Once Upon a Time in Veronaville

"Hello, son," Richard said.

Father and son stared at each other.

"You're dead," Tybalt said, finally.

"Unfortunately," Richard said with a dramatic sigh. "But soon, you will be too. Join me, son. We always were two peas in a pod."

"I hated you," Tybalt said. "But that's nothing to how I feel about you now." He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and realized they were surrounded by ... might as well say it. By vampires. Vampires who until recently were family. Goneril, Regan, Cornwall, and one or two people he didn't recognize. Plus two very large wolves, who growled low in their throats. He, Mercutio and Adrienne stood back to back in a triangle, facing the vampires.

"I notice Eliza didn't choose to join you," Tybalt said. "That must really sting, huh? She chose a mortal over you."

"You're trying to rattle me," his father said. "It won't work. Join me."

"Never."

"I will kill you and force you to, you know."

"You'll die trying."

"Kill them," said the vampire, sounding bored, and his entourage attacked.

 

They put up a good fight, but they lost. They were simply outnumbered, and the vampires had insanity on their side. Mercutio felt his arm break as Cornwall hit him with a club, saw Adrienne pinned under Regan and Goneril, fighting for her life. Richard and Consort had Tybalt cornered, but he suddenly broke free, kicking Goneril so hard she flew off of Adrienne, giving the vampire hunter time to scramble to her feet.

"Run!" Tybalt shouted. "Save yourselves!"

Mercutio knew he had no choice. Juliet may not forgive him for abandoning her cousin, but she wouldn't forgive him for dying either. He grabbed Adrienne by the arm and they ran for it, down to her waiting car, diving inside as she gunned the engine and tore off down the street, the forces of hell at their heels.

 

Very scary stuff. A whole nest of them. Yikes. I can't imagine any way out of this. I can't wait for more.

 

Tybalt came home in the early morning hours, just as they were heading out to rescue him. Elinor, Juliet, Mercutio and Adrienne had been up all night, trying to decide what their next move should be, their children camped out upstairs.

He looked terrible. Nora ran to him and helped him to a chair while Juliet poured him a drink. "Here," she said, thrusting it into his hands.

Blood ran down his face, which looked dead white, even paler than its usual alabaster hue, and he had a bite on his neck.

"Tybalt, your neck ... " Nora's face went as white as his and Mercutio helped her sit down, but she stood up immediately and went to tend to her husband.

"Congratulations, everyone," Tybalt said, smiling without humor. "The Monty-Capp feud is officially over."

"How can that be?" Juliet asked.

"Juliet, my dear, we have much bigger fish to fry. As of tonight, it's war."

 

"So, let's go burn that house to the ground," Adrienne said, rising to her feet.

"No," Tybalt said. "There's a kid living there."

Everyone stared at him.

"A ... kid? How old?" Nora said finally.

"I dunno. Three, four? Anyway, we can't kill a kid."

"Vampires don't breed," Adrienne said, sitting back down.

"But they haven't been vamps that long," Tybalt pointed out. "As far as I can tell, it's my aunt Regan's kid, Bennet. He's feral. The wolves won't let you near him. Probably them that's raising him."

"So, we have the police remove him," Mercutio said.

"No good. The police have always been in my grandfather's pocket, and now they're in ... "

"Richard's." Juliet said.

"They're guarding the house during the day," Tybalt said.

"So what do we do now?" Nora said.

"I need to think. This is an invisible war we're fighting. No one will believe us, at least no one who hasn't seen them for themselves. So for now, trust no one."

"Including you," Mercutio said, standing up. "Juliet, get the kids. We're leaving."

 

"What do you mean?" Juliet said.

"Look at him. He's got a big old bite on his neck. For all we know he's in his father's thrall, and plans to take us down from the inside."

"You're right, of course," Tybalt said. "You have no way of knowing. I respect your decision."

After they, and Adrienne, had left, Nora said, "So, are you? Under his thrall."

"Nora, when did I ever listen to anyone who tried to tell me what to do? Including you. I'll be fine."

"But what if you aren't? And Tybalt, this is your family ... "

"I don't want to think about it. I need to think about what to do next. Everything changed tonight." He looked at his wife. "You look dead on your feet. Get some sleep."

"What about you?"

"I couldn't sleep if I tried." He kissed her forehead. "Good night."

She went upstairs, reluctantly.

Tybalt sat in the early morning sunlight in the kitchen of their new house, thinking, for a long time.

 

Just now caught up. Can't wait to find out how they solve all of this. It's gotten very complicated.

 

Wow! I've missed this story, as well as a few others. I'm so glad it's back up and running. It's great!

 

I'm finally getting caught up after Christmas Vacation...WOW! Please don't leave us hanging too long, SBW!

 

Tybalt slept fitfully all day and woke when the sun went down, suddenly inexplicably alert.

Come to me, son.

The pull was almost irresisitible, but Tybalt resisted. "No."

He made dinner for his family, did some reports for work, played with the cats, helped Fiona with her homework. She was turning out a lot like him: smart, hot-headed, opinionated. Lorelei was her mother's daughter, sweet natured, kind and stubborn.

"Is something wrong?" Nora asked, looking up from where she was helping Ariel with a school project. Suddenly having four daughters instead of two seemed to phase her not at all. She took everything in stride. "You seem very distracted tonight."

"Huh?" Tybalt asked. He'd thought he'd been acting so normally.

"Twelve divided by three is four, not six," she said gently. "I think you need to get more sleep."

You know you belong with me, son, Richard's voice said in his head. Don't worry. Soon your entire family can join us as well.

"I ... think I need to go for a walk," Tybalt said.

"No," Nora said, standing up. The girls all looked up, staring at them.

"What do you mean, no?"

"I'm worried about you," she said. "I don't think it's safe for you to go walking around, not after ... what happened to Eliza. Please, stay home."

He looked into her eyes, saw the worry there, and gave in. "All right," he said, trying to make light of it, "worrywart. I'll stay in. Who's up for a game of chess?" He needed something to distract him.

He and Fiona played chess until her mother insisted it was her bedtime. All four girls had school tomorrow, so even teen-aged Desdemona was sent off to bed, despite her protests that she was "old enough to stay up until eleven, for gosh sake."

Nora sat down across from him and took his hands. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"What? No, everything's fine." He wasn't sure why he lied. Deep in his mind, an evil voice laughed.

"Well, if you say so," she said, looking unconvinced. "I've got to get up early to get to work, myself. I'm thinking about quitting my job on the force. Everything's changed since ... "

"Think about it first," he said, "we can't afford to lose the last honest cop. But I'll support you no matter what."

She smiled and went upstairs.

He walked to the door and opened it. Knightley the cat rubbed against his legs and he bent down absently to pet him. What was he doing? He shut the door.

He spent the evening pacing back and forth, almost making it outside and then shutting the door several times. He was sitting in the kitchen, forcing himself to just sit and have a cup of tea, when Lorelei came downstairs, dressed in her nightgown, long red hair streaming around her tiny shoulders.

"I can't sleep," she said. "I had a bad dream."

He held out his arms and she climbed into his lap. He held her, her small head leaning against his chest, breathing in her scent of baby shampoo and sleepy child, and realized how insane he was being. Lorelei and Fiona needed him, and now so did Desdemona and Ariel. And Nora. What would happen to her if he joined his father? Bad enough that her beloved sister was a creature of the night. She'd be devastated, go mad even, and who would care for this precious child in his lap?

Come to me, son, the voice insisted.

Go to hell, he said, and shut that door forever.

 

good for Tybalt... hang in there buddy.
Question: I've never played the vampire option, so is Tybalt full vampire now and needs to use the vampercin stuff to get back to normal?

 

He's not a vampire. I changed the rules for this neighborhood. He got bitten once, but it takes three bites to be vamped. In Veronaville, in my game, vamporicillin doesn't work, according to the goddess (me). Once you're undead, you're stuck.

But normally, if a sim becomes a vampire, yes, they need to drink Vamp-D to be "unvamped."

 

SBW's Veronaville is a very scary place.

If Tybalt just concentrates on his children and Nora then maybe he'll be OK.

 

Oh, poor Eliza! I hate to think of her as doomed to walk with the undead forever! Surely there must be a way to rescue her even now? But I guess I will have to wait to find out...Good Stuff, SBW!

 

Random pictures, long overdue ...

Scariest vampire ever: Consort Capp, the grey man.
At the anniversary party.
Boo! Consort gets scared by a dead relative.
Wolves in Veronaville.
Bennet Capp, aka Cuddles With Wolves.

 

More pictures ...

Dead Cordelia (Juliet's mom). In case you hadn't seen her. She looks almost real. Eerie.
Richard's idea of a dream date. Bye, bye, Pammy.
Scary doggie. Heh.
Ariel becomes a teenager. They're kids for such a short time ...
The entire family at dinner.

 

Consort is extremely sinister looking.

That last picture, with the toddler is really good, and really cute.

It's a fascinating story altogether. I've always figured that Eliza was completely doomed, like in the old movies. That's how I've been imagining this story, like one of those classic movies.

(Oops, I think there are more pictures to look at.)

Yikes, Cordelia is the most frightening ghost yet.

And the family at dinner. LOL, looks like someone is suggesting they all leave town on an airplane.

 

Emma and Knightley, playful kitties.
Fiona as a teenager.
Mercutio after the fight.
Irina, poor thing, takes after him, but I like her nose ...
Ricardo, the baby, annoys Falstaff the cat.

 

I'm laughing out loud at these last pictures. So funny, the expression on the cat's face. And poor Mercutio (LOL.)

 

Consort really does look like one scary vamp; though, it's funny to see him so scared of a ghostie and a wolf!!

Fiona is beautiful. She has very strong features.