Chapter 3.11 There is Nothing Awesome about Moonlight Falls

 

It was still dark with the early morning sun not yet peering over the snow capped mountains when I found my way to my new, yet temporary, home that Autumn had rented for me. The walk from the train station was spent in total quiet. Not even the sounds of crickets chirping. Nothing but sounds of silence.

Back home in Twinbrook it was warm and sunny as spring was transitioning into summer. But here in Moonlight Falls there was a chill in the air. A thin layer of frost clung to the blades of grass and hung from the trees that were starting to change color. I should have been cold, but my newly acquired fur kept the chill away.

Just thinking about the fact that I now have fur made me sick. But I couldn’t focus on that right now. I didn’t want to think about the past 24 hours, and how everything had changed so drastically.

 

All I wanted to do was crawl into bed, and sleep my cares away. I was so exhausted that I didn’t even bother pulling back the bed covers. I just passed out on top of the bed, which to my delight was surprisingly comfortable. Who knows, maybe when I wake up I will discover that this was all just a horrible nightmare. In the morning I will find myself back in my nice safe bed, in my own room, with Captain still asleep by my feet.

No such luck.

I was rudely woken up by loud, and very annoying, banging on my front door. No one knows I am here. Who on Earth could be at my door? And what could they possibly want?

 

I stood at the door and demanded to know, “Who is there?”

I looked through the peephole to see three people standing at my front door. One was a female bride of Frankenstein looking sim; I guess you could call her a ragdoll. She had blueish grey skin with scars from stitches all over her body and face. To the doll’s far left was a male fairy. That is not a comment on his sexual orientation. I mean to say that he was a literal fairy, wings and all. In the center of this intruding trio was a female. She looked human enough, but in a place like Moonlight Falls who’s to say otherwise. In her hands was a giant wicker basket wrapped with a variety of foods and other useless trinkets.

“We are your Moonlight Falls Welcome Committee,” the middle human female sang as she talked. She was way too perky for it being so early in the morning. They have said only seven words to me, and I already hate my neighbors.

“Go away,” I growled.

 

“We are here to welcome you to the neighborhood,” the ragdoll added in almost perfect harmony of annoyingly upbeat enthusiasm.

“We have a welcome basket for you,” the female human chimed in.

“Are you going to come out or not?” the fairy was not as patient as his female companions. Either way, I was not going to open the door.

“I don’t want your stupid basket,” I growled louder, “just go away.”

“Well,” the female human didn’t let my roar dampen her positive attitude, “I’m just going to leave the basket here for you. I live two houses down, so feel free to stop by anytime.”

“I said leave me alone, and GO AWAY!!” I let out such a loud roar that it surprised even me.

Without saying another word the trio left the basket at my door and walked away. But before leaving the fairy turned around and flipped me the bird.

 

Finally, I can go back to sleep. My bed was looking softer and more comfortable the closer I got to my bedroom. I was proud of myself for yelling at my neighbors, so they will never bother me again. No more stupid interruptions.

Or so I thought.

“Well, that was rude.” a voice reprimanded.

I looked around the bedroom, and found no one else there with me. Don’t tell me that not only do I now look like a beast, but that I am slowly going insane and hearing voices in my head?

“Who’s there?” I demanded.

“It’s me.” the voice said, “I am over here.”

I frantically looked around the room. I looked under the bed and in the closet, but no one was there. I double checked the bathroom, but the source of the voice was yet to be located. I peeked out the window, but there wasn’t anyone outside either. There was not a single person to be seen.

“You’re getting warmer. No, stupid. Now you are getting colder.” the infuriatingly obnoxious voice directed me as I searched the room once again.

Plumbob, I really am going crazy. “I seriously need to get some sleep.” I moaned.

 

“Try looking in the mirror dumbass.” the voice was getting short with me, which was not called for. And looking the way I do, the last thing I ever want to do is look into a mirror. But I was too tired to argue, and too exasperated to play anymore games. So, I did as I was told and looked over at the mirror.

The mirror could have come from a medieval gothic castle, it looked that old. The mirror stood tall, almost as tall as the dresser, and had ornate carvings all around the glass. But what really caught my attention was the giant floating mask looking back at me. “Hello there,” the mirror smiled at me. Of course the house that Autumn picked just ​had to have a taking mirror. This is just my luck.

Wait, what am I saying? A talking mirror? There is no such thing. This is all just part of my dream. There is no face in the mirror talking back at me. There is no such thing as a magical mirror. On the other hand, 24 hours ago I would have told you that witches and fairies don’t exist either.

 

“I know that you are new to Moonlight Falls,” the not real talking mirror continued speaking to me. “But trust me when I say that you do not want to piss off your neighbors. Especially not with Grendel in charge.”

“Who the fuck is Grendel?” I asked the magical mirror of my sleep deprived hallucination.

“That doesn’t matter now,” the mirror replied. “Right now you need to go to that poor girl’s home and apologize for being so rude. But you can’t go dressed like that.”

Before I could utter one word of protest the all too real mirror magically transformed Grandpa’s old rags that I was wearing into a stupid looking suit.

“There, that is so much better.” the face disappeared, but the voice remained so I could see myself in the reflection.

“I look ridiculous.” I complained.

What the plumbob have I gotten myself into?!?!

 

Side Note: There are only a few notes this time around. I am not sure how many of you read these chapters from the Reader in WP, or from the blog site itself. But just in case you missed it, I updated the site header to show Beast Lincoln.

For this chapter, and for the others going forward, I am adding different lighting and filter effects to the photos. I was going for a reverse Wizard of Oz type of effect where everything in Moonlight Falls is dull with dark tones. After all, Lincoln certainly isn’t in Kansas anymore.

Please let me know what you think of the effects. Is it too dark or not dark enough? Are detail getting lost in the edited photo? Please be honest. I am a big girl and I can take criticism (as long as it is constructive). It won’t hurt my feelings.

And as always have a great day or night depending on when you are reading this.

 

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Special Chapter: The Scoop on Moonlight Falls

 

I’m sure that most of you know Moonlight Falls as the world that comes with the Supernatural EP. I haven’t spent much time playing in this world, or with the different supernaturals in general. However, all that changed when Lincoln decided to call Moonlight Falls his new home (or at least his home until he can find a way to break the spell that he is under).

I wanted to make an interesting history for Moonlight Falls, and hopefully this special chapter helps you understand the town, the people/various supernaturals that inhabit the town, and the rising conflict that Lincoln has inadvertently walked into the middle of (ooh foreshadowing).

In the end, my hope for you is to have a better understanding of the back-story of what was going on before Lincoln came to Moonlight Falls, and how that past affects his present.

 

Time for a History Lesson

Moonlight Falls was once the hotspot for all things supernatural. Any supernatural being could be themselves without fear of rejection, discrimination, and most importantly without the gawking eyes of humans. Humans have always known that these supernatural beings actually do exist, although most details about them were shrouded in mystery. Humans didn’t understand them, therefore all things supernatural were feared and avoided at all cost. But as time when on, and supernaturals became ingrained into pop culture, they became less scary and more of an obsession for humans.

For an example of what I mean we can take a look at vampires. The old legends and even old black & white movies show vampires like Dracula as scary, blood sucking monsters who will come at you at night and terrorize your village. Contrast that to how vampires are viewed in today’s culture. Remember the vampire craze that followed the ​Twilight series? Or notice how ​Hotel Transylvania portrays Dracula as the comedic goofball? All stories have vampires, but in today’s culture vampires are considered sexy or funny, and not at all scary. That, in a nutshell, is how Moonlight Falls went from a supernatural haven to a sort of zoo where humans swarmed into town to gaze at the beings that they didn’t fully understand.

With the integration of humans and supernaturals mixing, of course biology takes over. You have humans and supernaturals making offspring. When a human mates with a supernatural there is a 50/50 chance that the child will be supernatural or not. If the child does end up being a supernatural, they are not as powerful as their fully supernatural parent. It is like when you make a copy of a copy. It is never as clear as the original.

As you can imagine these human/supernatural offspring are not well received by either humans or the supernatural. A human child with a supernatural parent can usually get away with integrating into “regular” society (look at Brandon & Ivy). On the other hand, a supernatural child that is also partly human is looked down upon as less than. The supernatural community has a term for these not as powerful offspring: Immundus, which comes from the Latin word for “unclean”.

 

The Residents of Moonlight Falls

That brings us to the present day Moonlight Falls, and the start of the conflict. In order to fully understand the different sides of the battle we have to have a better understanding of some of the families that currently call Moonlight Falls home.

We will start with the Saavedra Family, a powerful, ancient, very well respected wizarding family. Think of them as the supernatural versions of the Kennedy’s or the English Royal Family. Grendel is the head of the Saavedra Family. He also happens to be the mayor, or more accurately he bestowed the title of Supreme Town Commander upon himself. This new title puts him and his family at the center of the conflict. His wife is Hecate and together they have a daughter, Thera, and a son, Alcander.

I feel like I should also mention that supernaturals age differently than humans, and at a much slower pace. Grendel might not look that much older than his son, but at the same time it is not wise to talk to him about the grey hairs that are starting to show up either.

 

As the “mayor” Grendel has decided to exterminate the humans from the town, which also includes the Immundus. But he knew that he couldn’t do this alone. Grendel needed the backing of another powerful family. His best option was to align himself with Osiris Petrov, the most powerful vampire in Moonlight Falls. By Osiris’s side is his wife Reina (she is just as scary/feared as Osiris, maybe even more so). Grendel & Osiris ordered their thugs, a gang lead by Alcander (who gave himself the title of Chief Enforcer), to drive out the humans and their Immundus offspring. Only a few Immundus currently remain in Moonlight Falls and, for the most part, are treated like second class citizens.

 

One such family is Mira Crumplebottom and her father Euclid. You might recognize the last name, since various Crumplebottoms have made appearances in all of the sims games since the very first one. In Moonlight Falls, even, there is a premade family of three Crumplebottom sisters. Right now all you need to know about those sisters is that they are Mira’s cousins, and the three of them are all fighting for Alcander’s attention.

Anyway, every family has a Black Sheep. The one person who has to go against the grain; the family embarrassment. Euclid isn’t the Black Sheep because he spends all of his time in his basement tinkering with his invention workbench. It’s not because he talks in frantic incomprehensible sentences. Euclid became the Black Sheep when he, a powerful warlock, married a human. Yes, that means that Mira is an Immundus.

 

Vampires and witches are not the only supernatural beings to call Moonlight Falls their home. Fairies have looked to Moonlight Falls as a safe haven away from the greedy humans who want to use the fairy dust for their own personal desires. As for the Saavedra & Petrov Families versus the Immundus battle, most fairies fall in line with the powerful wizard & vampire families. However, we will meet one fairy, Flint Blumenfeld, that takes sides with the Immundus. He is best friends with Mira, and is quick to come to her defenses.

 

My Moonlight Falls is also the home of several supernatural beings that are not part of the Supernatural EP. One such sim was not created by me. She was “assembled” by her “father” Frank Enstein. After many trips to the cemetery, and more than a few failed science experiments, Renatta was “born”.

Since Frank was a human, he was driven out of town by Grendel’s goons. Renatta isn’t technically an Immundus, but she is not supernatural either. The goons were not sure what to do with her, so they just left her in the house (after they tore it apart of course). She was all alone, scared, and didn’t know what to do. As luck would have it her neighbor, Mira Crumplebottom, happened to check on the house and found the poor doll. Mira helped the frightened girl, and they have been the closest of friends ever since.

 

Last, but certainly not least, are the werewolves. There are more than a few packs that reside in Moonlight Falls and the surrounding forest, but the main pack in this story is lead by Ryker Silas. His #2 in the pack is a female, which is uncommon but not looked down upon. Her name is Camilla Maynard. There are several other members of the pack (but because I am lazy I have yet to name them).

As you may or may not know, Werewolves and vampires have had a long standing battle going on for centuries. I could do a whole other post on this feud, there is just so much history there. For right now I am just going to concentrate on what is going on in Moonlight Falls.

Werewolves have never had any problems with the human kind. Out of all of the supernaturals, they have always been the most welcoming of humans into the mix. So, when Osiris started pushing the humans and the Immundus out of Moonlight Falls, the werewolves tried to fight back. However, they were no match for the Vampire/Wizard Alliance, and the werewolves were quick to surrender without much of a fight.

 

So, that is pretty much it. You are all caught up on everything you need to know about Moonlight Falls and it’s rich and interesting history. I could go into a lot more detail, but I will wait for certain things to be revealed as Lincoln learns them. Plus this history lesson and character introduction has become much longer than I had intended.

I am excited to know what you think. This is the first time I have ever gone into this much detail about a world and the residences that I have created. Is there anything you are confused about? Did I leave any details out? Is there something, or someone that you would want to know more about? Any feedback would be helpful.

Lastly, but certainly not least, I have to give a very big THANK YOU to Louise of NotJustaBook. I reached out to her asking for her guidance and as an editor for this special. Louise graciously accepted, and was very helpful in her feedback. Again, Thank you.  🙂

And as always, have a great day or night depending on when you are reading this.

Chapter 3.10 A Beastly Turn of Events

 

Waves of panic flooded over me. What the hell just happened to me? What did Becca do to me? What am I going to do now? Where am I going to go? I can’t stay in the park all night. Yet, I certainly can’t go home either. What the hell am I supposed to do?

Without any better ideas of where to go, I headed to the only place I always knew was safe; my grandparent’s old house. No one had been in the house since Grandpa died, so I knew that I would be alone. Plus, it was far enough away from the main house to ensure that I wouldn’t be seen by anyone either. The door was locked, but I climbed in through the back window to make sure no one could see me.

The next thing I needed to do was talk to someone smarter than me who could help me figure out how to turn me back into my former awesome self. After several failed attempts (my stupid claws kept fucking up the letters on the phone) I finally was able to send Autumn a text to come to the house.

 

 

I was hiding in the shadows when Autumn entered the home.

“Don’t turn on the lights!” I roared and with my new gruff voice I sounded madder than I actually was. I could see Autumn was starting to get frightened. I had to keep her clam, but I also needed to prepare her for what she was about to see. “I didn’t mean to yell, but you have to promise me that you are not going to scream when you see me.”

“Lincoln, is that you?” Autumn didn’t recognize my new beastly voice. “Where are you? What is going on?”

I couldn’t put this off any longer. I sighed as I stepped into the light so Autumn could get a look at her twin brother.

 

 

 

To her credit Autumn was shocked when she saw me, but at least she didn’t scream. She stared at me with her mouth gaping open, too stunned to say a word. It took her a few minutes to understand that the monster that stood before her is her once awesome brother.

I told her the whole story making sure to not omit any of the horrific details. She was patient as she listened, saving her obvious questions until the end of my story.

“So, what happens now?” Autumn asked the million dollar question. To which I replied, “I was sort of hoping you might be able to help me with that.”

 

“I was thinking that you might be able to create some sort of potion using that chemistry set of yours.” I was hoping Autumn could find a way out of this. She is the genius of the family after all.

“I don’t know if that will work.” Autumn said skeptically, “this was caused by a powerful supernatural force. I think that only the same type of supernatural power can undo this.”

Great. So I’m stuck like this forever?! What did I ever do to deserve this?

Autumn’s genius brain was working overtime trying to come up with a plan. Meanwhile, I was starting to itch. God, please don’t tell me I have fleas!!

After racking her brain, my awesome, super smart sister came through with a plan, “Let me do some research, find out what I can about magic spells, and witches, and about Becca. In the meantime I will tell Mom & Dad…”

I interrupted her to reiterate, “tell them, in fact tell everyone, that I moved to Bridgeport. I bought a cake, aged up, and moved to Bridgeport to be a Rock Star.”

 

Autumn was gone for most of the day doing her research. While she was gone I tried to find clothes that fit me better. Grandpa Ryan was not a big man, but he was athletically built. I managed to find a few pieces of clothing that helped cover up my fur. I don’t think I will ever get used to saying that; ​fur. Hopefully, with Autumn’s help I won’t be like this for very much longer.

While I waited for Autumn to return I tried to stay positive. I wouldn’t be stuck like this forever. My life isn’t totally over. Autumn will come up with a cure. Even if she has to drag Becca back here by her hair, Autumn will find a way to help me. Autumn will come through. She has to. I don’t have any other option.

I was starting to feel less hopeless, but when I saw the disappointed look on Autumn’s face when she returned, all hope I had managed to muster was gone in an instant.

“I went to Becca’s house,” Autumn recapped her day, “but there was no one there. The house looked like it had been ransacked and whoever was there had left in a hurry.”

 

Autumn’s news didn’t end there. She went on, “So, I went to school to hack into their records to see what I could find on Becca. It took a while since I didn’t even know her last name. I found out that her family moved here from a place called Moonlight Falls. And there is more. You are never going to guess who her older brother is; Aaron! Remember him? From elementary school?”

To be perfectly honest I never really got to know much about Becca and her personal life. I never asked her anything, because I never cared. It even took me a while to remember who Aaron was.

“That lead me to a dead end, since Aaron had to be sent to boarding school.” Autumn continued explaining what else she had discovered. “I did some more searching and found out that Becca’s dad worked at the old elixir shop in the swamp. Without any other options, I went to the shop to see what information I could find. At first the clerk seemed hesitant to talk to me. I finally managed to convince him that I was a friend of Becca’s and that she was going to help me with a spell, but I hadn’t heard from her in a few days. When I asked him about Moonlight Falls he said that, ‘it wasn’t a place for ​my kind’ by that I guess he means a human. Anyway, when he talked about Moonlight Falls he said that it used to be a haven for the supernatural, but since those ‘silly Twilight books’ more and more humans have been flocking to it. He ended with, ‘hopefully their new mayor can set things right’.”

 

So, that was my answer. Any hope I had at finding a cure would be found in Moonlight Falls, but I wondered, “how do I get there?”

Autumn answered my question before I could finish asking, “you know how there is a Dark Web? Well, did you also know that there is a Supernatural Web as well? I used the enchanted computer at the Elixir Shop to do some more research, and I was able to book you a train ticket to Moonlight Falls leaving tonight at midnight.”

Autumn handed me a small envelope and explained, “your ticket and directions on how to get to the supernatural train station are in there. I was also able to rent you a small house for your stay, however long that may be. I also took some money out of my university fund for you. It is not much, but it is all I have.”

Wow, Autumn had gone above and beyond anything I could have expected her to do. I can’t take Autumn’s college money, but she insisted, “I have enough scholarships that I don’t need the money. I want you to have it instead.”

Autumn came close for a hug goodbye, but I couldn’t let her touch me. I can’t be touched right now. Plus, I don’t want to risk what might happen if there was any physical contact; who knows what supernatural voodoo might rub off onto her. I wanted to cry, but my new beast eyes wouldn’t let me. Instead Autumn did the crying for both of us.

Tears fell from her cheeks as she said, “You may look like a beast on the outside, but deep down you are a good person Lincoln. I can’t think of anyone who loves his family more than you do. You may have done some things that were misguided, but I know that your heart was always in the right place. Whatever you are looking for in Moonlight Falls, I hope you find it.”

 

Before I left for the train station I took one final look at the house I grew up in. Wondering if I would ever see it again. I asked Autumn to tell Mom & Dad that I was sorry, but this was something that I just had to do. To tell Willow that it is her job to take care of Thor, and that I know she won’t let me down. To tell George that I wish him all the best in life, and tell Grandma Cindy that I love her more than anything.

On my way to the train station I stopped to say one final goodbye to Grandpa Ryan. Then I made my way to the train station to start my new life in Moonlight Falls.

 

Author’s Side Note:  I am sure that most of you already know this, but just in case, I had the honor to be interviewed by the super talented, and just all-around good person, Kymber.  You can read the interview HERE.  I cannot say enough nice things about Kymber and her story, which inspires me on so many levels.  If you are not currently following her blog, then you are missing out!

And again, thank you so much for asking me to do the interview.  I enjoyed it so very much.  🙂

Chapter 3.9 From Disaster to WTF

Side Note Warning: As you may have guessed from the title, there is swearing in this chapter. Lincoln isn’t totally hopeless yet, but most of the time I can’t get him to control his mouth. There is also one picture that NSFW. Hopefully this is nothing too offensive.

 

I was still beyond pissed off at my parents when I sent Brandy & Mandy a text to meet me at the outdoor amphitheater. It was an unusually chilly night for it being almost summer. I started a small fire while I waited for them. The more I poked at the fire the angrier I got.

I was mad at everyone. I was mad at Mom & Dad for not supporting me. I am their only son, and they should want what is best for me. I was mad at Autumn for trying to talk me out of leaving. I know that she meant well, but she has no idea what it feels like to be me. I was even mad at Grandpa Ryan for dying. If he was still here he would have had my back and talked some sense into my parents. I was starting to get mad at Brandy & Mandy for taking forever to show up.

Where are they?!?!

 

“It is about time.” I said as I heard rustling in the bushes.

I was expecting to see Brandy and/or Mandy when I looked up from the firepit. However, standing in front of me was a frail, wrinkly old lady whom I had never seen before. She was wearing a pale yellow nightgown, with a matching headscarf trying to cover her thin grey hair. She was still standing several feet away from me, but I could smell her old lady stink from here.

“Please, sir,” the ugly old hag said, “please let me stand by your small fire. It is so cold outside, and I have nowhere else to go.”

What was I supposed to do? What would The Twins think of me if they saw me standing by this old fruitcake sharing the fire I made for them? In a firm tone, with annoyance and anger in my voice, I told her, “NO”.

“You would turn away a poor old woman?” she wailed. “You would say no someone asking for your help?”

“Listen you old kook, I don’t know who you think you are, but how dare you talk to me that way. You are starting to piss me off” this old bird just made the list of people I was mad at tonight. “It is not ​that cold out here, you’ll survive. Go find someone else to bother. I am waiting here for someone, so you need to go away now.”

 

The old hag took a step back and asked, “Would you be so rude if I looked like this?”

In a puff of smoke the old lady was gone. She had morphed into a young, hot, sexy woman wearing a see-through gold bikini that left nothing to the imagination. All of a sudden I wasn’t missing Brandy and Mandy anymore. Who needs those two when I have every man’s fantasy standing right in front of me? She took a few steps closer to me (unfortunately is was not close enough). She swayed her hips and flaunted everything in all the right places.

“Can I stand by your fire now?” she asked, her voice sounding as seductive as Marilyn Monroe.

“Why make yourself look like that crazy old lady when you can make yourself look hot?” I asked the almost naked bombshell. “Looking like that you can do more than just ​stand next to me.”

“I made myself look old because I wanted to see what type of person you truly are.” the sex kitten purred as she blew me a kiss.

 

To my dismay nothing happened between me and my sex goddess. Instead she changed form once again. She didn’t turn back into the old hag (thank plumbob). This time she took the form of someone I knew all too well; my ex Becca.

“What the fuck is going on here?” I demanded to know what happened to the sexy super model? “What kind of fucked up game are you playing here?”

 

“I told you, I wanted to see what type of person you really are.”, Becca smiled as she spoke to me, although I couldn’t understand why. She was acting like she was privy to a joke that only she thought was funny.

These games were starting to get on my nerves. I had a few questions for my ex that needed to be answered right now. Like how the fuck did she know I was here, what the fuck is she doing here, and what the fuck is up with her not so funny magic trick? Before I could ask these questions aloud Becca chimed in with her responses.

“I put an enchantment on Brandy & Mandy’s phones. I have seen every perverted, disgusting sext you have sent them, and all of the gross sexts they have sent to you. I knew that you had asked them to meet you here tonight. I also made sure that they would not be able to read your message, so you can stop wondering where they are. The Slut Twins aren’t coming. I needed to get you alone.” Becca’s response only added more questions.

“But why?”

“I need the world to see you for who you really are Lincoln Charming.” Becca’s ridiculous smile was replaced with anger (another look that does not look good on her). “I want the world to see you for the monster you really are.”

I guess that I can be man enough to admit that I haven’t always been perfect all of the time. I’m not the model student that my parents want me to be. But to call me a monster? What did I ever do to her? Who does this bitch think she is?!

 

“You are rude, selfish, arrogant, mean, and selfish” Becca was madder than she was during Prom. So mad that she was having a hard time putting sentences together. “You are…you are… you are nothing but a beast!”

I had heard enough of Becca and her stupid insults. I wanted to walk away and leave this psycho behind me, but I couldn’t go anywhere. As hard as I tried I couldn’t get my feet to move. Becca had put a spell on me using some supernatural force that was beyond my control.   Before I knew it, she had my feet off the ground, lifting me a foot into the air. I kicked as I tried to fight my way out from under her spell, but all of my efforts were useless. I knew wasn’t going anywhere until she had finished her rant.

 

“You are a beast, and soon the whole world will know it.” Becca still had me under her control. She had me suspended off the ground, unable to run away.

But even then I wasn’t worried. What is the worst this girl could do to me? I am Lincoln James Charming. Nothing can hurt me. As she spoke I just laughed at her.

“I can see that you are not taking this seriously, but soon you will.” threatened Becca. She uttered some words that were not from this world, and a bolt of lightning shot out of her fingertips and pierced right through me.

For a split second nothing happened. I was about to laugh at her again, but then an immense pain suddenly shot through me. I felt like my skin was being poked with a million tiny needles. My insides felt like they were on fire. I became numb and yet fully aware of the pain all at the same time. I was involuntarily convulsing, but even then my feet wouldn’t fall. I was still supernaturally stuck in place as the lightning sent painful shockwaves up and down my body. It was a billion times worse than anything I could have ever experienced. My skin began to itch and burn, almost like it was melting off. The excruciating pain was getting so intense that I lost my vision. All I saw was white hot pain. After it was all finally over I found myself on the ground gasping for air.

 

Even through the pain I could still hear Becca’s words loud and clear.

“I am not done with you yet, Lincoln. I don’t know if it is my curiosity, or my need to make you suffer. Maybe it is a little bit of both. But I am going to leave you this rose as to remind you that even the most beautiful things can hurt you. And as a fun little bonus for me, I am going to add a little clause to this spell. If, and only ​if​, you can learn to actually truly love someone, ​and ​have that person love you in return; only then will this spell be broken.   Maybe you can change. Maybe you have learned your lesson. But who am I kidding, you will never love anyone but yourself. And who could ever learn to love a beast?”

 

After the pain subsided enough to allow me to stand, I tried getting my bearings. I knew where I was, obviously I was still at the outdoor amphitheater. Yet, it all looked different. It smelled different. Sounded different. I even felt different, and not just from the pain caused by the bolts of lightning Becca shot me with. I looked down at my hands and….

WHAT THE FUCK!!!

 

Author’s note: So there you have it. After 9 chapters we learn that this generation’s fairytale will be Beauty and the Beast. This story, however, will be told from the point of view of the beast. I am excited to show off the rest of Lincoln’s new look (I went on the CC Hunt to end all CC Hunts), but that will have to wait until the next chapter. 😉

I am dying to know what you all think. I would love to hear any feedback. I tried very hard not to leave too many hints about the fairytale reveal. Did any of you have any ideas about Lincoln being The Beast before reading this chapter? Let me know.  

And as always, have a great day or night depending on when you are reading this.

Chapter 3.8 From Prom-tacular to Disaster

So much has happened since prom night. Let me catch you up. First off, much to my utter dismay, no romantic connection formed between Autumn and George. Maybe it is all for the best though. Autumn will be going to college earlier than expected (she is just that smart). She has her pick of any top university that she wants to attend. And it is a known fact that long distance relationships don’t work.

On the plus side, Autumn & George seem to have become the best of friends. Autumn, George, and I have known each other since we were all toddlers growing up together. For the most part though, George was my friend while Autumn enjoyed playing by herself. Autumn has always been very shy and had a hard time making friends. She had been too shy to eat lunch with me and my entourage. So, I’m glad that she now has a friend in George. He has taken over my job of helping Autumn document her findings over the telescope.

 

I ​am ​happy to report that I haven’t seen Becca since prom night. Can you imagine how humiliated she must feel about how insane she acted when she saw me dancing with the Castor twins? She went bat shit crazy on me, and is probably too mortified to show her face out in public.

That, and I am sure that Becca is heartbroken beyond repair because I dumped her so publicly. I didn’t want to dump her in front of the entire school, but in the end she really left me no choice. Seriously though, what did she expect from me? Becca knew that we were never serious. Or exclusive. I can’t help it if she fell for me. It is not my fault that I am so devastatingly handsome and charming. Becca knew the risks. Sometimes when you play with fire, you get burned.

 

I, on the other hand, have been having the time of my life! Mandy & Brandy Castor sure know how to make a guy feel special. And boy, do I feel special. So much so that I completely forgot about the university entrance exam that I was scheduled to complete.

It is something that every high school student has to go though. We have to meet with one of our school counselors so they can administer some sort of test looking at all of our skills, our GPA, and our personality traits. The test is suppose to determine what area of study would be best when we enroll in the university of our choosing, and sets up any scholarships if needed. I couldn’t care less about missing the exam, because I have no interest in attending university. But Mom was not going to be so forgiving if she ever found out.

“How did the test go?” Mom asked me. She cornered me in the living room, and wouldn’t let me go.

I didn’t know how to answer her question. I didn’t want to lie to my mother, but I didn’t want to start a fight with her either. And I knew that if I told her I missed the test it would start World War III.

“It was fine.” I decided to lie.

“I guess I don’t have to ask which part of the test you excelled at the most.” Mom flashed the same ridiculous smile she does every time she thinks she is being clever. She meant that I was a shoe-in for the music program.

“Nope, you sure don’t” I said quickly, hoping that would be the end of the conversation. I was not so lucky.

 

“Lincoln James Charming,” I could tell Mom was super pissed because she very rarely uses my full name. “I know for a fact that you missed the exam. Your counselor called. Why didn’t you take the university exam? Why do you feel like you can lie to me?”

I didn’t know how to answer those questions either. What is it with parents asking questions that they already know the answer to?!

“If you knew that I didn’t take the stupid test then why did you ask me about it?” I was trying to beat Mom at her own game.

“I was giving to a chance to explain yourself.” Mom responded, “Are you sick, nervous, anxious about the results? Whatever it is you can talk to me about it.”

“No,” I was starting to seriously get offended by my mom’s constant interference in my life. She is always doing this to me. Always putting her nose into my business when she just needs to butt out! “Why don’t you just leave me alone? Just because you are crazy and have to see a therapist, doesn’t mean that I am messed up like you are!”

 

Let’s clear something up right now. I don’t take it back, and I don’t regret what I said to Mom. I know that she talks to a therapist once a week. She has been going for as long as I can remember. But seeing a therapist doesn’t mean that ​she has the right to psychoanalyze ​me. What I do regret is saying it loud enough for my dad to hear. He came charging out of the kitchen, faster than a charging bull, and he was just as pissed off.

“Do not speak to your mother that way.” Dad reprimanded me.

I don’t know if he was trying to scare me or what, but I was not backing down without a fight! “I don’t want to go to any stupid university, okay!!” I finally came clean. “I want to move to Bridgeport and be a Rock Star just like Leo Capra!”

For the next few moments both my parents stared at me in silence. Trying to comprehend what I was saying. They both looked at me as if I was speaking a foreign language. Like me being a world famous Rock Star is so hard for them to fucking believe. Then my parents recovered, and all hell broke loose.

 

“You think that you will just step foot off the plane, and what?” Mom and Dad questioned me like it was the Spanish Inquisition, “someone is going to run up to you and hand you a contract? Life doesn’t work that way. You need to go to university to hone your skills. If you want to be a rock star, then of course we support that. But why not go to university to train to be the best musician you can be?”

Mom thinks that she is so smart. That just because she went to college everyone has to. Well, I had a comeback for her stupid logic. “Not everyone ​has to go to university to be successful. What about Grandpa Ryan? He became a professional racer right out of high school.”

“Your Grandfather was recruited after high school. He also trained everyday and worked very hard to become as successful as he was. And I’m sure this Leon Capra is also very talented and works very hard at what he does as well.” Mom tried her best to calm down, but she doesn’t understand how dumb she is sounding right now.

Mom can be so stupid, she has no idea what she is talking about. So, I had to put her, and Dad, in their place by saying, “First off, it’s ​Leo​ Capra, and he is the greatest musician of all time. And his band, Accidental Therapy, is the best band of all time! I am going to Bridgeport to meet him, and be like his protégé. I will be the opening act when the band is on tour. And Leo will introduce me to all of the important people in the music business. I’ll be famous, you’ll see!”

 

“That all sounds fine, in theory.” Dad was not as mad as he was before, but he was still pretty upset at me. At least he stopped yelling. “But how do you plan on making that happen? When you are at the university you will make all sorts of connections. The University of Roaring Heights has a great music program. Why don’t you just at least talk to their admissions rep?”

The truth was I didn’t have the slightest idea how to get a meeting with Leo Capra or anyone associated with his band. It’s not like their phone number is listed. I couldn’t just Google it. But there was no way in hell I was going to tell my parents that.

“Grandpa believed in me. He always told me to follow my dreams.” mentioning Grandpa over and over again was a cheap shot to try to get Mom more upset. I figured that if I mention him it will distract her from asking me any more questions that I didn’t have the answer to. It didn’t totally work. Mentioning Grandpa made Mom sad, which made Dad mad at me again.

“Your grandfather set aside a college fund for you. He started it the minute you and Autumn were born. He has an account for Willow as well. Why would he do that if he didn’t want you to go to a good school to get a good education?”

I had heard enough. My mind was already made up. I am going to Bridgeport. I am going to be a famous rock star. I am going to have millions of adoring fans. And I will NOT let anyone stand in my way. “I don’t care what you say. And I am not going to stand here and listen to your stupid bullshit.”

“Do NOT curse at us, Lincoln James Charming. You are grounded for a month!”

“I can’t wait until I become a young adult. And then I can do whatever the hell I want. And you can’t fucking stop me!”

“that is enough!  Go to your room and don’t come down until you can stop being a smart ass!!”

 

I was so pissed off I stormed up to my room stomping my feet and making as much noise as possible. I didn’t come down for dinner. And I sent Willow away when she brought me up some leftovers a few hours later. I was still mad as hell, and I couldn’t stand being in that house with those hypocrite parents of mine for a minute longer. As soon as everyone was asleep I snuck out my bedroom window. I wanted to go meet Mandy & Brandy so they can make me feel better. I was in the backyard about to make a break for it, when I heard Autumn asking me to stop.

“How did you know I was out here?” I questioned her although I already knew the answer. The psychic twin connection can come out of nowhere when you are not expecting it.

“Go back into the house and talk to them.” Autumn pleaded with me. “You know that Mom and Dad love you. They just want what they think is best for you.”

“There is no reasoning with them.” I wanted to shout, but I had to whisper to make sure no one else woke up. “I can’t be here anymore. I need out now.”

“That fight between the three of you got way out of hand. Just take the night to sleep on it and tomorrow you all will be calmer and you can talk to them then.”

I should have listened to her. I should have gone back up to my room, and taken the night to cool off. I should have not let my emotions get so out of hand. I shouldn’t have let my stubbornness get so out of hand. I should have done all those things, because what happened next changed my life forever!

 

 

Second Blogiversary Special

What up, Bitches? Surprised to see me? Well, Socallucyfan wanted to host another Blogiversary Special again, but I told her that I wanted to do it instead. Give the people what they want, am I right?!

At first she said no, but then I threatened to turn her husband into a banana slug, so she quickly changed her mind. While I was at it, I also demanded that this time I have a full stylist squad to pamper me and give me something better to wear. Finally, I am free from the hideous orange jumpsuit, and back to my pre-jail self. Don’t I look fabulous?

Before the shooting of this silly little special began, I was handed a script. From here on out, whatever I say that is in the script will be in ​bold​. My own personal thoughts will be in regular.

I am suppose to talk about what an amazing year this has been, and even though there have been tough personal moments Socallucyfan is so thankful to all of you wonderful readers for being so supportive, and blah blah blah.

What a sappy load of shit! We all know the real reason why the readers follow this blog. And it is because of me! Why not just show a bunch more pictures of my fabulous photoshoot?

 

Alright, the stupid director is threatening me that I have to follow the script or he will do the special with April, May, and June.

Those three?! GAG ME!!! Those three always ruin everything!!

Fine, I will play along. The director is just lucky that I am forced to wear this stupid armband that restricts my magic. Or else he would be toe fungus right now!

 

Anyway, back to the script. Socallucyfan wanted to share some behind the scenes fun facts with all of you. I think that her definition of fun is vastly different than mine. And I don’t know how interesting this will be for any of you.

Fine, fine, fine, I know. Back to the script.

It’s only right to start at the very beginning. If each generation had a catch phrase then Generation 1 would be, “I have no idea what I am doing”. Writing stories was not something new, Socallucyfan has been writing stories since she was a little girl. Her mom still has a story that she wrote when she was in 4th grade. The only thing is that Socallucyfan is not an artist. At all. Even her stick figures look wonky. Then she discovered The Sims.

This combined her love of writing with her love of taking pictures (and not having to draw). Time passes, The Sims 3 comes out, and Socallucyfan posts her first story on the official forum. And before long Once Upon a Legacy was born. Most of the original pictures were lost when Socallucyfan’s computer died, but she did manage to find scrap enough picture together for a comprehensible story.

 

 

Socallucyfan first posted her story on the Sims Writer’s Block. And independent site created by writers who were annoyed by the restrictions that the storyboards set which limited pictures, text, and content. It was on this site that Socallucyfan grew her confidence from the support of some very nice and talented writers. Unfortunately for Socallucyfan the site didn’t last very long. When the site closed ​Once Upon a Legacy laid dormant as a PowerPoint presentation on Socallucyfan’s computer.

And it is a good thing that the writing bug hit again. If Socallucyfan hadn’t of continued the story I wouldn’t be here. And all of you would have missed my lovely presence.

Anyway, back to the theme of being clueless during the first generation. Socallucyfan is not a computer wiz at all, and didn’t know the first thing about creating a blog. She started out on tumblr, then moved on to WordPress. Two years later the blog is still going strong, but Socallucyfan still has a lot to learn.

 

 

There are also some things that Socallucyfan wishes that she could do differently for her first generation: A Cinderella Challenge. The first thing would be the pictures. The quality is low, and looking back at the old chapters makes her cringe. In a perfect world Socallucyfan would go back and re-do the pictures, but really who has the time?

All I can say it is a good thing that the quality improved by the time I came into the picture. Beauty such as this must be captured at the fullest quality. Anything less would be an insult to me and a shame for my adoring fans who want to see me at my very best.

The other thing that Socallucyfan would do differently is she would spend more time on character development. She would go into depth exploring Faye’s early life and her relationship with Cindy’s mother. What made Anastasis turn so evil. What Drusella’s life is like now, and how she fell in love with and married her high school sweetheart Max. But the biggest regret is Ryan Charming. He had such a interesting childhood growing up as the only son of the Leader of the Free World. Creating a side story dealing with Ryan’s childhood is still on the table, but not currently in the works.

 

 

That brings us to Generation 2.

My generation… I mean Stella Charming’s generation: Sleeping Beauty.

When Cindy was expecting her child we were not sure if it was going to be a boy or a girl. It was decided that if it was a girl, then the generation’s fairy tale would be Sleeping Beauty. If it had been a boy then the fairytale would have been… Nope, not going to tell you. That idea has been used for Lincoln.

But I might be willing to spill the beans if a certain duffle bag just happens to fall into my lap. And that duffle bag just happens to contain $1million. I might be willing to let you know Gen3’s fairy tale. Wink wink. Hint hint.

 

Socallucyfan was pleasantly surprised to see that Stella gained the best features from both her parents. She had Ryan’s black hair with purple highlights, and Cindy’s green eyes. Such features couldn’t be contained to just ​Once Upon a Legacy.

Really?! You mean to tell me that I am not the only supermodel here. Stella was used as a model is a few comps over on the official forums?!?! Here are some of the better pics (although if ​those are the best I’d hate to see the rest).

 

Anyway, back to the script.

The slogan for G2 would be, “better, but still learning.” As you can see the quality of the photos has increased tremendously. And Socallucyfan is getting better with every chapter. Stella’s generation was also more story driven, and less about a play by play of sim life. The characters were better developed, and not so one dimensional. Overall there really aren’t many things that she would do differently.

I have one idea: feature more of me!

But did you know that Socallucyfan contemplated killing off Brandon?!

Finally, we get to something good. Yes, I know that he is my son, I am supposed to love him no matter what. Blah, blah, blah. He ruined my plans, and got in the way of me having it all! He is insufferable just like the rest of them!!

 

 

Yes that is right, Socallucyfan toyed around with the idea of killing Brandon. He was planned to die during a mission for the military. He would have died a hero, but it would have left Stella without her prince charming and her happily ever after. Being the hopeless romantic that Socallucyfan is, she just couldn’t allow that. So in the name of romance, Brandon lived!

Socallucyfan also toyed with the idea of Stella going away to med school and falling in love with someone there. During the Winter Break she brings him back to Twinbrook to meet her family. It is then that she also runs into Brandon for the first time since breaking the curse. She is torn between these two men, but eventually picks the man from med school (he never lied to her). The whole thing played out very much like the movie The Way We Were.

That idea was scrapped for several reasons.   One, that would have added a bunch of new chapters, and Socallucyfan already felt that the story was getting long. And two, Brandon broke the curse making him Stella’s one and only true love. She couldn’t be with anyone but him.

Gag, romance is SO overrated!!

 

 

Finally, we have our current OUaL heir; Lincoln James Charming. We are just getting to know Lincoln, but as most of you know from your comments, Socallucyfan is having so much fun writing for him. He is nothing like Stella or Cindy, and it has been entertaining seeing just how selfish he can be.

You know, I have been reading some of your comments, and I have to say that I do NOT agree with most of them. Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with the way Lincoln acts. You all call him narcissistic like that is a bad thing!

 

 

And I know that everyone is excited to see the big fairy tale reveal.

Again, if you don’t want to wait you know what you have to do. Wink wink!

The big reveal will be in the next few chapters. Until then I will leave you with a sneak peak for the next chapter.

 

Wait, that’s it?!?! But I’m not ready to go back yet. That place is like a prison. Fine, if I have to go back then at least leave the people with more pictures of me. Remember me as my fabulous self! And take care, Bitches!!

Author’s Note: You didn’t think that I would let Maleficent have the last word did you? Well, I won’t ramble on the way she did. But I do need to say one more time how completely blown away I am that another Blogiversary has passed (at least I was on time with this one).

Again, thank you for all of your support. I have learned so much about myself, and my writing. I am more confident than I was when I started and that is in large part thanks to all of your continuous comments and encouragement. So, again THANK YOU!!

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3.7 Things are Prom-tacular

Side Note: ​As Lincoln is getting older he is getting more arrogant and prideful. He is also throwing around swears like they are going out of style. Hopefully it is nothing too offensive. Just a heads up.

 

For an overall synopsis of the evening: Prom was pretty good. For my parents: Prom was a milestone to remind them that their firstborns are growing up. For Autumn: Prom was a fun party night. For Becca: Prom was… oh who cares?! This isn’t about her. Anyway, one thing I can say for sure: Prom was interesting.

As you may remember I was still shackled to Becca and therefore I was forced to suffer through her endless chatter about dresses, and corsages, and matching tuxedos, and whatever mind numbingly boring shit she was rambling on about. I know what you are thinking. You are wondering, “Lincoln you are way too nice to this girl, and I am sorry you have to suffer this way. Why are you are putting up with all of this?”

Well, thank you for your concern. I’m glad that at least ​someone cares about my pain. Your support is what has helped me get through the torture. I am silently, and selflessly, suffering while faking a smile for Becca. As for why I am treating Becca like a charity case; the answer is simple. I have every intention of cutting her loose soon. Why not give her a night to remember me by?

Becca spent way too much time talking about all of this prom crap, therefore she was not spending her time doing more important activities (if you know what I mean). I just thank the powers above that she did not make me go dress shopping with her. Poor Autumn was not so lucky.

 

Suffering through one more night with Becca wasn’t my only concern for that evening. Autumn is shy, and not as outgoing as I am, and doesn’t have a boyfriend. I was worried that she wouldn’t have a date for the night. We can’t have that. I wouldn’t accept her not going. Prom is suppose to be the biggest, most important, night of our teenage lives. Autumn works so hard at school maintaining her excellent GPA in all of her AP classes. Plus, she is so busy with all of her after school activities. She needed to enjoy the night. She deserves it. More than anything I wanted that for her.

I wanted her to feel like a princess for at least one night. I almost made Alex or JD ask her out, but before I got around to it, George asked her. Since George knows how protective I am of my younger sister, he asked me if it would be okay. He was nervous that she might say no, but I reassured him that he had nothing to worry about. My best friend stepped up, and proved that chivalry isn’t dead.

I was so happy for the both of them. I don’t want to jinx anything, but how great would it be if the two of them started dating? George is probably the only guy in school that is good enough, worthy enough, to date Autumn.

 

We all rented a limo, and met at our house at the start of the night. Autumn & Becca had fun girlying it up with George’s mother Sarah doing their hair and make-up. Apparently she is supposed to be good at stuff like that, but I really couldn’t care less. It took me less than an hour to shower and get ready. You would think that I would take as long to get ready as the girls took, but you would be wrong. I am just so naturally gifted when it comes to being physically stunning that it doesn’t take that long for me to get looking this amazing.

Autumn looked absolutely beautiful (she is my twin after all). Becca looked fine, I guess. Her dress was nice, and green like I had requested. Then again, she could be wearing a burlap sack and next to me she would look like a supermodel.

Are you surprised that Mom & Dad wanted to take like a million pictures of us?

 

The night started out well enough. The Prom was at the ballroom at the Racket Wolfe Hotel. It was decorated with star themed wallpaper and balloons were littered all over the place. As soon as we arrived Becca and I made the rounds across the room to say hello to all of my adoring fans.

We would all be graduating soon, and moving on with our adult lives. This is one of the last nights we would all be together as teenagers. When I become a famous Rock Star with tons of adoring fans these students can say that they knew me when I was a teen. I wanted the sheep, I mean students, to have one last chance to feel like they are my friends/followers. It didn’t hurt that I was also using this as a chance to narrow down the choices for who would be replacing Becca.

Becca also wanted to take our picture in front of the overly cheesy romantic backdrop. That was fine, I guess, but I insisted that we take pictures with Autumn & George as well. I guess taking my picture with Becca, having her hang all over me while I fake a smile, wouldn’t be too terrible. Besides, it will be a memento for Becca to remember me by.

 

 

After schmoozing with my fans/followers Becca and I hit the dance floor. While dancing I was able to keep my eye on Autumn. I trusted George to not do anything inappropriate, but I still wanted to make sure that Autumn was having the time of her life. I didn’t care who else was having fun or not, but I wanted more than anything for Autumn to let loose and enjoy the night. Looking over at her dancing with George I saw her smile light up the entire room.

 

During one of the song breaks Becca took Autumn to the bathroom to check their makeup. I will never understand why girls always go to the bathroom in pairs? What are they doing in there?

Anyway, Becca was gone and I was approached by the Castor twins begging me to dance with them. How could I say no to the only other set of twins in Twinbrook? I’d be putting the name of my hometown to shame. Besides, it would only be for one song. I would be back before Becca ever knew I was gone. That didn’t happen though.

One song with the Castor twins turned into two songs. Two songs turned into three songs. Before I knew it Becca was dragging me off the dance floor in anger. She was yelling at the twins. Most importantly though, she was super pissed at me. Me!!

“What did I do?” I asked. I was just dancing, it is not that serious.

 

“Really? You are seriously asking me that right now?!?!” Becca was making a scene.

Her insecurity was rearing its ugly head, and she turned into a different person. Becca was so green with jealousy that she could have turned into She Hulk. She was yelling as loudly as she could despite the DJ stopping the music. As the music died everyone in the ballroom stopped what they were doing to gawk at what was going on.

Becca was starting to act like a psychotic, jealous, crazy bitch. Her green envy turned into rage red, which was not a better look for her. I tried to get her to stop, but that only made her yell even louder. I tried to lead her outside, but Becca’s heels were firmly planted on the dance floor.

I was not about to stand for this. The time to break things off with this crazy bitch was now.

 

“You are being a psycho bitch.” I was done trying to get her to calm down. I just wanted to be done with the deranged, lunatic, bitch that would not stop yelling in my face. “I should have dumped you a long time ago, after I was done with you. But out of the kindness of my heart I let you hang on until tonight. And this is the thanks I get?! I have done nothing but be the best thing that has ever happened to you. You were nothing before me, and you will have nothing without me! Good luck, because now I am done with you.”

 

At the end of the night I was named Prom King; no surprise there. I never saw Becca again for the rest of that night after I walked away from her while arm-n-arm with the twins. She probably ran off crying knowing that the greatest thing that had ever happened to her was over.   She was definitely NOT going to be my Prom Queen. I suggested Autumn be queen, but she politely declined. We couldn’t not have a Prom Queen. I couldn’t pick between the twins (probably because I couldn’t tell them apart). So, the both of them were my queens.

Like I said, the night was definitely interesting. For me the best part of the night was what happened at the end. It was double the pleasure, double the fun! It’s good to be King!!

Another Side Note: This chapter is not one of my favorites.  And not just because Lincoln’s actions are deplorable.  The pictures are not my best work.  Prom was a nightmare to shoot.  It was impossible to get the extras to do what I wanted them to do.  Going into CAS over and over again to make sure they were properly dressed was enough to make me go crazy.  

In the end I just decided to reshot everything on a different lot, with only the main characters.  Also, please ignore the twin’s feet cutting into the dance floor.  At that point I was just so over the whole chapter that I gave up any sort of editing.  The next chapter will be better, I promise.

And as always, have a great day or night depending on when you are reading this.  🙂

Chapter 3.6 Awesomeness Reset

My life had hit a few sour notes as of recent, but now I am ready to get back to my old ways. Back to the mind-bogglingly amazing self that I was before. Things had gotten off track, but I am refreshed and back to being King of Awesomeness. With great magnificence comes great responsibility, but I am ready to accept the burden of being so impressively stunning.

I resumed playing my music. I love taking my guitar or my keyboard to the outdoor amphitheater to play for everyone.   I forgot how much I loved being in front of an adoring audience. It had been a long time since I performed in front of a crowd, and I missed their unwavering worship of my talents, and their applause of approval when I had finished my song.

 

After talking with Autumn that night at the bonfire it became clear to me that I needed to be the rock for my family, and I graciously accepted that responsibility once again. I played games with Autumn and Willow (Autumn usually won, but I didn’t mind). We hadn’t played shoots and ladders since Autumn and I were kids (now that I think about it she always won back then too).

I also took Willow out on some of the horse trails that I used to take with Grandpa Ryan. I still rode Thor, and Willow took to caring for Pepper (Grandpa’s horse). Pepper was old and easy going. Willow is so good with all of the animals that even Thor was patient while Willow learned to properly clean his hoofs and groom his mane.

 

 

I know for a fact that we are rich enough to hire a maid and a butler. We are rich enough to hire two maids and two butlers. Despite our wealth, Mom insists that we have a Chore Wheel. Depending on the day Autumn, Willow, and I had to rake the leaves, clean the dishes after dinner, and/or help with the laundry. Now that The Rock of the Charming Family has returned, I have taken it upon myself to do twice as many chores as my sisters.

It was nothing for me. I could handle it no problem. I am the most important thing to them. I needed to show them that not only did I acknowledge that I was their support beam, but I most graciously took on the job willingly.

 

While I was temporarily living at George’s house my school work took a nosedive. I have never been the honor student that Autumn is, and I have never had a problem with that. Recently though my grades have hit a new low. My teachers thought that it was because of the recent tragedy, but I have to be real for a second. I never had any motivation to excel at school. On top of that, I was distracted by my female companions.

I was able to work the Charming charm, which I inherited from Grandpa Ryan, and the guidance counselor said that I could improve my grades with some extra credit activities. Mom was so elated at this proposition (I swear she is obsessed with me going to college), that she had Aunt April tutor me to make sure I earned as much extra credit as possible.

 

The best example of my awesomeness came from Grandma Cindy. She really showed everyone how important I truly am. Autumn informed me that while I was staying at George’s house Grandma Cindy never left her room. Mom brought her food up to the room, but most of the time it went untouched. My first dinner back with my family was the same night as our traditional Sunday night family get together. Sunday night is when the entire family, all of my aunts, uncles, cousins all come over to our house for dinner. A tradition that started way back when Mom was going to Med School. This Sunday night was also the first night that Grandma Cindy came out of her room to eat with us. She was too weak to help prepare the giant meal, but she made sure that she sat right next to me. Mom was so happy to see her mother out and about that she cried with joy.

“Your Grandfather always enjoyed these dinners,” Grandma whispered to me after the dinner was over. “I miss him so much.”

“I miss him too.” was all I could think of to say.

“You remind me so much of him.” Grandma Cindy commented with a smile. That was the nicest thing that she, or anyone, had ever said to me.

 

I still hung out with Becca and with the rest of the gang on Friday nights. I was happy to see that Autumn agreed to come with me more often. She was so shy around my crew, but at least George was nice enough to talk with her. He never left her side the entire night. I was happy that my best friend was being such a gentleman. It looked like Autumn was actually having fun too.

 

I’m happy Autumn was having fun and coming out of her shell, but I couldn’t be more miserable. The more I hung out with my family the less time I spent with Becca, much to ​her dismay. It’s not my fault. I can’t be cloned. How awesome would that be though? If there could be more than one of me? I think that the universe would explode. It wouldn’t be able to handle that much staggeringly magnificent awesomeness.

Wait.. what was I talking about before?

Sorry I got off track when I started thinking about how marvelous it would be to have a clone army of me. Oh yeah, I was talking about Becca. She, all of a sudden, became super attached to me.

I was starting to feel suffocated. I really wanted to cut Becca loose, and find a new one. The only thing that was stopping me was that it was almost Prom. It wouldn’t be hard for me to find another date (it would be hard to narrow it down to just one). I figured that I may as well go to Prom with Becca, and then I would break up with her afterwards. Just in time for me to have a summer fling! In the meantime, I will have to suffer through her company.

Wish me luck.

 

 

Chapter 3.5 Too Depressed to be Awesome

 

Things were different after Grandpa Ryan died. Grandma Cindy didn’t want to live in the house on the corner of the lot that they had shared. She moved into Dad’s office and their old house became sort of a garage/storage unit. Dad’s office has a nice big window overlooking the park across the street.

Most of the time Grandma just sits in front of the window with a blank expression on her face. She looks like she did the day of Grandpa’s funeral. Like her mind wants to be somewhere else. I can’t blame her.

 

I didn’t spend too much time at home either. More often than not I stayed at my friend George’s house. He knew that I needed time away from my family and let me crash in the guest bedroom anytime that I wanted. It was a pretty sweet setup.

His dad Carson was off on some deployment mission with the military. He has been gone for a month now, and was not coming back anytime soon. George’s mother Sarah worked at the ER and kept crazy rotating work hours. When she wasn’t working 14 hour days at the hospital she was at home asleep and dead to the world.   Needless to say most of the time George and I had the house to ourselves. But that doesn’t mean that we were lonely.

 

Do you remember when I told you that girls love musicians? Well, do you know what they love even more? A musician in mourning. My grief was like catnip. Every girl in school wanted to help me. Most of them wanted to get with me anyway, but now I am lusted after even more. They thought that they could, “make me feel better”. Being with these girls, one after the other, didn’t help me. But I was still going to let them try.

The first girl was….Christina. I think. I honestly don’t remember her name. What I do remember was that she was easy on the eyes, and easy in other areas too. There was a string of girls after that. To be perfectly honest I couldn’t tell you what order they were in, or even what their names were. Not that I cared. This wasn’t about them, or anyone else. It was about me. And what these girls could do for me.

 

My current female “caregiver” is Becca. To my surprise and delight she isn’t as clingy as the others have been. I don’t have to call her everyday. She doesn’t panic when I don’t immediately respond to her texts. She gives me the space I need, but is always ready and available when I need her. We have already been named Homecoming King & Queen, and there is no reason to think that we won’t be crowned Prom King & Queen either. That is if we are still together at that time.

Becca has been my longest… I don’t know what to call us. We aren’t really in a relationship. I wouldn’t label her as my girlfriend. On the other hand, she is more than just a random booty call. We could be called friends with benefits, except that we aren’t really friends. Other than the fact that her name is Becca I don’t know anything about her; and I want it that way. Our relationship isn’t conventional, but it works for me. And that is all that matters.

 

I enjoyed having my space, and I am not ashamed to admit that I didn’t think about how the rest of my family felt about it. I only cared about me and how much Grandpa Ryan’s passing hurt me. It took Autumn to finally wake me up to how important I am to all of them.

My crew and I usually spend our Friday nights hanging out at the old outdoor amphitheater. We get a good sized bonfire going and if we are lucky Alex can usually steal some booze from his dad’s liquor cabinet. It is always a good time with plenty of laughs, plenty of food, and of course plenty of girls vying for my attention (that is if Becca isn’t with me). I always try to get Autumn to come out with me, but she has yet to accept my invitation. So imagine how surprised I was when she finally decided to show up out of the blue.

“I haven’t seen you in a long while,” Autumn pulled me away from Becca to talk.

“Just spending quality time with my best friend and my best girl.” I joked. George is of course my best friend, and even though Becca isn’t ​my best girl calling her that was easier than acknowledging the truth.

Autumn sighed to show me that she saw right through my façade. There are many people that I can bull shit; like pretty much everyone, including most of my teachers and my parents. However, Autumn has a BS radar that won’t let me get anything past her.

“I can’t be at home right now,” I confessed. “Everything reminds me of him, and it is just too hard.”

 

“I know you are sad. We are all hurting.” I could tell Autumn had rehearsed what she was going to say to me tonight. I stayed silent as she said her peace. “Right now we need to be there for each other, especially for Mom and Grandma. Don’t push us away, Lincoln. We need you.”

Autumn concluded her speech with a meek smile. She was trying to be strong, but she has never been the strong one. That has always been my job. I have never had a problem with being a supportive older brother to my sisters. It was just another thing that I excelled at. Now, I felt bad that I had let them down. I had been selfish. I had let my sister’s down and I had let Grandpa Ryan down. He taught me better than this. But no more! My family needs me. I am too important to not be at home for them.

“You are right,” I wasn’t able to look my twin in the eye I was so ashamed. “I will come home tomorrow for dinner.”

Autumn was so excited that she gave a tight hug. And for the first time in a long time, I started feeling better.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3.4 Not So Awesome After All

Why can’t things ever stay the way that they are? Why do things have to change? Why do I have to be the one dealing with this? Why do bad things have to happen? It is not fair. It is complete bullshit!!

My life was going great. I had it all. Then out of the blue, it all changed.

That morning Grandpa Ryan and I ate our breakfast and talked about the day’s football game. I was so excited that I inhaled the apple pancakes in record time. The Gnomes were actually having a winning season, and our team had made it into the playoffs for the first time in I don’t know how many years. But the Bridgeport Buccaneers and their killer offence were going to be a challenge. Win or lose it was sure to be an enjoyable game.

 

And it was an exciting game. The Bucs took an early lead, but the Gnomes didn’t give up. The Bucs scored the first two touchdowns of the game, but the Gnomes answered with a touchdown of their own, and a field goal. Going in to the second half the Bucs were up 24-10. On their first possession of the 3rd quarter the Gnomes scored a touchdown bringing the score to 24-17. The teams then traded 3 and outs back and forth with the Bucs trying to take up as much time off of the clock as possible. The Gnomes did manage to score a field goal from 56 yards (Gramps and I were holding our breaths on that play). Going into the 4th quarter the score was 24-20.

The Bucs changed up their offensive line, which worked and resulted in another touchdown. Unfortunately for them they messed up their extra point kick, so the score became 30-20. The Bucs screwed up again with their return kick, and Gnomes receiver Jared Olbruck ran it in for a 82-yard touchdown. With minutes on the clock the Gnomes tried for an onside kick, but failed. The Bucs tried to run the clock out, but the Gnomes weren’t giving up. On 3rd down their QB tried to throw the ball quickly before getting sacked. But the Bucs player missed the ball! For a few seconds the ball was loose on the field. In that moment my heart stopped. It started back up again as Gnome player Marcus Stewart recovered the fumble and ran 56 yards to score a touchdown as the game clock ran to zero. The Twinbrook Gnomes won 30-34!!

I was so excited I jumped out of my seat and cheered! I had just witnessed history. The Gnomes were going to the conference championship game for the first time in almost 20 years, which was longer than I have been alive!! I expected Grandpa to be right next to me cheering as loudly as I was. I looked over, and that’s when I saw him laying on the floor. He was clutching his chest.

“Hey Gramps, was the game to much for you?” I joked.

“Get….help,” he managed to say. It took all of his energy to talk. Without saying another word I ran into the house to find Mom.

 

Mom was in the kitchen helping Willow with her science project. Willow was creating a working model of our solar system and Mom was helping her glue on the stars.

“Come quick,” I shouted with tears filling my eyes.

Mom sensed my panic and rushed across the yard to my Grandparents’ house. Willow saw the panic in my eyes and immediately started to cry. Willow’s loud crying started our dogs barking. The noise brought Grandma Cindy in from the yard and Autumn from her upstairs bedroom. I tried to explain what had happened but between Willow’s crying, my crying, and the dog’s barking it was just a lot of noise.

 

What happened next is still a blur to me. I remember hearing the sirens of the ambulance. I remember Aunt June coming over to check on us while everyone was at the hospital. I remember her saying that everything will be alright. I remember hugging my two sisters as we all sobbed. I don’t remember how we made it upstairs to my room.

“Do you know what might make us feel better?” Autumn was the first one to speak. She was sitting on my bed with Willow on her lap. “Why don’t we all sing a song?”

I didn’t feel like singing. My voice was hoarse from shouting at the game and from crying over seeing Grandpa like that. My body was numb and I didn’t think that I could hold a guitar or play the piano.

“I think that is a great idea.” Aunt June tried to perk up our spirits.

I looked over at Autumn who was looking at me. Until that moment I never believed in the phenomenon called a Twin Connection. Sure Autumn and I were pretty close. And I loved her with all of my heart. But we never had that psychic connection that you read about with twins. But at that moment I knew exactly what she was thinking and what song she wanted me to play. Without saying a word I picked up my guitar and started to play.

“Ooh child, things are gonna get easier,” I sang, “Ooh child, things’ll get brighter.”

“Someday,” Autumn joined in, “We’ll put it together and we’ll get it all done.”

“Someday,” next it was Aunt June’s turn to sing, “When your head is much lighter.”

“Someday, we’ll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun,” the three of us sang together, “someday when the world is much brighter.”

“RIGHT NOW!” Willow sang at the top of her lungs. Even Captain, our dog, joined in at the end.

It was so sweet and so funny that we all had to laugh. It was at that moment the lights flickered, my drumsticks fell, and my electric piano turned on. Until that moment I never believed in the supernatural either.

 

As if on queue Dad walked in the room. Aunt June left so Dad could talk to us in private. I knew what he was about to say, but that didn’t make hearing it any easier.

“Your Grandpa Ryan suffered a massive heart attack.” Dad spoke softly and quietly. I knew that saying it was just as hard as hearing the news. “The doctors did all that they could, but it was too late.”

“I should have ran faster.” My grief turned into regret. “I should have been paying more attention to him and not to that stupid game!”

“This isn’t your fault, Cowboy,” Dad hasn’t called me Cowboy since I was a kid. When I was around 7 years old I started to hate the nickname and insisted he stop saying it. But now it is exactly what I needed to hear. “You couldn’t have known that this was going to happen. And you did the right thing by quickly finding Mom.”

Autumn, still holding Willow on her lap, was comforting me, echoing Dad’s words of assurance. Even Captain nuzzled me lovingly. But they didn’t make me feel any better. There is a pit in my stomach and a hole in my heart. A hole that will remain there forever.

 

The day of Grandpa’s funeral was also one big blur. I just remember sitting in the church wondering how could this happen? Why did this have to happen?

Mom and my sisters were a wreck. My aunts were a wreck. My cousins were a wreck. Dad fought hard to keep it together, but he too was a wreck. They all cried the entire time. I’m pretty sure that Grandma Cindy was the only person who didn’t cry. She looked really tired and sort of out of it. Like her mind was someplace else. Hopefully it was someplace that included Grandpa. I didn’t cry either. Not because my mind was somewhere else. I just felt too guilty to cry.

Mom had asked me if I would play a song during the service. At first I said no. I wouldn’t be able to get through it. It would be too hard.   But after “talking” with Autumn I changed my mind. Again, we had our psychic twin connection thing. Without having to say a word she reminded me that Grandpa had been a huge fan of my music. He supported me, and encouraged me to pursue my dream of becoming a super famous rock star. I had told Mom & Grandma that I had changed my mind. That I would play a song for him. But sitting in the church, in that wooden pew, my stomach in knots over guilt, I changed my mind again.

My twin put her hand on my shoulder, gave me an encouraging smile. As I looked at Autumn I saw a bright light come through one of the windows. It shined brighter than any other light. I could have sworn that it was Grandpa smiling at me as well. I got up, grabbed my guitar, and began to play.

 

I had searched the internet for the perfect song to play that honored Grandpa, but nothing came up. Nothing seemed to fully express how much he meant to me. How much he meant to all of us. I was about to give up and tell Mom that I changed my mind again, but then I found it. It said exactly what I couldn’t say. It shows how much I loved him. How much I looked up to him. How grateful I was to have him as my grandfather.

“If the story’s told, only heaven knows,” I began to sing. “But his hat seemed to me like and old halo.”

“And though his wings, they were never seen.” I had a hard time getting the lyrics out. My voice cracked and I was off key. I wanted to run off, smash my guitar and drums and never sing again. I wanted to hide under a rock for the rest of my life. But I knew that wasn’t what Grandpa Ryan wanted for me.

“I thought that he walked on water.”

Rest in peace Grandpa Ryan. I love you, and miss you everyday. And to me, I thought that you walked on water.

A/N:

This was a tough chapter to write for two reasons. First off, the death of a sim is always hard. Unfortunately, Ryan didn’t have much of a story during the Cinderella Challenge, and he wasn’t around for most of Stella’s story. I hope that I did his character justice in this Generation told through how important he was to Lincoln. Ryan Charming was brave, kind, and protective of his family. He was the only son of Michael & Elizabeth Charming. Devoted husband to Cindy Rella Charming, loving father to Stella Charming, and proud grandfather to Autumn Charming, Willow Charming, and Lincoln Charming. He shall be missed.

If you were wondering about the songs that Lincoln performed in this chapter the first one was Ooh Child, by The Five Stairsteps. And the second song, the one Lincoln sang at the funeral, was He Walked on Water by Randy Travis. Which brings me to the second reason why this chapter was so hard to write.

My father-in-law recently passed. He was an amazing man. He treated me like the daughter that he never had. My husband and he had the type of relationship that most kids wish that they could have with their parents (it was the close relationship that ​I wish I could have with my mom). We played that same song at his funeral. Even typing the lyrics now brings tears to my eyes.

I’m sorry to blab on like this. This has become a longer note than I had originally planned. And now that I think about it I should have included a 3 tissue box warning at the beginning. But anyway, I will leave you with my usual “have a great day or night depending on when you are reading this”. But I would also encourage you to take some time today and tell someone how much they mean to you. Even if it the cashier at the grocery store (especially if it is a cashier, because those poor retail clerks get no love. I should know I used to be one of them). It will make that person’s day a little bit brighter, and it will make you smile as well. It is a Win/Win!!!

❤ ❤ 🙂 ❤ ❤