IllusoryThrall's Sims 4 Hub
- Challenges, Tips & Stories
Chapter 2.10 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 2.11
Generation Two: Brown Appearance: Brown hair, unkempt clothing style Traits: Loves Outdoors, Loner, Child of the Island Aspiration: Beach Life Occupation: Conservationist House Goal: 20,000 worth
Dear Diary:
I don’t know how to write in one of these things. Mama said she uses hers to tell about her day and her feelings, but that just seems weird to me. I guess I’ll just have to try it, though.
So here goes nothing. Today, I went to school. Then I came home and played in the old dollhouse. It wasn’t much fun by myself, so I went outside.
I decided if nobody was around, I’d play in Daddy’s fish pond. I pretended I was a pirate.
I started to get a bad feeling.
Then, a big scary arm came out and tried to get me. I yelled to abandon ship and ran back inside.
Maybe taking a bath would be safer.
I wasn’t going to admit my fear about going back outside, so I played in the toy box for a while.
Then, Daddy helped me with my homework.
…..
Okay, this isn’t working. I’m not very good at this. I keep trying, hoping I’ll get better at it, but it’s hard. I just don’t know what to say. And I need to.. know what to say.
Because I have to grow up to be like Mama. She says I’m the heir to the family legacy. Which is hard to understand. All I know is: when I grow up, I’ll have to leave home.
I mean, I’ll still be in Sulani, but I’ll have to be on my own. Mama said it’ll be hard, but that I’ll do just fine. I’m not so sure. I don’t think I want to be… an heir.
I don’t want to be alone, and I really don’t want to grow up. I wish I had a choice, but Mama says since I’m the first girl, that’s what I was born to do. She did it, and so did Grandma. It’s what our family does. I don’t know why, but we have to. I snuck upstairs last night and looked at an old photo album of my Great-Grandma. The one who found out how to be a mermaid in a scary cave.
She had come from somewhere else, and was brave enough to start over when she was still just a teenager. I don’t know how she did it, and I really don’t know if I’m brave enough. I mean, if a pretend sea monster can make me afraid of Daddy’s fish pond… how can I be the heir??
Oops. Daddy says it’s bedtime, so I have to go, Diary. I guess I’ll write more tomorrow. Mama says that practice will help, like it does with my violin. But I’m not sure I believe her.
Chapter 2.10 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 2.11
Author’s Note: This chapter takes a dark turn, and is not recommended family friendly reading. Be aware – and enjoy!
In terror, the first and only thing I could think of to do was to run to Sonia. Which I did. She immediately embraced me and asked for the whole story. What I remembered of it, that is. Her eyes grew bigger with each sentence I spoke, and by the end she was nearly in tears.
“I should have known something like this would happen.” Sonia said when I finally finished the story and waited for her response.
“What do you mean?” I said. I was afraid I knew the answer, but part of me wanted to hear it out loud.
“Dušan… you are no longer human. I’m afraid Vlad did not just feed on you as you had originally feared, but he also must have forced you to feed on him.” Her eyes were serious, and she spoke haltingly, as if she was afraid to actually say the words.
I felt my knees try to buckle underneath me, and the world started spinning.
“What??” It came out in a harsh whisper. “What do you mean?” I asked, even though the answer was clear.
“I’m sorry, Dušan. There is nothing that can be done.” She dropped her hands to her side, and sighed deeply.
The silence stretched between us seemingly interminably.
Finally, she spoke again. “I don’t know what else to tell you, Dušan.”
“The only thing I can say – is that this should not change who you are. You are a good person at heart. And you are still my friend.” She held her arms out to me, and I could see no censure or fear in her eyes.
I folded her frail form into my arms. “Thank you, Sonia.” I whispered, and then, without another word, I left. I had business with the vampire on the top of the hill.
I burst through Vlad’s door without even bothering to knock, full of righteous anger.
“How DARE you!” I intoned.
“How DARE you say there are no hard feelings against my family – and then do THIS to me!”
“You welcomed me into your house with what I thought were good intentions! I should have known that was impossible for you.”
He even had the depravity to act like my anger made him afraid.
“WHAT were you thinking?!” I demanded, trying to force an answer from him.
“I… It was for your own good, my son.” He began, haltingly.
“How could … THIS… ” I motioned to myself and continued, “Be for my own good. I’m now DEAD!”
“No, you’re undead.” Vlad corrected. “And now you’ll live forever. You’ll have time to build your mansion and your legacy to rival even mine. After all that has been done to your family, I felt I owed you this honor.”
I was completely dumbfounded.
Before I could come up with anything to say, he reached behind himself to a package on the pipe organ.
“Here, childe.” he said and handed it to me.
I slowly ripped open the paper – only to find some plasma packs inside. Nearly shaking with anger, now, I looked up at him and began to speak, only to have him cut me off.
“You will not have to feed on humans, as many of us do. I can teach you to make these for yourself.. but you will have to eat. I can tell you haven’t fed yet – and not feeding can lead to dire consequences. Both for you and for those around you.”
“This. Is. Not. An. Honor.” I bit out, barely coherent enough to even talk.
“How could you even think something like this would be for my own good. You have taken EVERYTHING from me!”
In a white-hot rage, I flew at him, and, to my surprise, he fled from me.
I chased him out the door, feeling myself slide into … what I can only describe as… another form of myself. An angrier, more terrible form. One I hoped I never had to experience again.
Before he could leave his yard, he suddenly turned around, his eyes clearly showing his inhumanity.
Howling in rage, we met in the middle – a mess of arms, legs, and fangs.
I couldn’t tell you how long the fight lasted, or even what exactly transpired during it.
All I really know – is that I lost. And when I came back to myself, I was alone on the ground outside Vlad’s mansion. Shakily, I got to all fours and tried to push myself upright.
Well, that had gone well I thought to myself sarcastically. I dropped my head into my hands, at a loss of what to do now. Fighting with Vlad solved nothing, but I knew I would never forgive him for what he had done. Nothing could ever be the same again, obviously.
After long moments crying and feeling sorry for myself, I pushed myself to my feet and dusted myself off as best I could.
With nothing else to do, I headed home dejectedly. Things could not get any worse at this point, right?
I was standing at my campsite, feeling very sorry for myself when I heard someone stomping up behind me. To my utter horror, I turned around to find Alex there. How had she found my home? What was she doing here?! I glanced around, suddenly seeing my.. hovel.. for what she must see.
“I can explain…” I began.
“You’d BETTER explain!” She yelled. “You LIED to me! You’re not a successful artist – you’re a CON artist!”
“I am not!” I yelled back. “I already applied for the permits to build a home, and I have plenty of money to do just that! I never lied to you – I just didn’t tell you I was living in a tent!” Weak at the knees from hunger and everything that had happened, I sat down on my pitiful little cooler to continue.
“Alex, I adore you. I couldn’t risk losing you by telling you the truth. I AM successful as an artist, and I can afford to care for you. It just doesn’t look like it right now. Things will change – I promise you!”
“You LIE! I can’t believe a word you say! Imagine my embarrassment when I had to hear all about you from FRIENDS of mine who knew you better than I knew you! You’ve made me the laughingstock of everyone in Windenburg. Everyone knew about you except for ME!”
I started to reply.. I stood up, looking at her beseechingly.. and then I felt something slide in me. The world went a bit dim, and everything was spinning.
Or maybe that was just me spinning. Before I knew it, I was in that.. other.. form of me. And not out of anger this time. I couldn’t excuse it on that.
I saw myself begin to attack Alex as if through a fog. And I couldn’t stop myself.
The sweet, metallic taste of blood slid down my throat as I fed, but, still, I couldn’t stop. This had been what Vlad meant when he said not feeding was dangerous.
My own body had taken the choice from me. Sadly, I set myself back down on my cooler, and looked down at Alex’s crumpled form. She was never going to forgive me now. Whether or not I lied by omission was no longer an issue. I had attacked her.
I was completely “myself” again by the time Alex stood groggily up – so I was totally aware when she threw my ring into my garden and stumbled away. She didn’t even say a word.
I’d been wrong. Things could definitely get worse. Desolate, I fell to the ground by my tent and gave into the rush of tears. What would I do NOW?!
Chapter 2.9 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 2 Interlude 1
Generation Two: Brown Appearance: Brown hair, unkempt clothing style Traits: Loves Outdoors, Loner, Child of the Island Aspiration: Beach Life Occupation: Conservationist House Goal: 20,000 worth
It’s another beautiful day in Sulani, and with Kali big enough to watch her brother and sister, Aleki and I are once again able to have a leisurely morning swim out by our dock. Kali has her breakfast, and is all ready to go to school when we get back. We give her a hug goodbye and head inside to get back to being parents of two little ones.
After Kali gets home from school, she does her homework and then plops down at her beloved activity table. Since I’m working on my last point of Logic for work, I’m close enough to her that we can sit and chat.
While I’m studying, though, my phone rings. It’s Austen, and he has more bad news. Meilani miscarried again, and this time the doctors said they should simply stop trying. Austen agrees, I mean, they’re not getting any younger – but it doesn’t lessen the blow of losing yet another baby. I decide Kali has enough to worry about, so I don’t tell her the news, but I save it to tell Alexi later.
After what must be one of the fastest aspiration finishes ever, Kali decides she now wants to be a Whiz kid, so I spend what’s left of the evening reading to her and teaching her to play chess.
Unbeknownst to either Aleki or I, Maricela ages up all by herself upstairs and wanders around, checking out her new territory. Not finding anyone to play with up there, though, she quickly gets bored of it, and ends up alerting us to her presence with a temper tantrum that would wake the Kraken.
The week goes on, with Aleki taking his “Zen” moments at his water garden as often as he can, and both of us playing tag-team on the parenting. I tell you what, things can get pretty crazy with three kids around a house.
With Aleki’s aspiration being Mansion Baron, he’s up to the part where he’s supposed to own more Art. So he spends a few days working on actual paintings instead of commissions for other people. He turns out some pretty good stuff, but nothing worth even close to what he can make with commissions. They do add a nice “feel” to the house, though, as we hang them up here and there.
Maricela is quite a troublemaker, and got into the flour while I was making Jayce’s birthday cake. We planned to invite the family over for his party, but it ended up that a good portion of the family couldn’t make it.
…. Which made Jayce very sad.
Dinner at the party was a little subdued, and I quickly shuffled everyone off home and told Jayce he should check upstairs… It didn’t take him long to discover that we’d made some purchases.
One of the rooms was now decked out just for him – and it even had room for some pets. Kali grudgingly agreed to share her art bench with her brother, because apparently he grew up with the Art Lover trait as well, and seemed to want to be just like his big sister.
The other nice thing is that we’d finally been able to afford fixtures in the upstairs bathroom – so there was no racing down the stairs in the early morning hours for anyone in the family. (Which, in my opinion, is a good thing – we don’t need anyone falling down the stairs!)
However, those furniture upgrades weren’t cheap, and Aleki has been working day and night on commissions to pay for them. Pair that with trying to keep up with a constantly naughty toddler, and neither Aleki or the toddler seemed to be getting enough rest.
I quickly stepped in and put Mari to bed, and sent Aleki to bed, too. The paintings could wait for tomorrow.
I still visit with Squirt as much as I possibly can, and she’s always glad to hear little tidbits about my family life. As she says, the life of the “two legs” (us) is particularly interesting, because she couldn’t imagine not being in the ocean all the time. She was also happy to hear of my major promotion to the top of my career… now I’m the boss around work, and I can dictate even more conservation efforts around the islands.
Mom stopped over to see the kids the day after the birthday party, and our little Charmer Mari was more than happy to try to monopolize all of her visiting time.
We didn’t much mind, though, because it’s so cute watching them play together.
Mom helped me tuck in our littlest monster, and then we were able to have a real talk about Dad. We both missed him terribly, but life goes on – and I expressed just how glad I was that she was still around. At least my kids would get to know one grandparent!
“Hammy” – as Jayce has named his new pet – has turned out to be a really cute family addition, and we practically fight over who’s going to take care of him next. He certainly isn’t lacking for attention, and his cage is always pristine.
Mari is slowly learning to talk, even if she’d much rather be making messes. I don’t remember either of my other kids being quite as rowdy as she is.
Every time we turn around, there’s another mess in the making. I swear, I might as well just leave the mop and bucket out – but then, they’d probably turn into her playthings, too. I even caught her playing in the toilet, of all things, the other day. What a mess that was!
Now that work is so much less stressful, I’ve taken up a new hobby. I bought myself a Diving Camera, and have started taking pictures of the deep ecosystems in our islands. It takes time to get good photos, but I’ve found my photography has definitely been improving with the practice.
The pictures that I don’t sell to the local galleries have gone up in our bedroom, giving us a daily (well, nightly) reminder of just how precious the life around us is.
Chapter 2.9 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 2 Interlude 1
Chapter 2.8 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 2.10
Generation Two: Brown Appearance: Brown hair, unkempt clothing style Traits: Loves Outdoors, Loner, Child of the Island Aspiration: Beach Life Occupation: Conservationist House Goal: 20,000 worth
Have I mentioned lately how much I love Sulani? Every day I notice something else that I hadn’t noticed before, and the sheer beauty of nature around me takes my breath away. I mean, I’m glad I no longer live right under the volcano – like I did growing up – but I’m still close enough to my parents that it’s a short swim across the water.
Today was Kali’s first day of school, and she ran off past the new windows with as much glee as I’ve ever seen for someone who was going to school for the day.
Oh, did I mention the new windows? Yeah, I found some windows on sale at the local hardware store that really open up the house, and with Alexi’s newest big commission, we decided to splurge. Again. I know, it’s hard to save when I’m constantly spending more money, but lately it seems so easy to make that money back that upgrading the house for our growing family was an easy option.
Alexi is still such a big help around the house – even in the face of the fact that he manages to find the time to do at least one commission every other day or so. And those commissions aren’t just asking for a simple logo anymore. They want the “real” stuff. Luckily, Alexi is talented enough to do just that.
Kali arrived home from school humming to herself, and immediately sat down to do her homework. After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I went over to help her on her math, but she insisted the rest she could do on her own. Which left me some down time to recover after working all day. With the baby due soon, I knew we were going to need my paycheck, and my boss was nice enough to give me easy tasks, so it was okay.
After her homework was done, Kali spent the rest of the evening playing with her toys for her aspiration – which reminded me that I needed to get back to work on mine. Maybe I could find time this weekend. If the baby came first, that is.
Speaking of commissions, Alexi got another big one today, and he’s had his head in that Sketchpad of his whether he’s actually working on it or not. By bedtime he’d still only gotten one of the Environmental Sketches done, and the client had furiously sent it back. I had a feeling it was going to be a long couple of days for him.
I went to bed early – but I wasn’t asleep long. I knew what was wrong immediately, and Alexi dropped everything to come support me. Granted, his version of support was dancing around in the corner panicking, but at least he tried.
Before long, our third baby, Maricela arrived. Kali seemed determined to be the best big sister she possibly could be, and continued to do her homework without complaint, and even helped out around the house. Alexi said she even begged to have him show her how to start the washer to do her laundry so I wouldn’t have to!
I do have to wonder what Kali’s been writing about in her journal, though, because she always looks so serious when she’s doing it. I’m careful to give her her “space”, though, and despite the temptation, I haven’t pulled the journal out from under the mattress I know she stashes it under.
Poor Alexi has been trying to do everything lately. He’s up late with our newest daughter, and still one of the first ones up in the morning to work on his commissions. He did finally get that last big one completed, although I could have sworn I heard him cursing about difficult clients under his breath.
Mom.. I love you dearly, but you sure can pick a doozey of a time to stop by. The kitchen sink had broken, as well as the toilet, so I was far too busy to do anything more than say hello.
Kali stepped in, however, and spent some time with an adoring grandmother while eating her dinner. I’d made veggie chili that night, and Mom swore that’s why she had swum all the way across the water to come visit. I laughed and made sure she had a bowl of her own before she left for the evening.
Before bed, Kali did some more to hang on the fridge – I swear, we’ve nearly run out of room! She’s turning out to have her father’s talent, it seems. We’ll see what she does with it as she grows up.
Since Maricela came right on time, and I said I’d work on my aspiration over the weekend – I did just that. I had to explore the cave that I’ve heard so many stories about from my mother. Apparently my grandmother found the gift of our tails there, and I have to admit, I’d been curious to really have a look around. I was also supposed to find some buried treasure, so I had plans to go buy some dive equipment to look for it later.
Kali had her first violin lesson this weekend, too… and it may not sound great now, but she sure is determined. She’s also smart enough to only practice when the babies aren’t sleeping, which I heartily approve of.
The house had another major upgrade, too. The balcony over the fish pond got turned into a media room. I have plenty of space now to store any shells or treasure I find. Granted, I found that one treasure in the cave, not by diving, but I was sure I could find more. Now that we were comfortable financially, I would definitely be able to keep the shells and stuff I found instead of selling it instantly.
Everyone had to admit, though, that the new “media room” and the windows really helped put the house together. Plus, I had another reason for actually buying a TV.
Sunday dawned with huge rainclouds in the sky, and there was trouble in the breeze. Jayce was getting into mischief while Alexi was trying to work, and I was so busy with Maricela I couldn’t really step in and help.
Then Dad called, right when I was finally free to doze off on the deck for the final step of my aspiration. I smiled and had to take some time to chat, despite the fact that it would eat into my naptime. He gabbed about all sorts of things, and I tried to keep up with him – but as usual, I was thoroughly left behind by the time the conversation was over. I laughed, then sat down for my nap – no matter how short it would be.
My nap was just long enough to count for finishing my aspiration, and then I was back to work, being a super mom. Alexi had been working all morning on another tough commission, so he had passed out on the couch, and someone had to watch the babies.
Kali and I had a quiet dinner while he rested.. and then cleaned up the dishes. .. Then we all ran upstairs, because it was time for the countdown.
We had all made our resolutions, and to my surprise, the babies slept through the entire countdown.. but it was not to be as happy an end to the year as we all expected. Just as the ball dropped in San Myshuno, all of our phones started ringing at the same time. We all shared a sober look, because that was never a good thing.
To my horror, despite the fact I had just talked to him and he had been his typical high energy self, my father had passed away. My brother had had to make the phone call, because Mom was beside herself with grief.
I threw myself into Alexi’s arms with the confetti from the holiday still raining down on our heads. He caught me, and held me tight for a long moment before something occurred to me.
Poor Kali was standing there all alone, as devastated as the rest of us. I quickly scooped her up in my arms and held her tight. It was going to be a long week – but at least Jayce was too young to feel much of the pain. Granted, he was going to pick up on the emotion from the rest of us, but he wasn’t going to understand or remember it. I couldn’t say the same for Kali. This was a day none of us would soon forget.
It was terribly late by the time I’d gotten Kali calmed down enough to go to bed, and she was mostly asleep by the time I even got the blankets pulled up. I gave her a kiss, then checked in on Jayce downstairs before curling up next to Alexi and listened to the crickets outside. I’m not sure I ever actually fell asleep that night – but I do know I watched the sun rise over Mari’s crib and remembered my Dad.
(A/N: This is the second time this legacy I’ve been moved close to tears by my little pixel mermaids. You will be missed, Rangi.. you will be missed. I had taken this screenshot of Corina swimming earlier in the evening’s play session, but I felt it was more appropriate to use it to close the post. Enjoy, and see you next time!)
Chapter 2.8 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 2.10
By the time I woke up, the sun had gone down, but the pain in my abdomen certainly had not. It still felt like hunger, though, so I reached into my cooler to try something else.
Nope. The yogurt was definitely bad, too. I wondered what might have happened. I’d never had stuff in my cooler go bad before – and it made me wonder how long I’d been trapped in that coffin at the vampire’s mansion. Maybe I’d been “out” for quite a while. It was the only explanation I could come up with.
Meanwhile, I most definitely was going to have to find something to eat. And going all the way to Windenburg in the state of pain I was in now was definitely out of the question. I tried to think of options, but my brain was as muzzy as the rest of me.
Finally, I grabbed my fishing rod and tackle and headed to catch a nice fresh fish. Halfway there, I doubled over in pain, and looked in horrified wonder at the purple glow that was emanating from my stomach. Moments later, the pain passed slightly, and I convinced myself I had been imagining things, and continued on to the pond.
Fishing while hurting is not something I recommend, I have to say. It felt like forever before I had a bite on the line, and the disappointment when I didn’t catch anything was palpable.
What seemed like hours passed, and finally I managed to catch something big enough to eat. All the little goldfish I threw back. I still didn’t know what goldfish were doing in the pond – but they could also stay there for all I cared. I grabbed up the fish and my stuff and started the painful journey back home.
By the time I got home, I needed to go to the bathroom – so I used my friendly bush. By the time I got done, the weird glow was back, and the pain had nearly doubled. Tears ran down my face, and I angrily wiped them away and set out to make some dinner. I couldn’t remember ever being this hungry before. How long had I been trapped?? Days?!?
The fish took literally forever to cook. It smelled amazing, too. I wondered why I had been too busy to get fresh fish lately, and why I had just been eating out of my cooler. I guess I’d forgotten how good a fried fish could be!
Once my fish was done, I sprinkled it with some spices and sat back down to enjoy it.
The moment it hit my mouth, I knew something was terribly wrong. I couldn’t imagine what it was – but there was no way the fish had gone bad in the short walk back from the pond. What was going on?? I dropped my head in my hands, and then decided I’d try one last thing.
Again, the hot dog took forever to cook.. but finally, it was done, and I braced myself for yet another attempt to eat something.
Nope. This was not going to work. Food was out of the question. Maybe I just had some sort of a stomach bug?
Miserably, I say there and looked at my weed-strewn garden and my sad little campsite. What was I going to do now? There was no way I could garden in the amount of pain I was in. … Perhaps I should call the local landscaping company and see if they would send someone over just for the day. One quick phone call later, I steeled myself for the bill that would certainly be placed in my hand when the gardeners were done for the day.
I contemplated painting while I waited for them to arrive, but I couldn’t think of anything to paint. I wondered if I even had enough red paint to depict the amount of pain I was in… and quickly determined painting was not in my near future.
The gardener arrived, looking a bit confused at the fact that he’d been called for such an extensive garden at what was, essentially, just a camp site. He clearly wanted his paycheck, however, and said nothing. He went about his business, and I asked him to pin the bill to the easel when he was done – I needed to rest. I crawled miserably into my tent, and fell, blessedly, into a deep sleep.
When I woke again, I stumbled groggily out of my tent and glared at the sun behind the clouds. After getting violently ill in the bushes, I headed back to my tent.. but I didn’t quite make it there.
A force I couldn’t deny pulled me into the air and spun me around. The glow was back, too, only this time it was all over my body. What, exactly, had happened to me while I was at Vlad’s house? What had he done to me?!
Still airborne, I felt like I was being ripped apart from the inside out. I screamed out in agony, confusion and anger.
Then, finally, I was set back down on the ground. I nearly fell over in relief. Most of the pain was gone, and the only thing left was a dull pang of hunger. Which did make sense since I’d been sleeping for nearly an entire day. I made up my mind to go to Windenburg and do some more research on vampires. On the way home, I could stop and get something to fill my cooler with. I quickly cleaned all the bad food out of the cooler, trashed it, and headed for town.
I ignored the strange looks I was getting and went immediately to the section on vampires. I pulled out a volume I hadn’t noticed before and began reading. I couldn’t imagine why people were looking at me like I was cursed or something. I quickly lost myself in my research, though, and it was nearly dark again before I pulled myself back out of the books. I had learned quite a lot about Vampire feeding habits. They would hypnotize their prey and then drink their blood, and the victim would be left with no memory of the incident and exhausted. There was nothing mentioned about being ravenously hungry after such an attack, though, so I wondered why that had been the case with me. I was filled with anger that Vlad had apparently attacked me, though. Had that been his entire reason for inviting me to his house? Or had he had other motives?
I had skimmed over the section on “vegetarian” vampires who drank plasma fruit or the juice instead of feeding on humans, not seeing any reason why I would need to know how to make either. It did ring a bell, however, with the weirdly pulsing fruit that grew on my trees. No wonder it sold so well in my town….
Before leaving the library, my thoughts ran to Alex and my home. I headed to a nearby computer terminal, found the proper website, and started filling out the paperwork to apply for building permits. I was going to need a home to bring Alex to, after all, and I still hadn’t told her about the fact that I was camping on my own land. I wondered what her reaction would be. Maybe if I got the building underway before I let her know, then she wouldn’t be as upset. It wasn’t like I hadn’t saved enough to start building, after all – I just hadn’t taken this final step.
I finished putting in the applications, and checked my email. There were a couple notes from Mariko, checking up on me, wondering where I’d been the last couple days, and the usual spam. I didn’t know what to tell her, so I didn’t reply. I would figure out what to say, and call her tomorrow. After I got some food in my stomach and had another nap. The nap sounded like the best part, however, and I packed up and started to leave the library.
Thinking about the trip home, I decided to make a pit stop at the bathroom. While washing my hands like normal, I looked up at the mirror.
The only thing in the mirror was the toilet behind me. I cast no reflection.
Chapter 2.7 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 2.9
Generation Two: Brown Appearance: Brown hair, unkempt clothing style Traits: Loves Outdoors, Loner, Child of the Island Aspiration: Beach Life Occupation: Conservationist House Goal: 20,000 worth
Winterfest dawned with some huge changes. First of all.. we had STAIRS! The house upgrade that I mentioned planning for was complete – or, mostly so. The building was done, at least, but there were some glaring things missing – like furniture. All our funds had gone into the building, though, so we were going to need to spend some time saving to finish out the furnishings. But, first, I’ll give you a little tour of the changes:
Alexi’s office was expanded, so it wasn’t just a glorified closet anymore, and he had room to store some of his artwork, too.
The deck overlooking the ocean was official – you can see we moved the Master Bedroom upstairs, as well. And yes, it’s pouring – the weather for Winterfest isn’t exactly ideal – but this is Sulani, and winter means storms.
The front of the house also got a major upgrade with another deck – this time, overlooking Alexi’s beloved water garden.
And, finally, we had a major surprise for Kali. Today was her birthday, and we’d set up a room of her very own upstairs. She even had her first journal, sitting on her desk, waiting for her first words.
Apparently, Kali had forgotten it was Winterfest, too, and squealed in joy to find the tree had been moved into the living room before she got up.
Before long, Jaye was up, too, and Alexi watched both the kids, who were thoroughly excited for the day – while I worked on yet another surprise in the kitchen.
When the surprise cake was ready, I called Kali, and she came running.
We all gathered around Kali’s Strawberry cake and sang the birthday song as Kali blew out the candles. She got them on the first try, too!
Then, because it was her birthday, Kali and I cut a couple thick slices of cake and sat down while she chatted excitedly about school starting tomorrow. I have to say, her new wardrobe looked great on her, and I was glad to see her growing up. She had gained the Art Lover trait, and I couldn’t wait for her to find her Winterfest gift!
Kali offered to clean up the dishes, since she could actually reach the sink now – and I tried not to watch for broken dishes while she worked. I swear, the sponge is as big as she is!
Then, I brought out the decorations for the tree, and we all started working on setting it up. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Jayce eyeing the vase on the shelves, and quickly found something else for him to do.
Finally, he settled down and sat quietly while we finished the tree and I scattered the presents around the base of it.
Because it was her birthday, we let Kali go first. Jayce was impatient, but was more than happy to “help” with the ribbons and discarded wrapping paper.
Then, it was Jayce’s turn, and he was immediately captivated with the action figure in his present… which gave us time to set up Kali’s present in the new activity room.
Of course, she had to try out the art table immediately, and Alexi shuffled Jacye off to his room so he wouldn’t interfere.
This gave me a chance to take a much-needed nap in the middle of the day.
By nightfall, the kids were still busy with their gifts – and I woke up to give Alexi some time to go feed his fish. We had installed lights in the garden, luckily, and it looked amazing at night, now.
I made my last grilled meal for my aspiration – a special Fruit Cobbler for Winterfest, and everyone rushed to be the first to get a slice.
The merry sounds of laughter drew everyone outside to meet Father Winter – who had showed up in his swimwear, much to everyone’s surprise!
He quickly added some presents to the pile under the tree, and went back outside to hand out the rest of the gifts.
Kali’s gift was a new virtuoso violin, and I quickly made notes to sign her up for lessons.
Alexi hadn’t expected a gift of his own, but Father Winter insisted.. and I think he was really excited by the gift….
… because he immediately went to set it up in his office. Now that his painting skill was getting so good, I should have thought to get him a real easel myself! After we tucked Jayce in, I sent Alexi to the kitchen for yet another surprise.
I’d made him a decadent coconut cake – his favorite – for his birthday, and we had a quiet celebration downstairs. Wow, it still feels weird to call this the “downstairs” – it’s just been “home” for so long, and it’s not like the house I grew up in ever had stairs. We were really moving up in the world!
Alexi was exhausted, since he hadn’t had a nap, so I offered to tuck in Kali in her brand new room, and she was asleep practically before I could pull the covers up. It had been a long, busy day… and I stumbled off to the downstairs bathroom – since the upstairs one didn’t have any fixtures yet – then practically crawled back up the stairs to my nice soft, familiar bed. Even with the nap, the new life in me sapped most of my energy, and bedtime was always the best time of the day. Any day now, however, our new baby would arrive… and I was so excited to meet them!
Chapter 2.7 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 2.9
Chapter 2.6 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 2.8
Generation Two: Brown Appearance: Brown hair, unkempt clothing style Traits: Loves Outdoors, Loner, Child of the Island Aspiration: Beach Life Occupation: Conservationist House Goal: 20,000 worth
Waking up to a dirty toddler is never fun, but waking up to someone else taking care of it .. well, let’s just say, it’s much better. This pregnancy was harder on me than I remember the last two being – at least, it sure was in these first few weeks. I’ve had trouble sleeping, and I’ve been pretty sick, too, so Alexi has been (thankfully) taking up the slack. Having two toddlers and a baby on the way made for a crazy house.
We had really lucked out on Jayce – he was so Independent, he tended to almost take care of himself. He was often content just to play by himself in the kid’s room.
Kali, however, was still our little troublemaker. She took constant care and attention – but she was getting better behaved as she grew up, luckily. Don’t tell Alexi I said this – but she’s still my favorite. I love her spirit – she reminds me a bit of me.
After Alexi pointing out that the sink was filthy after he’d given Jayce his bath, I decided something needed to be done about it. And I really wasn’t feeling up to cleaning it. So I spent the extra time needed to install some auto cleaning hardware on most of the bathroom appliances. Apparently, I needed to fix the toilet while I was at it! The kids were curious about all the noise I was making – and they both came toddling in to see if they could “help”.
Noticing that I was foot-deep in a pile of laundry, Alexi went and cleaned up the whole house of it and started the Washer. Which left me trying to upgrade a sink and watching two kids at the same time.
Later, though, Alexi gave me some time to go “hydrate my scales”, and I happened upon a dolphin. I remembered hearing stories of my grandmother and a dolphin she had befriended – so I spent some time to get to know this blue dolphin.
After a little while, we were great friends, and she had told me her name was Squirt. She let me rub her belly, and we splashed playfully until her pod showed up and she swam off to be with them.
On the way home, I found some turtles, and stopped to watch them. I wondered if any of them were the baby turtles I had observed earlier in the year. They were gorgeous, though, and seemed to all be healthy, which made my heart glad.
Alexi and the kids were playing happily when I got home, although my “mommy sense” told me the little tummies were going to be hungry soon – so I let them play and headed for the back deck.
I still needed a couple of grilled meals for my aspiration, after all.. and for some reason, I was craving baked potatoes. I covered them with cheese and bacon and the entire family enjoyed the treat.
Days passed, and, to my excitement, I started feeling the little mermaid or merman inside really starting to “swim around”. I showed Kali and Jayce – who, predictably, had completely different reactions. Jayce could have cared less for the most part, whereas Kali had to ask a million questions – with the most prominent one being “Does this one have to be a little brother, too??” I stifled a laugh and told her we’d just have to wait and see!
Kali had finally succeeded at her potty training lessons, although being the one who usually cleaned out the potty made me slightly ambivalent about the whole process. At least I wasn’t still changing a million diapers, I guess. Those got to be expensive.
Alexi still spent time working on commissions for clients, and his painting skills were really getting quite impressive. I tried to give him some kid-free time to work in his office each day, but sometimes they escaped and toddled off to try to find where he’d gone to.
My parents, and brother and sister in law made an excuse of bringing us some good island food to come over, and it was great to see them.
I kept the kids occupied while he and the rest of the adults had dinner. Kali and Jayce had already eaten, so keeping them out from underfoot was the best thing to do.
Everyone sounded like they had a great time, however, from what I could hear from the kid’s room.
When my Dad came back to check on us, it gave me a chance to tell him the news about the new family addition. Apparently Mom overheard, and soon they were both in the kid’s room with me, chatting excitedly about another new grandkid. Before long, I had to shoo them out to put the other two grand-kids to bed, though.
Alexi was multi-tasking and trying to finish up a commission that was due in the morning, but he did tell me later that after my announcement, that the conversation hadn’t strayed very far from talk of the new arrival.
I tucked Jayce into bed and read Kali her nightly story, watching her little eyes try to stay open until the end of the book. She didn’t quite make it, as usual, and I smiled and gave her a soft kiss before sneaking out of the room to get some sleep myself.
Chapter 2.6 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 2.8
Author’s Note: This chapter takes a dark turn, and is not recommended family friendly reading. Be aware – and enjoy!
I walked up to Vlad’s door with a sense of foreboding in my heart and a chill running down my spine. Somehow, I knew this was a bad idea… but I digress. First I should explain.
My day had started out pretty normally. Taking care of my bees and the garden was a daily chore that I have quickly come to love doing.
Then, I have breakfast and spend some time painting. I’m getting pretty good, but there’s always room for improvement. The gallery says my paintings sell like hotcakes, and to keep them coming.. but there’s only so much time in a day.
Today, however, thoughts of doom were interrupting my idyllic retreat. That old vampire was still waiting for me to come meet him at his house. I wasn’t sure of his intentions, but the friend he sent to threaten me definitely had me worried. I wondered if I should meet him before anything else could happen. I couldn’t figure out another way to keep myself and my family-to-be safe other than to confront the him and ask him to leave me and mine alone from now on. We were practically neighbors and I certainly didn’t plan on making friends, but perhaps listening to whatever he had to say about my family’s history would satisfy whatever he wanted, and we could learn to co-exist in peace.
So here I was, terrified. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
“Come in, my son. The door is open.”
With a gulp, I drew myself up to my full height and turned the handle of the massive door.
At once, pipe organ music completely assailed my senses, and I tried not to blink in consternation. I don’t know what I had expected, but this nearly pristine Victorian Mansion had definitely not been on the list. Surreptitiously, I looked around for cobwebs, but didn’t see any.
Suddenly, the music stopped and the old vampire began laughing, almost as if he could read my mind. Wait a minute… could vampires read minds?? Damnit, I should have read more in those books from the library.
“Welcome to my home, Dusan.” He said, rising from the pipe organ and holding out his weathered hand to me in greeting, “whether you feel it or not – you are truly welcome here, although I understand your reluctance. I have so few human acquaintances, these days – sometimes I forget how to treat them. But please – be my guest. Have a seat.” He motioned to a nearby love seat that was – of course – right next to a skull on display. Fabulous.
We both sat down, me almost as far away as I could get from him, and again – he smiled at me as if he knew.
“I suppose you wish to know about your family?” He asked.
“Actually – I want you to have your friends stop stalking me at night and threatening me. I came here to live on my mother’s beloved homeland, and, god willing – raise a family here. I know the history and I certainly don’t need lecturing from you.” I was mostly bluffing, and I dearly hoped he didn’t know it.
He chuckled slightly, and raised an aquiline eyebrow before he began speaking again, “Dear child – had you truly known your history, you would not have come back. Your family had made itself unwelcome here, but we vampires had no part to play in the final accident. We even tried to step in during the tragedy to help rescue, but our services were denied. Your lovely mother was the only survivor – and the house was gone. There was nothing left for the child here, so she left to find a new life. For our part, we were very moved by her loss – even a vampire understands family – and we certainly also understand loss. Since then, the grudge held against your family has been erased and you are as welcome here as you would be anywhere.”
I looked away, mulling over his words. Was he hinting that I wasn’t welcome anywhere? I shook my head slightly, trying to get rid of that idea. “It was arson, the police said. If my family weren’t wanted here, how am I supposed to know that it wasn’t you and yours that began it to get rid of us?”
”Because, childe, that’s not how we operate.” He had moved closer so that he was sitting right next to me, and I found myself compelled to watch his eyes. In fact… I couldn’t look away. What was happening here??
Things started fading around me, until I could see nothing but Vlad.
Then my vision went completely black.
I remember nothing else until I woke up in a box. A dark softly-lined box. And it smelled like old mothballs. Wrinkling my nose, I tried opening and closing my eyes several times, but to no avail. I had no idea whether I was just in the dark or whether I was utterly blind. In a panick, I pushed at the fabric lined wood above me, and, much to my surprise, it swung open easily.
Not in any mind to stay where I was, I quickly got out of the box – only to turn around and see that it was a cobweb-covered coffin. What the hell!?
Shivers of fear ran down my spine, and I would have completely bolted had I not been nearly struck down by a pain in my midsection.
I cursed in both of the languages I knew, and tried to gather my thoughts through the pain. The only thing I could settle on was that I needed to get out of here – quickly and without being seen. After a glance around this … dungeon – for I could see nothing else to call it – I quickly found the stairs leading up.
I tried to be as stealthy as possible, but with the pain I was in – I really don’t know if I had managed any stealth at all.
Somehow, however, my luck held and I finally reached the front door, unnoticed.
Once through it as quietly as possible, I broke into a painful, shambling run. All I wanted was to get home.
Finally, I got back to my little campsite, nearly exhausted. I sat down on my cooler to catch my breath. Or – at least, try to.
Thinking that perhaps my stomach pain was due to hunger – that was what it felt like, after all – I pulled out some breakfast and started eating. Within the first bite I knew something was wrong. The milk for my cereal must have gone bad – because this was awful. Looked like I was going to head into town soon for new supplies… but perhaps I’d just take a nap first. The sun seemed especially bright today, after all, and I could always go later, right?
Chapter 2.5 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 2.7
Generation Two: Brown Appearance: Brown hair, unkempt clothing style Traits: Loves Outdoors, Loner, Child of the Island Aspiration: Beach Life Occupation: Conservationist House Goal: 20,000 worth
I woke up the next morning to a disaster area. How could one little party make such a mess? Sighing, I got down to work. Humming softly to myself, I gathered up the dishes and cups and carefully carried them all to the sink. Perhaps we needed to invest some money in a dishwasher if we were going to continue with the family parties! I couldn’t regret the mess, however, because seeing all my family was such a precious thing. I was glad we had managed to remain a close family. Even Tevin and his son had managed to make the party – all the way from San Myshuno!
In the other room, I could hear Kali playing quietly, and Aleki soothing baby Jayce, who was up yet again. Oh – and speaking of Jayce – it’s his birthday today – which is exciting news!
Finally, everything was all cleaned up and we all gathered around to wish baby Jayce a happy birthday. He grew up very Independent, and insisted on taking his first steps all by himself.
Having a little brother that was big enough to actually have a conversation with and play with thrilled little Kali. She spent the rest of the morning completely monopolizing poor Jayce’s time.
Finally, Aleki managed to distract her long enough for me to spend some time with my little boy.
Potty training was the first order of business – it’s never too early to start with a toddler. I’m not sure Jayce quite understands the concept, however, but at least we tried. Then, we played some shape games with his toddler blocks, hoping to raise his thinking skill enough to forestall nightmares. We’ll see if it worked!
Once my babies were down for their afternoon nap, I took some time on my day off to go see the baby turtles being born. It was good to get back into the ocean again and let my scales hydrate a bit.
I was not the only person here to see the turtles, and before I knew it, there was a crowd hanging around the roped-off turtle lanes. I heard people ooo-ing and aahh-ing over the little ones, but my conservationist self decided I ought to Survey the scene thoroughly to make sure the baby turtles were happy, healthy, and headed right for the ocean as they should be.
I was apparently, not the only one studying them, either. I didn’t recognize the woman, but she was clearly doing some research, as well.
While I was gone, Aleki did some work on his newest commission.
Kali had woken up, upset about a broken dollhouse – and she took comfort from ol’ Blarffy while Aleki fixed it. After the dollhouse was back in good condition again, he was able to get her back asleep, and spend some time actually painting for the commission.
He watched over our babies while working, and apparently that was really inspiring, because the first two paintings were accepted right away. The third, however, took several tries to get “just right” for the client. Once it was done, however, he managed to get a nearly 5,000 simoleon paycheck! Definitely good money – but we would need it – because having kids is not cheap, let me tell you.
Speaking of money, it was definitely Monday, because the bills arrived right on time. By the time we got around to paying them, I was home and taking a short nap until the toddlers woke up.
Later that night, Aleki and I took some time for ourselves after putting the kids to bed. Dinner had been a feast of grilled fish I’d prepared – fresh caught from our fish traps – and it had been excellent.
Don’t worry – we locked the bedroom door, just in case!
… And it was a good thing we did, because Jayce was apparently up and wandering around the house. I suspect he was admiring the angelfish in our new saltwater aquarium.
A few mornings later, I had a sneaking suspicion our late night romp had borne fruit, so I took a pregnancy test. Sure enough… we were expecting .. AGAIN!
I went to wake Aleki to tell him the news, and I think he could tell right away by the silly grin on my face.
He laughed almost until he cried, then fretted a bit about the fact that it was so soon – but I convinced him this was a good thing as Aleki and I checked on the kids and headed to bed ourselves.
We were definitely going to have to start drafting plans for a bigger house, though, because we barely had enough room for the two toddlers as it was! The higher commissions from Aleki’s Freelancing job were definitely going to come in handy, after all! I drifted off to sleep thinking about possible designs and maybe even a balcony overlooking the water….
Chapter 2.5 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 2.7
Chapter 2.4 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 2.6
Generation Two: Brown Appearance: Brown hair, unkempt clothing style Traits: Loves Outdoors, Loner, Child of the Island Aspiration: Beach Life Occupation: Conservationist House Goal: 20,000 worth
(A/N: Welcome to Simnano 2020! I’ll be alternating posting days with this story and my Ramblers family, and aiming for at least 25,000 words for the month. I had so much fun last year I had to enter this year, as well. I’ve been looking forward to it since last year. This is the story I used last year, so it only made sense to use it again this year and get a little farther along in my challenge. Oh, and a note on the challenge, She’s at level 8 in her career, and on the last part of Beach Life aspiration. The house is way over value, too, so I don’t have to worry about that. Things are going well!)
The new baby, Jayce, was keeping us up at all hours. Aleki was so helpful, often being the one to get up with him while I made sure Kali was asleep in the next room. However, I still had big plans to invite the whole family over for a house party tonight, no matter how little sleep I was running on.
While stocking up the fridge for the party, I swear I saw a Freezer Bunny in there, but I managed to convince myself I was just really tired. Babies are hard work!
I finished stocking up the fridge and making breakfast, while Aleki finished connecting our new Washing Machine. Now that we had two kids, there was no way I had time to spend all day at that darn washtub anymore.
After installing it, he started our very first load of laundry in it.. and amazingly, everything worked smoothly. We had debated a while, but decided we liked the way the outside wash line dried the clothes, so we hadn’t bought a Dryer, too. Also eliminated the possibility of fire, which I’d heard was a terrifying possibility with that particular appliance.
We ate a quiet breakfast together while the kids were still asleep, and I headed outside to do some chores while Aleki watched the sleeping babies.
It was a great day for putting the laundry out, luckily, so I got that done, and then went to check on the fish traps. Again, there was plenty to sell and new fish to bait the hooks with.
On the way back inside, I couldn’t resist stopping to finish my beach-combing aspiration. Now I just needed to do some major outdoor grilling – so I was looking forward to trying out our new grill for the party tonight.
The rest of the morning practically flew by once Kali and Jayce woke up. There were diapers to change, bottles to warm up, and potty training to be worked on. Kali was really a great kid, though, and she was so independent that she liked to do most things on her own. When she went down for her afternoon nap, Aleki and I took some time to work on my Logic skill and play a game or two of chess. It was a lot of fun.
Then it was Aleki’s turn for outdoor chores. We had decided it was a good time to spend the 1000 simoleons on getting some cleaner snails for his Koi Garden, so he carefully introduced them, and we hoped that the fish didn’t eat all of the snails before they were able to do their job.
Lastly, he took down the laundry and put it away, while I made all the phone calls inviting the family over for dinner.
After making the phone calls, I finished final preparations by firing up the grill…
.. And making some Kava for the adults. This party was going to be Epic.
As people started to arrive, I chatted with my sister in law, Meilani about our kids and how much fun parenting was (most of the time).
My nephew, Barry, was here, and chatted happily with Aleki while Kali looked on.
By the time everyone arrived, our house was utterly full. Kali seemed to think the party had been thrown for her, and she went around meeting and charming everyone. She wasn’t quite big enough to join in on the conversation, but I have to give her credit for trying.
It was so good to see my Mom and Dad again – it felt like it had been forever, and I was well aware that time with them around was definitely limited.
The advantage to having a family party – usually there’s people willing to help clean up. This is Grayson, Kaleb’s son (my cousin). They grow up so fast!
Kaci and Barry (my brother’s kids) found the playroom, and Meilani kept them occupied while the adults chatted in our new living room.
There were a couple heated games of chess between my parents, and plenty of food for everyone.
By the end of the night, when everyone headed home, even the kids were willing to practically fall into bed. But I think everyone had had a good time, at least. Which was the important part. I slept while I could, knowing Jayce would probably be up before long.
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Chapter One – Starting Anew
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