Wainwrights and Wrongs

[Cheezey]

Author’s Notes: This is a new Sims 4 story based on a save I started a couple of months ago, featuring sims I made based on the Sims 3 premade Wainwright family from Sunset Valley. Those of you who have read my Sims 3 story based on the Wainwrights, Brilliant Minds, will recognize some similar elements, especially in the early backstory, since I used the same headcanon background and family names I had for them in this story as well, although there are some differences in their extended families compared to that story. This Sims 4 story is a completely different universe from that one, however, since Sims 4 is such a different world than Sims 3. I also went for a different play style this time.

Also, I’ve tweaked the family since I wrote Happy Campers several years ago, and that is not a part of this story’s universe, either. In this story, Boyd and Susan are still Young Adult, but Blair is now a toddler instead of a child since toddlers were added since I wrote that story. I also changed their hair and clothes to more like I imagine they might have looked when they were younger and tweaked their traits and aspirations. Now that likes and dislikes are a thing, I feel like those work better for things like their Sims 3 couch potato and computer whiz traits, since I don’t like how the computer whiz aspiration forces a sim into a specific career. Susan’s aspiration was chosen to represent her Sims 3 workaholic trait, and Boyd’s was what I felt was the best match to allow him to be a scientist like he wanted as his Sims 3 Creature Robot Cross-Breeder lifetime wish. Both Boyd and Susan dislike fitness and like programming.

Boyd – Genius, Slob, Paranoid with the aspiration Nerd Brain, bonus trait Quick Learner.
Susan – Genius, Snob, Materialistic with the aspiration Fabulously Wealthy, bonus trait Business Savvy.
Blair – Inquisitive.

My goal with this save/story is to play a generational game without any significant messing around with aging or cheats for money on the active family. The story is heavily game-driven, in that I didn’t start with a specific plan other than letting the sims mostly guide me with their whims and actions and random story events. I wrote the first several chapters as my 2021 NaNoWriMo challenge, which I am happy to say I completed for the first time since 2011 and the first time ever with a Sims story.

I’m posting the first two chapters together since the first is more of a short prologue and introduction as opposed to a full chapter.

Also, I love feedback, so please, feel free to comment or PM me anytime.

Wainwrights and Wrongs

Chapter List
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23 Part One
Chapter 23 Part Two
Chapter 24
Chapter 25 Part One
Chapter 25 Part Two
Chapter 26 Part One
Chapter 26 Part Two
Chapter 27 Part One
Chapter 27 Part Two
Chapter 28 Part One
Chapter 28 Part Two
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33 Part One
Chapter 33 Part Two
Chapter 34
Chapter 35

[Cheezey]

Wainwrights and Wrongs

Chapter 1

Boyd and Susan Wainwright were a relatively normal, if not geeky, young couple recently settled into a modest home in Brindleton Bay.



Both were bright.  Geniuses, in fact.  They would have had a promising academic future ahead of them at either Foxbury or Britechester, institutions both of their parents had graduated from, had not a delightful little accident, their daughter Blair, happened right when they graduated high school.



But they were in love, and they were determined to make their new young family work despite the disadvantages that both of their parents made sure they were well aware of.



While Stuart and Myra Wainwright supported their only child’s decision to get married, raise his daughter, and go straight into the workforce rather than getting the physics degree he originally intended to pursue after graduation, and they even took the young couple into their home at first, it was not without significant tsk-tsking, especially from Myra.  Boyd’s mother was quite the perfectionist, with a pessimistic streak to boot, and she was also a retired teacher, so she just couldn’t help herself.  That was what Boyd told himself, anyway.  She’d always been like that.

Susan was a little blunter.  “Your mother’s nagging is driving me up a wall!” was a rant he’d heard more than once while they lived with them.  Unfortunately, at that time, they couldn’t afford a decent home of their own, so it was their only choice.  Living with parents and saving money until they could get something better rather than ending up in a cockroach infested hovel in a sketchy neighborhood was what their budget allowed.  And Susan was not going to live in the latter.  Boyd might have managed despite his anxious personality, but Susan was a downright snob about some things, and living conditions was one of them.  She could tolerate in-law tension in otherwise decent accommodations far more than she could roaches and hot water that did not always work.



Living with Susan’s parents during those years was not an option, either.  As soon as she and her twin brother Jonathan graduated high school, her parents Patrick and Maureen Bronte put their home in Willow Creek on the market and moved to an apartment in San Myshuno.  Patrick, a respected surgeon, had been offered a prominent position at a hospital in that area, and Maureen had always dreamt of living a cultured life in the bustling city.  Jonathan was moving onto campus at the University of Britechester, where he would eventually earn a psychology degree, and Susan would have gone away to university as well if she had not gotten pregnant.  But nothing was 100% in life, including birth control, and while her parents were a little less lecture-y than Boyd’s were about it, there was no room in their apartment for a couple and a baby.  The guest bedroom was barely enough for Jonathan between semesters, let alone Boyd, Susan, and Blair.



However, they made it work.  Boyd, who always dreamed of being a scientist, got an entry level job at Future Sim Labs.  He was bright and motivated when it came to things that meant something to him.  Some had the impression that he was lazy because he was somewhat of a slob, and he preferred to unwind with sedentary activities like computer games or watching TV.  He also hated sports on anything other than a video game, TV, or the occasional stadium event.  He certainly never wanted to participate in them, and he would make any excuse possible to avoid a fitness routine.

In fact, the only detention he ever got back in school was for cutting class because he ditched gym.  He was caught in the library, on the computer.  At the time, he found that highly unfair.  He was learning programming, which he thought was a far more useful skill than tossing a ball into a basket.  His teachers did not agree, however, and while his parents might have given him that last point, they did not feel it justified him flouting the rules and risking a poor mark in a required class.

Still, Boyd was an avid programmer.  He knew quite a bit about computers and electronics, and he was both mathematically and mechanically inclined.  The sciences called to him, and before Blair came along, he planned to get a degree in physics and become a scientist.  Blair delayed that some, but he was confident he could still get there someday, even if he had to start lower on the ladder without said degree.  He could always get the degree later, and work experience in the meantime.



Susan was similarly inclined.  It was one of the reasons she and Boyd got along so well and eventually fell in love.  She, too, was a couch potato, and she would rather do just about anything other than go to a gym, jog, or play a sport.  Her idea of exercise was the occasional leisurely nature walk, and even that she would have to be in the mood for.  What she did like was her favorite shows and showing off her prowess at Blicblock—very few could top Susan’s scores in that—and trouncing people in strategy games like chess.  She was also a natural with electronics and computers, and before Blair came along, her career plan was to get a computer science degree at the Foxbury Institute and go into engineering.

She was driven like her father, with a natural business savvy and a dream of being wealthy, successful, and esteemed by all her peers someday.  The latter, especially.  She had also gotten that from her father, who shared her tendency toward elitism.  But even more so, Susan wanted to prove herself because after the perceived setback of putting her academic plans on hold to raise a family, she did not want anyone to ever be able to say that she was a failure.

No, she would be successful despite whatever challenges came her way.  She would get her degree, she would earn that nice house with all the fancy things she ever wanted without having to have it handed to her by her parents or in-laws, especially her mother-in-law, and she would have a happy marriage and raise a beautiful and brilliant child to boot.  Because she was that good, and eventually, everyone would know it.  So, Susan applied for an entry level engineering position at a reputable company and applied herself with a drive and work ethic that few could match.



Blair was a toddler by the time Boyd and Susan saved enough to buy a modest home of their own in a nice quiet neighborhood in Brindleton Bay.  It was not beachfront, but it was close enough to the shore that they could visit the beach anytime they wanted in the summer.  While it was not big or fancy, it was theirs, and it had a separate bedroom for Blair, who was now big enough to need one.  Most importantly, it had no parents or in-laws.  Boyd and Susan loved Myra and Stuart despite not always getting along, but too many adults in too small a house was a recipe for tension, and everyone had enough of it.



It was well-timed anyway, since Stuart had finally decided to retire from his long career in the orchestra, and he and Myra were pursuing their dream of living their golden years in the islands.  When Boyd and Susan closed on their home, his parents bought a permanent residence in Sulani.  Stuart’s nerves frazzled almost as easily as Boyd’s, who could be downright paranoid at times, but he was calmed by the ocean waves and tropical breezes while Myra found endless inspiration for her various hobbies in that natural paradise.  Meanwhile, Boyd and Susan now had a place all to themselves, another step toward building the life they always dreamed of.  Things were coming together.

[Cheezey]

Chapter 2

It was spring when they moved in, a couple of years before Blair would be old enough for grade school.  She was a sweet child, well-mannered for the most part, and bright and inquisitive.



Like any toddler, she had her moments, like when she decided the Willow Creek library floor needed a colorful refinish, but most of the time she was not much trouble.  A gentle scolding and reprimand with consequences quickly set her straight.  More often than not, she amused herself by playing with her blocks or the kiddie tablet Boyd and Susan bought her for her third birthday.



Between busy work shifts, Susan and Boyd spent their time together either on their hobbies or chilling with a pizza in front of the TV, sometimes playing with Blair for a bit, but more often letting her do her own thing.  She had no trouble entertaining herself with her tablet or her toys, and except when she needed something or was over-tired, she was good for them and her sitters at day care.

They kept in touch with their family, although it was mostly online or over the phone.  Trips back and forth from Sulani were expensive.  San Myshuno, while closer, was still a couple hours’ drive in what Boyd described as “horrific Watcher-forsaken traffic” that put his nerves on edge and left him uttering impressive strings of forbidden words they did not want Blair repeating under his breath while trying to calm his heart palpitations.  It was not much better if Susan drove, because she still had to listen to him go on the exact same way even if she was behind the wheel, although she drove anyway because at least with him melting down in the passenger seat, he wouldn’t rear-end someone if he worked himself into a heart attack.

There was the option of public transit, but that was something snooty Susan felt was Watcher-forsaken.  One smelly juiced up creep leaning too close on the subway or pondering too long what was on that taxi’s floor—which Boyd would, of course, have to comment on as he pondered it—was enough to ruin that experience.  So, excursions into the city were carefully planned to include both visits to family and whatever festivals or day trips they were interested in so they could both save money and avoid the less pleasant aspects of travel there.



They saw Susan’s brother Jonathan a little more often.  After graduating from Britechester, he was offered a position as a Lieutenant in Evergreen Harbor’s police force.  That was both closer and the traffic to get there not nearly as bad.  Jonathan had always wanted to be a detective and despite his goofball and, in Susan’s opinion, often childish nature, it suited him since he was good at solving mysteries and had an outgoing and friendly way with people that the more introverted Susan never did.



Blair absolutely adored her Uncle Jonathan.  Whenever he visited, she had a great time playing with him and would giggle up a storm.  Boyd and Susan suspected her dear uncle snuck her extra candy or soda when they weren’t looking, but if so, they never caught him at it and Blair certainly was not going to tattle on him.



The Wainwrights loved their new home, small as it was.  Sure, having only a shower stall meant bathing little Blair in the sink sometimes, but they were saving for some plumbing upgrades that would replace that old shower with a shower/tub unit before long.



Their computer and TV were far below their standards, but at least they weren’t getting interrupted at them by anyone other than each other and Blair anymore, so that was a plus.  The kitchen was absurdly tiny, but neither had the time or inclination to cook beyond simple meals anyway.



They probably could have saved money faster if they did not order out or buy lunch at work so often, but one could only eat so many ham and cheese sandwiches or somehow always cold in the middle microwave meals before needing a treat.  Besides, if time was money as the saying went, the long hours they worked left little for leisure.  Spending that time cooking wasn’t either of their idea of an economical use of it.



That was not to say they were complete homebodies.  After moving in, they explored the nearby beach for a little sun and fresh air and enjoyed the relaxing sounds of the waves crashing against the shore.  High strung as Boyd could be, there were times that was just what he needed, even if he and Susan were likely to just relax on a bench or picnic table with their smartphones while Blair played in the sand.



Brindleton Bay did not have any libraries, but it did have a family friendly park where people often brought their pets, and an interesting museum with a lighthouse on a nearby island.  They checked that out early on, too, and met a few of the locals.  One, Brent Hecking, recommended the Salty Paws Saloon as a good place to grab a drink and a casual meal by the waterfront.



Boyd and Susan were not bar-hoppers for the most part, but the atmosphere was that of a friendly pub and the food and drinks were decent for the price.  It was a nice place to eat food they didn’t have to cook and have a chat when they felt like getting out of the house.



They did that more than once while settling in and adjusting to their new work schedule.  Blair liked their fries, and sometimes a rough day on the job called for relaxing with a drink and meal out afterward.

“You’re not checking your work messages again, are you?  You’re know you’re off the clock,” Boyd teased when Susan pulled out her phone while waiting on their meal.

“Yeah, I know,” she said with a half-sigh.  “But I’ve been waiting for them to send me some specs for that project and I’m curious what they’re going to want me to tackle tomorrow.  You know how it is when stuff’s up in the air.”

“I do.  Just remember that not everyone’s as dedicated as you, so don’t hold your breath.”  He munched on a fry and watched Blair doodle hers in the ketchup.  “I’m just glad when I don’t have to deal with any unexpected call-offs on a big project day.”

“Well, you know I hate that, too.”



Blair’s plate clattered, and both Boyd and Susan looked over in mild panic only to see with relief that she only bumped it and that there was no mess.  In fact, she had mostly finished what she was eating, and when she noticed she had their attention, she asked, “Music?”

Blair really liked the Salty Paws Saloon jukebox.  She could not read the titles, but she enjoyed pushing the buttons and watching the machine flash only to get a random tune out.  Sometimes her choices left a bit to be desired, but it was cute how enthusiastic she was about it, so Boyd and Susan usually humored her.  “Sure.  Go ahead.”

“Yay!”  She grinned and toddled over.

“Here’s hoping she picks a winner,” Susan remarked as she watched her.

“Or at the very least, not a loser.”



The waterfront also had nice fresh fish stands.  Boyd loved a good fish and chips, and little Blair was fond of it, too, with it cut up into toddler bite-size pieces, but anything other than a microwave meal version was beyond any of their culinary skill.  Similarly, Susan would have been thrilled to have some of that fresh seafood in a dim sum, her favorite dish, but that was strictly dining out fare for her.  She would rather just eat something else than have a subpar version from her own kitchen.  Sometimes they still browsed the stands, just to see if there was anything there that might appeal for a simple meal, but more often than not, they left without picking anything up.



Those early days in their new home were busy, but not terribly remarkable.  Their attention was split between their budding careers, Blair, and their hobbies, which overlapped to a degree with their couple time.  Their relationship was still solid, though, because so many of their interests were the same.  Although they had romantic alone time late at night after Blair was in bed, much of what they did together was more mundane.  A friendly game of chess on the back patio, watching a TV show together, or chit-chatting in their small living area after work while one was on the computer and the other doing something else were all typical activities Boyd and Susan Wainwright could be found doing on any given weekday evening.



One exception was when Geek Con was held in San Myshuno.  Despite the travel woes to get there, both Boyd and Susan loved that event, and they were not going to miss the chance to attend it.  Even workaholic Susan didn’t mind taking a vacation day for that, and Boyd booked the tickets online as soon as they were available.

“It’ll be nice seeing Mom and Dad while we’re in town, too.  They’ve been wanting us to come visit anyway, and it’s a great chance for them to spend some time with Blair.  They haven’t seen her since her last birthday.”

“I know.  It’s a shame all her grandparents live so far away.  At least she gets to talk to them on the tablet.”

“Mom is really looking forward to spoiling her.”

Boyd chortled.  “So that’s where Jonathan gets it from.”

“I’m sure he does that half to troll us,” Susan replied dryly.  “I love my brother, but no one ever said he couldn’t be a llama.”



Susan’s phone beeped, and she fell quiet before muttering disgustedly under her breath.  “What the plum?”

Boyd looked over.  “What’s wrong?”

“I just got a super creepy DM from some guy I’ve never heard of.”  She made a face.  As an attractive young woman on social media, getting cold messages from someone hitting on her was hardly a new thing, but some stuck out more than others, and this was one of them.  “Listen to this, from some really old-looking guy named Vladislaus Straud.  ‘Hello there, I just wanted to welcome you to the community and… my that’s a lovely neck you have there.’”

Boyd mirrored her weirded-out look.  “He’s not wrong, but that sounds pretty fetish-y.  Is he some vampire wanna-be goth type?”  Although vampires were a known phenomenon, actual ones were rare and generally did not advertise it since there was a natural fear and apprehension toward them.  Usually flamboyant and in-your-face vampire-like behavior came from edgy rebellious types who thought they were cool or wanted to act like or become one.

“Kind of, I guess, but mostly he just looks old and crusty.  He’s not the stereotypical guy in black makeup sporting bat tattoos.”



She handed him the phone.  “Here, check it out.  Then click his profile for a real treat.  Supposedly he lives all the way in Forgotten Hollow, but he’s cold messaging me over here in Brindleton Bay like he lives here.”

“So your beauty’s legendary,” Boyd remarked in an attempt to lighten the mood.  “Or he’s just a weirdo who saw you online and thought he could win you over with that oh-so-suave pick-up line.”

“I like the first one a lot better, but I fear it’s the second.”



“Well, they’re not mutually exclusive.”  Boyd shook his head as he looked over what she showed him.  “Wow.  What a winner.  Nice how he claims to be 25, too.”

“Right?  If he’s under 55, let alone 25, then I’m the Flower Bunny.  Also notice how his profile ‘subtly’ mentions how rich and influential he supposedly is.  I guess he’s hoping to get the gold-diggers if he can’t get the flat-out stupid ones.”

“Luckily for me, you’re too smart to fall for such a charming come-on.”

“I’d be more likely to leave you if you thought I was that stupid.  But on the bright side, at least it was just a creepy message and not a naked picture.  Definitely don’t want to see that!”



Boyd handed her the phone back, and after putting Vladislaus on ignore, she stuck the phone back in her pocket and took a step toward the kitchen.  “So, on a more pleasant subject, what are you thinking for dinner?”

“Maybe we should order pizza and garlic bread.  You know, to protect that lovely neck of yours from online weirdos.”

“Funny.  Though that does sound good.  Pepperoni or sausage?”

“Tough choice.  How about both?”

“I can go for that.  Besides, Blair never gets fussy about pizza for dinner, so that’s a plus.”

[MarianT]

Happy to see the Wainwrights back! Blair is a real cutie.

[Cheezey]

Happy to see the Wainwrights back! Blair is a real cutie.

Thanks! The toddlers are always so adorable.

Chapter 3

When the day of Geek Con came, Boyd and Susan got up even earlier than they would have for work to make sure they had the time to get ready, make the drive, and be there when it opened.  They stopped by Susan’s parents’ apartment first and dropped Blair off.  Her grandparents were thrilled to see her, and Boyd and Susan knew she would be as spoiled as any young grandchild properly should be by the time they returned from the con.



Although they did not go in costume, they bought the t-shirts and swag, and proudly changed into their Geek Con shirts after buying them.  Several patrons were in costume, though, and some of those costumes were quite impressive.  “Maybe next time we should dress up,” Boyd mused as they looked around.

“I don’t know.  Costumes are a lot of work or money to get a good one, and I can already hear my parents just not getting it if we showed up to drop off Blair or left their apartment dressed as Llama Man or Princess Leia on a day that’s not Spooky Day.”  She rolled her eyes.  “I can hear Dad.  ‘You spent how much on that?  Stuff like this why you can’t afford that bathroom remodel you want, you know.  Now I know it’s none of my business and you’re grown up, but you ought to keep in mind…’ Then Mom would be like, ‘Oh Patrick, you know Susie and Boyd like their science fiction.  Just let them enjoy it with the other kids!’ like we’re still twelve or something, and actually obligated to defend our decision to cosplay at a con.  And don’t even think about saying we could just put them on and then take off a costume and makeup in a public bathroom.  No thank you.  A shirt is one thing, a whole costume is another.”

“Fair enough.  I gave up expecting anyone our parents’ age except maybe someone we meet at a place like this to get that kind of thing long before I met you.  You know how my parents are.”

“Considering her love of disco, your mom has no room to criticize anyone else’s entertainment choices.”

“Dare you to tell her that.”

“Sure.  Next Harvestfest family dinner they come to.  Then I’ll excuse myself and let you sit next to her and listen to her.”



Still, Susan did wonder what it might be like to go to the convention dressed up someday, especially as she admired more of the cosplayers’ costumes.  Maybe when Blair was older and she could join them in the fun.  Although Susan hated to admit it, a quality costume for both her and Boyd was a frivolous expense to add to the already expensive splurge of going in the first place.  Without even counting gas to get there and the nice discount of having free babysitters, food and drinks at conventions were pricey enough, and souvenirs and collectibles came at a premium, too.  Her father would probably have something to say about the price of their t-shirts, too, but whatever.  One day she would be successful enough that she could buy whatever she wanted without having to worry about simoleon-pinching, she vowed.



One thing both of them were excited to try was a demo of the new gaming console due to be released soon.  It was set up in multiplayer mode on a huge screen and speaker system that highlighted the exceptional quality of the graphics and sound.  “It’s so cool, but it makes our crappy old TV look even more pathetic in comparison,” Susan remarked.

“I know.  I feel like we should upgrade that before getting a new system so we get our money’s worth out of it.”  Boyd vanquished one of the NPCs he had been fighting.  “A shame, because I like this game.”

“And it’s an exclusive release, too,” Bjorn Bjergsen, who had joined them in the demo, chimed in.  “They aren’t releasing any version of it on any other platforms at all.”

“I heard,” Boyd groused.  “I really need a raise soon.”



After their demo, they heard an announcement that the Hackathon event was starting.  It was a challenge where potential hackers were given a chance to show off their skills at breaking into servers and programs set up by the festival.  “A challenge like this, set up for anyone at the con?  How hard do you think they bothered to make it?” Susan wondered.

“I don’t know.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re using it to get some free security testing on stuff in development.”  Boyd glanced around, suspicious.  “And learn hackers’ styles and report the information to the government, probably.”

“A pro would know to cover his tracks, though.  Being well-known for your hacking skill because you showed off at a con isn’t great for anonymity.”

The shiny high-end computer being offered for first prize caught their eyes, however.  It was a very nice machine, a significant upgrade to what they had, and well out of their price range.  “That thing is probably loaded with hidden programs that track the user’s activities, knowing that a hacker will win it.  Likely CIA or FBI-quality forensic type stuff.”

Susan was amused by his endearingly paranoid line of thinking, although she suspected in this case that he might be right.  She did not distrust the powers that be as much as he did, but there was very little she would put past big corporations and government entities when it came to money and secrets.  “So that’s why we compete, and if one of us wins it, we sell it and buy an equivalent or better machine at a good deal with cash.  Nerds with egos who imagine themselves bad-llama hackers would love to leave a convention with a Hackathon Prize computer.”

He grinned at her.  “Did I ever tell you how much I love your brilliant, devious ingenuity?”

She flashed a flirtatious smile back at him as they joined the competition.  “A time or two, but you can always say it again.”



They were confident going in, but once they saw what they were up against, their confidence rose.  It was no novice challenge, but they knew enough about programming and computers to poke some holes in the security almost right away.  Boyd was anxious about that, since they did have to sign up with their real names and actual identifying information—“for tax purposes,” they were told—but as Susan pointed out, they were also smart enough to know what not to do to that might raise too many red flags.

As it turned out, each player was given a slightly different version of the challenge, and none of the participants said much during the allotted time.  There was no obvious end point to it, only a goal of trying to get in and see what there was to find and do with it.  That was left to the participant, whether they tried to take it down, put in malicious code, or pretend to steal money or information.  The winner would be judged on skill, creativity, and the amount of progress they made as determined by the judges.

At the end of it, both Susan and Boyd felt confident that they did well.  They hoped they were at least in the running to place, even if not in first place.



After Hackathon was over, the virtual gaming rig competition started, which also had tempting prizes.  “I’d love one of those machines someday,” Boyd said, impressed.  “Hey, they have Blicblock as one of the games.  I don’t know anyone better at it than you.  You should compete.  I bet you could win.”

“You think so?”

“Absolutely!”

“Okay, you twisted my arm.”  Susan anticipated how cool it would be to play it in a virtual rig.  “I just hope I’m as good with the different controls.”

“I’m sure you will be.”  Boyd gave her a smooch for luck, and she joined the contest.

Unfortunately, she needed all the luck she could get and then some.  Somehow, her gaming rig loaded a game that wasn’t Blicblock, and even worse, it was one she was not familiar with.  It was an interesting experience, but Susan hated being on display competing and doing so poorly.  She came out more frustrated than exhilarated, especially when the attendant could only apologize but not give her a do-over.  “Ridiculous,” she ranted to Boyd afterward.  “I could strangle them for humiliating me like this.”



“Aw, honey, you’re not the one who should feel humiliated.  The dumb llama who screwed up your game should.  You did pretty well for a game you’ve hardly played in a completely new format.”

“Yeah, I didn’t come in dead last.”  She sulked as she glanced at the scoreboard and saw a couple of scores lower than hers.  “Whoopee.  What a consolation in exchange for being made to look like an overconfident fool in front of a crowd.”

“It shows what a fast learner and how good you are.”  He stroked her cheek.  “Really.  Don’t let their screw up ruin the rest of your day.  You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.”

She was already lightening up a little and met his eyes with a hint of a smile.  “Heh.  I suppose you’re right.  I just hate looking stupid.”

“You could never look stupid, and I’m definitely right.”  He smiled back at her.  “Come on.  There’s still lots left to see.”

They toured the convention some more and browsed the merchandise stands and tech displays.  The rocket building demonstration caught both of their interest.  They tinkered on it for a little while discussing the different aspects of rocket science that they had experience with at their respective workplaces.



They also checked out the astronomy booth, which had an observatory station set up with a high-powered telescope.  “Wow.  I wonder how this is compared to the one they just put in at the lab,” Boyd wondered.  “I haven’t been assigned to the astronomical studies much, but I checked it out a bit.”

“I’ve made some parts for the one at our lab, but I’ve never done anything with it personally beyond quality control testing.”

They both enjoyed the chance to use one outside of a work setting, and since no one was with or behind them in line when they stopped by, they had extra time to themselves to fool around with it.



In fact, it was so stimulating that it was not quite all the fooling around they did after one flirty science double entendre too many alone in that dark control room.



After that distinctly nerdy romantic encounter, Boyd and Susan emerged from the observatory with smiles on their faces.  Then reality set in, and Boyd realized how close some of the crowd was, and how loud it wasn’t.  “You don’t, uh, think anyone heard us, do you?”

“Don’t tell me you’re naïve enough to think we were the first to do something like that in there?  This is Geek Con, after all.  Nerds gone wild and all that.”

“No, but… I’d still rather us not end up on some viral video with a bunch of lowest common denominator trolls making crude woohoo jokes in the comments.”

“I think we’re fine, as long as your butt didn’t hit the intercom.”  When Boyd’s eyes went wide, she chuckled.  “I’m kidding.  The intercom was on the wall.  We’re fine.  Relax.”  She took his hand.  “Come on.  The con’s almost over and they’re going to announce the Hackathon winner in a few minutes.  Let’s see if either of us placed.”



To their delight, one of them did place, and not only place, but win.  Boyd performed what the judges considered the most impressive hack, and while Susan did not win a prize for hers, she did place in the top ten.

Susan had him sit by the machine he used to take a picture for posterity, although she did not upload it anywhere on their own social media because of his paranoia.  “The last thing I want is to be recognized as a ‘famous hacker’ beyond winning a Hackathon contest for plum and giggles.  You know how there are all sorts of llamas and trolls out there who would target me just to prove their internet plumbob is bigger if they had any more identifying information than they got here.  I’m sure not going to confirm on SimBook that I’m that Boyd Wainwright from Geek Con.”

“I know, and you know I wouldn’t make anything like that public, either.  I just want it for bragging rights in private.”

“Especially since we’ll be doing the thing we talked about with the computer prize.”  He refused to say it anywhere near the contest administrators in case they were listening and watching.

“It is a really nice machine, though,” Susan said admiringly as they handed out the prize to him and took a promotional picture for their event.



They sold the prize computer right after the con for a tidy profit, with the price inflated by Susan’s charming smile as she delivered the sales pitch to the buyer.  She included a completely reasonable story about how much they would love to keep it, but their bathroom desperately needed a remodel for their sweet little girl, and you know how it is when you’re a parent and you just have to be responsible.  Besides, if a playful toddler was to ruin such a unique and collectible machine, since you know how kids can be, wouldn’t that be a shame?  But the computer was a con exclusive, after all, and a prize to boot, so they just couldn’t part with it for less than a fair premium.  However, they also didn’t want to deal with online listing fees or shipping, so if they could come to a cash agreement…

And they did, and Boyd and Susan walked away with nearly twice what the computer was worth in cash.  It not only paid for everything they spent at the con, but also a computer that would have even better specs (once they finished customizing it) that they planned to purchase as soon as they got home.

Despite the snafu with the video gaming contest, Geek Con turned out to be a fantastic day for the Wainwrights.



After they left the con, they returned to Susan’s parents’ apartment to pick up Blair.  “I hope she was good for you?” Susan asked.

“Oh, she was an absolute angel,” Maureen gushed.  “We had a great time!  We took her to the waterfront to look at the boats, then we grabbed lunch and tried some new foods at the stands.  She really liked the sweet and sour pork.  After that, we headed over to the park and played on the playground, and by then she was just tuckered out and needed a nap, so we came back here.”

“Then when she got up, she watched some cartoons and had a nice healthy snack of apple slices.  Didn’t want to fill her up on too much sugar before that long car ride home with you.”

“Much appreciated, Dad.”

Maureen chuckled.  “The doctor in him trumps the Grandpa sometimes.  I let her have some ice cream at the park, but not too much, I promise.”

“I’m sure it was fine,” Boyd said before turning to Blair.  “Wow, sounds like you had an eventful day, huh?”

Blair grinned.  “Fun!”

“That’s great, sweetie,” Susan said.

“What about you two?” asked Maureen.  “How was Geek Con?”



“Lots of fun,” Susan replied.  “We saw all sorts of cool new tech and costumes, and Boyd even won a computer contest and got a new computer for first prize!  We actually sold it to a collector in the lot after, though, since he offered way more than it was worth.  Made a nice profit, even after we use some of the money to upgrade ours.”

“Sounds like a smart financial move,” Patrick remarked approvingly.

“What kind of computer contest was it?” Maureen asked Boyd.

“Uh, programming.  Just showing off your skills at knowing your way around a server.”  He was not about to get into the nuances of Hackathon with his in-laws, or why he was so good at it.  Not after Maureen’s chiding lecture to Susan that time she offered her a pirated audio book after she had lamented to her that she wanted more of them to listen to while she did housework, but hated how expensive they were and how the library took forever to get new ones in.  Susan’s parents were not uptight goody-goodies, but Maureen was a retired writer and while she had no issues with libraries loaning out literary works, people circulating them for free on the internet apparently stuck in her craw.

“Well, you two have certainly always been good with those.  There’s a reason we always call you when ours act up.”

“Oh, I know,” Susan said, exchanging a knowing smile with Boyd.

Both Susan and Boyd had played tech support to their aging parents more than once.  In fact, it had only been a couple of months prior that Susan’s father bought a new smart phone, a more “economical” model that was less user-friendly than the premium one Susan had heartily recommended, at Jonathan’s recommendation. He had then cheerfully suggested that if he needed tech help beyond his skill with it that, “You know how Susan’s a whiz with those things.  I’m sure she’d be happy to help you, Dad!”  Susan’s chain of forbidden words after those calls about no one listening to her and how she could throttle her brother for that had been legendary.



They visited with Susan’s parents for a little while longer, but soon it became apparent that Blair was very tired.  “Grandpa!  Bed story?”

“Oh, sweetheart, I’d love to, but if I read you to sleep now, you’ll just wake up when Mommy and Daddy have to carry you out to the car.  And that won’t be any fun.”

“It’s all right, Dad.  It’s getting late, it’s a long drive home, and Boyd and I both have to work tomorrow anyway.”  Susan gathered Blair’s things.  “Let’s get ready to head home.  Try using the potty before that long car ride.”  She looked at Boyd.  “Mind taking her?”

“Sure.”

Boyd brought Blair to the bathroom while Susan hugged her parents.  “It was great seeing you both.  Thanks for watching Blair.”

“It was our pleasure,” Patrick replied.  “We wish we could see her more often.”

“Absolutely!  She was a delight.”  Maureen gave Blair a parting hug as Boyd brought her back out.  “You be good for Mommy and Daddy, okay?”

“Okay, Grandma.”

“All right.  Bye-bye.”  She handed her back to Susan, and both Patrick and Maureen waved.

Blair waved back cheerfully, if not sleepily.  “Bye-bye!”



It was very late by the time they got home.  Blair was so exhausted from her day out with her grandparents that she slept the entire drive home and barely woke up during the transfer from the car to bed, although they did change her into her pajamas first.

Once she was tucked in, Boyd turned to Susan.  “Happy Geek Con.  I had a lot of fun with you today.”

“Me too.”  She smiled back at him, and he gave her a flirtatious look.

“You look hot in that Geek Con shirt, by the way.  I’d offer to show you just how hot, but if I’m this tired just riding home from San Myshuno after all that, I’m guessing you’re even more tired than I am since you’re the one who drove.”

“I am pretty beat, but it’s still nice to hear.  And you look cute in yours, too.  Blue’s a good color on you,” she finished on a flirtatious note.

He pulled her close.  “Come here.  I’m not too tired to do this before bed,” he said, and pressed his lips to hers in a passionate kiss.



Boyd managed to peel his clothes off and climb into sleeping clothes, but Susan was so exhausted that she just kicked off her shoes and rested “for a minute” only to fall fast asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.  She would have slept deeply through the rest of the night had not a panicked shriek followed by loud sobbing from Blair woken them both up a few hours later.

“What the—” Boyd blinked into consciousness, while Susan rolled over, jolted awake.

“It’s Blair.  Probably had a nightmare.  I’ll go check on her.”  She realized she had fallen asleep in her clothes and wanted to change afterward anyway.  Boyd rolled back over, while Susan slipped on her shoes and went to Blair’s room.

“Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

“Scary man outside!” she wailed as she clung to Susan’s leg.

Susan glanced out the window.  It was a blustery spring night, and might have been raining a bit, but there was no one there.  She probably just woke up from a bad dream and saw a shadow from a moving branch or something.  “There’s nobody out there, sweetie.  It’s all right.  You just had a bad dream.”

“He was scary!  Right there!”  She was adamant as she pointed, still sobbing.

Susan patted her head. “It’s okay.  No one’s there now.”  She yawned.  She was too tired for this, but she could not just leave Blair this upset.  “Do you think you could try going back to sleep?”

Blair only cried and clung harder.

“Okay.”  Susan stroked her hair and took a deep breath.  “How about I pull the blinds so no one can see in, and I go double check that the doors are all locked so no one can get in?  Will that make you feel safe enough to go to bed again?  You need your sleep.”

She sniffled and nodded.

“All right.  Let’s do that.”  She pulled the blinds and gave her a reassuring smile.  “Want to come with me and see for yourself?”

“O-okay,” she agreed hesitantly, and followed her mother closely.

Susan checked the back door first, and then the front.  As she suspected, there was no one or nothing to be found there or through any of the windows she looked out of.  She turned to Blair and reassured her one more time before taking her back to her room.



“All right, sweetie.  We checked it all.  Do you feel better now?”

Blair seemed like she was calming down, but then her eyes went wide, and she panicked again, pointing to the front door behind Susan in terror.  “That’s him!”

“What?”

Susan spun around, and to her horror, someone was there.  Someone she recognized.  A creepy face, from online, that looked just like the weirdo that messaged her about her “lovely neck.”

“Oh, my Watcher!” she gasped.  When Vladislaus saw that he had Susan’s attention, he smiled, even more creepily, and knocked.  “Blair, go back to your room.  I’ll deal with him, and make sure he never comes back!”

Blair nodded obediently and scuffled back to her room while Susan grabbed her hoodie to have words with him outside.  Wanna-be vampire or not, there was no way she was letting Vladislaus into her home.  She debated getting Boyd or calling the cops, but she would only resort to that if she felt threatened.  Boyd would go into full freak-out mode if he thought she was being stalked, and that would only upset Blair more or possibly escalate things with this creep.  While a call to the cops would undoubtedly take care of the situation, Vladislaus had not technically broken any laws except maybe trespassing, and even that would only be the case if he refused to leave.  There was only the word of a tired toddler that he had been peeping in windows and did anything other than walk up to the door.  Hopefully, a firm and succinct “buzz off” face to face would send the message without having to get nastier.

Still, Susan left her phone on a screen in her pocket that would let her call emergency services with a swipe, and she thanked the stars above that she had listened to Jonathan’s advice and taken a self-defense class back when he went through the police academy.



She stepped outside and shut the door behind her.  “What are you doing here?”

His creepy smile curled to a half-sneer.  “Not the politest greeting for the first time meeting face to face, Susan, but it’s a pleasure anyway.”

“You turned up on my doorstep in the middle of the night and scared the plum out of my daughter, who said she saw you peeping through her window after I blocked you with no response online!  What did you expect?”

If her anger fazed him, he did not show it.  “I had hoped we might get to know each other a little better.  Face to face.”  His eyes lingered on her neck.  “I apologize for frightening your daughter, but I assure you I wasn’t peeping.  I was merely curious if you and your family were still awake.  I had forgotten until after I got here that not everyone is on night shift hours like me.”



“Night shift hours, uh-huh.  Most people know not to come visiting at a time like this without asking first, and considering we never actually talked, online or otherwise…?  Give me a break.  Look, it’s flattering you seem to like me, but I’m happily married and not interested.  Please respect that and move on.”  She was firm, as she wanted to be unmistakably clear, but did her best to remain civil on the chance he might suddenly turn violent.

“Ah, Susan, my dear, you misunderstand.  I only wanted to get to know you in a… friendly way.  I apologize if I upset you or your daughter.  I would never presume to get between you and your husband or family.”

“Right.  Well, thank you, but I don’t think we have anything to talk about.  Now, I’m very tired and I have work in the morning, so please, go home and find someone else to talk to.  I’m not what you’re looking for in any way at all.”  She stressed the last word for emphasis, but remained polite.  There was something distinctly creepy about him that left her hair prickling on the back of her oh-so-lovely neck, and she wanted away from him as soon as possible.  She hoped he finally got the message and would find someone else with a nice neck to creep around.



“Very well.  I’d hate to deprive you of sleep when it has such… unfortunate effects on your vitality. It is so very important.  Hopefully another time we can become better acquainted, my dear.  Have a good night.”

Susan tried not to roll her eyes, since he was actually leaving.  “Yeeeeah.  Bye.”  She went back inside and locked the door, then checked both it and the back door twice.  What an absolute weirdo that guy was.  I feel bad for whoever he fixates on next, but at least he got the message that it won’t be me.  She cringed again, checked on Blair, and reassured her that she sent the scary guy packing.  Then she returned to her room, changed, climbed back into bed beside a fast asleep Boyd, and hoped to dream of anything more pleasant than Vladislaus Straud.

Outside, her midnight visitor smiled in the shadows on the edge of their property.  Susan Wainwright was turning into a bit of a challenge, but that made it so much more delicious.

[Cheezey]

Chapter 4

Ordinarily, waking up on the spring celebration holiday would have been a fun thing.  After all, on that special day, the Flower Bunny visited houses of sims who had the spring spirit.  He would hide special eggs in their home and yard, especially if they had children who imagined really hard that he would come to them.  He might even come back to celebrate with them and bring them some flowers if they were extra lucky.



Little Blair was very excited about this holiday, especially since Grandma Maureen and Grandpa Patrick had told her all about it the day before when they assured her that all little girls who were good for their parents and grandparents could be all but guaranteed a visit from the Flower Bunny on that day.  If they were extra lucky, he might even leave her a chocolate egg or two for her to enjoy as a treat for breakfast.

They also reminded Blair that she would have to look extra carefully for the special eggs.  The Flower Bunny was a master at hiding them, and it would take a very clever girl such as herself to find them all.  But little Blair was up to the challenge, and she woke up nice and early, despite the appearance of Scary Guy the night before, to tackle it.  In fact, she had all but forgotten about the frightening weird man at her window and door when she woke up on that cloudy spring morning.



Boyd and especially Susan were less than enthusiastic than they should have been about it.  Boyd was a few hours short on sleep from the long day at the con the day before, and while he had not had the night Susan had, it was still equivalent to one of those long nights when he stayed up too late on the computer.  Thankfully, he had remembered to order some chocolate eggs from Henford-on-Bagley well in advance of the holiday, and his alarm had him up before Blair so he could get one out for her to have with breakfast.  At least day care will deal with the sugar rush, he thought with dark amusement, although he was genuinely looking forward to seeing Blair’s beaming smile when she saw and got to eat it.



Susan hit the snooze alarm that morning, something almost unheard of for her, and shuffled out of bed exhausted.  Vladislaus’ middle of the night visit had cost her precious sleep that was at a premium on a night that she got to bed late anyway, and when the alarm went off, she could have slammed a stake right into that creepy vampire-looking weirdo for depriving her of a couple of hours of it had he been there to take it out on.  Her engineering job gave her the flexibility to work from home sometimes, although she did not always take that option since she felt guilty sending Blair to day care when she was technically there to keep an eye on her and save the money.  Plus, sometimes it was just easier to get things done at the engineering facility.

Today, however, not having to commute or put on anything other than lounging clothes sounded perfect, holiday or not.  Even if Boyd had to go into the lab, Blair could stay home and would enjoy being there on the chance that the Flower Bunny showed up for a social visit.  Susan was tired enough that she did not want to do fine mechanical work and risk injuring herself or damaging an expensive project.  It was a better day for text reports that could be looked over and corrected later if she made a screw-up.  Besides, she would have to tell Boyd about Vladislaus turning up on their doorstep, and she knew he would not take it well.  She just hoped he would handle it well enough that she would not have to reassure him by getting her cop brother involved.  She definitely did not want Jonathan or her parents finding out about her weird vampire-ish stalker.  Her parents would worry needlessly about it, and while she had no doubt her brother would help in any way he could, he would also make stupid wisecracks that she was absolutely not in the mood for.



Susan came out of the bedroom dressed as much as she felt up to when she found Boyd having coffee, already ready for work with Blair toddling around the living room.  “Mommy!  Find eggs?”

She forced a smile.  “One in the top dresser drawer, sweetie.  I put it on the dresser in my room if you want to go see it.”  It was true.  The more welcome visitor of the Flower Bunny apparently had enough of a twisted sense of humor to stick one in with her clean bras, nested carefully in one of the cups.  It was a rare one, too, with gilded accents.  Whether that was the universe trying to make up the nonsense with Vladislaus to her or having an additional laugh at her expense she was not sure, but she would accept the rare collectible and assume it was the former, lest her mood become even more foul.

Blair was too excited about the egg hunt to pick up on her mother’s off mood, though, and she proudly informed her, “I found FOUR!”

Her enthusiasm was so cute that it broadened Susan’s smile for a moment.  “Great job, sweetie!  I’m very proud of you.  Keep looking, and I bet you’ll find even more.”

“Okay!”  Blair toddled off toward her parents’ bedroom to look at the egg in there and to see if she could find any more.



Boyd noticed right away how out of it Susan seemed.  “You okay, honey?  How late did Blair keep you up?”  He realized that he had been so tired that he never woke up when Susan came back to bed after leaving to check on her.

“Not that long, but no.  I need to talk to you quietly about something.”  She nodded in Blair’s direction as she came back out of the bedroom to indicate it was not something she wanted her to overhear.



“Oh.  Okay.”  Boyd swallowed the last of his coffee, set down his mug, and took a deep breath, trying not to imagine something catastrophic.  It did not work, and his mind raced through all sorts of scenarios as he decided to go and get a second cup, which he guzzled more than half of straight off.

Maybe Susan was ill and feeling something that might be serious.  Like a terminal brain tumor or, wait, they had not been terribly cautious fooling around in that observatory.  No, that was just yesterday.  Even on the very remote chance she got pregnant, she would not know yet.  Oh, Watcher!  What if it was something like internal bleeding or some other tumor?  Her grandmother had died of cancer at an age only eight years older than Susan was now.  Sure, she had been exposed to multiple carcinogens and smoked since her teens, but still, what if none of that mattered and it was hereditary?  No, he did not want to be a widower so soon!  But it probably wasn’t that bad, right?  Maybe she just forgot to pay a bill and they would get a late fee.  That would ding their credit, but it wasn’t like it was the mortgage!  He had paid that on time, he was sure of it.  No one would be foreclosing on them.  Was it the car insurance?  That was due last week, but he thought that was on auto-pay.  There was that one time the bank screwed it up, but…



“Daddy!  Mommy!  Egg!”  Blair’s exuberant shout jolted Boyd out of his anxious zone-out as he and Susan sat down at the table.  She proudly held up an egg she had discovered in the cushions of the couch.

“Very good!” Susan praised her, while Boyd echoed it with a thumbs-up.

“Go ahead and put it on your dresser to show it off.  You found a lot of them.”

“Chocolate egg magic!  Grandma said it make easy with superpowers!”

Susan could not help but be amused.  “Grandma said that, huh?  She always did swear by chocolate for breakfast.”

Boyd chortled.  “Your wife-of-a-doctor mom said that?  I know she’s kind of a chocoholic, but wow.”

“Well, sometimes the chocolate came in the form of a breakfast bar or chocolate milk or chocolate chips in a pancake or croissant or the occasional donut, but yes.  It’s not like she ever let me or Jonathan have candy bars for breakfast or anything.  At least not on days except where holidays allowed it.”  She gestured to the wrapper on Blair’s chocolate egg.

“Wish my mom had taken a page from her book.  She even considered most cereals junk food.  She did a lot more home cooking than we do, though.”

“Occasionally I do miss Myra’s fresh bacon and eggs from the good old days,” Susan admitted.  “So, did you find any eggs?”

“One in the fridge, and one in the toilet tank.  I’m… kind of disturbed by that.  Not sure what the ol’ Flower Bunny was thinking there.”

She wrinkled her nose.  “That’s even more questionable than the one in my bra.”



“Sounds like he needs to leave his rabbit hole more than once a year,” Boyd remarked before assuming a more serious and low tone out of Blair’s earshot.  “So, what’s wrong?  What happened?”

Susan sighed. “I—the thing that woke Blair up last night wasn’t necessarily a nightmare. It could’ve been to start with, but that wasn’t all of it.” She lowered her tone even further. “We had a sort-of prowler.” She held up her hand before Boyd could properly panic. “I took care of it, but you know that Vladislaus guy that messaged me about my ‘lovely neck?’ He turned up here last night, and Blair said she saw him peeking in her window before he came and knocked on the door. He said he just looked inside to see if we were awake, but—”



“And you didn’t get me or call the cops?”  Boyd’s voice rose on an agitated note, but Susan waved her hand down and Boyd moderated it so as not to upset Blair.  “What the plum, Susan?  That’s nuts!  He could’ve been—”

“He wasn’t,” she cut him off in a low and reassuring tone.  “I was prepared, and I wasn’t going to let him hurt us.  I could tell he was just looking for attention and probably hoping for a date or hook up or whatever.  I let him know on no uncertain terms he was not going to find that with me, and that I wasn’t impressed.  He moved on.  It’s over, and while I still think he’s probably the creepiest guy I’ve ever met, I’ve got him blocked and plan to ignore him if he ever tries to contact me on another platform.  If he shows up again, I’ll call the cops.  We’ll keep the doors locked, warn Blair’s day care providers about him, and it’ll be fine.”

Boyd made a disgusted face.  “What a creepy llama!  You should’ve gotten me up, Susan.”

“I would’ve if I thought I needed to.  But I handled it.  He left after I told him to go.”



“Wish I had that freeze ray from work.”

“See, this is why I didn’t get you right away.  I know you’re worried, but that would be assault.  And as much as I get the desire to zap the creep, I’d rather you not end up in prison.”

“I wouldn’t have used it on him unless he didn’t leave.  But he’d have gotten the message loud and clear.”

“He got it anyway.  Really.  It’s all right.  Now you know, and we can just keep an extra eye on Blair in the yard and be sure to keep our doors locked for a while.  But I think it’ll be fine, so please try not to worry overly much about it.”



“Yeah, well, that’s a lot easier said than done, and you’re way more optimistic than I am.  There are a lot of sickos out there, and Vladislaus seems to be angling for a spot in the top ten.  Especially now that he’s fixated on you.”  He frowned and swirled what was left of his coffee.  “You don’t think he’s actually a vampire, do you?  I know he’s playing up the part of Old School Count Dracula, but he is a faker, right?  An obvious wanna-be?”

Susan bit her lip.  “I won’t lie.  Something about him gives me the serious creeps.  But I don’t know if that’s so much that he might actually be a vampire as it is that he’s a creepy guy who can’t take a hint.”

“You didn’t invite him in, right?”

“No! Of course not!  Vampire or not, you think I’d let some weirdo lurking around and peeping in Blair’s window into our home?!”

“No, it’s just that if he is a vampire, the traditional lore says they can’t enter your home unless they’re invited in.  So on the off chance he is, that’s good, at least.”

“Too bad that doesn’t work on your average run-of-the-mill stalking llama,” Susan groused, while Boyd frowned.

“I just hope you’re right and he leaves you and Blair alone.”

“Me too.”  She met his eyes.  “And you’re not going to get all paranoid and do anything without telling me, are you?”



“Other than internet stalk the plum out of this guy the first chance I get?  No.  Message me his profile info, though, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure, and I’m going to do the same, believe me.  Let me know what you find, and I’ll let you know later.”  She looked over at Blair.  “In the meantime, let’s not ruin her spring holiday with Creepo Nightstalker, all right?”

“Nah.  I’d hate to do that.”  He smiled despite himself as Blair cheerfully discovered another egg in the bookcase and shouted gleefully about it.  “She should keep that sweet innocence of hers as long as she can.”

[Cheezey]

Chapter 5

Susan did her best to put the encounter with Vladislaus out of her mind as she tackled her workload for the day.  Blair had finished her egg hunting and was happily playing with her blocks in her room, and there was a report that she needed to finish and submit for approval by the end of the week.  It provided a much-needed distraction for a while at least.



“Mommy, when Flower Bunny come?”

Susan looked up from the computer and saw an eager Blair awaiting an answer.  “I don’t know, sweetie.  He runs on his own schedule and doesn’t tell me.  Hopefully soon.”  Even if she did have work to do, a knock on the door from a giant magical rabbit sounded a lot better than one from a creepy vampire.  Though if Vladislaus actually was one, there would not be any knocks from him at this hour, she supposed.

“Oh.”  Blair pouted a bit.  “I go outside and watch?”

“No, that’s not a good idea.  It’s raining, see?”  She pointed to the window.  She was glad in a way.  She would not get much work done out there watching her when she had to finish what she was doing on the computer.  “Maybe he’ll come after lunch.”

“Okay.”  It was obvious Blair was disappointed, but she took it well enough, and toddled back to her room.



She must have found something to entertain herself, because Susan did not hear from her again for a while.  In fact, she got on a roll and finished her report earlier than expected and submitted it to her boss feeling quite accomplished.  “Phew!  Glad that’s off my to-do list.”

It was raining even harder now, so humoring Blair by letting her play outside while waiting for the Flower Bunny was out of the question.  She decided to go and check on her to see what she was up to.



She found her rummaging through her toy box, and unfortunately, a horrific mess on the floor where she had attempted to use the training potty herself.  That was a good thing, but she had apparently been poorly positioned and missed with a massive overflow, which was not so great.

“Oh, Blair.”  Susan tried not to let on just how annoyed she was since Blair had tried.  She was mostly potty trained, but occasional accidents still happened, and she did not want to discourage further progress.  “You know if you’re having trouble on the potty, you should come get me.”

Her face rumpled.  “I’m sorry.”

“All right.  Just please remember next time,” Susan said with a sigh as she started cleaning, while Blair started crying.

“Is the Flower Bunny still coming?  I didn’t mean to be bad!”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Susan reassured her.  “I’m sure he’ll still come.  Accidents happen.  Just try to remember to ask if you need help.”

“Okay,” Blair said through her sniffles.



Once the mess was clean, Susan realized that it was about half an hour past Blair’s usual nap time, and that combined with the crash from the extra sugar she had that morning probably explained her both her poorer than usual coordination and sensitive mood.  She got her changed and took her to bed, although Blair was not happy about it.

“But I don’t want to miss the Flower Bunny!”

“I promise I’ll wake you up if he comes.”

“Promise?”  She emphasized it hard.

“I promise.  Now let’s read a story and get some sleep.”

Blair snuggled under the covers, and Susan barely got to the third page of the book before Blair conked out.



Now that the house was quiet again, Susan realized how tired she was, which in turn reminded her of her creepy midnight visitor.  That made it hard to think about tackling a new assignment just yet, so after she double-checked her work messages to make sure no new urgent tasks had come through, she took a break from that to do some internet sleuthing on her unwanted admirer.

It seemed that he was not embellishing about being from some prominent family in Forgotten Hollow.  Vladislaus Straud, or rather, Count Vladislaus Straud IV as his profile read, was indeed his real name from what she could tell from available public records.  A satellite search of an address that came up showed a mansion in Forgotten Hollow, a rather spooky looking one surrounded by a graveyard.



“This guy just keeps getting creepier.”  Susan wondered if those graves were his family members or his victims.  She hoped that a mass murderer could not be living right out in the open under everyone’s noses like that, but one never knew.  Vladislaus did not appear to be married or have any children, and there were no public records under that name with a birth date anywhere near 25, or even 30 years older than that.  The closest she found were a few publicly shared genealogy database records for Count Vladislaus Straud II, his grandfather, she supposed.  There was one picture of that Vladislaus from back in the day, and he bore a remarkable resemblance to his grandson.

There was also a Simpedia entry on Forgotten Hollow that mentioned the town’s chief founder was Vladislaus Straud the first, and a picture of the statue in the town’s park commemorating him.  He looked a lot like the Vladislaus she was dealing with, too.  “Ugh.  Just how inbred is this family?  No wonder they’re so weird.”

Then an unsettling thought occurred to her.  What if Vladislaus really was a vampire, and this Straud “family” was an nothing more than elaborate alias for the same individual?  He had money, and money could buy a lot of identity fudging, especially if vampiric persuasion powers were a thing.

She swallowed back a sick feeling.  No, if he had vampiric persuasion powers, surely he would have used them on her last night to get in the house or bite her or lure her away or something, right?  Or he would have attacked her then and there outside when he had her alone?  Unless he gets his jollies trying to befriend his victims first, or something.

Regardless of whether he was a vampire, serial killer, or just a run of the mill weirdo, she knew one thing for certain.  She wanted nothing to do with him and she hoped he never showed his creepy face anywhere near her ever again.



At the lab, Boyd did not get a chance to flex his internet muscles finding out what he could about Vladislaus until later in the day.  It was a busy morning, and there were multiple projects ongoing.  One was an important analysis that he was assigned to complete.

“You’re a little quiet today, Boyd,” his co-worker Eleanor remarked.  “You all right over there?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.  Just got a few things on my mind.”

“One of those days, huh?”

“Pretty much.”  He sighed and stirred his test tube.  “You ever run into one of those people that just doesn’t seem quite… right?”

“Work here long enough, kid, and you’ll run into all types.  But what kind of not-quite-right are you talking, specifically?  Alien?  Mermaid?  Mage?”

He paused, not wanting to give out too much information about it.  One never knew who might know someone else or be spying.  “Just someone I ran into at the gas station,” he lied.  “They had a real weird sense about them.  Something off.  At first my mind thought ‘vampire,’ but then I thought maybe I’ve just been watching too many horror movies lately.”

“Never met a vampire myself,” Eleanor replied.  “Was it near Forgotten Hollow?  People say that a bunch of them live there.  And I’ve heard they’re more common in cities because of the night clubs and other night life.  A while back, I remember someone asked our paranormal team to check out the historic Windenburg area for them, too, but I don’t know if they found anything or not.  Jaron might.  He logs a lot of that stuff.  Was it after dark when you saw them?  Though I’ve heard there are some powerful enough to move around during the day.  Not many, but a few.  The elder types, supposedly.”



That gave Boyd some food for thought until his analysis was done.  Afterward, his boss asked him and another co-worker, Kalamainu’u, to test the prototype freeze ray Boyd had been working on.  Kalamainu’u volunteered to be the test subject for some bonus pay, but when the time came to go through with it, she was nervous.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have signed that waiver for long-term liability.”

“Remember, our preliminary studies all showed it should be safe.”  That was a relative term around the lab, meaning they were confident it would not do a subject fatal or lasting harm, but guaranteed little beyond that.

“Yeah, but that was preliminary.”  She cast it a wary eye, but resigned herself.  “Darn my insatiably curious nature.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

She took a deep breath and braced herself.  “Okay, Boyd.  Arctic blast me.”



“One… two… three!  For science!”  Boyd pulled the trigger, and a pulsing icy beam shot forth from the device, immobilizing Kalamainu’u instantly and coating her in ice.



He guided the beam so that it evenly covered most of her body, but he was careful not to cover her face.  Although its cryostasis feature was not supposed to damage cellular tissue, in the event that their calculations were at all off, he did not want to risk her asphyxiating under excess ice.  Once she was well-coated, he observed his handiwork and began taking notes.

“Wow!  Can you hear me?”  He thought he heard a squeak.  “Sounds like a yes,” he said as he noted it down and began making measurements.  “I’m guessing you can’t move.  If you can, do it.  Oh, and if you can’t breathe, squeak again.  I’ll bust your head out.”

Kalamainu’u did not make a noise, but Boyd could swear by the look in her eyes she wanted him to hurry up and do it anyway.  “Okay, good.  Able to breathe, but not really talk.  I’ll start breaking you out once I’m done with the measurements.  Then we can go over the after-effects.”

Although uncomfortable, which she emphasized afterward, those turned out to be relatively harmless as far as any kind of injury or damage.  She was “cold as plum,” as she succinctly put it, and felt a chill down to the very bone, but she could move as well as anyone who had been out in very cold weather.  Slow, but able to, and she recovered quickly as she warmed up.  There was no frostbite or anything else.  All in all, the data indicated the freeze ray was an effective means of stopping someone dead in their tracks without doing them any real harm.

Like maybe a creepy possibly-vampire weirdo stalking my wife, Boyd thought as his gaze fell on the prototype while finishing up his notes.  Vampires might be immortal, but it sure would be hard to bite under a thick coat of ice that made it impossible to move.  Technically, icing the llama might be considered assault, but only if a case could not be made for self-defense.  And he was pretty sure that if Vladislaus ever had the nerve to try something, and ended up iced for his trouble, Jonathan could hook them up with some top-notch defense lawyers.  Whatever sibling squabbles he and Susan had, he loved his sister and Boyd knew that he would agree that anyone threatening her deserved what came to them.



While Kalamainu’u got the rest of the day off with pay as part of her compensation for her willingness to be a test subject, Boyd was struck with inspiration as to how he might legitimately borrow that freeze ray for a while.  He caught up with his boss, Shigeru Nishidake, at an opportune moment.  “Hey, I had a thought about the freeze ray I wanted to run by you.”

“Sure.”

“Today’s test was successful, and we got some good data, but I was thinking that I’d like to field test it in some more mundane settings.  I know we’ve run some outdoors here outside of the climate-controlled environment, but I had some ideas about other targets and areas we don’t have ready access to here at the lab.  What do you think?  Over in Brindleton Bay, I’m right on the shore.  I’m curious how it might react with sea water and all its natural organic micro-components compared to the saline vats we tested here, especially in the different ambient humidity of the area.  I could also see how it reacts on some of the native flora and shellfish or if it works submerged.”

“Hmm.  That data would be useful to compare against our projections.”  He paused.  “You angling to work from home for a day or two, or are you asking to sign it out and do it after hours for comp time?”

“Either works.  Whichever is more convenient.  Or less paperwork.”

He chuckled.  “You know how much I hate that.  If I didn’t know better, I’d wonder if you were buttering me up.”

“Nah.  I’m just enthused to play around with my new toy,” he joked, patting it.  “So, it’s a go?”



“All right.  I’ll approve that.  You worked on every stage of the design and assembly on that prototype, so if it breaks, you’d be the one called to fix it, anyway.  Go ahead.”

“Great!  Thanks!”

“You’re welcome.  Just make sure you fill out all the appropriate forms and bring it back in good shape and with enough notes that this sign-out won’t get me chewed out by management.  Oh, and for the love of plumbobs, don’t lose or irreparably damage it.”

“Oh, no.  Of course not!  I’ll take excellent care of it,” he assured him with a confident smile.

“Good.  Oh, and Boyd?”

“Yeah?”

“No lawsuits.”  He waved his finger.  “There are two departments I would just as soon never interact with.  Legal and accounting.  Anything you do that brings them pounding down my office door would be very bad for your performance review.”

“Understood.”

“All right, then.  Have fun and keep me up to date on what you find.”



Boyd was excited at the prospect of taking his freeze ray home.  Not only because it could put a nice freeze on Vladislaus if he came creeping around his house again, although that was a big part of it, but he was legitimately curious how it would work in other environments.  He would be cautious, of course, considering he hated the thought of a lawsuit and the government poking around in his business even more than his boss did.  Nice as the fantasy of icing Vladislaus was, it would take something rather dire and cut and dried to push him into actually using it on anyone outside of a consenting experiment.  Boyd was no goody-goody sim scout, but he was not mean-spirited, either.  He did not want to hurt anyone, even a llama like Vladislaus.  Unless he came after Susan, Blair, or him personally, he would never ice him, and even that would just be to send the message to get lost.

It did leave him pondering, however, if it turned out Vladislaus was a vampire, and he was to hypothetically get frozen for being a creepy trespasser, how the ray would work on that unique physiology.  He had no doubt it would immobilize him, but would he have unforeseen powers in breaking out of it?  Vampires allegedly had a bat form, and bats had unique abilities with sound waves.  Did bats that were actually vampires have those abilities as well?  Of course, odds were that Vladislaus wasn’t a vampire, he reassured himself.

Real vampires were clannish and kept to themselves, and there were enough vampire wanna-be types and idolizers out there who would voluntarily give themselves over to be turned or snacked on by one out of excitement or fetish that a real one would not have to try hard to find a meal or companion.  He certainly would not need to stalk married women on the internet with an almost laughable profile lying about his age and who blocked him and told him in person that she was not interested.  And if he was that much of a creepy loser, he probably would have bitten Susan when he had the chance last night.  So he probably was just a mortal creep instead of an immortal one.

Still, it never hurt to research just in case.  Boyd sat down on the lab’s research archive to see what they had on vampires, just out of curiosity.  If anyone asked, he would just say he was compiling data for the off chance he met some occult willing to participate in his field test.  His paperwork offered him the authority to present an offer of a payment to a qualifying subject that the lab would fund, after all.

He learned a fair bit of information about vampires, including an interesting tidbit that there was apparently a potion that allowed vampires to temporarily move around in the daylight.  That was unsettling, as now it could not rule out Vladislaus being a vampire if they happened to see him hanging around before dark.  Hopefully it would all be moot anyway, and he would just leave Susan alone now, like she seemed to think he would.  But his instincts told him not to be that optimistic.



After that, Boyd returned to his own desk and did a little internet stalking on Vladislaus Straud IV himself between tinkering with work documents.  There was only so much he could reasonably do at work, given the rules and knowing that IT had the potential to monitor everything that happened on a work computer, but he knew enough about how that all worked to stay under the radar and just do a bit of sleuthing.  He found much of the same information that Susan did, although he read a little more of the history of Forgotten Hollow than she had.

Eleanor’s earlier remark that it was a town that attracted vampires seemed accurate, and what he learned about it did little to reassure him that it was impossible for Vladislaus to be a vampire.  If anything, it whetted his curiosity about the odd town.  He wondered if he should go there and check it out himself, but at the same time, he did not think Susan should go anywhere near it.  Vladislaus would certainly take her turning up in his neighborhood as encouragement, and that was the last thing either of them wanted.

He was going to search another link when he got a call from reception.



It was Jaron, the receptionist, asking if he could help him with his computer that was acting up.  Although they had an IT department, Jaron and Boyd were work friends and often had lunch together.  Jaron knew that Boyd had a way with computers and if he was not busy, it would be a lot faster than putting in a call to IT.

“Ah, it’s that stupid update they pushed through yesterday,” Boyd groused as he tinkered with the finicky spreadsheet that was giving Jaron random save errors.  “In the interests of making it more secure, it also changed a bunch of the default settings and screwed up a bunch of stuff on some machines.  An easy fix that they should’ve foreseen but were too lazy to bother with.  I had to fix mine, too.”  A few clicks and a minute later, it was done.  “There.  It should work now.”

“Thanks, man.  I appreciate it.  Those guys in IT take forever to get back to you.”

“No problem.”

“As a token of my appreciation, I’ll give you a little tip to go stop by the greenhouse.  The boss wouldn’t let me make a major announcement because they didn’t want lab staff stampeding in there to go chat with him, but the Flower Bunny showed up here a little while ago to check out our greenery.  I’ve checked in all types, but he’s a new one.  I wonder what inspired him to turn up here this year.  According to the visitor logs, it’s the first time in like a decade.”

“Whoa, seriously?  I thought he only came to children’s areas and homes.  I’ve heard of him in schools, but not science labs.”

“He must like those rare specimens from the seeds that allegedly came from Sixam.”

“We haven’t even verified that for certain yet.”  Boyd chortled.  “Wonder if he can do it for us, expert that he is.”



When Boyd got to the lab’s greenhouse, he found the Flower Bunny alone in there among the specimens.  “Wow!  You really are here!  I wasn’t sure that Jaron wasn’t pranking me,” he greeted the mythical incarnation of spring in amazement.  “It’s cool and unexpected to see you here.”

“Hello, Boyd.”  The Flower Bunny somehow knew everyone’s name, much like Father Winter.  Nobody knew how, exactly, it was just one of those magical and unexplained supernatural phenomena that happened in their world.  “It’s nice to see you again.  My floral friends in here seem well cared for.”  He paused.  “They like you, too.  The ones who were here then remember when you had a project in here a few months ago.”

“Oh, yeah, the fertilizer study.  We got great results with that.  Thanks.”  He gave him a curious look.  “I figured if I saw you this year, it’d be when you visited Blair.  She’s been very eager to see you.”

“Little Blair is so delightful.  Such a pure and kind heart.”  He handed Boyd a daisy.  “One just like I gave her, the flower of innocence.”



“Ah, so you saw her already.”

“This afternoon.  She was napping, but Susan woke her up to see me.  It was a great joy to see her face light up when I said hello to her.  Susan seemed like she could use some cheering up herself, so I gave her a chrysanthemum before I left.”

“It’s a shame I missed that, but I’m glad they got to see you.  Susan had a rough night.”

“Yes.  The dark eye she caught,” the Flower Bunny mused on a wistful note.  “It troubles you, too.  Here.”  He handed Boyd a snapdragon.  “Enjoy the beauty of spring and try not to fall prey to the dark.  Embrace the light and warmth of spring.”

“Thank you.”  He eyed the snapdragon.  “It’s a very nice specimen.”

“Perhaps I will see their seeds in your garden the next time I visit.  You have a lovely new home.  Flowers would brighten it even more.”

“Susan and I don’t really have time to maintain much of a garden, but we’ll think about doing it when we can.”



The Flower Bunny nodded and took a step toward the door.  “Have a delightful spring and year, Boyd.  Sorry to hop along so soon, but some of your co-workers can really use some spring cheer and flowers in those rooms with no windows.  Goodbye!”

“Bye!”  He waved as he left, cheered up by his visit and filled with renewed vigor and zest and like he could take on anything.  He glanced at the clock.  He had to check on a few more experiments before the workday was over, but after that, he could spend what was left of the holiday with Susan and Blair.

[Cheezey]

Chapter 6

Blair was already dressed for bed when Boyd got home, but despite running low on energy, she was still quite proud of herself.  “Daddy!  Look at all the eggs I found!”

“Wow, that’s quite a haul.  Lots more than you had this morning,” he said as he picked her up.  “You were busy today.  The Flower Bunny must’ve been very impressed.”

“Uh-huh!”  She nodded enthusiastically.  “He gave me a daisy and said I was very smart and a good girl!”

“So I heard,” he said, and turned to Susan.  “He actually told me that at work.  He showed up at the lab.”

“Wow.  Really?  So all of you scientists were good boys and girls, too, then?” she teased.

“Apparently.  And he likes our greenhouse with all those unusual plants.”

“Well, that makes a bit more sense.”

“I heard he gave you a flower, too.”

“Mmm-hmm.  A nice chrysanthemum.  He said he hoped it would brighten me up since I seemed so sad.”

Blair looked up at Boyd.  “I didn’t know Mommy was sad.  I’m glad Flower Bunny make her happy.”

“Yeah, well, Mommy had a rough night and a hard day of work here at home, too.  That takes a little out of even a tough lady like your mom.”

“I help by finding eggs for you?” Blair asked, and Susan could not help but smile.

“You were a big help, sweetie.”



Blair yawned, and Boyd and Susan exchanged a look while Susan sat down on the bed.  “And I think after a big exciting day like you had, it’s time for bed.”  She patted the mattress.  “You ready?”

She pouted as Boyd set her down.  “But I don’t want to go to bed yet.”

“Aw, come on, now.  I can tell you’re pretty tired, and you’re already dressed for it.”

“And she had dinner, used the potty, and has her teeth brushed.”

“Sounds to me like you’re ready.”

“But Daddy just got home!”

“It’s okay.  I’ll still be here in the morning.”

“I didn’t hear about your eggs!”

“I only found a couple.  I had to work all day and even though the Flower Bunny stopped by to visit, he didn’t hide any eggs there.”

“Where’d you find them?”

“If I tell you, will you go to bed?”

She pursed her lips, considering.  She was kind of sleepy.  “Okay.”

“All right.  Remember when I found that one in the refrigerator when I was getting your breakfast?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And while you were eating, I found one in the,” he made a dramatic “icky” face, “toilet tank.”

Blair mirrored his expression.  “Eeeew!  Did it have poo on it?”

“No poo.  It was in the back tank.  Not where you go potty.  I heard something rattling and opened it to see what it was.”

“Yucky!”

“That’s what I said,” Susan interjected.  “I hope you washed that before putting it on the shelf, Daddy.”

“Of course I did.” Boyd was mildly miffed that Susan thought he might be that much of a slob.  There was being messy and there was just plain gross.

Susan chortled at his indignant look.  “Just checking.”  She pulled back the cover to tuck Blair in.  “Ready to say good night now?”

“Okay.  Night-night.”  She hugged Boyd, and he kissed her forehead.

“Good night.”

She toddled over to the bed and hugged Susan as she climbed in.  “Night-night, Mommy.”

“Have a good night.  Sweet dreams.”  She tucked her in, turned on the night light, and quietly shut the door as she and Boyd went out.



Once Blair was in bed, Susan and Boyd sat down on the couch.  “So, how did things go for you today?  No surprise visits or texts from Vlad, I hope?”

“Nope.  Dead silence.  Or undead as the case may be.”  She rolled her eyes.  “Other than the Flower Bunny turning up this afternoon, and Blair being very eager to see him all day before that, not too much went on.  I got some of my report work done and found an egg or two, although I let Blair do most of the hunting.”

“I saw she got a pretty nice haul.”

“She did.  She wore herself out poking around at everything, and I almost wore myself out picking up after her doing it.  But she had fun.  I probably would’ve, too, if I hadn’t been so flipping tired thanks to Mr. Night Stalker,” she finished on an irritated note.

“By the way, what did you find out about him?  I didn’t want to dig into too much personal stuff on a work machine, but I did go through the lab’s documented information on vampires.”  He frowned.  “I wish I could say for sure he’s full of it and just LARPing, but I don’t know.  If he is, he’s done his research and gotten way into character.  Also, did you know vampires can drink a potion that gives them temporary immunity from sunlight if they’re powerful enough?  I didn’t.  And here I was hoping the sun would guarantee at least if he was really a vampire, it’d mean we could relax about him creeping around here in the daytime.”



“Oh, my Watcher, Boyd.  The more I looked into him, the weirder he got.  No wonder just his first message gave me the creeps.  Get this.  Not only is he apparently related to the family that founded Forgotten Hollow, but from the pictures I saw poking into the history of the town, aside from its reputation as a vampire hangout or whatever, he looks just like his dad and grandfather.  Not just a strong resemblance, but an eerie carbon copy.  Like you wonder if his parents and grandparents were all brothers and sisters carbon copy.”

“Maybe when you’re that creepy, nobody but your family is interested.”

“Right?  But that’s another weird thing.  There are pictures of his male relatives but none of his female ones. None at all. Which leaves you to wonder, is it some old sexist patriarchal tradition thing in his family where the women are not seen or heard, or were they just all shy recluses that kept to themselves out of all public eye?  I couldn’t find any marriage or death records or birth records, even on the older generations that are all open to genealogical research.  Did they exist, and if so, who were they and what happened to them?  Did they all die under strange circumstances or something?  Speaking of which, that graveyard around his giant haunted house looking mansion, as if that wasn’t weird already, is private with no registry of who’s buried there online that I could find.  I know there are some families who follow legacy traditions and do the family graveyard thing, but this just seems… I don’t know how to put it other than strange.  Odd.  Unsettling.  Which is almost every vibe I get about him, the more I find out.”

“If there’s no information at all, then it either doesn’t exist or it was lost, covered up, destroyed, buried, or falsified.  Which, if you have enough money…”



“I know.  And that’s something he does seem to have.”  Susan paused.  “I’m not sure which disturbs me more: if he’s from some sick family of inbred serial killers that stalks, abducts, and kills victims to bury them in their yard after erasing their identities, or if he actually doesn’t have any family and he really is an old vampire just changing up his identity and appearance a little and pretending to be the son of his former identity after so long, so people don’t realize he’s not aging.  And those graves in his yard are just placeholders for former identities and fabricated family members like mothers and grandmothers that never existed.  Maybe some belong to former mortal victims or companions or consorts that he decided to honor with memorials, or even other vampires he knew that got killed somehow.”  She shook her head.  “But that all sounds so… out there.”

“But vampires are a documented phenomenon, even if they aren’t widely understood by mainstream society.  They do exist.”

“Because they’re rare and don’t skulk around in public acting like megalomaniacal horror movie rejects in real life.  If they did, they’d still be getting staked by the proverbial townsfolk like they did in the Middle Ages.  Or locked up for committing murder and assault.  I’m pretty sure our technology these days is good enough to keep even someone that can transform into a bat in maximum security.”



“Heh.  A life sentence would really suck for a vampire,” Boyd said dryly.

“Oh, you did not just go there.”

“I did.  Sorry.”

She chuckled despite herself.  “It’s all right.  I needed that laugh.  Hopefully, this is all moot, and he got the hint to buzz off last night.”

“Eh, well, if he didn’t, I may or may not have brought home a little insurance against another unwanted visit.”

Susan met his eyes.  “Boyd, what did you do?”

“I convinced my boss to let me sign out that freeze ray for field testing.”

“For defense against a vampire stalker?”  She was a mixture of impressed, incredulous, and curious.  “I’d love to see that sign-out paperwork.”

“The official rationale was a little more mundane, but hey, if I did get a test freeze on a vampire that broke in, I’m sure they’d appreciate it.  That’s not the kind of data you can easily get in a laboratory setting.  We don’t have any vampires on staff we can pay to volunteer.”



He gave her a reassuring look as they stood up.  “But don’t worry.  I won’t use it unless he physically comes after one of us.  If he’s just lurking around, we can call the cops and let them handle him.  After all, supposedly, vampires can’t come in unless you invite them.  I didn’t read anything that contradicted that bit of traditional lore.”

“No, I didn’t, either, and I’m glad.  Vampire or not, this guy is weird and who knows what he’s capable of?  I don’t want either of us to find out the hard way.”



“That’s why I brought the freeze ray home.  I just feel safer knowing we’ve got something that could theoretically work against a vampire if we had to defend ourselves against someone with those powers.  Hopefully the only actual field testing I’ll do with it is on the marine subjects down on the beach that I signed it out for.”

“Here’s hoping.”  She hugged him, and he could tell that despite her seeming confidence, she was still nervous about the whole situation.  She held onto him for a moment, and then let go, yawning.  “Come on.  Let’s get to bed and try to get some sleep tonight.  We could both use a good night of it.”



It did not take either of them long to fall asleep, as both were exhausted.  It should have been a good night for them to catch up on sleep, for a work night, anyway.  Blair was fast asleep and would sleep through without disturbing them.  Her happy holiday of finding eggs and seeing the Flower Bunny set her up for a full night of rest and sweet dreams.

Boyd, too, was deeply asleep.  Such a deep sleep, in fact, that it was dreamless, which was unusual for him except for when he was far more exhausted than he was that night.  While not exactly a light sleeper, Boyd’s anxiety often kept him from sleeping terribly deeply, either because of stress dreams or tossing and turning.  Not that night, however.  He was out cold, almost like something had knocked him out.

Susan, too, was sound asleep, but her slumber was not dreamless.  In the middle of the night she had a very vivid and intense dream.  Almost like it was real.



Vladislaus Straud had come back.  Even without seeing him, she knew he was there.  Outside in the moonlight, coming up to her house.  Coming for her.

His evil eyes were alit with anticipation as he came to the door.  No lock would keep him out, and no invitation was necessary.  That silly old rule?  Mere custom.  A quaint antiquated one that was still considered polite to adhere to, and that some vampires insisted other vampires respect in order to keep the mortals from panicking unnecessarily, but no true physical barrier.  To think that a door that could not keep a determined mortal from entering would somehow have the power to bar him, an ancient and powerful vampire, was laughable.  Mortals could be so naïve putting so much faith in their superstition.  Even the smart ones, like dear Susan and her husband.

The lock?  Annoying, but nothing he could not undo with a flick of his shifting wrist.  Halfway between human and bat form, his body was little more than a mist that could weave in and out of the smallest spaces.  Locks were simple to release when one could move into their inner workings, and the Wainwrights’ front door came open with a gentle click.  No brutish breaking in, no property damage, no noise.  Nothing that might alarm or awaken Susan or her husband or their happily sleeping child.

Susan’s daughter was a darling little thing, and Vladislaus had no desire to frighten or harm her.  He paused only a moment in front of Blair’s door as he focused his psychic energy on her and used it to deepen her sleep.

He then fixed his gaze upon Susan and Boyd’s bedroom.  Susan’s husband would be a nuisance if he woke up, so he would see to it that he would not.  Sleep like the dead, Boyd, and your dear Susan won’t have to worry about you winding up that way should you awaken and try some foolish heroics.  He focused his psychic energy on him, and deepened Boyd’s slumber even further.



Susan tossed uneasily as Vladislaus drew nearer.  She felt like she was awake, but still somehow asleep, and she could not move.  This is a nightmare, she told herself.  Wake up!  Wake up!  But she did not.  Not even when Vladislaus came into her bedroom and stood over her with the menacing and delighted grin of a predator savoring the moment of taking his prey.

I’m dreaming, I’m dreaming, I’m dreaming!

Was she?  Then why couldn’t she wake up?

Boyd, get up!  Boyd!  But she could only think it, not shout it, say it, or even whisper it, and Boyd did not move.  He continued to sleep like the dead.



Then, suddenly, she could move, although she still could not talk.  Her head swam as if she had drunk a full bottle of nectar on an empty stomach, and she stumbled to her feet.  She wanted to reach for Boyd to rouse him as she saw Vladislaus leering at her, but he remained asleep and despite not wanting to, she was walking toward Vladislaus and not Boyd.

Oh, no.  No.  Stop, she thought desperately, but she did not.  She could not.  She stumbled toward Vladislaus.

“Come to me, Susan.”

“No.”  She muttered the word somehow, but her feet kept moving anyway.  Boyd, Watcher, anyone, please, help me!

But her panicked pleading thoughts went unanswered.  She was alone with Vladislaus and her seemingly comatose husband.



“That’s it, my dear.  Come to me.”  Vladislaus opened his arms, and Susan stumbled right into his cold embrace.  She could not help but look into his eyes as he leaned in, almost like a lover about to kiss her neck.  Instead of warmth or affection, however, all she felt was a hot, sharp bite.

Strangely, it did not hurt the way it should have.  Perhaps it was his powers, or perhaps it was just the heady rush of the vital fluids leaving her body, but all Susan felt was tired and dizzy as Vladislaus closed his lips around the wound and sucked the plasma out of her.

She whimpered softly, and he stroked the back of her head as if to comfort her, like one might a frightened pet, as he continued to feed.

Susan wondered in those terrible moments if they would be her last.  Is he killing me?  Will I be dead soon?  Or is he going to turn me into what he is?  Both possibilities terrified her, and as she closed her eyes feeling consciousness start to slip, she wondered if he would kill Boyd next.  Or poor Blair.  Little Blair had her whole life ahead of her…



With each passing second, Susan felt weaker.  She could not move as Vladislaus drank from her, only hang there limp and useless.  She wished she could struggle or protest or try to get away, or even plead for him to stop as much as begging would chafe her pride, but it was all she could do to keep breathing.

Then, just when she had given up all hope that she might be spared, Vladislaus released her neck and looked down at her, helpless in his arms.  “Ah, my dear.  I’m stuffed.” He licked the crimson drips off his lips and fangs.  “I won’t turn you, but your plasma is so delicious that it would take a lot of garlic to keep me away next time.”  He traced his finger over the bite marks and picked up a drip that he then dipped into his mouth, savoring one last taste.  “I’ll be back when I crave another midnight snack.”

He gave her a final satisfied once-over, then let her go.  “Take care of yourself, now.  I’m afraid you’ll need some good rest and nourishment after that.”



With that, Vladislaus strode confidently out of the Wainwright home, satisfied with his meal, and delighted that his instincts were right.  Susan Wainwright’s plasma was delectable.  He imagined when he first saw her that she would be exquisite.  Certain sims just gave off a subtle but unmistakable scent that hinted their plasma was perfectly suited to his tastes, and after so many decades of feeding, Vladislaus was an expert at sniffing them out.

Susan probably did not even remember passing by him with her husband and child that one night on the docks, when they were leaving the tavern after dinner out.  Vladislaus had been in town surveying the local fare of the neighborhood to see if it had changed since he had last been by.  Right away, he noticed Susan and how she had that tantalizing scent that he simply could not resist.  Her child had it, too, but one vampire custom Vladislaus abided by was not biting children.  They were weak and perished too easily, and besides, it was a waste.  Tasty children grew into tasty adults that were much more robust.  Susan’s husband, he suspected, was less to his taste.  Boyd smelled of caffeine, nervous energy, and the sort of man who needed his wife to remind him to shower on occasion.  His plasma might be palatable enough, but nowhere near the treat that Susan’s was.

Usually, Vladislaus preferred to befriend the delicious ones like her.  It made them simpler to feed on until they either became too weak or difficult, or, on rare occasion, asked to be transformed into one of his kind.  Regretfully, it was obvious that Susan was resistant to that, which was a shame given both her beauty and intelligence, but so be it.  He had no need of unwilling or unmalleable minions, and stubborn mortals became stubborn immortals.  He had made that mistake before, and it was not one he intended to repeat again in his very long lifetime.  Perhaps Susan would change her mind someday, or perhaps she would not.  He would keep feeding on her in the meantime regardless.



Back inside, what tiny bit of adrenaline Susan had pushed her to stay awake and stumble forward.  Not to wake up Boyd, although if she had been alert enough to think clearly, that would have made more sense.  Instead, she stumbled out of the bedroom to make sure Vladislaus was gone, and not going after Blair. But she only made it a couple of steps past the door before she passed out cold onto the floor, unconscious.

[Auranaris]

Somehow my sims have escaped Mr. Vlad so far, hopefully the wainwright’s start having the same luck!
Although selfishly I’m hoping for a vampire wainwright..

[Cheezey]

Somehow my sims have escaped Mr. Vlad so far, hopefully the wainwright’s start having the same luck!
Although selfishly I’m hoping for a vampire wainwright..

This is my first time playing with the Vampires pack installed and the vampire attacks caught me by surprise as I hadn't read too much about it before I got it. When it happened while I was playing I actually exclaimed some forbidden words when I realized I couldn't control her or get Boyd out of bed to try and zap him, but it was still one of those random funny events I end up liking after the fact in Sims games. Then my husband pointed out that Vlad's name looked a lot like a D&D reference which made it even more amusing considering the Wainwrights' geekiness. It wasn't fun dealing with Susan's needs being tanked so bad by it afterward, but I had fun writing it up as it was one of those surprise events I had to roll with.

As for a vampire Wainwright, I don't think Susan appreciates you hoping for that.

Chapter 7

It was around dawn when Susan regained consciousness, and she shouted for Boyd as she got to her feet and felt the wound on her neck.  It was sore and ached deep down into the tissue.  Feeling it there confirmed the horrific truth that it had not all just been a terrible nightmare.  It was real.  Vladislaus had been there, and he was actually a vampire.  He broke into their home in the middle of the night, bit and drank from her, nearly murdered her, and not a single thing they had done from locking their doors to Boyd bringing home a freeze ray had even slowed him down, let alone stopped him.

She felt sick.  Blair!  Oh, Watcher!  Susan ran to her daughter’s room, but thankfully, little Blair was fast asleep.  She was all right and none the wiser that anything awful had happened.

Susan started to head back to check on Boyd when he came out of the bedroom.  “Susan?  I thought I heard you shout.  Are you okay?”  He blinked, clearing the morning fog from his head.  “I was out cold, like someone slipped a Valium into my nectar.  Took me a second to realize I wasn’t dreaming and get up.”

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re all right.”  She hugged him tightly, trying not to cry now that the immediate emergency was over.



“Honey, what’s wrong?  What happened?”

“I—he,” the words caught in her throat, and she took a deep breath to steady herself before blurting them out.  “Vladislaus broke in last night and bit me.  And I couldn’t stop him or wake you up.  It felt like he was sucking me dry, and I was sure he was going to kill me, and probably you and Blair, too!”

“Holy plum!”  Boyd was horrified.  “I slept through that?!  My Watcher, Susan, are you all right?”

Susan pulled her hair aside to show him her neck, teary and upset.  “It hurts like hell, and I haven’t seen it in a mirror yet, but I imagine it’s pretty ugly.”

Looking at the wound, Boyd saw two distinct deep and sizable puncture wounds that resembled a fanged animal bite.  His stomach churned as the realization truly sunk in that Susan had been attacked while he was right there, and he had no idea it was even happening.  He took a deep breath and forced himself to focus so he could help her.  “Looks kind of deep.  At least an inch or so.  Not too red.  Hopefully it won’t get infected.  We need to try and clean it, though.  Maybe get you to urgent care.”



“And tell them what?  That a vampire bit me?” she retorted on a sharp and distressed note.  “I don’t think so.  Not everyone even believes vampires are real, and even if they do at the hospital, the odds that they’ve got someone who’s experienced at treating them around here in sunny Brindleton Bay where there are no gothic hangouts or night clubs?  I doubt it.”

“There are lots of animals around here, though. You could say you don’t know what bit you, or that you think some animal got in through an open window or something. Besides, you don’t know how much plasma he took out of you. You might need fluids.”

She took a steadying breath and rubbed it. “I think I’ll be okay. If I’m still able to walk around and talk to you, he couldn’t have taken much more plasma than a hefty donation to a plasma bank. I’ll drink some sports drinks and take some anti-inflammatories and keep an eye the bite for infection. If it gets worse, maybe I’ll go then.”



That was the tipping point for what control Boyd had over his anxiety, and every terrifying possibility and implication of what had just happened flooded his mind at once as he spun around, hyper-ventilating. His eyes landed on Blair’s door, and he felt awful that he was so hyper-focused on Susan that he had only now remembered her. “Oh, my Watcher! What about Blair? Is she all right? Did he hurt her?”

“No.  She’s fine.  Sleeping like a baby.”  Her face rumpled as she choked back tears again.  “Kind of like you were.”

“I’m sorry,” he cried.  “That undead llama must’ve used his powers on me!  Her, too, I bet!  To keep us from waking up and trying to help you or stop him.  Screw him!  I hate him!”

“He must’ve, because I can’t explain any other way in hell you could’ve slept through all that, or how he made me get out of bed and go to him despite how I was trying and thinking the whole time that I didn’t want to!”  She sobbed.  “It was awful.  It was like he was completely controlling me, and I couldn’t stop him.”

“So, I guess that whole thing about having to invite the bloodsuckers in or they can’t enter your house is a llama load.  You didn’t even so much as accept his message request online!”

“No!  And I sure as hell made it clear I didn’t want him here when he showed up outside!”

“We’ve got to do something about him, Susan.  We can’t let him do this to you again.  Next time he might kill you!”



She wiped the tears from her eyes.  “Or you, or,” she couldn’t even bring herself to finish the sentence with Blair’s name.  She touched the wound on her neck again.  “You don’t think he’s made it so I’ll turn into one, do you?  I think I remember him saying something like he wouldn’t turn me this time, but my memories are so hazy.”

“I’ll have to double check the research at the lab, but I’m pretty sure that involves a ceremony or ritual of some sort.  You should be okay as far as that goes if he said that.  I hope.”  He paused.  “But he said ‘this time?’  That has me worried.”  Boyd paced back and forth.  “He’s definitely planning to come back if he said that, and it sounds like he’s at least thinking about turning you at some point.  Maybe he’s hoping he can convince you to be more willing or plans to wear your will against it down.”

“He doesn’t know me as well as he thinks if he thinks breaking into my home and assaulting me is going to endear him to me,” she spat out resentfully.  “One thing he did say—like all these egomaniacs do when they think they’re so invincible—was that it would take a lot of garlic to keep him away.  Like he was bragging that I shouldn’t even try.”

“So, we get some garlic.  Maybe plant it right by both doors.”

“Plant it?  I’m thinking I’ll choke down entire cloves of the stuff raw.  You like my plasma so much, llama?  I’ll make it garlic-flavored, just for you.”



“We can’t just rely on garlic, Susan.  He’s crossed a line and made it clear he’s going to keep pushing it.  We have to stop him.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I’ve got that freeze ray.  I know where he lives, and I’m pretty sure I can get there well before sunset and send him a cold and clear message if I call off work.”

She could tell that he was serious and not just ranting out of his plumbob, and that frightened her enough to temporarily quell her own emotional turmoil from what Vladislaus had done to her.  Boyd was not a violent or short-tempered man by nature, but his anxiety made him paranoid at times, and it was clear that this had rattled him to his very core.  “Boyd, no!”

“Do you have another idea?  All my data says that freeze ray will lock him right in place until a good thaw, and if that old mansion has a thermostat, I’ll turn off the heat before I go, too.  He can spend his time on ice thinking about finding someone else to suck on unless he wants another blast!”

“Until he thaws and comes back for revenge!  You think a psychopath like him is going to let that kind of insult go?  And what if you go there and something goes wrong?  What if he kills you?  No, Boyd.  Don’t go poking the vampire with your freeze ray!  That’s just stupid!”

“Well, I’m not going to do nothing and give him another chance to hurt you!”

“We can figure something else out!  Besides, you promised you wouldn’t use that thing that way.”

“Unless he came after you or Blair.”



“If he was actively breaking into the house!  Not you chasing him down to ice him after the fact.  Please!  Stop and think.”  Susan was frustrated.  While she knew he was having a knee-jerk emotional reaction, and she certainly understood where he was coming from—after all, she was the one who was bitten!—she also knew that engaging a powerful vampire like Vladislaus was a dangerously terrible idea, armed with a freezing weapon or not.  “There’s got to be something else we can do.  What if it didn’t work or he got the jump on you?  Or what if he just calls the cops on you before you can zap him?  He’s not just a vampire.  He’s rich and influential in that town, and he has mind control powers that he can not only use on you, but anyone else.  Even without them under his spell, I’m sure at least a few over there would be inclined to side with him over some scientist from Brindleton Bay busting into his house and threatening him with an experimental weapon while accusing him of attacking his wife with no evidence on hand.  Unless you’re expecting me to tag along on this.”

“My Watcher, no!  Of course not!  You shouldn’t go anywhere near that llama after what he did to you!”

“That’s my point.  I’m not planning to, and neither should you.  What we should do is safeguard ourselves and Blair against his return visit.”

Boyd was not convinced.  “That’s a lot of garlic, Susan.  Isn’t that what he told you?”



“There’s got to be something other than that.”  She glanced at the clock.  “Look, I’ll call my boss and tell them I’m working from home another day.  There’s more than enough I can do here without anything falling behind.  Then we’re going to get dressed, get Blair up, take her to day care, and stop by the Sunny Side Up diner to grab breakfast.  There we can take some time to discuss our options a little more calmly before you have to go to work.”

Although Boyd was not yet convinced to give up on his plan to go ice Vladislaus, he did not argue, so Susan knew he was at least considering what she was saying.  She pressed on.

“Maybe you can squeeze in more research or get some inspiration there today.  The science setting does often inspire you to think outside the box.  I’ll do the same while I’m working.  It’s daytime.  It’s not like he’s going to come back before nightfall, and he might not even come tonight.  When he left, he said something like I’d need rest and nourishment.  If he took enough out of me to make me pass out, then he knows I can’t recover enough in half a day to give him another feast like that without dying.”



“All right.  You probably should eat something more substantial than yogurt or leftover pizza.”  He hugged her tightly as he thought about how close he came to losing her last night.  “It’s just that I love you and I don’t want that llama to hurt you ever again.”

“I know.  I don’t want it, either.  Believe me,” she replied with a sniffle.  “I love you, too, and we’ll figure out a way to stop him somehow.”



After they were dressed, Blair was safely at day care, and they were seated at and placed their order at the diner, they brought the unpleasant subject of Vladislaus back to the table again.  “All right.  So, let’s imagine the worst.  Mr. Fanged Nightmare comes back tonight looking to get you again.  How do we stop him before he gets in and can knock me out and put you under mind control again?  Assuming we underestimate how much garlic we need to ward him off?”



“Well, for starters, I wasn’t being entirely facetious when I said I’d eat some garlic earlier.  I’m going to get some from the grocery store, and I’ll save a few bulbs I can eat the cloves out of raw around sunset.  If it can give us garlic breath, it’s a good bet that it somehow flavors our plasma when we metabolize it, too.  That should make me unpleasant, maybe even poisonous, for him to snack on.  Maybe it’ll discourage him for good if he realizes I’m going to keep it up until he gives up and moves on.  Assuming you can deal with my garlic breath,” she finished on a wry note.

“I wouldn’t care if you had to bathe in garlic oil to keep him away if it worked.”

She made a face.  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, but good to know.  So that’s one plan.  But let’s say we have to do more.  He’s tolerant enough to it or has something that neutralizes it.  There are other things that vampires don’t like.  Holy water.  Blessed and religious artifacts.”



The server came by and delivered their food, and they resumed their conversation as they ate.  “Heh.  Too bad the last time either of us set foot in a church was on our wedding day.  I’m sure it’d be fun to explain to a Jacoban priest I don’t even know why I need to take some of his holy water.”

Although both Boyd and Susan exclaimed to the Watcher with some frequency, it was more of a linguistic habit than any sort of deep-rooted faith.  Neither were religious.  Boyd had been raised sort-of Jacoban since his parents had also been raised in that old traditional faith, but even they were not all that active in it.  He had been baptized as such as a baby and married Susan in a Jacoban chapel since his mother thought it was traditional and proper, but Myra and Stuart only attended religious services for things like weddings, funerals, and the occasional holiday themselves.  Boyd had not attended a service other than his wedding since his teen years, however.  He considered himself semi-agnostic in that he believed that there was some higher power out there, and his anxious habits had been shaped a bit in his formative years sitting through fire and brimstone sermons about the Watcher punishing bad behavior, but he did not believe all the dogma and could not reconcile the contradictions in so many varied religions in the world to believe that the ancient Jacoban faith was the one true path.

Susan and her family, on the other hand, came from a Peteran background, but none actively practiced and neither she nor her brother had ever formally been a member of any church.  That was one of the reasons it had been simpler to get married in a Jacoban church, since it mattered to Stuart and especially Myra far more than it did to Patrick or Maureen.  Spiritually, Susan considered herself agnostic, although she leaned a tad more toward believing in, or at least hoping there was, some kind of benevolent higher power when something terrible happened, such as last night.

“True.  If I remember the lore right, you also have to have unshakable faith in the warding power of religious artifacts, and I’d assume that includes holy water.”  She looked down, wincing as her neck throbbed.  “I could reasonably say I’d hope that it would work, but I don’t know if I can quell my natural skepticism until I see for certain that it does.  I’m just not wired that way.”  She picked up her everything bagel, which she was pleased to see had a good bit of garlic on it.  “Which puts unshakable faith right out of the equation on that.”



“Same,” Boyd agreed.  “At best, my old childhood Jacoban insecurity would kick in and leave me hoping and wondering if the Watcher found me worthy of saving, or if what was happening was my due punishment for sins I hadn’t properly atoned for—like not going to church for years, for starters.”

“Okay, so the religion angle is out, and our debate about the freeze ray aside, we know it didn’t work last night because he knocked you out before you could use it.  We need something that will keep him from getting in or close enough to thrall one or both of us in the first place.  Hopefully there are some other anti-vampire wards or talismans or something besides garlic or faith-required-to-activate items.”

“But what do we do if there aren’t?  Or what there is only works on vampires weaker than ones as powerful as Vladislaus?”



Susan finished her bagel and shared an idea she had been hesitant to even bring up at all.  “It feels like a nuclear option, since it’d no longer be between us and I’m sure dealing with him will be a real joy, but I could call Jonathan and explain the situation to him.  Being that he’s a cop, he might have advice about deterring a stalker that we haven’t thought of.  Maybe they even have a vampire protocol.  Someone in law enforcement has to have come up against one at some point.”  She sighed.  “I know he’ll probably make a bunch of stupid jokes about vampires the whole time, but I know he’d try to help while annoying the crap out of both of us.”

“Oh, I’m sure he would.  On both counts.  But it might be worth asking despite the potential for eye-rolling commentary.  He’s good at what he does.”



“Yeah, he is.  And who knows?  Maybe he has worked weird cases that have something like this before and he’s just never mentioned it.”

“Anything’s possible.”

“Then I’ll give him a call and see if he can meet up to talk.  Do you think you might be able to get in any vampire research at the lab today?”

“I’ll squeeze it in during lunch if nothing else.  I can poke around the occult life state study case files and see if there’s anything there on vampires that might be useful.”  He glanced at the time.  “Speaking of which, I should probably get going if I don’t want to be late.  Sorry to have to run before the bill comes.”

“It’s all right.  It’s all coming out of the same bank account anyway.  I’ll see you tonight.”



He gave her a goodbye smooch before leaving.  “Be careful and take it easy today.  If you start feeling sick or anything—”

“I will,” she assured him.  “You promise not to do anything rash, like leave early to zap a certain creepy vampire with a freeze ray because you think I won’t notice because you’re supposed to be at work?”

“I promise not to go off in search of Vladislaus to ice him.”

“Or confront him in any way whatsoever?” Susan clarified with a raised eyebrow.

“I won’t chase him down, attack, or engage him in any way without discussing it with you first.  I promise.”

“Good.  I love you.  Now go before you do run late.”  She patted his arm affectionately.

He smiled back at her.  “Yes, dear.”

After Boyd left for the lab, Susan paid for their breakfast and called Jonathan.  Her brother had just come off a long overnight shift and told her to come over now to talk if she wanted, since he was off until tomorrow anyway and would probably sleep all afternoon.  That was fine with her since that would leave her afternoon free to work on her work from home assignments.  She headed over to his apartment in Evergreen Harbor.



“So, what brings my favorite little sister over for a surprise visit?”  He invited her in and gestured for her to sit down on the couch to chat.

“I’m your only sibling and I’m not sure four whole minutes qualifies me as your little sister,” Susan remarked dryly.

“Well, you’re also shorter and you weigh less than me, too, if you want to get all technical about it, Miss Engineer.  But okay.  What’s up?”

“What’s your experience with stalkers?”

He eyed her with a mixture of curiosity and concern.  “Why?  You got some weirdo creeping on you?”

“You could say that.”

Jonathan raised an eyebrow.  “And you’re coming to me?  I take it that it’s gotten beyond something you and Boyd can handle on your own?  Past just the typical block the llama and ignore them stuff?”

“Way past.  After I ignored and blocked him, he still showed up at the house in the middle of the night, and after I told him on no uncertain terms to buzz off, he came back last night and—”



“Okay, Susan.  Level with me,” he cut her off.  “Are or were you involved with this guy?”

“Involved?!”  Her voice rose on an angry and indignant note.  “No!  Of course not!  Why would you even ask?”

“Whoa, okay.  I asked because a lot of times situations like this are because the perp thinks they’ve been somehow wronged or entitled after whoever they’re with dumps them.  Especially if the object of their affections goes back to their competition.”

“I wouldn’t cheat on Boyd,” she informed him haughtily.

“And I didn’t say I thought you did.  I asked if you were involved, not necessarily if you were banging him, though that’s usually what types like this want.  Sometimes they take any kind of friendship or emotional connection with someone they’re after to mean they’re already in a relationship or soon going to be.  Anyway, I just wanted all the facts so we can figure out how to handle it.  Even if you were sleeping with the guy, I wasn’t going to go run to Boyd and tell him you were stepping out on him.  That’d be your mess to clean up, not mine.”

“Look, this llama Vladislaus just started cold messaging me out of nowhere making creepy comments, and even though I never even answered him, he still showed up at my house to try to ‘get to know me’ in the middle of the night!  Then, when I told him I was happily married and to get lost, he came back last night and broke in and bit me!  Because he’s a vampire, too!”



“Wait.  He’s a what?”

“A vampire,” Susan repeated, frustrated.  “And don’t you dare laugh!  I’m serious.  He did this to me last night after he broke in.”  She turned and moved her hair so he could see her neck.  “He attacked me.  Even though my door was locked, and even though Boyd was right there sleeping next to me and planning to zap the jerk with a freeze ray if he did show his ugly face again.”

Jonathan drew a sharp breath.  “Okay.  I’m not even going to ask about the freeze ray, or why you apparently thought it was a smart idea to talk to this guy the first time he showed up rather than just calling the cops, but how in the hell did Boyd sleep through someone breaking in and biting you?!  You’re telling me that neither of you that always has a smartphone glued to you managed to hit the emergency button?!  What the plum, Susan!  You’re lucky this nutjob didn’t kill you, or Blair!  Please tell me you reported this to someone other than me.”

“I… no.  No one other than Boyd knows.  He didn’t bother Blair.  She slept through it all, just like Boyd.  We think he used his powers on them to keep them asleep, like he did on me to control me enough to let him do what he did to me.  Vladislaus really is a vampire, Jonathan.  I know it sounds crazy, and I was skeptical, too.  I’d convinced myself that he was just play-acting at being one until last night.  But he’s not.  I seriously thought I was going to die when he was biting me.”  She tried to hold back tears.  “And frankly, if my own brother is having trouble believing it, that ought to explain well enough why I didn’t call the cops back home.”



“I believe you,” he assured her.  “It’s too wacky a story for you to make up.  You’re a lot of things, but a delusional attention-seeker isn’t one of them.  And I’ve seen my share of those on the job.”

“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“Leave it to my dorky sister to attract an undead goth loser who can’t take no for an answer.”

“Ugh.  He really is, too.  Wait until you see his profile picture.”

“Yeah, send all that to me so I can run background checks on him.  I can probably get stuff you and your nerdy husband can’t dig up with all your,” he smirked knowingly, “illicit computer habits.  Though seriously, please don’t ever do something so dumb again as to talk to llamas like this if they come creeping around.  They take it as encouragement.”

“I thought I could put to rest any misunderstandings or misconceptions he had from the ghosting.  In case he’d deluded himself into thinking it was an accident.”

“The only thing deluded, dear sister, was you thinking he was ever going to back off nicely.  Predators like that never do.  You’re lucky he didn’t do worse.  To you, Blair, or Boyd.”  He looked at her neck.  “Ouch.  That looks nasty.  I hope he had his shots.”

“I don’t think vampires carry rabies.”

“Good.  Then I won’t have to worry about putting you down if you start foaming at the mouth, old girl!”



“Hardy har.  If I’m an old girl, what does that make you, self-proclaimed older brother?”

“Older and wiser.  Wise enough to know not to strut my sexy stuff in front of vampires that can’t get a date with their ‘supernatural powers,’” he finished in a bad imitation of a classic vampire accent.

“More like a wise llama, but okay.”  Despite the ribbing, the banter and more importantly, him understanding, had lightened her mood somewhat.  “But you will help?”

“Of course.  I’m no expert on vampires, though.  I even wasn’t sure they were more than an urban legend until now.  I’ve never met one, and most of what I’ve heard about them was from sources that were, we’ll say, kind of questionable.  Like six juices at the night club at 2 AM and this girl who was in bat makeup bit me with glitter fangs before stealing my wallet kind of questionable.  But if one’s after you, then line me up to help kick his plumbob back to his coffin or a jail cell.  I don’t want anything to happen to you, Blair, or Boyd.”  He paused.  “Speaking of which, should I ask about the freeze ray?  Because I’m both really curious and not sure I want to know.”

“It’s a prototype that Boyd borrowed from the lab.  I already told him not to use it and that it’s assault if he uses it on anyone, even a vampire that attacked me.”

“At least without a believable defense of self-defense.”  He eyed her curiously.  “Does it really work?”

“He said it did at the lab on the volunteer test subjects.  Supposedly they even successfully froze a mermaid on staff there with it.  He hasn’t had a chance to demonstrate it to me yet, though.  All of this kind of happened fast.  We were out at Geek Con all day before the first time Vladislaus showed up, and—”



Jonathan could not help but laugh.  “Because of course you and Boyd were at Geek Con!  Maybe that’s where your vampire first saw you and decided he wanted you for his undead bride.”

“No, he started messaging me before that, and Geek Con is fun, for your information,” Susan replied testily.  “Not that I’d expect you to get it.  It’s probably a little highbrow for you.”

“Ooh, Miss Intellectual Snob thinks people dressed up as Llama Man and Darth Vader competing at video games is highbrow.  Got it.”

“Can we please get back to the subject of you helping me get rid of my stalker?  You said you’d do background checks.  Is there anything else you think we should do to keep him out of my house, since apparently locks don’t work?”

“Call Buffy?  But seriously, maybe you could try some security cameras or an alarm system that triggers emergency services when a door gets opened without putting in a code first.  But I know those things are pricey and take time to get installed.  If you’re up to getting a pet, a big old guard dog might pick up on someone like that lurking around before he gets in.  Blair might like having one to play with, too.”  He yawned.  “Sorry.  I was up all night, but I’ll make a couple of calls before I get some sleep and call you this evening.  I’ll do whatever I can to help you take of this creep so he doesn’t bother you or Boyd or Blair again.  I’m glad you’re okay.”  He paused.  “Hey, that bite won’t change you or anything, will it?  Like I said, I’m no vampire expert, but isn’t that how they turn you into one of them?”

“Not just from one bite like this, no.  Not as far as I know.”

“Good.  Because I’d hate to see you become a vampire.  That would really—”

That time she cut him off and held her hand up.  “If you say ‘suck,’ so help me…”

“Well, at least he didn’t kill what little sense of humor you have,” he quipped as he hugged her, yawning again.  “Ugh.  I’m on almost 24 hours up now and I’ve really got to get some sleep.  You be careful, okay?  I’ll call you later.”

“I will.  Oh, and please don’t tell Mom and Dad anything about this yet.  I don’t want them to worry.”

“No problem.  You keep an extra eye on Blair and Boyd, too, and if you see anything off, and I mean anything at all, don’t wait.  Call the cops.”

[Cheezey]

Chapter 8

While Susan visited with her brother, Boyd pushed through his workday trying to get what he needed done so he could take care of what was predominantly on his mind—the Vladislaus situation.  He ran a priority analysis that had to be completed that morning, and while he waited for it to process, he used the time to browse the occult study archives.   



There were no current or recently completed studies involving vampires other than a handful of plasma fruit growth and metabolism studies run a few years back.  Plasma fruit was also one of the varieties tested in the fertilizer study he had participated in months ago, but that was only related to vampires in that they could sustain themselves on it in lieu of biting living beings if they wanted.  Obviously not something Vladislaus is concerned about, Boyd mused bitterly.

To find anything involving vampiric physiology, Boyd had to go farther back to older study files.  Although the reports from those experiments could be accessed electronically, much of their referenced raw data was in hard-bound laboratory notebooks that had been standard to use in the lab until they were replaced with the electronic software that they used to capture such data nowadays.  “Glad they don’t ship this stuff out to off-site archives until it’s at least ten years old.”  Boyd browsed a somewhat dusty shelf to find the book he was looking for.

FSL03-5513719. He double-checked the number. That was the one he was looking for. Ultraviolet spectrum isolation and tolerance in vampiric physiology. The study involved vampires that had volunteered to participate in a sunlight tolerance and potential immunity study. Scientists had measured exactly how the sunlight damaged their cellular makeup at which levels of exposure using both length of time and intensity as factors, and then they attempted to isolate precisely which aspects of natural sunlight were harmful to them. It was already known that artificial lights that other life forms responded to, like plant lights or tanning beds, did not seem to have an adverse effect on vampires the way being out in the sun did. Light from more distant stars did not seem to affect them, either, nor did the reflected light of the moon. Boyd wondered idly if that had anything to do with the lore that vampires could not see their reflections, either, but he had no idea if that was even accurate. The thing about not being able to enter someone’s home without an invitation certainly wasn’t.



Boyd hoped that study might have some information that could potentially enable him to create a weapon or barrier that had whatever it was in sunlight that vampires could not tolerate, so they could keep Vladislaus out of their home at night.  Unfortunately, the data were inconclusive.

While none of the vampires in the study could stand a long-term full-on outdoor summertime UV exposure even with “prophylactic administration of formulation 26581B-QRX,” a notation referring to an in-house formulated serum that appeared to be a version of what Boyd made an educated guess was the “sunlight potion” he read about, it affected some of the vampires far worse than others.  Worse, aside from a baseline level that showed a very newly turned vampire would be weaker in all vampiric abilities, after a short time past being turned, there was no clear correlation between vampire age and sunlight tolerance.  Nor was there one with gender, size, or any other consistent factor.  In short, it was a crapshoot on how well any vampire other than a fledgling handled sunlight exposure as far as science had determined.

But Vladislaus was no fledgling.  If Susan’s hunch that he was generations old and had lived under the identity of his father, grandfather, and maybe even his great-grandfather, then he was experienced and powerful.  That meant that even if he did successfully create some kind of sun-beam, there was no guarantee that it would work well enough to ward him off.



Even though Boyd did not find what he was looking for there, browsing that and other studies was not a wasted experience.  If nothing else, a notation in one of the plasma fruit studies confirming that it had specifically been cultivated as a vampiric food alternative meant that there were some vampires that did not prey on the living like Vladislaus did.  He had heard that before, but seeing it documented in an actual study was reassuring that it was true and not just unverified lore or superstition.

That made Boyd wonder more about the vampire community as a whole and inspired him to learn more about Forgotten Hollow, where Vladislaus was so well-entrenched.  Was he well-liked and respected there as a part of its founding family, as Susan theorized that he might be when she warned him off going there to confront him?  Or was he feared and considered dangerous to make an enemy of, like a head of a suspected crime family?  Or perhaps was it some of both, like many regarded the mortal but influential Landgraabs?

He pondered that as he collected the data from his now finished analysis and wrote up the report.  That was his only urgent task for the day anyway.  The more he thought about it, the more Boyd convinced himself that asking the boss for permission to leave a couple hours early to make a short daytime side trip to check out Forgotten Hollow and learn more about Vladislaus Straud’s home grounds firsthand was a good idea.  He was not breaking his word to Susan, because he had no intention of interacting at all with Vladislaus himself, just like he promised he would not, and he planned to tell her all about it after the fact, so he was not being deceptive about it.

He finished his report and tracked down Shigeru.



“Hey!  I just sent the draft of the floral analysis to you and statistical analysis for review.  We’ll need their input for the exact numbers, but on a preliminary first look, I think it’s promising.  There appears to be significant improvements on at least four parameters on our specimens compared to the controls.”

“Oh, that’s excellent.  I’ll look it over as soon as I can.”

“Great!  And now I was wondering, would it be all right if I took off a few hours early?  I’ve had a personal situation come up at home.”

“Sure.  I won’t pry, but I hope everything is all right,” he said with a note of concern.

“Should be.  Just some family stuff I need to take care of in person.”

“All right, and don’t worry about logging it as personal or vacation time,” he said with an understanding wave.  “You stayed three hours late last week helping Knox with those priority slides anyway.  Good luck with your situation.”

“Thanks.  I appreciate it.”



Before he left, Boyd changed out of his lab coat, like usual, but he did not put on the street clothes he came in with.  Instead he wore what he considered a safer outfit to scout a place like Forgotten Hollow in.  He got his spare street clothes from the back of his locker.  They were old extra clothes he left at the lab on the off chance he had to crash there overnight on an experiment, or if he had some mishap before changing into or out of his lab uniform, but nothing he would miss from his day-to-day wardrobe.  They were well-worn and comfortable, so perfect for a little exploring.  If he happened to get them dirty or scuffed looking around or hiding behind something dirty to avoid unwanted attention, no big deal.  He also decided to wear gloves in case he wanted to collect anything resembling a sample in its purest uncontaminated form.  Then, as a final precaution, he got out the API headgear.

Goofy as it might have looked, the API headgear, which stood for Anti Psychic Interference, was a little something he and a couple of his colleagues slapped together and upgraded after taking inspiration from a little curio stand in Strangerville.  Knox had picked one up there and brought it in, and on a lark, they decided to run tests to see if it would work against alien frequencies they had documented.  Amazingly, the brand of strainer being used had an alloy that did display resistance to certain frequencies, and with just a little bit of tweaking, they improved its design.  The lights, well, they only added a negligible amount of interference, not even statistically significant, but they looked kind of neat, so they left them.  Boyd had no idea if it would work against vampiric mind powers or not, but what would it hurt, other than making a poor fashion statement?  If people in Forgotten Hollow all dressed like Vladislaus, they had no stones to throw about that anyway.



After changing but before leaving, Boyd twirled his freeze ray and pointed it in the empty break room thinking about how much he would enjoy icing the fangs off Vladislaus, but then he put it away.  He would keep it with him on the off chance he needed it, but he would not use it unless he was attacked, and he doubted that would happen during the daytime.  Especially if the API headgear worked.  Ideally, it would block any inadvertent projection of signals out as well as signals coming in.



Thanks to traffic, it was later than he hoped when Boyd got to Forgotten Hollow, and even though the sun had not set, it was abnormally dark thanks to an incoming spring rainstorm.  The town’s lighting had already kicked on, and that and the storm clouds gave it an eerie feel as he strolled around the town square.  Vladislaus’ part of town was a well-kept historic neighborhood with old-style gothic architecture, and even through the gloomy aura one could tell that one needed a decent amount of money to live there.  There was a house or two that was clearly empty, but even they had once obviously been owned by someone of means.

The statue of Vladislaus Straud I in the square sat atop an ornate fountain, and even Boyd had to admit it was an impressive piece of art despite its model being the alleged great-grandfather of Susan’s vampiric assailant.  In person, the resemblance to the profile picture of the Vladislaus that attacked her last night was uncanny, and his stomach turned at the confirmation of one more bit of evidence telling him that yes, Vladislaus I was probably also Vladislaus IV, and the two in between as well.  The multiple identity theory seemed more and more valid.

He glanced past it up the hill where saw the mansion that matched the address that he and Susan found for Vladislaus on satellite maps.  He wondered if Vladislaus’ previous identities were buried there along with fake mothers and grandmothers.  Or perhaps they were not fake, and he married under those identities, and the women were just dead.  Or vampires.  Or dead vampires.  He shuddered.  Vampires were only immortal in that they did not age.  Sunlight or stakes or starving could still kill them, from what he had read.  Would Vladislaus kill one of his own kind, or only prey?  Would he have ever married a mortal without turning her?  Would he kill an immortal he tired of?  Was he a psychotic creep even among vampires?  That was entirely plausible, and he did not like that possibility at all.



It was a short walk to Vladislaus’ property from the square.  As he approached, the place looked even creepier.  It was a secluded and dark old gothic mansion atop a rocky hill surrounded by tall trees.  Some were gnarled evergreens and some were bare, and Boyd could not tell if they were dead or just had not leafed out for spring yet.  It was probably a mixture of both.  The graveyard was not visible from the road, and as he stood at the edge of it, Boyd decided today was not the day to walk up that driveway to explore it and note names and dates.  It might have technically still been daytime and sunset not official for another hour, but the thick storm clouds had it as dark as it would be an hour past, and Boyd did not know whether vampires awakened by clock or ambient light.  Not to mention the ominous rumbles of thunder guaranteed a high chance of a soaking and possible lightning strike on a long walk before long.  The API headgear would not protect from that.



“You’ve got the evil vampire style down, I’ll give you that,” Boyd muttered as he gazed up the hill.  “I’d be impressed and might’ve even wanted to meet you if you hadn’t gone after Susan.”  Another chill went down his spine as a crack of thunder rumbled closer, and he almost jumped when he heard a voice call out behind him.

“Hello!  Are you lost?”



Boyd was afraid for a second that Vladislaus had spotted him, but as he turned around, he saw it was not him, but some guy that actually could pass for 25.  “Oh, hi.  No.”  He turned and walked toward the man as he approached.  “Sorry.  I probably do look kind of weird, huh?”

“Well, the hat’s not a fashion statement I’ve seen made before, but I’m not one to judge another’s unique choice of style.”  He smiled.  “Are you looking for Vladislaus?”

“No, I’m just, ah, kind of touring briefly tonight.  I’m from Brindleton Bay and stopped here on my way home from work.  I’m a scientist.  I’d heard of some interesting specimens around here and thought I would take a quick look around the square here out of curiosity.”

“Oh, a scientist.  How fascinating!”  He gave him a sly look.  “Vladislaus might just possibly be the most interesting specimen here, depending on what you’re looking for, but you didn’t hear that from me.”  He extended his hand cordially.  “Caleb Vatore.  Nice to meet you.”



Boyd shook his hand, and he might have noticed that it was a bit cold to the touch had it not been a cool spring almost evening and he not been wearing rubber gloves.  “Boyd Wainwright.  Nice to meet you, too.  So I take it you know Vladislaus?”



“We’re neighbors.  He’s an… interesting fellow, but he’s got some significant political differences with me and my sister.  She lives here with me.”  He gestured to the large home behind him.  “And we all know how those can get when they get heated.”  He then gave Boyd a sly look, and Boyd could have sworn his eyes glinted in the low light.  “I get the impression you might know him, though, or at least that his reputation precedes him.  Is he one of the specimens you’re looking for?”

Something about Caleb’s keen insight made Boyd a bit nervous, but at the same time, he did not get the creepy vibe from him that he and Susan had gotten from Vladislaus.  He wondered for a second if Caleb might be a vampire, too, but it would be foolish to assume that simply because he lived in Forgotten Hollow and dressed somewhat goth-like.  That was a popular style around there, after all, and not liking Vladislaus could mean the opposite.  Unless, of course, Vladislaus was such a llama that even other vampires did not like him.  That was entirely plausible.  Regardless, Caleb Vatore seemed pleasant enough to talk to.  He would not worry about him unless he started sniffing around his door at midnight.

“Not as such, but I know who he is.  Not interested in talking to him today.”

“Or tonight, I imagine.”  Caleb smirked.  “So his reputation does precede him.  I’ll have to tell Lilith.  That’ll amuse the hell out of her.”  The first drops of rain started to fall.  “Ugh.  Yet another spring thunderstorm.  Would you like to come in out of the rain?  My sister and I both love meeting new people.  Maybe we can point you in the direction of the specimens you need.”



While Caleb seemed nice, Boyd was still paranoid enough to think twice about entering a stranger’s home in Forgotten Hollow without knowing more about him, especially this close to dark.  If Caleb Vatore was a vampire, then he was out in the near-but-not-quite sunset twilight without any ill effects.  That implied that the amount of ambient sunlight mattered more than clock time after all, and his hunch that he should not look around Vladislaus’ property when it was that cloudy and near sunset was spot on.

“Thanks, but maybe another time.  I do want to find some of those wild Sixam Mosquito Traps I’ve heard grow here.  But I need to head home before it gets too late.  It was nice meeting you, though.”

“Same.  Good night,” Caleb said, and waved as they parted.



When Boyd got home, Susan stood and stared incredulously.  “What is with that getup?”

“Heh.  Just a little precaution.  API headgear we were tinkering with unofficially at the lab.”

“API?”

“Anti-Psychic Interference.  Potential safeguard against you-know-who.”  He did not want to say more in front of Blair, lest they scare her.

“And here I was about to ask if you were the Keymaster,” Susan quipped.

“If you want to wear Sigourney Weaver’s orange dress, I could be,” he teased.

“Sorry.  Not my color, and I’m afraid you’d accidentally put my eye out with that thing.”  She tapped the side of the strainer.



“I like Daddy’s funny hat!  The lights blink!”  Blair giggled uncontrollably, and Boyd could not help but smile at her.

“Yeah, I know.  It looks pretty silly.  Here.  You try it on.”  He took it off and placed it on her head.  Grinning, she immediately grabbed the handles and raced around the room laughing and saying “woooo!”

Amused, Boyd and Susan watched her for a moment, and then Susan turned to Boyd.  “So, does it actually work, or did you bring it home to test that?”

“I think so, at least to a degree, but I don’t have any conclusive data yet.  I wore it as a precaution today when I made a quick detour to Forgotten Hollow.”  He flopped into the computer chair.



“You what?”  Susan’s tone and expression became decidedly less amused.  “Boyd, you promised—”

“I didn’t go near Vladislaus,” he cut her off, holding up his hand.  “I just went to the town to look around.  To see what it was like.  See the statue in person, get an idea of where this guy is from and see a few things.  I didn’t even go on his property.  Which is pretty far off the main road, anyway.  Nice and secluded, surrounded by trees, on top of a mini mountain, just the way a creepy guy like him would like.  You can’t even see that graveyard from the road.”

Susan raised an eyebrow.  “But you did do a drive-by, apparently?”

“More like a casual walk-by from the square.”

“That’s worse,” she pointed out.

“Not really.  It was daytime, and that was why I wore this.”  He took the headgear back from Blair as she toddled back over and handed it to him.  It had gotten a bit heavy for her, and now that the novelty had worn off, she just wanted to dance to the stereo music.  “Thank you.”  He patted her on the head and resumed his explanation to Susan.  “I figured on the off chance I did put out any kind of psychic vibes that he could somehow sense even from inside his house, this would block them.  But I didn’t even get that close.  Like I said, his place is way off the road and up a hill up a long driveway.”

“That was still an awful risk that you shouldn’t have taken.  You know full well that if I’d done that, you’d be all over my case for doing something so dangerous, and don’t even try to tell me you wouldn’t.”  She kept her tone low so as not to alarm Blair, but she was doing her own thing dancing and twirling to the music, not paying attention to their conversation.

“Yeah, but honey, you’re the one he’s obsessing over.  Not me.  It’s only logical he’d notice you sooner.  And I had this.”  He put the API headgear back on his head so he could shift easier in the chair.  “Plus, if it came to it, I was armed.”



“Oh, my Watcher.”  Susan groaned.  “You took the freeze ray?”

“Only on the very slim chance I’d need it for self-defense!”

“Are you listening to yourself?!”

“I just wanted to see what I could learn about him.  From the town square and the general area.  Knowing more about your enemy can’t hurt, and it was safer for me to go than you.”  He gave her an apologetic look.  “I’m sorry.  You’re right.  It was risky and, yes, I probably should’ve told you I was thinking of going, but I knew if I called and said I was doing that—”

“That I’d tell you exactly what I’m telling you now?”

“That it’d go over better if I came back perfectly unharmed, like I knew I would be, and told you then, along with what I found out.”

“So, yes.”

“Yes,” Boyd admitted sheepishly.  “I’m sorry.  Please don’t be mad at me.”  He gave her an apologetic look.  “I really am fine.”

Susan took a deep breath.  “Look, I’m not mad, just… just don’t do anything like that again, please.  At least not without talking to me first.  If it’s not a risk you want me taking, it’s not a risk I want you taking.”

“Okay.  That’s fair.  I’m sorry.”  He met her eyes.  “I love you.”

“I love you, too.  Now, go and change out of that before my brother shows up, please.  That was what I was going to tell you before we got into this.  I talked to Jonathan this morning, and he called me again a little while ago to say he’s coming over tonight to talk to us more about it.  I don’t think either of us want him coming in with you still wearing that.”

Boyd could already hear his brother-in-law’s wisecracks as he imagined it.  “No.  No problem.  Be right back.”

“Good.  While you’re doing that, I’ll order some pizza.”



Jonathan arrived ten minutes after the pizza did.  “Uncle Jonathan!”  Blair was excited and toddled right over to him.

“Hey, Blair-y Bear!” he greeted her cheerfully.  “You’re getting so big.  I thought you might be in bed already.”

“Nuh-uh.  My bedtime’s eight-thirty.”  She pointed to the clock with some authority, which read 8:22.

“Wow, you’re learning your numbers pretty well, and how to tell time, too?  I’m impressed!”



“Of course, we should’ve known you’d be a very smart girl!  You come from a smart family.  Your mommy’s a smart nerdy engineer, your daddy’s a smart geeky scientist, and of course, your absolutely brilliant uncle.”  He grinned and picked her up, swinging her around so that she giggled.

“And oh so modest, too,” Susan remarked from over at the computer.  “Luckily, Blair inherited my natural grace and humility.”



“Oh, no, Blair-y Bear’s head’s not nearly as swelled as Mommy’s.”  He made a playful face at Blair, who made one back.  “And if she inherited Daddy’s grace, she’d have tomato sauce all over her face like him,” Jonathan pointed out with a snicker.

“Daddy, napkin!” Blair tsked in Boyd’s direction.

“You’re right, Blair.”  Boyd wiped his chin.  “Help yourself to the pizza, Jonathan.  Thanks for coming over.”

“No problem.  Glad you’re all okay.  Your pal Vladdy-boy is quite the piece of work.”

Susan stood up.  “And on that note, Blair, sweetie, it’s bedtime now.  You got to see Uncle Jonathan, but now it’s time for bed.”

“Awww.”  Blair pouted as Jonathan set her down.

“It’s all right.  We’ll play again soon.”  He ruffled her hair.  “You’ve got to sleep while we talk about boring grown-up stuff.”

“But I don’t wanna.”

“You have preschool tomorrow and have to get up early,” Boyd reminded her.  “Come on, now.”

Susan took her hand.  “Let’s go brush your teeth.”

Her pout deepened.

“Blair…”  Susan’s tone took on a warning note.

“Hey.”  Jonathan knelt in front of her.  “How about I read you a bedtime story if you get those teeth brushed and turn in?”

Blair realized she was not going to win this time and caved with the bribe of a story.  “Okay.”  She shuffled off to the bathroom with Susan.



After Blair was in bed and Jonathan read her a story, he joined Susan and Boyd in the living room.  “I think she was asleep before I shut the door.”

“She’s an energetic kid, but when she crashes, she goes hard,” Susan remarked.

“I’m just glad she’s okay, and that creep didn’t hurt her.  You feeling any better?”

“My neck’s still sore, but the over-the-counter stuff is taking the edge off.  I think it’ll heal just fine.”

“That’s good.  I hate that you’ve got a psychotic stalker, but a vampire, that’s something else.”  He adopted a silly imitation of a horror movie accent.  “It would seem the undead have an uncontrollable attraction to those with no life,” he teased, and then looked over at Boyd continuing in the vampire tone, complete with creepy hand gestures.  “Though why he did not take a chomp out of your husband as well, I have no idea, but perhaps he’s just not his type.”

Susan shot him an unamused look.  “You’re hilarious.  And by that, I mean you’re absolutely not.”

“Aw, I was just lightening the mood a little.  You know I don’t think anyone attacking you is a laughing matter.  Speaking of which, I got some background on him.  Weird.  The picture on his license sure does not look like his birth date, but the documents did check out.  Motor vehicles accepted it all to issue the license, anyway, so it’s supposedly legit.  He drives and owns some antique cars.  Probably the original owner, if he’s really his father and grandfather, like you said.  Here’s what I got.”  He dropped a thumb drive on the desk.  “Records of the vehicles registered to him, so be on the lookout for them in your neck of the woods.”  He paused before either Boyd or Susan could remark. “No pun intended.  More relevant, the criminal record.  He has none.  His alleged father didn’t have any, either, although he was arrested for an assault that the charges were later dropped on, by the alleged victim.  That doesn’t mean he’s never done anything, though.  Just that he’s never been caught or charged.”

“Vampiric persuasion could probably get someone to drop the charges, or not press them at all,” Boyd mused.

“Or make someone so confused they didn’t remember enough details to get the police to be able to file them.”



They discussed the situation a while longer, over a couple more slices of pizza, sharing what information they had.  Susan went over the attack again with all the detail she remembered, and Boyd shared what he had learned in Forgotten Hollow, including his encounter with Caleb Vatore and how he had “political differences” with Vladislaus Straud and did not seem to like him.  Jonathan gave them some general security tips, and he also lectured Boyd about being careful poking around an assailant’s neighborhood.  Susan appreciated that. However, when he then reminded her how foolish she had been to go out and talk to Vladislaus the first time he showed up, and not to do that if any other creeps ever started with her, it was less so, while Boyd felt vindicated.

Finally, as it got near ten, Boyd and Susan were both exhausted and had to excuse themselves for bed.  Jonathan surprised them, however, by offering to stay over.  “I’ve worked a bunch of night shifts this week.  I can stay up here for one more in case that fanged llama decides to try again.  Get some rest.  You both look dead on your feet, and poor Boyd here wasn’t even bitten.”

“I’d take offense to that if you weren’t right,” Boyd replied, and yawned.  “Thanks.”

“Thank you, Jonathan.  It means a lot that you’re doing this, even if you are a wise llama.”  She hugged him.  “We’ll all sleep better knowing you’re here tonight.”

While Boyd, Susan, and Blair were all asleep, Jonathan enjoyed a quiet night of TV and free pizza.  The late-night shows could have been better, but it was a change of scenery and routine, and the pizza in Brindleton Bay was pretty good.  Best of all, it was a boring night.  Nothing out of the ordinary happened.  There was no sign of Vladislaus Straud or any prowlers or suspicious activity at all.  Whenever Jonathan peeked outside, the yard and neighborhood were peaceful and quiet.  That night, at least, Boyd and Susan were able to sleep in peace.

[Auranaris]

Having read your sims 3 story, i’m already nervous about the... health of Blair’s uncle Jonathan...
Great chapter as always!

[Cheezey]

Having read your sims 3 story, i’m already nervous about the... health of Blair’s uncle Jonathan...
Great chapter as always!

Thank you! He is in a dangerous line of work, but Susan's family has been luckier thus far in this universe. Of course, one never knows...

Chapter 9

The following morning, however, was less peaceful.  While Jonathan kept careful watch to ensure that his sister’s home was safe and secure overnight, when he left at dawn to drive home to Evergreen Harbor and get some sleep, he left behind two things.  The first was a note on the empty pizza box that read, “Everything was fine last night.  No sign of Count Dorkula or anyone else.  Heading home now that the sun’s coming up.  Thanks for the pizza.  Call if you need me.”  The second was a little prank he set when he got bored around 4 AM and there was nothing but infomercials on TV.  Boyd had the misfortune of discovering that.

“AUGH!”  Boyd exclaimed, along with a string of curses, when the rigged toilet splashed him.  A classic and distinctly childish prank, and one right up Jonathan’s alley, but it was never amusing to its victim.  “Susan!  Your brother is a llama!” he shouted angrily through the closed door as he wiped the water out of his eyes.  At least it had been flushed first.

“Tell me about it,” Susan shouted back as she brought a freshly dressed Blair out of the bedroom.  “He ate all the pizza.  So much for my plans for breakfast.”

“That is the least of my complaints right now.”



Susan popped open the door and saw a soaked Boyd hunched over the toilet fixing the prank spray while muttering words she hoped Blair would not pick up.  “Oh, how childish,” she remarked disdainfully when she realized what her brother had done.

“That’s Jonathan.”

“Sometimes I swear he’ll never get past the maturity of a twelve-year-old.  Sorry he got you with that.”

Boyd finally got the spray stopped and stood, frowning as he saw the water everywhere and felt the soak all over his pajamas and down to his skin.  “Ugh.  Plu—” he started, and then amended as he realized Blair was peeking in, “Poo happens, but at least there wasn’t any of that in there when his little toilet trap was sprung.”

Blair looked him up and down, wrinkling her nose.  “Eeew, Daddy!  Was there pee-pee in there?”

“No, no pee-pee, either.  Your Uncle Jonathan wasn’t quite that bad.”

“Either that or he was afraid we might retaliate by using your freeze ray on his rear end, which I might’ve been sorely tempted to do had it been me that got nailed.”

“Anyway, I wasn’t planning to shower until after work and right before we went out tonight, but there’s been a change in plans.  Do you mind mopping that up while I get out of this?”

“No.  That’s fine.  I’m sure your co-workers will appreciate that as much as I do.  Let me just get Blair some cereal first.”

“Thanks, honey.”  He sighed and gave her a rueful smile.  “Heck of a way to start Love Day, huh?”

“I’m sure it’ll get better.  Just don’t kiss me until you take that shower.”

Blair giggled, as she understood that joke, and then looked up at her mother as she remembered that Love Day meant she got chocolate heart candies.  “Can I have a candy?”

“One piece, after you eat your cereal and milk.  But no more until later.  I don’t want you to have a tummy ache in preschool.”

“Okay.”



Both Boyd and Susan had to work even though it was Love Day, but even after both showered and got dressed, they had time for a quick romantic gift exchange before dropping Blair off at day care and going in.  Boyd showered first, and then while Susan was showering and getting dressed, he helped Blair finish up her breakfast, got her to her potty, and grabbed some cereal for himself before work.

Susan came out of the bedroom sporting a new outfit, which she proudly showed off to Boyd.  “I got this thinking it would be festive to wear for Love Day for the daytime before we go out tonight.  And maybe spring in general afterward.  You know I love red.  This nightmare with Vladislaus didn’t have me feeling all that festive, but in the shower I figured, you know what?  I’m not going to let him bring me down on a day that’s supposed to be about us and love, so forget him!  What do you think?  I have to change into coveralls and work boots at work anyway, but at least I’ll look good in between.”



“I think you look beautiful, like you always do,” Boyd said appreciatively, and embraced her before adopting a playful vampiric accent.  “Enough that I want to kiss your beautiful neck myself and smooch the pain away from your poor bite.”  He drew her close and kissed it gently, while she giggled softly.

“That tickles.”

“How do you feel, honey?” he asked, resuming a serious tone.  “Still sore?”

“Better.  It hurts a little still, but not as bad as yesterday.”

“Good.”  He smooched her again, that time on the lips. “Hopefully soon it’ll just be a bad memory.  Speaking of which, I hope this creates a better one.  Happy Love Day.”  He handed her a gift.



“Oh, Boyd!”  Her eyes lit up as she opened it.  “A brand-new set of those name-brand earbuds that I said were probably too expensive to get now, laid on a bed of premium foil-wrapped imported chocolates?  Wow!”  She beamed.  “You know me so well.  Thank you, sweetie!  Oh, I love you so much!”  She kissed him.  “You’re the best!”

She set it down and got his gift from where she had carefully stashed it until it was time to exchange them.



“I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to get it in cute romantic wrapping or with chocolates or anything like you did, but I had trouble finding a good box for it.  Then all the stuff with Vladislaus happened.  I hope you’re not disappointed.”  Susan handed Boyd his gift, an expensive electronic tool that he had wanted both for projects around the house and at work.  While he could use the ones at the lab when he was there, they had to be available for anyone to use and often got misplaced or borrowed by other departments and either never returned, or only returned when they were damaged, mishandled, or due for a time-intensive calibration.  Plus, since they were company property, he could not bring them home without asking permission.  Having his own would simplify things greatly and he had wanted it for a while, but the cost was a bit of a splurge he had trouble justifying while they were trying to save money.

“Wow, honey!  I’m not disappointed at all.  That’s really thoughtful of you.  Thank you so much.”  He kissed her.

“I knew you wouldn’t get it for yourself.”

He smiled at her.  “That’s the same reason I got you those earbuds.  You really wanted them but went without because of the price.”  He paused.  “Oh, and I got you this, too.”  He handed her a single rose.  “It’s cliché, I know, but I like the tradition anyway.”



“Oh, I love it.  I think it’s quite romantic.  Thank you.”  She sniffed, enjoying the floral scent.  “Despite the poopy start, I think this will be a wonderful Love Day.  Thank you.  I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he echoed, and kissed her one last time before they had to leave for work.



The day went smoothly for both.  Boyd spent much of it working on serums.  The lab always had new formulations that needed to be synthesized and tested.  “That smells awful,” Kalamainu’u remarked as she passed by.  “Glad I’m not today’s volunteer for testing.”

“Had enough of that with the freeze ray?”

“I still shiver just thinking about it.  Good luck, though.”

“Wish it to Jaron.  He’s the one who signed up for this.  Its nickname is ‘Red Hot.’” He then laid out the exact chemical composition, and she chortled.

“Are they sending him back to reception after that?  That should make an interesting impression on any visitors.”

“Might send a message to the pushy sales reps, though.”



On Susan’s end, the day passed quickly.  After a few days of working remotely, there was a lot of hands-on work for her to tackle in the engineering lab.  She not only enjoyed that kind of workday because it kept her busy and productive, but she was in her element when she was tinkering with the experimental robotics.



After work, they left Blair with a sitter and celebrated Love Day with a romantic dinner for two at Newcrest’s upscale restaurant Villa Bovine.

“So many tempting choices,” Susan murmured as she browsed the menu.  “Should I splurge on lobster and a Monte Vista Reserve?”

“It’s Love Day.  Get what you want.”

“We’ve already spent a lot, but… it is a special day and we do both deserve a treat with all that’s been going on.”  She closed her menu.  “You convinced me.”  She ended up ordering both the lobster tortellini and the pricey nectar that paired well with it, and then made a comparable selection of nectar for Boyd to go with his chicken saltimbocca.



“You know your nectars way better than me.  I still have to cheat and look up what’s supposed to pair with what except for cheese.  That pretty much goes with most of it, right?”

“Some go a little better with others, but yes, for the most part I’d agree.  It’s hard to go utterly wrong with a good cheese and a good nectar.”

“My uncultured palate takes note.”



“You’re not so bad.  You’ve learned a lot since we first got married, when you said that beer and cheezy doodles were also a good pairing.”

“In all fairness, that’s not bad.  Just not gourmet.  Plus it’s cheap and that was our budget.”

Susan wrinkled her nose playfully.  “It was even cheap beer.  But you have your definition of good, Mr. ‘I burned the mac and cheese, but who wants to cook it again, so I’ll eat it anyway,’ and I have mine.”



“Though that does bring me to something I wanted to talk to you about,” Susan said on a more serious note after the waiter brought them their order.

“Oh?”

“Money’s still pretty tight and the house turned out to be a bigger crunch than we expected.”

“No kidding.  Dad wasn’t exaggerating when he said houses nickel and dime you to death on stuff you don’t expect.”

“So we found out the hard way,” Susan lamented.  “And it’s almost Blair’s birthday.  She’s almost through with preschool, and we haven’t even had the money or time to try and pursue our degrees yet.  Remember when she was born, and we swore we’d have at least a semester done by then?”



“Yeah.  It took longer to save for the house, and then there were all those extra costs.  Plus there’s just been no time, because we can’t afford to take the time off work, and if we try to work through it all, we’re never going to get to spend any time together.  Not to mention with Blair.  It seems like we keep having to pick and choose at what we really want.”  He frowned.  “It sucks.  I can practically hear my mother saying, ‘I told you so,’ like that’s at all helpful.  I really do want to get that physics degree one day, but I feel like I’ll be older than them by the time I can, and it’ll be nothing but a trophy on the wall.”

“Showing her, and all our parents, really, is motivating for me, petty as that sounds.  I do want that trophy, even if it’s all it ends up being, if there’s any way to do it,” Susan admitted.  “But there’s other stuff I want, too. Like an enjoyable life.  I don’t mind hard work, but I don’t want it to be all we do.  I want nice things.  I want to be able to expand our house or move to a bigger one, so we’re not so cramped for space.”

“Remember when we talked about maybe having another baby someday, like when Blair was a little older and they were far enough apart they wouldn’t fight much?  We even said when we bought this house that sure we’ll have enough to add a room if that time came, or just move.”

“We were naïve about how expensive stuff really is.  If we try to get degrees, Blair’s probably going to be old enough for university herself by the time we’re done.  And who wants to have a baby then?  People will wonder if we’re the grandparents.”  She sighed.



Boyd sipped at his nectar.  “So, are you asking which you think we should plan on long term at this point?  Degrees or another baby?”

“I hate to put it that way and in an ideal world, I’d like both, but we’ve got to be realistic.  Life has thrown a lot of bugs into our programming, so to speak.  Vladislaus just being the last, most creepy, annoying, and potentially life-altering.”  She picked up her fork.  “That’s one of the things that really got me thinking about this.  My brush with death reminded me of our priorities.  What if he’d killed me?  If I die tomorrow, I want to know I accomplished or was well on my way to doing everything I wanted.  I don’t want to die and have people think, ‘Boy, what a waste.  She died young and had potential, but never achieved any of it.’”

“Oh, Susan, no one would say that about you.  Degree or not.  You’re brilliant.  They know what you’re capable of where you work, degree or not.  They even told you that.”  He swirled his nectar.  “And you better not die tomorrow, or any day.”

“I don’t plan on it.  But my point is that the world in general still respects you more with that piece of paper, regardless of your accomplishments, even if your direct colleagues know better.  We could invent a time machine or a dimensional portal, and if we didn’t have a degree, we’d probably go down in the history books as doing so with a caveat that said, ‘and amazingly with only a high school diploma!’ like it’s so surprising that an uneducated doofus could do that or something.”



Boyd thought that most would just be impressed at the invention of a time machine or a portal rather than worrying about some elitist flavor text, but Susan had always been more sensitive about what other people thought when it came to things like that.  “So, is going for the degree how you’re leaning, then?”

She finished her nectar and let out a thoughtful sigh.  “That’s what’s so frustrating.  I can’t say a hundred percent it is.  I meant what I said before.  I want a life.  I don’t want to be that weirdo academic that spends her whole life holed up just for a piece of paper and some accomplishments.  I know you get me and you’re like me in that you love the stuff I do, and that’s one of the reasons I love you so much, but I don’t want all of life to just woosh by us.  Sometimes I feel guilty about how little time I spend with Blair as it is.  She asked the other day when I was working from home if she could have a little brother or sister.  A part of me likes the idea so much, Boyd.  But another part is like, how?  When we’re already so busy?  If we have another baby, we might as well kiss that degree goodbye until we’re as old as our parents, if ever.  Plus, our house is so tiny.  Are we really going to stick a baby in the bedroom with her, now that she’s almost old enough for school?  Can we afford an addition?  Not to mention the sleepless diaper nights that this time we won’t have your parents there to help with.”

“But on the plus side, they’re not there to nag and lecture, either,” Boyd pointed out dryly before adopting an imitation of his mother, complete with finger-wagging.  “’You said you were ready to raise a family.  Part of that is getting up at all hours and putting the child’s needs first.  I know you’re tired and I don’t mind helping, but this is the reality you said you were ready for.’”



“Ugh.  Now that I don’t miss,” she said as they finished the last of their meal.  “But it’s not just Blair.  My mother asked if we were planning on having any more.  They’d love to have another grandchild.”

“Mine, too.  For all her nagging, Mom must think we did well enough to add another to the mix.”

“Maybe because she won’t have to do any dirty diaper work with this one,” Susan quipped.  “You know I’m kidding.  I love Myra and I know she loves us and Blair.”

“That doesn’t mean she can’t be frustrating as plum.  I know.  She’s my mom.  I grew up with her.”

“What do you think?  Where do you stand on it?”

“I’d love another baby as much as I love Blair.  It would be another big responsibility on our plate, and a big adjustment, but ultimately rewarding.  We’d definitely have to put our degree plans on hold for a long time, though.  I don’t see a feasible way to manage another baby and our careers and that, too.  Not if we want any kind of life outside of those things, and to not have the kids see more of babysitters and day care than us.”



The waiter came and took the check and Boyd and Susan stood to leave.  “Regardless, we don’t have to jump to any decisions tonight.  There’s been a lot going on and we still have time to ruminate on it.”  He gave her a flirtatious smile.  “Romantic as it would be to conceive hypothetical baby number two on Love Day, it’s not like it would give said child special superpowers or anything, so we don’t need to rush.  The non-fertile ritual is equally satisfying.”

“My, that was subtle.”

“It’s honest.  It’s Love Day, I love you, and you look absolutely gorgeous.  Kind of hard to keep that off my mind, especially as we’re heading home.”

“Kind of hard, huh?”  She smirked coyly, and Boyd met her eyes.

“Very hard.”

“Ooh.  We’d better get home, then.”



And when they got there, after paying the babysitter and making sure Blair was tucked away and sleeping peacefully, they finished celebrating Love Day quite passionately.

[Cheezey]

Chapter 10

While there was no little sibling for Blair conceived that Love Day, big and exciting things were happening for her regardless.  With the end of spring and the beginning of summer came a new beginning for her: her birthday.  She was leaving her preschool days behind and would soon start grade school.



Boyd and Susan threw her a birthday party.  Patrick and Maureen drove over from San Myshuno to celebrate with her, and Uncle Jonathan came over, too, although he had just gotten off shift and asked to borrow their bathroom for a quick clean-up before joining the festivities.  Even Stuart and Myra made a trip in from Sulani for the occasion, but they were staying at a local hotel since there was no room in Boyd and Susan’s house for guests other than air mattresses on the floor, something they were both far too old for when they could afford a room in town.  One of Susan’s friends, Maaike Haas, also came to wish Blair well on her special day.

Although they had a spacious backyard that would have been more ideal for celebrating in, the weather did not cooperate.  A rainstorm rolled in just as they were about to set up, and Blair had to blow her candles out in their tiny kitchen.  Not that it mattered to her.  She was excited, and it was her special day.  She was a big girl now!



Sweet little inquisitive Blair had grown into a kind-hearted, well-behaved girl that both Susan and Boyd were very proud of.  She was bright and eager to learn, and they had no doubt that she would do as well in grade school as she had in preschool.



Of course, she was still a little kid, and as such, duly excited by a big slice of frosting-filled birthday cake.  “There you go, sweetie.  The piece with the big frosting flower and extra sprinkles.  Enjoy.”

“Yeah, Blair-y Bear knows what the good stuff is,” Jonathan said as he ruffled her head, walking by to get his piece.

“You know, she’s old enough now that you should probably pick a more mature nickname for her.”  She gave him a wry look.  “Though I realize that might be hard considering your problem with maturity.”

“Aw!  Did I flush away the remnants of your sense of humor on my last visit?”

“You got Boyd, you know.  Not me.”

Blair giggled.  “Yeah, Daddy was really mad and there was water everywhere!  He even yelled a bunch of forbidden words.”

He grinned at Blair.  “He did, huh?  Ha!  It must’ve got him good!”

“Just remember, dear brother, he has a freeze ray and he might be inspired to use it.”

“Nah.  He wouldn’t freeze me.  He has to save that for the,” he adapted a bad vampire accent, “creatures of the night!”  With a cackle, he went to get his cake, while Susan just rolled her eyes and ate hers.



Patrick came over to chat with Blair.  “So, are you excited about starting grade school?”

“Yeah.  Mom and Dad say they think it’ll be easy since I’m good at reading and counting.”

“And you like doing it, too,” Susan added proudly.

“Learning’s a lot easier when it’s fun, that’s for sure,” Maaike agreed.  “Your mom said you learned to read by the time you were three.”

“Uh-huh.  I like stories and they showed me how to read them myself.”

“I always liked reading, too,” she told her.  “I’m hoping to publish some books of my own one day.”

“That’s neat!  I never thought about writing a book.  I wonder if I could do that.”

Patrick chuckled.  “Your grandma wrote books, you know. I know for a fact she’d be tickled to help you if you wanted to be a writer.  You could do whatever you put your mind to.  Write books, be a doctor like me, an engineer like your mom or a scientist like your dad, or even a detective like your Uncle Jonathan.  Or a teacher like your Grandma Myra or a musician like your Grandpa Stuart.  Or something new that none of us ever tried.  Maybe the president.  Maybe an astronaut, or a secret agent.  It’s all up to you.”

“What about a superhero?  That sounds exciting!”

“You’d probably have to find a way to get some super-powers or super-rich like Llama Man first, but sure,” Susan said with a humoring smile.



“I can’t believe how big Blair has gotten.  Seems like just yesterday that she was born,” Myra remarked to Boyd.  “Of course, in some ways it doesn’t seem like you should be old enough to have a baby heading into elementary school, either.  I still half expect to see you at her age, plunking away at that big old computer you had back then.”

“Susan was always glued to hers, too.  Jonathan was the energetic outdoorsy one, but Susie, you had to pry her out with a crowbar into the fresh air to play,” Maureen remembered fondly.  “She took after me that way.  I always had my nose in a book as a kid and my parents told me to go outside and play more.”  She chuckled.  “On the other hand, kids that are reading quietly don’t make as much of a mess, so there’s that.”

“Oh, I don’t know.  Boyd here was a couch potato and still a champ at that.”

“Thanks, Mom.  I love you, too.”

“Now, you know I love you anyway, and you also know I’m right.  I raised you, and I lived with you and Susan when Blair was born.  I know which of the two of you keeps this house this clean.”  She turned to Maureen.  “I can only imagine how full your hands were with twins.  Does that run in your family?”

“Well, I’m no geneticist, but Dr. Patrick over there once said that since one of my grandmothers was also a fraternal twin, it’s possible that there’s some genetic component and it wasn’t just coincidence.  But there are no twins, fraternal or identical, on his side, and little Blair wasn’t one, so it’s hard to say.”  She smiled at Boyd.  “Maybe we’ll see with the next one, huh?”

Myra also grinned at that.  “Wouldn’t that be a delight?  Two more grandchildren at once.”

Boyd chortled.  “Mom, if Susan and I have twins, I can guarantee you this house won’t look this clean very often again, even if I magically do develop your obsessive neat streak.  I wonder when I’d even sleep.”

“I can answer that for you, dear,” Maureen said.  “Not nearly as often as you want or need.  At least not for the first year or so.”

“Hey, Jonathan’s used to night shifts.  Maybe he can have your family’s next set,” Boyd teased, and then added, “Sorry, Mom.”



“Hey, I’m not even married yet, and unlike you and Susan, I’d rather do those things in order.”

“And may you be blessed with triplets when you do.  Auntie Susan and I will be sure to give them a matching trio of noisemakers.”

Both Myra and Maureen chuckled at the exchange, and Myra gave Boyd a curious look.  “All kidding aside, any chance we grandparents might get another grandchild from our only or only married child anytime soon?  Maureen and I were both wondering that while we were playing chess out back earlier, before our game got rained out.”

“Mom, all I’ll say is we’ve talked about it.  But I was only half-joking before when I said what I said before about the clean house.  This is not a lot of space for the three of us, let alone one—and ideally only one at once, thank you—more.”

“You’ve got a huge yard, though,” Jonathan pointed out.  “You could put another addition on pretty easily if you didn’t want to move to a bigger place.  In today’s market, that might even be cheaper than moving.  Real estate is crazy.  There’s a reason I’m still in an apartment.”



“You mean besides the obscene car payments and insurance you pay on that sports car you just bought?” Patrick chimed in from over at the table.

Jonathan frowned, while Susan and Boyd both enjoyed him getting a parental tsk instead of either of them.  “The department pays me mileage when I use it on the job.”

“And it goes fast to catch bad guys,” Blair chimed in cheerfully.

“That it does.  Though I always obey the traffic laws, because as a duly appointed law officer, I know their importance.”

Susan coughed what sounded a lot like “llama-turds” as she stood to take her plate to the sink, but it was just quiet enough that none of the other guests could be quite certain that last bite of cake had not just gone down wrong.  Jonathan was, however, and shot her a look back.



Their father was also somewhat dubious, but he let it go when Maaike complimented it to Jonathan.  “So that’s yours, huh?  I couldn’t help but notice it when I got here.  Very cool.  You’ve got some great taste.”

“Thanks.”  He smiled back at her, and she got up to chat with him more about it while Stuart struck up a conversation with Patrick.

“Kids will be kids, huh?  Never want to listen to the good advice of us old folks.  They drive you up a wall until you end up retiring on a beach in Sulani to relax,” Stuart quipped.  “Nah.  I’m kidding.  My nerves were a hair off from frayed long before I had Boyd, or even got married.  That’s one of the reasons I got into music, I think.  It’s one of the things I can relax in when I’m immersed in it.  Honestly, Boyd was a good kid.  Only a little trouble here and there, that I know of, although sometimes I wonder what he got up to on that computer that I never found out about.”  He looked over at Blair.  “And little Blair’s always been an angel, though I noticed she’s shyer around strangers than he was at that age.  Boyd was a chatterbox.  Loved to go on about how this or that worked when he discovered it.  Blair’s the best-behaved child I’ve ever been around, though, including her father.  She’s just got such a sweet nature.”

“Yeah, she beat both of ours that way, too.  Not that Susan or Jonathan were ever bad.  Just kids.  Most of their trouble came from them fighting with each other.  Typical sibling stuff.  One downside with twins, they’re competitive when it comes to attention.  At least they were.  Blair doesn’t have that, though.”

“Not yet, anyway.  Myra and I would be thrilled if they had another.”

“Maureen and I would be, too, and between you and me, I’d prefer the next grandchild come from them than Jonathan, at least while he’s not settled down with anyone and so busy with dangerous police work.”

Stuart raised an eyebrow as he saw Jonathan go outside with Maaike to show her his car.  “Hey, you never know.  Maybe that’ll happen sooner than you think.”

Patrick watched them go thoughtfully.  He and Stuart had both chatted casually with Maaike over cake and both found her pleasant and interesting to talk to.  “Smart creative girl around his age from Windenburg?  He could do worse.”



When everyone was done with cake and refreshments, Blair got to open her birthday presents.  She got a lot of nice things, including new toys and computer games, but her absolute favorite was the brand new Slablet tablet that her parents bought her.  Her old Wabbit tablet was worn from heavy use during her toddler years.  While Boyd and Susan had kept it updated and replaced things like the charging cords as necessary, all the accidental drops and splashes outside, a few grains of sand in the ports that got into there on trips to the beach despite the heavy duty allegedly “toddler-proof” case had it in rough shape.  They decided that she deserved something a little more advanced now that she was older, anyway, rather than just fixing the old one up.



“Remember to take extra special care of it,” Boyd reminded her gently.  “It’s a more advanced model than your old one.  I know you’re older and more careful now, so we’re trusting you to be responsible.”

“Can you promise to do that for us?”

Blair nodded enthusiastically.

“Then here’s how you turn it on.”  Susan showed her.  “It’s got a bunch of new games on it, and you can read your new school’s messages on it, too, once you start there.  It can also go online like your old one, but now you can search and find even more stuff.”

“Thank you!  It’s so cool!”



After presents, the party wound down, but it seemed Blair was not the only one leaving it with something new.  Jonathan and Maaike seemed to hit it off.  “Hey, Susan, I told Maaike here I’d give her a ride back to the bus station.”

“I hope you don’t mind.  His car’s a sweet upgrade from the taxi, and clever conversation is even better.”  There was a hint of flirtation in her voice.

“So, we’re going to give the birthday girl a final hug and take off, if that’s cool with you?”

“Sure.  You two have fun.  Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Hah.  I don’t want to bore the poor girl,” Jonathan quipped.  “I don’t drive like a grandma at our age.”

“I don’t drive like a ‘grandma,’ I drive safely, and I’m going to tell Mom you said that.”

Maaike chortled.  “You two are adorable.  Thanks for inviting me, Susan.  It was great seeing you and Boyd and Blair again.  Take care.”

“You too.”  She turned to Jonathan.  “Now be good to my friend, or I’ll stoop to your level and reengineer your toilet next time I drop by your place.  And trust me, you won’t be able to fix my handiwork as easily as we fixed yours.”



Along with starting elementary school, Blair also joined the Sim Scouts.  The values of being a good citizen and helping others while learning appealed to her kind-hearted nature, and the merit badges inspired her to learn more than just her school lessons, although she did not need much encouragement in those, either.  Blair was bright and learned quickly, and not only tended to finish her homework fast, but she also enjoyed doing the extra credit assignments.  Her teachers were pleased with the quality of her work, but they also said that she was quiet and tended to keep to herself more than the other students to the point that she often played by herself rather than joining the other children at recess.  They had received similar reports from preschool, that she appeared shy or less socially oriented than the other children, but they had not been overly concerned because she was still young and was not fighting with them or otherwise getting in trouble.

That was another reason that Boyd and Susan were glad Blair wanted to join the scouting program.  Not only would she learn more, but she might make some friends there, too.  Although they both considered themselves mildly introverted, Blair was far more so than either of them, and she did not have any regular playmates.



She got along with the other kids in scouts, but she did not make any close friends right away.  Still, she enjoyed the field trips and the activities.  She liked the trips to the beach and ponds learning how to catch and identify different types of fish, and she earned both her outdoor adventurer and helping hand badges quickly.



Despite everything else going on and a couple of thankfully quiet nights where Vladislaus never showed his fanged face, neither Susan nor Boyd believed he was gone for good.  On the first day of summer, Boyd hit the local garden center and got some planters to put the bulbs of garlic they had been putting around the doors at night into pots by each door.  They desperately needed it, as they had begun to sprout.  He also purchased an upright planter for some herbs he got free seedlings of from work.  Although neither he nor Susan cooked much, she had the thought that maybe they could zest up boxed macaroni and cheese or blah frozen dinners with them if they thought of it.



Their instincts were right, especially about the garlic.  Although they had a short break, it was not long before Susan got another message, anonymous this time because she had blocked his account.  But she knew who it was before she even did any tech sleuthing to confirm it.

The summer evenings heighten my thirst.  I look forward to another fine drink with you one night soon.

Her skin crawled and her stomach turned with fear and disgust, and she eyed the pots of garlic outside the door warily.  I really hope that’s enough. She wondered if she should smear garlic oil on the window frames, too, along with chowing down on an extra clove or two around sunset.  A shame it was summer now, because even with air conditioning, it would make the house utterly reek.  Regardless, she had to talk to Boyd about it right away.



After Boyd and Susan dropped Blair off at the beach for her weekend scout meeting, Susan stopped halfway up the boardwalk.  “Hey, now that it’s just you and me, I’d like to talk to you for a minute.  Out here in the open and, uh,” she glanced up, “nice sunny weather if you don’t mind.”

“Sure.”  Boyd sat down with her on one of the nearby benches.  “What’s going on?  I noticed you’ve seemed on edge since we left the house.”



“Vladislaus is coming after me again.  He messaged me bragging about it.  It’s a sock puppet account, but it’s obviously him.”  She showed Boyd the message, and he grimaced at his screen as he read it.

“What a creep.  Boy, I’d love to just freeze the fangs right off this llama.  Then he can see if eternal life comes with good dental coverage.”

“He’s taunting me.  Obviously, he’s been lurking around or watching in some way, even if we haven’t seen him.  Which means he likely knows we’ve been trying to prepare for him, and he thinks he can get around it.  I hope he’s not amping up his game or has more powers we don’t know about.”

“Unfortunately, we’ve got to sleep sometime, and toilet pranking aside, it’s not like we can have Jonathan stand guard every night.”  Boyd frowned.  “He said it would take a lot of garlic to keep him away, and we did plant a pot of the stuff by each door.  The living plants have to give off more anti-vampire whatever than dried inert bulbs.”

“What if it’s not, though?  And what if he knows about the freeze ray and just isn’t worried about it?”

“Odds are he hasn’t been hit by one before.  If he knows about it, he’s probably assuming that it won’t kill him, but he might not realize how much it would slow him down and ideally prevent him from snacking on you.”

“But what would we do with him even if we did ice him?  We can’t just leave him as an ugly yard ornament.  Even if the summer sun didn’t thaw him right away once it rose, eventually it would either kill him or really tick him off as he flies off to the nearest shadowed area out of it.  If he survived, you know he’d seek revenge once he recovered.  Probably not just drinking from and either turning or killing me out of spite, but maybe killing you and even Blair.  We don’t know for sure what he’s capable of.  And if it killed him…”  She trailed off as she pondered it.  “I don’t want to kill anyone, even him.  I just want him to leave me alone.  Vampire or not, he’s still someone.  Not to mention there’d also be legal repercussions, the first of which would be us having to prove we killed him in self-defense with that experimental lab equipment.”



“I don’t want to kill him, either!  But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified of what he might do to you, or Watcher forbid, Blair.  Or me.  Even if you two were fine, I still don’t want to die being drained or mangled into a pulp by an angry vampire, and I don’t want any of us to wake up from an attack only to find out we’re now card-carrying members of the fanged revenant club against our will.”  He sighed heavily.  “I just wish we had something else up our sleeve.  Because like you said, if he’s sending you messages like these, he believes we can’t stop him and he’s getting some twisted thrill out of watching us try.”

“If it was at all a joking matter, I’d say it’s a shame whatever mother he once had never taught him it was rude to play with his food,” Susan said bitterly, and then choked up.



“Sorry.  I hate breaking down like this.  It’s just…”  She could not hold it in any longer and let out a sob.  “Why me?  Why me, Boyd?  What did I do to deserve this?”

“Absolutely nothing.”  Boyd took Susan’s hand and met her eyes when she opened them.  “He’s a llama and a predator.  They don’t use the same logic we do.  You didn’t do anything but exist and be unlucky enough to catch his eye.  And if you want a second opinion, Jonathan will back me up on that.  He deals with creeps like this for a living.”

Susan sniffled.  “I know that logically.  I just can’t help but feel, illogically, that it’s not fair.  I didn’t go around looking for attention or flirting with vampires.  I was just living my life and this weirdo flapped his stupid bat wings in and invaded it deciding I was going to be his next thirst-quencher.  I hate it!  He could easily find someone into vampires or with a vampire or occult fetish on a group online or in a night club on any given night, but no.  He chases after me, a happily married engineer with a child and zero interest in him and barely any in vampires beyond curiosity.  I never sought out vampires or vampire groups online or anything like that!  If I’d been active in those kinds of places, or hanging out in vampire clubs or Forgotten Hollow, I could understand it.  Even if I was an occult researcher looking up vampires every day at the library, that would make more sense.  But I’m not.  I build robotics, and you and I have talked far more about aliens or ghosts than vampires before all this nonsense happened!”  She fell against Boyd, crying.

“It’s not fair.”  He comforted her as he held her close.  “If I had to guess, I’d theorize he’s decided you’re some kind of challenge.  It goes right along with the taunting and trying to win you over behavior.  But whatever his reasons, he’s not going to win.  We’re not going to let him get you.  We’ll figure something out.”



“I hope so.”  She stood up and hugged Boyd again.  “And in the meantime, I hope you don’t mind the garlic breath.  I’d like to go to the grocery store and pick up some more before tonight.”

“Sure.  We can go right now, while Blair’s still at scouts.”

“Okay.  Thanks for bearing with me.  You know I hate getting all upset like that.”

“Hey, Vladislaus is enough to rattle anyone.  I’m impressed with how well you’ve held it together this far.  I’m still wrestling with the conflicting desires of wanting to build and hide us all in some underground vampire-proof safe room, or going the other extreme of breaking into his creepy old mansion, finding his coffin, zapping him into an ice block, and unloading as much dry ice as I can stuff into that coffin to keep him there for a long, long time.”

She leaned back and met his eyes.  “I know you’re being facetious, but please don’t confront him.  Like I said before, we don’t know what he’s really capable of.”

“Makes me wish I did know a vampire I could ask.  Preferably one that doesn’t like Vladislaus.”  He chortled.  “Maybe I should take Caleb Vatore up on that invitation to stop by and meet his sister sometime.  Assuming he actually is one, and not just someone that lives in Forgotten Hollow and dresses the part.”



“I’m not sure it’s a smart idea to get ourselves on the radar of even more vampires.”  Susan glanced down toward the beach.  “Imagine if we miscalculated and got ourselves turned.  We’d have to move.  Sunny Brindleton Bay is no fit home for a creature of the night,” she finished dryly, but Boyd could not shake his renewed anxiousness.

“I know you’re the one joking this time, and I’m glad you’re feeling better enough to smile again, but I just hope that whatever we do to keep him away, it works.”

“Me too.  Come on.  Let’s go get that garlic.”


Author’s Note: Even though the family is still small, I created a family tree for this story on Plum Tree that you can follow if you’d like. I’ll be updating it as sims are born and age up to young adult in the chapters, and add relevant traits earned from aspirations. I won’t bother with need-based ones like steel bladder that I give pretty much all my sims, but any affecting their personality, I will.

I also included the grandparents in it since they’re part of this story. In case you’re curious, the pre-marriage name for Boyd’s mother, Caspian, is a nod to Sims 3’s Billy Caspian, who has similar sliders to Boyd’s facial features in TS3. In my headcanon, they’re related, probably around second cousin level, with Myra hailing from somewhere in Billy’s family.  Maureen’s last name, Blake, is just the name I used to imagine for Susan before I found out that she was originally named Bronte in the TS3 files. I’ll also be linking to the tree on the story’s chapter list post.

The Family Tree on Plum Tree

[Cheezey]

Chapter 11

Even though they bought a hefty handful of garlic bulbs while Blair finished her scout meeting, it turned out to be for nothing.  For all the stress Vladislaus’ message had inspired, he never showed up that night, or if he did, he was unable to get in.  Regardless, it was a win, and Boyd and Susan were relieved.  Despite some anxiousness that kept them from falling asleep right away, once they did conk out, they slept soundly and woke up relaxed.



Susan woke up to an email from her mother letting her know that there was a festival in San Myshuno that night that she and Boyd might be interested in.  Maureen apologized for the short notice but said that the Romance Festival was delightful and fun, and that she was certain that Susan and Boyd would enjoy the romantic night out it if they decided to go.  She mentioned that she and Patrick would not be in town that night due to other plans, but they were welcome to crash at their apartment if they stayed out late and did not feel like driving home, or if not, they were also welcome to just to use their apartment’s parking for the festival.

Although Susan had heard of the Romance Festival before, she had never been.  That sort of thing was not her usual must-go-to sort of outing, but it sounded interesting.  They would have to take Blair along, which would not be as romantic, but even festivals like that had some things kids enjoyed, like balloons and concessions.  Besides, a late-night outing would mean there was a chance Vladislaus might show up only to find an empty house if they were not home yet.  The thought of him aggravated after making the trip from Forgotten Hollow all the way to Brindleton Bay just to find that she was not even there was darkly satisfying.  Maybe he would even decide she was too much trouble to satiate his thirst with after all and leave her alone for good.  That was wishful thinking, probably, but a pleasant thought nonetheless.



She called Boyd over to ask what he thought about going.

“A romantic night out with you?  I’m sold.”

“Well, it’ll be you, me, and Blair.  Mom and Dad aren’t in town to watch her, and even though their apartment is secure and has a doorman, I’d rather not leave her there alone that long.”

“I’m fine with that.  I’ve heard the Romance Festival has all sorts of sweets and flowers.  She’ll probably like that, and if not, it’s San Myshuno.  If the festival’s no fun at all for her, I’m sure we can make it up to her with some ice cream or something else she does like.”

“That’s what I thought.  Looks like we’re heading to San Myshuno today, then.  I’ll let Mom know we’ll need her and Dad’s parking space.”



It was almost dinnertime by the time they got to San Myshuno, parked at Patrick and Maureen’s building, and took a taxi to the festival.  Like most of the city festivals, there were lots of unique foods to try at the street vendors.  Blair and Susan wanted something a little different than what appealed to Boyd, so they started off their romantic family night waiting in different lines, but that was fine by them.

What Blair ordered took a little longer than what Susan did, so after Susan paid, she decided to secure a spot at a nearby table.  “Daddy should have no trouble finding us here.  I’ll sit down while they finish your stuff, but please don’t wander far.  This the city, after all.”

“I won’t.”

“You know, your order will be a few minutes, but the Sakura tea over there is free and fine for all ages,” the vendor suggested to Blair as he handed Susan her change.  “Why don’t you go and give it a try, if it’s okay with Mom?”  He nodded to Susan before turning back to Blair with a smile.  “It’s sweet and every cup comes with a flower in it.  It’ll make you feel like a princess.  I bet you’ll love it.”

“Oh, it’s delicious,” the man behind them in line agreed.  “It’s a must-have for everyone at the festival.”

 Blair looked at Susan.  “Can I?”

“Go ahead, but keep your eyes open and be safe.  Stay where I can see you.”

“Okay!”  She dashed off to get a cup.



Boyd came over with his food a moment later, wearing a new t-shirt from the festival that he had apparently just purchased.  “New shirt.  I like it.”

“Thought it might be nice to bring home a memento from the festival.  I got one for you and Blair, too.  Hope I did all right with the colors,” he said as he sat down to eat with her.

“I’m sure it’s fine, but now I feel like I should change to match you once we’re done eating.”

“I think there’s a bathroom over there.”

Susan wrinkled her nose.  “Public bathrooms.  Ooh, I hope they aren’t too bad from festival traffic.”

“Hopefully they’re on top of it with cleaning staff knowing they’re handing out lots of free Sakura tea here.”



The nearest tea station was not far at all from her parents’ table, and there was no line to get the tea.  Blair admired the neat drink with its lovely flower in the cup.  “It’s so pretty!  Is it really like a love potion?” she asked the attendant putting the cups together for festival patrons, who gave her a humoring smile back.

“So they say, but it cannot make you love anyone.  It only brings out what’s already in your heart.”

“What if you don’t love anybody?  Or don’t have a crush?”

“Ah, a young lady such as you might be inspired to imagine a great love story, then.  Perhaps an adventure where the hero falls in love with someone they meet along the way, or a tale of two lovers that are separated by an evil villain or a tragic situation.  Or even a surprise where the hero goes to vanquish the foe only to discover that the foe was not who they thought they were, but someone who just needed someone to care enough or love them.  Only your heart and imagination are the limit.”

Blair took a sip and thought about that.  “That would be so nice.  The bad guy turns good because of love, and there were less bad guys in the world.”

“Love makes the world a better place.”  The attendant topped off her cup.  “Enjoy your tea and have a nice evening.”



While Blair had her first cup of tea and then her dinner, Boyd and Susan finished up theirs.  After Susan was done eating, she headed to the bathroom to try on the shirt Boyd got for her while Blair took the empty plates and cups to the trash.  “Dad, can I get another tea?”

“Sure.  Go for it.”  Boyd kept an eye on her as she bounded over to the fountain excitedly, and then turned to Susan as she sat back down with him.

“Pink’s not usually my color, but it’s cute.”

“I think you look great.”

“Thank you, but you said that about what I wore here, too.”

He shrugged.  “That’s because it was also true.  You look great in just about everything.  And nothing,” he finished with a flirtatious smirk.

“Be that as it may, I won’t be wearing that here,” she teased, before looking around for Blair.  “So she went to get more tea?”

“She really seems to like it.  I also gave her some simoleons to get a snow globe souvenir and a dessert.  She wanted to try one of those puff things over there.”

“Good.  I’m glad she found some things she liked.  Maybe we should go give that tea a try.”

Boyd stood and gestured to the fountain.  “Lead the way.”



Blair was enjoying the tea and the festival.  It was fun being big and independent enough to walk around on her own and see things, even if she did have to stay within sight of her parents.  She wished there were some more toys, but she had gotten a cool snow globe, and the desserts were yummy.  Plus, she could have as much of the flowery Sakura tea as she wanted.  She’d never had a drink with a flower in it before.

She wondered if that was the kind of thing a princess got to drink in the old days.  It would be fun to be a princess, she thought, twirling around in a daydream.  A beautiful princess who would one day fall in love with a handsome prince, and they would become king and queen together ruling the most amazing kingdom.  Maybe they could go on adventures in it together, and they would be the ones to save their people from evil pirates or bandits or an evil sorcerer and his monsters.  Or even a dragon!  But maybe this dragon would not be mean or evil at all and they could become friends with it, and it could live in a big stone cave by their castle.  Kind of like she thought it might be in that dragon show her parents used to watch but told her she was not old enough to watch with them.  She knew a little about it anyway because the last episodes of it made them angry, and they talked a lot about it for a while.  Still, she imagined something like that would be a great adventure, to be a princess who becomes friends with a dragon and finds true love with a good handsome prince.  Oh, yes!



When they got to the pink Sakura tea fountains, Susan admired the displays while Boyd sipped at a cup first.  “Interesting.  Kind of…”

“Sweet?”  Susan guessed.  Considering how much Blair seemed to like it, she imagined it must be.

“Not as much as you’d think.  More… aromatic, I guess?  You’re the nectar connoisseur, so you could probably put it into words better than I can.  It tastes kind of like a flower smells.  But that’s me, and my nose is used to all sorts of odd vapors from the lab.”

“And the fridge, if I wasn’t always the one who cleaned it out,” she replied dryly as she got a cup.

He swirled his glass.  “It also gives this kind of cozy, warm, tingly feeling inside.”

“You mean like hot cocoa or hard juice warm and tingly, or the hot-for-you kind of tingly?”  She was curious, since it was supposedly a light aphrodisiac, but neither she nor Boyd had ever tried it before.

“Both, I guess?”  He eyed her suggestively.  “Or that could just be being at a romance festival with you.”



“Hmm.  So, I wonder, do they give away free tea with a placebo effect and rely on the power of suggestion and marketing of simply being at the Romance Festival to do the trick, or it is the real deal after all?  I suppose there’s only one way to find out.  Down the hatch.”  She raised her glass to Boyd, toasted with him, and drank while he finished what was left of his.



They chatted for a minute or two and then both began to really feel the effects of the tea.  While it had just made young Blair playful and imaginative, it had a stronger and different effect on adult physiology.  “I see what you mean now.  Definitely the warm, fuzzy, my, I can’t help but notice all these cute little things I like about you feeling.”  She stared at him with a flirty smile on her face and a sultry lilt in her voice.  “Like how your glasses are just this tiny little bit crooked and how you couldn’t help but get a drop of tea on your lips, that if it was just a bit bigger, it’d roll right down that jaw line of yours that I always thought was quite attractive.”

He stepped closer.  “Those are very interesting, flattering, and surprisingly concise observations,” he said on an equally playful and flirtatious note.

“Well, I am an engineer.  It goes with the territory.”  She met his eyes.  “And how are you feeling, other than warm and tingly?”

“Similarly.  I, too, have been noticing all of your numerous attractive features, and, wondering if it’s just me, the tea, or if the manufacturers of these festival shirts actually did cut the ladies’ version a little tighter around the flower on the chest.”

Susan was amused.  “I see.  So that’s the scientist’s experimental take on the Sakura tea, huh?  Anything else?”



“Yes.  Aside from the aforementioned sensation of ‘warm tinglies,’ it’s also amplifying my desire to do something a little impulsive, like, say… this.”  He pulled Susan into his arms and gave her a big passionate smooch.  Normally that sort of public display of affection would have been too over-the-top demonstrative for either of them, but they were far from the first at the Romance Festival to get a little smoochy-smoochy, and both were feeling quite flirtatious after that tea.

After the kiss, Boyd could not help but laugh at his own romantic cheesiness, while Susan giggled appreciatively.  “Wow.  I guess there’s something to that Sakura tea after all.”

“Either that, or I’m a big sucker for the placebo effect and their marketing.”

“If so, I’m there with you, because that was great.”  She gave him a coy look.  “It brought out all sorts of impulsive thoughts for me, too.  But it’s probably not appropriate to get too into that at the festival.”

He grinned.  “If it’s any consolation, you’re not the only one.  Maybe if we’re not too tired by the time we get home, we can discuss it then.”

“I’d love to.”  She took his hand as they spotted Blair by the flower display and went over to join her looking at them.



It was late by the time they got home from the festival.  Blair fell asleep in the car during the drive back from San Myshuno, and once they got home, she immediately went to bed.  Boyd and Susan were a little tired, but they were still feeling the effects of the Sakura tea.  They sat down on the bed and Boyd kicked off his shoes after tossing his festival shirt toward the hamper from across the room.  They had changed back into their regular clothes before picking up their car since Susan insisted that they at least say hello to her parents if they were home and thank them for saving them the parking fees.  “But I don’t want Dad to point out we probably spent more on the t-shirts than we would have on parking, even if they were the ones who suggested we go to the festival with its expensive food and swag in the first place,” Susan had remarked.

As it turned out, Patrick and Maureen had not gotten home yet, so it was moot, but Boyd had not been wrong that Susan’s t-shirt was cut a little tight around the chest and the drive home was more comfortable in the looser one she wore there anyway.  “You missed,” she informed Boyd as she picked up his failed attempt at making a basket with his shirt and put it in with hers before sitting down.  “You need to work on your aim.”

“I’ll keep that in mind if I ever want to go pro at laundry ball.”

“Laundry ball I can take or leave, but a pro at laundry, meaning I’d never have to do it?  I’d love to see you take up that sport.”

“So what you’re telling me is you find me attractive lugging around baskets and bent over a washing machine?”

“Oh, absolutely!  I think you should test that theory.”



He chuckled and gave her a suggestive look.  “And here I find you attractive no matter what you’re bent over.”

“I notice that wasn’t a ‘yes,’ but nice attempt to deflect with a pick-up line.”

“Sorry.  I blame the tea.”  The playful smirk on his face called into question exactly how contrite he was, however.

She leaned back on the bed.  “Well, for the record, I am far too tired to get into any crazy positions tonight after that drive back from the city, but I might be up for a more… relaxed sort of unwinding.”

“I’m good with that.”  Boyd leaned back opposite from her and put his arm across her waist.  “I really did enjoy tonight with you.  That Romance Festival was fun.”  He stared into her eyes in that close position.  “And it’s not the Sakura tea talking when I say you really are beautiful and amazing.  Smart, gorgeous, a great mom, and you get me and all my quirks.”

“I love you and your paranoid scientist quirks.  I feel lucky that I wound up with someone smart and interesting who likes and gets all the things I do, and who isn’t too hard on the eyes himself.”  She brushed a lock of his hair aside.  “Even if you do keep your hair a little shaggy and re-wear your pants a time too often before washing them unless I nag you.”

“Hey, it’s not my socks or underwear or sweaty shirts,” he protested, but Susan silenced him from rationalizing aloud further with a smooch.

“I’d rather not think about dirty socks right now if it’s all the same.”

Boyd answered with a little nod, and instead drew her into a more passionate embrace.



Their romantic post-festival interlude ended the night wonderfully.  It was ardent and intimate, and while they both drifted off afterward completely happy and satisfied, that late night lovemaking had two unintended consequences.

One, although they thoroughly enjoyed themselves in their intimacy, they were still tired and less careful to avoid a surprise pregnancy than they normally would have been.  Susan had already forgotten a pill earlier in the week, when she was overtired and sore from her vampire bite, but at the time woohoo was the last thing on her mind.  She made up that dose, but it lowered the effectiveness a bit.  Unfortunately, she misremembered that she had taken that day’s dose, too.  Even still, Boyd and Susan were typically diligent about backup measures when missed pills happened, but that night, not so much.  They thought it was only the one, and that stuff was all the way over in the nightstand, and they were in the moment.  Besides, one missed pill was not a big deal.  Perhaps it was the Sakura tea nudging up the excitement, but aside from an afterthought, they did not concern themselves with it in the heat of the passion.



Two, unbeknownst to them, Vladislaus Straud was lurking in the neighborhood at that late hour while they were making love.  He had hoped to get another taste of Susan’s delicious plasma, but it seemed she was off the menu for him that night.  The stench of garlic at the Wainwrights’ doors was irritating, but it was not enough to ruin his appetite or stop him.  However, it was far easier to get the less willing ones like Susan while they and any potential interlopers in their home were asleep.  Not only were both Susan and her husband awake, but in the middle of doing something that most would take great exception to being interrupted from.

No, he would have to come back another time.  But that was all right.  Brindleton Bay would surely have someone palatable to drink from, and waiting a little longer would just make Susan’s plasma that much more delectable once he tasted it again.