"You think it has something to do with Carmilla?"

"Didn't you see? Every time Carmilla got close she started seizing again."

"Guys, sh! I think she's waking up!"

Laura groaned. She felt like someone hit her in the face with a shovel. And then dropped her in a vat of acid before shoving her into a meat grinder. Maybe she was exaggerating but it sure wasn't a good feeling.

"Laura, sweetie? Can you hear me?"

She felt cool hands carefully brushing her forehead. Another voice cut in.

"Perr, why don't we try my way? I promise it'll wake her up, and it won't really hurt. That much."

Someone exhaled loudly.

"LaFontaine. For the last time, I'm not going to let you stick that—that thing into her head! It's dangerous and illegal. Where did you even get it?"

"Relax. It's just a stimulating electrode. I stole—"

"LaFontaine." The voice turned dangerous.

"Took—I took it from the neuro lab next door. It'll just give her a little shock, no biggie, and she'll jump right up. Theoretically, at least."

That did it. Laura didn't like the sound of whatever LaFontaine was planning to do to her brain. She opened her eyes and stared up at the three people crowded around her. They all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"What—what's going on? Where am I?" Laura asked hesitantly. She wasn't outside anymore, but her surroundings were completely alien.

"Way to make us panic, frosh. You fainted so we brought you to your room. How're you feeling right now?" Danny looked at her searchingly, all traces of aggression gone. She offered Laura a hand and pulled her up into a sitting position.

Laura didn't know what she felt. She couldn't really remember what happened. What happened? I arrived at Silas. I tried to get to the freshmen registration desk. I got into that stupid fight with Danny. About what?

Laura scrutinized her room as she thought. One side, her side presumably, looked depressingly bare. Posters and artwork covered the other half. She felt stunned. Who the hell is my roommate? She certainly did not seem like the type of person Laura specified when she filled out her roommate questionnaire. Her eyes wandered over a rough charcoal sketch of some forgotten city, a poster of a punk rock chamber music group, and an abstract painting comprised primarily of weird spiky shapes. Laura tore her gaze away from a drawing of a red giant supernova that was situated directly above the headboard of a messy, unkempt bed.

She felt her mouth drop open. Blankets and clothes were piled haphazardly on the mattress. Books and other strange knickknacks littered the floor and shelves. No, this was so not happening. Her roommate was a hot mess. Sure, Laura Hollis wasn't the cleanest person on the planet, but she wasn't filthy. This was ridiculous. She'd have to put in for a room transfer right away. A pair of slashed black jeans hanging off the end of the bed caught her eye.

"Carmilla!"

All three redheads jumped violently at her shout. Laura didn't realize how quiet the room had gotten. She glanced at them apologetically, but felt triumphant. That's right. Carmilla. Her earlier memories rushed back to her. She ran over Carmilla's foot with her suitcase. My suitcase! Where's my luggage? And what about all that registration stuff?

"Uh guys, where did you put my things? And what exactly happened?" Laura asked frantically. She tried to jump off her bed but strong hands held her down.

"You just fainted and now you want to run around again? You're staying right here," Danny replied, firmly restraining her.

Laura couldn't fight with those gargantuan muscles. She settled for scowling at Danny, who seemed unperturbed.

"All right, fine. Lola, what's happening?"

"Perry. Please, call me Perry. So, you fainted. Danny caught you, and brought you to your room. LaFontaine and I brought up all your luggage." She pointed at Laura's suitcase and backpack which were leaning against the door. "And I took care of all your paperwork." Perry nodded at a stack of papers on the desk at the far end of the room, her curls bouncing erratically on her head.

Laura's heart swelled. She barely knew these students, but they took care of her. These were good people. She wanted to be friends with all of them. I hope I don't mess up with these guys.

"Sorry. Perry. Got it. Thanks guys. And Danny, I'm sorry for overreacting earlier."

Danny grinned easily and finally released Laura. "Don't worry about it. You know, with your skills, you'd be a great addition to the Summer Society." She cocked an eyebrow, waiting for Laura's response.

Laura could only stare blankly. "What's that?"

Danny, unfazed, launched into her spiel. "Summer Society is—"

"—a club whose sole purpose is to defeat the Zetas," LaFontaine casually finished.

Danny bristled. "Don't listen to LaF. They're just jealous they're not in it."

Laura's eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. What does Danny mean by "they're?"

"Not jealous. Just realistically saying." LaFontaine seemed to sense Laura's confusion. "Oh, and I don't know if you know what non-binary gender is, but basically I don't identify with being either a boy or a girl, so I like pronouns like 'they' and 'their.' That's why Danny said 'they're'." They cast a shy sidelong glance at Laura, their hand twitching nervously.

"Oh, okay! That's cool with me. I totally support the LGBTQQIP2SAA community. I'm gay, by the way," Laura said quickly, looking back at LaFontaine and trying to imbue her smile with acceptance and understanding.

LaFontaine beamed happily at Laura, who felt warm and fuzzy all over. And then they sniggered. The sudden change in atmosphere confused Laura. They waggled their eyebrows like a villain from vaudeville and gave Danny a mischievous look before readdressing Laura.

"Like we couldn't tell you were gay by the way you checked out Carmilla."

Laura blushed as Danny snorted. For some reason, Danny looked murderous again as she lightly punched LaFontaine on the shoulder. LaFontaine sailed off the bed with a loud shriek and landed on the floor with a thud. Perry clucked her tongue disapprovingly and helped them up. She pulled out a feather duster from her purse and started to dust off LaFontaine's clothes, all the while shooting dirty looks at Danny. Danny just shrugged and refocused on Laura.

"As I was saying, I think you'll like Summer Society. We're a club for women athletes on campus. Everyone lives and works together in the Society House. We host a lot of fun events, like the Adonis Hunt. Do you want to come check it out sometime?" Danny offered.

Laura's heart leapt at her words. Live with the sexy woman warrior? Laura's inner fangirl cried tears of joy. That would be so cool! And, she'd be able to avoid her weird messy roommate without hassle.

"That sounds great! Can we go take a look now?" Laura asked eagerly, gingerly trying to stand.

"Woah, hang on a second. Don't you want to meet your new roommate?" LaFontaine smirked at Laura. They looked like they knew a juicy secret and wanted to spill.

"New?"

This time, Perry spoke up. "Yes, Laura. There were some—complications with your original roommate." Perry looked slightly nervous as she fiddled with her duster. "Long story short, she's in some sort of coma—and yes LaFontaine I know you have your theories but now is hardly the time to bore Laura with them," Perry said exasperatedly, shushing a very excited LaFontaine. "But the floor dons figured everything out. Everything shouldbe fine."

Seeing LaFontaine's growing grin and Danny's death glare, Laura doubted everything would work out as perfectly as Perry thought. Trepidation settled in her stomach. Who is this girl? At that moment, the door swung open. Four heads turned in the direction of that sound.

Carmilla strutted in, closing the door with a swift kick. Her hair hung over her face as she slung her bag on the messy bed. Laura felt confused and sick at the same time. Carmilla? Why is she throwing her stuff on that bed like she owns it?

"Um, excuse me. What are you doing here?"

Carmilla started to unpack her bag. She casually tossed a few books onto the shelf and pulled out a black thermos before deigning to respond.

"I'm your new roommate, sweetheart." Carmilla opened the thermos and took a long, languid swallow. "Or rather, you, are mine."

The way her voice wrapped around those words made Laura tremble.