Calendar chapter 3.6

Victoria snarled at her daughter. “Of course you’re in my seat. That throne is reserved for the High Witch of Darkness. Now, if you’ll please excuse me.”

“I don’t think so.” Traviata stood up and crossed her arms, blocking Victoria’s path to the throne.

“I find it interesting that you failed to mention to me that I’m a level three witch. A position, might I add, that would make me eligible for your throne. Actually, it would make me your successor.”

“It’s completely irrevelent now. You know that successors have to be named when they are children. You’re too old now.”

“Which you made sure of.”

“It didn’t take much digging to find out about the car accident. A tree fell in the middle of the road. But the police couldn’t find a single physical reason that the tree could have fallen. That only leaves one solution and I think you know what that is.”

Victoria smirked. “So what if I killed your parents? That doesn’t change anything. It was the perfect plan actually. The only way to stop the council from finding my successor was to hide her under my own roof as a simple, level two witch. And it worked, didn’t it?”

“Don’t think you can get away with this. I don’t know how, but I’m going to find a way to take what’s rightfully mine. And you can’t do anything to stop me.”

“You can try, but this throne is mine forever now.” Victoria smiled. “As I said, it was the perfect plan.”

Traviata stormed off. “You haven’t seen the last of me.”

Ring. Ring. Ring. The school bell sounded, signaling the end of yet another school day. All over the school, students spilled out from their various classrooms. All celebrated the end of the school day as they made plans with friends, headed out to sports practices, or headed home to do homework.

Up on the second floor, Shelby listened intently as one of her friends rattled on about her conversation with her crush. Savannah and Shelby had met Rachel their first day of high school, and had become instant friends.

As they made their way down the hall, Luke came rushing past them. As he passed, he turned

and glared at Shelby.

“What’s up with him?” Rachel asked.

“It’s a long story. My cousin doesn’t like Savannah and me very much.”

“Why not?”

“As I said, it’s a long story.”

The girls walked into the art room, where Savannah was working on a painting.

“Hey,” Savannah called out to Rachel and Shelby. “What’s up?”

“Mom called. The triplets are napping and she can’t leave them. Laura Lynn is staying late to work on her experiment in the lab, and Cole has a date, so she asked us if we can take Austin and Logan home.”

“Sure. Let me work a few more minutes and then I’ll stop.”

Rachel set her books on the desk and the two girls took a seat on the floor.

“So what’s it like having triplets as siblings?” inquired Rachel.

“A nightmare,” Savannah answered quickly. “They’re toddlers now and always seem to start screaming at the same time and yesterday I caught Levi and Jackson fighting over a bottle.”

“They’re not that bad,” Shelby replied. “I think they’re really adorable and it seems Virginia has become their leader. You should come over some time when we’re babysitting.

“Sure! I love kids.”

A few minutes later, Savannah announced, “Okay, I’m done for the day. Give me one minute to clean up and I’ll be ready to go.”

Savannah and Shelby said goodbye to Rachel and headed down to the elementary classroom to pick up their brothers. When they entered the classroom, the boys ran up to them and then started to excitedly tell them about their day.

“Guess what Shelby? My team won the dodge ball game in PE today,” Austin said.

“And I got to play cops and robbers during recess!” added Logan. He had just grown up to a child, and today was his first day of school.

“Why don’t you tell us all about it on the way home,” Shelby told the boys. “It’s time to go.”

As Shelby drove home, the girls listened to their brothers describe their day at school.

“And I was the last one left in game and he tried to get me but I ducked out of the way and then BAM! I hit him with the ball and won the game.”

Shelby smiled as Austin finished up telling his story and Logan launched into his.

“Well, it was my first time to play cops and robbers and....”

“and then Mrs. Rayberry told me that I was the best reader in the class!”

On a different road in Time Riviera, Luke listened to his little sister describe her day. He tried to calm down as he listened to his sister. He had gotten a bad grade on his last test which had put him in a foul mood. And then on his way to pick up his sister he saw his cousin even though he’d been doing his best to avoid the twins.

“Luke!” April interrupted his thoughts. “Luke! Are you listening to me?”

Luke turned his attention back to his little sister. “Of course. Continue.”

When the two arrived home, April ran into the nursery to play with Kaitlyn like she did every day after school. She loved spending time with her little sister.

“Guess what, Kaitlyn? It’s been my birthday today! I’m gonna be a teenager today!”

Kaitlyn just had one question. “Cake?” she asked.

April laughed. “Of course there’s gonna be cake. I’ll give you the biggest slice.”

“Cake!” she giggled happily.

An hour later, April heard the door open and then a voice behind her.

“April, the party just started. You better get your butt out here and join me as a teen.”

“Brianna!”

April turned around a ran up to her best friend. “You came!”

“Of course I came. I couldn’t miss my best friend’s birthday, now could I? But if you don’t join me soon I’ll have to have all the fun by myself,” she teased.

“I’m coming!”

April joined the party and took her place in front of the cake. Her family and friends gathered around to watch the heir make her way into teen hood.

After making a wish and blowing out the candles, she turned around and prepared to make her way into the next stage of life.

After she changed, April and the other teens started up a game of pool.

April had decided that knowledge was what she wanted most out of life, and her dream will be to excel in the natural sciences career.

Eventually the game of pool turned into a game of darts, which turned into a video game contest. The teens had a blast hanging out.

After the party was over, April helped her mom clean up. When she was done, she started to go upstairs to do some homework when her mom stopped her and asked to talk to her.

“Sure, Mom. What’s up?” April didn’t like the sound of her mother’s voice. She wondered what was wrong.

“Let’s find somewhere private to talk, and then I’ll tell you.”

The two headed up to March and John’s room and found a seat on the couch there. March dreaded having the conversation she was about to have, as if somehow telling the next heir would make it true, once and for all.

“So,” she started, “It all began in the college when Uncle Payton was killed.”

“And once she’s trained, she’ll be able to take out that evil woman once and for all.”

April sat back and tried to process the information that her mom had just given her about Kaitlyn. About her innocent baby sister. As the information slowly started to sink in, a look of horror spread across her face.

“No, not Kaitlyn!” It made April sick to her stomach to think about what Kaitlyn would have to go through.

She turned to March. “How could you do this to her? You’re her mother. You’re supposed to protect her.”

“I had no choice, April. My baby brother was dead because of me. It was supposed to me that was killed that day. I knew I had to find something to help him, and when the gypsy offered me that deal, I know it was the only way. What if it had been Kaitlyn who had been killed. Wouldn’t you have done the same thing?”

April was quiet. They both knew she would have made the same choice.

April suddenly had an idea. “I know! I’ll fight that woman! I can lean the magic and then take her on.” Yes, it was the perfect idea.

March slowly shook her head. “It has to be Kaitlyn. “The third child for the third child. The gypsy was clear on that.”

April hung her head down low. There was nothing she could do to protect her sister. “When are you going to tell her?”

“We’ve decided to tell her as soon as she’s a child, so she can be prepared to start training as soon as she’s a teenager.”

“Thanks for telling me this, Mom.”

“April, you’re my heir. I’m counting on you to be a leader for this family.”

“Mom, you don’t even have to ask.”

Despite the news she had just learned about her sister, April tried to keep her normal routine. The next afternoon, the teens gathered at the King House to hang out. Like always, Cole was noticeably absent.

I’m sure he’s just busy with homework,” April told the group when trying to explain why her older brother was noticeably absent. “He’s been struggling with school lately, and I know he really wants to keep his grades up.”

No one seemed to agree with her.

“Come on March,” said Savannah, “We all know that he doesn’t like Shelby and me.”

“He’s never going to come hang out as long as we’re here,” Shelby added. “Maybe we should split into two groups. April and Brianna can stay here. And Cole and Laura Lynn can head over to Luke’s house.”

“Absolutely not.” Cole said. “This family should not be split up because of your feud.”

The teens argued for a few moments about what should be done. However, before anything could be decided, the teens were interrupted by a couple of tiny tots.

“We pway!!” Virginia King called out as she crawled toward the group, flanked on both sides by her brothers.

“We pway! We big kids too!”

“Not so fast,” said Laura Lynn. The teens all got up and Savannah and Shelby helped her round up the triplets.

“Mom!!!” she called out as they gathered the toddlers. “The triplets are up from their naps!”

“I’m coming!” Valerie replied as she got up. It looked like nap time was over both for triplets and her. She had been more tired than she usually was during pregnancy, which made her glad that this would be her final one.

The girls started playing with the triplets, so Cole decided to head out over to the Time house to talk to Luke.

March answered the door when he arrived. “Hi Aunt March. Is Luke here?”

“He’s up in his room. You can go on up.”

“Thanks.”

Cole entered Luke’s room to find him ferociously working on a homework assignment .

“Luke. What’s up with you? Why weren’t you hanging with the rest of us today.”

Luke spun around in his chairs. "I have homework to do."

"That's a lie, and you know it. The only reason you aren't hanging out is my sisters.“

“That’s right. Those girls have gotten me in enough trouble as it is, so I choose not to be around them. You have a problem with that?” Luke raised an eyebrow.

“Well, they’ll be at your sister’s birthday party tomorrow. I don’t want you making any trouble.”

“Why does everyone always assume it me that starts the trouble!!? You know that I would never to do anything to spoil Kaitlyn’s birthday.”

“Okay, then. Are we cool.”

“Yeah. We’re cool?”

As soon as the party started the next day, March woke Kaitlyn up from her nap.

“Let’s get ready you ready for your party, birthday girl. Everyone’s waiting.”

“Burthday?” Kaitlyn cocked her head at the sound of that.

While March changed her, Kaitlyn finally made the connection. She giggled happily. “Burthday! Cake!” she announced. “Cake now!”

March smiled at her daughter. “Not yet. You have to grow up first.”

April got the honors of helping her baby sister maker her way into childhood.

“Blow out the candles, Kaitlyn.”

“Cake time! Kaitlyn grinned as she blew out the candles on her favorite treat.

April set her on the ground, and Kaitlyn stood up. She looked over at her sister for affirmation before making the jump into the next stage of life.

As soon as she had grown up, Kaitlyn changed into the dress that April had gotten her for her birthday. Once she got back to the party, she skipped around happily, showing off her dress and looking for the slice of cake her mother had cut for her. Finally, she spotted it on the breakfast room table.

Kaitlyn sat down and savored the taste and she ate her favorite treat. One day, she decided, she would learn how to make cake herself. And then she wouldn’t have to wait for a birthday to get cake.

After all the guests had left, Kaitlyn walked up to John. “Daddy, will you dance with me?”

John smiled and looked down at his youngest daughter. “Anytime, sweetie.”

John swept Kaitlyn up onto his feet and twirled her around. Kaitlyn giggled. “This is fun, Daddy.”

When they were done dancing, April came up to her sister. “Hey squirt, do you want to see your new room?”

“Yes! Yes, please!”

“So do you like it?” April crossed her arms and smiled as she watched her sister’s reaction.

Kaitlyn jumped up and down in excitement. “It’s so pink and prettyful! This is the best room ever!” Kaitlyn bounded over to the bed and tested it out. After deciding that the soft comforter was perfect, she began to check out the rest of the room. That’s when she spotted the toy box in the corner.

Kaitlyn rushed over and looked inside the toybox. “This has the best toys ever!” She rummaged through the bin before finally deciding on a yellow car as her toy of choice. “Thank you, April!”

“Don’t thank me. It was Mom who decorated your room. But,” April added, “I’m really glad you like it. I have to go work on homework, but Mom’s downstairs cleaning up if you need anything.”

The next day, March and John took Kaitlyn out. Today was the day they had to tell her about her future.

They decided to go to tell her at the park, but first they wanted to stop by the toy store and buy her a gift. It was the least they could do.

When they were inside the store, Kaitlyn turned to John. “So I can really pick anything in the store that I want? Like really anything?”

“Absolutely. Just pick out what you want and we’ll buy it for you.”

“Yippee!” Kaitylyn scampered off to look at all the toys.

Kaitlyn wandered around the store for a while perusing over the various toys. She looked at a dollhouse for a while before deciding against it.

After she had decided against almost everything else in the store, Kaitlyn finally spotted a teddy bear sitting high up on a shelf, alone.

“Daddy, I want that one,” she said, pointing to the bear.

“Are you sure, sweetie. There are plenty of other, bigger toys that we could buy you.”

She nodded. “I’m sure. I want that one.”

John reached up and pulled the bear off the shelf and gave it to Kaitlyn. “Here, you can hold him while we check-out.”

Kaitlyn smiled sweetly at the bear. “I’m gonna name you Mr. Snuggles.”

They arrived at the park and found a picnic table under cover. March gave Kaitlyn money to get a treat, and she skipped off to pick it out.

“Are you ready to tell her?” asked John once Kaitlyn had left.

March looked at her husband with a tired look on her face, “Of course not. But I have to tell her now. I’m not just going to spring it on her on her teen birthday. She needs time to prepare.”

As soon as Kaitlin finished her snack, she turned to March. “You wanted to talk to me, Mommy?” she asked sweetly.

March sighed. This was the hardest thing that she ever had to do. “You know Uncle Payton.”

“Yep!” Kaitlyn smiled. “He promised to teach me a magic trick!”

“Well, one day when we were in college, a mean lady tried to kill Mommy but she killed Uncle Payton instead.”

“But Uncle Payton’s not dead, Mommy. We’re going to his house tonight for Jacob’s party.”

“I know, sweetie. That’s because I couldn’t let Uncle Payton die for mommy. So I talked to this Gypsy who gave me something that would bring Uncle Payton back.”

“And everybody’s happy now, right? Like a fairy tale!”

March took a deep breath. “Not really. See, the mean lady who tried to kill Payton is actually a really evil witch who wants to hurt our family. The gypsy made me promise that I she gave me the thing to save Uncle Payton, then I would send someone to fight the mean witch.”

Kaitlyn only had one question. “Who are you going to send?”

“You.”

The conversation went quiet while March let Kaitlyn process the news. She couldn’t imagine what was going through her little girl’s mind right now.

“Why me?”

“You’re the third child, just like Uncle Payton is. That makes you the most special little girl in the whole wide world.”

Kaitlyn looked scarred. She turned to John. “Do I have to go now?”

“Of course not. When you’re a teenager, the very best good witch’s are going to train you to be the very best at magic. Until then, all you have to worry about is enjoying being a kid. Now, why don’t you go play on the playground and enjoy your day.”

“Okay.”

Later, as they watched Kaitlyn swing on the playground, John turned to March, “Do you think she’ll be okay with what she has to do.”

“Do you want the truth? I have absolutely no idea."

That night, they gathered at Payton’s house to watch Jacob join his cousins as a child.

March and Patrick had given their teens permission to hang out elsewhere for the evening, so only the children gathered for the current festivity.

Payton set Jacob on the ground and he smiled widely at his family as he grew up.

“Hey this is so cool,” rattled Jacob once he grew up. “I can do so many things now. I can jump on my bed, I can play on the computer, I can throw a football and have water balloon fights, and I can even play on the playground.”

Payton laughed. “Why don’t you just go change your clothes now.”

“Okay!”

After Jacob changed, the kids headed upstairs to play Don’t Wake the Lama. As soon as the game started, Kaitlyn told her cousins what her parents told her.

“And Mommy said I’m going to have to fight this evil witch one day.”

“That’s so cool,” Jacob said as soon as she was done explaining. “You’ll be like a superhero, fighting evil, except instead of having powers you’ll be like, all magical and stuff.”

“But I’m really scared,” Kaitlyn admitted to her cousins. “What if I’m not strong enough? What if she hurts me first?”

“You’re strong enough, Kaitlyn,” Austin told her. “You’ll be the bestest witch ever.”

“And don’t worry,” Logan said as he crossed his arms. “Anyone who tries to hurt you will have to go through us.”

“Yeah,” Jacob added. “No one hurts our cousin and gets away with it.”

Kaitlyn smiled. “Thanks, guys.”

Downstairs, Payton found March sitting alone in the living room. “Hey, Big Sis,” he said as he walked up to her. “Can I sit by you?”

March turned and smiled. “Of course. Have a seat.”

Once he was sitting, Payton turned to her and asked, “How did it go today?”

“As well as could be expected, I suppose. I’m not really sure what’s going through her mind right now.”

Payton sighed. “I wish she didn’t have to suffer at my expense. I know I’ve said this before, but I can’t thank you enough for the sacrifice you made for me.”

“Just sitting here next you makes everything seem okay. I had to bring you back, Payton. I couldn’t let you suffer for me. But instead I’m making my little girl suffer. I know that it’s the right decision, I just wish it didn’t hurt so much.”

“If there was anything I could do, you know I would do it.”

“I know.”

As March got up to leave, Payton jumped up from the couch and hugged his sister. “It’ll be okay.”

“I sure hope so.”

That night when they got home from the party. March tucked Kaitlyn into bed. She crawled in bed and was asleep before her head hit the pillow. March reached down, brushed Kaitlyn’s hair out of her face, and pulled the covers up.

As she left the room, she took one last look at her baby girl. Kaitlyn seemed so small, so frail, curled up in a little ball in her bed. March would do anything to protect her from the fate that she created for this little girl.

March stood there and watched her daughter sleep before finally turning out the light and leaving the room.

It was only an hour or so later that the dreams started.

“You’ll never get me, little girl. You’ll try and try but never win. And one by one I’ll kill your whole family.”

“No! Please don’t!”

“There’s nothing you can do to stop me. You’ll never be strong enough to kill me. Now, step out of the way while I kill your big sister.”

“Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!”

Kaitlyn awoke with a start. Her heart was pounding and she was breathing heavily. The dream had seemed so real.

She didn’t want to go back to sleep so she crawled out of bed and slipped out of her room.

Kaitlyn slipped into the hall and started panting harder. The darkness felt like a heavy blanket trying to suffocate her.

Kaitlyn quickly looked around for somewhere to go. The whole house was quiet, but she spotted a feint light coming from her brother’s room.

Kaitlyn peeked into Luke’s room and found him sitting on his bed, reading a book.

“Luke?” she whimpered softly.

Luke glanced up from his book, a surprised look on his face. “Hey squirt, what are you doing up? You should be in bed.”

Kaitlyn started crying. “I had a nightmare.”

Luke put his book down and walked over to her. “What was it about?”

Tears were running down her face. “I w.was t.t.trying to k.kill the witch,” she said in between sobs, “but sh.she was g.g.going to k.kill my whole f.f.family, and I w.w.asn’t s.s.strong enough to k.kill her.”

Luke reached down and hugged his sister. “It’s okay, Kaitlyn. You’re the strongest little girl in the whole world. You don’t have to worry about that right now.”

Kaitlyn wiped the tears off her face. “Can y.you do s.something with me, L.Luke? I.I don’t want t.to go b.back to b.b.bed.”

Luke stood up. “Listen. I have an idea. Go get your swimsuit on and meet me back here. I’ll go wake up April.”

April nodded. “O.okay.”

“Are you s.sure this is o.okay?” Kaitlyn asked once they were by the pool.

“Absolutely,” April replied. “Mom told us we could take you swimming anytime as long as we’re here to watch you. Now,” she added. “Watch me do a cannonball.” April ran off the diving board, tucked her body into a ball, and landed in the cool water with a splash.

Ten minutes later, they were all in the middle of the pool and swimming around.

“Are you still scared?” April asked her after they swam around a bit.

“I d.don’t think so,” Kaitlyn replied.

“Good. Then I’ll race you to the other end.”

Kaitlyn smiled at her sister before taking off after her.

Valerie screamed in agony as she breathed through another contraction. It was finally time for her tenth and final baby to be born.

“Are you okay, Mom?” Laura Lynn asked, feeling helpless.

“Yeah, can I get you anything?” Shelby echoed, feeling the same way.

“Just shut up,” Valerie replied as she continued to pant in agony.

A few minutes later, she had delivered a precious baby girl. “Hello, Annabelle,” she whispered softly to her new daughter. “Welcome to the family.”

The rest of the house tumbled in to greet the new addition. “I know you all want time with Annabelle,” Valerie told her family. “But we have to get ready for the birthday party. Austin, go change your clothes. Laura Lynn, please set up the balloons outside. The rest of you, go do your homework.”

“Yes, Mom,” the kids chorused, and they scrambled off to follow their mom’s instructions.

Valerie took Annabelle to the nursery, where she kicked and giggled happily the whole way down to the crib.

As soon as Annabelle was asleep, Valerie tiptoed upstairs, where she found Patrick changing out his work clothes.

“So,” she said. “We have ten kids!”

Valerie hurried over to Patrick and he took her into his arms and kissed her.

Patrick laughed. “We have ten kids! Do you know how lucky I am to have you as my wife?”

“Not half as lucky as I am to have you as my husband.”

Patrick started to pull Valerie into another kiss when the two were interuppted.

“Mama!” Levi interuppted as he crawled into the room. “Mama hold, pease!” he babbled and reached out to her.

Valerie laughed and walked over to her son.

She scooped Levi into her arms and smiled. “Come on, birthday boy. It’s time to get ready for your party!”

Valerie hurried off to finish getting things ready for the quadruple birthday party they were throwing for Austin and the triplets. She carried the cakes out to the backyard. Despite the cooling weather, they decided with so many birthday kids, it would be best to have the party outside.

She carefully set the cake down on the cake and surveyed the rest of the yard to make sure everything she was in place. “Perfect,” she thought. The guests would be here any moment.

After the guests arrived, Austin found April and Brianna sitting on the porch.

“Guess what, guys? I’m going to be a teenager today and then I can finally hang out with you instead of the younger kids.”

“Awesome,” April replied. “We’ll have to take you downtown tonight to initiate you into the teen circle.”

Austin’s eyes got wide. “Really???” Both the girls laughed.

Before they could answer, Brianna’s dad interrupted them. “Austin, your mother asked me to come get you. It’s time for you and your siblings to grow up.”

“Yipee! Come on guys, come watch me become a teenager!”

Austin took his place at his cake, while Savannah, Shelby, and Cole brought the triplets to the other three.

Everyone cheered and sang as the four kids blew out the candles.

“So,” Austin said once he had changed clothes, “about that initiation?”

Austin had decided that Pleasure was the best thing in life, and he needed to have 50 dream dates in order to be truly happy.

April grinned. “Meet us at Midnight Flows tonight at 8 pm. Don’t be late.”

“So what are we going to do there?”

“Like we would tell you that,” replied Brianna. They were not going to tell him ahead of time that they had entered him into a karaoke competition.

“Come on,” April said. “Let’s go get cake before it’s all eaten.”

“Fine. Don’t tell me. I’ll find out soon enough. And,” he added, “I call the first piece of cake.”

In the backyard, the triplet’s had started up a game of pirates.

“Walk the plank!” Captain Virginia called out to her brothers.

“Aye, Aye, Captain!” Levi called out in return.

“Wait! Land Ahoy!” Jackson shouted a few minutes later. “Let’s go lookin’ for treasure!”

“I’m bored.” Virginia announced after a while. “Come on,” she commanded, knowing her brothers would follow, “Let’s go play on the fortress.”

“Okay!” her brothers chorused, and the kids rushed off to their next adventure.

After the party wrapped up that night, Laura Lynn opened her dresser and pulled the last of her clothes out. Tonight was the night that she was leaving for college. She had looked forward to this moment from the moment she had realized what college was. This was her chance to learn everything she could. It was going to be so much fun.

Laura Lynn smiled. She could hardly wait.

She brought the clothes to her bed and neatly folded them into her suitcase. She closed the suitcase and set it by her door. She was all set. Laura Lynn returned to her dresser to shut the doors when she heard a knock at the door.

Laura Lynn quickly slammed the doors shut. “Come in,” she called out.

Valerie entered the room and smiled at her oldest daughter. “Are you ready.”

Laura Lynn grinned widely. “Yep! I’m all packed. The taxi is on its way.”

Valerie leaned forward and kissed her oldest daughter on the cheek. “You’ve been a great a wonderful help with all your siblings, dear. But now it’s time for you to move on. I know you’ll have a fabulous time at college.”

Tears glistened both of their eyes. “Thanks, Mom. I know I will.”

“Make sure you say good-bye to your dad and siblings before you leave.”

“Of course.” Laura Lynn grabbed her suitcase and hurried off for more good-byes.

When the taxi cab arrived, Laura Lynn tossed her suitcase in the back and climbed inside. A cool breeze danced across the night sky as the taxi drove off.

Elsewhere in the city, another cool breeze whipped around the edges of a castle as one witch leaned closer to a huge door, desperate to hear the meeting currently taking place.

Traviata leaned in closer. She could make out a hint of voices through the thick door. From what she could tell, the council of darkness was almost finished with its current business. It would soon be time for her to make her entrance.

The Council of Darkness, which consisted of the most evil of all the supernatural creatures, met several times a year to keep tabs on all the evil happenings of Time Riviera. If she wanted to rule over the darkness, she would have to go through them.

Inside the room, Victoria prepared to wrap up the meeting. “That’s all the new business we have today. Do I have a motion to adjourn the meeting?”

“I’ll motion,” Sam, the alien, said.

“Do I have a second?”

“Not so fast. I have some new business I need to discuss,” Traviata announced as she entered the room. All eyes turned to her as she took a stance at the end of the table.

“I’ve been cheated out of a position that is rightfully mine. I motion that I replace my dear mother as head of the Council of Darkness.”

“Traviata, you know that isn’t how it goes,” Melinda told her. “You would have to have been selected by Victoria as a child, and confirmed by the council, it’s too late now.”

“Yeah,” Aidain grunted. “Too late.”

“Please,” Oliver pleaded. “Could we finish up the meeting already. I have things to do tonight. I’ll even second the motion to end the meeting.”

“Absolutely,” Victoria replied. “Meeting adjourned.”

Traviata sneered at the room. “Don’t think you’ve seen that last of me. I’ll find a way to take my rightful throne and you’ll be sorry you ever double crossed me.” With that she turned and stormed out of the room.

Steaming with anger, Traviata stomped up to the roof, looking for a place she could mount her broom and fly off.

“Hey, wait up!”

Traviata jerked her head around to see Amanda, the zombie, walking toward her.

“What do you want?” Traviata snapped as she turned to face the zombie. Amanda continued to sludge slowly toward her. “I haven’t got all day,” Traviata added.

Amanda was silent as she finished making her way toward Traviata. As soon as she was closer, she finally spoke, in a soft whisper that no one else could hear. “I didn’t want to say in there, because I could get in a lot of trouble for telling you this. I know a way you can take over the throne.”

Traviata’s demeanor instantly changed and she leaned in closer to Amanda.

“I’m listening.”

“Here’s what you need to do.”

Ten minutes later, Traviata mounted her broom with a huge grin spread across her face. She was about to get everything she rightfully deserved.

And all it would take is a few specific murders.

Thank you for reading!!. A big thanks to everyone at The Sims Writers’ Guild for the support. You guys are the best. :D Special thanks to Ningfor posting a link the tears tutorial by simhaven that I used in the picture of Kaitlyn and Luke.

I’m really sorry that this chapter took so long. I expected to have it finished up at the end of May, but a bunch of computer problems and a bout of writer’s block stopped that from happening. The good news is that I’ve already started shooting scenes for the next chapter. So it shouldn’t take near as long.

Turn the page for some character stats…………….>>>

Name: Levi KingPre-Rolled Aspiration: Romance Personality: Gemini 2/9/9/5/1

Name: Virginia KingPre-Rolled Aspiration: Family Personality: Scorpio 7/3/10/3/10

Name: Jackson KingPre-Rolled Aspiration: Pleasure Personality: Libra 2/9/4/5/7