Chapter Five: The Aftermath

I’m not sure when Ebby started living with me versus just always being over. It probably started the night I came back from the incident.

***

When I walked in, I had found Ebby playing his portable piano in his underwear. He was quite good, seeing as he had been a professional pianist at one point. What made me smile just little was the sight of him in green boxers.

As soon as he heard me snickering he stood up, and turned around. I don’t think he expected me to be laughing with tears of pain in my eyes.

“Saffron, what happened?” he asked, worry and anger in his voice.

“Aries…..magic….charisma……hot tub….” I managed to say between sobs. He just let me cry. Why was I being so emotional?

When at last I was finished, I stood before him like a small child, shoulders hunched over and my lip still quivering. He put his hands on my shoulders and rectified my posture.

“It’s okay Saffron. We’ve been through worse. Now can you tell me what happened?”

I explained the whole horrible experience. I had met another magical vampire, one with the purple hair, signifying his magical charisma. I hadn’t even noticed myself losing my freewill until it was too late. It started as dancing, then progressed on, till he took me back to his apartment.

He had an outdoor hot tub, and suggested we get in. As I lost my last bit of will power, I changed in to a towel-swimsuit, and had gotten in.

That’s when he suggested we take it to the next level. It was like I was watching myself make these decisions, with no choice in the matter. After that, he had said we through with me, and I was free to go. I had run home as fast as I could, completely horrified.

Ebby nodded quietly throughout the whole thing, though I saw him clench and unclench his fists a couple of times.

When I had finished, he swooped me up in his arms, whispering in to my ear “its okay, Saffron. It’s okay.” Then Ebby leaned in to kiss me.

I shied away.

“Not now, Ebby,” I told him. “I just got through this incident, and I need some time. Please, not now.” And then, as if my body was mad at me for not kissing him, I promptly felt completely ill, and ran to the bathroom to puke.

Ebby knocked at the door.

“I’m sorry Saffron. You’re right. Are you okay?”

“I’m f-” I emptied the last contents of my stomach. “I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute. I washed out my mouth, and went to my bedroom, and crawled in to bed, anxious to forget the whole experience.

I woke up later in the morning, around eleven. I had a short amount of time until my work shift, so I showered, and had a plasma pack. Then the carpool arrived, and I headed to work.

***

Life seemed to pass by mundanely, with Ebby staying home and practicing piano, and myself continuing on in my job at the restaurant. It was actually quite frustrating.

For once, the restaurant was running smoothly. The arguments were few and far between, and we were now a four star restaurant.

The problem with success meant there were no open positions. And while I wanted fresh faces in the kitchen, more than anything I wanted to advance up the ladder.

It had become increasingly clear to me that I wanted to truly become a top chef, and yet I was stuck in the middle of my career.

On top of all this, my nausea persisted. It was becoming common place for Odine to look in the staff bathroom when she couldn’t find me.

There was one break from the humdrum of everyday life. I had been preparing a bowl of macaroni and cheese for the kids menu with Alexy one day, when he shocked me with a double whammy.

“We’re over right?” he said. I almost dropped my spoon.

“W-what makes you say that?” I stuttered. Of course, I had been meaning to call it off with this confusion between myself and Ebby, but how had he suspected?

“You didn’t hear? Well, Ebby was screaming at this dude named Aries Mallory or something about being rapist, and to leave you alone. I figured since you didn’t bother to tell me, we were though.”

I was shocked for a moment. Ebby had confronted Aries over me? Was he crazy? Not only was Aries a vampire, he could have gotten Ebby to jump off a cliff! I was surprised he made it out with his life.

Alexy was still waiting for me to answer his question. After recovering from the news of Ebby’s gracious act, I responded.

“Um, yeah. Just friends,” I muttered dazedly.

“Cool. Does this mac and cheese need broccoli?” I looked at him like he was crazy, and we continued cooking.

***

The next day after work, I came home exhausted. While no one was getting promoted, we finally had a group of new kitchen scullions. They all needed lessons in working the dish washer and humility, so I was the one to teach them.

Needless to say, when I arrived home, I was beat.

I ended having to pound the correct combination in to the call box a couple times, before it let me up. Then, the elevator jammed. When I finally got in my apartment, bed sounded like heaven.

When I walked in, Ebby was already asleep. I smiled at him. He forgot he was supposed to sleep on the couch. Oh well, it was alright for tonight. I was too tired to change, so I just fell asleep of the covers right then and there.

When I woke up, I realized how uncomfortable my uniform was, so I put on a night dress. It wasn’t until I assaulted with knowledge did I realize it. The knowledge many mortals and few vampires had ever possessed.

I was pregnant.

***

Author’s Note: I apologize for how short this chapter was. I’m anxious to move on to another part of the story, and I wasn’t sure how much else I could put in this chapter without overdoing it.

 

Chapter Four: Charisma Magic

***

If any part of this chapter confused you, reading this should help clear things up. I will answer any comments if you are still confused.

 

Chapter Three: Love, and other Emotions

***

I cried as I walked in to my new apartment. My best friend Ebby had been kissing another girl, and she was in skimpy clothing no less. Why was his bothering me? I couldn’t understand, only act. I had mailed my departure notice, and had called another man from the rent board.

Seeing as I had a job, my landlord didn’t even want to meet me. He just told me to pick up the keys at City Hall, and all I had to do was send him the monthly bill. I had taken the keys, and gone to the apartment. What I found when I arrived was not a pretty sight.

The old tenant must have been furious, because there wasn’t a single piece of furniture or plumbing in the house. I had to spend my small amount of savings on my new apartment, just so I’d have furnishings.

There was no joy when I stepped in to my new apartment. No sense of a new beginning. Only loss.

***

I went weeks without speaking to Ebby. Maybe since he had already been ignoring me, he didn’t notice. But I did. Every day when I got my mail, I hoped for a letter from him, or something. Instead, one day, I got a book.

I was surprised enough they made it fix in my tiny mailbox. However, it was inscribed on the inside.

‘Your mother has been hiding secrets from you. Magical secrets. Read on, and soon you will find reason to join me.

Queen Evarrine’

I stood still for a moment, trying to process the situation. The queen of Brendale sent me a book about Magic? Here is Bridgeport? And what would my mother possibly hide from me?

Still, I pondered and became curious. My mother had hidden me from the world, so what else would she hide from me? Was the queen magical as well or simply wanted the power of magic?

I took the precious book up to my room to read. Sitting on my newly acquired chair, I delved in to the novel.

Oh, it was so fascinating! I couldn’t believe how much knowledge I lacked. I learned about how the dream had been correct.

Sorcerers and Sorceresses with Multi-colored were more powerful. That is, with the exception of Seers. I wondered how I would find these unique magical sims, without seeming crazy.

The book explained even more, like how certain hair colors gave certain powers. Mine was supposed to give the power of gardening, but I wasn’t sure. I had never wanted to learn to garden, nor had I ever tried.

Still, this book mentioned nothing about cross-breeds, like a vampire sorceress. It barely had any information about children between two magical beings.

For some reason, thinking about kids made me think about Ebby. Maybe it was related to the bar scene. I don’t know. But what I did know was there was no doubt in my mind that he wasn’t a seer. He would know I was magical if he was.

As if on cue, my phone rang, interrupting my reverie. I glared hatefully at the piece of technology, preparing to snap at the caller. Looking at the ID, I saw that it was Ebby.

Immediately, my head was flooded with a million thoughts. He had called! But he had hurt me, and I couldn’t let that go. As I picked it up to answer the phone, I changed my mind. I clicked ignore.

***

As I got in the taxi after a particularly long day at work, and smiled. I had finally been promoted, after offering to stay late when the Line Cook caused an entire gallon box of saffron to spill on the floor. Not only was most of it ruined, costing the restaurant hundreds of dollars, I had to be very careful to attempt to save some of it.

At the end of being bent over for two hours picking up each individual thread, I had finally been able to leave work, but not before Odine stopped me at the door.

“Congratulations Saffron,” she had said. Noticing the confused look on my face, she continued. “After tonight’s accident and your dedication to fix it, you’ve been promoted to Line Cook.”

I stood shocked for a moment, processing that I had just taken someone’s job. Before I could insist upon changing it back, Odine calmed me, insuring the former Line Cook had only been demoted, not fired. I still felt ill, but a promotion was a promotion.

The taxi ride home was quick as usual. However, there was something different I couldn’t put my finger on as I went up the elevator.

However, I was not prepared for what I saw when I walked in.

Ebenezer Clavier was sitting on my couch, watching a football game.

“You ass hole!” I screamed. “What are you doing here?”

He leapt off the couch.

“Look, I’m sorry, I needed to-”

“I bet you did, you Son of a bitch! It wasn’t enough to be a jerk, but you had to rob me?” I was cussing like a sailor, and screaming at him, but I felt like I had no control over it. All the evenings I had spent worrying over him and being angry at him was coming spilling out.

I ranted and raved for a good fifteen minutes, spewing words I don’t think my mother knew I knew.

At last, I stopped and huffed. Seeing I had stopped, he took this opportunity to speak.

“Just hear me out, okay?”

He had called in a few favors, and had gotten my landlord, V. Schlick, to give him the key to my apartment. After fiddling with the call box, for forty-five minutes, he had gotten in.

He had come in the entrance, and walked in the first door, the one leading to the living room. The first thing Ebby had noticed was the magic book placed precariously on the coffee table. He had sat down, and started reading.

“You read my book? I can’t bel-”

He kissed me and cut me off.

“Just let me finish.”

He had proceeded to skim the book, finding out enough to know that I was a sorceress.

“I understand now. But I didn’t understand why you live in an apartment it you’re supposed to love gardening?”

I explained my pet theory, as he listened quietly, taking in all the information. When I finished, he spoke at last.

“Thank-you Saffron. I hope this won’t come between us anymore.” He turned to leave, heading out the door.

“Wait!” I said, and rushed up to him.

“Ebby…” I said in a whisper. Then I lost the bit of control I had retained why he spoke, and started sobbing on his shoulder, apologizing over and over again.

He only pet my hair, and shushed me. When I finished, he lifted my chin, and our eyes met. He kissed me softly and walked out the door.

***

Shortly after he left, I had taken a shower, and got myself together. I had brushed my hair, and calmed down.

I donned the dress I first wore to the Plasma 501, and admired myself. I didn’t know what was going to happen between myself and Ebby. He had kissed me, and had acted like nothing had happened.

I didn’t know how to react, so I wasn’t going to. I was going to head out to a club, any club, just to get my mind off everything. I even tried to make conversation with the cab driver, but he had studiously ignored me.

He pulled up to the Plasma 501. Huh, I guess I was going here. As I walked in to the club, I was plagued with the same feeling as when I walked in to Waylon’s Haunt when Ebby was kissing she-who-shall-not-be-named.

Tonight, I couldn’t trust my feelings. I walked in, anxious to forget it all.

 

Chapter Two: Relationships

The next morning, I stood next to my window and watched the sunrise. Something so simple made me feel such an unwarranted and profound sense of loss.

My new life was surprisingly similar to my old one. I still love cooking, and to add the extra flair. Even more shocking, I could still taste food. It wasn’t satisfying in the least. In fact, quite the opposite. Almost like giving a thirsty man salsa, it only made my throat burn more. However, I dreamed of one day having French toast again.

Something that also hadn’t changed was my need for money. While I knew I intended to become an expert at a few things, I did know where my strengths lied. I applied for a job at the local restaurant complex, and was pleasantly surprised. They had a job for me as a kitchen scullion, cleaning up after tired chefs. Joy.

Still it was as foot in the door. I even bought a small recycling bin with my first paycheck! And on top of that, it was primarily night, so the short time I was outside was enough for me to remain conscious. I found the sunlight was not near as much of an issue as legend would detail.

I could tolerate small quantities of sunlight at time, though no more than six hours. It merely felt as it if someone was pricking my skin. If I waited too long, the pricking would become unbearable and I would pass out.

Then I arrived home, and found my first bill. 222 simolenans! I couldn’t believe how much this apartment was costing me. Still, I had too much rooted here to move. I did however invite Ebby over for another game of chess. I even studied a chess book before he came over. Still, I had tried to bring it up subtlety while trying to figure out my move.

“So, Ebby, did you notice my bill was extremely high this month?” Okay, maybe not so subtle.

“Yes, yes. This always happens because the first month you’re paying for two. After that, it’s all prepaid. By the way, did I tell you how I almost flew all the way to Twinbrook?” That was the end of the discussion.

However even more shocking was his non-reaction to my newly acquired state. He must have not noticed.

Ebby was sweet guy, though a little eccentric. Still his Good nature was unfailing, and it was interesting to hear him go on and one about different pieces of art. It seemed Ebby had become my closest friend in Bridgeport. And while I was enthralled about having a friend, I needed to meet someone other than my landlord.

***

That night, I headed out to the local vampire longue, Plasma 501. It turns out Bridgeport has a small vampire population, as well as a few desperate who wanted to join the ranks of the undead. I laughed at their foolishness. I could never imagine choosing this myself.

I realized this was probably why Ebby didn’t react. In fact, he probably knew plenty of vampires. I was another one, nothing for him to fear or acknowledge.

I danced and drank that night, for the first time appreciating the night life creatures of the night could truly have. I didn’t even get anyone’s name, but I did somehow manage to get drunk enough to dance on the counters.

I woke up with a pounding headache, and a realization how stupid I was. I reveled in the fact that I hadn’t done anything I’d regret, took some useless aspirin, and crawled back in bed.

***

The next day at work, one of my sub-bosses confronted me. The restaurant had begun to notice something I never had. Any dish I had any contact with, the patron always adored. Since I never directly prepared a dish, only being increasingly close, only a chef or two noticed it, and attributed it to luck. None the less, I was promoted to Spice Runner.

I tried to call Ebby, to ask out to a celebratory dinner, but he was ‘busy’. It sounded like another person was with him. None the less, I smiled and said that was fine. I took out a cookbook and spent the rest of the night reading it.

It was fascinating how many recipes were prepared by almost taste alone. I was beginning to see how challenging it would be to be a vampire chef. Still, my heart was still delighted from the promotion, and cooking continued to be on my mind as I went to sleep that night.

***

The next day at work, I met a sim named Alexy Fresco. He was really handsome, and frankly, I was in to him. He was a fairly nice guy, as well as being decently known locally. I even got to chat with him during one of our breaks.

“So you’re new,” he had said. “I’m Alexy. And you are?” I had been stunned for a moment, not expecting him to talk to me.

“What’s the matter, llama got you tongue?” I laughed, and we spent the rest of the break talking to him.

***

He was sweet artistic guy, and really romantic. When he started pursuing me, I couldn’t stop him. The roses, phone calls, and little hearts left around the workplace sent my heart a flutter.

We even had out first kiss outside the restaurant. He had been talking about oils and the different types of canvases. While I loved to hear him talk, he was getting annoying. To shut him up, I kissed him.

You’d have thought he’d never been kissed. Then again, I never had. He just stood there, sputtering for a few moments, before he came to his senses.

“Will you be my girlfriend?” he said so quickly I barely heard him. I nodded, and kissed him again. We headed back to his place, where we spent the rest of the night making out on the couch. It was amazing, but…

My mind was elsewhere. Ebby hadn’t been responding to my calls lately. In fact, he had started answering the calls, then hanging up immediately. I had begun to obsess over him, wondering where he was. Half the night, I imagined what it would be like if I was kissing him instead of Alexy!

I did my best to push these thoughts out of my head. I was here with Alexy now. I needed to get my priorities straight.

It wasn’t until the next day did things go horribly wrong.

***

I had work off, so I spent the whole day sleeping. I must have been trying to ignore the omniscient feeling in my stomach. I woke up a six pm, and decided enough was enough. I was going to go out and enjoy myself, and not worry about Alexy.

After a twenty-minute ride to Waylon’s Haunt, I walked in the bar. There were quite a few people there, and I was glad to not be alone. Walking up to the bar, I ordered a ‘Big Mistake’. I should have taken it as a warning.

As I sat in the bar stool, I heard Ebby’s voice. I turned around to say hi to him, and I was going to ask where he’d been.

When I swiveled around, I saw Ebby making out with another girl. I gasped and dropped my drink.