The bar was a dump. The kind of place frequented only by miserable local men who had a beer in the evening in their work-wear before begrudgingly returning home to their families. Everyone turned to look as they walked in but no one seemed to recognise April.
Melinda felt very out of place. Faith however was smiling and fully embracing her second dominant mood, flirty, as she caught the eye of one of the guys in the corner.
“Faith, quit it.”
“Come on Mel, it’s not like we have a choice here. Besides that one with the man bun is pretty cute.”
April re-joined them with three glasses of lemonade. “Sorry, they won’t serve us anything more interesting without seeing my ID and I can’t really show it, can I?”
Faith was still throwing flirty glances over at man bun guy as Melinda sipped her drink. She made a face as it turned into ash in her mouth.
“Oh shit, he’s actually coming over!”
At Faith’s words, April and Melinda turned to see man bun guy heading their way.
“Hey ladies,” he said. “I’m Will, and that’s Dale and Paul.” He motioned towards his friends at the bar who clearly weren’t as bold and were pretending to watch the television. “Not seen you around these parts before. Mind if I join you?”
April patted the seat next to her. “Not at all,” she smiled. “I’m Amy and this is Maude and Fanny. We’re new in town.”
“Fanny huh?” Will said, looking at Faith who had shot April a look that promised later revenge. “I think I’ll like you.” He took a seat and looked at their glasses. “Hey Joe! Come on man, give these ladies some real drinks!” He turned back to Faith and winked. “You are old enough to party, right?”
Melinda had always been so bad at this stuff.
As Faith and April fluttered their eyelashes and seemed to instinctively know when to giggle or twirl their hair, she sat awkwardly with her guy, Paul.
“In a nutshell, that’s the difference between the five hammers that I own. Don’t get me started on the screwdrivers!” He laughed to himself. “So, Maude, what are you in to?”
“Um… well I like to draw,” Melinda replied.
“Cool.” He nodded and the conversation once again died.
Melinda was almost relieved when she heard April suggest they all go back to their place. Almost.
Conversation flowed much more smoothly between the whole group as they took the winding path through the forest, the guys stumbling in their alcohol-impaired states, eventually coming out in front of the house.
“Woah, you girls certainly don’t look like the kind who would live so remotely,” Dale said, looking up towards the sky which was obscured by trees.
“Yeah,” Will concurred. “Are you witches or something?”
Faith laughed and playfully hit him on the arm.
Once inside, having taken in the aged décor and cobwebs, Will let out the breath he was holding.
“This is some creepy horror movie house you’ve got right here. Windenburg Witches kinda stuff-“
He was abruptly cut off as Faith snaked her hands around his waist, silencing him with a kiss, her hands running down his body until they found the waistband of his jeans.
“You’re coming with me,” she purred, pulling him towards the stairs. He didn’t need telling twice.
Melinda turned to April. Help! She wanted to scream. I have no idea what I’m doing!
April was whispering something to Dale. He grinned and took her by the hand as they too disappeared upstairs.
Great. Now Melinda was alone with Paul.
“So, Maude,” he said and Melinda winced. “Shall we, y’know, go up to your room?”
There were only two bedrooms in the house, but Melinda wouldn’t have taken him upstairs even if there were twenty. She tried to sound casual.
“Why don’t we just stay here?”
He nodded, “I can deal with that.” He stretched his arm around her shoulders. She froze as his fingertips brushed the back of her neck. “Ooh, you’re cold. Come here.” He pulled her closer.
She closed her eyes, feeling the heat from his skin, the pulse in his wrist and the unfamiliar loss of control it was creating inside her.
“You’re really pretty,” he whispered as he walked his fingers across her collar bone.
“Oh my god!” a male voice shouted from upstairs. Melinda squeezed her eyes tighter and tried not to think about what was happening to those guys or about what she would have to do to poor Paul.
Clouded by beer and clearly misinterpreting the shout from his friend, Paul leaned in for a kiss.
Melinda felt the heavy weight of this strange man as he clumsily pressed his mouth on hers. She didn’t even know if she was kissing him properly. She could taste the beer on his breath, could smell his sweat, his lust and his blood. It all mixed into a heady cocktail that both intoxicated and revolted her. Where have his clothes suddenly gone? He was fumbling with her jeans. Oh my gosh. This was too fast.
She placed her palm on his chest and held him back.
“Oh come on, Maude,” his voice was breathless as he reached towards her. “We’ve started the chainsaw, might as well fell the tree.”
“What?”
“Y’know,” he nodded towards his lap.
“Eek! No! Go away!” she screeched, pushing him.
She didn’t know who was more surprised when he fell back off the sofa, achieving a swift bang to the head on the coffee table and an awkward landing on the floor. He lay there for a while, catching his breath. Melinda watched his bare chest rise and fall.
“Get out,” she said.
Paul staggered to his feet and his senses. “Maude, I’m really sorry, OK? Look, I clearly misread something here. It’s OK, we can just talk or something.”
“No. You need to leave.”
“What? Leave as in leave? It’s the middle of the night!”
“You need to go,” Melinda whimpered. Please.
“I don’t even know the way back. I’ll be eaten by wolves. I promise, I won’t touch you again.”
The darkness was settling on her like a veil. His heartbeat pounded in her ears. She could still taste him.
“Get out or I’ll throw you out.”
Paul looked at her for a long moment then he snatched up his clothes and headed to the door.
Melinda listened as the door closed and she heard Paul’s footsteps fade into the night. She curled up on the sofa around the knot in her stomach. An eerie quiet descended on the house.
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Almost Eternal 
On gosh, so much second hand embarrassement in this chapter 😆 Will’s crudeness made me lol.
Poor Melinda. Something’s gotta give if she hopes to feed sometime soon. Though I’m sure she will sooner or later. The longer she waits, the harder it will be to hang on to any kind of control.
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I’ll apologise now because there are going to be some parts of this story where you are really going to feel the cringe. I shall be calling upon all of my most terrible life experiences here and replaying them for our mutual discomfort. You’re welcome.
Oh squeamish, innocent Melinda. What ever will you do?
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Oh, no, Faith- no no no. Man buns have not been a good thing since- oh damn, he IS cute. Hello there. Yeeeeeeees go join them.
Oof. I feel for Melinda there. Poor girl being abandoned by not one, but both of her friends at the same time. The power of lust is strong. Or, in April’s case, cold-blooded murder, more likely. Ah, I do feel bad for Paul n- DID SHE JUST SEND HIM OUT IN HIS BOXERS HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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I caught up with it all now — yeah!
Things get a little murky here, but I love your character description of three very different young women…
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Things take a turn here, for sure. They have found themselves in a very dark place. But perhaps they were always there…
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If Faith or April end up snacking on the guys and creating dead bodies, wouldn’t Mel have let an eye witness walk free?
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You know how sometimes you think you’re doing the right thing, but really you’re not?
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As someone who completely nopes out of any sort of writing even bordering on smut, even just kissing, I applaud your decision to skip the flirty bits and instead focus on Paul’s impossibly awkward conversation about hammers and chainsaws. I TOLD HER ABOUT MY HAMMERS WHY CAN’T I SMASH?? So she failed at feeding and needs an evil Capri Sun, but I don’t blame her at all for getting distracted at whatever the fuck Paul is ever talking about at any given point.
What a tool—haha, get it? Get it?! Tool.
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You’re a wild one, Dolly. ‘Fraid that there’s definitely some smut on the horizon, though.
Yeah… that hammer chat didn’t work on me so it was definitely not gonna work on Melinda.
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You mean you actually resisted hammer talk?
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I’m torn between yelling “GET IT GURL (by that I mean, drain that plasma)” and feeling the ick factor times 1000 with Melinda.
I do think letting a witness go is gonna be a problem…
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Only until chapter 19. 😉
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“We’ve started the chainsaw, might as well fell the tree.” I suppose such line was to be expected from a guy who seem to have an intimate relationship with his five hammers. Cracked me up all the same.
I wonder if the girls upstairs are going to get intoxicated after sucking blood full of alcohol.
Maybe Maude should try drink from a girl next time? She definitely needs some sort of assistance not to die of starving.
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I have yet to meet a woman who has been won over by tool innuendo and yet so many guys seem to use it. Hmm…
Melinda should try a girl, hey? Maybe she will.
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Ehehe I’ve been in Mel’s situation at least one too many times, so I can absolutely relate. Poor girl 😏
And again, no one is thinking that they may just create more vampires. Girls, don’t you want to google this first? “How to be a vampire”? Teens, right? XD
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Oh, my, my. Here we go. So the two of them are naturals, even April seems to know perfectly well what she´s doing. I´m thinking her first two blunders were because she´s tried with people that weren´t strangers to her. Mel was her friend, so she panicked. And Sandy was very much her enemy, and I would be very surprised if she didn´t want to hurt her somehow… the fact the vampiric instincts kicked in and went overboard… well, that´s fresh fledgelings for you. Faith doesn´t count. I´m convinced that was completely intentional on both sides. So, I trust them not to make anymore problems, be they of the dead or the undead variety.
Melinda, though, she´s a whole other can of worms. She thinks too much. And given that she, too, is now way out of her depth thinking isn´t likely to do her much good. Or Paul. Girly, if a local tells you he´ll get eaten, he /will/ get eaten. Then of course, it was ever so nice of dear Mel to deny herself dinner and leave it out for the… wolves, wasn´t it? Not very smart if you don´t want any strays at your doorstep, though.
Anyway. Just wanted to note that I think you´re pretty mean to your vamps with the whole “everything tastes like ash” thing. I mean… not being able to eat/enjoy anything food related ever again is probably the single thing that could convince me that vampirism is, in fact, a curse. XDD
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No turning back now. Oh yep, can’t really expect these girls to know what they’re doing. They should probably sit down and discuss it before they go, but of course they won’t. Aha, you think Faith’s turning was completely intentional so therefore April must know what’s up? Guess that book was useful.
“Girly, if a local tells you he´ll get eaten, he /will/ get eaten” can’t beat the advice of a local. Let’s hope Paul doesn’t cause any more trouble or attract any attention.
Oh it’s super mean. I figured that being able to taste anything except blood was unnecessary and therefore their taste buds should be the first thing to go. I thought about having everything taste of nothing, but that wouldn’t be enough deterrent to stop eating human food, especially as they can still smell things. Besides, if there were no downsides, everyone would want to be a vampire. I’m sure there are other downsides too, but one thing at a time…
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Well… thinking about it again, Faith can really make it look like she´s cool with stuff even when she totally isn´t, can´t she? But you know how she said April and she traded? I kind of thought getting to be a vampire would have been what Faith wanted in return for staying April´s “friend.” Then again, it may have been that what she really asked for was for April to help her family out of the rent trouble. Ack. But then if April doesn´t know what she´s doing, how does she figure it out? I´d have thought that either you know instinctively what to do, or someone teaches you. But how do you not know and then find out on your own? It… confuses me, which is why I didn´t consider it as an option.
Heheh. I mean, sure he could have been exaggerating, I guess. But really. If you throw a guy out of a creepy horror movie house in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night… well. He may have been a bit of a creep, but poor Paul.
Well… *shrugs* I´d have thought that having to drink blood would be enough of a deterrent for most people, plus the whole thing where you have to be really careful who you get close with because you don´t wanna have too many mortal friends who will age and die on you. Then there is the whole misconception thing where most humans think of vampires as monsters, thus practically helping them become what they fear they will become.
Back to the topic of taste… it kinda surprises me because I´m not sure how it would work. How would their taste buds work for blood and nothing else? Supernatural stuff, I suppose. But anyway, this is where I started realizing you are writing your own rules and not following what the game dictates, which is definitely a good thing. Much promise of interesting stuff ahead.
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She totally can. And they do say they traded, so at this stage I guess it’s just figuring out what the other wanted to gain. You would think that turning someone would be more difficult, right? That a brand new vampire wouldn’t be able to? That you’d have to get that knowledge from someone who knew how to do it? …Hold on to that.
Paul’s fine. Look there he is, walking, down the path his lovely underwear, totally alive.
It’s surprising what people will do when they have no other option, but in terms of drinking blood? Well, look at all the weird crap humans eat in general and what they’re willing to overlook to eat some of it (in terms of morality, I mean). It’s probably not as much as a deterrent as it first appears. I wouldn’t want to be a vampire, though. Not because of having to drink from people, the loneliness or the stigma but because I would miss potatoes too much.
This taste thing all stemmed from some research I was doing about cats (I do a lot of strange research for this story, I know you can’t tell, haha), that said they have 500 taste buds in comparison to our 10,000 because their diets are so much more limited. I thought that seemed quite fitting for a vampire. They literally only need blood, so why not make their tastes super limited to further drive the desire for it? And, as a bonus, it becomes a weakness/compromise too. It might be based on supernatural thinking, it might be that vampirism is akin to a virus and I always lose my sense of taste when I have a virus. But I’m definitely only using game lore as a very, very loose guideline, yes. Otherwise it would be way too limiting and far too easy to figure out.
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Yea. Either the knowledge or the flat out ability. I mean… a vampire apocalypse didn´t happen yet for a reason. But as we were talking about before, April is pretty quick in gaining them powers. I feel a connection, here. Very suspicious.
Haha, oh yeah. Will he get back to town is the question though. It´s a long trek. He could get lost… He could trip on a root and hit his head. XDD
*laughs hard* Oh, I´m not saying I don´t feel you. But I am afraid we are the minority, here. XD
Oh! Yeah, most cats don´t have the capacity to taste anything sweet, that´s right. Wow, you got some really solid reasoning here, I love it! And I totally /could/ tell you´re thinking about all of this a lot, especially later. This just seemed like such a nitpicky detail… I can´t help nitpicking, sometimes. But hey, sorry for underestimating your plotting prowess! I promise it won´t happen again.
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Vampire: “Ms. Bucket, we are offering you the chance to live forever, to have powers beyond your wildest dreams and be part of an exclusive society of superior beings who—”
Me: “Look, we’ve been over this; if I can’t eat fries, I’m not interested.”
Ooh no, never apologise! You feel free to nitpick all you like here; this blog is a safe space for those of us who like to poke holes. Question everything! Pull things apart! I ♥*love it*♥ when people do that; it makes all my over-the-top research feel like it was for a reason other than me just being a detail junkie. 😄 “I knew that page of notes about cat taste buds would come in handy; it wasn’t a wasted afternoon!”
If I answer vaguely, it’ll only be because you’ve touched upon something that’ll be answered in the story later, but as soon as we pass the spoiler point, like with the ash tasting thing, you’ll get an essay you didn’t ask for, like you did here. 😆 Also, I do try and make note of the things people ask in the earlier chapters so we can discuss them to death in the later chapters, but feel free to re-ask later when more has been revealed and see if we’re past the spoiler point for that. Like… everything you originally asked about April’s rapid progression of power, for example. 😉❤
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Totally me with chocolate. I may be willing to sacrifice /some/ taste, but if I couldn´t enjoy chocolate… thanks, but no thanks. XD
Okay! It´s kinda amazing to find that kind of space because… well, I don´t have to tell you most stories don´t have that level of complexity. And I /knew/ you were good, but sometimes it still surprises me just how good, you know? *giggles and wiggles happily* Actual, proper worldbuilding in a Sims story. Yeah, I´m so here for it. OwO
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Aww, I’m blushing!
Happy to have you here, Gina. 🥰
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*chants* You de-serve-it! ❤
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