3:24 Brotherly Love

The grim reaper; the being who had stolen her love so many years before, guarding the entrance to the graveyard that held his body.

And the stone pillar, the same one that had changed her niece's life. Ominous statues, watching the dead on this cold, starry, moonless night.

She couldn't help but cry when she realised how long it had been. The grass had grown back, the mound of dirt was long since gone, and a thick layer of frost covered everything in sight. Was this the right thing to do?

The only activity in the area, were a few ghostly figures coasting on the other side of the lot, not appearing to see her as she started clawing at the hard ground with her hands. She wished she'd bought a shovel, but it would have seemed suspicious as she'd never gardened.

Safe and warm, she thought, as she climbed into bed several hours later. And in just a few days she wouldn't be alone under the sheets.

_____

"Why does it always have to rain when you least want it to?" Shaena wondered out loud, as she rang the doorbell of her brothers log cabin.

"Hey, Shae! Bit early for you to be up!"
"Hey Lou. Yeah, we need to talk about something important. Away from Mum..."

Luis led Shaena into the small shack, and turned in the entranceway, silently urging her to continue.
"Is Layla in?"
"No, she's out collecting seeds."
"Shouldn't you be the hunter-gatherer?" Shaena joked.
"No, me man. Me carry heavy stone and chop wood for fire." Luis put on a caveman voice, making the pair of them giggle.

"But, seriously Shae. What's so important that you're ringing my doorbell at 7am, on a day you have a council appointed lie-in, that you can't talk to Mum about? Not pregnant are you?" He was joking about the last part - trying to lighten the mood, but Shaena still rolled her eyes. Older brothers sure didn't get less annoying with age.

She smiled as she thought about how much they had wound each other up when they were younger, particularly high-school. Luis had been like a brother and a father at the same time, she wouldn't have it any other way, but that may well be out of her control.
"Shae...? Are you pregnant?" Luis looked and sounded very concerned now, and Shaena hadn't even realised she'd not answered his question.

"No, Lou! God's sake, is that all you ever think about?"
"You didn't answer, so I thought..."
"Yeah, I know, because Mum had you young everyone thought I'd go and do the same. I'm not stupid Lou. I don't mean Mum was, I just know that I wouldn't be able to raise a child so young like she did."
"She did a good job." Luis chuckled.
"Clearly not. The poor boy has serious trust issues." Luis burst out laughing now, and Shaena couldn't help but giggle herself, just like old times.

 "I've got trust issues? I'm not the poor little pregnant teenager who won't tell anyone."
"Lou, seriously, I'll drag you up those stairs and push you back down them if you don't shut up"
"What? A weak little knocked up thing like you?"
"LUIS!" Shaena tried to look angry, but she couldn't hold her laughter in well enough to scowl.

Luis stopped laughing eventually, and waited patiently while his sister tried to compose herself.
"So what did you come here for, other than attempted murder?" Shaena hit him gently on the chest.

"I'm worried about Mum. She made these two potions, and told me she was going to bring Dad back to life..." Shaena paused, she'd never met their father, but Luis had. Would he be as against this as she was? "Kaity said she saw it would work, but..." She closed her eyes and sighed, unsure how to say this last part.
"But you don't want to meet him? You don't want anything to change?" Luis seemed to understand.

"Look, by the end of the day you'll be an adult. You're moving in with Alex tomorrow, and then it won't be long until the triplets age up and move on, I'd assume that around that time Aunt Taylor will move in with Bebe, and then what does Mum do? Just sit around and twiddle her thumbs for the next however many hundreds of years she lives for?"
"I... Hadn't thought of that..." Shaena felt heartless now, how could she not have seen her mothers side of things?

"Don't feel bad for not thinking of it, you're only human-" Luis stopped short, as he realised the phrase he'd chosen. She was only human. Luis and his mother would live for hundreds of years, while Shaena would be lucky to make eighty. "I'm sorry, Shae, I wasn't thinking, it just slipped out..."
"It's fine, Lou. I'm used to it. I don't mind, actually. It means I don't have to worry about losing all you guys, and I know there'll be someone there for any kids I have."

"But there's more. About Mum, I mean." Shaena continued. "She dug up his remains last night. I don't know when, because after the party, me and Kait were up til really late, and she was definately in bed when we went up." The pair fell silent for a few moments. Neither really knowing what to say.

"I suppose it's the only way to do it..." Luis started, not really sure where he was going. He was a little freaked out by the idea, but well aware that his father wouldn't be able to come back without a body. "I'm not saying I think it was a good thing to do. I don't. I barely remember him, but I still don't want anyone digging him up."

Suddenly, like a freight train, the realisation hit her.
"Lou." She was almost breathless. "If this works. If she can do it." Luis smiled, knowing her train of thought. "I'll meet him. I'll meet our Dad."
"Yes. And he'll love you. You know you look just like him, don't you? I mean, you've seen the pictures, but you really do."

Joking, to avoid the conversation becoming anymore serious, and possibly upsetting her birthday plans, she grinned as she said:
"Am I purrdy?"
"No, I just told you, you look like a man."
"LOU!" Luis laughed to himself, at Shaena's fake look of hurt.
"Come on, get in the car or we'll be late."

"So... I thought you were going all wild-man, I get that you built the house by hand, and most things in it, but a car...?"
"Yeah, so I didn't make the car, but it runs on water, no pollution, which is the main reason we weren't going to have one. It'll make it easier to cart the kids around..."
"Kids?! Oh my God, Lou! Is Layla pregnant? Is that why you kept telling me I was?" Shaena squealed, and Luis laughed at her excitement.
"Cool it, 'auntie'. Not yet, hopefully soon."
"Aww, can I hold it?" Luis burst out laughing, and swerved a little at the violence of his outburst. "LOU! Maybe you should just teach your kids to fly, I'll do the driving lessons..."

_____

"Aunt Madison?" Madison was watching out for her children, they weren't here yet, but surely they would be soon? She had something to talk to Luis about. "Madi!" Rose demanded her attention for now.
"Yes?"

"My stomach is killing me. Can I have some money for food?" Rose clutched her abdomen, in an overly dramatic style, emphasising her point. Jake just tried to ignore it, and pretend this embarrassing spectacle of a girl wasn't any relation. He loved his sister, but did she have to be so loud and embarassing?

Madison gave in to Rose's whineing, and gave some money to each of the triplets, and to Shaena when she arrived, before pulling Luis off to talk. The skies darkened, threatening a storm, and Shaena was annoyed that it was clearly going to rain all day. Some hot food helped, but she still felt cold, wet and miserable.

"It'll be fun! You just... Dive on in!"
"It won't make me any drier."
"At this point, you can't get much wetter, so what will it hurt?" Kaity had managed to pull Shaena to a bathtub filled with water. There were apples floating in it, and you were supposed to get them out using only your mouth. She just had to convice Shaena to have a go.
"Fine."

The girls knelt on the ground, held their hands behind their backs, and got ready to battle.

On Kaity's count, the girls plunged their faces into the water. Neither managed to get an apple, but they had fun trying anyway.

"Rose, don't go in there! You'll cry."

"Shuttup, Jake! I ain't afraid of no ghosts!"

And she wasn't. She came out fifteen minutes later, looking positively bored, surprising Jake, as she screamed blue murder whenever she accidentally touched a cobweb.

As night fell, Shaena felt her teenage years slip away, and her young adulthood began.

Once home, she looked in a mirror, and was happy with her transformation. One more sleep in her old bed, and she'd move on to her life with Alex. She was all grown up now, no more school, she didn't even have to work as Alex made so much. She was looking forward to a life of love and luxury, with her family nearby.

_____

Around 2am
_____

Madison woke with a start when she felt the presence on the bed next to her.
"Geoffrey...?"








Shaena is now up for download.
*hides from things being thrown because of the awful cliffy* 

3:23 Lies and Truths

So many years, over half of her life, had been leading to this.

And now she was almost there, she didn't know what to do. She'd not spoken to anyone about her plan, and now she was ready to go through with it, she was having doubts.

"It's been so many years. By now, it would almost be his time. Is what I'm doing here selfish?" She thought to herself. "I'll have to go to the grave, dig his body up and burn it. I have to mix the ashes to make it work. Can I really do that? Could I really bear to see the man I love as a rotten corpse? Nothing but bone will be left now..."

 "...Mum..." She'd not heard her daughter come in, she'd been too lost in her own thoughts. "Are you ok? What are these ones? I'm going past the consignment..."
"No."
"No? You're not selling them? But... You never keep your elixirs. Not even when the specialist said you should try them."

Madison turned away, she needed to tell her, but she couldn't do it while looking at her.
"They're for your father." She wanted to say more, but couldn't find the words.
"My... Mum? What do you mean?"
"You never met him. I want you to meet him. Even just once, I can do all this again..."

Rushing to her mothers side, Shaena tried to process what was being said.
"What do you mean? What are these? What are you going to do?"
"I need to see him again, Shae. Your father. I want to marry him and have the happily ever after we were supposed to have."
"But..." Shaena spoke softly now, the urgency gone. Her mother was just hurting still. "But, Mum. He died, remember? The day I was born. I'll be graduating soon, it was a long time ago..."

"I know. I'm going to bring him back." Shaena's face fell. Was she being serious? Is that what these potions were for? Is that why she wasn't allowed to drop them at the consignment store for her?
"Mum... That's impossible." As she spoke, she realised that impossible was extinct. Everything anyone believed impossible had happened in the course of just three generations. Water falling from the sky, trees dying for a few months before bursting back to life. Sims with wings, magic and bloodthirst. Rumours of green beings from the skies, and men who became wolves at the turn of the moon. Nothing was impossible.
"I need to be alone. I'm sorry. I'll talk to you properly later."

As her daughter left the room, Madison thought about what she'd said. Impossible? Maybe it was impossible. But anything was worth a try. She'd do anything to bring him back.

_____

 "They're potions." Kaity stated. Not really sure why Shaena had bought her up here in the first place. The alchemy lab was a room they only walked through to get to the bathroom, it smelt funny.
"I know that Kaity. I want to know what potions they are, and what they'll do."

Kaity looked at the bottles. Why should she know what they were? She may be a fairy and a witch, but she knew nothing about alchemy. She reached out and touched the bottle containing the purple liquid, and unsurprisingly, was no closer to knowing what was inside the vial.
"Did you read the labels?" She asked, Shaena just stared at her.
"I'm not stupid, Kait. They're written in some other language, and we both only know Simlish, so..." She trailed off, not needing to finish her sentance.
"Well, what other languages does your Mum speak?" Kaity asked, hoping she might know someone who could translate.
"None that I know of. She's not travelled or anything."

Kaity sighed, stumped.
"Can't you have a vision about them or something?" Kaity didn't look to happy about it, she didn't like forcing her dreams. "Please? I just need to know if my Mum is crazy or not." Kaity nodded, and froze in place. Shaena watched, she hated it when Kaity did this. She'd stand completely still, not even breathing, and no pulse for up to five minutes sometimes. This time was under a minute, thankfully.

Kaity smiled, and pulled Shaena into a tight hug.
"She's not mad." She whispered. She'd seen visions of the man she recognised as her aunts lover, but having no way of knowing when they'd happen, she'd assumed she could see the past sometimes.

"You mean..."
"Yes." The schoolbus honked outside, and the girls pulled apart.
"Thank you, Kait." Shaena realised how tired she must be now, and she still had all day at school, plus a party tonight to get through.

"Come on, lets get to school. It's my last day."
"I'll be there in a moment." Shaena looked back at her friend, who just stared back, face emotionless, giving away no signs. She decided to leave.
"I'll save your usual seat."

Shaena sat herself down again, after standing to let Kaity past.
"What were you doing?" She'd only been inside the room a second or so longer than her.
"Nothing. Don't worry." The girls looked at each other, both knowing Kaity was lying, but neither wanting to say anything on the bus which was fast filling with students.

_____
That afternoon - pre-party
_____
 

"Just relax, Shae! Rose taught me this, she does it all the time. I'm only gunna get you changed quicker."
"Kaity, I don't think..."
"A princess, right?"
"Kaity, please do-"

BANG!
"OH MY GOD, Kaity? What just happened?"

"I dunno, but my head feels funny..."
"Jeez, my heart stopped."

"Kaity...?"
"My head... It feels... Squishy..."

"I am so mad at you. What did I tell you?"
"I'm sorry! Rose made it look so easy..." Kaity stared at her hands, annoyed that her brother and sister found it so easy to use their powers. They could both do something useful, all she could do was invade peoples privacy in her sleep. What was the point in that?

_____
Later - the party
_____

Shaena would become an adult tomorrow. She was throwing a costume party today, as tomorrow the town was holding a festival. They were calling it 'Spooky Day' and everyone was off school and work. The celebration was to mark the lives lost in the Science Facility Disaster that caused the change in weather, before any of the teens were born, the day Shaena's mother was born. The families affected by the disaster wanted a celebration of their lives, rather than a mourning of their deaths, and so the whole town was invited to take part in celebrating the afterlife; something nobody had done before.

Kaity and her best friend, Bonnie Mcqueen, Summer's daughter, had decided to dress as cheerleaders, and spent a lot of the evening in the bathroom, waiting on unsuspecting good looking men to come in. Maybe they'd see their fill?

Myles and Rose had dressed as cowboy and cowgirl. Rose had been delighted when Myles had agreed to match costumes. Myles would do anything for his Rosebud.

Part of the reason Bonnie was hiding in the bathroom, was that her mother had come as a giant hotdog, and her father hadn't dressed up at all.

"So... Are you like, a bus conductor or something?" Taylor asked her girlfriend, Bebe.
"Clearly not, Merfairy. I'm the ring master, I'm hoping to control your rowdy lot tonight" She winked as she replied, implying the teenagers in the main room.

 "I don't like that she's with him." Luis confided in Jake. "He's old enough to be my father, and twice her age."
"She seems happy enough." Jake shrugged. Who his cousin dated was up to her, if he hurt her, he'd get involved.
"There's something off about him." Luis noted. "I can't place it."

Shaena didn't share in her brothers concerns. As far as she could tell, Alex was a perfect match for her, and age was just a number.

Madison wiped away a tear as she looked at the family growing up infront of her. Both her babies were adults now, and ready to have their own children. She hoped for grandchildren, but knew she'd be around for a few more generations yet.

Kaity had probably sneaked a little too much alcoholic punch, and wondered how hard she'd have to stare to make Alex's head explode. That would solve everything conflicting inside of her.

Rose had never seen a vampire before, and stared at Great Uncle Cortez until he got so uncomfortable he had to look away.

_____
After the party - Midnight
_____

"Are you moving out tomorrow?" Kaity asked.
"Um, maybe. It depends if I have time. If not then I'll go the day after."

"I'm gunna miss you." Kaity said, putting down her fork.
"I'll miss you too."

"You'll have to come visit." Kaity said, standing up. "Otherwise I'll murder Alex." Shaena choked, she knew she was only joking, and the laughter had made her inhale the food.

Everyone else had gone to bed after tidying up a bit, leaving Kaity and Shaena downstairs alone.

Shaena slumped her head against Kaity's chest, and Kaity patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"You shouldn't have mentioned me moving. Thinking about not seeing you all day everyday is making me upset."
"Uh, there there... Um, you can still see me. Whenever you want. I don't think I'll move out any time soon, so you know where I am."

Shaena stood upright again.
"I need to ask you something."
"Ok."
"Have you seen anything about me and Alex in the future? Something Luis said to me today made me have doubts."

Kaity looked her friend in the eye, and contemplated her reply. She'd never lied to her before, except this mornings 'nothing', but she couldn't tell her, it may not even happen.
"No." She replied, after a long enough pause to make Shaena doubt her. But why would she lie?

"BOO!"
"Oh, Jeeeez! God, Shae, why did you do that?"
"Why not?"

Kaity giggled.
"This is why I'll miss you."









I did it again.

  Why do I do this to myself? It doesn't help that they're all celebs, so I get a million crashers. I only invited Lisa, Summer, Bonnie, Myles, Luis, Layla (who didn't show up), Bebe and Alex. I got 5 crashers. Shaena is standing inside Lisa in this pic.
And, do you have any idea how long it took for all their costumes to load?!
So, I had 18 sims routefailing, and everyone said my party was awful. Except one person...

 I wonder why... ;)