Faith knew what she was expecting when she pushed open the bedroom door. April would be lying upon her bed; awake perhaps, but not entirely and still stuck in that creepy new dark form that she had.
She did not expect her to be stomping around the room looking very much back to normal.
“Who put me in this nightdress?!”
Faith promptly pointed at Melinda.
“You could’ve picked a nicer one!” April wailed. “You’re trying to sabotage me, aren’t you?”
“Err… that one’s pretty, I…” Melinda said, looking at Faith, bewildered. “Shall we come back later?”
April’s shoulders dropped. “No. I’m sorry. I’m just… being stupid. Don’t go, I need to talk to you. Sit with me.”
Melinda and Faith both sat on the bed, wondering what April was going to say. Probably another tantrum or a hare-brained plan.
“I’m sorry. I am really genuinely, super sorry. About everything. About dragging you here, about all of my promises. Everything,” she said. “I want to try and fix things, but I don’t know where to start.”
“Fucking hell, April. Where has this come from?”
“When I was lying in the sun, I was thinking about you. Thinking about how I’ve treated you. I was thinking about everything, really.”
“You were thinking?” Faith smiled, “You can actually do that?”
“Hush, you. I’m having a moment here. I realised that I am like a rubbish version of Mother. I don’t want to be anything like Mother. I don’t want people to be afraid of me or only love me superficially. I don’t want people to have to clean up my mess. So, I’m going to take some responsibility and turn myself in.”
“Wait, what?” Melinda exclaimed, “You can’t turn yourself in!”
“I can and I am. I won’t tell them anything about you. They’ll never even know we were friends, I won’t implicate you, you’re free.”
“Are you shitting me? So all this was for nothing?” Faith said. “Game over?”
“What? I thought you’d be pleased? You can go back to your families. Forget me and this whole disaster.”
“You’re not turning yourself in, April.” Melinda said firmly.
“What about the questionable morals of me putting Father in jail?”
“Eh,” Melinda shrugged, “He offered, right?”
“Who are you and what have you done with Melinda?” Faith asked.
“I just think that we need to stick with our own kind now. What will happen if you end up in jail, April? When you don’t age, you can’t eat the food they give you, when your bloodlust takes over? They’ll know we exist, there’ll be hysteria, they’ll hunt us all and probably many innocent others, if history is anything to go by. I think sacrificing one in exchange for many is probably our best option right now.”
“Shit, someone has embraced her dark side,” Faith said. “I agree though, April.”
“I’ve been thinking that it’s probably time I left home,” Melinda said. “I miss my dad but he was right; this is character-building. I think I’m starting to enjoy being out on my own. Besides, I can’t leave you guys. I left you alone for only a few hours and look what happened. You got in a car with a random man and nearly went up in smoke and Faith considered prostitution then fell for a psychopath.”
“A psychopath?”
“Oh you just wait ’til you see him. He’s much better looking than Caleb. I think he might be the one for me.”
“He told you his name, rummaged in your brain then plummed off,” Melinda scoffed. “You’re hardly married.”
“Well, usually I don’t get their names, so…”
“Rummaged in your brain?” April asked.
“Oh, yeah I forgot that part. His name is Seth and he’s a vampire. And it’s not like you can talk, Mellybean. Brain violators seem to be attracted to us both. Yeah… I see the way Lilith looks at you.”
“I… what? Does she? I don’t fancy Lilith.”
“I didn’t say you did.” Faith smirked. “Oh, Lilith! You have such lovely hair! Let me stroke it with my face,” she joked, in a perfect impression of Melinda.
“Wow,” April said sadly. “The world’s really changed while I was out of it. Or maybe I’m just seeing it now?”
“Perhaps it’s just because you’re full of Lilith, but you seem to be finally finding your brain. Don’t turn yourself in. It would be a shame for them to stake you now,” Faith said.
“I need to thank Lilith, is she here?”
“I think she just left, but yes, you do,” Melinda said. “You absolutely do. And Caleb, too, if you haven’t already… which you probably haven’t. It really upset him, finding you like that. He wouldn’t leave you.”
“Mr. Fringey sure has it bad for you, Blondie. Fuck knows what he’d have done if we’d lost you.”
“Probably just turn another girl and then not kiss her,” April huffed.
“Wait, is this why you’re grumpy about my choice of nightdress?” Melinda asked. “Were you expecting him to woohoo you when you came round?”
“Yes!”
“OK, sorry. Next time you’re saved from death and your traumatised lover keeps vigil over your fractured corpse, we’ll be sure to dress you in your skimpiest lingerie.” Faith laughed. “Shall we lay you face up or face down?”
“Up, obviously! He kissed me on the nose! Like how you’d kiss a little kid!”
“Maybe he’s just really shy?” Faith suggested, through her laughter.
“Maybe,” April said, thinking. “Maybe he’s never kissed anyone before!”
Melinda had been trying very hard not to join Faith in her laughter, but suddenly failed, “No, from what I gather, he’s very much familiar with female anatomy.”
“How would you know?” April scowled. “Have you slept with him?”
“Wow. No. I just pick up on stuff because I do this weird thing called paying attention. But can you blame him for treating you like a child, April? Since you became a vampire you’ve been throwing tantrums, getting jealous over nothing, then you run off into the sun without regard.”
“Yeah,” Faith agreed, “Maybe you need to show him that you are actually a woman and not a toddler.”
“Maybe I do,” April mused. “He’s still downstairs, yes?”
Melinda nodded. “Are you going to go and talk to him? Bare your soul? Figure out what he’s thinking?”
“No, you two are,” April said, excitedly. “I have a plan!”
“Of course you do…”
—
Lilith was standing in the dense forest near the fish billboard on the affectionately named Hook Corner. She’d been walking around for a while, but there had been no sign of Seth.
She’d have to tempt him.
She closed her eyes and filtered through her thoughts. So numb was she to the sensation of fear that there was only one memory that would still work.
The air around her closed in like a cage; she felt Seth’s ragged teeth at her throat before he recognised her. He lingered a while, grazing gently against her skin; the sharpness giving way to softness.
She could hear him, remembering.
“Lilith. I didn’t think anything still frightened you. Of all things…”
“Back so soon, you cretin? You drank the woods of Glimmerbrook dry quickly.”
“I missed you telling me off.”
“I’m not here for your games, Seth.”
He laughed. “I can tell that you’re drained. You’re not here to offer your syrupy, bittersweet self, either, alas.”
She didn’t react as he pulled her closer, snaking his arms around her waist as he invaded her mind. “So what else could you want? I haven’t left you any gory gifts for a while, can’t be that. If you’re here to offer your company for the night, you should know that I have already indulged. It may not be my finest work.”
“The girls—” she began.
“Yes. I saw that you have fresh ones. Young ones. Hunting on my turf.”
“This isn’t your turf.”
“Well, you don’t use it.”
“Regardless, they won’t bother you again.”
“Perhaps I want them to bother me. Why are they here?”
She tried not to think. Not that it mattered.
“Did I even need to ask? Which of them is Caleb’s? Quiet. Let me find it. It’s been so long since I have been… inside you.”
She felt her skin crawl as he rifled through her thoughts.
“Aha. April, the vacuous blonde. How predictable. Another one to add to his pile of broken dolls. He gave her fangs and promised her forever? Despite all your intrusion, he doesn’t get any more intelligent, does he? Well, I’m sure that will end spectacularly.”
“That’s unfair.”
“Doesn’t make it untrue. If he hasn’t changed by now, he can’t.”
“He has changed.”
“Sure. Good luck to him and his brainless beauty.”
Lilith hissed as he continued to scroll through; a memory of Melinda flashed before her eyes.
“You’ve done enough damage to her, already,” she spat.
“Ah, yes. I remember that one. The unstable, suicidal human. Melinda knew her? Her mother. Interesting. She was riddled with regret. It was most merciful of me to slaughter her.”
“You disgust me. She had her whole life ahead of her.”
“No, she didn’t.”
“If you touch Melinda, I will smite you.”
“Now, now. There’s no need for violence, my vicious vampiric vixen. I have no interest in Melinda and her untangled mind. She is far too wholesome, although I can see why that would draw you. Cling to the hope of trying to regain what you have lost. I’d rather embrace what I have gained. And what I wish to gain…”
“What do you want with her?”
“She is a mystery. You have surely experienced it yourself; her thoughts do not match her words. What we can hear is a superficial layer, a disguise. There is so much that cannot be accessed, so much she can’t admit to herself. Rather more of a challenge. And you know how much I enjoy a challenge. Yes, she has been bothering me…”
He paused, reading. “So she can’t stop thinking about me, either? Handsome stranger. Well, didn’t I make a good impression?”
“I’ll tell her exactly what you are.”
His laugh sent the birds fleeing from the trees.
“And what is that? Lesser than you, correct? We have both strayed into the void thanks to our own selfish desires, Lilith. Our only difference is that I can admit that I enjoy them.”
“I’m nothing like you.”
“You keep telling yourself that.”
“She’ll avoid you like the plague.”
“Will she? Try her. Tell her all about me. Give her every gruesome, biased detail that you have. Heck, make some up, you’re a glorious liar. She will only want to seek me more. I can feel it in her. Darkness.”
Lilith knew he was right. “She deserves better than you. I hope she’s your downfall.”
He waved his hand and she felt herself turning on the spot. She’d always hated that he could do that. That she couldn’t.
“I love it when you spew your venom. You’re driving me to distraction here, Lilith, telling me how very bad I am. Keep turning your knife in my heart.”
“You don’t have a heart,” she spat.
She felt the change in him as he cradled her face, leaned towards her. His voice became soft, dangerous. “I used to. Any idea what happened to it?”
Lilith freed herself from his hold but, in a beat, he had vanished.
< Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter >
Almost Eternal 
Oh geez. Seth is the most gorgeous sim ever existed! ❤ (He’s also giving me Johnny Depp vibes in his pirate outfit.)
He’s quite extraordinary. For all of Lilith’s mind reading abilities, I expected her to have a strong barrier against being read. But he flicked through her mind like an open book.
That memory of Lilith in whatever time they existed then. Was that Caleb? They’re so different looking.
Also am loving the girls bonding together. With amusing topics but haha! xD
Mel and Lilith? Aww I wanted to see an April and Lilith disaster but I see she has had that disaster with Seth already. Okay then, I’m good with Mel and Lilith. With how well they bond, I ship it. Even if what Seth says is disturbing.
I’m so on the ride for April’s plan xD I’lll be looking forward to your next chapter.
😦 NOO don’t hurt my Faith you damn handsome evil gnomehead! Y’know. If Faith embraces this darkside Seth spoke of and one ups him, that will be kinda cool too. Although that would mean she’ll lose her human side which isn’t too good. GAH I can see her running off with him already. 😦
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Extraordinary is one word for him. He for sure is a powerful vampire.
Yes, that’s Caleb. You briefly saw him like that back in ‘Without Shoes’. The Vatores have had many guises over the years.
Mel and Lilith. Although perhaps not everyone is on the same page here. Seth may have a point.
Next chapter is utterly glorious. Ah, I love me a hare-brained plan. 😂
Getting involved with a guy who kills people for fun is never going to be sunshine and rainbows… but Faith doesn’t want sunshine and rainbows, so…
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Baby steps for April. Apt for a toddler, I guess. Definitely better than no steps. It was nice to see the girls have a bit of a brighter moment together, and mend things, parts of their conversation almost sounded like they were just regular 18-year-olds. Already cringing about whatever plan April might have to convince Caleb she is a woman, though.
Seth is fun.
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I’m sure it will be a very well thought out and mature plan.
Just fun?
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The smouldering looks don’t hurt either.
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Always liking the bad ones, ain’t you? 😉
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I thought that’s a well-known fact about me by now 😀
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I think you’ll have to fight Mercury. And Faith.
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I’m quite happy to live vicariously through Faith 😀
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I cannot look at that fish billboard normally anymore. xD
Nope. Nopenopenopenope. I really really don’t like Seth. It’s not just Lilith’s skin that is crawling now. At least she tries to show restraint with rifling through people’s minds, and regrets her snooping when people call her out – he seems to enjoy it, and enjoy the discomfort that invading their minds makes his targets feel. Ick. Ick ick ick. No. Holy cow. No.
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I wonder why that is? This chapter was done way before Miss Purple Tights was on the scene, though. 😉
Yeah, he’s a mind-raping, murderous bastard. But he admits it, so that’s something, right? 😐
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It is a relief to see that April, after all, has begun to think about her own behavior. Although her logical abilities may not be fully developed yet, it is a kind of beginning.
Melinda has grown too … but Faith? You should not play with psychopaths 😟
Lilith has to look for an old trauma to summon Seth. The attractive and mysterious hunter is apparently only aroused by fear.
It is clear that the two have a common past. He knows her extremely well … and it’s not just because he can read her mind as easily as the rest of us turn a page in a book.
Should Lilith really be the cause of losing his heart? 🤔
There seems to be a mutual attraction between Faiht and Seth … she fascinates him because her thoughts do not harmonize with her words.
Your universe is magically appealing, so Seth is not alone in his desire for an answer to this riddle ❤
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Faith has no idea what she’s getting herself in for.
Whether Lilith is truly responsible for Seth’s lack of heart, or whether he just blames her is debateable. The two have a long, dark history and I shall enlighten you in due course.
Yes, Seth seeks what lurks in Faith’s mind and Faith seeks, well, what lurks in his pants. 😆 I wonder if either will get their desire.
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😏🤣
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Well, at least April is starting to make some progress. I’m still not convinced that she won’t slip into her old ways again.
I love Faith’s sense of humor, and how she teased Mel about Lilith. I am still stubbornly not shipping anyone, lol. Lilith has a past, and probably has done some things that would make Mel uncomfortable and maybe horrified. Plus, the whole mind reading thing is kind of weird.
Oh, so from what Seth said, it sounds like Caleb has a type. It makes me think he has done this before, turned a pretty girl into a vampire. But then what happened to them? Did they not survive? Die in the sun like April almost did? Get turned to the dark side by Seth? And what type of relationship did Lilith and Seth have? Makes me think they were lovers at one point, but that’s just my theory. Seth sounds pretty evil, but I’m liking him as the evil villain.
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That’s ok. If I was a reader and not the writer I wouldn’t be shipping anyone either.
Caleb’s type is ‘female’. I can’t answer the others just yet, but you ask such great questions!
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A-ha! So the wah-wah was not all in vain. She’s trying 😊 I can forgive a few fallbacks too
Ahhh Seth, how good to see he’s really that nasty POS I almost expected him to be 😊
Not sure what Lilith wanted to achieve here, but I don’t think she succeeded much.
I have theories again.
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You want him to be a nasty piece of shit? 😏
So mysterious with the theories!
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ya we need some drama. 😋
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Oh. Ok. Drama. Hm.
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X´DD This whole chapter was full of laughs and I love it. Also, you did an exceptionally great work with all the expressions in this one.
Melinda´s in the first part, those were gold. Awkward, embarrassed, hurt. Very readable face indeed.
When it comes to April here, I wonder if the progress she shows is her thoughts in the sun or being “full of Lilith” like Faith said. There have already been hints of vampires reacting to the blood they drink with the animal blood issue, this would be a new piece of that particular puzzle.
Also, I´m relieved Melinda didn´t show her moralistic side here and didn´t encourage April to turn herself in. That /would/ have been a disaster. Brownie points to Mel for progress.
The other part, what can I even say? Seth is a troll. A huge, crafty troll who knows exactly the things to say to get on someone´s nerves big time. Lilith´s annoyed and angry faces just work so well here. And Seth´s expressions, too. He´s playing around, messing with her, until that very last moment when suddenly… whoops. Too far. The shift is really chilling.
I laughed hard at those antics of his, but at the same time…
“Cling to the hope of trying to regain what you have lost. I’d rather embrace what I have gained.”
This. If I only had a single reason to pick camp Seth over camp Lilith, this would be it. Not to take anything away from Seth´s other merits, but that kind of outlook? That´s what I´m talking about, right there. *impressed nods*
Also, I can´t help but echo the “Keep telling yourself that.” They are similar, mind-readers both. And a moment later Lilith admits to being jealous of his powers… Oh, I understand how she meant it, that intent is more important than anything… but you know what they say about the road to hell and good intentions. Sometimes your brakes just aren´t enough to prevent the crash.
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Aha, thank you. This was about the time that I learned to make facial expression poses that weren’t completely crap, so things do improve from here, in terms of visual storytelling.
Vampires do react to the blood they drink, that much is true. Yeah, I think even Melinda realises that turning April in, although probably the ‘right’ thing to do, isn’t really the ‘right’ thing for them to do.
Yes, it’s all fun and games with Seth until you cross his lines.
There is no gain without loss and everything is a matter of perception, so I love that Seth’s line there puts you in squarely in his camp. Aren’t you the little rebel? He’d like you. 😆
“Sometimes your brakes just aren´t enough to prevent the crash.” If you only knew how right you are. EEEEK! I think you’re gonna love it when all this *really* blows up. You do have a little wait though, I can’t write -that- fast… 💣
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Whoa, there. I didn´t even know expression poses were a thing! That´s awesome.
This is the beauty of it all, the absence of real black and white. In most conflicts, each side has a little bit of truth on their side and the real problem is inability to communicate and/or compromise for whatever reason. Those reasons may be more or less understandable for an outside observer, but they still stand strong in the heads of the participants regardless… you know. You´re really making me get all philosophical, here. 😀
No gain without loss, couldn´t have said it better. *shrugs* Yeah, I´ve always been kind of weird, but wouldn´t really say a rebel. I don´t /try/ to go against the flow, see, it´s just… how did Caleb put it? The way the world looks through my eyes. That was a good one, too. I just remember there´s no light that casts no shadow, is all… and shadows are very good to hide in, whether you are a hunter or the prey.
Would he, now? I should be concerned. But I´m really not. Which is /more/ concerning… Meh, whatever. PX
Ow. That was a clumsy one, sorry. 😦
Well, I have a lot to go through still and besides, I don´t mind the wait. Especially now that I´ll be waiting in good company. 😉
Oh, btw. Check your mail. Gonna go send something right now.
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Oh yeah, facial poses are thing. If you ever see a screenshot where everything looks sort of messed up facially or limb-wise, it’s probably one of my custom poses/animations.
“I should be concerned. But I´m really not. Which is /more/ concerning” A number of my readers here have learned not to analyse their attraction to Seth too deeply and to just roll with it. You’re in good company.
Hey, no need to apologise. I don’t know what you were hinting at but I can guarantee that I wasn’t hinting at the same thing because the thing I was hinting at hasn’t been written yet. My ‘eek’ was excitement, not horror, hahahaha. We’re good. 😁
I shall. Woo!
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*laughs some more* Yeah. The spectator effect /is/ pretty strong here.
Phew. I was just worried you were thinking about a real life car crash because ugh, I wouldn´t wanna… y´know. Wake any memories. >.> T.T So I unknowingly touched a future bit of the story eh? Exciting! :DD
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