College life was strange and bizarre as usual, but this year felt different. The weather was unseasonably cold even for Idaho. The thick musty air, the gloomy campus, and the scraps of old coffee cups rotting in the ponds gave me a sense of disturbance. I live in a small, rundown apartment complex by myself, which was against the rules. At night you can hear the screams of drunken teenagers outside my window. My best friend likes to come over to stay with me . . . sometimes. It’s been so long since I’ve lived with anyone, and the thought sends chills down my spine.
Tonight--I was alone. It was nice to shuffle to my cold scratchy bed, let down my long raggedy blond hair and relax to the sounds of the howling wind, but oddly I felt more alone than I ever have in my entire life.  RRRIINNGGG!!! I wrapped my scruffy blankets tightly around me and let out a sigh. I don’t like to answer the phone, because it’s almost always a wrong number. RRIIINNNGGGG!!!!!! The phone was screaming at me! Intensity was building up inside me pounding to get out!
“WHAT?!” I roared as I thrusted the phone to my ear. A soft, childlike voice replied,
“Shhh. Be quiet. You don’t want to wake her . . . .” then there was absolute silence. Nothing. Not even the wind was howling.
“He--llo???” squealed my tired voice.
Nothing. The line was dead like nothing had ever happened. Then there was a soft tap against my bedroom door. Tap . . . Tap . . . Tap. Rigidly I crawled out of my bed and slowly opened the door, waiting to expect the worst.
“Hey, I’m Miranda. Your new roommate.” She was flawless. I stood there stunned. Her little voice whispered in my head. Everything about her made me want to dig my grave and die right then, but for some reason she looked almost identical to me. Her hair was blond, but it looked perfectly effortless. And her eyes. My eyes. Exactly the same, but a look of murder flooded her perfect eyes.
“Oh yeah, sorry, I wasn’t expecting anyone.” She stood their like a goddess and acted as though there was no resemblance. 
“That’s alright. I’m new here and didn’t have a place to stay, but my friend said you would have an opening.” she replied softly, giving me a deathly smile. Who on earth knew that I was alone? Only my closest friends kept my secret. Judging by the rageful look on her face, I decided I needed some backup. I gave Miranda a nod and left her standing there with no instructions. I reached for my dinosaur flip-phone and hit speed dial, “Hey Alex. I need you over here asap. I don’t want to spend the night with this girl. I’ll explain later.”
A few minutes I could hear a bellowing voice outside my window, “Hi Lizzy!!!” There she was, standing there with her big, old hippy bag, her hand-me-down clothes, and of course her thin brown hair.
“Oh thank goodness! Get in here! I need you to meet my roommate!” I called back. Alex awkwardly squeezed through my window and flung her bag down on my bed. We crept silently towards Miranda’s bedroom, in which time I gave Alex all of the details. I poked my head in Miranda’s door, but she wasn’t there. Alex swiftly said to me, “Maybe she’s in the kitchen.” We crawled toward the filthy kitchen and there we saw--nothing, Miranda was gone. There was no trace of her. Alex and I searched everywhere, but we did not find her.
“Alright, I’m calling it a night. This zombie face needs to look a little less dead for her date tomorrow.” Alex said in a yawn.
I spent most of the night in my livingroom. There was too many things on my mind to sleep, but eventually I pick my lazy self up and trotted toward my bedroom where Alex was sleeping. As I approached in the dark, I heard a low humming lullaby coming from inside my room.  I peered inside the door, but it was too dark. Why would Alex be singing to herself? Then, the soft childlike voice, a little louder, spoke to me,
“Shhh. She’s sleeping.”
I felt cold, hard hands slowly creep around my neck, and the last piece of my life was thrusted out of me.