Chapter Three: Mystery

It's been three days since Laura got a new roommate and I'm still trying to figure out exactly what her roommate is. The only thing I know about her is that her name is Carmilla, and the only reason I know that is because of Laura's loud frustrated voice seeping through the wall that separates our rooms. Other than that, all I know is that apparently Carmilla steals Laura's food, wears Betty's clothes, sleeps all day, keeps guests well into the night, and refuses to clean anything.

I think me and Laura are kind of friends now. I don't know much about human friendships but I've read that there's usually an exchange of bracelets, or necklaces, or various other tokens of affection. I've notice that Laura doesn't wear much jewelry but she seems to be fond of sweets. Maybe I should ask mother to send another care package with extra sweets. I can only imagine Laura's reaction once she tastes my mother's special brownies. And no, not 'special' like those horrible things that I tried at a party my first week here. Whoever mixed those herbs had no idea what they were doing. I'm surprised that human's found so many uses from the gifts of the earth but is it too much to ask that they leave some things to the professionals. All those brownies did was make others act strange and they were disgusting. I have no idea why people were eating so much of them.

The 'specialness' in my mother's brownies is a little pinch of fairy dust. And no, not like Tinkerbell in that silly Peter Pan book. Fairy dust doesn't make people fly; it just gives things a bit of a kick. Think of the world's sweetest wines or the richest chocolate. Do you think the humans were able to achieve that by themselves? But let it be known that you do not mix any fairy dust with another. It might feel good but it could have drastic consequences. It's actually illegal because it's fairly similar to human's drug use. Using one at a time is okay, but mixing them together is intoxicating and the effects of the mixture will influence your actions which can lead to disastrous results.

You see, fairy dust varies depending on the fae it comes from. Earth dust makes you feel calm and grounded, Water makes you feel confident and free, Fire makes you feel strong and passionate, while Air…I found Air dust the most spectacular of all. I've never had it myself and it is extremely rare that Air Fairies even offer their dust.

My mother told me that each royal family has a small amount of each elemental fae's dust; they were given as a token of gratitude to whichever fae kingdom hosted the Centennial Conclave. Her mother let her try some of it. All she had was a single fleck of an Air Fairies dust. She told me that there are no words for what she experienced but never has she felt so good, so pure, so…light. She explained that she understood why her family rarely indulge in it, why the Air Fae rarely share it or even use it themselves, for it could easily be addicting. That's the reason why that out of all the Fae, Air Fairies will never share their dust with the world; they know that anyone who experienced the effect of the dust would seek more and they would not stop until they found it.

My mother told me a secret that day; secret that I was told to never share with anyone. She told me about how there was only one time that the leaders of the fae mixed their dusts together. When the fae were suffering and dying because of the Grounder's wars, the fairies looked to the royals for guidance. But every royal was at a lost, each of them were lacking what was needed to save their people. They held a meeting in secret to discuss ways to help their people. They came to the agreement that they would make a tonic. They would each fill a chalice with their dust, creating a power fueled tonic. Not only is does the tonic contain the dust of each element, but the dust also came from the most powerful fae alive. They agreed that the only time such an event will ever occur will be when our species as a whole is literally on the brink of extinction. They each drank from the chalice, temporarily infusing themselves with pure power.

The royals were able to calm down and clear their thoughts with power of the Earth dust, creative and confident with the power of Water, strong and inspiring with the power of Fire. The most important of all is that their intentions remained balanced and pure with the power of Air. They were able to organize a plan for their kingdoms. They worked with such fluidity as if they were all one. Without this tonic, our people would've died out.

I don't know why the royals keep the story a secret; I guess they don't want to show any kind of weakness to their people, or any other supernatural out there. I do know that the elves were surprised that we survived. Elves are even more reclusive than we are, but they are also a lot more powerful. When wars became more common and the humans began expanding, they were able to use their magic to travel to a separate plane of existence where they now call home. Elves were never really sociable or even really fond of others in the first place so I guess I can understand why they weren't eager to offer shelter in their new home. Some of them chose stay but only a very few. There are probably only a handful of elves in the world today and no one's ever going to find them unless they want you to.

Anyway, maybe Laura will be open to the idea of hacking if I tell her that I can have her roommate reassigned without the administration ever knowing about it.

I jolt in surprise when I hear screech of disgust coming from my neighbor's room. I jump up from my desk and head out into the hallway and towards Laura's room. I raise my hand to knock when suddenly the door opens.

Laura jumps back in surprise. "Trinity?!" She says, putting her hand to her chest hoping to calm her speeding heart.

I give a small bow. "Apologies for startling you, but I heard you scream from my room and just wanted to see if you were okay."

Laura eagerly nods. "Thank you for coming because I need a witness for this." She says before taking my hand and dragging all the way to the room of our Floor Don; Lola Perry. She rapidly knocks on the door until a tall, curly haired, redheaded girl opens the door.

"Laura! Hello, is there anything you need?" Perry asks.

"My roommate is a total creep!" Laura tells her.

Perry frowns at her. "Now Laura, I know that not everyone gets along right away but that's no reason for name call-"

"She has a milk container full of blood!" Laura interrupts her.

Perry's door is pulled farther open and a shorter redhead; Susan LaFontaine appears in the doorway. "Blood?" Sus-, LaFontaine asks.

Susan LaFontaine has made it known that they prefer to be called by their last name and not be referred to a specified gender. Not everyone quite understands it but there's always more to learn about customs; whether they're human or not.

"What exactly do you mean when you say 'blood'?" Perry asks.

"I mean blood blood." Laura clarifies for her. "I was going to have a bowl of Chokoa Crunch for breakfast and use Carmilla's milk, but it wasn't milk in the container it was blood!" Seeing the skeptical look on Perry's face Laura sighs in exasperation. "Oh just come on, I'll show you." She says before leading everyone to her room.

Laura stands aside while Perry and LaFontaine examine the blood covered cereal with furrowed eyebrows and hands on their waists. "See?" She says. "Blood. In the milk container. In my creepy roommate's milk container." She looks at Perry. "So, she's gotta go, right?" She gestures back to the cereal bowl. "I mean, this is like, a death threat, or a health code violation. And the time has come for Carmilla to go."

While Laura speaks, I tilt my head in thought. Carmilla's a vampire. She keeps her own personal supply so obviously she isn't feeding on anyone on campus. So aside from horrible living habits and manners she's pretty harmless. I try to think back of stories I've heard, wondering if vampires and fae ever crossed paths. If she has she must be extremely old. The fae haven't interacted with humans for hundreds of years and it's even rarer that we travel out of our way and run into other creatures. I've heard ever thousand years or so the fae are invited as guest to Elvin balls. Inter-species interaction doesn't happen very often, but hey, time flies when you're immortal. I snap back into focus when Perry begins speaking.

The Floor Don raises an eyebrow. "Well, there's no denying it's a little…odd."

"Odd?" LaFontaine asks. "That's where you're going with this? How many people you know take Type-O with their Chokoa Crunch?"

"Okay, LaFontaine, you know you're not here in an official capacity." Perry scolds her and raises her hand to her chest. "So, as Laura's actual Floor Don-"

"Are you really gonna try and pretend this isn't a total freak show?" LaFontaine interrupts her.

Perry looks between LaFontaine and Laura. "We haven't even given the roommate a chance to explain herself! For all we know it could be some kind of like…protein supplement."

"For extreme hemoglobin deficiency?" LaFontaine scoffs.

Perry closes her eyes and sighs. "You're not helping." She says before looking at the bowl again.

LaFontaine holds out her hands. "I know you wanna pretend the weird here's all Doctor Seuss, Perr, but in my world the alchemy club press gangs test subjects in the caf. As this floor's unofficial truth speaker, I'm gonna tell frosh she needs to wise up if she intends to survive."

Laura nods, pointing a finger in air but not moving her eyes from the bowl. "Oh, see, surviving. Yes. I like that plan. And in order to do that, we need to get rid of Carmilla."

"Well, it's not that I don't understand, but don't you think you oughta talk to her first? A lot of problems can be solved through good communication." Perry tells her.

"A lot of problems can also be solved by taking hair and blood samples to figure out exactly what kind of freaky it is you're dealing with." LaFontaine suggest, pulling out a large hypodermic needle.

I frown at the instrument while Laura and Perry squirm and look away. "Ow, wow. That…" Laura flusters. "Oh, okay."

"I'm a bio major." They say, smiling with pride at the medical instrument before looking back at Laura.

Perry shakes her head. "I still think that this is a bit of an overreaction." She says before looking at me. "Trinity, you went through thirteen roommates before the Dorm Administration decided that you were better off alone. Although your roommates didn't agree with you habits and hobbies, you are a normal, kind, intelligent young woman."

Laura looks at me in shock and confusion. "You've had thirteen roommates?"

I nod. "I keep a lot of plants in my room since I don't trust to put them in the green house with the Alchemy Club's frequent visits there." I tell her, shrugging. "Besides, the green house can't support the types of plants that I have. Some girl's claimed to be allergic, others had a problem with the various shades of color that I decorate with, but I think it came down to my being unable to socially bond and connect with them. As you know, I don't know a lot about pop culture and seem to be a social misfit. While they were busy going to parties, I preferred to stay in and study. One girl was quite vexed that I refused to do her homework for her."

Perry nods and looks at Laura. "See? Trinity never did anything wrong. She was homeschooled and this is her first time away from her family. Not to mention that her family lived in the wilderness so she's not used to being around a lot of people, especially those her own age."

LaFontaine looks at me with a hand of suspicion in their eyes. "You grew up in the wilderness?"

"My family believes that the technological advancements of the world only make people lazier and will eventually leave a large amount of people incompetent should they ever need to function without internet, or electricity, and other machines that have replaced what man can naturally do by hand." I explain my well-practiced speech about my home life.

Laura's brows furrow in confusion. "But aren't you a computer major and at the top of your class so far? How do you know so much if you grew up in the woods?"

"When I was a girl, I would travel miles out into the small town at the border of the forest." I begin.

"Your parents let you walk around the woods by yourself?" Perry asks in concern. "What if you had gotten lost, or hurt, or attacked by a wild animal?"

I smile. "I know the forest like the back of my hand, I'm not clumsy, and I've never had a problem with animals. The more dangerous ones where far away from where we lived and the ones near us were friendly. I guess they were used to our scents around the area. Animals were never really a bother."

Now that's not a complete lie. I do know the woods well and fairies are naturally graceful. But I've never actually walked to town and animals aren't friendly because they're used to our scent. Fae are in tune to their element and its creatures. We can't actually speak to animals but we can understand them in a way. It's like an exchange of feelings. Basically we're naturally born with a second language. As long as we mean no harm, animals don't bother us. For those who refuse to ignore us or continue on in peace, we just release a bit of power to let them know who the true alpha is. As I said; animals were never really a bother. Another plus from being a bi-elemental fae, I can communicate with sea and land animals.

"Anyway," I continue. "The first place I found was a library which happened to have computers. They were a bit old but still functional. First I read as many books as I could and then I learned how to use a computer. I thought it was amazing how easily one can obtain the knowledge of so many things while sitting in one place. One day my parents followed me and after a little arguing and convincing that I wasn't going to forget everything I taught and raised with, I slowly began to introduce them to society. My mom eventually got a job at a small restaurant in town and my dad became a mechanic."

"Wait." LaFontaine says. "Your dad believes machines make people lazy and robs them of basic survival skills but he became a mechanic?"

"Specifically he works to make cars healthier for the environment. He's very good at it. And my mom made the restaurant popular by making sweets that are delicious and healthy. The town through an Earth Day festival for the first time last year. The mayor even gave them an award for raising awareness and helping their budget by suggesting less expensive ways to live without giving up the luxuries that they're use to." I smile as I think back to the memory.

My parents were able to convince the few friends they had left in our village to shift into their human form for the celebration. Later that night when they returned to the village, the Earth Fairies had a celebration of their own. It was the first time that the village didn't act as if my family was contagious or invisible. They didn't even know that the humans had an Earth Day. They gradually began to warm up to my family again. It's still a work in progress but it's better than it used to be.

"It took a while to convince them to let me go here." I continue. "But it was only the natural worries that a parent has for their child when they grow up. They want me to be safe but they also want me to be happy. They knew that nothing would make me happier than traveling to a new place and furthering my education." I lift my hands a bit before letting them fall back to my sides, slapping lightly against my thighs. "And here I am today."

"The Dorm Administration was sympathetic with Trinity's case and felt that she shouldn't have to feel any more uncomfortable than she is with living here. She's going through twice the emotions that others do when leaving home and. Also she's a good student, she never causes trouble, and she's kind to everyone she meets. The Administration found no fault in her habits and thought that it was best to leave her to her own devices instead of having to live with people who make her time at the University difficult." Perry explains to Laura. "Which is why you should give Carmilla a chance and talk to her before things get any worse."

"But Trinity and Carmilla are nothing alike. In fact, they are the complete opposite of each other. Trinity's nice to everyone she meets, Carmilla doesn't even look at people before she starts being rude to them. Trinity asks to borrow my things and returns them in a timely manner, Carmilla steals them and when I take them back she just steals them again. Trinity is neat and clean; Carmilla leaves her clothes everywhere, never picks up after herself, and constantly clogs the drain in the bathroom. Trinity doesn't spend the night with company in her room being obnoxiously loud with no consideration whatsoever to people around her, Carmilla on the other hand, sleeps all day and invites her 'study buddies' to hang out all night in my bed. Believe me; Carmilla and Trinity are two very different people." Laura rants angrily.

"Laura. Laura!" I place hand on her shoulder, stopping the girl from listing any more differences between Carmilla and I. "While I am flattered by your compliments, I think it is most important that you calm down and take a deep breath."

Laura nods and takes a deep calming breath before sighing. Seeing that she took my advice, I let my hand drop back to my side. "Believe me; Carmilla and Trinity are two very different people." She tells Perry, shaking her head in frustration. "Okay, if you can't help me, should I go to the Dean?"

Perry and LaFontaine share a wide-eyed glance before turning back to Laura. "Well, that's really not a good idea." The Floor Don says.

LaFontaine nods in agreement. "Yeah, better just handle this yourself."

"By complaining to the Dean, you'd probably just draw attention to yourself and you don't want that." Perry explains.

"They could stick you with someone much worse and you don't wanna end up with some draco- pyromaniac, you know?" LaFontaine tells her.

"I'm sorry." Laura looks at the short redhead in confusion. "'Draco-pyro' what now? What's that-" She asks, only to be ignored as the two continue to try and convince her of taking a different route in handling Carmilla.

"Besides, your old roommate will be back soon and then Carmilla will have to move out." Perry says.

Her friend nods. "It's a distinct possibility."

"It's what happened with all the other girls who disappeared." Our Floor Don says before her eyes widen at her mistake.

Laura looks at Perry in shock before blinking. "I'm sorry, did you just say 'all the other girls who went missing'? As in, this has happened before and nobody said anything?"

"It was nothing unusual. Just, you know, girls wanting to have a good time and getting a little carried away." Perry flips a bit of hair over her shoulder as she tries to explain the situation as calmly and casually as possible.

The shorter redhead scoffs. "It was completely unusual." They say before turning to Laura. "How do you not know about this? Both of them went missing for two days and then they just show up in a dorm room or a psych classroom with no memory of what happened to them."

Laura turns to me. "Did you know about this?"

I shake my head. The news is a shock to me as well. "No. I don't go out much and I don't have anyone to talk to. I wouldn't notice if anyone went missing."

"It was frosh week. They had too much to drink." Perry says when she sees the suspicion in Laura's eyes.

"Yeah, because that causes random disappearances." LaFontaine says.

"Really?" I ask them, genuinely curious. "Drinking too much of those disgusting beverages makes you disappear? How much is too much because when I went out almost everyone had a drink in their hand."

The two look at me in confusion and Laura places her hand on my arm. "They were being sarcastic Trinity." She tells me and turns to the others.

"Oh!" I nod. "Sarcasm: noun. It's harsh or bitter derision or irony. Or a sharply ironical taunt; sneer or cutting remark."

"Right." Laura drags out the words before turning back to the two redhead, letting her hand fall back to her side. "She's still getting a hang of that."

"I understand sarcasm." I say. "Just as I understand irony: the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning. What I don't understand is why people are so found of using them. What is the point of saying something that you do not mean?"

"Susan, I swear-" Perry says but they interrupt her.

"LaFontaine." They correct her.

"Really?" She says, exasperated. "Fine. LaFontain-"

"Okay, whoa. I need to talk to these girls. Like, right now." Laura cuts them off, putting a stop to a potential argument.

"Oh, yeah! Of course, you should talk to them." Perry nods. "Um, except maybe-"

"Except maybe what?"

"Well, maybe not right now. Um. They weren't hurt or anything just shaken up, and you're a little…intense."

"Intense?"

"She means they're traumatized and you're on a mission, girl." LaFontaine clarifies.

"But I'll talk to them and see if they feel up to meeting you, okay?" Perry suggest.

Laura sighs and takes a seat at her desk. "Yeah, okay."

Just then, Carmilla walks through the open door and into the room, gaining everyone's attention.

"You must be Carmilla." Perry says.

"Must I be?" The brunette asks with a bored look on her face, strolling passed us and dropping her book bag onto her bed before taking her pink shirt off, leaving her only in pants and a black bra.

Laura nods towards Carmilla her face clearly expressing what she has to deal with by living with this girl. I turn away from the sight, not wanting to invade the girl's privacy, even though it is clear that she is comfortable with everyone seeing her as she is. LaFontaine glances at the shirtless girl before looking away as well.

Perry nods, her eyes looking at everything but Carmilla. "Well, then. So nice to have you on the floor. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of you. Come on, Susan." She says, tapping them on the arm. "And Laura…" She calls, making the girl look at her. "Remember, communication." She says before leaving.

While Carmilla busies herself with sliding on a black shirt, LaFontaine steps towards Laura, offering her syringe. Laura shakes her head and they quickly follow after Perry. I point at the wall, motioning that I'm next door if she needs me before taking my leave as well.

I quickly make my way back to my dorm and sit on my bed, pressing an ear against the wall. I want to hear what Carmilla will say to explain away the blood. I shift my ears into their natural form so I can hear the conversation better. I hear shuffling and movement before Laura speaks.

"Yeah, you're not gonna find your 'soy milk' in there."

"It was just a prank." The vampire says.

"You filled a milk container with blood as a prank?"

"Ugh, you are such a freak."

"There are worse things to be."

"Sure. How about a 'Carmy Cold Sore'? That would be worse."

"Oh, were you the one spreading those little rumors? Nice try. That bunched up little face you make when you're angry is hilarious, buttercup…"

"I wonder how hilarious it'll be when I get the dean of students to kick you out."

Carmilla chuckles. "You whining to the dean? I'd pay to see that."

"Think I won't?"

"Be my guest."

I hear the sound of footsteps pass my room before stopping.

"Sorry. Are we, like, interrupting something?" An unfamiliar voice asks.

"Really not." Carmilla says, annoyance in her voice.

"Okay, cool. Hey, hey! Don't I know you from an intro class?"

"I doubt it."

"Okay. Um. I'm Sarah Jane, and this is Natalie. The Floor Don said Laura… Laura wanted to talk to us."

"Oh, yeah."Laura speaks up. "Laura, that's me."

"Okay."

"Please, come in. Sit down." I hear more movement.

"Thank you."

"Ignore my roommate. She's a sociopath."

I know I should stop listening, I've heard what I wanted but I also want to know what happening to these girls. I rest my head against the wall as the girls begin to explain their experience to Laura.

"So, earlier this year there was a thing where you guys kind of disappeared." Laura says.

"Devastating interrogation technique there." Carmilla says. Ah, sarcasm again. I still don't understand why people are so fond of using it.

"Yeah." Sarah Jane says. "It was freaky, okay? One second I'm at the swim team's under the sea party. I'm, uh, downing Fizzy Dagons. And then, the next thing you know, I'm in my dorm room, I'm waking up, all these people are yelling at me, they're saying I've been missing for two days…"

"And the same kind of thing happened to you?" Laura asks the other girl.

"Yeah, like, I was at a wine and cheese and then I was standing in the middle of a lecture hall a day and a half later. Like nothing in between." Natalie tells her.

"Right." Sarah Jane agrees.

"And you guys don't remember anything?" Laura asks.

"No."

"I dunno, someone that you saw, someone that struck you as odd?"

"El zilcho. But Dagons do have a ton of sambuca in them, right? So…"

"Well there's the scoop of the century." Carmilla interrupts. She really seems to enjoy sarcasm. I think to myself.

"Feel free to stuff it." Laura tells her.

Natalie begins to speak. "No, nothing from the time I was gone. Nothing I can remember…but, before that there were the dreams.

"The dreams?"

"Yeah, like, I kept on having the same dream before. Like, I'm awake in the dark, in my bed, and there's something like a cat or a lizard on the floor by the bed prowling. And sometimes it was this strange figure with dark hair and a white dress standing over me. And the darkness is in my eyes and in my throat and I can't breathe."

Carmilla begins to whistle what I've come to learn is the theme song to The Twilight Zone before stopping and whistling The X-Files tune.

"What is wrong with you?!" Laura asks, frustration and offense clear in her voice.

"Right now I'm out of soy milk." The vampire replies.

"Um. I'm sorry. Um. I…" Natalie struggles. "I used to be…but now…I'm not, like…I'm sorry, I can't be here anymore. I have to go. Um. I really hope that it passes over you and I hope it doesn't touch your face."

I hear the pounding of her quick footsteps pass my room.

"Nat?! Um, guys, I'm really sorry. Nat's kinda PTSD about the creepy dreams, but I'm gonna go. I'm gonna talk her down. Sorry." Sarah Jane says and I hear her footsteps pass my room as well.

"If someone's going around kidnapping girls, I can see why they threw those two back. Oh, sorry. Did I mess up your big break there, Lauronica Mars?" Carmilla mocks.

"I am going to kill you." Laura threatens.

I take my head off the wall, shifting my ears back to their human form. I lie back on my bed and ponder on what I just heard, trying to figure out the cause of those poor girls pain. Some supernatural's grow stronger with age. Is it possible that Carmilla could be causing the girls nightmares? Even if she is, that doesn't explain everything. If Carmilla is responsible for the girl's disappearances, why didn't she feed on them? They said that they appeared days later, apparently with no injuries or any memory of what happened to them. This makes no sense, the only reason vampire interact with humans is to feed, so if Carmilla is the culprit, what is she doing with the girls?

I jolt in shock as the sound of an alarm blares through the building. I cover my ears, trying to muffle the sound as I quickly think back on the alarms and procedures section of the Student Handbook. Town Hall. I remember. The alarm is a call for a mandatory Town Hall meeting and all students must be present within five minutes. I rush from my bed and into the hallway, closing my eyes at the sight of flashing blue lights. After a moment I dull my senses and open my eyes, seeing LaFontaine motion students towards the exit as Perry frantically explains the alarm to Laura before rushing out of the building, Laura and LaFontaine on her heels. I turn back to the room and see Carmilla step out with a smug smile on her face. She looks at me and raises an eyebrow before as she struts pass me. I frown and follow the students out of the building.