Chapter 3 - Part 2: Have Love Will Travel

The concept of time had completely escaped the inseparable couple, so by the time they emerged from the tent, they were shocked to find it already late in the afternoon of Flora’s last day in Al Simhara.

They sat down at a nearby table in the shade to wait for her departure time.

“That was…” Drake began to say but paused, appearing to try and find the exact words.  “...simply magical,” he finished. 

A complete sense of calm emanated from his pale body.  He took a deep breath before he continued, “I had long given up the hope of being physical with someone.  I generally find teenagers abhorrent, and as you know, Sim law does not allow for affairs such as this.  To have this miracle occur with you is something I could never have dreamed of,” he beamed.

Flora wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, “it was quite a surprise for me, too,” she returned.

“Everything happened so fast," she continued, "One moment we were in the tomb, and the next we were in the tent.  But, I've always felt a connection to you, from the first time we met.  I didn't even think it was possible for us to…” she trailed off, still a bit embarrassed by the acts that had just occurred between her and this teenager.

“Anything can become possible if we want it enough, yes?” Drake asked pointedly.

Flora sat in silence for a few moment while her mind swirled with all manners of complex confusing and conflicting thoughts.  Finally, her mind settled on just one; “I want to see you again,” she said plainly.  “But,” she pointed out, “my parents can’t know about us.  My mother still blames you, and every Vampire, for my brothers’ deaths,” she finished, sadly.

“We require a secret rendezvous location where your parents can stay safely in the dark,” he conjured, his voice tinged with mischievousness.

Flora stood up laughing, “you’re going to enjoy this a little too much, I think,” she playfully scolded, then her face fell, “I should be going, though, I have a plane to catch,” she said unhappily.

“I’m going to miss you,” she sighed, as he placed her hand into his.

He looked up into her eyes and conveyed, “when your despair of not being at my side becomes unbearable, simply return here and I will come to you.  All of Egypt can be our secret,” he told her.

He pulled her in close for another passionate kiss.  His arms wrapped around her tightly as if it would be the last time he was ever to see her again.

Eventually she had to break off the embrace to make the dreaded call. 

Once he saw her into the backseat and the cab began to pull away, Flora took one last look behind her and waved, already regretting having to be apart from Drake.

“Hello?” Flora called out, many hours later.  "I'm home!"

There was no response.

She tried again, and yelled “I come bearing gifts!”

Thundering footsteps immediately came bounding down the stairs.  Her dad swooped in and pulled her into a huge hug.

“What’d ya get me, what’d ya get me??” he said, as he bounced up and down excitedly, like a Sim child.

“You’re looking at it,” she replied, jokingly.  “Ta-Da!  I got you a daughter who missed her daddy a whole bunch!” she laughed.  “It’s good to be home.”

Pete smiled, “I missed you too, hun. I’m glad you’re back safe.  I can’t wait to hear all about your trip and the amazing adventures you must have gone on.  Come inside, leave your bags for the butler.”

Flora took a few more steps inside and looked around at the living room.  Not much had changed while she was gone.  A few more things had been unpacked, but the place still had a very “new” feel.  She felt a pang of longing for their old house in Harmony, even though it contained some very sad memories.

After the butler (her dad) brought down the many trunks she returned with, Flora spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking her finds.  Drake had allowed her to take some of the artifacts that had been lying around the Pyramid of the Sea.  He figured they were only going to sit around in a sealed tomb, this way they had a better chance of being appreciated by someone with a pulse.

She covered the walls with pictures of Egypt.  Looking at them made her think of Drake, as if he was here with her in Charlton.

One thing was certain, though, if she planned to continue with these Egyptian adventures, she was going to need to get into better shape.  Busting up rubble is a tough job.

So she joined the Charlton gym and got to work building that upper body strength that slinging a sledge hammer required.

It was a lot harder than she thought it would be!  For a girl that looked like she was in pretty good shape, she sure was having a hard time!

At least she wasn’t the only one having a tough go of it.

However, over the next few days, her strength had improved enough to attempt the gym’s new rock climbing wall.  If she could tackle this beast, she could tackle anything.

Success!

She was ready.

She found herself eating breakfast (Autumn Salad, her favorite) with Pete the next morning.  Her stomach was in knots.  Better to just get it over with, like a band-aid.

“So, um, Dad,” she started off fumbling over her words, “I’m going to be going away again.  Just wanted to let you know,” she finished quickly, glad to have that conversation over with.

“That’s great, sweetie,” he replied casually, “now, go and tell your mother the same thing.”

Flora’s knots tightened.

That afternoon she offered to help her mom with her plants.  Replanting Faith’s garden had been a very slow process, considering the one in Harmony had been just about perfect.

Flora peered at her mother, and tried to gauge her mood before bringing up the subject of her leaving again so soon after just getting home.  Faith had still been somewhat easy to set off and she didn’t want to upset her mother or make her sad.

It was now or never, thought Flora.  She was either going to react well, or she wasn't  Being a grown woman, though, Flora should be able to do whatever she wanted regardless of her mom’s opinion.

She took a deep breath and dove in, “Mom, I know I just got home a few days ago, but I'v; already planned my next trip back to Egypt,” she started, a slight pleading in her voice.  “There’s just so much excitement over there; the scenery, the tombs, the…”

“Boys?” Faith finished for her.  “Or at least one boy, in particular.  Right?” she asked pointedly.

Flora was so shocked she almost dropped the mop she’d been using to dry up the sprinkler puddles.  It was impossible that her mother would have found out on her own.  And so soon!  How did she know about Drake?

“Um, why do you say that?” Flora asked tentatively and in what she thought was a completely neutral tone.

Faith stood up for a moment to look at her daughter squarely.  “Because, you've been giddy and smiling ever since you got back.  Like a girl who's freshly fallen in love,” she explained.  While her face and tone still expressed overall sadness, there didn't appear to be any anger or resentment hidden underneath.  “I know that look," Faith finished, "I had it once.  Or twice.”

There was no reason to lie, Flora thought.  She just didn’t have to tell her the whole truth.

“Yes, ok, there might be a boy,” she admitted shyly, realizing her mother's ironic choice of words, referring to Drake as a ‘boy’ in regards to him being being several generations older than herself.  

“A mother’s intuition,” Faith confirmed.  “Well, at least you’ll be able to spend a little time at home helping me get this garden started while you’re planning this next big adventure.  It’s nice having you home again,” Faith finished quietly.

Flora wasn’t sure how to break it to her mother, so she barely looked up and blurted out, “I leave tomorrow.” 

“Oh.  That’s wonderful,” Faith replied, a forced smile played across her face.

Title / The Sonics


OUTTAKES

Even in the afterlife, Morand still protects his family's home.

Chapter 3 - Part 1: Beginning of a Great Adventure

Flora couldn't believe how easy this had been.  Now that she was sitting here, simply eating her lunch, it seemed like it was only yesterday she had told her family "I'm going to Egypt!"  And here she was.

It had only been a day since her arrival and she was already acclimated to the heat.

Faith had been worried about her daughter's pale skin, and had constantly reminded her to put on sunscreen while she was "off in that desert".  When Flora had landed in Egypt and finally looked through her bags, she'd found no less than eight bottles of sunscreen which had magically appeared in them.

Though she was enjoying this time to herself, away from the troubles that seemed to plague her family, she couldn't help but remember the reason she had come to Egypt to begin with.

As if on cue, she heard the voice again.  That wordless sound, beckoning her.  Flora shot straight up in the chair, trying to pinpoint the location the voice was coming from.

As her eyes scanned across the marketplace courtyard, her heart skipped a beat.  The same statue that had been in the museum seemed to be staring directly at her.

As she looked into the creatures stone eyes, the spectral voice in her head seemed to get a little louder.

She instantly jumped up from the table and ran to the shop.  Her hands began to sweat and her breath came in short quick bursts.

Flora approached the statue slowly, not knowing what to do now that she'd finally found the object of her search.  She never would have expected what was to happen next: the voices simply stopped.

Confused, she approached the shopkeeper and questioned the man about the statue.  She found out, in broken Simlish, that this too was just a copy of the original (but was conveniently for sale).  The original it was copied from was located deep in the "Temple of the Sea" pyramid.

A pyramid so remote and full of traps and puzzles that guides refused to take tourists there anymore because so few would make it back out.

With that ominous news, Flora headed off straight away.  Not much scared the woman, and the prospect of finally reaching the true artifact was too much of a driving force for her to wait another moment.

The shopkeeper had drawn her up a crude map and several long, hot hours later, in the middle of nowhere, a pyramid rose out of a palm tree forest.

Flora made her way to the entrance to find it sealed.  As she searched around for way to open the door, the massive stone wall started to slide open of its own accord.

The sound of stone grating on stone was almost deafening, but Flora was too transfixed to do anything but stare in wonder, curious as to what she would find inside.

Roaming the dusty halls with little to go on but intuition, she found countless amazing artifacts and sculptures.  It was impossible not to be in constant awe of her surroundings.

The beckoning voice she'd become so accustomed to hearing returned and was gradually becoming louder.

As she followed its lead, she was stopped by a large pile of rubble.  Doing what any other resourceful Sim would do, she pulled out a pickax and started chipping away at the obstacle.

Almost at once the rocks seemed to dissolve before her, revealing a hidden door.  Flora's excitement increased as the ethereal voices continued to climb.

Once she'd cleared the rubble and made her way inside the room, the voice in her head was practically singing.

It didn't take long to figure out why.

She had made it.

Locating the statue had been surprisingly easy.  As if the path had been completely laid out before her.

Making her way to the figure, Flora was shocked to see that it wasn't alone.  There were, in fact, two identical statues.

"What does this mean?" Flora said aloud, thinking herself silly to be talking to stone, "Why have you brought me here?"

"Because I had to see you again," a familiar voice behind her answered.

"Drake!" Flora yelled out in surprise.  "What are you...?  How did you...?" she stammered, not knowing which questions she wanted answered first.

"Because, I love you," he replied, answering all her questions with one short response.

He delicately placed her hands inside his, "when your family took you and left Harmony, I knew I had to see you again.  I could not bear to live a life without you in it, so I brought you here, to this very special place," he finished quietly. 

"I've missed you, too," Flora said, pulling the Vampire into an embrace.  "So that voice in my head was sent by you, calling me to this place?" she questioned, "I should have known it, because it was as impossible to refuse as you are!" She laughed.  "But, what makes this place special?  Why Egypt?  Why this tomb?" she asked.

Drake's eyes glossed over for a moment as a distant memory played across his mind, "This is where I was made into a Vampire," he finally replied.

"A Vampire will always be connected to the place he was made," he continued, "when a human dies, its soul is contained in an object of remembrance.  A tombstone, or an urn, perhaps.  Vampires, however, no longer have such things as a soul.  Therefore our only connection is to the place where we lost it."

"I brought you here, Flora, because this place is the closest thing to 'home' that I have," he told her, his eyes filling with an emotion she hadn't seen from him before.  He continued softly, "you are the closest thing to love I have ever felt, and I do not want to continue existing in this plane without you by my side."

Taken aback by Drake's outpouring of emotion, Flora was left speechless while her heart beat faster than she'd ever felt it before.

"Drake," she finally said, "I have felt the same way since the moment I met you.  I wasn't able to explain the feelings I had towards you to myself then, and I have an even harder time with it now," she said, "I mean, look at us.  I'm all grown up and you're still the same handsome teenager that I met when I was a child.  Feelings aside, how could this possibly work?"

Drake pulled her close, his hand caressed the back of her neck, "my love, I may have the body of a young man, but I can assure you that my mind and ways are quite refined."

Before she had the chance to respond, the Vampire's lips were locked onto hers.

His kiss was deep and passionate, full of raw power and emotion.  Her head began to feel light, her knees started to weaken.  Just as she was on the verge of losing blissful consciousness altogether, he broke the embrace and smiled devilishly up at her.

It took her a few moments to compose herself, "you certainly know how to kiss like a grown man," she said, giggling like a school girl.

"I would very much like to show you what else this grown man can do," he breathed into her ear.

In almost no time at all, the two were back at Flora's camp.  She quickly lead Drake towards the safe shade of her tent.

It would be quite awhile before the two emerge again.

Title / Lou Reed