Chapter 5 -- Suspicions
"That's strange," thought Mitchell one afternoon when he was the only one not at work. "I don't remember hearing the doorbell."
"That's strange," thought Gavin, "what's that child doing there?" Of course, it was 3 in the morning, and he'd been napping on the sofa. "I'm probably still asleep," he thought. When he looked again, the child was gone.
"That's strange," thought Zoe. "I don't remember buying this dress, and it's certainly not my style. Where did it come from?"
"That's strange," thought Mitchell. "You'd think Gavin would have more sense than to stand in a puddle while he's trying to fix the dishwasher."
"J, you ever have the feeling that you're being made to do something you don't want to do?" Mitchell asked his friend one morning.
"Sure," said J. "Every time I go to work."
"Nah, this is different. Like someone's controlling you, messing with your head. I saw Gavin standing in a puddle while he was fiddling with the dishwasher the other day, and you know the guy has no mechanical ability, not to mention that if there was a puddle, he'd ordinarily mop it up because he's a neatnik. I said, 'Dude, what do you think you're doing?' and he just ignored me, like he was in a trance or something."
"Yeah, well it's hard to concentrate on doing a repair if someone's nattering in your ear," said J. "So if you could make like a tree and leave, I'd appreciate it."
"Don't look now," said Mitchell late one night when he was coming home from work, "but the little girl that Gavin says he dreamed about seeing is coming up behind you."
J shifted his vision to the right and down. Sure enough, there was a little brown-haired girl, pale as a sheet, standing next to him. "You're right," he said. "There are strange things going on here."
The next morning Mitchell was still upset. "If we've got a ghost," he said, "I say we should search this house top to bottom and find the urns or tombstone or whatever and get that ghost out of here. I don't know about you guys but I'm tired of hearing violins and organ music in the middle of the night and being made to mop the floor."
"What's this about a ghost?" said Zoe. "And by the way, I had another strange dream last night."
"Tell us," said J. "And then I'll tell you what I heard from the Don, and maybe we'll be able to figure out what's going on."
"Shouldn't we wait for Gavin?" asked Zoe. "After all, he's got more brains than the three of us put together."
"Nah," said J. "If we need his advice, we'll ask for it, but right now I want to hear your dream."
"I was with that pale old man in the dark suit again," said Zoe, "and I was in the same house where I dreamed I got married -- same red rug and dark wood. But there were two little girls with us, the same age--" she sniffed -- "the same age my babies would be if they'd been real instead of hallucinations. Oh, and I was wearing that same old-fashioned dress I had on the other day.
"And then when I woke up, I was standing outside -- and this was real, not part of the dream, and I've never walked in my sleep before -- and I felt a little nauseous, like I might be pregnant again...But ghosts can't get you pregnant. Everyone knows that."
"Ah," said J. "But what if it's not a ghost? Let me tell you what I heard from Don Lothario.
"He was in Planet Honey Pop the other night, and this pale old guy in a black suit -- like in your dreams, Zoe -- was there singing in the karaoke contest.
"He took a good look at the guy so he'd recognize him if he saw him again -- highly arched eyebrows, a hooked nose, a white mustache and a long chin --"
"That's the guy from my dreams!" exclaimed Zoe.
"The next day Don was working out at the gym, and he saw this old guy come in. A little while later, he was doing sit-ups, and all of a sudden Dina Caliente collapsed. When she came to, she told him that she'd been drained by a vampire. And he said Nina's been acting funny lately, like she might have been turned. I think we've got a vampire in the neighborhood."
Zoe didn't wait to hear any more. She got dressed and went to the computer to look up vampires on the internet. It wasn't long before she found Vlad's blog. "That's him!" she exclaimed. She read the blog all the way through, gasping as she recognized Gavin and Mitchell and J and even..."That's the same computer I'm using right now!"
Zoe marched over to the door to the courtyard and gave it a big tug. Despite the rust or the lock, it opened at her touch. Inside, there were stairs hidden by a couple of thorny bushes.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "And what have you done with my babies?"
"Ssh, they're sleeping," said Vlad. "And they're fine. I've been taking good care of them -- they're both potty-trained already, and Nadia has almost maxed her imaginative skill."
Zoe could hardly process what he was saying. "Why, why, why would you do this? How could you?"
"Oh, Zoe, you're so beautiful that I knew you'd never have anything to do with an ugly old guy like me unless I put a spell on you. And then when you had the twins, I didn't want you to be burdened by them, so I took them to take care of them. I was planning to send them back to you once they were old enough to look after themselves. Can you possibly find it in your heart to forgive me?"
"I don't know," she said. "I'll have to think about it. I have to go to work now, but I'd better be able to see the girls when I get home."
Later, when Vlad was playing the Sims Forever, his game suddenly stopped.
Zoe might be able to forgive you, Vlad, but I still think you should be punished."Watcher, I was in the middle of a tournament," Vlad typed back.
Tough. I'm almost tempted to turn you into a normal and all your offspring, too, but that doesn't seem sufficient. I wish the witch hadn't cursed you, so I could, but that doesn't seem sufficient either."I haven't fed upon Zoe or her housemates," Vlad typed. "And I have taken good care of the toddlers -- you have to admit that."
You really are fond of the little ones, aren't you? Very well. Your punishment is to see both of them married to vampires."I thought that was the original plan?" typed Vlad. "How is that a punishment?"
No, the original plan was that your heirs' spouses would be turned into normal Sims as soon as they got married. Instead, your daughters are going to have to put up with vampires until their husbands decide to change. And it's a good thing that neither of your daughters is a vampire because any vampire children you and your heirs spawn are going to have to complete the Good Vampire aspiration and then take the cure before they leave the house.
Oh, and I expect you to give your turned offspring plenty of training so they can have as many vampire powers to choose from as possible. Do you understand?"Yes, but ---"
Of course, if you decide to quit being a vampire, then I'll make sure your little darlings have nice, dull, normal husbands. You don't have to decide now -- any time you take the cure is fine with me.Shakily Vlad watched the computer turn off. He couldn't possibly take the cure -- that was out of the question. And really, there were very few vampires as evil and powerful as he was -- Gretchen and Nadia wouldn't have any problems at all. As for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, they were so far in the future that he wouldn't worry about them.
