Once Upon a Time in Veronaville

And I love the t-shirt! Not exactly what you'd expect!

Another great story, SBW! I'm on the edge of my seat!!

 

Thanks! I made the T-shirt myself.

 

Tybalt was strung tighter than a violin these days. He was trying to keep it together but it was all starting to build up inside him like a time bomb. In the old days he'd have found someone to punch, but Nora didn't like violence and he respected that. Still, he was in need of an outlet, or he was going to snap.

Working out at the gym didn't seem to help. With every rep he saw images that seemed burned into his brain: Eliza dead, Nora on the verge of collapse, his older daughter white-faced and strained, even Lorelei, still a toddler, acting different, knowing something was wrong. And now images of his father, a man he'd feared and hated, come back to life like a zombie from a late-night horror movie. Juliet was off her rocker if she thought that stuff could be real.

But still he couldn't shake the notion that maybe she was right.

This was insane.

"I'm going for a walk," he said, ignoring the worried look Nora sent his way, and grabbed his coat on the way out the door.

 

He didn't know how he got there, but he found himself downtown, in front of Club Shakespeare. And there was his sister, Hermia, apparently on a date with some guy. Some tubby, brown haired ... that couldn't be.

"Hermia?" he said.

"Hi, Tybalt." She turned and smiled at him, but her smile was forced.

"You're on a date with Antonio Monty?" Tybalt was incredulous. Not only was Monty ten years older than his sister, he was Romeo and Mercutio's uncle. What was she thinking?

"Antonio, could you get us a table?" Hermia asked sweetly. He seemed hesitant, but then nodded and went inside. "Tybalt, behave yourself. I'm in love with him."

The bottom dropped out of Tybalt's stomach. This was too much. First Juliet married the enemy and now his own sister was in love with one of them?

"Too bad," he said. "Dump him."

"I will not," Hermia drew herself up to her full height and glared at him. "And you will behave yourself. Or else, Mister."

"Or else what."

"Or else you and I are no longer speaking."

"Hermia, he's the enemy."

"He may be yours. He isn't mine. Grow up, Tybalt. This feud is stupid."

Tybalt saw red. He'd needed an outlet, and now he had one. He pushed past Hermia, who tried to grab him, and walked into the club.

 

Tybalt behaving badly ...

During the date at Club Shakespeare

And on another date, where they got engaged, at Love's Labours Won, a new cafe in town. Hermia's out of college now.

 

Looks like Nora's got more work to do with Tybalt.

 

yeah sounds like: one step forward, two steps back.

 

Eliza felt stiff and cold, and hungry. Overwhelmingly hungry. So hungry. She woke and looked around her. Plain wood walls, cold hard floor. She didn't know where she was, or really who she was. She thought she had a name but she couldn't remember it.

And then she smelled him, heard his heart beat with warm, lovely blood. She stood and went to the door, opened it.

He stood outside, pulsing with life, and held out his arms.

"Liza, I've found you." His voice was choked with emotion but all she felt was lust, for the warm life beneath his throat.

She went to him.

 

Romeo woke in a daze. It was early morning, and gray light filtered through the old house's broken windows, illuminating its rotting floors. His neck hurt. He felt lightheaded. When he stood he had to sit down again and wait for the dizziness to pass.

Where was he? He fought to remember, and then it hit him.

Eliza. She had done this to him.

He didn't care.

She was alive.

 

Oh, Romeo.

I don't think vampires can be cured in this world. And who is going to be the one who has to drive a stake through her heart?

I'm so glad you've found the time to continue this story, SBW.

Happy Halloween!

 

This always seems to happen in your stories, SBW. At first everything's all soap-opera-esque, but once vampires are involved...it gets all angsty and dramatic. Like a 50's film.

 

Um, is that good or bad?

 

It's gotta be good. There are some pretty creepy old movies out there, like the original 1942 version of Cat People. Ever seen that one?

The best suspense is understated. The scariest stuff is never really seen, because our imaginations fill in the details better than any movie director.

Eliza is awful darn scary, more than the one who made her.

 

I think it's good! You always keep coming up with such great plot twists! Looking forward to seeing what you do with werewolves - either here in Veronaville or over in Porta de Luca!

 

LOL, don't worry, it's good. I like how you changed the way vampires are turned in this "universe".

 

Nora couldn't stand living in the house where she'd found her sister dead so they moved to a nicer house on the canal. It suited Tybalt's new position at the company better, anyway.

The new house had much more room for a family of four. Fiona wanted a pet so they bought two cats, Emma, a calico, and Knightley, who was black. Tybalt grumbled about hair on the furniture but Nora noticed that he played with the cats when he thought no one was looking.

Everything slowly started to return to normal. No leads had turned up in Eliza's murder, and Nora was slowly getting used to the idea that her beloved little sister was dead, and unlikely to be avenged. There was a hollow feeling in her heart that never quite went away, but being a mom helped. With school and potty training and now the cats, Nora didn't have a lot of time for contemplation.

And then one night, as she was taking out the garbage, she looked up and froze.

Standing in front of her, pale as death, was her sister.

 

Nora screamed, dropped the trash, and ran inside the house. The girls looked up from playing dolls. Tybalt looked over his paper.

"Eliza," Nora said.

Tybalt put the paper down, eyes full of concern. "Fiona," he said, "Put your sister to bed."

Fiona, wide-eyed, obeyed, taking the toddler's hand and leading her slowly upstairs.

"Sit down, Nora," Tybalt said, but his wife was already heading for the door.

"She's out there. She needs me."

"She's dead, Nora," he said, a bit harshly, fear in his voice.

"I'm not crazy, Tybalt. I saw her."

"Her ghost?"

"I don't know. She didn't look like a ghost."

Tybalt went outside, Nora on his heels. The yard was empty.

"I saw her," she said, and started to sob. "I saw her."

Tybalt put his arm around her and steered her back inside. "Let's get you to bed."

 

It's after midnight and I'm sitting here by myself reading this. I got chills! And now I've got walk down the dark hall to get to bed.

Goodnight. :bitelip:

 

YAY! The adventure continues!

 

When Tybalt got home from work late one night Juliet and her twins were at his house. Juliet was wearing maternity clothes. "Elinor went out," she said. "She'll be back late."

"Where'd she go?" Tybalt asked, immediately suspicious.

"Just out." Juliet tried to make it sound nonchalant, but failed. The twins and Fiona, picking up on the sudden tension, gathered up toddler Lorelei and headed upstairs.

"She's out looking for her sister, isn't she," Tybalt said quietly, suddenly feeling old.

"She knows she saw something," Juliet said.

"You put her up to this, with all your nonsense about people coming back from the dead," he said, temper rising.

"What if it isn't nonsense?"

"Give me a break."

"Tybalt, we grew up in a haunted house, for crying out loud. How can you acknowledge that there are ghosts, but refuse to accept the possibility that there's something else out there?"

"I will not have you filling my wife's head with false hopes. She was devastated when her sister died. She'll grasp at anything to have her back. I'm worried for her sanity, and you're treating this like a game."

"You're wrong," she said. "But I know what I saw. I saw your father, and if Elinor says she saw Eliza I believe her."

"Out. Get out," he said, pointing at the door. "You're no longer welcome in my house."

"Open your mind, Tybalt, before it's too late."

"OUT!!!"

Juliet left, taking her twins with her, and Tybalt had a sudden urge to hit something. He took a deep breath, put his kids to bed and went downstairs to have a drink and wait for his wife.