Hailie couldn't focus on lectures. She only thought about her date with Shane. It was more than a year since she has been on one. And since she talked with another man in that kind of way. For her it seemed like a good way to move on. She was trapped in the past, even though she dreamed every day about releasing from painful memories. It was hard, especially when she looked at herself in the mirror after shower. Seeing a bruise on her arm... She could feel how terrible that night was. All the blood, fighting and running. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see it before her. But this night was different. This night was finally peaceful. Hailie hadn't felt like that for a long time. Little did she know it wasn't only because of her excitation about the date. It was Sloth's merit too.

She started looking for a fine dress after returning to the house, but there wasn't enough time to get ready. Pride appeared next to her, like she always did. Hailie started getting used to it. Living with a ghost wasn't that bad as she may have thought.

"There's someone outside," she said just before Hailie's cell phone started ringing.

"That must be that guy, Lucien." She checked her phone. "Right on time." It was four o'clock.

Hailie ran down the stairs and opened the door, breathing quickly. When she saw her new potential roommate, she parted her mouth and froze. She has never seen such a handsome guy in her whole life. She used to think that her ex-boyfriend Jayson was hot, partly because that was his reputation. All the girls in the school dreamed about him, all of them were squeaking when he only said "hi" to them. But seeing Lucien, she thought that Jayson couldn't even compare to him. He was quite tall, definitely much taller than she was. His olive skin was in contrast to her pale complexion. And those dark eyes, his stare so intense it was hard to endure it as much as it was hard to look the other way.

He smiled and took her hand into his hand. Leaning slightly, he kissed it, still looking right in her eyes. Quick moment and the charm was broken as she remembered her first date with Jayson. He also kissed her like that. And he also wore black.

She took her hand back and stepped away from the door.

"I take you as Lucien Tuls, please come in," she said, avoiding his astonished stare.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hailie," he answered, passing by really close to her. "What a big house, it seems more spacious than in the photos." He was looking around even though his thoughts circulated only around Hailie. What was it? Isn't she interested? Everybody was always amorous by seeing him.

"Yes, it has three bedrooms upstairs. Right now I live here by myself," she said, though it wasn't completely true.

Can you name seven ghosts as your roommates? Even if you met only one of them?

She didn't know that right in that moment she met another one as Lucien was actually Lust. It was part of his plan to make her believe he was just an innocent human looking for a room to rent while he was already the original habitant of the house.

"By yourself?"

"Yes," she cut the conversation, not willing to give him more details about her life. "Come, I'll show you upstairs, where the bedrooms are."

She discreetly glanced at him. He was like a mystery. Sometimes you can tell something about people just by looking at them. This one? He seemed dangerous and cute at once. Was it even a pair if it comes to these kinds of guys? At the same time, she got a feeling that everything about him was a mystery she was yet to unfold.

"I love the atmosphere. Old houses are kinda my thing."

"Oh, really?" she asked, thinking that he might have liked playing with fire. "Well, you should know that crazy things happened here. People in the town believe this house is haunted. I get it actually, cause you can hear it in the night - the footsteps, crackling and other odd, unexplainable voices. Sometimes it feels like this house was alive. It might get scary in here. I'm saying it so you'd be aware of what you might be getting yourself into. There's a bad reputation and trouble."

"Then it's good," he said, standing in front of her way, "that I like trouble."

She sighed. Being so close to him felt strange. So many emotions at the same time.

"I don't like trouble anymore, so could you tell me something more about you? I must know who I'm gonna share the space with." She passed him and opened the door to the bathroom. He wasn't interested in seeing it.

"I know what people say about this house, that's one of the points why I'm interested in living here. I would like to see where it gets me. Who knows? Maybe I'll meet a ghost." He smirked like it was a joke for him. "If it comes to your question, I don't study anything at the moment. All of my attention comes to the work. My parents have a tough time right now so I want to support them." For Lust it wasn't hard to lie, although he felt disgust about everything that concerned good, love, being caring and vulnerable. "I'm a manager at one of the restaurants in the town."

What he said got him in Hailie's favor. That was his point. A lot of humans had a soft spot for guys who cared about their family.

"The rent isn't some big sum, I just want help with paying bills later," she let him know, thinking that he cared about money.

"Don't worry, I'll pay mine share of rent. This place looks great for me and I really would like to live here. Even if there might be some ghosts," he added, making her nervous and amused at the same time. "Besides I don't think I'm gonna be scared living under the same roof with such a brave and beautiful girl."

She blushed. Hearing compliments always made her feel a little better about herself.

"That's the first bedroom."

They walked inside and Hailie opened up her mouth in astonishment. On the bed there was lying Pride, doing cheerfully her nails. She was dressed in a pink nightgown and Hailie prayed that she had some clothes underneath.

"I like that room, I could take it," said Lust, but Hailie was so surprised by the presence of Pride that she barely heard him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Pride came up to Lust and gave him a hand like it was the first time they've ever met. There was a dangerous spark in her eyes. He wasn't able to understand what she was playing in. "I'm Hailie's best friend, so you're gonna see me a lot around here. We're practically inseparable."

"Certainly." He gave her a warning glance. He didn't want Pride here. "Maybe you would like to rent a room too?"

"No need, I live nearby."

"Is that right? Well then, you surely have some places to be right now."

"Yeah, I do. Right here, boy."

They stared at each other with a grudge. It looked like there were some unspoken words between them. The atmosphere was getting tense and Hailie thought it was weird. They've only met a moment ago yet it seemed like they've already hated one another.

"Yes, so I'm glad you met. Shall we go and check the other bedroom?" asked Hailie, trying to defuse the situation.

Lust turned to her and a big bright smile appeared on his face again.

"That's fine, I actually like this one."

For him it was indifferent in which bedroom he's gonna potentially live. He chose that one only because he knew Pride liked spending time in here as it had a big dressing table.

"Okay, so is there anything else you would like to see?" Hailie didn't have experience in guided tours around the houses. Back in her family town she lived with her parents. The only roommate she ever had was her sister for a couple of months, but she didn't know if she could qualify it as any kind of experience.

"What would you like to show me?"

She felt like there was a second meaning to his question, but she didn't want to think about it.

"Attic?" That was the only thing that came into her mind.

"Are we going ghost hunting?"

"Ha, ha, how funny you are, aren't you?" mocked Pride. "I think our little fella has seen enough and I hate to break it up for you too, but Hailie, you're kinda busy." She pointed at the clock. It was half past four.

She wasn't sure if she needed that much time to get ready, but Pride must have known better. Maybe she wanted to help her with make-up again. She was pretty good at it.

"So, how do you like that? The house, I mean." Hailie wasn't sure if she wished for a roommate, but she had to admit that Lucien seemed fine enough. And Pride promised her in the morning that the ghosts won't hurt him.

"I'll take it. Can I move in tomorrow?"

It was quick. Much quicker than she thought. Not knowing what else to say, she squeaked "Yes, sure."

He looked content. Giving a last gaze at the room or maybe at Pride, he left the room. Hailie bit her lips, just like Pride used to do and followed Lucien. He walked through the halls like it already was his house. He just seemed comfortable around.

"I can't wait then." He stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "I don't want to take your time, but I thought that we could get to know each other better. What would you say for having tea and ordering some food?"

For a minute she felt like that was the only thing she wished for right now. It was so overwhelming that almost she said "yes". Then she recalled that she had a date tonight and so that peculiar need of getting to know Lucien passed away, replaced by the excitation she felt all day long.

"I'm really sorry, but I can't tonight. I have other plans." She gave him a stare that clearly meant that he had to go now. "We can talk tomorrow along with establishing some rules."

She came to the front door and opened them for him. He was so surprised that the first time he lost his words.

"See you tomorrow, Hailie." His eyes darkened as he was angry with her yet she was too busy with her evening plans to notice that.

"Yeah, see you!" She wanted to slap the doors but reminded herself that he was her new roommate and she ought to be nice. "I'm really happy to live with you!" she said and winced as she was hopeless at the choice of words. "Bye!"

She closed the door and leaned on them. That day just began for her and she already felt strange and nervous. She just had to get it together before Shane's visit.

"Pride, I need your help!" she screamed and ran to her room but the ghost wasn't there.

Pride was standing in the living room and laughing when Lust showed up. He wasn't thrilled about today's conversation with Hailie.

"Did she just brush me off?"

"Yes, she did!" said Greed, who joined them. "We've all seen it."

"It was epic," admitted Wrath, whose eyes were set only on Pride. She sent him a kiss and got off the couch.

"Have a nice conversation, I need to go. Hailie has a date tonight and guess what, it's not with Lucien," she scoffed, feeling much better than in the morning. "Don't worry, dear, the game didn't even start yet."

"You better watch out, Pride," warned Lust as he believed that his failure was partly because of her.

"For you?" She laughed. "I'm feeling way too comfortable here. And me? Hailie at least likes me."

"Cut it off," said Greed before they've gotten into a fight. She could swear it was already hell just living with them being always in a battle mood. "Let's hope she's gonna find another roommate, a human this time, cause while you two are playing, I'm getting a little bit bored."

"I feel great," said Gluttony even though nobody asked him.

"Is that Hailie's sandwich?" asked Pride, because she was sure she has seen her friend making it.

"It's really good and she didn't want it."

All the other ghosts rolled their eyes. Typical Gluttony.

But why does he always steal human's food?