the missing girls. She's also found out that you keep blood in the soy milk container in the fridge—'It was just a practical joke, cutie.' You call her anything but her name to distance yourself from her. It doesn't work.

But then Laura starts having the dreams… and maybe you start to care. You grab her a bat-wing charm from the school store, which will keep the nightmares, and the vampires, at bay. You return to the room as quickly as possible because even holding the thing makes you want to throw up. You try not to notice her starry eyes, her kind yet hesitant smile, and how soft her skin is to touch. You fiddle with the strings before pulling away and making a comment about how she's not the worst roommate a girl could have.

Laura asks you to go to a Zeta Omega Mu bonfire, which makes you think maybe she's getting your flirtatious hints, but you decide to change the plan at the last minute. You wear your best corset and leather pants but, when you walk into the room with glasses and champagne, she outshines you. She's wearing a cream colored dress with a little bit of lace. It's hanging off of one shoulder and her long pale neck is exposed. It makes your fangs ache but you reel in the thought of biting her and make a comment about her outfit instead. You say she looks like a virgin sacrifice, which makes her flush and you can smell her blood all the way from the door.

You can't stop looking at how beautiful she is. She makes a comment about how you look, but you just shrug. Her question of where you got the 'ludicrously expensive' champagne goes unanswered.

She pulls out her crappy flip phone and, when you ask, she tells you she's asking her friends if they want to join. So you throw her phone over your shoulder and pull her toward you. Her heart rate speeds up and you can smell both lust and fear under her perfume. You can't help but be drawn in, touching her soft dirty blond hair, her smooth shoulder. The pinpricks of your fangs sting your gums, but you contain yourself as you pull her in. Her breath wobbles on her lips and you smile. Her eyes lock with yours and you bite your lip, waiting for her to make the first move.

But then Danny is screaming at you and everything goes dark as chaos erupts. You panic, seeing the coffin of blood, but then pain sears your neck and shoulders and you blink. They're surrounding you, eyes bright with triumph, but only for a moment. Because, tonight, you aren't the one taking girls.

You had learned that the scream you'd imagined before they knocked you out was Sarah Jane, Kirsch's girlfriend. She had died falling out a window. You know Maman will need a replacement girl and your heart thuds as she thinks of someone they could take.

Laura keeps you tied to a chair, with garlic cloves hanging around your neck, for nine days. Over the course of your undead life, you've learned that nine days is your limit. After that, the seizures start. Your oblivious roommate notices just as your vision beings to fade. Maybe she cares more than she did before, because she feeds you… twice. Once would have been enough to last you a few more days, but Laura doesn't know that.

So after she begs, you tell her your life story. But she stops you when she finds out you were murdered. 'This is flashback material.'

Socks puppets… your stupid roommate decides to play out your life story with sock puppets.

You tell her about your Maman, about Ell, about the coffin of blood. She stops after the coffin, her wide eyes looking sadly up at you. Your heart clenches when she reaches up to put a hand on your knee. It's strange… she's sitting between your legs but it isn't sexual. It's Laura.

Later that night, after your roommate has refilled the cup duct taped to your chest and put on yet another inaccurate vampire show, the door creaks. You yell at the computer, hoping to seem distracted, while all of your senses are focused on what's going on behind you and Laura's breathing. Laura's usually a pretty heavy sleeper, but you're surprised she hasn't woken up yet.

It turns out that Will is there to free you. He cuts through the ropes and you rip off the cloves from your neck. Unfortunately, Laura wakes up and yells at you until she realizes that you aren't tied up anymore, or the only vampire in the room. She punches your "brother" in the throat and you can't help the smile that spreads across your face… until he drags her out of the bathroom and threatens to bite her just to spite you. Laura's eyes are wide, pleading without words to save her. Your heart trips over itself and it creates a hole in your chest that you don't know how to fill.

Will's fangs are out and his mouth is so close to the throbbing artery in your roommate's neck. That's what gets you to move, to lung forward and punch him in the face. Laura gasps and, instead of running out of the room like a smart girl, she jumps onto your bed and cowers behind you. Stupid human!

Will runs from the room, intending to tell Maman that you're protecting her next victim. And in your weakened state, you won't be able to catch him in time. So you turn to Laura, who is already babbling nervously, and launch yourself at her.

Her blood tastes of laughter and sunshine and way too much sugar. The blonde squirms under you for a moment, but you only take what you need. For, although her blood sings to you as it slides across your tongue, you don't want to kill her. You race out of the room after your "brother" instead of staying to face Laura's wrath.

You come back to the room after fighting with Will. Damn him! As soon as you enter, Laura is on you. You tune her out as you grab your rucksack. Piling your clothes, books, and even a few of Laura's shirts into your bag, the pain inside you is almost unbearable.

Laura, however, insists that you stay. So that your Maman thinks that Will is lying. You didn't want to leave her to your mother, so you stay. Because maybe you've started to care, even though you know you shouldn't.

You come back from after a feed a few days later to find LaFontaine and Laura watching some cheesy sci-fi movie. Well, the ginger is trying to keep their eyes open. Laura, on the other hand, is squirming and against the bio major's shoulder. The bat-wing charm is swinging from her wrist, but that doesn't seem to be helping with the nightmare. You shake her shoulders, shouting her name to try and wake her. She comes to with a start, hazy eyes slowly focusing on you. They widen and she sits up.

Laura tells you and LaF about the dreams. About the girl drowning in blood, not swimming toward the surface. You've heard other accounts of the same girl coming in dreams with a warning to 'not go into the light' and 'the light is hungry.' It shakes you to the core; ever since you came back into the game your mother plays. You know because every description of the girl is that she has a distinct mole on her cheek, just like Ell did. When Laura realizes this, she sits at her desk beside you and puts a hand on your knee. You look up to lock eyes with her and your dead heart swells to bursting.

LaFontaine breaks Laura's hold on you by coming over and announcing that a trip to the library is necessary, which a stupid idea because the library is dangerous after the sun sets. However, they are adamant about going to find information on whatever is affecting the girls. Laura agrees and stupidly, grabs a pan and one of her cans of day-of-the-week bear spray. You'd learned that her father is very overprotective and sends a bag of the bear spray once a week. As if that will protect her. So you stop playing with the knife in your hand and follow her because, maybe, you're starting to care a hell of a lot more than you should.

You really hate the library. That thought runs through your mind as you punch the glass holding an ax… 'For Emergencies Only,' the box says. Well, this is definitely an emergency because there's the smell of blood in the air.

Laura screams as a book on WWII aviation dive bombs her, trying to bat it away with her frying pan. LaFontaine is trapped in the literature section, words as sharp as knives flying out from the manuscripts of Hemingway to cut into their skin. You find yourself cutting your way through the horticulture section with the ax as vines grow out of the books and wrap around the shelves.

At least these books will never see the light of day; enchanted books usually like the dark of the subbasement better than the sunlit library.

You make it through the slowly growing vines, dodge the expanding pool of dark matter, and pluck LaF from the clutches of the monster from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

"You get what you came here for?" you ask as you dump them near the door back upstairs. They give you a dazed nod, holding up a huge Sumerian book and a tiny stick you've come to understand is a USB. Apparently, there's a spirit trapped in there.

Laura's scream echoes though the dimly lit room and rattles in your ears. You race off to find her clinging to a shelf, trying not to get sucked into a black hole in the astronomy section. You grit your teeth and grab her, using almost all of your strength to pull her from the Event Horizon. She's at the edge of the black hole that, if you cross, you'll never come back. She collapses into your arms once you both are safe, fists twisted into your shirt, breath hot against your neck.

"Come on." You pull her up, supporting her as she wobbles. LaFontaine smirks at the two of you and Laura squeaks but continues to lean on you for assistance as you follow them up from the subbasement to the library.

As soon as you get back from the library of doom, LaFontaine plugs in the USB and Laura quickly hands you a glass of blood. Your stock from the fridge is getting low, so you know that a visit to the local blood bank will be necessary soon.

You blink. She's accepted you as a supernatural monster, giving you blood even though it might disgust her. She's looking at you with so much tenderness that it shakes your very foundation. You don't even notice LaF is gone until Laura grabs the empty glass from your hands.

She sits next to you, putting her hand on yours, a small smirk on her face.

"You know, if you want me to stop having heroic notions about you; you should probably stop saving my life." Laura's smile is way too big for one so small. She has way too much energy after almost getting sucked into a black hole.

You grin at her, watching as her eyes twinkle. "Then who would buy the cupcakes?"

Her laughter echoes in your heart long after it ends.

Perry rushes in a few days later, raging at you for LaFontaine's disappearance. Laura, who has been laughing, is silent. Her eyes, once alight with fire, are now a dull hazel full of sadness. The floor don worries and cries herself to sleep, curled up on Laura's bed against the sacred yellow pillow.

Your roommate begins to babble, eyes glazed with tears, about how this is all her fault. "I did this. They took LaF because they couldn't take me." She puts her head in her hands, ignoring your calls of her name.

You touch her shoulder softly getting her attention. "Cupcake, you are ridiculous and headstrong and naïve and this whole Lois Lane Junior gig is doomed, okay?"you respond, taking her hands in yours."But unless you're going around kidnapping girls for some ancient unspeakable evil, nothing that's happening right now is your fault." She looks up at you and sniffles before she shakes her head and looks back down at her lap. She continues on, talking about her wish to be normal. Her eyes meet yours when she talks about dances and 'how the person you like's gonna be there.'

You try to take her mind off of everything that's been going on. You hold out your hand, telling her of the balls and dances of your human life. Her hand is soft in yours and you press your other palm to the warm skin between her shirt and pants.

"Face to face," you rasp, "chest to chest." You pull her in so that she is pressed against your front. "All that, um, whirling." You spin her away and back into you. "In 1698, it may as well have been sex." Laura flushes as she twines her fingers in yours; you hold onto her as if she is a lifeline.

Her yawn stretches across her face, eyes glassy with exhaustion, so you pull away and gesture toward your bed. "Why don't you take mine? I'll curl up on the floor."

"No! I couldn't make you…" She tries to protest, but she is more important to you than comfort.

So you shrug. "Vampiric constitution trumps lower back pain." Her eyes are wide and you can feel them on you as you enter the bathroom.

The squeaking of springs make you stop your nighttime ritual as Laura collapses onto your bed. You hear her breathe of a sigh and your dead heart flutters at her words.

"Worst. Crush. Ever."

Perry wakes you with a kick to your shin and the offer of brownies. You glare at Laura—this intrusion into your domain is all her fault—but she just shrugs and holds out the big Sumerian book to you. She's ready to search for the thing that your Maman is giving girls to. You send her a soft smile as you sip your AB negative. Obviously, the floor don is a nervous cleaner. She zooms around the room, scrubbing each surface at least three times before moving on to the next one.

You're almost ready to throw in the towel a few hours later when Ginger Two leans over to grab something, accidentally spilling your drink on the book. Words seem to write themselves on the pages where the blood drips. "Is that new stuff appearing on the book because you spilt blood on it? Right, of course it is." Laura tries to hide her fear behind laughter, but you can see right through her.

"It's an entry from something called Lophiiformes. The light that devours." You blink in surprise. "An ancient evil that demands… five, shocker, virgins every twenty years."This is why your mother had you seduce and capture five girls every twenty years. What Ell was sacrificed to. It makes you so mad you clutch the book until your knuckles turn white. A soft hand clasps over your, hazel eyes shining with reassurance. You let go of the book and squeeze her hand. Maybe Ell is gone, but Laura's here.

Laura is warmth and light and life. She's slowly seeping into your skin and spreading sunshine through your veins. She is latching onto your heart and pumping life back into your body.

Eventually, LaFontaine reappears, but it seems that all they can talk about is a party, which seems very out of character for them. Perry leads them from the room with the promise of a place to dance, so you find yourself alone with Laura. She's sitting at the computer, making yet another vlog while J.P., the entity trapped in the USB, searches for ways to get rid of the Hungry Light. You go through the Sumerian book over and over, but nothing shows up. Not even when you smear more blood on each page.

"The Blade of Hastur." Laura's voice breaks through your concentration. "Made from the," her nose scrunches up, "burnt bones of Star Spawn and meant to shatter all that oppose it." Her eyes sparkle with excitement. "Yeah, that's… um, never mind." You put the book down and lean over her shoulder as she explains, "It may or may not be sealed into the face of a cliff in an underwater cavern, like, a thousand feet below seawater. It's impossible." You shrug and offer to go fetch it and, when Laura protests, you reassure her that pressure depth and nitrogen narcosis aren't really issues for a vampire. "I know you're not doing it for me, but—" she starts to say, fiddling with something around her neck.

You stand over her, a soft smile curling your lips. Her hazel eyes are wide, a twinkle in them that makes your belly swoop. "Of course I'm doing it for you…" You trail off when you notice the silver necklace hanging around her throat. She begins to convulse when you try to pull it off, eyes going wide before they roll back in her head.

She stands up with the grace of a cat. You'd know that hard look in her eyes, but they aren't hers. There is no trace of Laura. "Hello, my glittering girl." Even her voice is hard.

"Hello, Maman," you snarl in response.

You don't tell Laura about the possession when you finally get her back. You don't tell her that, to save her, you sacrificed Kirsch to your Maman's ritual. Not exactly a virgin sacrifice, but you're guessing the ritual isn't that specific. There is nothing you can do to save him, but you will give anything up for Laura.

She sits at her computer, explaining to the viewers about the recent discovery of the sword. Perry is angrily sharpening yet another stake next to you while LaFontaine squirms on Laura's bed. They haven't stopped talking about a party and struggling against Laura's surprisingly strong knots. Your roommate is babbling on, talking about recruiting both the Summer Society and the Zeta Omega Mu fraternity, which will never work because the two hate each other. You don't follow her tornado of words, but suddenly she's jumping up, acting like the sugar-filled idiot she is. Even Perry is startled.

She comes close to you, eyes sparking with excitement and determination, and presses her warm lips to your cold skin. It makes your heart beat at a slightly faster pace. She dances out of the room and you know she's heading toward some kind of danger.

"Don't you have a sword to go get?" Perry asks, looking up from her wood carving. You glare at her but leave the room anyway. You'd promised your Maman that you would leave the ritual alone if Laura was spared. But the lies feel like acid on your tongue and there's definitely a stake going through your heart at the idea of lying to Laura.

You return empty handed, armed to the teeth with lies. You're thirsty and hungry and yearning for a 48 hour nap when you find yourself face to face with a crudely made stake. Perry is shaking at the other end, but her grip is strong. "Not one more step, bloodsucker."

You look over to where Laura is sitting at her computer, as usual, but her face is tight and hurt. "What the frilly hell is this?" You try to take one step toward her, to comfort or to explain, but the stake pressing into your stomach stops you.

"I won't let you hurt her!" Perry, always the mother of Laura's little group, is acting like an over protective mama bear.

Laura says nothing. There's the sound of a few keys being pressed and you watch as a possessed Laura makes you choose between Kirsch and herself. She skips to the part where you give the puppy dog up for her. You want to explain yourself, to plead with Laura to forgive you— the frat boy isn't as important as she is. But she won't let you talk, yelling and screaming with tears in her eyes. "Go away, Carmilla. Go run and hide." Her voice cracks and so does your already bruised heart. Maybe you shouldn't have been dishonest. Your whole life seems to be filled with poor decisions, with lies. "We're done."

She breaks you with her words. Just like Ell. Just like Maman. You storm out of the room before she can see your tears.

You come back to find Laura, Perry, and LaFontaine gone, along with your knapsack filled with stakes. The blinking camera light beckons you closer. You click play and watch, heart being squeezed by invisible hands, as she decides to follow LaFontaine as they stumble off toward the ritual. "And Carmilla… you know!" Her hazel eyes are full of apologies and fear and some emotion you don't want to see.

Before you can beat yourself up over the idea of Laura getting eaten, the Amazonian ginger storms in and demands to know where Laura is. "I got a text that says, 'trapped under the Lustig. Bring stakes.'" You cringe, thinking of the Lustig building, a dilapidated old building buried under the new Theater studio for the drama nerds.

You tell Danny to round up her Summer Society sisters and, hell, even the Zeta bros, before you head off. Retrieving the soul sucking sword is the only way to save Laura. You know that you probably won't be returning to this room but, after all this time, Laura has grown on you so much that you would sacrifice anything for her. Even your immortal life.

Because without her, you are once again homeless. She has become your safety.

After diving into the ocean and finding the sword, you teleport back to campus. You can hear fighting going on before you reach the Lustig building. The basement is filled with shouting and screaming and speeding heartbeats. Tucking the sword into your belt, you charge forward.

You watch as Perry stakes Will, who had been charging at LaFontaine. Danny and Kirsch are fighting back to back, armed with a sword and trident respectively, curtesy of the fraternity and sorority. One of the puppy's arms is limp and pulled close to his body. And inside the pit is what seems to be a huge ball of light, a miniature sun that doesn't give off heat. This must be Lophiiformes, your Maman's pet.

However, when you zero in on Laura, your heart speeds up as much as it can. She's walking through the carnage, like a zombie, bare feet shuffling along toward the edge. You race forward and, just as she is about to go over, you dig your teeth into the back of her shirt and pull her back. She blinks fearfully at you before, in a puff of smoke, your true face appears. The sword is glowing at your side and she looks at you with shock written on her face.

"Carm, you can't!" Tears spring to her eyes. There's a cut on her cheek that leaves a trail of blood down her skin but she still looks so beautiful, so full of life and light even brighter than the demon in the room. You call Danny over and tell her to take Laura and keep her safe. The smaller girl screams and cries and lashes out, but the Jolly Ginger Giant is stronger than her.

As her screams echo through the cave, your mother rushes at you in a cloud of bats that claw and slash at you. You fight back, sword singing through the air. Eventually, Maman reforms, blood dripping from small cuts scattered across her skin.

While Maman is licking her wounds, getting ready for another attack, you feel soft arms wrap around you. Amidst the bloodshed, you smell sugar and vanilla and something completely Laura that stops you in your tracks. "I can't let you do this," she whispers into your spine. Her voice is shaking and cracking as her nails dig into your skin, anchoring you to the reality that, if you don't come back from this, she will miss you. There will actually be someone mourning your pitiful life.

"Laura, let go," Danny says in an authoritative tone. You gently squeeze the blonde's wrists, just enough on her pressure points where she has to let go. You're going to do this, whether she likes it or not.

You turn to her as you start walking toward the chasm. There's a cut on her cheek and her eyes are wet with tears. Shooting her your winning smile, you drawl, "Y'know, I really am starting to hate this heroic vampire crap." And before Laura can grab at you again, her hands clutching air instead of skin, you charge toward the giant light. In the split second before you jump in the pit with the soul sucking sword, you see Ell reaching out for you. Her ethereal eyes shine with a mixture of fear and guilt and you wonder if you're actually seeing her or just an echo.

"Carm!" Laura's scream follows you all the way down, the sword glowing as it cuts through the Lophiiformes like paper. Everything becomes dark and the last thing you think about is that you love Laura.

And she will never know.