Warning: violence
Mum made her visit someone again, so that she could have a break. And once again they'd be apart the entire day, keeping her wondering what she'd done wrong; wondering what mum was up to and how dad was doing. Maybe he was going to die? Maybe she really wanted him to die, but just didn't realize it.
Aino had to be the worst daughter in the world. She constantly wished she was better, but always failed the attempts at improving. Sometimes she just wanted to sit down and cry, but tears never helped. It never changed anything. Tears were just water leaking from the eyes, and that was it. And her leaking was a nuisance, they made mum angry. She just wanted to be the perfect daughter to her perfection.
Aunt Lucrecia was nice, and her kids were cute. But she was strange. When the baby cried she just picked her up and talked softly, and did the same with the toddler. But she never pulled anyones hair or told them they were hopeless. They were a strange family, where children cried a lot, and mums didn't say normal things to them. Maybe all babies cried a lot?
Just like aunt Marea hadn't been mad when she'd ruined her home; just like she'd told mum Aino she was welcome back anytime; just like she'd patter her cheek carefully with a smile before leaving.
But she didn't like beeing touched. Touching was bad, and it hurt. And if it didn't hurt, she waited for it to hurt. Because the only reason why other sims touched you was because they were going to hurt you, and if they didn't hurt you in an instance; they did it to lull you into a false sense of security, so you'd think they wasn't going to hurt you. Then it hurt even more.
Her stomach hurt to. It hurt all the time. Mum had sait it was because she ate to much, so then she'd stopped eating. But then mum had said she had to eat, and wasn't allowed to stop before the entire plate was empty. And then she'd gotten sick because she was so full. Then mum said it was because she ate to much. So she either ate to much or to little, which was why her stomach hurt.
Aino on her hand thought it was because the police was looking for her, since she'd made mum kill a man. So she was always waiting for them to ring the doorbell. And then they'd take her to jail, and she'd never see mum or dad again.
Lucrecia felt sorry for the girl, who sat and stared blankly at the tv without actually paying attention. Even from where she was standing, it was easy to see. By all means, the girl was polite. Maybe even a bit to polite, but the thing with her dad must be hard on her. What kid said no to candy? Or icecream?
There was the possibility of Ian getting worse, but when she'd phoned Skuld and talked to her she didn't say anything about it. She'd changed so much since they were kids, but didn't talk to much about Ian either. This whole ordeal had to be hard for her to.
Poor Domino was now confined to sleeping in the bedroom. Not that she thought the dog cared, because he was so old that he pretty much slept all day anyway. But since Aino had panicked when she saw him, Lucrecia didn't have a choice. She could've sworn the girl hadn't been afraid of it before. She'd calmed down as soon as he was out of sight though, so it was probably all good. Maybe she'd been bitten or something by another one. That happened sometimes unfortunately.
For now Aino was just staring at the tv, so Lucky decided to leave the kid a bit alone. A little break was probably what she needed. No one liked beeing forced to talk, when they didn't want to.
She hadn't even noticed Jarl coming home from work, until he startled her by talking: They're both sleeping. The kids had been a pain the last days, and kept her up most of the night and interrupted her daynaps to.
You are the perfect man. He was, especially when he took the kids at nighttime. She just felt so guilty about it, since he worked and she was on maternityleave.
He'd never seen to get used to compliments, and just gave a short, shy smile before continuing: How's she doing? He asked in a low voice, even if there was no way Aino would overhear them.He'd already taken a look in the livingroom, but she hadn't even noticed he was there.
Well, she's tense and terrified of the dog, even if it just lay there sleeping. Which is why he's sleeping upstairs now.
Now that Lucky had started talking, she might as well keep it up: She seems so numb, if you know what I mean. It must be hard having Ian in that state all the time. She wanted to ask her husband, if she was a bad sim for thinking it might be better if he were dead, but figured it was best not to.
He kept looking at her with an unfathomable expression: You didn't act like that when your mum was in a coma.
I didn't? Lucrecia couldn't remember that much about it. She mainly remembered dad crying alot, and uncle Marco pretending he wasn't crying. Her way of coping was something that had gotten lost somewhere, but Lucky trusted his memory. Not that her reactions meant anything ofcourse, because all sims were different.
Looking like he was digging through his own brain, he said: You were silent, and thought a lot about it. Sometimes you talked about it, and sometimes you didn't. We would be playing, and then you'd feel guilty because you had fun. And you cried a lot. Even more than he did, which was a small masterpiece in itself: But you were never like... that.. Referring to Ainos robotic state.
Well, she smiled thinly at him: What else can it be that makes a young girl so... numb? She gets a bit worse every time I see her. Lucky knew her husband very well, and he was clearly gnawing at something. But asking him was pointless as he'd just answer that there was "Nothing to worry about", worrying about worrying her. Instead Lucrecia continued: Actually, I've never seen anyone but you so numb! When we were teens, you changed personality almost from one day to another. Why was that?
It just seemed imposible for him to answer, but she could see him thinking; digging through that scientist mind of his. Sometimes he seemed to forget that she was also a scientist; different type ofcourse, but still a scientist.
Then Jarl stopped thinking: It was probably because I was so infatuated with you, and thought you'd never be mine... He smiled teasingly at her. Memories is such a strange thing, he'd almost forgotten about that; about what his "sister" liked to do. Skuld liked cutting things, and her daughter was acting like an extreme version of himself at a point in life. It was probably a strange coincidence; Skuld wasn't the nicest sim around, but she wouldn't do anything to her own daughter, would she? Ofcourse, Luckys dad had been on her like a hawk, and he had surprisingly died of a heartattack. And they still hadn't found his weddingring, it had vanished from the face of simnation.
It couldn't hurt asking a little question though, it didn't mean that he was trying to hint at something: Lucky? He had her attention almost immideately, so he continued: Are you working on the serial- killer case? Skuld had the degree of a doctor, she just needed the internship and she'd been a fully blown one.
Lucrecia on her hand didn't understand why he asked: No. Why?
We were just talking about it at work today. A small, unpleasant thought had stuck in his mind, but he wasn't really planning on implying anything. It was just a little bubble, floating around, just out of reach.
Oh. She'd actually hoped she'd be working on it, but they just used the most experienced DNA- analysts on it. Which was completely unfair. It would've looked great on her resymè: Actually... she wasn't supposed to say anything, but did it anyway: There's been another murder, a witch this time. It fits the usual, but it was a lot more brutal. The murderer tore the intestins out, without the usual carefull cutting and removing. She hadn't seen it herself ofcourse, but that's what the lunchgossip said.
It resultet in Jarl pulling a face, as it was a bit different from the gossip he usually heard at work. But Lucky worked with this, so talking about gore, blood and intestins was everyday chat: They ruled out a copycat, so most likely the murderer is getting more violent; that happens, you know. The guys weddingring had been janked so violently off, that the finger was dislocated. No wonder this kept getting leaked to the press, if everyone else gossiped as much as she did: The police has found footprints on the crimescene before, but hasn't informed the public.
You sure you want to tell me then? So the newest victims weddingring was gone, what an odd coincidence. What was it Skuld did for a living again? Alchemy? That was plants, fish and stuff like that, right? Plants had a lot of unknown areas, and could be difficult to trace unless one knew what to look for. Not that his thought were going anywhere with this.
Lucky nodded whilst talking, she couldn't stop now: Usually serialkillers are white men, that doesn't stand out from society in any way. But, we've found traces of womens shoes on a few of the other cases. We've kind of been able to explain them in other ways, but they weren't very plausible. However, this time they were all over the place, even in the blood around and under the victim.
We were unsure if the murderer had a helper, and chanced that it might be a woman based on the shoeprints. But by the looks of this crimescene, there's only one murderer; and it's a woman. For some reason she expected him to be as jumpingly exited as she was, didn't he understand how special this was: It's a pair of common, cheap womens sneakers. The wife of the victim didn't own a pair, and her feet were to big anyway. So the KG- killer is, without a doubt, a woman. Not that the police was planning on telling anyone, it would cause a mediasirkus bigger than the one they already had. And the less the murderer knew, the better: And, she said, we've found traces of glass on the floor, but we can't figure out what type it is. It's really finely grained and clear, almost like powder.
Didn't they use bottles for alchemypotions? Wonder what type of glass was in them: Do you have DNA samples from the murderer? Jarls thought were really spinning the wrong way here.
Uhm, yeah... She waited a bit: Well, who they think is the one atleast. There's really not a lot to take from, so whoever it is, has to be extremly intelligent. Now that Lucrecia was done gossiping, she realized how grotesque it was. She usually didn't discuss work with him, but she'd made an exception this time.
Even if the worst gossiping was done, she still had to finish it properly: The DNA doesn't match the few samples we have. You know, rules and stuff. Though I think they might change them after this case. Not that she understood what the problem was to begin with. Taking samples from criminals and keeping them in a database would make her job a lot easier.
Have you thought about asking sims to give volunteer samples? He wasn't really hinting at anything special by asking that.
Lucrecia hadn't heard anything about it. It happened sometimes, especially in rape- cases to rule out suspects. But this was a serial- killer; a murderer that was currently active: No. Something about it weakening the case or something. Another thing she didn't understand.
But why not try within the department? I mean, you can atleast find if the murderer is a close relative, right? Or you'd be able to rule out what families aren't. It was just a little suggestion from his side. An innocent little suggestion. The town was so inbred anyway, and some of the families were huge!
Thinking about it for a second, she answered: Jarl... that's a really good idea. Not that everyone would want to give up their anonymity, but she hadn't thought about it: I can ask the supervisor about it. Not that Lucky thought it would work, bit it might be worth a shot.
Well, if she says yes; I bet you'd get dad to give a samle, or atleast Odin. If doctors are okay for you, that is. That was just something he said to rule out the other side of the branch. It was the only reason, right?
Uncle Marco... yeah. That was a great idea: And if he does it, a lot of others will do it to. He had a great reputation amongst cops: I'll ask first thing monday.
Not that I think any of yours are doing it, but atleast you'll know who not to look for. Jarl was full of great ideas today. He didn't really think that they'd find anything.
Even with the neighbours beeing home, this had to be one of her best ideas. The nearby venue held a concert, so the soundlevels were to high for anyone to hear anything from the outside. And the lady of the house was ancient, so she was the least problem. And the kids were out of the house, on that concert. Skuld was done trying to hide; if that damned witch was to be believed, she was either close to madness, death or eternal life. The important part was that the last piece she needed, was the nerdiest vampire to have ever existed.
She put on her best smile for the old crust that opened the door. Alberts wife had to be a lot older than him. Skuld was young and cute, and knew just how to treat old ladies. For some reason they all found it impossible to resist her: I'm so sorry to interrupt, she said: but I lost my phone somewhere around here. But I can't find it, and wondered if I could please borrow a phone so I can call it. That way I should be able to hear it ringing. Giving an embarassed glare, this worked even better than she'd thought it would- A younger sim would've wondered why the hell she didn't use the frontdoor.
The old hag smiled: Why ofcourse! Why don't you just come inside whilst I fetch mine.
Albert was a type of sim that took a short while to think, and that was all Skuld needed. Simutaniously throwing a potion at the old ladies feet, as he jumped out of the chair in an attempt to make a run for it; Skuld barked an order: Don't! The ginger vampire couldn't do anything other than watching as the bottle broke at his wifes feet, engulfing her in the fumes.
The raisins face turned even more confused as she looked around herself, before locking eyes with her: What.... what's happening? Where am I? Who are you sims? Nothing beats a good oldfashioned potion beeing used on familymembers to threaten others. The old hag sounded a bit scared, so Skuld slapped on her most honest face: It's okay miss. I'm here to help you. This terrible vampire has held you hostage- Albert didn't even say a single word as she lied: Just go into that room and stay there until I fetch you, okay? Ofcourse she'd already make sure to take a look through the windows, knowing a bathroom was adjecent.
Nodding with a stupid smile, the lady walked obidiently into the nearby bathroom.
Just to be on the safe side, Skuld had another potion for the vampirenerd. It should block his ability to use potential vampiric powers on the old lady; if he even had any. The fumes from the potion clung to him like bad luck did on her. She wasn't even sure if vampirepowers involved something else than beeing gross and pasty. For once it was a blessing standing face to face with a skinny bloke that had absolutely no chance of either outrunning or fighting her.
No doubt Albert had planned on calling some help; she doubted he'd leave his wife behind. But that didn't change what was going to happen: This is how we're going to do this, Skuld said: your wife is confused and will stay that way for a long time. And now she'll only listen to me. Either you do as I say, or I'll tie you up, kill your wife slowly infront of you; then I'll wait for your kids and kill them to. Do you believe me?
He simply nodded, two quick nods before he stared at her again, terror easily spotted in his eyes. It must've been easy acting tough when he'd been facing a child, all the time backed up by other supernaturals. But standing against someone as perfect as adult Skuld, must've stuffed some respect into the bloody vampire.
Cutting through the nonsens, she went straight to the core: Tell me about the hungry dead. Clearly he hadn't been expecting that: What?
Now! She had no time sucking up at some stupid man at the moment. And even less time to wait.
He stumbled over the words: Uhm... okay. When an everliving supernatural is killed and hides from the reaper...
I already know that!! She barked at him. What an idiot, weren't vampires supposed to be able to read minds? Completely forgetting the potion she just threw at him. He might as well be a common sim right now.
What do you want to know?
Are they real?
Albert nodded to her: Yes, but rare. Hiding from Death isn't easy.
Why would it want essences?
Because they don't have one. He answered matter- of- factly.
He flinched back as she slapped him and barked: Be more spesific! Sheesh.. men were so useless. He should just know what she knew!
When you die, the essence leaves your body. It doesn't just tie your spirit to your flesh, it also tells the reaper when it's time to harvest your soul. It's also the essence that determines what supernatural powers you do have. Someone actually thinks that the reason why supernaturals can suddenly appear in a family where there are none, is a gift from Death itself.... He started going all nerd on her, which resulted in Skuld slapping him over the other cheek: No one cares!
Stroking his own cheek, Albert continued even faster: An everliving is someone who no longer has an essence, that's why they live forever. Their essence... well, imagine that it's been leaking, so their powers are tied straight to then now, and their essence just evaporates. That means that since they no longer has an essence, they are techincally dead so the Reaper is constantly searching for them.
Skuld couldn't even remotely follow him in it. But it probably made sense... maybe?
A hungry dead has their soul and flesh knit together, without the essence keeping them together. If you destroys their bodies, the soul still lives on. And they will usually take the body of whoever accepts their calls when that sim die again.
The reaper doesn't actually have a book with your expiration date. It's the essence that tells when your going. And the reaper senses it and gets to it very, very quickly.
She had big problems following his explanation. Was this a sign that she wasn't a real nerd?
So they can't be in the world of the living?
Ofcourse they can, it used to be a powerful supernatural after all. But it's easier for the reaper to find them here. It's easier to hide amongst the dead when you're dead.
This was giving her a headache and made her feel stupid. She did not like to feel stupid: What would one of this hungry dead want with essences of supernaturals and sims?
Power. Albert was pretty clear on that: Supernaturals have powers sims don't, and sims have strengths that we, and atleast a hungry dead doesn't. But... There's always a but, isn't it: But, if a hungry dead gets essences, it also means that it's technically no longer dead. Only those with essences are alive. Even if they are obtained and kept by someone that's dead. That means that they can stay in the world of the living, since they are "alive", and in the world of the dead, since they are dead. Since their dead, Death can't throw them out of the world of the dead. But since they're also alive, Death can't claim them either.
How do I stop one?
He looked at her for a long time: Are you telling me that you know of one?
She slapped him again: How do you stop it?!
Uhm... Either destroy it's body, but that's pretty much impossible for a sim. It's going to devour you before you'd be able to finish. Or, you can give it an essence, and someway drag it out. Then make a run for it, and let Death do the rest. A hungry dead can have a million essences, it doesn't matter to Death as long as every beeing is just supposed to have one. So you loose one, Death is coming for you.
Hadn't he just said that if someone had one essence, they were technically alive? Logics of death wasn't easy: What would it want the essence of someone whos dead?
Albert flinched, expecting her to slap him again: That's not possible.
I did it. Skuld wasn't just any sim after all.
What?! No way! He clearly had forgotten that he was supposed to be scared.
She said it harder this time: I did it!
You can't get an essence from someone who is dead. They are dead, and don't have one. Atleast he remembered that he was supposed to be terrified again.
I did it!!! What the fuck was it with men? She just told him that she did, and he assumed she was lying? Skuld, who was honesty herself!
No way. It's impossible. No one is that good.
She got so mad at him that she kicked him in the face right there and then. How dared he doubt her like that? She hadn't done sim- fu in ages, and stretched her poor thighs at the same time. Other sims might have been a bit more worried about missing and snapping his neck. But she was perfect so that wouldn't happen.
Unfortunately noone had told the nerdiest vampire in simnation that Skuld was perfect. So he didn't just get kicked in the face, he fell over the chair and hit his head on the sharp edges; twice. Then landed with a heavy thud on the tilefloor. The idiot died, and she wasn't even done questioning him. Skuld felt so sorry for herself. What a complete looser. Who the hell did one die of falling on a chair?! She barely was able to snag the essence before it got away, beeing as unprepared as she was. Fucking useless babyfaced vampire...
In theory the old hag wouldn't remember her if Skuld left now. But as she walked into the bathroom, it was a pleasure seeing the potion still working. She was just as easygoing and mellow as earlier. Smiling that daft grin at the much younger woman, it was clear what she had to do; Filling up the bathtub, to make sure that the old crust got nice and re- hydrated.
Stuffing her head into the water, Skuld hadn't been prepared for how easy it was to hold the woman down by the wrinkled old neck. It would be a shame if it snapped before she was done though. But what was an old lady going to do even if she'd gotten up? Fight her? So many sims, so little time. Bet their kids would be thrilled that she left the place with practically no mess. It was so unbloody that Skuld felt a bit hollow leaving.
As it turned out, the hollowness was simply a case of nausea. Which was so typical! Why did these things always happen to her? If she threw up at the scene, someone might be able to not only find her DNA, but also analyze what she'd eaten that day. Skuld thought she was allowed to some privacy, and luckily for her, she was able to keep it in until she got far away from the place. No one would put the vomit and the killings together.
There was no sensation of anything but cold; it was was always cold, but that was also it. It wasn't like she was freezing or anything, but it was cold. A fog had been lifted from Orianas mind as she'd heard her name and what had happened. And there it was, her very own tombstone, right next to her husband. No wonder she hadn't found then, when she wasn't even alive.
She'd just seen that girl so clearly, like she saw other dead sims. But she hadn't understood that they were dead, or that she was. She just knew that she was looking for the two of them. And that was it. She'd also known that she had to hide, but she hadn't understood from who. Ofcourse she got it now, since she'd been hiding from Death, so it wouldn't bring her to the afterlife. Because she had to find Marco and Bashir. But Death never went near the house, or the two houses as it turned out.
Oriana knew he was there before she even turned around. Every dead felt the reaper creeping up on them. She couldn't leave now that she understood what was happening. Though what was she going to do? Wonder if Marco knew how his daughter treated his granddaughter. Probably not.
There you are. He didn't sound very nice, but what had she expected; it was the grim reaper after all: It's a lot less dead on the cemetary than you'd imagine, right? Was he really trying to be funny? She'd barely just figured out she was dead.
Even if she remembered more now, what had been her life was still vague and hard to grasp. But it was something about his face, that slowly sunk in: I know you... She tried pressing her poor dead thought into working for her, and slowly it came to the realisation: he'd been at her house. She'd seen him step past her and walked out; to keep watch outside....
You sure do. He stood near her a while; a strange thing since he was Death, and one might imagine that Death didn't have a lot of time to waste when sims dies all over the place. Maybe he knew what she was worrying about: There's more than one reaper. I'm just one of them. I... I did something so despicable that the others didn't want me there. Raising his shoulders casually, he continued: So I got this "assignment" instead. The despicable thing had been that he'd killed a unicorn. How was he supposed to know they were untouchable? The rules of death were difficult to know, especially when you were alive. A problem he no longer had.
Oriana wasn't very impressed, and he didn't even wear the robes; maybe they weren't fashionable: What's really going on? Why had she been able to hide for so long, she wasn't anything special.
I couldn't take the chance of fetching you around the kid. He meant the little girl: The doll is drawn to the dead. They are great things; you can bind entities to them, or just use them as an extra boost for lonely kids. Or, like me, use it as eyes and ears when you can't be somewhere yourself. That, and if who he was looking for sensed anything about Death there, Oriana was a pretty clear explanation.
Why would you want to keep an eye on a kid? And with help from that doll to.
Did he just roll his eyes at her? I'm trying to get my hands on a dangerous dead, but it always knows when I'm coming. The girls mum is helping it. This way, I get to keep an eye on the house, and it doesn't know I'm there. Because it can't sense the doll, it's just a doll after all. It's going to contact her in that house, and then I'll know. He didn't want to tell her that he'd done it because the kid needed the company to; had to keep up his evil and merciless Death image. His image was everything after all.
A dangerous dead? Me?
He actually laughed a bit at that: No. It's a devourer or sort. I need to stop it. It devours everything there is; the living, the dead.. life and unlife alike. Hence the nickname "hungry". It always hungers. Death took a longer break, not completely sure how much to share. He hadn't been in the game for that long after all: We've been trying to get a hold of it for so long, that we're threading very carefully. It was hard for him to admit to failure.
Death was pretty sure the other reapers hoped that the devourer would get rid of him, but he wasn't having any of it. He was going to suceed this time. And show the others that he was capable of this reaping- stuff.
Oriana had her thought somewere else as usual, and asked about the first thing that got into her mind: What's going to happen to her?
Well, if I don't stop the devourer, it.... devourers her. That was kind of obvious wasn't it.
What will happen to her if you do stop it? She wasn't sure she liked the way he studied her when she'd asked.
Chewing a bit on his lip; really, Death actually was a lipchewer; he eventually answered: She's coming with me. Kind of obvious wasn't it? Couldn't have half- dead sim hybrids running around. Though he had to admit that the mums ideas as to how to have a dead- alive child was a stroke of brilliance.
Are you going to kill her?! She's just a kid! Really, this guy wasn't any nicer as Death then he had been as a living.
This woman was so silly, or she just wasn't as well- versed in deathness as him: Ofcourse not. She's my kid, so I'm taking her with me to where she belongs.
The kids nose was kind of a tell- tale sign that the bedridden guy was the dad: She's not yours. I've seen her, and she's her parents kid. Maybe Death hadn't seen her?
No, she's mine. She's bred by one who is dead, so thus she's my child. And she belongs with me, in the world of the dead. Sheesh, how difficult was this to understand?
Oriana was stunned, this guy was absolutely horrible: You can't do that.
Ofcourse I can. I'm Death, I do what I want. He took a long break: Listen, I knew that the hungry dead was looking for someone. I let her mum see me, so she'd get the ability to do what she does. Though he wasn't sure if it was him that had made the hungry dead find her, or the other way around. I let her give her husband his life back, and I let her take the essences. She'd never been able to do that if it hadn't been for me. If she wasn't so full of herself, she'd figured out there was something fishy about it a long time ago. I wasn't expecting the dead to ask for a child that was both alive and dead. Or that she'd figure it out. Really, that was a bloody stroke of genious. And it wasn't like he dared stop it, no way was he risking that damned Hungry dead disappearing from him again: She can't stay here, because she doesn't belong here. Though, maybe it was a bit unfair. She was just a kid, and he'd never been given the chance to choose. He could take the beeing dead part away from her.
Death took the opportunity to rest a bit on Orianas tombstone, which she honestly found a bit disrespectful. He was so close to the hungry dead right now, he couldn't screw up. After all, if the devourer took the living, no one would die. And without the dead, the reapers would vanish. Because no one needed reapers if it wasn't anyone to reap, or to keep the dead from crossing into the world of the living.
Maybe she had a point about the girl though. He'd never been given the direct chance to choose to live instead of die. Maybe she deserved it: I don't have any interest in arguing with you. Only reason you were allowed to stay for so long, is because I couldn't take the chance of going near that house. I don't know it the devourer is keeping an eye on it in any way. I need to cross my finger that that woman figures out how to do this. But... ofcourse she killed that guy before he could tell her everything she needed to know. And he wasn't willing to take the chance of showing himself to her again. Damned hungry dead made him having to tip- toe around. What a waste of useful death- time.
Luckily Oriana got a brilliant idea: Wait. She got his attention immideately: Tell me what Skuld needs to know. The devourer clearly doesn't care about me, and Skuld knows who I am. Then I'll tell her.
As strange as it could sound to someone that was alive, him and the girl shared a bond; like they did with all reapers. He had a sofspot for the kid, which is why he wanted her with him. But it was unfair, wasn't it: What's the catch.
A part of Oriana understood that he was right. If everything went well, what was the girl going to do? Live with that terrible mother? She probably wouldn't live long enough to see her teenaged years: The catch is that you don't take the girl with you. But, she kind of wanted him to take the kid with him, so why was she still arguing with him? Damned that man for making her doubt herself.
No deal. Why was he even arguing with her? He wasn't even sure if it was a good idea himself. Damn that woman for making him doubt himself.
Come on, what do you need a child for? You're the grim reaper. Maybe he would treat her well, even if he'd been despicable as a sim.
That was a bit of the problem: He was lonely and wanted a family of his own. He'd never had one, not even when he grew up. Not that he'd ever admit it ofcourse, because he was Death: and that was to simple for the reaper: I don't need anyone.
You just want a family of your own don't you? She might be dead, but Oriana saw through that act. It was so sweet, and her dead heart melted. He'd be so good to his little daughter, even if he was ugly as sin...
Death was torn. Maybe if he cared about his daughter, he wouldn't take her to the afterlife. Sure it was a bit bleak, dead and foggy, but it was far from as bad as sims thought it was. He worked really hard to give it a desolated emptiness; sims were so ungrateful.
He tried not to look at the sim he was to bring over: he couldn't let the girl live with that mother: She has a mission, you know. She's going to become one of us. He meant the reapers, but it was kind of understood there. She'd be the only blooded reaper to have existed though, and truthfully he had no idea if it would mean anything special for them. But how many reapers did they actually need. Maybe she'd be happier in the living world in the end? She could work, and live and laugh. Even with that mother. It was always a good chance she'd get away.
Maybe she is better off with you... Oriana said. He seemed pretty nice for a murderer.
She'll always know that she doesn't belong here... Death said it more to himself. But sims were adaptable. She would probably just think everyone felt that way, and it didn't mean she wouldn't be happy. The girl would just be a bit strange, but a lot of sims were strange.
Death had never had a choice in the matter, so it was a bit unfair to a kid: I have a suggestion I think will satisfy both of us. Would you be willing to listen?
Nodding, Oriana agreed even if she had changed her mind: the girl was way better off with him. Maybe she could be like an extra- mum, and if Bashir was there to, they could be a little family! She was going to do her best to get the kid to go with the dead: Is my husband in the world of the dead? She kind of had to ask, she wasn't sure how the dead lived. Maybe they weren't married anymore, or he didn't want anything to do with her.
Yeah he is..... He's a prick.... Oh, so he was still the same then. Death hated that guy, but for some reason it was "unethical" to destroy him. Pft... rules...
Dad... Aino stroked Ian over the forhead again. He felt cooler than usual. Not cold, but that sticky coldhot temperature that he'd had earlier, was gone. His cheeks were rosier to. Now she just worried that the nurse would tell mum that he looked a lot better. Or that his vitals were better than earlier. She wasn't sure what vitals really were, but it was what told if he was getting better or worse.
I told you it made dad sick! Ratatosk was gloating at her.
You did, you did. Aino had to admit to it.
I'm always right!! Some squiky voice, clearly made by someone else made his head hurt.
Yes you are... she giggled at the doll. It was fun that the doll was so full of itself.
Aino stopped pretending talking to Ratatosk for a moment. Standing close to the bed she stared again. She could have sworn she'd seen dads eyelids move. Keeping up the stare, she thought she saw the tiny glinting of wet eyeballs in the cracks of his eyes, but it was gone: dad.. she whispered, terrified that mum would hear. She touched his nose, but nothing happened. It had just been her imagination, it was overactive as usual. But wasn't the angle of his head just a tad different? Maybe it was just the angle she saw it from? It was, it was just her imagination.
She wasn't disappointed, she'd gotten used to the idea that he'd never wake up. Maybe mums medication didn't really make him worse.
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poses: AG, yumitaro, aphrodite, zhippidy, simsimi, mochi, eun, traelia,annely,
I know absolutely zero about DNA and stuff like that, so just pretend that it's possible. And if anyone wondered where Death came from, he's been around in pretty much every chapter where someone dies.
Albert looked like a ten year old boy, so he just couldn't be intimidating. Either that, or he wanted to be, but Skuld just got to scary for him.It's probably bad that I really enjoyed writing that part of the chapter, but you know how it is when you accidentally come over some new poses and all...
thanks for reading
Viser innlegg med etiketten Albert. Vis alle innlegg
Viser innlegg med etiketten Albert. Vis alle innlegg
onsdag 18. mai 2016
3.12 Shadow of memories
Etiketter:
Aino,
Albert,
dogs,
generation2,
generation3,
generation4,
Grim,
Ian,
Joe,
Lucrecia,
Oriana,
Skuld
fredag 23. oktober 2015
2.25 Níðreising
He often found himself triggered by smell. It was something about it that just never went away. That's why he liked Meave. She smelled different; like oil and gunpowder, that scent just was impossible to get rid of. Or maybe it was just in his head. Meave was in there. The others were in there, but it didn't even cross his mind. His son was going to die, and he was to terrified to do anything. He was so terrified, that he didn't even feel scared.
Dad... something tugged at his shirt, but it was probably the wind. It wasn't the first time he'd imagined things that weren't there.... dad.... dad... open your eyes...
Dad... it was still tugging at his shirt. Maybe if he kept his eyes closed a bit longer, he'd wake up and find it to be a dream. That happened sometimes, even if he felt the chill in the air and the sound of the nearby river: Dad, get a grip on yourself! Maybe it was just a dream. After all, why would anyone want to gun them down? They weren't anyone important, and Efraim was just an innocent little boy.
Effie let go of his fathers hand, he wasn't responding to his voice. A lot of sims froze when in danger but that wasn't anything Effie had ever heard of. He had decided to panick later, that guy was going to kill dad. And if mum was alright there was no way he'd be standing there to begin with. He could hear his own heartbeat, pushing against the wish to make a run for it. Because he wanted to run! But he just couldn't. What had happened to the others?
Joe didn't have any of the problems his son had. He wasn't really sure where he was: Dad! Look dad, LOOK!!
Even outside shots are loud, no matter if a silencer was used. Because Effie had seen the weapon, but he'd admit he had no idea how the guy look. Someone had to call the police now right, someone had to have heard it. Or maybe it wasn't that loud at all, maybe it just seemed like it to Efraims heightened senses. But the sound that came from Mahdis appearing out of nowwhere was something he'd never hear her make before. How could he just shoot her? She was stubborn and liked biting, but completely harmless.
It was a unicorn, she ate grass and hay. How could he just shoot her? What was even the point? Efraim had more than enough to do from keeping dad running up to her. They should probably have run away, but they couldn't let her die for them either. Could they? Shaking the thoughts off Efraim did his best to keep dad keeping away. Dad was strong, and Effie really wasn't a grownup even if he wanted think he was. Where had she even come from? There was just a flash of light, and there she was.
He heard his dad whispering her name, but for now he were to busy wondering what was going on. What was she doing? Why wasn't she falling? Ofcourse the shots that were meant for the two of them wouldn't be enough to instantly kill an animal of that size, unless you had a lucky shot.
Dad rambled about something Effie couldn't decipher but atleast he didn't have to hold him back anymore. They were both to slow of mind looking at whatever was going on at the moment. He'd never see her do anything but getting a few twigs growing up from under her hoofs. Other than that she usually did horse- stuff. Like kicking, biting, eating and running. Still Efraim couldn't shake the feeling that this really was something he didn't want to see. Unfortunately he could still hear the sounds and the screams coming from the man, and ended up looking.
As the skin started peeling of the mans body, Efraim wished he hadn't looked. So he looked away again, so not to see the rest of it. By the time the mans grunty screams stopped, Mahdis started toppling over and eventually couldn't keep herself up anymore. Sick to his stomach, he let dad go and sit with the unicorn. He knew nothing about unicorn- anatomy or weapons, but somethings one just doesn't need to have seen before to recognize. Mahdis dark eyes were getting foggy; she was dying.
Dad, as sad as it was they still had more pressing matters: Dad, we need to help the others... He couldn't do it alone, and if they acted quickly they could call a vet and save Mahdis to, right?
Kneeling down without beeing able to fully avoid the blood, Efraim tried getting contact with his dad again. Petting her and tugging at Joe at the same time he still didn't give up: dad please... Dad was going back to the loonie- bin, and Mahdis was dying. The others needed him, and he had no idea what to do. Feeling tears press themself out he did his best to blink them away. Big boys didn't cry. Atleast not now! Instead he stroked Mahdis again and again, slowly feeling her breath getting weaker and more shallow: please dad, we have to do something...
The sour smell from the river got replaced by wet grass and cold dirt. That just felt plain out wrong, and Efraim was pretty sure someone twisted his brain around for the fun of it. Barely noticing Mahdis falling over heaving for her last breath, Effie rubbed his temples as his trousers got soaked through by the wet ground. He had such a headache it was hard to see clear, but he though Mahdis scared neighs stopped when dad patted her ears.
What had just happened? It didn't matter, Effie was going to take care of everything. As soon as he could see clearly that was, and his head hurt a bit less.
Efraims sight came back just in time to see Mahdis chest move slower before finally stopping. And then she was gone in a flash of light, leaving him at some unknown place with a massive headache and a crazy dad. Atleast he sat in one spot babbling to himself so there wasn't an immideate danger of anything happening.
Swallowing another set of tears, Effie pushed away all thoughts and worries. Focusing on the only task at hand. Mahdis was already gone, he had to figure out what to do with the rest. Thinking would have been so much easier without a headache! Think!!! His phone! He had a phone! Why hadn't he thought about that earlier? He was such an idiot! Uncle Marco was terrified that scary men and women would contact them on the simsweb, so they were a big no- no. But mum and aunt Oriana had let him have one just in case. And he knew just who to phone.
With trembling hands, he dialed an all familiar number, a man answering at the other end. Effie presented himself with full name: There's a man that had a gun at my house.... no he's dead. If he killed himself? What was he going to tell the policeofficer, that a man had died by unicorn? They'd never believe him: I'm not sure, my dad wouldn't let me look. No, no dad hasn't shot anyone. He's here with me, we ran away. No, dad doesn't have a gun.... No he's crazy so you can't talk to him.
Taking a deep breath Effie tried not getting upset at the man at the other end: What?! No, he's here with me! I already told you he hasn't shot anyone, he's not crazy like that!!! It's a real diagnose, but he's harmless!! He's just mumbling and staring into the air... For the love of... what was wrong with these cops: No don't put me over to loonie- ward!! There's been a shooting at my house!!! His voice kept changing between falsetto and basse as he got increasingly agitated: No it's not dad or me! Don't tell me to calm down, you're not listening to me!!! He was screaming at the stupid grown- up now, usually he wouldn't scream but he was worried damnit! And stressed out!
Taking a deep breath, to get his voice under controle, he also did his best making the stupid grown- up understanding what he meant. His hands were shaking so badly from the adrenaline that he nearly lost hold of the phone: There's a dead man outside my house! He wanted to shoot me and my dad, but we got away! I don't know what killed him, but it wasn't dad! You're supposed to send police there to investigate! There's supposed to be several adults inside, but the place was dead quiet. He wasn't troubled by the poor choice of word.
And it was to quiet, my aunt talks all the time! There's supposed to be five there, my mum, aunt and three friends of them. I've never seen the guy that attacked us before. No, I don't know if there's more, how many it is or if any are armed. I'm not tall enough to look into the windows.. How old I am? Old enough to recognize when something's wrong!!! His voice kept changing between deep and falsetto, carrying far into the distance. He wanted to sit down and cry next to dad by now, why didn't he listen: It's not a prank! Does it sound like I'm joking?!!! He shouted into the phone to the rude police officer: If uncle Marco hadn't been missing, you'd be over there in a second!
Yes, I live at Marco's house! Finally! The stupid idiot on the other end gave him all this trouble, and all he needed was a namedrop? How unfair for other sims that ended in situations like this: Yes, the missing policeofficer! There's already a unit sent out there? That's great! Eeehhh.... I don't think the guy needs an ambulance no, he's pretty dead, ..... Yes, I'm sure he's dead, it's very easy to see, he's extremely dead. Probably deader than anything anyone has seen before... Thank you.... No, I'm not going to stay on the phone, I need to take care of dad. I'm not sure were we are...
Efraim just hung up on the man at the other end. The police was already on it's way. That was great, not that he was any more relaxed at that. He hadn't even needed to give the adresse.
Finally hearing an all familiar snort, Effie turned around. So that's why Mahdis had taken them to this place.
Skuld wondered why they kept hiding, she didn't see the point of it anyway. Something exciting was happening with the adults and she had to stay on the floor like she was an ordinary sim? She even heard the bitchfairies sugarly sweet voice giggling happily between some screams and lots of odd noises. Kind of reminded her of sounds she'd heard in those gory movies they sometimes snuck around to see.
She just got up, why shouldn't she? She wasn't a coward like the rest of them. And why was ugly Sunniva clawing herself to the floor anyway? She was a grown- up, they weren't supposed to be afraid of anything. Walking towards the door, the so- called grown up was so scared she didn't even notice. From the other side of the door, Skuld heard Rikards deep voice growling something, proving that he was in werewolf form. Ofcourse Skuld knew he was a werewolf, she was smart, unlike the rest of them.
Wolf was delightfully quiet, not to mention clean. But so was "what's his name". The only thing about him was how he kept moving his hands whilst twinkly little stars flew around them. Oh, so he was supposed to be a witch, right. Now she got it! Whatever. Witches weren't real supernaturals anyway so.... Little twinklestars wasn't very impressive, but atleast it was twinklepink. Skuld liked pink, it was the best colour ever and she looked so good in it. Dad said all princesses wore pink, even if they weren't as pretty as her.
Oh okay... it was a bit cool seeing babyface- witchboy shooting fire from his hands... Not that Skuld would ever admit it. Witches were so lame, supernaturals were lame in general. The only one that was good for anything was her. The once clean and pretty livingroom was covered with corpses, but a few still tried to cling on to life. Like most kids she didn't even wonder why there were fighting there to begin with. She completely agreed that supernaturals needed to die. So why not try right? Though by the looks of things the resitance must have been tougher than anticipated.
Taking the opportunity to look at one of them as life finally passed away from her, a guttural sound leaving the throat as the last ounce of air left. In not to long the corpse would start to get redish- violet spots, the bodytemperature sink. And when the decomposition started, the temperature would rise again. Skuld knew quite a bit about the prosess after death. It was a fascinating subject, even if many found it a bit morbid. Though, how quickly it would start wasn't easy to know. Maybe death- by- supernatural whatnots worked differently.
She wouldn't excately call it a thrill, seeing life leaving the woman, but it gave an odd sensation. Almost leaving her feeling powerful at the sight.
The sound of a heavy thud, as the father of all nerds dropped his lifeless victim to the ground, made Skulds gaze wonder upwards again. It seemed like the fight was over. Smelling of sulfur, burnt flesh and death the livingroom stood as a little novelty over a good fight. But it was all over now. What a bummer; Skuld felt a bit sorry for herself, she usually did when she missed out on the good stuff.
Heaving for breath, Rikards face and clothes was covered in gore, as he said: You take care of the rest Wolf?
Already clean, not even a droplet of blood or sweat of his face Wolf nodded gracefully. Whatever he had been doing to take the life of the lumps of flesh that scattered the floor around him, was not affecting his cleanliness. And then the genie simply clapped his hands...
Wow... Skuld was supposed to keep her mouth shut so the grown- ups wouldn't notice her. But witchesblasts and whatnots; getting an entire house and all the sims in it completely clean just by clapping his hands was to good to be true: I wish I could do that. Like, how awesome wouldn't it be when she had to clean her room.
Five sets of heads whipped towards her. Not that it scared her ofcourse. Why should it? Sims loved having her around.
That annoying old fairy came closer looking down at her: Well, if it isn't little blondie again. Weren't you told to stay away? Whatever threats she implied just sounded stupid to Skuld. She simply sounded to cute.
Well, Sunniva didn't stop me. That wasn't really Skulds fault now was it?
Merete! Rikard barked out at bitchfairy: Leave the kid alone. It doesn't matter what she says, no one will believe her anyway. He proceeded to transform into human form. His werewolf hair fell straight off onto the floor...gross.... "Just a kid"? Skuld didn't like Rikard at all. Or Merete for that matter, but that was obvious, she was a waste of life.
Even Wolf, the stupid blue genie chipped in: Listen to Rikard, Merete. What is a little blonde girl with pigtails supposed to do?
The stupid witch "what's his name" talked to. He had a voice that sounded like he'd been drinking to much: Just another silly little girl with tall tales.... Having that voice with that babyface was just stupid.
Skuld was not silly, she wasn't silly at all: What's your name? She hissed out without any emotions. Grinning unpleasently the witch answered: Shing.
Shing, she repeated: That's a stupid name for a witch.
He just laughed, she didn't like him either. She really didn't like beeing laughed at.
And just when she didn't think anything could get worse, even the idiot vampire started talking. Skuld didn't like vampires either, especially the nerdy ones: You know, Skuld was one of the norns, representing the future and a valkyrie. A little kid like you probably doesn't know what that is though...Albert, his name was Albert.
Ofcourse I know, Skuld arrogantly interrupted the vampires unending tirade of nerdiness: I'm very smart... Valkyries decided who fell on the battlefield, and took their souls to Valhall. She touched her hair, not wanting to admit that the supernaturals were starting to make her a bit nervous. She didn't like beeing nervous.
Well, she didn't decide in this matter, Merete laughed, and he started laughing with her.
Skuld didn't like him either. Merete. Rikard. Wolf. Shing. Albert. She really, really didn't like any of them.
Oriana couldn't hear a lot anymore, the sounds were so dim and slow. Why did it take so long. She couldn't move either, but she had seen Vera run outside whilst covering her face. Fire, it had always been her brother that loved fire, not her. But when she thought about it, things had accidentally tended to burn down around her mother to. Maybe it ran in the family.
She knew him, didn't she? That man the two new sims had dragged in with them? The one that was crying.
What the hell is taking you so long? We need to get away!! She knew that man didn't she? The one that had come together with the new woman, the one that had dragged the last guy in with him? Adam, that was his name. She did something!! She did something to Vera!! A woman said.
Oriana didn't care that Jonny fell over, it probably made a sound, but she didn't care about that either. It was all good now, she felt so at peace and careless. Whatever happened, didn't bother her.
More sims arrived, but who they were... she didn't know them did she? Or maybe she did? One of them yelled something several times, but the ones that had gotten there first didn't listen. Then Adam shot the one that surrendered in the back for some reason.
PUT IT DOWN! PUT IT DOWN!!! I'LL COUNT TO ONE!!! Why did they yell so loudly all the time? It was pretty much the only thing she could hear that wasn't dimmed down. ONE! Another blast and Adam fell back. It didn't matter to her anyway.
Linn and Lori had gone in, not taken the chance of waiting for backup. If Marco hadn't phoned him, they would have waited. But he couldn't. He was as much a part of this as his partner was, and it had happened because of their choices. Dominic would have liked to say that he was taken by surprise that something actually was wrong at the house. But he'd been a cop long enough to understand that gut- feeling often were right. He just hoped it wasn't as bad as it could be.
Dominic had no idea what was going on inside, but as he bent down to prevent beeing detected through the windows the original idea had been for him to enter through the backdoor and then scoure the house. Ambulance was already on it's way, so was the cavalry.
But he knew that woman sitting there, shakingly touching her face, whimpering in pain as she did.
Police, stay where you are. Let me see your hands! He didn't shout, not wanting to warn potential others that they were there.
Dominic saw her dropping the gun, tossing it towards him as he quickly bent to pick it up, not letting her out of his sight. He could even hear her crying, which had to make the pain worse. What had happened to her face? It looked like it was burned.
It felt like forever before he recognized the now damaged face: she was a friend of the family wasn't she? But she wasn't an innocent victim, he recognized the guilty when he saw them. What was her name again?
Vera, he remembered and she even reacted. He remembered now, she lived with another of his co- workers, and she constantly kept hitting on Marco, who just wasn't interested. Vera, she was one of Marcos sisters best friends. He rememberd now.
She actually smiled, a twisted grin in all the pain: I can't believe this.... she whimpered out: I can't believe this. None of them jumped as they heard some shooting from the inside, then Linn shouting out something.
Finally straightening up, she didn't take the chance of looking at him: It's tough playing with the big ones.....
Some sims just weren't cut out for this life, she and Adam was supposed to make sure there were no loose ends when they took over business: I'm unarmed, she said. Then she jumped the fence and made a run for it, well aware that he couldn't just shoot someone that was unarmed.
Dominic set after her, it didn't matter if she'd finished the job, or if she'd completely failed. She was a traitor, and he just couldn't let her get away. He might be as corrupt as they come, but he liked to think he was the right kind of corrupt, and misused his authority in the right way. But this was personal, this wasn't misuse of anything. It was the right thing to do. Maybe he should have thought about his partner inside the house, but they knew how to handle things.
The chase ended quickly as he caught up to her at the beach. Vera looked like someone that was exhausted, and there weren't enough adrenalin to keep her going for longer. The burn had to be incrediby painful to, and he suspected it was other places on her body. Not that he understood how it could be possible without destroying the clothes. But if Marcos sister was anything like him, it wasn't good to know what she was capable of.
Water, he liked water. It was the perfect element. Vera had one of those irritating little voices that made him want to slap her: I surrender. She said, her body hunched over with exhaustion: I surrender. She threw her arms up as to convince more.
Dominic heard her, but he knew there was only one thing to do. Marco would have done if for him. As he buttoned up his shirt, Vera looked up at him and said: Really? I didn't think you were that type, then she laughed a tired little laughter that never really got there.
I can assure you, he said: Whatever you believe I am going to do to you, you are wrong. Then he grabbed her, pulling her out into the water after him as she did her best trying to get away from his grasp.
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poses: traelia, AG, VKG, sea, clarisse, k2m1too, simsimi, imho etc etc.......
As much I don't strive to keep things realistic in the sims, I had to let Albert loose his nerdglasses in the fight. Not to let anyone see his face (it's not worth looking at), but because those monsterglasses HAD to have fallen off
Give it a rest Albert, you're not scary or tough no matter how hard you try. You're a nerdy vampire that loves the heat. And with those glasses, we all know your blind as a bat right now.
I have no idea why the moondial thingy shows the wrong moon- cycle. I've checked several times. Maybe it's just an illusion or something. And lets pretend no one noticed the police also using surpressors on their weapons. I had someone without, but lost them somehow. (And to lazy to find new)
Sum up in next chapter! (and a long AN for those "what" questions. Kind of need that every generation, but atleast this time I have a good reason)
thanks for reading
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