One day by the sea

Moonglow sat staring out over the sea and giggling to herself as if someone were telling her jokes only she could understand. Ann smiled at the young girl. Moonglow often sat laughing at things that only she could see. She was truly a magical child.





Ann bent down to dig in the dirt. She was looking for a particular piece of sea glass that was to be dropped into a new beauty potion she was cooking up. The baby's laugher rang through the air. Ann could tell she hadn't moved from her spot.

The sand moved easily beneath her fingers until her fingernails scrapped along the wet bottom layer. The sand became more difficult to move then, and Ann had to work to dig deep. The piece of glass she needed was just under her fingertips. Ann stopped. Something was wrong.

The absence of Moonglow's laughter left a void that stopped Ann's heart.

Ann turned to see the baby was crawling recklessly towards the sea as if she were expecting arms to envelope her.


Ann's feet stumbled through the sand too slowly to reach the baby in time. The waves lapped at her hands and feet, sucking at the sand beneath. Ann flung herself at Moonglow, grabbing her with both hands and lifting her high from the water.

As it slowly dawned on Moonglow that something frightful had happened, the baby began to cry in Ann's arms. The unthinkable had almost happened. Ann had almost lost her first true heir to the sea which had helped name her.


Ann knew then that she could stay no longer. There was something afoot, something that Ann could not sense herself because her own innate magical ability was weak.

She had to find them a new home in a place no one would find them.

*****************************

And here's the kick off for the next season (Summer 3)!

This promises to be the oddest season yet.

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Butterflies

Amberle lay still in bed with her eyes still closed against the late morning sunlight shining into the room. Despite his gentleness it had hurt her more than she had expected. She wasn't quite sure why sims would return to try again. But then she thought of how gentle his touches had been. The way he had kissed her it was almost like butterflies alighting gently on her cheeks and jaw. He smelled so warm, and his arms were so thick she couldn't help but feel safe between them when he had laid his weight on her so that each breath pressed his chest against hers. In that moment she had trusted him completely. It was a beautiful memory; one of the few she could rank highly. If it meant going through the process again to have such memories, she would.




Amberle halfway sat up so that her elbows sunk into the mattress. She had realized right away that she was alone. The sun was shining through the window. She had slept later than she normally would on a school day. But school was out for the summer. Sleeping in late would have to become her next project.


There was a note left on his side of the bed in a quickly scrawled script. A key ring with two keys rested on top of the note. "Sorry-- had some business to take care of that'll take me out of town. I'll be back later tonight. Please feel free to make yourself at home."

Amberle slipped back into her dress, trying to smooth out the wrinkles it had gained from laying one night crumpled on the floor. (In the back of Amberle's mind, she dreaded the ribbing she would get from Samantha who would undoubtedly be looking for her return.) It was odd to feel so at home in someone else's apartment, and she knew she could easily head back downstairs to her own, but he had said to make herself at home. So she would make herself at home.

She grabbed the key ring and took it with her downstairs to get used to the idea that she now had the key to his apartment. The tight ball of warning that had attacked her the first night she had been with him in his apartment still seemed intent on poking at her every so often.

The fridge was cleaner than any fridge she had ever seen. He had juice and milk, ketchup and mustard. No left overs though. Maybe that was part of why the fridge seemed to clean. The knot in her stomach attacked again.

On top of the fridge, there was an unopened box of cereal. It was as if he had bought it just for her.


The bowls she found were dusty. She had to rinse out one to use it. The knot kicked her. But perhaps he simply ate out? He wouldn't be the first male bachelor to order take out every night. Though she hadn't seen left overs in the fridge. And a peek into his garbage revealed no containers or much of anything.


Amberle sat down with her bowl and a newly rinsed spoon. As she ate, she glanced around. His apartment was beautifully decorated. Her eyes fell on the tapestries again.

She stood, leaving her hardly eaten cereal to turn to mush, and walked into the living room again. It hadn't changed since the first time she saw it, and yet her stomach was twisting horribly.

There was a door she had noticed the other time she had visited, but assuming it was his office, she had simply never bothered to ask. But now she was curious. She turned the handle, but it was locked.



There were two keys on the key ring he had left for her. Could it really be that simple? But Amberle remembered that his note had said to make herself at home. Amberle grabbed the key ring and tried out one of the keys in the door knob. The first key fit perfectly. The door swung open easily. Her stomach pain disappeared.

Heavy curtains blocked out most of the light from the window, but what little came in was enough.

Amberle gasped at the sight of the large, open coffin.



Quickly, Amberle shut the room, hung the keys back up, threw on her clothes and fled from the apartment.

*****************

This marks the end of Spring 2. Whew. A sim year has passed since I started this blog.

Also, I am moving! I got a new job, and it comes with an apartment, so my boyfriend and I are moving. (Okay, so it's really just down the street from where we are now, but still I hate moving.) So I think I'm going to take a week (possibly two!) off from updating (though hopefully not reading).

Next season, the things I have planned are probably going to be weird, but we'll get some back story on the land and on one of the characters, possibly two of the characters.

Here is a sneak peek.

For those of you who can't see it, sorry! But it will literally be illuminated in a few weeks.

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"And we were dreaming"

The alarm clocked hissed.

Amberle reached for it, but it suddenly grew a gaping hole for a mouth which started to mew dangerously and continuously. The mouth grew sharp teeth and the clock hands became hairy eyebrows that pointed just above the 10 and the 2. It looked as if it were angry enough to chase her into her bed and bite her.






Slowly, the dream faded away. As Amberle's mind awoke, she realized it was her fat orange cat, CJ, hissing and mewing loudly from the other room. She had never heard such sounds from him before.

"Oh CJ," she thought as she turned over in her bed, pulling the blanket over her shoulder.



The sounds continued, but Amberle could not rouse her half awake mind. She could only listen to the strange sound coming from her cat even as she thought over and over that she should get up and see what was wrong.



It took an eternity in dream time before Amberle roused herself. She hopped out of bed and headed to the living room to see what was wrong.

CJ had stopped his strange noises, but he still ran to her as if seeking comfort.



"What was all that about, CJ?" Amberle lifted him up and hugged him close. "Did I leave the door closed so you couldn't get to bed? I'm sorry."

In her arms, CJ actually began to purr and nuzzle. It was strange behavior for her usually distant cat. Amberle brought him into the room with her this time, mentally making a note to call a vet in the morning just in case.

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Deal

"Make me a vampire."

Sofia sat on the edge of the bed watching him as he put his costume back on. He had first appeared standing before her looking regal in his costume, but now that the veil of whatever spell he had put on her seemed to have faded away it was difficult to watch him putting on his crumpled costume without laughing.

It seemed he forgot himself for a moment as his teeth, which he worked so hard to hide, glinted in the moonlight. "And what would I get in return?"

"I would give you half of everything. Joseph is just in the way now. He should be replaced."

"And how do I know you won't turn on me?" He said.



She smiled at him. "Because I actually like you." And she found that she did. Of course, she would never trust that he felt the same. Love was for saps and fools. Sofia was neither.

He lifted a hand to her. “Come.”

She placed her hand in his though she hated giving him not only that bit of power over her but also the advantage. Within the one second it took to draw her to him, she promised herself she would never make that mistake again. His teeth were in her neck before she could even say the word, and as the stinging pain of pressure from his bite spread along her shoulder, her mind raced to curse him for his violation. Did he simply mean to show her that he had some power over her?



Within a few minutes, the pressure was all over her entire body. Her fingers twisted horribly as the pressure became a burning sensation. Her mind could not focus on anything other than the sensation which twisted her body.

The burning sensation drew back from her finger tips, back from her shoulders and to her throat. Her body should have been exhausted, but instead it was energized with the pang of hunger.



He stood before her as if he meant to grab her hands. “Remember, you are not stronger, though you are possibly more vicious,” he said with a wink. “Come. It’s time for your first hunt.”



******************************

Ok, so I wanted to make another entry about these two, and I can't. I wanted it to be the entry where he explains her new body. Maybe it'll come up later.

Some basics about my sim vampires: They are not necessarily stronger than the average sim, but they can be more vicious which might make them appear stronger. They cannot do magic (and are probably immune to it), but they have an interesting understanding of the deeper human psyche and can manipulate it. (He pretty much did that to her the first time they met.) I assume that all sims have this "power", but it's deeply hidden. The change to a vampire simply brings up the baser instincts that lie hidden and haven't been used by civilized sims for thousands of sim years or more. (Predator is the word that flashes through my head when I think of vampires-- or Sofia.)

But they are dead, so I imagine that they have incredible stamina and feel no physical pain.


Also, this marks the end of winter, which means another new header or, uhm, three. I just couldn't decide, and last time I got bored always seeing the same banner. So I have it set to randomize now. :)

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Wait

The same afternoon as the previous entry:


"I must say that I'm surprised to see you here Sofia."



Sofia sat on the bench next to Cherry Smith. It was close to five in the evening; the sun would be setting soon. There was a tingle in her belly that reminded her of when she was a little girl waiting on the front porch for the newspaper to be delivered just so she could talk with the teen delivering it.

"I decided that I needed some time away. To think."

Cherry stood. "Well you're welcome to stay as long as you like. It's only $200 a day I ask. Meals will be cooked by me, and I can clean your room when you're out if you'd like. Let me show you the room."

There was a seething undercurrent to Cherry's chipper attitude that Sofia had been able to feel all the way in her own home just up the street a few miles. Sofia didn't know much about Cherry but that she had been a townie who had taken advantage of a situation (much like Sofia had often done herself). In the end, Cherry was the step mother of the city Mayor and yet she lived here on the edge of town running a "bed and breakfast" out of her home.



Cherry smiled at Sofia as she waved proudly to the rest of the room. It was decorated simply, much like a hotel room but with a homey feel to it. Sofia could easily spend the rest of the day relaxing and waiting.

"Well, thank you. I would appreciate privacy if you wouldn't mind."

Cherry nodded, though Sofia was sure that the woman was inwardly fuming at Sofia's power over her. "Well, we'll both be upstairs. See me if you need anything. There are some left overs from dinner in the fridge if you get hungry."

************

Sofia spent the rest of the evening in her room. Upstairs she could hear the tromping of Cherry's little brat, Jason, as he ran back and forth. Surprisingly, at eight the noise stopped.

"I'll arrive once all the lights are out and everyone is asleep," his note had said.

Was eight their bedtime? It would make sense for someone like Cherry to let her child do whatever it pleases and then force it to sleep at a certain hour.



Sofia smoothed her silky red night gown then sat on the edge of the freshly made bed. She would wait. She did not want to turn out her light too early, just in case he was out there watching now. So she would wait and make him wait as well. If he were feeling as anxious as she, then he could continue to feel so until she turned off her own light to signal him in.

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Sofia Stratton

It had taken a while, but Sofia finally managed to shut down the night club and get everyone out. It was the worst part of her night trying to get the drunkards out. For that she relied on the cook and bartender who usually swept the place clean as she dealt with getting rid of the light weights. If a customer was too troublesome, she usually saw it right away and had "friends" she would call in to help her take care of her problem.

Sofia thanked the guys who had stayed to clean up by handing them each a $100 tip. Once they left, she was finally alone.



Sofia was rarely alone. When she did find herself with some quiet time, she celebrated the silence. Tonight, she felt a drink was in order.

She walked towards the bar to pour herself a glass of her best whiskey when out of the corner of her eye she saw a movement from one of the more private booths which contained nothing more than a sofa.

"What are you doing here?" She said angrily. "We're closed."



Then she recognized him. He had been the stranger she had met earlier in the night out front of the club when she had stepped out to get a few deep breaths of the slowly chilling fresh air. He looked like no one else she had seen before. He wore what had to be a wig, and his clothes looked like a costume of some sort.

His smile disarmed her with its charm, but there was the barest hint of danger that made the fine hairs on her arm stand up. Perhaps it was the way his eyes traveled down her face to the tight gown covering her body. Or maybe it was the way he almost appeared to lick his lips as his eyes wandered back to hers. "I hope you will forgive me. I only wanted to see you before I left."



She found herself smiling at him now. His dark brown eyes seemed to dig into her, holding her steady. "I'm sure I can." Her own voice seemed far away as if it wasn't her speaking. The only thing she could see were his eyes.

One of his arms slipped around her waist, pulling her body close to him. Slowly, he leaned down to kiss her very bare neck as his free hand traced down to her shoulder. The lace of her dress scratched over the hard curve of her shoulder as his hand deftly slipped the scrap of fabric down. Against her exposed skin, she could feel the embroidered silk of his costume. A glance at the couch behind them was all the permission he needed. He had her gown off by the time they took the step back. His own costume lay in a pile on the floor by the time they sat down.



There was no time to think and hardly time to breath. His kisses were fierce and strong, but never strong enough. She pulled him towards her ferociously, surprising herself. Her head swam; was she breathing? Her vision became blurry and dark around the edges, but she refused to stop pulling him closer.

As the darkness began to drop over her vision, Sofia took a last glance at his eyes. There was a sudden clarity as the light hit his eyes from a different angle. They were not normal human eyes, but something much more malicious and frightful. And it was already too late for her.

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Friday Afternoon

It was Friday before Ama’s plan could be put into action.

Their parents were called. Jason had a much harder time with his mom than Ama had with her mom.



“Geeze!” Ama had said after his long phone call with his mom . “No wonder you’re such a baby. Don‘t do this and don‘t eat that!” She leaned back to laugh at him.





“I am not!” There were no good retorts for being called a baby especially when Ama was involved. Jason just wanted the adventure. “When do we go?”

“Hold your horses.” Ama began stuffing snack bars and a bottle of water into her back pack. “We can’t go too early, or the grown ups will wonder what we’re doing out. If it’s a little dark, they might not notice us. Besides,” she said as she chuckled to herself, “I want to see if you’ll actually make it.”



The sky was turning orange before they started out.

**********************

By the time they reached the edge of town, it was dark. Jason refused to admit he was scared though he hadn’t ever been out when it was this dark before.



Suddenly, Ama broke into a run. There was no time to call for her to wait; she moved much too fast. Jason ran after her just as she disappeared into a bush. Branches scratched along his face as he hastily followed, his breath coming quickly.


When he finally caught her, she stood looking at a lake in the distance. Jason was too out of breath to say anything. Ama patted him on the back, “Just another test. You passed!” She smiled at him in a way that was reassuring until he asked the question that was playing on his mind now that they had accomplished their first goal.



“So what now?”

“I dunno. We wait.” With her announcement made, Ama sat down on a near by log.



Jason sighed and sat down next to her. He examined his now muddy and scratched shoes. His mother would have questions about that, but then he hadn’t really liked these shoes anyway. He wanted a pair of Captain Hero shoes that lit up when you walked. His mother had promised he could have those next.

Ama drew in her breath. They hadn’t been sitting there long, but she put a hand on his arm. “Did you hear that?”

He shook his head, and then he heard it too. The sound of leaves crunching underfoot reverberated in the distance. Silently, Ama stood and motioned for Jason to follow. The sound was far off, but it bounced around the clearing so that they couldn’t tell from where it came.



Ama picked a large willow tree to stand behind, and Jason stood behind her. “Keep an eye out behind us!” She whispered fiercely at Jason, clearly frightened as much as he.

Jason watched the trees behind them as the sound became louder. Whoever was walking through the forest didn’t care about behind heard. In fact, they were talking! There were two voices, somewhat low, but clearly two voices. Jason thought he might recognize one.



Jason turned around so that his back faced Ama who was peeking around the tree. It was rather dark, but he was sure he was seeing something moving through the trees. “Ama…”

“SHHHHH!”

“But Ama…” Jason willed his voice to steady itself as he tried to get Ama to turn around. The voices had stopped, but the noises were suddenly much louder and seemed to come from in front of him.

He was rewarded for doing the job she told him to do with a blow to the back of his skinny arm by Ama's elbow.

Jason didn’t say anything again after that. Their new visitor greeted them with Ama’s full name in the kind of warning growl that Jason thought only their own parents were allowed to use. “Amália Marie Centowski.”

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Amália seems to have a plan. Unfortunately.

Both of the boys turned towards her. "What?" They said it almost in unison.



Seeing Hobart's interest, Amália turned towards him. "Yeah! My dad sent me to my room early, but they didn't know I wasn't asleep. Dad said that it looked like her blood had been drained through her neck-- like a vampire did it. Isn't that weird?"



Hobart was trapped. He looked over Ama's head at poor Jason who was faced with the back of Ama's head. In a way, it was better this way. Jason could not expect what Ama would suggest.

"I think we should look for him!"



Hobart looked at her, surprised even after his mental preparations. "Who?"

"The guy who did it, duh! I bet he is a real vampire."

Hobart groaned. He was only a year older than Ama, but he felt himself to be the wiser of the two. "Oh no. No way. You're on your own."

"Pfft!" Ama stuck her tongue out and turned back to Jason. "What about you, Jason?"

Jason seemed to perk up when Ama turned her attention back to him with the offer of adventure. "Yeah! I wanna see him. Maybe we could catch him."

"Maybe. But it's gonna be dark. Are you scared of the dark like you are of bugs?"

"Shut up, Ama. I am not."

Hobart rolled his eyes. "And how are you going to get out of the house at night?"



Ama's response was full of her classic smugness. "Easy. I'll say I'm at his house and he'll say he's at my house."

Hobart's head was starting to hurt from the eye rolling.

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Amália has information

"Psst!"

Hobart tried his best to ignore Amália. Class would begin as soon as Amberle walked into the classroom and he didn't want to be caught talking about what ever Ama wanted to talk about. (Amberle was late again, which was usually due to her bad luck.) But besides that, Amália had the look on her face that usually meant she had an idea that was bound to get him in trouble. He had made the mistake of trusting her once, but he was a very quick learner.



"Hobart, c'mon!"


"No, Ama. I definitely don't want to know."




Jason, on the other side of Amália, became curious. "I wanna know!"



Ama rolled her eyes. "Ok fine. At least someone wants to know." She had never been fond of Jason. He was the youngest of the three students at the Maria Rodriguez elementary school. But just because Amália found him annoying that didn't mean she couldn't use him when she felt she needed to.



She turned towards Jason. "Promise you won't get sick?"

"I promise!" Jason was already anxious to hear it. A big mistake.

"You sure? You know how you get when I talk about the bugs."



Jason looked like Ama had insulted him. "Cause you usually do it when we're eating."

"Ok. But I warned you." A smug look crossed Ama's face. Hobart realized that he hadn't wanted to hear what Ama had to say, and now he was going to whether he wanted to listen or not. Ama always won.

"Someone was killed in the forest on the outside of town."

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A dream

She stood in the forest on the edge of town. In the distance, she could see the lake. Despite the chill in the air, a thought towards the back of her head (a tingle really) imagined how nice it would be to play in the chilly water with no one else around to invade on her privacy. Just the thought gave her goose bumps up and down her arm.

A sneaky shiver ran down her back causing her to shudder. It was more than the cold. She was being watched.





Slowly, she turned her head to glance behind her, trying as hard as she could to make no sudden movements. The back of her neck tingled.

There was no time to scream. He was upon her, his arms holding her closely in much the same way she imagined a python strangled its prey. His sharp teeth punctured the thin skin of her neck, and then he began to drink. He held her in this embrace for what seemed like hours.



Her eye lids grew heavy and the world became dream like. In this state, she became aware of various things that she hadn't noticed before. She noticed the smell of the flowers beneath their feet-- a sweet and oddly sour smell. She saw the stars through the trees above her head; they had never seemed so bright before. She felt his stiff costume through her clothes.

It was the brightness of the stars and the feeling of his odd costume that clued her into the fact that she had to be dreaming.


Then she was falling to the ground. It was cold and wet, and the odd smelling flowers surrounded her. He stood near by as if he were watching her, waiting for her to close her eyes. Would he be there when she woke up?

The stars shone brightly down through the trees. Her eyes could no longer stay open. Her entire body relaxed as she shut her eyes and drifted slowly to sleep.

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