Welcome to The Sims mobile voicemail service. You have two new messages. First new message, received on the seventh of May at three fifteen am *beep*
“Hello? Hello, Charles? Charles can you hear me? It’s your mother. Are you there Charles? Don’t you play silly beggars with me, young man; I saw our Melinda on the news. Hello? Charles? Are you there? Have I pushed the wrong button? Is it this one—” *beep* To listen to the message again, press one— message saved. Next new message, received on the seventh of May at eleven forty-two pm *beep*
“Hi Dad. I wanted to call you to let you know that I’m sorry I lied to you, and I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch, but I’m OK. Faith is OK. You probably know that we’re with April and she’s OK too.”
“Something has happened to the three of us and we can’t come home right now. Please try not to worry about us. We’re safe. We’ll be home as soon as we can.”
“I love you.” *beep* To listen to the message again, press one. To save it, press two. To delete it, press three.
—
Ralf approached Jessica’s cluttered desk with trepidation. The girl wasn’t one for coffee and he’d eaten his last croissant so he had nothing to offer her to stop her yakking. He’d considered simply running out of the building, but thought that was unprofessional, even by his standards.
“Jessica, I’m going to drop by Chase’s apartment, see what’s keeping the lazy so-and-so. I might not be back before the end of the day. Be sure to lock up, won’t you? Bye.”
Ralf turned away before Jessica thought this was an open invitation to chat, but she was already speaking.
“I will, Boss. It’s been super quiet in here today without him barking orders at me. I was looking through some old mispers, tidying some stuff up but don’t worry, I updated that case file for you; is there anything else you want me to do with it?” At Ralf’s blank look, Jessica tutted. “The assault allegation? Mystery man? Wow, Boss, you must be busy to have forgotten about that; it was only this morning! Good job you have me around to keep your little balls rolling while you focus on your big balls, huh?”
Ralf nodded. “Interesting choice of words, Jess. No, it’s fine, Chase can sort it tomorrow. Right, well, I’m off.” Ralf said and headed to the door before Jessica could open her mouth again.
Jessica wasn’t offended by Ralf’s abrupt exit; people often bombed out of conversations with her, she was used to it. Her mother had always told her that she should think more and talk less, as if one counterbalanced the other.
Jessica sat back on her chair and looked over at Chase’s empty desk, wondering again if she should call him. It wasn’t like him not to turn up to work, but then again their dates – or whatever they actually were – didn’t usually end on her terms. He was probably sulking somewhere, licking his wounds, trying to make her feel bad for ditching him.
Chase was the most strung-out, stressed person Jessica had ever met, constantly raging and cussing about one thing or another. If he wasn’t whacking his fist off his keyboard he was shouting at her, “Stop talking to that crocheted thing in that annoying voice! Make yourself useful, Jessica and get me a coffee.”
Jessica had eventually stopped correcting that the annoying voice was Turkle talking to her and that he was knitted, not crocheted, and just made the coffee. Everything always went Chase’s way; Ralf let him get away with murder, or at least, questionable interrogation techniques. He was ‘indispensable’ and Watcher, didn’t he act it.
She thought that Chase hated her but one day, when the patrol car wouldn’t start and he was so wound up that the vein in his forehead might have actually burst, he’d sauntered over, unusually friendly, and invited her out for a drink.
Childhood memories of cleaning up her mother’s whiskey-scented vomit meant that Jessica didn’t drink, but she wasn’t about to shoot Chase down if he was trying to make amends. That night had been a lot of fun, actually. She’d seen a whole other side to the surly man across the partition.
With hindsight, his charms might have been amplified somewhat by the half-strength lager she’d had. It had made her brain dive between her legs, as Chase had, the second she’d opened her front door.
He’d left before sunrise and she’d arrived at work the next day, full of regret and memories of him naked, thinking things would be weird now. But he was right back to snarling at her as if nothing had happened.
She’d vowed to never fall for his smooth-talking act again, but two weeks later, on a day when his computer wouldn’t work and he’d smashed his monitor to smithereens, Mr. Charming had made his reappearance, this time inviting Jessica to go bowling. She’d decided that bowling was innocent enough and agreed to go.
She wanted to say that the second time was the last time but… it wasn’t.
Jessica always tried to see the good in people, which was difficult in her profession. But even when they were likely using her, blatantly rude to her or had done something downright despicable, there was always a reason behind it.
Jessica reached for her phone.
“No!” Turkle’s squeaky voice piped up from the corner of the desk. “You’re not going to call him, Jessica. That’s what he wants! Don’t do it. Never again. Nope!”
“Thanks for looking out for me, Turkle,” Jessica replied.
She tried to put Chase out of her mind, brought her hands back to her keyboard, tapped idly. She re-opened the missing persons reports, as something to do, her eyes once again drawn to one in particular.
Rose Smalley, 17. Missing for 6032 days.
There were a few minors amongst the files, most were younger than Rose, but something was off about this girl, something was tugging on Jessica’s intuition… and her heartstrings. Why had no-one pushed for resolution to this? Why did no-one care about her?
Even the report was incomplete, like whoever was being paid to enter it didn’t care.
Or cared too much.
Jessica looked over at the huge pile of case files on Chase’s desk. Everyone had a theory about the Forgotten Hollow mispers; weather anomalies, rabid wolves, a serial killer – who’d be about a hundred years old by now – or alien abductions. There was no evidence of foul play, no bodies ever found and often, sadly, no relatives demanding answers.
Disappeared. Forgotten.
She walked over and thumbed through the poorly organised paperwork, watching the dust rise from the covers. She wondered how many missing people hadn’t been reported at all; how many people went missing in the world each day without anyone even noticing?
“Rose’s file might be in that pile,” Turkle said, temptingly. “Have a look; he’ll never know.”
“No, Turkle. I couldn’t,” Jessica replied, looking through the files until she found it. She pulled it slightly from the pile and hesitated.
“Take it.”
“Chase would freak out if I went through his paperwork without his permission,” Jessica mumbled, but she pulled the file right out, placed it, unopened, on the desk.
“He’s not here to give permission, so tough cookies to him!” Turkle said. “Besides, you’re deputy today!”
“Yes,” Jessica said, picking up the file and framing herself in Chase’s mirror. “Yes I am!”
—
While Chuck had been drying out and charging his phone in the empty recovery room, Lilith had been with a client. She hadn’t heard him make his way back to the reception area, but judging by Penelope’s irritated thoughts, he’d been moping in here for a while.
“Charles? Did you manage to get your phone working?”
“Yes,” Chuck managed. His quiet voice a million miles from the warm, reassuring one Lilith was growing used to. “I had a voicemail message from Melinda. She told me not to worry. That she and her friends are safe but that something has happened and she can’t come home.”
“I see,” Lilith said coolly. “Did she say what that something was?”
“No,” Chuck replied. “What on the planet could have happened that meant that she’d have to leave? That she thought I couldn’t help her, or protect her? She’s a good girl, bright, very sensible. I can only imagine that they’re in some sort of trouble, perhaps they witnessed something happening to April’s mother and decided to flee. But why flee unless… unless they were the ones who… unless they were…” he couldn’t finish his sentence. “No. Not my sweet girl. Not Mellybean. I don’t understand.”
Lilith nodded in a sympathetic fashion, as if she didn’t understand either, as if this was all new information. “What will you do now, Charles?”
Chuck got to his feet; his shoulders heavy with the weight of his decision. “I’m going to head home. I’ll hand my phone to the authorities. Perhaps they can trace the call.”
“You’re giving up?” Lilith asked.
“I am. What choice do I have?” Chuck shrugged. “I’m not cut out for this; I couldn’t even locate a bar, let alone three girls who don’t want to be found. If I hadn’t been so keen to be the hero, I’d have been home to take her call, to listen to her which would have probably helped her more than me meandering around the forest or lying half-dead on your doorstep. I should let the police do their job, let you do yours and I should do mine. Thank you for all your help, Lilith.”
He extended his hand but Lilith did not take it, tucking her own into her pocket.
“Good luck,” she offered instead. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye, Lilith. It was a pleasure meeting you.” At Lilith’s complete lack of response, Chuck nodded politely and turned towards the door, almost bumping into a woman who had just entered. “Oh, please excuse me.”
The woman scrutinised him through her unnaturally coloured contact lenses and artificially lengthened eyelashes.
She shuffled around him as if he was diseased and settled on the chair furthest from where Chuck had been standing, grinning up at Penelope.
“Here for my two o’clock!” she chirruped to the receptionist. She watched Chuck leaving before she addressed Lilith. “You should have made him go out the back way. If it was my first visit and I’d seen that, I’d be over at Caliente’s in a flash. Not a great advert for the practice. Unless…” She thought for a moment. “He’s not rich, is he? Nigel’s gonna pop his clogs any day now. I need to get my next one lined up.”
Lilith stared at this god-awful woman before her, trying to slip into her professional mask.
Gertrude Bapflap was her best client, but she definitely wasn’t the best person. As she took in the woman’s over-inflated chest and lips, and impossibly tiny waist and nose she tried to remind herself that putting up with this bullshit and these toxic people was a better option than simply hunting.
It was.
“Ms. Bapflap!” Lilith managed some warmth from somewhere, probably the dregs of Chuck. “If it isn’t my favourite client.” It isn’t. “What will it be this time?” Lilith asked, as if she was offering a choice of sandwiches and not invasive surgical disfigurement.
Gertrude exhaled in a way that told Lilith that she should already know. She pointed to her forehead. Lilith watched as Gertrude’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“Look! They’re moving again! Fix it! And while you’re at it, I want to try out that new blood drain therapy you’re doing. Oh! And I need another breast augmentation. I’m not getting the amount of attention that I used to, so obviously I need to go bigger! But only an inch or so; I don’t want to look ridiculous.”
Lilith knew that Gertrude didn’t need any of these things. What she needed was a good course of counselling. Fame that wasn’t dependent on her taking her clothes off wouldn’t hurt, either.
But none of this was Lilith’s problem and there was one thing she actually liked about Gertrude; she tasted great.
“Come through, Ms. Bapflap. You know the drill.”
< Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter >
Almost Eternal 
I had to sleep off barbie’s weirdness before replying. 😆 But then i get double dose now. Aaah!
Charles’s mom is awake at 3am calling about Mellybean? They’re such a sweet caring family.
Gah. Chuck looking sad 😥 I can’t do sad elders. I want smiling Charles again. His face is going to kill me. Im so screwed, aren’t i?
I agree those are some interesting choice of words… what? This must be what brain fart is like. Im blank now. Haha! Jessica needs to be promoted to chief. With the calibre of policemen she’s surrounded by amg.. How in the world did they get to where they are??? Nvm you’ve answered that in your last chapters im just complaining. If you’re trying to make me feel less sympathy for Chase being dead, not saying he deserves to die but.. he deserves something alright. Am so glad Jessica is not involved with him. I guess Caleb performed a public service there.
What the heck is Chase stressed out about anyway if dust bunnies pile up on his paperwork? Did wangshafts hold a knife to his throat and tell him not to do his paperwork? Is that why he’s a walking testosterone filled.. ok calm down. Maybe cuz he cant be the policeman he wants. Maybe he’s really a shitbag and im trying to find reasons for him being one but hes just a shitbag. Wait i didnt calm down after all. 😆
Jessica d’awww! She and Turkle are adorable! I have a ton of named plushies too but that pic with plushies looking while they’re getting it on is disturbing. 😂 Jess is totally on my fav list now. K ill stop swooning.
Lilith/Chuck/Barbie scene makes me wonder if theres any connection between vampy’s preference towards blood tastes to their personality. Or attraction. Or.. damn i can’t quite find the words. Basically saying theres something more that their palate indicates than just taste.
Bapflap though. What name is that haha. I think you commented on Trevor’s cheekbones, but man Gertrude takes the win. It looks kinda painful actually. Now im super interested to see how her artbreeder photo looks like. Then again it might tone her cheeks down.
I really like that part where she says i dont want to look ridiculous and then… well haha Lilith’s reaction is priceless 😂
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She’s that bad, huh? I have no plans to include Gertrude in any future chapters, but will be sure to include a disclaimer tag if I do, just for you. 😆
Aw, they are a sweet family. Good people do exist in AE/my game, honestly. They tend to get eaten by the bad people, but let’s not dwell on that.
…Ah man. You’ve got a little more of sad Chuck on the horizon, Foamy, yeah.
Now Jessica’s not distracted by Chase blowing hot and cold continuously, maybe she’ll turn the department around, solve all the cases, shine in her own inexplicably weird way.
One of your reasons about why Chase was stressed is correct! 😀
Yay! Jessica made it to your fav list. She will be pleased. That plushies bedroom scene is my favourite screenshot I ever took; I can’t look at it without falling about laughing. It was made all the better by the fact that in-game Chase just really didn’t fancy a piece of Jess that day, so it’s an understudy that she has under the sheets. 😉
There is a connection. Each of the vamps does have a prey preference, despite what they may tell you. Sometimes I let the moodlets guide me, like Faith and that random man in the alleyway a few chapters back, but most of the time how much they enjoy their prey is based on a combination of physical attraction and the prey’s personality/frame of mind. More on this later.
I can’t be the only person in the world who has a game full of ridiculously named sims, right? Everything about Gertrude’s face just looks painful. I know there are people out there who actually go to these extremes but… ouch. Why?
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Eew! Not gonna think about Chase and Jessica being together. Just because he can’t be cop of the year doesn’t mean he has the right to be a douche to other people.
Oooof I knew it! Lilith finds Gertrude yummy, 😮 Faith finds random street guy yummy. April likes hot and cold Chase. Do they find them delish because of a commonality in mind, or because opposites attract, or.. dang I don’t think it was explicitly said that Caleb found April yummy. He couldn’t control his feed but that couldn’ve been his own character than her lure.
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Faith hasn’t found anyone tasty yet, except for Will…
Caleb said April was “the best thing I’d ever tasted”. Which is why this whole thing got so very fucked up. I’d intended to turn April into a vampire for story purposes, but Caleb had a ‘rule’ in game, whereby if he fed from a pretty, young, female sim (his prey preference, obvs) and got the ‘divine drink’ moodlet, she ‘died’ (he doesn’t feed from sims often, being on the packs) and he got that moodlet with April so I was like… ah… kiss of death it is then, this should be fun. And here we are. So it’s all his fault.
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Wow, Ralf, calling Chase lazy is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black, isn’t it? The guy is literally using him as an excuse not to return to the office afterwards, too xD geez. It’s a wonder that anything gets done in that precinct. Which, it apparently doesn’t, judging from the massive dusty pile of case files on Chase’s desk. Jessica would probably do a better job running everything on her own. xD
I love Jess’s gentle craziness. Talking to/through Turkle the cupcake turtle plushy is adorable, though I can imagine the squeaky voice getting on her coworker’s nerves. She’s way too good to Chase, what with her blatantly using her like that. I wonder what her (and Ralf’s) reaction will be once they find him floating in the lake… grief? Shock?
That picture of Rose is haunting. And Chuck adopted Melinda when she was already a toddler. Will, you absolute monster. I wonder what happened to make… Ralf? Bury this case. It’s a very old case by now. Did he just not care about it, being the stellar example of police work that he is? Or was he made to not care about it by the Wangshafts? I wonder what happened there…
Poor Chuck. He’s taking it so rough. Of course he is – his daughter is missing – but him breaking down and thinking he messed up and should have just been home and can’t do anything is just heartbreaking. Damn, Lil, if your goodbye to Chuck had been any colder, you might as well have pushed him into a freezer. The poor guy.
Oh my gods. Gertrude Bapflap. I still crack up over her last name no matter how many times I see it. xDDDD She’s a true surgical horror but at least there’s a kind heart underneath all that plas….. nope, never mind. Her insides are rotten too. Dear lord those cheekbones. Oh but yes dearie, wouldn’t want to overdo it and look ridiculous. xDDDD
No wonder Lilith tunes out everyone and turns into ms Ice Queen at work. Being forced to listen to both the words and thoughts of people like that on the daily – I’d go insane. Seems like tasting delicious might be Ms. Bapflap’s only redeeming quality.
Woops, looks like my comment is turning into a novel again.
Bapflap. I’m still grinning.
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Hey now, not so harsh. Ralf had to trek all the way over to Joe’s bar this morning and eat all of the croissants by himself; he’s had quite the busy day.
…If they find him.
Yeah… if you do the numbers you realise exactly what kind of person Will was. You’ll find out what happened to that case. Eventually.
“Pushed him into a freezer”😆 There’s probably a reason why she’s being so cold to him.
As you’ve identified, there’s a lot of hidden dark in this chapter so I thought why not throw Gertrude in, let her perk it up a bit with her lovely presence and maxed-out-slider face.
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Lol that picture of Jessica and Chase woohooing while all the stuffed animals watch is going to stay with me for a while 🤣 Should be interesting to see how Jessica and Penelope shake things up, definitely feels like they could become important players. That’s interesting that Jessica’s particularly interested in Rose’s old case, she must have very strong intuition.
Aww, Chuck, I just want to give him a hug, he looks so defeated.
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The secretaries are really in focus in the last chapters …. although you can not call Jessica a secretary. I assume she’s a trained police assistant, even though she’s behaving like she’s pulled her diploma into a vending machine.
What women can complete an education while seeking guidance from a knitted turtle? Jessica can 😂
Perhaps it will also turn out that she is getting on the trail of the many disappearances in Forgotten Hollow.
Her character strength is almost non-existent when it comes to Chas.
I love her long inner dialogues.❤
Lilith is back in her professional role.
I wonder why she can not say goodbye to Chuck in a more friendly way?
Her client from Bapflap is almost a parody of women who destroy themselves by excessive beauty treatments. You occasionally meet these women with voluminous lips and breasts and stiffened faces. Unfortunately, even a very young woman tends to look like a manipulated photograph. It’s sad 🙁
Mrs. Bapflap appears almost comical and fortunately she has now asked for blood therapy. We even hear that she tastes good 😁
With this, it seems that Lilith can look into a happy future.
I wish you a happy new year and look forward to more beeps and cruelty in the future ❤
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Jessica is trained, yes, although with the standard of policing at the WBPD, she might as well have got her diploma from a vending machine. 😆
Lilith has a cold method of coping. And with Ms. Bapflap, I put a funny spin on it, but I agree, it really is sad.
Happy new year to you too! Although I’m not sure whether you looking forward to cruelty is such a good thing, there will be beeps in amongst it; you just might have to listen harder for a short while. 😅
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Thank you ❤️
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Here is the conflict you have created for me, you monster (i say this with the greatest affection): I obviously do not want the bad guys found—not Seth, not Caleb, not Lilith, or our three teenaged idiots. For their sakes, I want the cops to be less like Jessica and more like Ralf. A story like this is infinitely less complicated if the people hurt were despicable (or unnamed), and the cop remains a distant but incompetent antagonist.
But not this story. First, you’ve started giving the victims backstory. That forced me to grapple with the fact that this harm was not being committed in a vacuum. I squirmed uncomfortably, but that was okay! Soon, the victims became the perpetrators.
That wasn’t enough, though, because you’re tricky. You let me get caught up. Sure, the three teenaged idiots were victims, but then they started killing to survive. And yes, I was angry at Caleb, but the people he messed up with are from a long time ago. And Seth? Well, I’m mostly in his head, so I rarely have to actually think about his victims.
And then you began unraveling the web that I didn’t even realize I was trapped in. I want Jessica to win, even though she on the side of the cops. I want her to show every smug, patriarchal idiot in her department that she is a boss. I kept siding with Turkle: TAKE THE FILE! FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCTS! I mean, really. Chase was obviously using you and kind of deserved it (YES. I know what kind of person I am), and the best way to rise above it is to solve his murder.
But I still want the actual people who murdered him to get away with it.
I’m conflicted, I feel bad for Chuck, but when he finally left Lilith to harvesting her bodies in peace, I felt relief. I’m not a huge fan of good ole’ Bapflaps, but it does kind of suck that she’s the victim of a system that rewards her insecurity and benefits from her willingness to give up her plasma.
I’m Team Lilith.
But woe is unto to those who cross her path.
To be clear, I LOVE that you make me feel all these conflicts. But goddamn, it’s masterful the way you laid them out.
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“A story like this is infinitely less complicated if the people hurt were despicable (or unnamed), and the cop remains a distant but incompetent antagonist.” Yeah, you’re telling me. 🤣 You call me a monster and I’d have to agree. Every time I sit down to write my brain says, “Why the actual fuck are you putting yourself and everyone through this?” But we’re all on the rollercoaster now so might as well hold tight, throw up/shit our pants a bit if necessary and hope the restraints don’t fail before we reach the end.
Hey, you’re a great kind of person. Haven’t we all had that discussion with our girlfriends at some point? “Honey, he totally used you. He so deserves to be emptied of all his blood and dumped in the river.”
Heh, thanks. I’m glad that you enjoy being conflicted, tricked, trapped and made to squirm.
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You know Jessica reminds me a lot of Penelope from Criminal Minds. Especiall her work place. 😏
I wonder how long will Lilith be able to make these little sacrifices before she snaps and goes on hunting rampage or something. Surviving is not living and she sure looks like she’s just surviving.
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Had to look up who that was but yes, I can see that! Especially her desk. Jess’s house is the same; full of cute, kooky stuff.
Lilith on a hunting rampage? Well, now *that* would be awful…
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Wellp. At least April was right about Jess being able to get a /nice/ boyfriend now. If she cares to do that, of course…
It´s obvious why Rose´s case hadn´t been pursued. Someone pushed for it not to be. Probably Will´s dad. Ack, Jess might get into trouble with the Wangshafts before she gets into trouble with vampires. I honestly don´t know which is worse.
There is one little detail that gave me absolute chills, though.
“Disappeared. Forgotten.” … “No great loss.”
Seth sure does know what he´s doing, the devil.
About Lilith being cold though… heh. That´s pretty literal, isn´t it? She wouldn´t shake Chuck´s hand because she´s still freezing, isn´t she?
And while it is sad to see Chuck like this… yeah. Go home. Don´t wander around in forests anymore. That couldn´t end well… unless it already didn´t. But still. Maybe don´t give the phone to the police, though, please? 😦
*rolls eyes* Gertrude? I honestly don´t know how that can even be a black widow. She´s so overdone she´s totally ugly now. …how can Lilith even find that tasty. …unless it reminds her of /wild days/ as Faith would put it, actually hunting, because this human certainly does just that. Now isn´t that something to ponder, Lils.
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She’s not even sure where her current ‘boyfriend’ has gone, so probably not going to be moving on just yet. One way another though, Officer Spoon is definitely heading for trouble.
Hehe. Picking up on another wicked little detail I see.
Yes, vampires are, usually, freezing. “Unless it already didn’t” intriguing.
Ah… Gertrude. She wasn’t much of a looker to start with, but she’s just something else now. Still, she puts food on Lilith’s (operating) table.
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Well, she does swear she´s over him for good… :´D But yeah, she strikes me like the type that puts work first anyway. Hmm… if (and that´s a big if) she can actually cause some trouble for the hunters, I wouldn´t be complaining.That would actually be kind of awesome. 😀
Mhmm… not that it´s any kind of surprise. A vampire who had been hunting for this long and is still at large… of course he knows how to pick his prey. But it´s a very nice touch, the way the different characters view the same thing from their own angles.
Yeah. You´d think a fresh feed would help, but… I suppose she didn´t really take very much. At least by far not as much as she needed. But yes, I´m still all kinds of suspicious about Chuck´s little trip to Forgotten Hollow… and its possible consequences. Even just having met Lilith might somehow become a problem in the future. She is headed for trouble and may (unwillingly) drag him into it along with her.
Yeah, and dealing with her is totally better than just being what Lilith is. I can´t help it if I tried, I have to echo again. “Keep telling yourself that.” p:
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Haha. Well, we don’t yet know why exactly Lilith stopped being ‘who she is’. I’m sure she has her reasons.
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*shrug* True. Maybe her methods got… too attention-grabbing, given the “blind fury” comment and all. That /would/ be a serious concern. Then again, she apparently got herself in check, going by Chuck still being alive… right?
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