3.4 The dog throw

warning: language, violence

     It was still early in the morning by the time they'd woken up. Ian was back from the hospital after a few weeks, and in pretty good shape. Well, good was a relative term: He was a lot more tired and easily fatigued than before, but it was a lot better than having him beeing all lazy and enjoying getting spoiled in the hospital. Skuld was still annoyed by the fact that she'd nearly gotten caught, but it had worked out in the end. Beeing sister with the doctor helped after all, and Odin didn't believe she'd deliberately poison Ian. The best part was still that he didn't remember any of it just like she'd anticipated. So she'd been right, he'd died and she'd brought him back to life. This must be how it felt like to be a God. Not that she'd do anything like that again. The potion to bring him back was clearly tracable, and it didn't work 100 % perfectly.

     Taking another sip of the non- alcoholic juice, Skuld said: I'm pregnant.
     A piece of pancake flew across the table, landing on the floor with a disapointing splat. Ian hadn't choked like she'd hoped for, but atleast he'd coughed food all over the place. Which meant he'd have to clean it up afterwards. He was such a useless idiot. And he'd started complaining about headaches, migraines and aching joints since his little rendezvous with the afterlife. But she was pregnant, so it trumphed his whining.

     Are you sure? Taking a look at her stomach, he didn't seem to believe her: Aren't you supposed to gain weight? When did it happen? Ian was full of questions it seemed.
    I've been to the doctors and taken a test, it was positive. I'm pregnant. Taking another sip of juice it could've been irritating that he kept questioning her: I don't know when it happened. You think I check after everytime we had sex?
     Ian didn't understand how she couldn't know, it wasn't like they slept together very often: We haven't talked about having children. Ofcourse Ian wanted children, he was the only one left of his family so he was kind of obliged to have them to didn't he? But already?

     You don't want kids Ian? She grinned at him, it wasn't like he could get away.
      I didn't say that, he hadn't stopped eating. Maybe he just didn't want to have kids this early in the marriage. Or he just didn't want to have a kid when their marriage wasn't better than it was. He worried about them beeing able to keep it going with a little one that demanded lots of attention. Then again, it might be good. Maybe a baby would bring them closer together, and Skuld would learn that she had to start beeing considerate towards others needs? Not that Ian didn't understand where she was coming from, but it was still a bit frustrating that what he said never seemed to seep through.

     I just think it's a bit strange you don't have even a small belly, he took a look at her stomach.
     It takes a while before it shows, she just shrugged at him:
     Aren't you supposed to feel sick? He'd heard about morningsickness, dizziness and general fatigued beeing some other symptomes
     Not every woman experieces the same things. She answered: And it's still early in the pregnancy. You can name him if you want to... maybe that would shut him up. This didn't go as she'd planned. He was supposed to be thrilled and carry her around on a throne.
     You know the sex already? Wasn't that a bit early? Ian didn't really know a lot about pregnancies. He should probably buy a book or something.
     No, she tried flattering: I just know a manly man like you will have sons! 
     What did that even mean: What's wrong with having a girl?

     She'd never had a glass of juice for longer: You and that mangina of yours Ian.... Do you want to name the kid or not? He was so ungrateful, couldn't he just grab a bone whenever she threw him one?
     Ofcourse he wanted to name the baby: You'll be fine if I call it whatever I want then? She nodded at him without bothering to give eyecontact: Like Rubbadub....
     Like Skuld actually cared what the kid would've been named. If it got bullied because of it's name, what did she care?
      How about Dorothy if it's a girl? And Brighton it it's a boy? he tried. Not that it wasn't tempting to name the baby Rubbadub....
     Sound nice, Skuld said without emotions, sounded like some upperclass snobs anyway. It didn't matter, neither DoroThon or Ian would live long enough to end up as upperclass snobs. She was already sick of him and the baby.

     Just please promise me that we don't do the whole "not having pink for girls and blue for boys crap". Skuld managed to press out. Atleast she had to pretend that she cared about something: Traditional values aren't a threat to simkind. Ian was kind of a hippie in her mind.
     Ian disagreed, but he didn't want to argue with her about this. Wasn't it important not to upset the soon- to- be mother? He should be able to sneak less gender tradition to DoroThon. Maybe he didn't like the names. They were nice names, but for some reason he couldn't believe that a child of them would look like a Dorothy or Brighton, they sounded a bit to posh.

     Heading off to the beach, he got a book of baby names on the way and lay down on a towel in the coarse sand to look through it. He was pretty used to ignoring sims staring at his legs, but by this kids disapproving looks; he would not be fun meeting as an adult. Atleast the little brat didn't say anything. What if his kid turned out to be a brat? He didn't want a brat for a kid. How did one avoid getting brats?! Maybe he should get some more pregnancy books, and some about raising kids. Or maybe just assuming it all went well was enough.

     He kept flipping through the pages, listening to the waves throwing themselves against the shoreline. There were lots of nice names, but he didn't really want one that meant something in particular. His own names meaning wasn't exactely fitting. He just wanted a nicesounding one that would make sure the kid didn't get bullied over it. Ian was waiting for some name just to jump out of the pages and slap him in the face as perfect, but none of them were. He still got together a nice little list of that he could imagine would fit the child. This was a lot more difficult that he'd assume, but it wasn't like he was in a rush.

     He got another problem whilst looking through the book. Here and there pictures of adorable, fat babies smiled at him. But what if their kid got ugly?! He wasn't exactely a looker... what if it looked like him?! He had a smoking hot, blonde wife with perfect skin that could actually get a tan, and he was a pale redhead with a giant nose. There was a 50% chance the kid would look like him! And his dad and mum were redheads to, and hadn't Skulds aunt and grandfather been ginger?! Oh no.... Flipping through another page, he took a deep breath trying to focus on the sound of the waves again. What was it sims said? That it didn't matter if the baby was ugly, you'd think it was perfect anyway? Which meant that other sims thought the kid was ugly, and he wouldn't get it! That was even worse!!
     Slowly feeling his legs drying up and the sun burning on his back, Ian remembered why he rarely was sunbathing at all. Not only did he imagine his scales smelled, redhead skin burned easily to. Ouch! He had to stop thinking about how the baby would look. It just got to grotesque in his mind.

     Skuld was determined to keep on working out throughout the pregnancy. No way she was going to be some fat, saggy hag with milkfilled breasts and a hanging stomach. How hard could training be during a pregnancy? She was perfect so it wasn't like she'd get large either.
     But as she felt her legs aching after the long run she also decided another thing. She still had her plan, and a pregnancy meant she'd be less mobile. So she had to start now if she wanted to keep everything according to plan. One sim before she started showing was a must. An easy target, so not one of the supernaturals; but an ordinary sim. And she knew just who to start with. It was going to be a pleasure of a lifetime!

     Easy was a relative term when it came to targeting sims. Firstly she didn't want to screw up like she did last time, so ideally she should've kept an eye on the sim in question. Though she didn't have to much time before her belly started growing. As much as she hated rushing into things again, she had to gamble that it went well this time around.

     Skulds thought were rudely interrupted by something, and for once it wasn't creepy guys leering at her; it was a sweet, delicious scent of something that she rarely let herself eat. But it smelled so good, it made her mouth water and belly rumble- She hadn't eaten that long ago, why was her stomach arguing with her?! That was just greasy food, that no one thinking about their weight would consider eating, and...

      ....her stomach kept protesting to such and extent that she just had to stop an buy something from that food- truck. She could probably try something for once, right? She couldn't even stop her mouth from watering, what was wrong with her?! Probably the stupid babys fault. Skuld was going to jog the rest of the way home anyway, what was a little taco for her? She felt so naughty today!

     With a stomach full of sinful taco, it was time to cheat with something else than just her diet. After the humiliating disaster with Ian, she'd gone through her recipes and made sure she knew who were tracable and not, without any doubt.
     A poison might be the best option this time, but it would take away some of the pleasure. However, it would be for the best to take one with her incase the sim showed itself to be tough. And she had to make the bottle for harvesting the essence ready. This was so exciting!

     Feeling the bitter undertones of having to bring poison with her, it mixed with the joy of beeing successful once again. It was a more potent, untracable version of the one she'd killed Ian with. It was a quick and painless kill. She would do her best to make it as painful as possible, but incase something went horribly wrong it had to be a part of the journey.

     One common sim of each sex, and Skuld decided to start with the male. Males were always easier targets than women, frankly because they were useless. A tiny smile was all it took to get them to do anything she wanted, but in this case that might be impossible. She'd made a grand plan on how to break an entry, but it turned out he didn't lock the door anyway. Was probably getting senile. She could have waited until he were asleep, but she wanted to see the fear in his eyes. To see the pretty face locked in a grimase whilst hoping for the pain to go away. Skuld liked to destroy pretty things.

     Atleast she was allowed to dream. Because as much faith as she had in her own skills, she wasn't entirely sure about his. Not that she believed she'd loose a potential fight, but it would be a bit messy. However she'd already planned a way of disposing of the body and her clothes. She'd bought so many cheap clothes, that all pretty much looked the same she was ashamed. But the cheaper the clothes, the more sims wore it, and the harder it would be to trace it to anyone on particular. She'd even brought a shower- in- a- can to wash away the worst of the gore. No way she'd take the chance of using the shower at his home. And she couldn't just go home covered in gore now could she?

     A part of her suspected that his skills were higher than she'd assume. Another part believed it was the intimidationeffect more than anything. That didn't matter anymore, as she'd taken her own little knife with her. She couldn't wait to see what he was actually made of, mainly because she assumed he'd cry and beg for mercy. She liked it when they begged for their lives.

     Skuld heard the sound from the tv all the way in to the kitchen. Not to loudly ofcourse, but it was still odd knowing Bashir watched american "football". Why was it called football anyway, didn't they mainly use their hands and run into eachother? Or maybe that was rugby? Meh, what did she care.
     The stench of the sigarette stung in her delicate nose. This was so exciting! Not only was she breaking an entry, it was the detail of her looking at a sim that thought they were alone. If she'd had a gun, she could easily have shot him. Or she could leave, and he'd never be the wiser. Skuld had expected her adrenaline rushing, blood pumping in the ears, but she was as calm as she'd ever been. Like a hunter. But unlike a hunter, she was doing this for a good reason.
      Why would she want to get old like him when she could prevent it? Bet he'd been pretty as young, and now he was a wrinkled old man. He should be thrilled to have this honour! Sims generally didn't see it that way though.
     Bashir would be the test- subject for her essence- capturing, it should be interesting to see if it worked. Oh, who was she kidding, ofcourse it worked! How often did she actually fail at anything? The thing with Ian was just a little setback, and all his fault anyway. He couldn't do anything right.

     You done staring soon? Bashir didn't sound a tad nicer than she could remember. She was sure she'd been able to sneak up on him, what a downer. There was no way he could have seen her reflection in the tv, it was one of those low- reflex ones that all men for some odd reason desired. What was up with that anyway, a tv was a tv.
    It's never a pleasure looking at you Bashir. Maybe the answer was unnecessary, but she just couldn't help herself. Even staring at the back, she noticed him grinning: You didn't like looking at me, you'd stop a long time ago. What do you want? Taking another deep inhale of the cigarette, the smoke ended up coming out of his nostrils. Yuck.

     Skuld had completely forgotten how much she hated that guy. Everything about him pissed the living hell out of her: I just wanted to talk to you.
     No you didn't. What do you want? Cigarette still intact he finally got out of the sofa. She was pregnant, he could have atleast put that deathstick out, the smoke could harm the unborn baby. Not that she really cared, but there was no way she was getting unperfect offspring.
    Why so suspicious? I just want to chat a bit. Smiling, she tried getting closer without getting attacked. He seemed pretty relaxed, standing in contraposto, like a model waiting to get depicted. He was a lot taller than she remembered, a lot slimmer to. Wait, what the hell was she thinking? Gross, it was Bashir!

     And what would a hag like you want to chat about? How voice was even lower, not exactely reeking a welcoming atmosphere.
     Skuld just wondered why the hell his voice gave her the good shivers, it was Bashir for fucks sake! She hated that guy!! But his legs were really long, and so graceful especially compared to lumpy, short, pale Ian. And those biceps.... Didn't really help that he kept licking his lips because of the smoking either: There's no need for namecalling Bashir. I know you've always found me attractive. Men were so easy after all. He was an old man, and she was young and beautiful! Getting his guard down would be the simplest thing in the universe, it wasn't like she herself had any problems reigning her desires. She didn't have the slightest desire for him at all, why would she? He was old and wrinkled.

     She had to keep talking to keep herself from thinking; not that she admitted it to herself ofcourse: It must've been difficult loosing your wife like that. Forced to live alone for your best years. All that time living side by side with a young woman you just couldn't have. It was impossible to guess his thoughts from the face, but Skuld didn't need that. Men were easy and simple. She knew just what they wanted to hear. Seriously though, why the fuck did she keep thinking about how long his legs were. Probably Ians fault for beeing so damned ugly and fat.

     You cut your brother and beat dogs... In what universe would that be attractive to anyone? Oh fuck, he knew about that ugly dog to. What was the problem anyway, it was just a dog. It was twice fun because it had been Jarls dog.
     Oh Bashir, she kept the talking, all the time getting closer: you're trying so hard to talk yourself out of the attraction. To attempt to see something in me that isn't real.  
     He just kept looking at her, even as she came as close as possible. Not that she actually cared about what he thought about her, but it was still fun. She liked having power over sims, and she had it over him. Probably.

     Skuld forgot what the original plan had been for a second. She could blame pregnancybrain, but likely she'd been caught offguard when he'd noticed her. That's right, the potion was already ready and waiting, but she really wanted to try her raw power against him, he was old and she was young. An easy fight. The break got to much for old Bashir, as he'd finally put out the deathstick he talked even more: I know what you're made of Skuld. I'll admit I didn't think you'd actually end up killing someone though. 
     What ever do you mean? She was a great actor when she wanted to.
     The woman they just found, he said it with no emotion and as a given truth: Atleast now I know what you wanted to do with your brother back then.

     What on simplanet are you talking about? She hadn't murdered anyone, she'd simply taken a closer look at a sim. That was different, Skuld wasn't a common butcher. But he did surprise her, stroking her cheek lovingly, for once showing something that was pretty close to emotions: you look a lot like your aunt, especially with your hair away from your face..... Shame really.... Skuld didn't agree that she looked even a bit like her ugly aunt, she was a lot prettier than she'd ever been.

     Skulds hormones had to be out of control already. When he spun her around, pressing his lips against her she didn't even feel like vomiting. What was wrong with her, she hated his fucking guts! Holy hell though, it was something completely different than Ian, that moron.
    It didn't last long enough in her opinion, because he let her go almost as quickly: That was just wrong. You're just... wrong. That was the last straw, Bashir was getting senile.

    
     Skuld didn't have time to think before his arms tightened around her throat. He'd done this before, she knew it was something wrong with that fucker! This still hadn't been part of the plan, and the arm just squeezed harder around her throat: I'm doing the right thing... Bashir had to be talking to himself: Marco's gonna kill me... That didn't help her at all!! This hadn't been a part of the plan!

     It felt like an explotion wanting to happen, that never got there. Like her eyes would blow out of her skull, eardrums pop and start bleeding. Lightning could've hit her in the eyesockets and it would still have been more pleasurable. And she panicked, she couldn't breath even the least. How the hell was that old guy that strong? Forgotten was everything she was supposed to do, or could've done. Instead she had to act before her brain surrendered, before she became unconscious. She was pretty sure she tried talking, but without beeing able to draw breath, not a word came out. Just her lips moving, as she tried wriggling loose, clawing at his arms. She tried telling him she was pregnant, over and over but there was no air left in the world it seemed.

     What? He let her collapse on the cold floor, making it finally possible for her to breathe again. Her throat was sore, making every breath ache. He asked her again: What did you say?
     Taking shallow breaths of air, she tried talking several times before he understood it: I'm pregnant.
     You're pregnant? Taking a small break before continuing, he repeated himself: you?! Taking a deep sigh, whatever that mean Bashir kept on talking. Might as well, as Skuld still had problems with it: it does explaing why you're face has gotten chunky, and your skin is bad. 
     Her face was not chunky! That was rude, she hadn't gained a single pound! Her skin was flawless and it didn't have wrinkles. And it never would either!

     Bashirs breath was still heavy, the age and smoking must have taken it's toll on the longues. It went a lot quicker for her, easily drawing the lifegiving oxygen down her throat. But still pretending to be more exhausted than she was.
     Question is, he said: What do I do know? I won't let you continue doing this. How he even knew was beyond Skulds knowledge, but it didn't matter. One sims suspecting her was one to many. Grabbing the bottle, she threw it at him. As much as she wanted to kill him by her own accord, it wasn't worth the risk. What other option did she have?

    His eyes rolled back in his head before falling straight down like Ian once had. The sound wasn't loud this time around either. She decided it was best to doublecheck him, if anyone didn't have a soul it had to be him. But the essence was right there, as she easily caught it in a bottle. What the fuck was wrong with that guy? First she'd had his tongue down her throat, then he'd tried to kill her!
     Ideally she should take a closer look, bet his longues were black from all the smoking. But Skuld was both sore and exhausted from the strangling. It was so typical it had to be that bastard spoiling her great mood! On the other hand, maybe it would be best if she didn't cut him open- maybe the police would think it was someone else?

     In death his skin stretched out, making him look almost like a young man again. Stroking a gloveclad finger over his face, she vaguely felt the skin still beeing warm. For once it hadn't been all messy business, and she wasn't in a hurry. And no one was waiting for him anyway. She decided to take his weddingring, it kind of belonged to her didn't it? He'd been married to her aunt, so it belonged to the family. And he didn't need it anymore. Why did he even have a weddingring, his wife was dead a long time ago.

     Skuld took her time looking around the house, but to be honest she didn't find anything exciting there. His clothes were boring, his computer didn't contain any dirt, not even any porn or any that he'd tried to delete. She'd really hoped to find that he was into some nasty shit, but no such luck. Just some sugarly sweet videos of him, auntie and Lucky that he seemed to watch a lot.... There were a lot of sites for vegetarian recipiets, and quite some animalshelters he'd been visiting though. Bashir was an unusually boring man, his mail didn't even have spam for blue pills. Not even his phone was exciting, just some newspages and lots of photos of Lucky, and even some of the other ones, even him and dad. But not one single one of her! They seemed to be pretty recent though, did that mean the family met without telling her?! Not that she wanted to meet anyone, but that wasn't the point. Why didn't they tell her? That was a bit hurtful, didn't they like spending time with her and her amazing personae? She made sure to remove all traces of the computer and phone beeing used after death, no one but a computer- expert would find anything.

     
     Even his bedroom was a bore; no condoms, no suspicious tissues, no gross magazined under the bed or matrass, not even one sign of a woman ever beeing in the house. Was the guy a monk or something? There had to some dirt on him somewhere! She wanted him to have tons of dirty secrets; she knew he had them. Come on, he'd strangled sims before atleast! There was no way in hell he didn't have dirty secrets, but he didn't have them here. Skuld hated that she knew he was fishy, but couldn't prove it. Think about how much fun she could've had with it! Like selling it to the papers and humiliated Lucky at the same time! But she had to realize that whatever secrets Bashir had, they had died with him, that bastard.
     There was absolutely nothing of value, or interest at his place. Guess she had to do just with the wedding ring then.

     So if she wasn't going to look at his tarfilled longues, and probably the black hole where his heart was supposed to have been... what could she do then? There was a chance that she'd be questioned since they had lived together. It would most likely be considered cardiac arrest, or any other form of heart failure. The problem was that if they looked closer, they'd find her DNA under his fingernails. Had she given him any bruises? If she had, wouldn't they look into that? After a closer look, she couldn't find any. Could she take the chance of leaving the premises without doing anything else?

     Taking another deep breath, Skuld decided to gamble. Bashir smoked like a chimney, and he was at an age that heart problems was a real threat. If she did anything to the scene, it would cause suspicion. Her other potions had failed, but this time it should be perfect. His heart should just have stopped, and if he smelled a bit iffy, it wouldn't mean a thing for a coroner. If she was lucky, no one would find him before some time had passed and he'd rotten a bit. It was warm enough for it. And if nothing looked suspicious, no one took a deep tour of the area. They just did that when the circumstances was suspicous.

     Even if she wanted to rip his body appart, Skuld had to restrain herself. She would just have to cross her fingers that this would work, that it would be assumed natural. Ofcourse she'd left the place as she found it. That fucker had nearly killed her, and given her a nasty bruise around the throat she had to cover up as good as she could. Atleast he was dead now, that was the important part, and she'd gotten her first essence. But this was it; no more fooling around. She was done taking chances, done rushing things. She had to be patient from now on.
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poses: k2m1too, ohoh, elexis, sunny (how cute is that pose?), fanaskher, traelia, AG,clarisse

Yes, she's pregnant for real

How awkward was that scene between Skuld and Bashir? I hope it was, it was the general aim atleast. I tried to have her projecting her own thoughs on him. But when I gave her the ninja-makeover, I realized she actually looked a bit like Oriana. Not a lot though, mainly the eyes and mouth. So it kind of suited that she might have gotten to Bashir a bit, but he came to his senses. And since he's not a very nice sim either.... well, unfortunately for him he has a tad decency....

 Just ignore that Skuld has a tan in one of the jogging pictures, and not in the rest. Not sure if it faded, or if it's the lighting making it look like that. I use the "zombification" potion in the picture, because it looks nice. I'd love to make something about the whole essence- capture, but to make it look like it should in my head; I'd have to do somethings in gimp, which would mean I'd have to *gasp* learn something NEW!!! Not happening! I'm to old to learn new stuff!!

Thanks for reading 

3.3 Bring me unlife

warning: nudity, NSFW, language

     For the first time in ages, Skuld felt lighearted. She'd made a list in her mind of who should be the lucky ones that got to give her what she wanted; eternal beauty and youth. Why wouldn't anyone want to give her everything she wanted? Even Ian seemed a lot happier now that she was happy, and why shouldn't he? He wasn't allowed to be in a good mood unless she was. It was the natural order of things.
     And as much as she usually hated when he put his arms arpund her, she let him get away with it for a little while. He didn't just smell like a fish, his stupid, fat arms made her neck ache. But for now her mood was just to good to be ruined, and soon she'd start her quest.

     As it often did, the tv was making a small noise in the background, but when the anchor started talking Skuld seized the opportunity sneaking away from Ians arm. Tv- man had one of those random dull voices, and she swore his ugly face was grinning as the tune from the tv kept on: The brutal murder of a mother of two, has seemingly left Jericho policedepartment without any usable clues. According to our source, the victims wounds were surgical; making it a possibility the murderer were a doctor. The police are currently not answering any questions, but will be holding a pressconferance tomorrow.

 Skuld had never been happier about her father beeing retired, and Lucrecia was still in school, so she'd never seen this case at all. It was so good beeing a genious. That made sure she could study more subjects than most sims in university.... like medicine for instance.
     A witness supposedly heard the voices of two women in an alleyway leading to the site. The police are looking for a woman named Diana Summerset, who alledgedly fled town after the murder though her status is still unknown.    
     This was music to her ears- but really what was going on with that anchorman? He had to be so full of botox that he looked more like some creepy doll than a sim. Wondered how many times he'd been under the knife?

     Ian tilted his head a bit at the womans name: Didn't she go to school with us? He gave her a short look before turning his attention to the tv again.
     Uhm... I don't know. Maybe? Ofcourse Skuld remembered her, why else would she make sure that's the name she gave to the woman. She'd been pretty certain someone would hear it and the police name her a suspect.Unabrow should never had insulted her to begin with. Skuld had been waiting for the day where she could get even with her. It was never to late claiming justice for herself.

     She wasn't a fool ofcourse, and knew well that the police wouldn't hold Diana Summerset. And they were looking for her, or else there's no way the news would have gotten a hold of that name. But it didn't matter if she didn't go to jail either way, because the civilian sims judgment were so much more terrible than anything in prison anyway. The jails in Jericho was a joke. She'd loose friends, family would turn their back against her, loose her job and make it hard to find another. She'd be a pariah of society, just as she deserved. And sims rarely forgot things like this.
     Skuld kept listening in fascination as the anchor had given the screen to some on- place reporter. She laid out the gruesome details that their source told them of. They were pretty accurate, but why did they depict it as so brutal? They made her sound like some common butcher!! She'd spent a lot of time looking inside the womans corpse. What an insult.
     Ofcourse the presse was supposed to decide for themselves what was moraly right to do. But they always cared more about viewer- ratings than anything. Now it was just to wait for the what-ifs and the sims that had been in the area a week earlier and all that stuff.

     The chances of the police thinking about her insulting someone once as a teenager, that waited for years to set someone up for some uncomfort, wouldn't cross them. And no matter how you put it, Skuld was still a copsdaughter. It wasn't like they had any register of DNA from cops, because of privacy protection. They were still battling if it should be legal keeping DNA samples from known criminals. Sims were such cattle. So if they found anything from her, there wouldn't be anything to check it up against.
     I can't believe there's been a murder... and such a young woman to.She hadn't really been that young, why did he call her young?

     There's murders here all the time. That wasn't exactely true, but they were frequent enough, rising again as her dad had retired: The only difference is that this woman wasn't some lowlife scum, so they just make it into the news. She could pretend that she cared. Which she did, she kind of wanted to know what the police knew. Though she had already gotten one thing clear. She had to check the voluenteers better and to hide them. The longer time before they were found, the harder it was to find something that could connect with her. She'd been careless and that was unheard of.

     That's kind of a shame isn't it? Ian said. He thought it was terrible atleast: I mean, not that it makes it bad that this poor girl is in the news, but that the others aren't seen as good enough. And it was a bit harsh of his wife calling them lowlives and scum. But he didn't have it in him to correct her, she didn't mean anything by it. It was just a poor choice of words.
     Smiling at him, with that little grimace she knew he would notice, but not enough to mentioning anything about she said: Probably. But then we wouldn't have seen anything else than murder would we? And we don't care as much about more unfortunate sims as those more fortunate. She could pretend she cared to. It was good knowing what to say all the time.

     He added some herbs from their little garden to the meal. He liked experimenting with food, even if it wasn't always successful. Like adding cinnamon to spaghetti for instance, even if everything in him said it was a terrible idea. Ian was a good cook, and he took care of the house to. Skuld did a little here and there, but all in all it wasn't a lot. Her experiments were timeconsuming, but the ammount of simoleons her potions had started bringing in was otherwordly. Which was good, because he didn't make a lot. But he defenitly contributed. Not that it stopped Skuld from claiming they had pretty little, but he thought it was a bit odd. They had little, yet they had a nice house even if it was a bit run down, ate good food and had pretty clothings and a car. But she probably knew what she was talking about. Maybe it was just her that thought they had little, her family was filthy rich so making a good living probably felt equal to beeing poor.
     He heard her from a distance, those high heels clacking against the hard floor gave off a very distinct sound.

     He stopped her as she was walking out the door: Where are you going?
     What do you mean? She gave him a confused look. what was the problem.
     Where are you going after dark? A woman's just been murdered!
     She looked so hurt, it made his heart bleed: Don't you trust me Ian? Is that it? Are you afraid I'll leave you like your father did?

     Where had that come from, it hurt when she said thing slike that. She didn't mean anything by it: No... I'm worried about you leaving after dark, when there's been a murder of a woman in a secluded spot. Besides, why are you just leaving? Weren't you planning on telling me? It wasn't common that sims just left without telling was it?
     Skuld looked at him again: Ian, sweetheart.... did her voice just sound a bit condescending: Nothing's going to happen. I'll come back you know.  
     It was probably just his mind playing tricks on him, she looked so sincere: But I'm making supper... Spaghetti with cinnamon, it was probably good.
     I can eat when I get back. Then she just got in the car and left. Wasn't that a bit rude? Well, she was probably used to different things from home than he was. They needed to talk about this.

     She was still in a good mood even after Ians nagging. Now she'd have a warm meal to come home to afterwards, and she wouldn't have to pretend that she actually wanted to talk with him. The only things he talked about was boring either way. She wasn't interested in the same things he was. He was a cheapscate anyway, always looking for a bargain. And he was actually proud of getting things on a discount. As long as it wasn't for her she didn't care that much though. After all, spending simoleons on Ian was a waste. Spending them on her was an investment, but she was pretty and smart, and Ian wasn't.

     Searching for bugs, always made her leave her thoughts behing. Not even Ian could annoy her then. She made sure that she used them whilst beeing alive in her potions. They weren't more potent that way, she just liked the thought about them beeing in pain. Even if it was silly, as bugs felt nothing.

     This time however it also made her thing about other stuff. She hadn't had any more weird dreams lately, but that didn't mean that the whole bottling essences didn't toy in her mind a lot. The hardest part was the whole bottling the essence of the dead thing. Skuld vaguely remembered Bashir working as a ghosthunter for a short while, probably hoping he'd find Orianas soul or something, the weirdo. But that wasn't the same thing, their spirits couldn't be bottled, they were to strong and feisty.

     The essence of life was what kept the spirit and body together, and when the sim died, that essence left the body, so it had to be harvested at the time of death. So it was a matter of timing really. It didn't disappear like in a nanosecond, it tended to linger a bit incase someone wanted to give them life back. Gathering essence from sims weren't a problem, but how was she supposed to gather an essence from a ghost, when they were already dead and didn't have an essence?

     A lot of sims wondered where bugs went in the wintertime for some reason. Some avoided the cold, some died, however some hibernated. Simply said they froze almost solid in wintertime, shutting down bodilyfunctions thus beeing almost dead, but still alive enough. Ofcourse not all bugs did it the same way, but it was still interesting.

     They were almost dead, but not really. Kind of like how she was almost supernatural, but not really. Not that it was anything to be proud of, but it was so far apart, that it didn't make her filthy and lesser like they were.
     However, her supernatural ancestors made sure she was a great alchemist, even better than most supernaturals. She knew that her grandfather was a vampire, her great- grandfather a witch, and ofcourse she'd heard of aunt Oriana and dad torching things on a whim.. So something was amiss from her great- grandmother on dads side to. She didn't know alot about her own mum, other than the fact that she was egyptian. But she had been married to a fairy, which meant that if he'd put a spell on her it might have tainted her or something? It didn't matter.

     The point was that she could do things that was for supernaturals, even if she wasn't one. She was but she wasn't. And the bugs were dead, but they weren't.
     Did that mean that if someone had a child with someone that was dead, the child would technically be dead? And then it would have an essence of life but still be dead? So if someone that was the child of a spirit and a sim, would have the flesh of the sim and the soul of the dead. But still the essence that made the soul and flesh stay together?

     That actually sounded logical. How come she hadn't thought about that before, but how would one have a child with a spirit? They didn't have intestinse, semen or eggs and all that stuff? And how would she find one? They didn't exactely write that on birthcertificats, and if someone froze for instance semen, and the sim that had given it died and the semen was defrosted and inserted into a living sim... it would still be from when the sim was alive.

     Which made the only option that someone had sex with a sim, and then kill the male at the same time he ejaculated..... Ofcourse she could have kidnapped some women, and locked them up and get some guys raping them. Finding men willing to commit rape was the easiest thing on simplanet, and then she could kill the guy when he came. But that was a lot of work and where would she keep them? She'd have to rent a space which mean payment, which meant it was possible to trace to her, and so on.
      But, she was a woman and that made it possible for herself to get pregnant. Which meant that she could have sex with a man, then kill him as he ejaculated in her and carry the fetus herself.

     However, men were gross and disgusting, and why would she give some random stranger the gift of entering her precious body? Even if would kill him? Then ofcourse it was the problem of Ian realizing she'd cheated and leave her; leaving her pregnant to fend for herself. She could cry rape, but that didn't mean he'd stay with her. And then she'd have to act like it had happened. But there was a better option, atleast for someone with her skills.

     Damn washingmaching, he swore when they'd gotten enough simoleons he was buying a new one! One that didn't run over the floor chasing him! And that was more enviromentalfriendly than this one. If it was going to run all over the house, the least thing it could do was to hang the laundry to dry, but no.... It wasn't that helpful!

     The entire house had the sweet scent of cinnamon after he'd seasoned the meal. Shaking the though off, he wasn't really worried about the spaghetti; he was still dreading talking to Skuld about what had happened. He tried his best beeing sensitive with her, but it was hard at times. Sometimes it felt like he just gave and gave, but never recieved anything back. Other times again, she was all sweet and loving, making him feel terrible for thinking like that about her to begin with.

     He just didn't know what to do at times. She'd had a hard life, he knew that and wanted to understand. But she never told him anything. There were times she seemed so emotionless that it was impossible reasoning with her, but he'd heard that could happen that sims just zoned out. Maybe that's what she did? He remembered Efraim doing it from time to time, but it still hadn't been like it was with her. He'd just zoned out, and keep to himself and usually felt embarassed and bad when he de- zoned. Skuld was just... well, not doing it the same way.

     Ian could hear her rummaing in her den. When had she come home? He knew she tried beeing considerate, but come on! She'd had to sneak behind his back, litterally! Probably when he'd been fighting that evil machine! Was she trying to avoid him? He swallowed the little irritation that tingled at the back of his mind. He didn't want to raise his voice at her, it was best to keep it calm. There was no reason taking a serious discussion when irritated, and he'd already decided it was better taking it tomorrow. Then they'd both have slept, and he'd be less emotional. For now he just leaned back on the desk and took a deep breath.

     Skuld had an epiphany whilst searching for bugs: the most obvious solution to her little problem was to have sex with her husband. Then kill him with one of her many poisons as he ejaculated in her, and then quickly give him life back with another potion. She already knew how to raise the dead, atleast if she did it immediately after death. Before the essence had time to leave, and grim reaped the soul. It was brilliant! That way she'd keep her loyal dogs help and get a child with an unlife at the same time: Do you think I'm desirable Ian?

     He was pretty certain he had just been annoyed at something. But he couldn't remember what it was: You're a goddess.... She even smiled at him, seeming happier than she had in ages. It was something lovely about the entire situation: his wife casually undressed with a big, happy smile on her face. Ian still found himself wondering why on earth she'd wanted to marry him in the first place, she was out of his league. Not that he was complaining in any way, but sometimes he found himself wondering what others thought when they saw them together. Or what she was really thinking about him. It was a terrible thing of him to wonder about ofcourse, because she wouldn't have married him if she was repulsed by him.

     With an inviting smile over her shoulder as she turned around, she said: Come here then, little red ridinghood. Only Skuld could say that name to him and make it sound hot. But when he realized where she was taking him he couldn't avoid saying anything: Really? There? They were on their way down to her den in the cellar. He was barely ever there. But she nodded at him before walking down the stairs. As much as he wanted to be a strong man, he quickly followed. He had to be dreaming or something.

     What the fuck is that thing?! Ian jumped at the sight of that.... what the hell was it? This suddenly didn't seem so hot anymore. Skuld actually laughed sweetly at him: It's just a doll. 
      It's creepy.. yuck. Was that thing going to come to life or something? Looked like it's eyes were following them around the room. For some reason she kept giggling at him. He could have sworn she said they didn't have the simoleons to waste right now, and she'd bought some childsized doll? That just didn't seem right. Whatever they were doing he was going to have his back turned against that thing. Maybe it would come to life and try stabbing him in the back or something.

     How about you take your clothes off, it'll probably make this a lot easier... Skuld teased in between kisses. Trying not to show how grossed out she got by his scaly legs, she kept her act up. He should be thankful she ever allowed him to touch her. 
     I refuse having to see that.... thing there.. Ofcourse she knew it'd creep him out, she wouldn't have put it there if it hadn't. He didn't want to turn his back against that doll, but the option was looking at it. So better to take the chance of having it stabbing him in the back.

     Skuld was pretty good at keeping an act up when she needed something, even when it took forever. It was a bit entertaining seeing how much power she held over him. How could this even be a big deal to him? It was just putting that thing inside her, and that was pretty much it. Well, not that he didn't try doing other things to, but there was no way that gross mouth was getting anywhere near her ladybits, thank you very much. That was just sick, and probably had something to do with him beeing a fish.

     It wasn't that she didn't remember Ian always using a long time finishing, it was just that she kept forgetting the extent of the time it took before he even got started. Which just added to the time it took overall. And it wasn't that fun to begin with. But for once she had a pretty good cause to endure, and it made it easier for her to keep track of his pleasure. She'd been sure to place the bottles needed within arms reach, having it all planned out. To think it had taken her so long to figure out, it was embarassing. The best part was still that he wouldn't remember her doing it, since he'd be dead. And the dead don't remember, atleast when they get back to life.

     Men were so stupid!! Was he trying to prove something by holding her up so her feet didn't touch the floor? Why hadn't she thought about that?! Skuld wasn't a complete moron either, she'd make sure to have a pair of bottles on the floor, and on the shelf. But if he held her up, it meant she'd fall when he did! That was bad, she could loose that little time she had to bring him back from the dead. She could hurt herself!! Though she had to admit it held a certain fun to it.
      Slapping him lightly on the back, she tried getting in touch with him: Ian.... Ian.... Eventually she got a grunt back: Put me down... I can't do it this way, I have to have my feet on the floor...

     I won't drop you, he assured her. Ofcourse he wouldn't drop his wife, what did she think of him. 
     It's not that, I just...
     I won't drop you.... 
     But what about when you...
     Don't worry, he breathed, I won't be able to hold you like this then. Mainly he just hadn't wanted to sit with that ugly doll staring at his butt. What if it came to life of something?
     It was still good news for Skuld, because it meant it would be easier for her to calculate her killing him.

     Was he ever going to finish? Was it even supposed to take this long, she couldn't really remember. Come on, she was eager to try out her little experiment. She kept on looking at him, trying to find the perfect timing. Ofcourse there was a chance that he wouldn't make it right the first time, but then she'd just had to try again. He couldn't fail every single time after all. And why did he keep looking back at her? Didn't he understand that she wasn't doing it for his pleasure? She didn't care about his pleasure at all.
     She could see the potiong that would end it for him in the corner of her eye, moving her hand to grab the already open bottle.

     He fell straight down, like a rag that she'd dropped to the floor. No fighting, no surprised looks, he was instantly killed. No one could come here and claim her potions weren't the best you could get. There was no way he could have fought that off. And she'd timed it perfectly to ofcourse, now she just had to hope that she got pregnant by it.

     But she couldn't linger on her amazing success, she had to work before grim came visiting, and he was fast! She forced the liquid into his mouth, down his throat, to bring him back from the dead.

     What was happening? Why wasn't he waking up? Her potions worked, they always did. She hadn't tried it before ofcourse, or even sold any. Why would she help other sims overcoming death? They'd just die in the end anyway. And she wanted to be the only one that could decided if sims were allowed to carry on living: Ian? He was breathing, wasn't he? But why wasn't he waking up quickly, he was supposed to.

     Ian? She was getting agitatet. It was so typical of him not beeing able to do anything right. She checked his pulse and heartbeat, and they sounded pretty okay. But his breathing was a bit shallow. Skuld had studied medicine amongst others, but that didn't mean she wanted to help other sims with her skills. But if she was pregnant, she'd need help when she got bigger. And who would run her errands if not Ian? Unlike what the stories often told, the essence of younger sims weren't usually stronger than the ones of the older. Their essence was young and inexperienced. The strongest ones usually belonged to adults, when they were at the peak of their lives.

     Adult sims would generally fight harder to avoid death then the younger ones, so their essence was stronger. Sometimes childrens, teenagers and even the elderlys essence was strongest, but generally it was the one of the adult ones. Ofcourse there wasn't a guarantee that stronger essences made a better potion for her to stay young and everliving, but it was best to be on the safe side.
All in all, it meant that if she'd gotten pregnant now, she needed to keep the baby atleast until it was a child. And she didn't want to take care of a child on her own! Ian had to do it for her! She didn't even like kids! Irritated she shouted at him: Ian! Wake up already! He was still breathing, she could see it.

     Sighing heavily Skuld came to a realization. She did have most of the education to become a doctor, but that didn't mean that she wanted to. Or that she had the instruments to make him better. She had to get some help for this. She sighed heavily again. This was so typical of Ian, now she had to get dressed. But the worst time was dressing his half- dead carcass to. His fat arse weighed a ton. She swore he just did this to spite her, he couldn't even die the right way!

     The ambulance came quicker than she had anticipated, but not before Ian had woken up coldsweating. She didn't like hospitals, they smelled and there were sick and injured sims there, and elderly. She didn't like them, they were a waste of valuable resources and a burden to society. The nurse had taken some samples of his blood and now she was waiting for testresults. She wasnt't worried about them finding anything that could incriminate her ofcourse. She wasn't dumb enough to make poison that was tracable. Atleast not the most dangerous parts of it. Not that she thought they would run a toxicologytest either way, atleast not for what she used. But it was better to be safe.
Working on him until the sun had risen, one could wonder why he hadn't woken up yet? No one had told her anything either.

     She heard the heavy door opening, revealing them to be able to withstand fire for a while. Most hospitals had those anyway, so did schools. It was probably the nurse with the testresults, so Skuld stayed put pretending to be to preoccupied with thoughts about her husband. Which she was, but mainly because it was so typical of him beeing this selfish.
     Everything looks good so far. That voice didn't belong to a nurse.

     Was that her littlebrother in a doctoroutfit? Why was he here? Oh, wait that's right. He'd probably finished the internship by now. Her kidbrother was a doctor. That was just so strange, did he perform surgery on sims to? Odin? Who in their right mind let him operate them?
     Skulds face must have revealed more than she'd like as he continued: Don't look so shocked, you knew I'm a doctor. 
     I just wasn't... She hadn't been expecting him.
     Just pretend you don't know me... As I said his vitals looks pretty good so far. His breathing is better, and he should be waking up soon enough. We gave him something to sleep on
.

     No one had told her that? Had she been sitting here oogling because they'd given him something to sleep on? When had they done that? What a waste of her time!
     Nurse didn't tell you? She tried not to sound irritated: No he didn't. 
     Well, he gave Ian something to sleep on after the treatment was done. Guy was a mess, but in pretty okay shape. I have some concerns though...
     Concerns? What concerns? She kept her face away from her brother, just in case she'd underestimated his intellect: What concerns? Will he be fine or not?

     We ran some test on his bloodsamples, due to the symptoms.
     And... she didn't like where this was going.
     And, he sounded very doctory: there were traces of muscimol in his system. What the actual fuck was he talking about, but if he was hinting at something Odin didn't give her the chance to speak: It's a psychoactive substance that effects the sentral nerval system found in...
     Amanita Muscaria, I know. Skuld interrupted him: Are you trying to tell me that Ian ate mushrooms?

     Well, maybe it was an accident or he did it on purpose. Believe it or not, we get a larger portion of sims drugged on that than you'd believe. That was strange, it wasn't exactely a pleasant drug to use. Which ofcourse Skuld had tried, had to figure out what she was working with after all.
     You really think Ian got high on fungi on purpose? Well, it was better than him expecting her to have anything to do with it. But she hadn't actually used any amanita in the two portions she'd used.
Maybe he was trying to impress you, with your name and all? You know who got drugged on amanita right? Was her brother actually trying to be funny with her husband laying in hospital? Even if he said he was fine?

     Not that Skuld actually cared that Ian was in the hospital, it was really just irritating: There's no proof of berserkers using that. There were certain siberian tribes that did, but....
     Well, they had tons of names for magical potions and amanita didn't have the same name then. It might be hidden in galdrasmidja or lyr or... or taufr.... And you know who the vikings worshipped right? He gave her a clever grin and wiggled his eyebrows.
     Odin, Skuld looked at him: My husband is in the hospital. What are you trying to do here? 
     He actually looked a bit guilty: Sorry, I just haven't spoken with you in ages. I just.. I'm sorry.... I was just trying to lighten the mood abit for the rest.

     The rest? What "the rest"? There's more? 
     He grimased: We found lappaconitin, sepentrionalin and cynoktonin in his system, it's found in the aconitum lycoctonum. Fuck, she hadn't thought they'd run any tests for that: Trollhatt, she said. There wasn't any point in her trying to pretend she didn't know what it was. Odin knew she knew anyway: Well, he can't be poisoned by it, he's not conscious after all. And if he'd had been trollhatt poisoning, wouldn't you be giving him coal and made him vomit?

     We did... He said to her: and I was under the impression that he was awake when the ambulance got to your place. 
     But... ofcourse there was trollhat in the potions she's used, but just one of them: if he'd been poisoned, he'd be conscious all the time. And wouldn't he have been in for a longer time before getting better? He collapsed first, and I wasn't able to get in touch with him.
     He's a meresim. Odin said it like is should mean something.
    So?

     I've never seen it myself, but we've learned about it. Meresims and other... supernaturals... tend to be a bit more resilient than usual sims. They can just handle a bit more of everything. Kind of lies in the name "super". Not that he wouldn't have died pretty quickly without treatment, but his body just takes a bit longer before the poison kicked in like it should. Most likely the uncousnciousness was a result of his body trying to fight it off, or some other form of shock.
     What? Why had she never heard about this before? I've never heard about that before. Meresims weren't real supernaturals anyway. Atleast that's what she'd dreamt. She couldn't even be bothered trying to explain it to him.
     Because it's not really that big of a different, they still die pretty quickly and the results are pretty few and not really verified. But the question still remains in how he ended up consuming it.

     She really had to stop making mistakes like this. She was a genious, she was supposed to do better than this- she had to be better than this. Good thing she was a decent liar and did her best to suddenly have an epiphany. Well, she actually had but more in the sense of getting a good idea: Oh... well... you know we have planters in the house with trollhatt in it. 
      Yea.. I'd never ask them to run tests for that for an adult, but since I knew you had that stuff around the house. You have a lisence to have that by the way? Nevermind, dad probably fixed you one.
     She tried not to get to irritated, so that's why they'd tested him for something so obscure? And ofcourse she had all her papers in order: But Ian has taken up this little herbgarden that he uses as seasoning. You know he loves to cook.... Maybe he got the wrong one without really noticing? I can't really imagining there beeing any other way if he actually ingested it.

     Then why aren't you sick? 
     What was with the third degree he was giving her? She didn't have an interest in answering all those questions. But she didn't want to make him suspicious either. Ofcourse there was only one thing to do if he got to nosy, but it was risky. Mainly because police always looked at friends and family first: Because I had to leave before he'd finished cooking. He'd eaten by the time I got home.
     From where?

      What do you want to know really, Odin? Are you trying to tell me this is my fault? Skuld turned around to avoid him seeing the lack of tears, but still keeping her voice sad and pretended that she blamed herself: Don't you think I know that already? If I hadn't had those plants in the house, Ian wouldn't ended up beeing poisoned... she sobbed a bit more until she finally hearing Odin letting out a sigh. The type a conquered man gives: I'm sorry. It's just not a common poisoning for adults. I need to ask questions to determine if I should contact the police.

     Say what?! What? She didn't turn towards him, just incase he could see how nervous she actually was: You want to call the police? For what?
     He kept still for a very long time, before finally answering: In case there's suspicion about deliberate poisoning. It's attempted murder at worst. 
     You think I tried to kill Ian? I'm your sister! She did her best to make him feel a lot worse about himself. And he should! To think of accusing her of something like that? It wasn't an attempt, she had killed him, but she was so god-like she brought him back to the living!Odin shouldn't ask her questions about how he'd been poisoned, he should worship the ground she walked on because he wasn't dead anymore!
     No, no.. I don't, really I don't. It's just standard, I have to ask. I know you wouldn't poison anyone!

     He continued: I know you wouldn't poison anyone! I'm sorry. He even wiped tears away from his eyes.
     Oh he knew that now, did he? And she hadn't actually meant for him to get this injured. It took time, and she had to pretend she was worried about him. Which she wasn't, because it should be fine now after all. But she really had to stop beeing so careless! This was ridiculous! First the woman, and now Ian. Skuld was disappointed in herself, she had to do better. She had to. Good thing that Odin believed her, or she could have been in trouble right now. That also meant that if the baby- thing hadn't worked, she'd just had to get rid of Ian in the usual way the next time around.  
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 poses: imho, k2m1too, annely sims, mary36jony, traelia, AG, k2m1too, extraordinair,

The doll is because of the misc fun roll for the record.

So, just ignore the clear and obvious illogical and silly things here. And if anyone wonderes how Skuld is supposed to know if she's succeded, even if she did get pregnant; she hasn't thought about it. Because in her mind it will either fail as in not getting knocked up, or it's a success.

And no, Skuld will never, ever, ever even consider selling any reviving the dead potions, because she wants them all to herself. That, and there aren't any ;) Other than removing occult state, and since ghost is one I figured that was close enough. And I know nothing about poisoning or hospitalwork; just mentioning it.

Thanks for reading