Vampires, witches, werewolves and
mummies just to mention a few. Iva wasn't impressed, but if her
publisher said so, he probably had a point. Most of their so-called
powers were long gone and quite useless anyway. Irritating none the
less.
Jericho might be an old city, but more than modern enough to
fight against racism. It hadn't gotten supernaturals to flock to the
city, but atleast the few who lived here was generally not discriminated. She chose to forget the cliche- filled rasicm that filled her own book. After all, there
were far more dangerous and scary things in this world than supernatural
powers.
You should lock the door. Jericho's
a dangerous city for little girls. The
low, icy voice was enough to leave Ivas mouth dry. Speaking of
scarier things....
Adela, one of her
two older sister stood in the doorway to her bedroom. That could only
mean one thing
Her other sister, Valerie, followed close behind. Throughout Ivas childhood, those two witches had tormented the entire family, neighbourhood and school. And witches they were, in every term of the word. Iva had, tohether with her brother and their parents, been relieved when the sisters had left at their age up. The witchcraft was a heritage from their father, and he claimed they couldn't help beeing mean. It was a part of it, he had said.
Neither Adela or Valerie seemed impressed with her home. Though beeing polite wasn't their style anyway. The sisters still sent shivers down her spine, but to Ivas surprise the fear was gone. After all, they couldn't kill her with their witch magic. And if they tried any of their useless curses, well. Their dad was a more competent witch than either of them.
Well, if it isn't my darling sister, Ivas voice was sugared as she talked. Why Valerie, you look absolutely smashing! Like a super villain from one of dads first movies. I guess that makes Adela the villains harlot. She served a smile with the words.
While Iva was quick to temper, the same couldn't be said about her sisters. Against normal, Valeria took charge of the situation.
Oh, our little sister has finally grown up. The little writer will get far with her superior vocabulary. No wonder you're such a critically acclaimed writer. Her voice was as sarcastic as Adelas face.
You should thank us instead of being so hostile. Why, you never know who will walk through the door in this city. Atleast in this part of town. No use arguing at that. They had all grown up in a priveliged home, on the "right" side of town.
You've changes your familyname,
Adela took over the
conversation. We all know your not bright, but that's a
dumb move. We Ichiro have much influence tied to that name. And
money. It will get you far and quickly too, not to mention out of
trouble. And what type of name is Sleitinn anyway? A bit exotic for
you maybe?
It has a nice ring, Iva
snapped at Adeal. Eventually she was going to write under her real
name, so an artistic one was a great idea. But she had no intention of mentioning that to them.
Besides,neither of us are ethnic enough for a name like
Ichiro. We're a bunch of pasty whities, as my new surname fits that.
Iva felt her temper
boiling. Their father was a movie star, their mother a famous musician. But that was all she knew. The family history had died with
their grandmother Isobel. And their mom told nothing, no matter how
much she asked. It was what got her to be a writer in the first
place. She wanted to investigate, to find the history of her family.
And it was her passion in life, to write. But she wanted to make it
on her own, not because of who she was. So she left her name and
family fortune but not the town itself. She wasn't that needy of
beeing on her own. Unfortunately her sisters was also here. She had
hoped to avoid them in the large city, but no such luck.
Maybe I could have kept the damn
familyname if it weren't for you two hags! Why the bloody hell would
anyone sane want to be related to the two of you? Your the most
notorious criminals in town and everyone knows! She
screamed the last part.
They weren't just
ordinary criminals either. Every police in town knew they were going
for leading the darker side of Jericho. Smuggling, trafficking, drugs
and corrupting the town hall to mention a few, leaning on their
family name while doing so. Though those two probably would have made
it either way. But still, a bad reputation was starting to form behind
it. A once proud name, slowly starting to wither. Iva had no plans to
be a part of it.
You little bookworm, do you think
you can escape that name? Reach for the stars as much as you want
nerd, but your blood is as tainted as ours. I'd thrice curse you, but
i doubt there's any need for that. She
didn't raise that icy voice one bit. As Iva was to shoo them out the
front door, Valerie turned around and gave her a parting gift, and said: Hope you'll lose your lust for icecream.
D-d-d- damn h-h-harpies and their s-s-sticks. Iva
snarled to her sistes as they walked out in silence. Leaving her
shivering in the cold.
Iva was used to it
though. She had been blasted with fire and ice, turned into a frog
and cursed with diseases. She'd still never been seriously harmed.
Unimpressed, but still cold, she warmed herself to get rid of the
chill in her bones. It should be unecessary on such a lovely day, but
this was no ordinary cold.
After the cold left her bones, she decided to get some groceries.
But one of Jerichos many foodtrucks
tempted more than going home to cook a meal of her own. So instead
she ordered a burrito, hoping it wouldn't make her sick. It didn't.
It tasted as good as it smelled, leaving her with a happy stomach and
slightly guilty mind.
With a full stomach she decided to go
to the summer festival, but few people has showed up. She sat in
their lounge and started reading the paper. Just to get interrupted by the phone.
It was an old friend of hers from
school. Or more correctly, her brothers friend. She had pretty much
been forced out with her brother in her child and teen years, and
ended up befriending some of his friends. The guy on the phone; Gard,
was one of them. But this wasn't just a call to chat up some old
friends. As soon as she answered he
asked if she read the papers today. No, I was just about to
when you rang, her tone beeing
humours. Noras dead. Gards
voice was just as calm as usual. Nora was his younger sister. Or, one
of them.
Iva
was terrible at dealing with sorrow. She didn't know what to say or
do, and had an uncanny knack for making things worse.Ofcourse she
blurted out the worst thing someone can say in a situation like that:
What? When? How? But she's just a teen. Iva
had met the girl several times, but never really talked to her. She
was like Gard. A quiet nerd and bookworm. A long silence followed.
She was murdered, I don't really know a lot more at this
point. It was just a tiny hint
of his voice cracking up at the word murder. Who would want
to kill your sister, she was so sweet? Even
Iva realised that wasn't the right thing to say. She was a terrible friend. I don't know Iva. He
sounded tired, and slightly irritated.
She
desided to tell the truth. I'm sorry Gard, I don't know
what to say. It's just such a shock. She
kept talking withouth thinking things through. Nora was
just so... lovely and innocent. You know, a delicate little flower
you just want to protect and nurture. I just can't believe that
little petal's gone. Only thing left in Jericho now is concrete and
toxic vaste.
A long
silence followed, leaving Iva desperate for words again. She just
couldn't say anything right. And she was aspiring to be a writer? I
called because I need a favour. Jericho daily wanted to write some
words of memory about her. We didn't want to talk to some stranger,
so we told them we would do so ourselves. She
heard him draw a deep breath on the phone. Iva begged to herself that
his next words wouldn't come.
It was harder than we
thought. Could you... He cleared
his voice.. would you do it for us? Damn
it. How the hell could she say now to such a request? Ofcourse,
she said with a sympathetic
voice, while cursing internally. How about we meet up
later, and talk about what your family want to share? They
agreed that he would call later, after discussing the matters with
the rest of the family. Apperently the newspaper wasn't going to
print it just yet. They were waiting for the police to investigate
further, before releasing the detailed version of the tragic news.
Awefully kind of the media, so clearly they had struck a deal with
the police.
Nothing beats
beating up someone else when desperation strikes, and Iva was no
exception. She preffered to whack a witch, pretending it to be Adela
and Valerie. She was nowhere crazy enough to smack the terrible
twosome around for real, but this was close enough. Iva was so
consentrated she didn't hear someone sneaking up on her.
Well look at that! It's the lost
daughter. The one who changed her name. Left the stars to be a star. Mom is furious! She turned around, looking at
her twinbrother Marek. Good thing she wasn't the only one in the
family that was bad with words. He had just joined the army, aspiring
to be an astronaut one day. Marek was a great brother, and everything
she wasn't. Athletic, kind, brave and loved beeing the center of
attention. They had been close as kids, and would hopefully stay that
way. He still lived with their parents by their wish. Someone had to
take over the house, and family fortune, and he had accepted the
task. As lightly as he accepted everything. It was just like him to
stop by at the festivale, probably hoping to run into someone he
knew. Or to meet someone new. Iva wouldn't have a friend in the world
if it weren't for him.
As any
normal twins they desided to play a game of horseshoe together,
pretending to catch up on the latest gossip. In reality they were competing. It hadn't excately been long since they last met, but life
changed fast. Their mother was angry at her for the namechange, their
dad didn't seem to care. And ofcourse Marek had a new girlfriend,
Ingrid. Iva knew well who she was, quite the tart apperently, but she
wisely kept her mouth shut. After all, it wasn't MAreks style to judge a woman for something like that.
Have you spoken with Gard
recently? Marek dropped the
seemingly innocent question just as Iva was to throw.
Argh, damnit Marek. Now I missed.
She knew he was grinning. Yes,
yes I've talked to him. Silence
followed as usual, waiting for her to say more. Don't worry
Marek, he already told me about Nora. He asked me if I could write
something about her for the newspaper. I know it's sad and all, but I
don't get why the paper is so interested in this particular case.
There was no following silence
this time. Well, police found her in the trunk of a car, so
it's not really that strange. It
was Ivas turn to be quiet this time. Gard didn't tell you?
They had a routine stop of a car, and got suspicious of the guys in
it. The cop checked the trunk, and found the body. He
continued to tell her more of it. The girl had been gone a couple of
days. Since she was supposed to spend a few days at a friends house,
no one had thought it strange she didn't call her family. It was
first when she hadn't answered her phone, suspicion had risen.
Iva looked at her
brother. You said guys, there was more than one? He nodded as he took
her place at the game.
But, they
still had eyecontact, why would they need to be more that
one to get rid of a body? She wasn't a big girl. It sounds a bit odd
that a murderer would take the chance of involving more people. Marek
gave her a long stare, looking at her like she was daft. Hah!
You missed, she laughed as the
question made him unfocused.
They were probably in it together
Iva. Iva's mind worked hard this
time, but it still didn't make sense to her. But, it can't
be so difficult to kill Nora, she was tiny. Was it a robbery gone
wrong or something? Marek quit
throwing the horseshoe, and put his arms on her shoulders. Iva.
He said. What do grown
men usually do to teenage girls, that would make them want to kill?
She thought hard
about her brothers words, while he looked at her. Waiting for the
lightbulb to shine. Fortunately she got interupted by the phone. Her
publishers sleasy voice was at the other end. Iva, sweety, how are
things going? She mumbled some polite answer. I read the
chapters you sent in, and sweety, the kids are going to love it. She
pulled a face he couldn't see, and was able to get out a «great»
comment here and there.
I've been
thinking a bit. How about we make the book more adult and sexy. Oh
no, she thought, but answered differently. What did you have in
mind? He let out one of those laughters, that all semi-old men
did when drooling over teenage girls.
Well, how about we make the
villain let loose his passion on some young girl. Like that little
cutie they picked up from the trunk here the other day. She
wasn't surprised that he knew, even if it weren't official yet.
Rumors runs fast, even in big cities. Atleast now she knew what her
brother had meant by his words. Sick to her stomach she didn't agree
to anything and hung up. She then excused herself to her brother.
Poor girl, she thought. No wonder Gard hadn't said anything
about it.
She was supposed to
go home, but seeing her mother Lek, rollerblading, gave her a deep
want to talk to her. Iva was close to her parents, but obviously her
mother was more than furious at her for denying her name. To bad, she
really could use her mothers comfort.
As she sat down on
a bench she was glad to find that atleast someone in the family
cared, Rosalind. Her parents cat jumped up on her lap with no care in
the world, demanding to be cuddled like only cats can. Poor girl,
she thought to herself again, with the purring cat on her lap.
She must have been terrified. What a horrible way to die. And that
creepy publisher dared called it sexy?
Iva noticed that
all to familiar anger boiling in her, focusing not to pet the cat to
hard, she bit it back. She wanted to call him back and yell at him,
but reason won. She couldn't afford him getting angry at her. She was
comletely broke. Sighing she went home to write more.
Only to find her
own little kitten in desperate need of beeing hugged. She sweet
talked Fatty, before putting her down on the floor.
..cutting her
finger while cooking....
And trying not to
think about the so-called sexy things her publisher wanted her to
write into the trashy book. Next time, she was going to write a good old fashioned slasher novel.
--------------------------
Long story, a lot of information. I have a confession to make: I kill sims all the time. Not to be mean, but to keep population down, and decrease inbreeding. So I was completely taken by surprise when Ivas friend called, and the tombstone- bubble appeared. It became a big part of the story, since it happened and seemed natural. As of now, what happens in the game, gets in the blog.
As for the mean sisters thing, it's a cliche. But I tried a new gamestyle for this generation. I rarely ever controlled Ivas siblings, and the witch- sisters were really terrible. Everyone in the family have them in the red. Marek and Iva always got along well, so they did a lot together, since it seemed natural that way.
Last, I don't know anything about books or authors, so the sleasy publisher isn't real. It just seemed fitting.
