When the Zombies Come -- a Cottoneye Decadynasty (COMPLETED)

[MarianT]

Chapter Fourteen – Four Birthdays

   Mine was the first, striking soon after I returned from work one evening.



   Mercy came next. She’s artistic and a heavy sleeper.



   Mercy has turned out to be quite cute, inheriting Sarah’s brown hair and my brown eyes.



   She’s inherited Sarah’s witchitude as well, as I discovered when watching her play with her Loch Ness monster.







   Mercy and Artemis have been keeping me and Sarah very busy. I’ve been reading to them. (Artemis is in pink; Mercy in purple.)





   Sarah talked to Artemis about unicorns.



I talked to Mercy about art and writing.





   I gave Artemis a ride on the bouncing bee, and will try to give Mercy one, too, if we get another day without rain.



   When not looking after tiny witches, Sarah has been working on her ambition to become a Chess Legend. She was very frustrated for a while, losing 6 matches to Betty Simovitch. The 7th time was the charm, and she managed to win.



   That same night, Sarah had her birthday.



Besides throwing out her back, she lost her hairstyle. She decided to keep her white hair but put it back in her braids.



   The last Cottoneye to have a birthday was Artemis.



She’s turned into quite a pretty (and friendly) child.



   Thanks to all her chess games, Sarah can help with the tutoring. Artemis won’t have to go to school tomorrow, and I won’t have work, so perhaps I can get her to at least a B before she starts school.



Peace and quiet, Chase Cottoneye

[RainBeau]

Peace and quiet. Ah. It's nice to see Chase's greeting mature as he does. Happy birthday to all!

[Toni]

Peace and quiet. Ah. It's nice to see Chase's greeting mature as he does.

Just that tiny detail makes the story more interesting. Happy birthday to Chase, Mercy, Sarah and Artemis!

[SimBlip]

Art, unicorns and writing... it's all in the realm of make-believe. Or maybe not?
Mercy and Artemis are well looked after with Sarah there. But I think that Chase with his loving ways is the girls favourite.
Ah! You mentioned the necessity of tutoring with all the season's festivals going on.
I'm sure the girls will do well in school!
I just love this family so much... my favourite in tis dynasty so far!

[MarianT]

Chapter Fifteen – Ensorcelled

   Although Mom was a witch, I don’t think it made much difference to us. Mostly, she broke the shower trying to upgrade it magically. Dad used to tell us about his mother, who was also a witch, and who specialized in love charms. You had to be careful who you talked to afterwards, he said, or you’d find yourself romantically involved with a paparazzi. But none of this was preparation for living with three witches. I have no idea what Sarah is teaching Artemis.



Or what Sarah does when she practices magic.



Or what arcane lore Artemis is passing on to Mercy.



Is that how she managed to get into the dollhouse? I don’t know. Perhaps Mercy is practicing to be a writer by getting into her characters.



   Mind you, I’m not complaining about being ensorcelled. I’m quite content to let myself be charmed into losing at basketball.



Or charmed into providing another ride on the bouncing bee.



   I can even be charmed into looking a bit foolish at the skating rink, showing my girls what the old man can do.



And of course I feel proud when one of them decides to take up skating based on my example.



   I melt when I see Artemis on her broom with its training wheels.



And I almost started crying – even though I’m not over-emotional – when Mercy had her birthday.



She is such a serious beauty, a little like the pictures of her great-great grandmother Constance.



   My proudest moment came when Artemis came home from school and told us she’d made the honor roll. The dynasty is going to be in capable hands, I think.



   But my happiest moments come in the evening, when Sarah and I get a few moments together.



   Obviously I’ve been bewitched, but like most people under a spell, I don’t want the enchantment to end.



At peace, Chase Cottoneye

[SimBlip]

"... but like most people under a spell, I don’t want the enchantment to end."
Same here, Chase, same here.

[RainBeau]

Awww, at peace. That is so sweet.

[MarianT]

Chapter Sixteen – A Tale of Two Vampires

   Mercy has written her first story, and we’re all very proud of her. Its title is – but I should just let you read it for yourself.

The Dying Vampire, by Mercy Cottoneye

   A long time ago, a vampire named Travis McDermott was in love with the beautiful Elaine Joy. Sadly for him, she decided to marry a handsome and brave policeman named Orion Cottoneye. Travis vowed that he would die before he crossed the threshold of any Cottoneye house.

   Many years later, Sarah Cottoneye (my mother) was trying to become the chess champion of Riverview. Her next opponent was Travis McDermott. She called and invited him over. Before he could enter the house, he choked and died.

   When the Grim Reaper came, the whole Cottoneye household (including me) ran outside to see what was happening.



   They watched in horror as the ghost of Travis McDermott met the Grim Reaper.



After Travis entered his grave, Mom and my sister Artemis went back inside, but Dad stayed outside to play a requiem for Travis, and I stayed to listen.



   True to his vow, Travis died before entering the house. All that was left of him was a pile of greasy black ashes at the foot of the stairs.



The End.

   We all think she shows great promise as a writer, and she didn’t get any help except that I told her that a piece of music for someone who had died was a requiem. She could be an artist, too – here’s the pumpkin she carved for Spooky Day.



   Not long after that, Artemis had her birthday. Since it was close to Spooky Day, we decided to have a costume party. Artemis decided to dress as a superhero – appropriate for someone who is now officially a daredevil.



   Sarah was in charge of the guest list, and she invited my sister Grace, my cousin Prudence, and her sister Kristal (elders all) as well as the children that Artemis and Mercy knew.



   The only teenager besides Artemis was Weston Simovitch, whom she beat at paper, rock, scissors.



I kept an eye on them while doing the Smustle.



   It was Artemis’s first encounter with a vampire (aside from Travis McDermott), and she was surprised to learn that Weston actually liked sunshine.



   After the party, Artemis decided to model her new wardrobe for us. Here’s her everyday outfit for fall and winter:



Her formal (prom is coming up):



And her winter coat:



She figures we’ll see her often enough in her athletic wear and nightshirt, and it was too cold for her to wear her swimsuit.

   After the modeling session, she and Mercy went trick-or-treating. Was it coincidence that the only house they could find with anyone home just happened to be the Simovitches? To Artemis’s dismay, the person who answered the door was Betty, not Weston.



   However, they met each other the next day at the Fall Festival, and Weston came home with her. He even gave her flowers (pink, her favorite color).



   I overheard her telling him that there was a potion that would enable him to stay out in the sunshine, and that she could learn how to make it for him.



   Tell me I don’t have anything to worry about.



Farewell, peace, Chase Cottoneye

[SimBlip]

Farewell? On no... It's that time again, isn't it?
I'm looking forward to Artemis' voice, but I shall miss Chase!
PS: I loved Mercy's story and pumkin!

[MarianT]

It's just farewell to peace now that Artemis is a teenager. Chase should have a couple more chapters to go (I hope).

[SimBlip]

It's just farewell to peace now that Artemis is a teenager. Chase should have a couple more chapters to go (I hope).

Oh, that's brilliant news! Well, maybe not... LOL.
So glad he'll be 'reporting' for a little while longer!

[RainBeau]

Whew! Farewell was the first word I saw and I got worried. I liked the Dying Vampire story very much, good job Mercy.

[Axiom]

Love love LOVE this story! I will have to check by more often.

[Roxanne07]

You have absolutely nothing to worry about!   

Great story, Mercy! I really liked it!

[MarianT]

Chapter Seventeen – Father Knows Best

   I’d like to say that the most dramatic thing that happened all week was that we had a burglar in the house.



I’d like to say that, but it wouldn’t be true. I guess you could say it all started when Mercy became a teenager.



She’s turned out to be quite pretty, and doesn’t need glasses anymore.



   Or maybe it started when they went to the prom. I know that my two girls were the prettiest ones there.





Unfortunately, only one of them could be named Prom Queen, and that honor went to Mercy. And neither of them got to dance with the boys they had a crush on. So it was a disappointing night for both of them, but more disappointing for Artemis than for Mercy.

   Not that it slowed Artemis down any. She was up bright and early the next morning, ready to enjoy the Snow Day. The weather cooperated by leaving off snowing at 9:30 a.m. Artemis shot a few hoops.



And changed into her swimsuit to dive into the snow and make an angel. I was sure she would freeze to death, but apparently she has anti-freeze in her veins.



   I didn’t have to work, so I decided to teach her how to drive. “That’s great, Dad,” she said. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”



   I don’t know why our family always uses driving lessons as the setting for serious talks. Anyway, I was in the middle of explaining what to do when you go into a skid (not that Artemis was driving fast enough to skid more than five feet), when she turned to me, and said --

“Eyes on the road!” I exclaimed.

   “Oh, right,” she apologized. “Dad, can you tell me why the Watcher doesn’t want us to get involved with vampires? I mean, the Watcher Beyond the Watcher created vampires, so they can’t be too terrible, can they?”

   “I don’t know, honey,” I said. “I just know it’s the rule of the decadynasty. But if this is about Weston, you shouldn’t worry. There is a potion that will cure him of vampirism, and I know it works because I used it on his mother.”

   “I know,” she said. “But what if Weston doesn’t want to stop being a vampire? He was telling me what it’s like – how he can learn things so much faster than ordinary people, and I know he can run much faster than me. What if he doesn’t want to give all that up?”

   “Well, then, you’ll just have to find someone else,” I said.

   “Da-ad! You don’t understand,” she said. And she sulked the rest of the drive.



   When Artemis got up the next morning, she decided to do her homework but picked up Mercy’s Multitab instead of her own.



There she read the following:

Late Afternoon, by Mercy Cottoneye

   The next day when they met, Diana was deeply distressed that  Easton hadn’t come to the prom. “I-I’d hoped we could dance together,” she whispered, her voice on the edge of a sob.

   “I wanted to,” he said. “But I couldn’t let everyone see how I felt about you. I couldn’t put you in danger like that. A lot of people are prejudiced against vampires.”

   “But you do have feelings for me?” implored Diana.

   “You know I do,” Easton breathed huskily.



   “Oh, Easton,” she sighed, and kissed him.


   Artemis had read enough. The next thing Sarah and I knew, she was shouting at Mercy. “How could you do that? Writing that tripe about me and Weston?”

   “I’m not writing about you and Weston,” protested Mercy. “It’s a story!”

   “Oh, puh-leeze – Artemis, Diana? Weston, Easton? You don’t think people will see a connection?”



   “You’re just jealous because I was named Prom Queen instead of you,” Mercy shot back.



   Sarah went upstairs and intervened before they could come to blows. “Mom, she’s totally exploiting my relationship with Weston!” Artemis complained. “She said my writing was tripe,” pouted Mercy.

   “Both of you apologize,” ordered Sarah.



   Sarah and Mercy came downstairs to talk to me about it.

   “I think you should respect your sister’s desire for privacy,” I said. “And besides, I doubt there are many people who would want to read about a high school girl who falls in love with a vampire. You’ll come up with better and more lucrative ideas for novels, I’m sure.”



   Later that afternoon, Artemis met Weston at the Cannery, and they skated together. Or rather, Artemis skated, while Weston trotted around the ice rink.



   “I felt so sorry for him, not being able to skate,” she told me. “And I could see he felt bad, too, so I asked him if he’d like me to find a potion that would make him a regular human. And he said yes!”

   “Great!” I said.



   That evening Artemis wrote a note to Weston. None of us knows what she said, and I think we’ll keep it that way.



Snowflake Day tomorrow! Peace, Chase