While they were seated on the train that would take them to the coast, Cecilia reflected on more of what happened. She'd perhaps been a bit hasty in inviting the strange woman that was in her place along with her. Although she thought little of it at the time, it seemed exceedingly strange that the woman immediately invited herself to Cecilia's relocation. Before they left, she shared a picture she'd gotten of the house.


The woman told Cecilia that her name was Vera Domino. Amiable enough, she seemed a bit odd at times, evasive in conversation. Cecilia would’ve sworn she spotted Vera slipping odd objects around the car, like dinnerware, into her carry bag. Sometimes brazenly doing it without fear that anyone noticed. The rest of the time Vera spent on the computer, playing chess and at night looking at web pages that seemed official by the look of them.

Otherwise, they passed more of the time in conversation, mostly focusing on Cecilia's tangled love-life, “… I'm not even sure what Stiles knew, I never got to meeting him after I returned from college. I just couldn't stand the idea of having a confrontation. Sometimes I wish Sims could just have love and romance without jealousy. Maybe I just haven't found the one Sim that I would want to be with forever and exclusively.”

Vera shrugged, “The words forever and exclusive always resemble a salesman's pitch to me. Forever of anything sounds like hell to me, and exclusive is a lonely word. Some people just like having options, without regard for how much they like one thing. It's too bad that one thing might get upset when you reveal you have no intention of sticking around, without inviting guests from time to time.” Vera snickered, then concluded, “Contracts and promises are a thing of evil, you'd do well to remember that.”

“I'm not so sure.” Cecilia quirked a brow, “Seems a bit flippant when you're dealing with peoples' emotions. And not just that, but their livelihood in cases of professionalism.” Hearing it from herself made Cecilia feel even more remorseful at her sudden departure. Shouldn't she at least have given Stiles a chance. Mentally she cleared the thought. She would think only to the future for now.


They arrived by train at a station on the coast south of Bridgeport. From there a cab took them to a port that transported travelers to Legacy Island by ferry. The boat didn't take long before it arrived at the Island, which seemed greatly developed for such a small area. They took a cab to the High Townhouse, which lie on the northern part of the island.

As they took in the sight of the house, they couldn't help marvel at the modern architecture. Much of the walls were spanned by great windows that flashed with a mirror shine. They almost seemed reflective. Vera and Cecilia could see themselves as they approached the door to introduce themselves. They rung twice as instructed by correspondence, then waited.

Within a few minutes, the door opened to reveal the man posting the property listing himself.


Vera smiled at him, but something in Cecilia caused her to recoil. Around him, she could see an almost imperceptible aura of red, and a feeling of apprehension engulfed her. She wasn't normally one to let her instincts run unchecked, but she did hesitate a good few moments. She didn't know about Vera, but none of her family were alive to miss her, should something happen. Cecilia wasn't a paranoid type, but she gave serious thoughts before finally stepping through the threshold.

The door shut behind her, and almost instantly she regretted her decision.

As the couple turned to face Bruce, the fangs came out. His eyes grew and canines elongated as he let out a sinister hiss, and that imperceptible aura Cecilia had noticed before turned into a fog with tendrils that shot out and reached to caress the sim women. A sense of hopeless terror and foreboding engulfed them, and so they fled in separate directions within the house, neither having an idea where they were going.

Cecilia ran up the stairs, while she heard Vera locking herself into a room on the ground floor. Cecilia didn't turn to see if the man followed her, but merely found his study, and hid under the desk. Although rationally she realized this was probably the most terrible hiding spot she could've come across, the fear held a tight grip on her heart, bottlenecking her thoughts into only those of flight and hiding.


She'd known about vampires from her time in Moonlight Falls, but the few who lived there weren't outright evil, at least not on the magnitude of the evil she sensed within Bruce. She closed her eyes and prayed for a quick end, seeing little else that could save her at this point, although it occurred to her, perhaps he wouldn't want them dead...

Cecilia was shaken out of her thoughts by a piercing scream, followed by sobbing and pleading, and then more screaming. Then the sobs ebbed and flowed, until they weakened into a whisper, and then Cecilia heard no more of Vera.

She could hear heavy footsteps making their way from up the stairs.

Her heart thudded with every reverberation of his boots. She thought it would come out of her neck.

The footsteps got closer to his office, then stopped.

For a few moments she heard no more. She almost allowed herself to believe that he'd gone by. Maybe he'd gone down the hall. Maybe she could sneak out!

She got out silently from behind the desk, peeking out to see if she could make him out in the room. He was nowhere to be found. Emboldened by his absence, she made her way toward the entrance of the study.

She passed through the threshold with a frantic speed, when she was seized from behind. He pushed her to the ground, landing on her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and likely bruising her elbows, although such an injury would seem as nothing to what would come.


She could feel him lean forward, until his face was just next to hers. She could almost feel his lips parting to reveal a smile, though she saw nothing but her own tousled hair. “It gets so lonely being evil.”

Then it was Cecilia's turn to scream.

To be continued...