Hee hee, that's ok. Sims 4 was kinda shove-in-your face for a while there.
Yeah, I did get the Sims 4... for a while, and I ended up requesting a refund as I just wasn't having fun. It hasn't gone through yet, but when I do get my money back I intend to get the rest of the Sims 3 items I want/need (skill objects from the store that aren't included in the game normally, extra worlds and the 70s, 80s and 90s pack are on that list). I'm really content with the Sims 3, so I'll be around on this forum for a while.
I'll likely switch over to the Sims 4 when more content is released (if the Reapers have taught you anything, it's how I love raising families, I hate, hate, HATE babies, love toddlers and don't mind children, so I'm definitely waiting for toddlers first). Anyways, I'm really glad to be back to playing my favorite game.
<3
Glad to have you back. Yes, and I'm still reading and playing TS3.
Thank you! Oh good! I'm glad I'm not the only one who still loves her Sims 3... even if it is glitch-infested and buggy!
Yep, still playing and reading Sims 3. Looking forward to more Reaper's
Well, good thing I can help with that last bit, right now!
Wow guys, ok, so it took me three days to really bring this update to you. Anyways, phew! Sorry I'm a little rusty at this, so there will likely be typos and it may seem a little out of place from the rest of the story! I will get better! Just hang in there!
Broken
Eveline woke suddenly to the smell of something sweet - feeling rested and awake, but with a looming feeling of fear. Bear stirred beside her, rolling on his back with his belly in the air while gazing at his master; his tongue lolled out of his mouth and he gave a slight bark for a greeting. Hearing her companion made Eveline shake off the previous feelings in exchange for a new one: excitement. Today was her first day of school. She planned to make friends and learn and open the door for her future. She jumped out of bed, giving Bear a gentle pet and headed out to the kitchen to see what smell had awoken her to begin with.
Eveline walked slowly out into the main room where Majnun was quietly eating something at the table, she eased a little when she realized her parents weren't up yet. Her grandfather always made her feel comfortable - a quiet ease that could be felt when they were together - mostly due to the fact that she felt understood. When her parents had gotten home it had excited her, but it had also reminded her of how truly different she was, and how upset her mother was to see her using magic already, yet Eveline felt she had no other option. She felt as though she disappointed her mother out of necessity.
"Squire! Which mountain did you fly from?"
Eveline smiled at her grandfather's usual greeting. Well, rather unusual I suppose, but no one understood him the way she did. "Morning grandpa." She smiled at him, and she could practically feel him smile back as he pushed a muffin her way. She leaned over and kissed his cheek while picking up the plate and deeply inhaling the soft scents of her food. They ate in companionable silence after that.
Slowly the morning continued, Alec and Mary roused and joined their daughter for a quick talk before she was out waiting on the bus, Bear waiting uneasily by her side.
Rain was falling quietly, but that wasn't why Bear was uneasy. Bear knew his master was leaving for a long period of time. Granted - it wouldn't be more than a day. He sensed that. It was the fact that she would be alone that bothered him deeply.
The bus arrived and Eveline hugged Bear before venturing forth to the unknown.
Bear whimpered and sniffed the ground around where she once stood, making sure he had a strong memory of her scent imprinted in his mind just in case.
The morning had passed uneventfully at home. Alec had left for work, Majnun was still mesmerized by the TV and Mary worked quietly at her Martial Arts.
Mary caught herself halfway through a high kick at the sound of her phone. Once she fully realized what the noise was she leapt for it on the bed, realizing she had only just missed a phone call from Edward. She grinned inwardly and gave her brother a quick call back, only to hit his voicemail right away. Mary rolled her eyes and put the phone down closer to her training dummy. "Did you hang up and throw the phone out the window Ed?" She muttered and laughed, picturing her rebellious brother chucking his phone away after realizing she hadn't answered the very first time around.
Mary had trouble getting back into the swing of things after the distraction, but she soon found herself getting more and more focused. It was well after two in the afternoon when Mary's phone went off again. Mary had just finished a round and was about to clean up, so she was much quicker at answering this time around. She answered the phone without looking at the ID, assuming it was her brother calling her back after missing his call originally.
"Hey!" Mary said happily into the phone.
"Is this the number belonging to Mary Reaper?" A woman's voice at the end of the line inquired.
Mary was taken aback, fears racing through her mind, was this the hospital? Did someone get hurt? "Yes, this is she." She said more cautiously now.
"Hello Mrs. Reaper, I'm calling today to inform you that your child Eveline will need to be picked up from school immediately." The woman spoke calmly, but with no tone to her voice.
Mary's heart sunk. Was it past time for school to get out? Did she miss the bus? Her mind raced. "I thought school wasn't out until three Misses..." She paused, not knowing the name of the woman she was talking to.
"-Smith." The woman, Ms. Smith, filled in. "And no, school isn't out yet, but Eveline has been having...difficulties... and the principal has asked that you come in immediately to pick her up and have an important meeting with him." Ms. Smith had put a slightly distasteful tone when speaking of Eveline, it made Mary's maternal instincts crawl with anger, but she calmed herself to respond.
"What happened? Is Eveline safe?" Mary didn't want the woman to just leave her with so little information. Mary looked up from where she stood and saw Majnun looking back at her, sensing something was amiss, his face was unreadable.
Mary thought she heard a light irritated sigh from the woman on the other end. "Yes, she is safe." All pretenses of being neutral had left her voice at this point, and all that was left was a sneer of disgust.
Mary fumed silently, but decided to go the high route. Before she spoke again, Majnun looked at her firmly. "I'm coming with." Was all he said before he turned and stalked back to the main room. His seriously threw Mary off, but she gathered her strength to inform Ms. Smith of her departure and an estimated time of her arrival at the school before hanging up abruptly. She had wanted to rip her head off, but causing issues at Eveline's school could be detrimental to her education. She took a deep breath and let it out before calling a taxi for her and Majnun.
Majnun felt even the school looked dismal from the outside, but he already had an insanely bitter feeling about what would entail with going inside. There was a quiet heat in his chest where his magic was burning - giving him incredible focus. His thoughts weren't jumbled or out of order, they were clean and precise.
Through the doors led to the immediate office area, a prim looking woman sitting at a desk was typing away - her plaque reading Ms. Daniela Smith - she turned slightly at the interruption, smiling as she did to greet guests, but her smile faltered as her gaze caught Majnun and turned into a look of horror. On the opposite side of the room, resting in a plastic chair sat a child that was curled in a ball, tears threatening to fall from her pristine white eyes. Mary ran over to her daughter the second she saw her and began questioning the child, ignoring the greeting coming from the secretary. "Eveline! Are you alright? What happened? Tell me what's going on." She felt her demands growing deeper but Eveline simply moved her head to face another direction, indicating she didn't wish to speak. Majnun put a hand on Mary's shoulder and opened his mouth to speak when the assistant spoke up from her table after giving Majnun another look of snobbish disgust.
"The principal will see you now." She said firmly, motioning to the door behind her that read "Principal" on the white, opaque glass. Mary's eyes grew wide as she felt angry once again, but she let it subside, and Majnun rolled his eyes with impatience.
Mary started to walk away from Eveline while Majnun hung back for a few moments longer to rub Eveline's shoulder before walking into the dreaded office with Mary.
"Mrs. Reaper!" The principal greeted with a slight warmness as Mary entered the room, though his face faltered as Majnun entered the room. "... Mr... Reaper?" He did his best to attempt to stay polite, unlike his secretary who let all of her prejudices show.
"Call me Mary," Mary said calmly, "and this is Eveline's grandfather, Majnun."
"Mr. Trebo to you." Majnun said with a sharp edge to his voice, his anger making his mind even clearer. He took the last name of his son, thinking it best to not reveal his whole identity.
"Ah, yes, ok. Mary and... Mr... Trebo." The principal cleared his throat. "I'm Jon Jenkins, the principal of this establishment." Majnun resisted an eye roll with a grimace and Mary slightly kicked his shoe as a reminder to be kind. "As I'm sure you're well aware, Eveline has... issues."
"Oh stop it." Majnun cut him off with a bitter tone. Everyone looked at him in shock, he continued: "as if we don't all see the elephant in the room. She's an intelligent, smart, cheeky girl... and she's blind." He drew out the last word for a while, knowing already why they had been called here, and knowing full well it wasn't Eveline's fault.
Mary turned and gave Majnun a full out stare of reading 'what-are-you-doing?' Which was slightly mimicked by the confusion on Mr. Jenkins' face.
"Ah, er, yes. Anyways, we caught her having a bit of a tiff with some fellow students on the playground this afternoon." Mr. Jenkins seemed to be grasping at straws after Majnun's statement.
"What kind of -tiff- are we talking about?" Mary had slowly caught the hint from all the dialogue around her, so she mimicked Majnun's tone slightly. She wanted to ensure she could fix whatever damage occurred though. As a mother, her top priority was making sure her daughter was well taken care of - and that meant education. If she didn't have that... Eveline could be taken away from her, and Mary was completely aware of how much that would destroy her - there would be nothing left. She needed to be the diplomat here, for the sake of keeping her daughter.
"Apparently she was being very mean to two other girls on the playground," Majnun snorted, interrupting the principal by showing disbelief. "After the verbal altercation, she apparently shoved the one of the girls and threatened to punch the other."
Majnun smiled deviously. That's his granddaughter, he thought quietly. Mary held a look of shock, but deep down she sensed that Eveline wouldn't attack unless she were provoked, and two against one? Something about that seemed terribly off.
The principal seemed irritated by Majnun, but he continued, "I'm afraid we simply cannot accept this kind of behavior at our school, Mary. I'm afraid we are going to have to remove her from our grounds permanently."
Mary's eyes narrowed. "Permanently? Don't kids usually get detention first? Then suspension?" She actually knew her school behavioral punishments like the back of her hand from when she, herself was in school causing trouble with Edward. Something was definitely not right here.
Majnun reclined back in his seat slightly, he was unamused.
"I'm afraid in this case we cannot afford a repeat offense, so I-"
"I didn't realize that being blind was such a criminal offense." Majnun said blatantly, a sneer sternly placed on his perfectly painted lips.
"Excuse me?" The principal's voice reflected offense, but Majnun merely chuckled.
Mary, whose eyes had gone wide at how Majnun slowly destroyed her chances of working back into the favor of the principal, jumped forward in her chair with her arms in front of her. "Please, excuse him, he's very protective of Eveline." She pleaded quietly. "I was just inquiring as to why my daughter won't be given a second chance to prove that she just had a rough start. Please Mr. Jenkins... I'm sure you've had a bad day once in your life." Mary hoped to appeal to his better side, but Majnun simply stared at her with disgust at her pleading.
Mr. Jenkins straightened himself now and a pleasant expression came back to his face. "Mrs. Reaper - Mary, I do understand that everyone has a rough day every now and then, which is why this was a difficult decision to make, and one I didn't make lightly. It's just that Eveline has proven to require... special teaching... anyhow." His emphasis on 'special teaching' left a bitter taste in Majnun's mouth. "I've got a list of schools that would likely be more up Eveline's alley than our establishment." He moved to hand a sheet of paper to Mary but Majnun took it first, while Mary continued to try to change his mind by pushing for Eveline to have a second chance, this was the only school the area and so on, but Majnun had stopped listening. His focus was on the disgustingly insulting list of schools that sat in his hand. Every single one of them were designed for students who had major setbacks or behavioral problems. It made Majnun want to vomit.
Majnun's ears came back to the conversation as Mary continued to try and persuade the principal that she was very sure Eveline was truly sorry and that she could make sure that she makes it up to the other girls. He had had enough of this.
Outside in the main office Eveline fought tears back. Janice and Martina, the two girls Eveline had tried to befriend earlier in the day, walked through the office with their mom's in tow when they stopped and made a sneer. "Isn't she just a freak of nature?!" Janice said loudly to her mother. "I can't believe she threatened to hit me!"
Her mother tried to quiet her but she couldn't tear her gaze away from the child with white eyes who made it feel as though she were staring into her soul. "Oh my..." was all she could manage. Eveline bowed her head and started to sob again.
"She takes after that clown of a grandfather she's got." The secretary chimed in. "It's a shame that her mother doesn't realize how poorly he's affecting her. Perhaps she should be removed from that home entirely." The judgment that came from the woman was infuriating. What did she know about her grandfather?
Eveline's fist closed tightly as she cried. They were talking about her like she wasn't even there. Like she wasn't even human. She wanted to destroy them with her mind, to blast them away and watch them scream and beg for mercy.
"I hope I don't get some disgusting disease!" Martina shouted, rubbing her shoulders from where Eveline had supposedly "shoved" her.
Her mother quietly ushered her towards the desk with the secretary while muttering something about making a doctors appointment. Eveline felt consumed by the hatred and anger inside of her. Was this to be her life? Hated, feared, always left to be alone wondering if she could ever do something right? How could she please her mother if she couldn't even please herself? She slowly lifted herself up and left the office, not listening to the loud protests of the secretary, nor the snide comments about a monster being on the loose by two moms in the room.
She left the building and found a table outside. The rain fell on her, but she didn't notice or care. She just felt numb.
Her lower lip trembled but she had stopped crying now, a hollow feeling replacing the sadness that was once inside of her. She longed for the comfort of home, with Bear and Majnun, but the picture was slowly tainted when she saw her parents, how they looked at her with confusion and disappointment.
Disappointment. Eveline let the word echo through her head before she absorbed it. She sat in the rain and wondered if anyone else had ever felt this alone in the world.
The loud crash drew the both Mary and the principals attention as Majnun slammed his fist with the paper of schools onto the principal's desk. "ENOUGH." He yelled.
Silence fell upon everyone and Majnun continued, his face contorted with anger. "You!" He pointed a finger directly at the principal. "You are a sickening excuse for a principal." The principal started to interrupt but was cut off by Majnun continuing. "I thought schools were supposed to be about FAIR treatment and equal opportunity for all children, yet look at this - pathetic." He spat. "She's BLIND!" He yelled loudly, towering over the principal as he stood, "not STUPID, not TROUBLED. BLIND." His rage was seething out of every pore. "Yet you let EVERYONE in the school walk all over her, from YOU to your stupid secretary! What punishments will those girls who 'Eveline said mean things to...'" He put a mocking tone in his voice, "suffer? Because we BOTH know that a child does not just 'say mean things' to others unprovoked! How many nasty, ugly things could they say to MY granddaughter before you would actually do anything about it?! Hm? Or are you just going to punish a small, blind, defenseless child who had left the house this morning without a single drop of malice in her blood?!"
Mary put her head in her hands, defeated, while the principal was slowly shrinking away.
"Do YOU even know who I am?!" Majnun cried. The principal shook his head no, so Majnun sneered. "I'm a very, VERY powerful man. Not one you want to be angry with you. Go ahead and remove Eveline from your school. I dare you! If you do, your life will be made into a living hell, and your 'establishment' will be LAUGHABLE." A bubble of insane laughter threatened to explode in him, but he focused harder on keeping his magic intact - on staying focused. He needed to be sane. He desperately needed to be sane. "However, don't think for a second we will be letting Eveline return to this pathetic school, for you have shown your true colors, and I do not wish my grandchild ill will. She will, however, be open for an apology - from both those two ignorant children AND from you whenever you feel you've had enough of my wrath." He stopped seething for a moment and he turned to Mary. "And YOU! I will deal with you when we get home." His words seethed into Mary, but she said nothing. Her anger was building, but now was not the time to be in a screaming match with her father-in-law.
"We're done here, are we not?" Majnun asked impatiently. "Because I need to make sure my granddaughter is all right, unlike SOME people at this school. You better hope she's doing well, for your sake." With that, Majnun exited the room, slamming the door behind him.
Mary stood quietly and followed behind him, choice words bubbling up, but she kept silent. Now was not the time for this.
Eveline was silent in the taxi back home. Mary was seethingly upset, and Eveline cowered under the brunt of it, not aware that the anger was not directed at her. She mustered up a lot of courage, "are... are you going to tell dad?" She asked quietly. One parent being upset with her was enough for her.
Mary didn't look at her when she responded. "Yes, I am. You have been expelled from school Eveline." She stated matter-of-factly. Uncertainty clouded her mind. She needed to get Eveline enrolled in a new school, pronto, before social services showed up at her doorstep and demanded they take Eveline. She needed to talk to Alec... she needed to clear her head.
At home, Eveline excused herself to her room where she locked herself in and cried, declaring she wanted to go to bed early. Mary went back to her training dummy in order to focus her angry energy and Majnun sat and stewed, finally releasing his magic so he could rest. After he had recovered a little, he tapped on Eveline's door and encouraged her to come out and eat with him.
She cracked the door open slightly. "I'm not hungry." She mumbled.
"Open up, buttercup. The syrup is running, and there's cake in the fridge." He gave her a wink, even though she couldn't see it.
"Aren't you mad at me too?" She asked quietly.
Majnun's hand darted to her shoulder. "I think you caught a cold! Insanity is seeping in! The world is nigh! Bananas and lightposts will rule the world!"
Eveline smiled, but she still felt sad within. She could feel her mother working off her rage in the other room. Rage she had caused. Eveline's face sunk once again as she thought about it. "I-"
"Come join the festivities!" Majnun clapped and pulled cake out of the fridge for her and they both sat down to try and eat.
They ate in silence, which was usually fine for both of them, yet Majnun knew he needed to say something, but he just couldn't muster up the strength to say something meaningful, not at the moment. He still needed to have a conversation with Mary, and he couldn't do both. Today was overly taxing for him.
Eveline had gone back to her room when Mary finally walked out of her own bedroom to grab a bite to eat. Majnun was quietly cleaning the dishes.
"Eveline is very shaken up about today." Majnun noted quietly to the sink.
Mary said nothing. She didn't need him telling her how to be a parent. She just needed for her husband to get home so they could talk about where to go next.
As if he had heard her pleas, Alec walked in the door, grinning as usual, yet his grin fell as he felt the tension that was laying thick in the air.
"Woah, who killed the fun in here today?" Alec said jokingly, but as soon as he noticed Mary's tired eyes he immediately wished he had just kept quiet. "Where's my wonderful little girl?" He looked around observantly, it was unlike Eveline to not be where everyone else is during the evenings.
"Ask your wife." Majnun said, his voice thick.
"I don't need your judgment now, Majnun, so please shut up." Mary snapped.
"Woah now, what's going on in here? What happened? Where is Eveline?" Alec quietly walked over to Mary's side.
"Eveline is in her room." Mary stated quietly, not looking up from her food. "I got a call from the principal today, our daughter has been expelled."
"UNRIGHTFULLY SO!" Majnun spouted, throwing another cup into the sink fiercely. "That man was incompetent Mary, and your groveling was just pathetic. He was walking all over your child, and what did you do? Ask - no BEG - for him to do it again!"
Mary's fork hit the plate loudly. She sucked in a harsh breath, doing her meditative counting she learned from Martial Arts. "And what would you have had me do, Majnun? My daughter was being removed from the only school in the city - she was being EXPELLED by their rules. Do you know how hard it would be to get her into another decent school after that? And if I can't get her into a school at all... do you understand what that could mean?!" Her voice was rising now, as her temper flared.
"Education is all fine and dandy," Majnun started with a sneer, "but honestly, what mother let's a man insult their child in front of her face and then beg for him to do it again?!"
"Eveline had gotten into a fight with two other girls..." Mary began.
"That's false and you KNOW IT." Majnun spun around wildly. "I'm exhausted, Mary." He said quieter now. "You know that two girls against our Eveline is NOT Eveline being a bully and instigating the situation, it is the other way around, but you saw the man! He was just looking for something - ANYTHING - to get that child - YOUR child - OUR Eveline - out of his hair. Please don't pretend you bought into that stupid story about not wanting a second offense." Majnun turned again.
Alec stood and absorbed the information being tossed left and right. "Eveline fought two other girls?"
Majnun threw the towel down in frustration, but Mary responded. "Shoved one and threatened to punch the other." She said quietly, as she moved her plate into the sink.
Alec sat down in a dining chair and rubbed his temples. "Oh watcher Mary, why didn't you call me?"
"It was a last minute thing. They needed us to pick Eveline up immediately. I thought it was just something minor or them being confused about her.... her condition... not... not this!" Mary threw her hands up and shrugged.
Alec nodded quietly. "Have you spoken to her yet?"
Mary shook her head, "I was waiting for you to get home. I didn't really know what to say."
"Obviously we should discuss the fighting." Alec said levelly.
Majnun simply rambled nonsense under his breath harshly as he scrubbed away at the mostly-clean counters. His anger was palpable.
"Do we punish her for something like this?" Mary asked quietly. "Watcher... I don't know what to do."
"Maybe we should just let her sit in her room and think on what she's done. Our daughter is a smart girl, I don't think she needs much more than a talk and a night to stew over it." Alec said again, and Mary simply nodded. Alec stretched, "I think I'm going to run through the shower, maybe the steam will help clear my head."
"It's not an easy decision to make." Mary acknowledged.
"They always said parenting was never easy, but... well... wow." Alec stood up and made a slight nod towards his father and he left for the master bedroom.
Mary too, began to stand and head for the bedroom when Majnun spoke again. "Why do you doubt your maternal instincts, Mary?"
Mary stood there and looked at him. "You don't know what you're talking about, you old fool." Mary said, implying the last bit with more bitterness than she probably intended.
"Yes. I am an old fool Mary. I've done very few things in this world I can say I'm proud of, but my children are all one of them." He said quietly.
"Your behavior today was unacceptable, Majnun." Mary said, poking at the inner feelings that had been bothering her all day.
"MY behavior was unacceptable?! Did you not see yours?!" Majnun yelled.
Mary's eyes widened and she opened her mouth in anger to speak, but Majnun cut her off: "Eveline thinks you HATE her! You spend more time believing the web of lies that came from two disgusting little children's mouths than you do even TALKING to your OWN daughter! You have no idea what happened, and yet here you are, about to prance off to her room and SCOLD her for something she very well might not have done! Aren't you just ashamed of yourself?!"
"You known nothing of the situation..." Mary said quietly, but she was shaken, and Majnun knew that.
Majnun exhaled, he was losing control of himself. He needed to rest. He shook his head firmly. "Whatever you say, Mary." He turned and headed quietly over to the couch. "I'm done for today. Go - discipline your daughter as you see fit, but you will only drive her further away from you than you already have."
Mary cringed. She thought of the taxi ride, of how Eveline looked at her in a way that screamed that she only wanted to please her... to please her father too. Mary shook her head and stormed into the master bedroom where she picked up her phone and called her mother and father furiously - but to no avail. They were out of town on a cruise. That left only one person.
Mary was in a taxi on the other side of the city before she could even realize where she was. She had barely muttered something to Alec before she took off, but he was busy planning some speeches to help clear his mind. Majnun had been passed out on the couch and she didn't dare check up on her daughter for fear of messing things up further. So there she stood in front of the call button as she waited anxiously.
"Come on Ed... please." She whispered. "I need my brother... I need my friend."
The line rang and rang but no answer. Mary punched in the number again.
And again.
And again.
When there was still no answer she broke down. "EDWARD! Pick! Up!" She half screamed as she hit the call button furiously.
By the time she was done though she was grasping the sides of the machine with tears running down her face. "Please... I need help." She whispered.
A groggy voice answered the line, "Doesn't anyone remember I work the weird shift?!"
"Edward?! It's Mary... please let me in." Mary's voice broke.
"Sis? What's wrong? Uhm, er... hold up, let me buzz you in." The machine buzzed and the elevator dinged. Mary sulked over to the elevator before going to see the one family member she had left.
Eveline had heard the yelling that went on earlier... she even felt her mom leave. She clutched her arms to her chest as another round of tears threatened to come, yet they never came. She sniffled and felt Bear come over and rub his head affectionately on her lap. "Thanks Bear," Eveline whispered, "at least you don't hate me. I don't think grandpa hates me either... I hope mom and dad don't stay mad for too long. I just wanted to have a friend... a real one. Someone who would talk back." Bear whined, and rolled his head from side to side in her lap. "You're a good friend too, I guess, but it's not the same. I wasn't expecting those girls to scream when I tried to talk to them, am I that scary Bear?" She asked quietly. "Do I scare you?" Bear was quiet for a moment before he licked her hand. "Sometimes I think that mom and dad wished they had a kid who wasn't so messed up... so... broken, like those girls said." Eveline reached up and felt her face. "Am I really broken though because I can't see?" Bear whined again and went to go lay by the door as Eveline sat up in bed.
"Maybe I am." A single tear fell from her eye as she got up and changed her clothes. She didn't want to be a problem anymore. She crept out of the house quietly, seeing her grandfather asleep on the couch was her only chance to make it out. She had closed the door on Bear so that he wouldn't follow her, and prayed he would keep quiet for long enough to let her get out of the house. She heard a soft whine, but otherwise all was quiet. She tiptoed around the room, avoiding every creak in the floorboard as to not wake her very attuned grandfather. She was sure she had made it as she quietly closed the front door and started to walk up the street. She didn't know where she was going, but one thing was for sure, she didn't want to go back.
Majnun's eyes opened knowingly the second he heard the front door click shut. He actually had not been sleeping, but rather, recharging. Listening quietly and hearing everything, from the pathetic attempts at Alec trying to reach his fleeting wife to the tearful questionings of his beautiful granddaughter. He sat up and stilled, being as still as a statue for several minutes at a time - his eyes were fixed on the clock. After exactly ten minutes he stood up fluidly and walked to Eveline's door to release Bear from where he was whining and scratching. "Come'on Bear, we've got some tracking to do." He said quietly. He walked over to the front door. "I've given Eveline her ten minutes head start, but I think it's time for us to bring her home." He opened the door and Bear went barreling out, hot on her scent. Majnun closed the door quietly behind himself.
Alec had called Mary several times before he finally got an answer. She had gone seeking the counsel of her brother which baffled him on most days. Edward never seemed to have good ideas, at least, not when he knew him, yet Mary seemed to see a different side of her brother. Alec shrugged. His father had been adamant about Eveline's innocence, yet his father also has a soft spot for her that he has never seen before. Is it possible that he is right? Sure, but is it possible that he is exaggerating because of his favoracy? That's also a possibility. Two against one though... that really didn't seem right. Just one small shove gets a girl expelled? Heck, he had done much worse than that and only got off with a scolding.
Alec stewed and stewed but only started to agree more with his father, but then again, why had his wife been so firm in the other direction? His head spun, but it soon slowed as he heard the taxi arrive outside. Mary had come home. He walked into the living room to find his father had gone. He didn't seem to think too much about it though.
Mary burst into the room, "Alec, I think we've made a mistake." Mary said quickly.
Alec looked at her, raising his eyebrows. "Define mistake, and how did we make one?"
"Well, we didn't, but I did." Mary looked down, sadly. "I think I need to speak with our daughter, do you mind if I have a few minutes alone?"
"Mary, it's late... she's probably sleeping. We haven't heard a peep out of her since I got home, and that was hours ago."
"It can't wait." Mary said quietly.
Alec simply nodded. "I'll be out here if you need me."
Mary walked to Eveline's door and knocked softly, "Eveline, sweetie? I want to speak with you dear. I'm so-"
Mary opened the door to find the room empty. She staggered forward. "Eveline? Ev?" Her voice started to become more panicked.
"Alec!" She cried.
Eveline walked onward, the night air gave a chill to her shoulders. She was unaware of her parents worry at home, or her grandfather's search; she just longed to feel less than what she felt today.
She was tired of feeling broken.
