(A/N) Here's the third chapter!
I can't exactly think of anything to say here, except that this chapter and next chapter will be the last of my pre-written stuff for this story. Depending on when I can get to work on the remaining chapters for the Introduction Arc, there could be a large gap between chapter four and five. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.
Disclaimer: If it isn't obvious, I don't own The Sims series, it'd be cool if I did, but I don't. The trademark is property of Maxis and the money hungry Electronic Arts.
Chapter 3: Varied Homelives
Ripp did not have long of his shift left when Johnny made an appearance, looking pale, tired, and disturbed. Had they not discussed what had happened in the chat, the brunette would have assumed his friend had seen a ghost, or something, which for the neighbourhood they lived in, would not be an out of place occurrence. However, he did know what had happened to him, and so was understandably worried, but tried not to let it show too much; the last thing his friend wanted was pity.
The half-alien just leaned on the counter, while Ripp rung up the last two customers for the evening. Both of them showed unease at there being a green humanoid in the building, but the brunette just kept a smile and pretended that the odd looks were not there. He hoped that Johnny had not noticed, but it looked like he had as he folded his arms and looked away in disgust. Some sims did not know how to keep their own thoughts in their head... himself included, but that was not the point.
He was not sure why Johnny even came to the Gas Station, as they had not talked much. The only time they spoke was when Ripp offered him a glass of water, which he did accept. Either he just wanted to get out of the house, or he did want to talk, but was waiting for the right time.
The Gas Station employee sighed in relief as his shift came to a close, offering his friend his seat behind the counter while he locked up. He checked the limited stock of magazines, soft drinks, and snacks, before moving on to flipping the 'Open' sign to 'Closed.' It was while he was doing the latter, Johnny finally decided to speak.
"What do you think happened with Lilith?" He asked, staring down at his hands and twiddling his thumbs.
"Probably the usual," the brunette shrugged, as he made his way to the storage door. "She got into a fight with her older sister, while her folks did fuck all about it."
"So, you reckon nothing new, then?"
"Nope! The drama is always the same in that house, not like I can really talk," Ripp made sure that he had locked the door properly, before checking the security cameras. "Angela picks up a fight, while David and Mary-Jane - "
"Daniel and Mary-Sue," Johnny corrected, looking up with a mildly amused smile.
"Well, whatever their names are," he chuckled, as he moved on to lock the security room door. "They just watch, or leave the room."
"I swear that Angela could get away with murder."
"Tell me about it, she's like the Tank to Lilith's... me," Ripp sighed, as he approached the counter. "She can do no wrong and if she has done anything wrong, then there's always a reason why she gets let off the hook," he shook his head, looking down at his keys. "It's annoying, I tell ya."
"I can imagine..." the blonde looked up at the ceiling briefly, before placing his glass on the counter. "I hope Lilith's okay, anyway..."
"She'll be fine," Ripp said reassuringly. "She's probably with Dirk, now."
"Yeah..."
"Come on, I've gotta lock up from the outside."
Stepping outside, the pair were greeted with a warm breeze and the dimming light of the sunset casting a faint orange glow onto the desert night. The sky itself was also a sight to behold: it was a gradient of blue, orange, and yellow with a line of pink and the sun tucking itself in for the night in the centre. It was breathtaking.
Ripp felt all of his worries melt away at that moment; Buck's future, his own direction in life, the General's possible lecture when he got home, everything. He could stare at the sunset forever if he could, but he had a job to finish.
Locking the Gas Station entrance, he paused when he noticed a poster on the glass door. It was simple in design; hand drawn images of cows and milk bottles were pasted on a plain white background; a list of, what appeared to be, rules were written in cursive handwriting; and there was the name of the organisation this poster was advertising in the upper left corner.
"This is new..." Ripp commented, getting the attention of Johnny, who had been watching the sunset, too.
He approached the brunette with an equal look of confusion on his face. "Yeah, I didn't see that coming in," he stated, watching as Ripp peeled the poster off the door.
"'The Kine Society'," he read with a raised brow. "Never heard of 'em... have you, John?"
The blonde shook his head. "No," he replied, before gesturing to the poster. "What does it say?"
They were silent as Ripp skimmed through the text. To say he found it strange would be an understatement, it sounded down right creepy, but at the same time... he found it extremely goofy, that much so, he could not contain his laughter.
He watched as Johnny's look of curiosity turned to confusion, as he folded his arms and sighed. "Well...?"
The brunette wiped a tear from his eye. "You won't believe me," he giggled, trying to calm himself down. Seeing that the blonde was waiting for an answer, he was able to get himself to stop laughing long enough to give him one. "Okay, so, it's a dairy that worships Beelzebeef, their God."
"You're joking," was the half-alien's deadpan response.
"No," Ripp shook his head, as Johnny approached to look over his shoulder.
"'The great cow, Beelzebeef, slumbers beneath the surface of the Earth'," he read in bafflement, a small smile finding its way on his face.
The brunette noticed this and could not help but feel slightly smug, however, his amusement at the next line took that feeling over entirely.
"'When Beelzebeef rises again, she will awaken The Elder Herd'," he squinted at the text to make sure he had read it correctly. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Who knows?" Johnny shrugged.
Ripp scanned the text, his eyes widening when they landed on the answer. "Apparently, The Elder Herd will 'trample all those who stray from the teachings of The Kine'."
"That's some cult mentality..."
"Tell me about it," the pale boy sighed in exasperation, letting his arms fall limp at his sides. "And then there's the General, who thinks that aliens are the thing to be worrying about."
It had been that way for years, his father constantly spying on the Smiths and spitting accusations at them, even though they where evidently false. His hatred for the Smiths had been a thing for years, even before Buck had been thought of, and yet despite the Smiths showing no signs of suspicious activity, the General was still adamant that they were up to something. It was ridiculous.
Speaking of ridiculous, the General's paranoia was that bad that he tried to get the Smiths locked up after Jill was born. He was convinced that she was part of some sinister plot just because she displayed no alien features; she could easily pass off as a human and that scared him. He even increased the number of training sessions, as to 'prepare for the upcoming invasion,' something he had always been training the boys, namely Tank, for since they were young.
This was something his ex-wife, and mother to the boys, Lyla was not happy with and it eventually lead to a divorce.
Ten years ago, shortly after Buck was born, Lieutenant-General Buzz Grunt became General Buzz Grunt, the top of Strangetown's Military. This made him even more strict than he was before, much to everyone, excluding Tank's, annoyance. The eldest of Buzz's sons greatly wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, much to his joy and Lyla's concern.
"Buzz, I don't believe it is beneficial for our children's development for you to be pushing them into the military path from this young of an age," Ripp had heard her plead to his father one afternoon. "Why don't you wait until their teenage years for them to decide?"
"The problem with that Lyla is that becoming General has been in the Grunt Family for generations," he replied, coldly. "I will not allow it to end after me... besides, Tank's eager and I see a lot of potential in him, he even hates aliens."
"Because you've brainwashed him," she raised her voice slightly. "Tank's a bully, Ripp has no friends because his peers are judging him based on his brother's behaviour, and I'm worried about Buck's future if that's the case."
"Why does it matter? School isn't for making friends, it's for educational purposes."
"It builds social skills, Buzz," she groaned. "And with your training regime Tank doesn't get to be a child, right now he's training instead of playing like he should be!"
"No, he's doing what he's told," the General countered. "Unlike Ripp... he won't be a General with his attitude to training..."
"Because he doesn't want to join the military..."
"I figured that much... he wouldn't get anywhere anyway with those long eyelashes and large, puppy dog eyes of his," he stated. "No soldier will take him seriously..."
"He's six years old!" she was shouting now. "He's not going to look like that forever!"
"Yes, he is still young... so, he can be convinced to like training..."
"You're impossible!"
Buzz and Lyla's relationship deteriorated gradually over two weeks, and during that time she caught Ripp looking out of the window. Following his gaze, she noticed that he was staring into the Smiths' lush, green garden, watching as a green skinned boy his age with blonde hair and green eyes, helped his full-alien Dad with the barbecue.
"Why does Dad hate them?" he had asked, sounding a little sad. "They seem normal to me..."
The mother felt her heart break, but kept her emotions in check for her son. "He's just a bully," she sighed. "But you don't have to be."
The tension between Buzz and Lyla reached its peak one dinner time, two years later.
"How was school boys?" Lyla asked hesitantly, as she poured some gravy over her mashed potatoes.
"It was school..." Ripp answered with a shrug, returning to mixing his peas and sweetcorn into his potato.
"And you, Tank...?"
"I tried to interrogate the alien about his plans, but he wouldn't tell me anything, so I had to do the extreme kind," he told her, putting a piece of chicken into his mouth.
The mother was fearful. "Extreme? Like tickling under the armpits?"
"No, I punched him," he said enthusiastically, not understanding the weight of what he was saying, or why his mother gasped in horror. "I punched him so hard that blue stuff came from his nose, it was disgusting! He still didn't say anything..."
"Tank, that was very naughty," Lyla told him, getting a look of shock in return.
"Huh? But Sir said it was okay..."
"Your teacher?!"
"Me," Buzz finally spoke, patting his eldest on the back. "You did good."
The boy just looked confused, while Lyla stood abruptly.
"Not only are you encouraging unprovoked violence, but you're also not letting him call you 'Dad'?!"
"You don't call your superior officer 'Dad'," he replied. "It's not professional behaviour."
Lyla's fuse blew, as her and Buzz got into a heated argument, prompting the boys to run upstairs. Tank went into his own room, while Ripp ran into his parent's room with the two year old Buck in his arms. It felt like the argument went on forever until Lyla stormed in with a suitcase and began packing a few of her clothes.
"Mum, where are you going?!" Ripp yelled, making Buck cry.
Lyla paused and kneeled in front of him. "I'm going somewhere else for a little while," she told him softly, holding back tears. "But I'll be back for all of you... this place is not good for you..." she choked, using her thumb to wipe the tears from Ripp's eyes. "You're a good boy, Ripp, never change, alright?" she watched as he nodded rapidly.
She took Buck from Ripp's arms and hugged him. "I'll be back, I promise..."
After she said that, light footsteps were heard approaching. "Mum, why are you crying?" It was Tank, who was stood by the door.
"Tank, listen - " she began, handing Buck back to Ripp.
"Lyla, you're overreacting!" Buzz yelled as he stepped in front of Tank. "Put the suitcase down and we can talk about this."
She shook her head. "You never listen to me, so what's the point."
With that, she pushed him out of the way and left the house.
That was the last time anyone had heard from Lyla Grunt, as she went missing after that.
The General was upset and blamed the Smiths as usual, which worsened things between Tank and their son, Johnny. Tank not only blamed the Smiths, but Ripp too, as he was the last to talk to her, making matters at home worse, as well. It did not help that both alien haters were aware of Ripp's close friendship with Johnny and believed that he was in on the alien invasion, that was not happening.
Eventually, he stopped accusing the Smiths of his wife's disappearance, but still believed that they were up to no good...
"No offence, but the General's an idiot..." Johnny said after a long silence, giving the military brat a nudge into the present. "And Tank just takes after him..."
"None taken," Ripp shrugged. "You know I agree with you."
The half-alien folded his arms and looked down at the ground briefly. "Yeah, but he's still your Dad," he sighed, leaning on a nearby wall.
"Well, I don't consider him to be my Dad," the brunette shrugged again, kicking a stone in front of him. "So, we'll just pretend he isn't, yeah?"
"If you want."
The pair stood for a little while, doing nothing as they took in the now darkened area. The sun had completely turned in for the night, leaving the boys stranded in darkness with the odd street light, or two, illuminating the small area where they stood. The entire area was quiet, excluding the sounds of crickets and the buzzing of the occasional fly.
Johnny cleared his throat, getting Ripp's attention. "What are you going to do with that?" he asked with a small smirk, as he pointed to the poster that was still in the brunette's hand. "Keeping it?"
Ripp blinked, glancing at it. He had forgotten that he was still holding it. Half of him wanted to keep it, because of how funny it was, while the other half thought that it was useless junk that needed to be thrown away. Maybe this 'Kine Society' was a threat and this was what the boy needed to get the General off the Smith's back... would the General even believe him?
"Nah," Ripp shook his head, as he tossed it into a nearby bin, earning a chuckle from Johnny. "Beelzebeef can sit in the bin, too!"
The pair giggled amongst themselves, as they began their journey home, which was a little over thirty minutes away on foot. The Gas Station where the military brat worked, officially called the 'Service Station,' was just a little outside of Paradise Place, an area where the more 'well-off' citizens lived. There were mostly mansions and overpriced smaller houses, as well as real grass and plants. Where Ripp and Johnny lived, an area called Road to Nowhere, there was only one place with real grass; Johnny's front and back garden. Other than that, there was just sand.
The duo opted to walk around Paradise Place instead of walking through it, as other sims could be heard singing merrily and laughing drunkenly. Add that to the fact that not a lot of sims in the area took kindly to aliens and that was a terrible scenario waiting to happen. Johnny claimed that he didn't care, but Ripp saw his reaction to the couple in the Gas Station.
Without incident, they made it to the edge of Road to Nowhere, where a crater with a crashed UFO could be seen. This was the place that was the subject of many rumours and where tourists, if they were brave enough, frequented as a result. In the distance, 51 Road to Nowhere could be seen, which was one of two houses where military families could live... it was Ripp's 'home,' unfortunately.
He sighed, as he looked down at the ground after noticing that the lights were on. There was a chance that the General could be home...
He jumped slightly in surprise, when he felt an arm wrap itself around his shoulder, as he was pulled into a side-hug.
"Do you want me to walk you to the front door?" Johnny asked. "I know what the General can be like..."
Ripp shook his head. "Nah, it's okay," he said with a small smile. "Besides, he hates aliens remember?"
"Yeah, but I just want to know you're safe..."
"Don't worry, I know where I can run if things turn sour," the brunette returned the side-hug.
"So, you remember I'm not too far?"
Ripp nodded.
In an isolated barn, within the area of Deadtree on Strangetown's far edge, a meeting was being held within. This meeting was being run by a dark-skinned man with black hair and brown eyes, who was stepping onto a wooden stage with a warm smile, as he addressed the eager crowd.
"Greetings to all fellow members of the Kine Society!" He welcomed enthusiastically, earning loud applause from his audience. "For the few fresh faces here, I shall begin by introducing myself. I am Sinjin Balani, Leader of the Herd and the one who will do everything in his power to ensure the return of our beloved goddess, Beelzebeef."
This got a much louder applause in response, in addition to whistling. He couldn't hide his joy from all of his fellow members, who were just as willing to aid the cause as much as he was. It warmed his heart.
"Thank you!" He raised his voice slightly to quiet the crowd. "I have some news; both uplifting and... sad would not be an accurate choice of words..."
The crowd gasped.
"Not to worry," Sinjin reassured. "It's just that in order to appease Beelzebeef, we need more members this year, so that she may return and make the crops flourish. We have stuck our posters around town in an effort to begin drawing in new members, however, I feel like that would not be enough," his smile widened. "So I have requested the aid of the original founder of this organisation, Dominic Newlow, please welcome him with open arms!"
He stepped aside to allow a taller, pale man with sharp, pointed features and a curly moustache onto the stage. The man, Dominic Newlow, scanned the audience before clearing his throat.
"Yes," he began. "I have a plan to allow your organisation to easily get new members."
The crowd cheered again, prompting Newlow to raise his hand to silence them.
"We can convince specific types of sims to join us, the young and impressionable," he continued. "But not too young, teenagers."
The crowd murmured in confusion, but the man continued to speak.
"Think about it, they are old enough to make their own decisions, but can still be a clean canvas to pass down knowledge onto," he stated. "I also know just the way to recruit them, too..."
It had been a little over an hour since Ophelia had dropped Lilith off at Dirk's house, before having to begin making her own way home, just in case her aunt got curious where she was and asked questions.
Lilith was in a terrible state when she arrived; her eyes were puffy, her makeup was smudged, her hair was messy, and her grey dress had creases in them that were not there the last time Dirk saw her. She didn't talk straight away, but when she did, she divulged to her boyfriend everything that had happened at the house, including the detail of her father's infidelity and her parent's resulting divorce.
Dirk did not know what to think of this new information. On one hand he didn't really care, as Daniel and Mary-Sue's split was something the entire group was waiting to happen, especially with Lilith throwing her theories out in the open. However, he could not really fault Mary-Sue for being dedicated to her job and having ambition, but at the same time her family suffered for it, so his feelings towards his girlfriend's mother was mixed…
Well, as far as the situation with Daniel was concerned anyway. In terms of how she, and even Daniel, treated Lilith his opinion was a no-brainer; how can a parent play favourites? Even as far back as when he first met Lilith when they were six, he never understood why they ignored her and her problems, while coddling Angela like she was a porcelain doll in danger of breaking. He believed that they were some weird anomaly, of course, that was until he met Ripp, who's homelife was just as a unhealthy.
His parents had a messy divorce, his mum fell off the face of the Earth, his brother beat him, his father constantly talked him down while favouring the older brother, and the younger brother was emotionally neglected when Ripp was not around.
It was absurd to think that such a homelife existed for someone, but then there was also Ophelia who kept her homelife private, excluding the fact that she lived with Olive Specter, who was up to shady things, and she was mostly left to her own devices. At least he could relax knowing that Johnny was fine at home.
Dirk wished that he could somehow get them out of their chaotic homelives, as he was seriously worried about them, but the only thing he could do was try to comfort them when they were facing hardship.
"So is that the end? Are they finished?" He asked carefully, watching as Lilith nodded her head. "If you don't mind me asking, what made you run away?"
The red head leaned into the couch and took a deep breath. "Angela attacked me," she finally said, her voice bearing a tone of annoyance as opposed to the shaky one she had when she arrived. "Mary-Sue just went to her room, like she usually does."
So, nothing overly new…
Without much of a better idea of what to do, Dirk placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. He wanted to tell her words of comfort, reassurance that what she was experiencing in life was not going to be forever, and then from the future onwards, she would have nothing but great things to look forward to. However, he could not get the words out, he suddenly felt unsure… would the future have bright things for everyone?
He shook his head, much to Lilith's confusion.
"Are you okay?" she asked, placing the palm of her hand over his forehead.
Before Dirk could answer, his Dad called from the kitchen.
"Do you want a drink or a snack, Lilith?"
She promptly removed her hand and leaned back on the couch in thought. "I wouldn't mind a glass of water," she decided.
"Not to alarm you," Dirk began softly, rubbing the back of his neck. "But, I think the authorities may have been called knowing Mary-Sue."
At first, the boy thought that he had upset her, because she just stared at him blankly for a few seconds, before sighing in frustration.
"I know," she huffed, folding her arms. "She's a control freak..."
"Or she might just be worried about her daughter," Dirk's father stated, entering the room with Lilith's glass of water.
"Dad!"
"It's fine," Lilith said, taking the glass with a small smile. "Thanks for the water, Mr. Dreamer."
"Oh, you can just call me 'Darren,' we've known each other long enough," he chuckled, ruffling the girl's hair. "You're like family."
In response, the girl just nodded her head slowly.
"I've got to go upstairs," Darren yawned, as he began to leave. "A painting needs to be finished."
Dirk waited until his Dad was out of earshot, before he groaned and covered his face with his hands. He understood that his father was pursuing something he had dreamed of for years, and he was happy for him, but...
He looked up to glance at the piles of bills the family had accumulated over the past six months. It was enough to get them a visit from the Repo-Man, who would have no qualms about repossessing their personal belongings and house. It's why he wanted a part-time job. That, in addition to wanting his own money to have during, and after, college.
"Dirk, what's wrong?" Lilith's voice cut through his stressful thoughts.
"It's nothing..."
"I'm not a dumbass, I can see that you're stressing over something," she raised her voice a little, being mindful not to disturb Darren.
"It's just that this painting thing is a waste of time," he sighed. "He isn't getting anywhere with it and with me having little luck finding work, we'll probably be on the streets by the end of this year..."
"Don't say that... you're Dad's art is great."
"But not good enough, apparently."
They sat in a tense silence, while Lilith began to browse through her phone. Eventually, she pocketed it with a look of worry and, at first, Dirk thought that she had gotten a message from her mother or sister.
"Why didn't you tell me what was said in the group chat?" she asked in a raised whisper, leaning closer to Dirk.
The boy looked at her with perplexion. "What do you mean?"
As soon as those words left his mouth, he felt the cymbals clash together inside his head. How did he forget what had happened to Johnny during football practice? From the look on Lilith's face, he could see that she noticed the light bulb flicker on and sat there, trying to disguise a smirk.
"With everything going on, it slipped my mind," he admitted, timidly, watching as the girl nodded her head.
"Yeah, I just hope he's okay," she said, picking at her painted nails. "He seemed upset in the chat..."
Dirk could only nod. He wished that he had been active to provide some sort of comfort, but at least Ripp and Ophelia were online.
"I know," he sighed. "We just have to support him, like we're going to support you through this."
The red head nodded with a small smile. She was going to say something, but was interrupted by the door bell ringing.
Getting up off the couch, the boy opened the door to be met with a female police officer. She stood there with her arms folded and a bored expression.
"I'm here for a 'Lilith Pleasant,' is she here?" she asked.
Getting off the train, Ophelia scanned the area to observe how empty and void of life it was. It was to be expected, as it was relatively late and most of the Strangetown citizens would be either relaxing for the evening or preparing for their upcoming work shifts, such as her Aunt Olive.
Olive worked as a Professional Party Guest, which was a job that, apparently, involved going to client's parties to try and liven them up. While doing that, she got the opportunity to chat with socialites and other famous celebrities, which she told her niece it could either be uneventful, or enlightening on the best of nights.
Ophelia was surprised that anyone bothered to hire her aunt, considering the rumours surrounding her, but she did not bother to question it too much. However, she did sometimes wonder if anything weird happened at these parties, like her aunt poisoning anyone... then again, she would have heard about it if she had.
Leaving the train station, she reluctantly made her way home to 13 Dead End Lane, which was roughly fifteen minutes away on foot. As she established earlier in the afternoon while waiting for Ripp, fifteen minutes wasn't the longest time. However, with her walking home in the darkness on her lonesome, the short length of time felt excruciatingly drawn out.
Her home was in the middle of nowhere, cut off from the rest of town, so her journey was dead silent with the exception of cicadas chirping. Even though she was the only other person around, she still got startled if she accidently kicked a stone into a rock, or her key chains jingled on her bag. She eventually loaded the flashlight app on her phone for the rest of the walk, just so she could try to feel some semblance of calm.
Eventually, she found herself stood outside of the house, idly fiddling with the tie loosely hung around her neck. Her Aunt Olive wouldn't have left for work yet, but even so, she would have still kept the door locked to prevent sims from just barging in. Ophelia had tried to reason with her before, telling her that sims don't barge into other sim's houses, the same way sims don't steal newspapers every day. Sure, some did, but she didn't think they would be stupid enough to steal Olive Specter's newspaper. It was just that the paper delivery girl for their area, Esther Tse, was terrified to approach the house, and who could blame her? So, the only time her aunt would get her newspaper would be if Esther caught Ophelia outside at the right time to give it her.
But, her aunt never listened to her; she was always right in her mind, a stubborn woman.
Not wanting to be stood outside any longer than she was, Ophelia retrieved her house key from her bag and began to unlock the door. However, she stopped midway, as she suddenly felt a chill go down her spine, goosebumps on her skin, and the hairs on the back of her neck stand. Without thinking, she breathed in and exhaled to see smoke make its weightless exit. She knew fully well what this meant for her, so she quickly finished unlocking the door and bolted into the house, slamming the door shut behind her.
"What have I told you about slamming that door, young lady?" Her Aunt Olive spoke sternly, making the girl jump slightly.
She expected her aunt to be in her bedroom, not sat by the dining room table drinking a cup of coffee. The older woman hadn't even looked up from the newspaper she was reading... newspaper... Ophelia didn't recall seeing Esther that morning, so did she finally build up the courage to approach the house?
"I asked you question," she yawned, knocking the girl out of her thoughts. Before she could give her reply, her aunt continued. "Between you and the sims that steal my newspaper, I'm surrounded by so many rude individuals."
"Sorry," Ophelia shot out quietly, plastering on her best smile before she spoke again. "I see you got today's paper at least."
"No, this is from last week," she sighed, folding it up and throwing it in the centre of their long table. "I have lost track of how many times I've read the article about that couple's death in Veronaville."
"Oh..."
Olive sighed, standing from her chair and leaving the dining room. "If you need me, I will be getting ready for work."
After Ophelia heard the bedroom door shut, she immediately went into her own room to try and get some homework done. That way, she could at least go on the computer to take her mind off the ghosts that floated around at night.
It wasn't something she told her friends yet, but her house was haunted to a ridiculously large degree. There was a ghost of an elderly repair man who raided the fridge, getting angry and smashing things if Olive hadn't gone shopping that day, a ghost of a mail delivery woman who enjoyed reading Olive's unopened letters, which always got Ophelia in trouble, and even the ghosts of two teenagers, a boy and a girl, who would physically hurt her if they were out. Good thing they didn't even come out that often.
Fortunately, there were some harmless, but still noisy ghosts, like the maid who loved to clean, the pizza delivery woman who liked to cook Ophelia food for some reason, a grocery delivery man who just lay on the ground and babbled like a baby, and even her late uncle, Ichabod, who just watched over her playing her games to ask, 'are you winning?' every five minutes, helped her with her homework if she was doing that, or just kept her company around the house. She didn't even remember being that close to him, but she wasn't complaining.
Those were the only spirits she had seen so far, and there were more than that based on the number of graves outside.
Hearing a ghostly moan, she sat in silence in an attempt to deduce who had come out for a wander that night. Three ghosts at a time usually came out and, from what she could hear, they seemed to be the grocery delivery man from his loud babbling, the maid from the sweeping sounds she made, and the repair man from his exclamation of joy that the fridge was full.
She already couldn't focus due to the noise, but that combined with the air suddenly becoming dense made her have a coughing fit. She folded her arms and rubbed them in an attempt to comfort herself, while she waited for the noise to blow over, so she could do her homework.
Some things I want to address here.
1) The Kine Society Poster - The text for it was taken from somewhere in the PSP game, I think. If I remember correctly, I think the list was just commandments or something, it's been a while since I looked into it.
2) The Lyla Flashback Section - If you felt that it was long and out of place, don't worry, I'm in agreement with you. I couldn't think of anywhere else to place it, and I knew I wanted it somewhere in the Introduction Arc, so it was placed where it was instead. I know some dialogue was very on the nose, at least, I think it was, but I honestly can't think of an excuse. This was the best dialogue I could eventually come up with.
3) Dirk has a Saviour Complex? - No, but it sure sounds that way with how the scene was written.
4) And yeah, the chapter did feel exposition heavy, but I couldn't think of a way to word the information I wanted.
For Canon Deviations:
▪ In The Sims 2, General Buzz and Lyla divorced recently when Tank and Ripp were teenagers and Buck was a child. I made them younger as I feel it would have given the boys more time to process it. That and it also makes it more dramatic doesn't it...
▪ The Kine Society are different than they are in the PSP game, if that first scene with them wasn't more on the nose.
Now time for the changes from the original plan to the final version:
▪ Locations from the PSP game where added so that Strangetown felt more alive. It's more than likely geographically different from the PSP game, but I can't pinpoint the locations in my head. And yeah, as a result, the gas station Ripp works at has a name, 'Service Station.' Not a good name, but it's a name.
▪ The Lyla Flashback Section was an early addition.
▪ In the Lyla Flashback Section, Buck was going to be a newborn baby, but I wanted it so that he could have some memories of his mother, so I made him a young toddler instead.
▪ There was going to be a flashback showing how Ripp met Johnny, but I cut it out. I didn't want to overload you with two long flashbacks in one chapter, so I've stored it for another time.
▪ And lastly, the chapter was going to be much longer, but it was getting too long, so I cut it into chapter 4. It's how the Introduction Arc went from six chapters to seven.
Alright, I think that's all for my rambling section! I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter as much as I did writing it.
Improvements are appreciated, please tell me what I did right, wrong and how I can improve. If you would like, you could also favourite and follow this fic, as well as suggest areas of improvement, which I guess is the same as the first sentence. R&R and thanks for reading!
