Israel
Carina left the store early that night to ensure she was home in time to tidy the place for Lily's arrival. There was barely any disarray to organize– not because Carina was an inherently neat individual, but because she had relatively few belongings with which to generate disorder. 

She sat herself at the kitchen table with fifteen minutes until six o'clock, watching the door with a kind of eager Christmas morning expression. If her first impression on Lily hadn't exactly been favorable, this one would be far worse, but somehow this struck Miss Templeton's funny bone. Though a roommate would be nice, it wasn't a necessity and if, by chance, this whole situation resulted in driving Lily out of town entirely, Carina could pat herself on the back for saving the life and sanity of a wayward soul in whom she couldn't help but recognize a bit of her former self. 
_ _
Richard
50 cents was 50 cents, Lily would take it. They'd have to find someone who could tell her where the address on the scrap of paper was, but that shouldn't be difficult to do. "The name is Lily, should she want to know." And with that she made her exit. 

Lily found her way to the address five minutes before the agreed upon time, she found that being just a few minutes early tended to leave a good first impression. Little did she know that that ship had already sailed. None other than the store clerk awaited her at the house. 

The moment she was met by Carina their kind expression dropped. Annoyance and a hint of anger were clearly visible on her face and she didn't bother hiding it. Carina's actions had been childish at best. "_CT..._ Templeton, I take it?" She'd heard the name from Hazel, who had told Lily that a Miss Templeton had a room for rent. Some might have found this an incredibly funny setup, Lily was not one of them. They did not take kindly to being played for a fool. Carina must think herself a genius for her little ruse, and Lily liked her even less. Not because the ruse had been a bad one, on the contrary, Lily disliked her because they had fallen for it. She'd let down some of her walls, a mistake it seemed. "Is this how business in Briar Ridge is usually conducted or is this just your own preference?" Carina was lucky Lily needed the room, otherwise they'd have turned around right there and then.
Israel
"*Carina* Templeton, pleased to make your acquaintance." Carina purred, sweeping open the door to allow Lily through. 
"You seem so familiar, somehow. Maybe we've met before?" She closed the door and whirled around to her would-be roommate, the pleated mustard yellow skirt of her collared dress flaring and settling around her. Carina preferred her jokes to be taken as Lily was taking this one, with Carina herself as the only party privy to the delicious humor at play. After allowing herself a moment or two to splendor in her own delightful execution of the punchline, she swept around to the stove where a steaming teapot was keeping warm. Pouring tea in the two empty cups on the small kitchen table, she took the far seat for herself and gestured to the open chair for Lily. 

"This is just my personal preference," She sighed dreamily, in a splendid mood. She looked down to her cup and stirred in a touch of sugar, raising it to take a sip: proving to Lily that it was just tea. 
"Unorthodox, perhaps. Perhaps I like to test for character." 

She had no more ruses up her sleeves, and she cleared her throat to color the situation a bit more businesslike. Since Lily hadn't made for the door already, she supposed this was her cue to take responsibility for the woman's presence. She had posted that advertisement, after all, and it had been serious. As much as she now wished it had only been a setup for pranks, the truth lay in Carina's financial instability; she could not afford the reputation she wanted to wear. 

_ _

"I understand how the city can be, Miss Lily. I was born in Richmond. Now I am here. You'll find a fresh start in Briar Ridge, but that isn't all you'll find. I don't think it would be fair to take your money for the room until you know what our town has been... Troubled with... In recent months."She took another sip of tea, and looked up to her company. The thing she liked second best to jokes at others' expense was holding information overhead. If Lily were to be living under her roof, she wanted to take these first moments to establish a strict hierarchy. There were things that Carina knew that Lily didn't. These were lifesaving things– deathly serious things. If Carina could firmly establish herself as a figure of authority, she foresaw few problems in their cohabitation. 
_ _
Richard
Brown eyes rolled in annoyance at Carina's next, equally unfunny joke. They followed her inside and took a seat, but not until after Carina had admitted to the jokes being part of her as a person instead of Briar Ridge as a whole. It was something Lily was grateful for. They'd have complimented Carina on her dress, but alas, compliments were reserved for friends, people who could be manipulated into becoming friends or people who Lily wouldn't mind sharing a bed with for a night. Carina was none of those. 

She took the tea. "I take it you're not one to see the humor in poisoning potential roommates?" She understood testing for character, she'd have done some testing of her own if it had been her room. Though they would have been nowhere near as childish as Carina's tests had been. They blew into the cup to hasten the cooling off the liquid. 

Lily knew of Richmond, small in comparison to New York City but then again most places were. She thought she may have heard it being mentioned once or twice in conversations surrounding moonshine. Nevertheless, it was good to see that there were other people who had left cities behind them in exchange for the holler that was Briar Ridge.
_ _

Carina seemed to enjoy being in power and Lily didn't blame her one bit. Anyone with any kind of sense enjoyed holding power, it was what made the world go round and round. It ensured survival. And apparently Carina knew something that would heavily impact Lily's ability to do just that, to live. "And pray tell, what exactly has this place been _troubled_ with? Some sort of serial killer? Doesn't seem big enough a place to house one of those." She took another sip of her tea. It was not that she didn't believe Carina, merely that she foolishly believed it couldn't be much worse that she'd already seen. It was not unheard of for criminals to occasionally dispose of rivals, she'd seen blood spilled before. Nothing compared to what happened in Briar Ridge, as she's come to find out one way or another.
Israel
Something in Carina softened as she watched Lily sip at the tea she'd prepared. Weeks ago, Dimitra had been sitting in Lily's place, eating a meal Carina had cooked. The two instances felt familiar enough to send her into a shallow spiral of reminiscence. Her eyes flickered past her current guest to the living room through the kitchen door where there was now a sofa, but in the scene of her memory, there was still a nest of blankets. Guilt and frustration swirled briefly on the back of her tongue before she swallowed the feelings down and returned her attention to Lily. 

"No poison here. I haven't felt the need to perform such dark humor, yet." She sipped her own tea, studying her company's clothing again. The dress was familiar– perhaps from Hazel's shop? It gave all the subtle nods of an extremely thoughtful craftsperson. Carina cleared her throat as Lily dug deeper into her question, peeling her eyes back up to her company's face. 

"Folks thought it could have been a murderer, at first. Bodies showed up in the forests half buried and whatnot," Her expression brightened with excitement to speak of the grisly details, "That was back in July before anyone had seen the creatures truly responsible– before the creatures started to multiply. The first reports of *Wolf men* Nearly got the witnesses institutionalized! But more and more townspeople started to corroborate." It seemed as though Carina had truly forgotten her own ties to the murders until that very point in her story. Her gaze deadened and grew cold as Mrs. Bigby's slashed chest popped ruby red into her forefront of her memory. She continued, quieter.
_ _

"I didn't believe it, really. But the stories were..." She decided on her word choice, and picked one that would lend Lily a bit of insight into herself, "Exciting." Not terrifying, not sinful. *Exciting.* This had been Carina's truth. She thought back to her careful notes of attack-related gossip, recorded in the little notebook she kept below the cash register. She hadn't been writing as much since Mrs. Bigby died. 

"Then I saw one. In the downstairs apartment of the general store. It broke through the front window and eventually got scared away by fire." She kept the details vague. Lily had not earned the privilege of hearing Charlene Bigby's name, let alone the story of her heroic last moments of cognizance. 

"It was over seven feet tall. Stank like rotted meat. These wolf men– they've killed dozens in town by now. It wasn't until the people who hole up at the Ol Davis Ruins killed one that we learned they were... They were actually people. People that we knew. The first wolf they killed was the Sheriff– he became a man again with the morning. The second wolf they killed was the mayor. You can tell who is a secret beast with a test of silver– the metal burns their skin." She was enjoying the act of regaling Lily– in part because of the authority she was building, but equally because she rarely got to speak to others so candidly. As she tunneled deeper into the story, her stony exterior softened. She abandoned the effort it took to maintain it in favor of exercising narrative flair with her recap of Briar Ridge's recent history. 

Of course, she hadn't missed the opportunity to consider that Lily themself could be a wolf. However unlikely the possibility, Carina still needed to entertain it. Since meeting her potential roommate earlier that day, she had devised several tests to undertake in the ensuing weeks should Lily move in. She planned to get a quote from that Sterling boy for a silver plated doorknob as soon as tomorrow. 
_ _

"I've been safe in this house since I moved in a few months ago. The wolf men seem particularly drawn to a couple of locations around town. The Ol Davis Ruins, the Barca Estate, the woods... Suffice it to say you would be foolish to find yourself outdoors on the night of a full moon when the infected become monsters." At this point, Carina couldn't help herself: she fixed her gaze on Lily, anxiously waiting to see how her artful warning would be received. 
_ _
Richard
No poison, _yet_. Well, at least if Lily were to get assassinated through food she'd know who to blame in her final moments. Carina seemed a little too excited talking about murder. Lily understood it, she too had been drawn to the city and its darker sides because of that excitement. The constant threat of being caught, of doing things you knew could land you squarely in jail, of narrowly escaping, it came with a thrill unlike anything else. Lily loved that thrill, they kept coming back to it, finding more and more dangerous jobs to take on, taking more and more risks. It had the power to make one feel invincible, and Lily had almost started believing they were invincible. Until the moment that thrill caught up on her and she was proven to be decisively mortal.

Lily took the story in, it seemed entirely fictional. They searched for any hint of dishonesty in Carina but couldn't find any. Was Carina just an excellent liar? Did the woman honestly believe her own story? Was she the town fool? 

Lily blinked a few times, taking some time to process all the information that had been thrown her way. She needed the room, that much was certain. But if Carina was actually crazy, Lily would prefer to find some place else, any place else really.

"...Wolf men? Transforming? Silver burns their skin?" 

She clearly didn't buy the story. And could anyone blame her? She wasn't one to believe in the supernatural, she wasn't even sure if God was real. And now they were just expected to believe that werewolves, actual monsters, not only existed but terrorized a tiny town tucked away in the mountains? No, this was too much. This had to be part of Carina's elaborate and frustrating series of pranks. Monsters weren't real. The only monsters out there were men, humans, people, they did enough damage to each other, wolf men were just figments of imagination, figments used to scare children.
_ _

"Look if you don't want me to rent the room you could've just told me that instead of wasting both of our times with lies and fancy stories of monsters and full moons."

They shifted their weight, getting ready to stand up and walk promptly out of the house. She was giving Carina a chance to go back on her word, to reveal the second part of her masterful prank. She expected Carina to tell them that they'd passed another test. Wolfmen couldn't be real.
Israel
The pair suffered a few tense moments while Lily absorbed the words that had been spilled out by her host. Carina searched their expression blankly (rather, with her expression as blank as she could manage despite her misguided excitement) for a clue as to how they'd received the information. 

Her eyes iced over as Lily outright rejected her warning. Wasting her time? *Wasting* Her time? Her thoughts turned to vinegar, acidifying whatever were to slough off her tongue in the coming moments. *I'll show this absolute *Cow* A waste of time!* Carina recognized the tender few moments she had to turn the situation around– to execute the ill-advised and hastily thought up plan that had just occurred to her. 

Just as Lily got up to leave, Carina jutted out across the table, laying her hand on her guest's arm. 
"Wait!" She appealed, her face a nearly-convincing mask of concern, were it not for the acrid intentions burning her sick little smile from within. 

"You're right. I'm sorry. I've had my fun." She composed herself, settling back in her chair and clasping her hands over her placemat. 
"I'd like to rent you the room." Her voice was quieter, and she was using all of her power for self-composure to withhold trembles of rage and streams of venom from her tone. 
"It gets lonely here. Fancy stories get me by." She excused herself, watching the wood grain around her teacup before she looked up, back to Lily's face. 

"Nine dollars, was that correct?" 

She *Would* Get this stranger to stay here. Carina had been generous with her truths, brutal and fantastic as they were. There was a price to be paid for this kindness, and Lily would pay it along with her $9. Carina would have a front-row seat to her roommate's fear when the howls drew up from below the full moon that month. 
_ _
Richard
Lily tensed when Carina placed her hand on her arm, but she didn't pull back. The woman seemed almost angry that Lily hadn't bought her made up tales. She clearly believed that Lily was entirely idiotic, and they didn't take kindly to being taken for a fool. She had survived on her wits and looks alone so far, Carina having fooled her once had already bruised her ego, it would not be happening again. But there was something else there, she almost seemed a tiny bit desperate for them to stay. 

"I heard there's an author in town, she might just have competition with you around." The comment reeked of sarcasm, Carina's lowered tone had triggered something in Lily. They needed to feel like they had the upper hand again. The spiteful side of Lily took pleasure in the, in Lily's eyes, _need_ that Carina had for them to stay and rent the room. They had never been known for being kind, the moment someone needed you for something, relied on you for anything, no matter how small, was the moment you could use them. Dependency meant power, so long as it was them relying on you. This was an opportunity, albeit a tiny one. Carina wanted Lily to rent the room, Lily was more than happy to oblige. 

The agreed upon price had been $9.50 but Lily wasn't going to mention that. Nine dollars worked just fine for Lily, she deserved a discount after dealing with Carina's immaturity. A continuous discount. If she was going to be around the woman she would take every small victory they could.

"Yes, nine dollars." They held out a hand to shake, should Carina want the deal to be sealed in that way. "Do I sign anywhere?"
Israel
"You know, it's not a bad idea. But I never write my stories down." Another lie, countered by the sheer number of notebooks full of Carina's scribbled handwriting, stored in crates just a room over. No matter. Carina smiled. She extended her hand to shake. 

"No signature, no. You own your word." She said simply. Truthfully, if she'd thought to write up a contract of sorts, she would have. But she hadn't. Lily was free to leave when she pleased.

Lily's change of heart in staying met a hair of suspicion from Carina, even though she was pleased she'd roped her roommate back into their deal. She tried to keep her eyes from narrowing, her lips from pursing. There was much to learn about her new acquaintance, but now was not the safest time to begin her studies. *Let her get settled,* Carina figured, *Let her get comfortable.*

 It wasn't as though she planned to make Lily's life miserable, no! Not in the least. It was only that Carina had never lived so closely with another person, not even her own sisters, back in Richmond. She'd thought a lot about posting the ad for a tenant, and ultimately had considered it something of a foray into social science. The very last thing she was expecting was to make a friend, and especially at present, the idea couldn't be further from her mind. What she didn't realize, though, was that she and Lily may have had more in common than either of them thought; if only either of them could be privy to the mental chess boards behind the other's eyes. 

For now, *Some* Nature of relationship was beginning, however difficult it was to characterize. 

"I'll help you with your things." 

_ _