Strangetown, HWC: No Good Dead Goes Unpunished

[strangetomato]

The room grew silent as the tall man entered. The crowd parted to allow him access to the casket. He stood there for a time, observing Flamenco's body, then turned and left the room. He didn't speak to anyone.

The only sound had been the gasps of some of the onlookers at his pale green skin and his large empty black eyes, followed by the sound of several hands reaching for their guns. A look from Tango had quickly put an end to that notion. It was a funeral, afterall. There was a time and a place. Besides, who knew what sort of defenses this creature carried with him. It would be foolish.




The alien visiter had made it most of the way back to his ship when a young girl ran up to him.

"This is all your fault! How can you come here and act like... like..."

He turned around to look at her.

"It was all because of you! It's your fault my father is dead!"

"How did you come to that conclusion?" the alien asked. "I am the reason he was born."

"If he hadn't been born with those eyes, they wouldn't have killed him!"

The alien considered this.




"It's not right! Not fair! Why did he have to be different?!"

"I am sorry for your loss," he said. He was also sorry for the loss in a more objective sense, having hoped that his offspring would help further his species aims, but that hadn't worked out. And now, with the loss of his life, that would never be an option.

The little girl said nothing. Tears filled her eyes and she was unable to speak. Soon she was sobbing uncontrollably.

After some careful consideration, the alien reached into the pocket of his jacket to retrieve a small object and stretched out his hand to her. "I know it will not ease your pain, but please take this."

Dina turned the object over in her hand. "What is it?" she managed through tears.

"You can use this object to draw me to you. If you ever need a favour, I will do my best to see that it is granted. I hope this might set things right." He turned and continued towards his spaceship.

Dina stood, examining the object, as her twin hung back in the doorway, watching the whole scene play out.

...

Dina stood, many years later, on the balcony of her condo, observing the object once more.




"You're really going to use it?" Nina once again stood behind her.

Dina nodded. "If I can deliver a ship to them, our position in the deal will be secure."

"And Bella?"

"It's unfortunate for her that we needed a pawn in this scheme."

Nina snorted. "Yeah, and she just happened to be the one."

Dina didn't miss a beat. "She deserves to be taken down a peg. It'll do her good. Then she'll finally know how it feels."

"Maybe Don will learn a lesson in all this, too."

Dina grinned, "Yes, but let's not forget the most important outcome here." Dina rubbed her hand over the object, lovingly. "We'll finally see some justice for Daddy's death."

Nina nodded, but said nothing.




"That thing had no idea what he was setting himself up for the day he gave me this."

---

Notes:

For more bits and pieces about the Caliente's involvement in Bella's disapearance, read Mirror, Mirror and Chapter Thirty-Two. This short might eventually make its way into a chapter, or I might leave it to stand alone as I did with Mirror, Mirror. The events referenced here will also turn up in the next chapter.

Everyone has their reasons. The reasons aren't always simple.

I'm really happy to actually produce something for this story again. I wrote this a couple of weeks ago and finally sat myself down to take the images tonight. And yes, with the graphics card situation, it was a bit of a chore. But worth it.

Comments

[w-sims.livejournal.com]

Intriguing...

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Glad you think so. ^_^

I do still have (I hope) a few surprises left up my sleeve. "The Bella Incident" involves a number of different parties and had a lot more going on then just Bella being abducted. But I mustn't say too much...

[sphynxed.livejournal.com]

I was just thinking today about how long it's been since any SHWC. This little taste only leaves me wanting more...

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I've really only managed to squeeze out a drabble or two in all this time since the last chapter installment (and it's been... years? Haha). And that Jimmy Phoenix story, which was part of S,HWC, too.

Getting this finished makes me feel like completing the next chapter might actually be possible. Perhaps I'll just take a "less is more" approach to the images. That might be the key to getting it done right now, with my computer creating challenges and my limited time (real life being a distraction in a good way, and all that).

Glad it piqued your interest. ^_^ Thanks for reading.

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

It's great to see something new for SHWC! I always love your writing.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. ^_^ I'm grateful that there are still any readers that remember what's going on in the story after all this time. Haha! Thanks for reading, and for the kind words.

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

I admit I've forgotten some of the details, but the general storyline is still very much remembered, and some of it is part of my head canon. ;) One of these days I need to find the time to reread the whole thing...

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

You're not the only one who's forgotten details. :P Is it terrible that I might need to re-read to make sure I have everything straight? It's been quite some time...

I'm curious... which parts have you adopted as head canon? (LOL! I typed head cannon.)

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

Haha, no, that's quite understandable. I can't remember the details of what I posted two months ago. :P

Let'see, head canon...

Jasmine Rai being gay, Zoe being bi, them being a couple.
Ripp being an aspiring musician
Circe being more scary than Loki
Stella being a bit odd, and her hat
Frances being gay (although I think that predates your story?)
Buck being artistic
Ophelia being into both Johnny and Ripp, them being closer in age than the game originally sets them up to be. (Although usually, my Tank goes to college with Ophelia and Johnny while Ripp has to wait a year.)
Glabe being Glarn's sister (you finally convinced me - see 'fixed dead' Strangetown's family tree :P)
Nervous having some kind of power related to the dead, and being pretty much asexual

I'm sure there's more which I can't think of at the moment. It's mostly various little things like that, which can still go lots of places, but yeah, you've definitely affected how I see many of the Strangetown and La Fiesta Tech characters. :)

[aledstrange.livejournal.com]

Very nice! <3
I've always loved how you use the idea of Flamenco having alien eyes. :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Flamenco seems to be yet another hyrbid alien sim who doesn't show any alien genetics, which is too bad. It seems like such a wasted opportunity for the game from a story perspective. I think he's much more interesting with the alien eyes and he did wear sunglasses all the time, so who knows, right? I like the mystery.

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

I gave him alien eyes in my 'fixed dead' Pleasantview. :D ...I need to get that uploaded.

Will stop spamming your comments now.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Really? That's cool. It'll be a nice surprise for anyone who resurrects him.

[katee412.livejournal.com]

I just love brazen child Dina, running up to her alien grandfather and giving him a piece of her mind.

Once again you've managed to portray complex emotions, and hint at the larger plot - I'm thinking they may be "delivering" the ship to Circe, and I want to know more ;) - in a succinct and poignant piece of writing.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I imagine Dina as being quite confident and fearless, even as a little girl. I'd say she was also Daddy's little girl, so she was hit hard by his death. Whether or not she thinks about the alien being her grandfather (of sorts, since the aliens don't have the same sex distinction that the sims do), I don't think she views him that way at all. Having had no exposure to the idea of an alien background from her parents (it was a huge family secret), I think it all comes as a shock and betrayal. She doesn't identify with the alien at all. That will come later, adding to the confusion of her view of her place in that struggle.

Thank you so much for the kind words. I won't comment too much on your speculations, but you do seem to be adding up some of the other clues and little fragments of this story I've been dropping. There remain a couple more pieces to be added to this puzzle before it's all said and done, and I'm looking forward to revealing them and how they're all connected.

[little-b-kitten.livejournal.com]

Yay! A new episode! Well, your story is just stunning, and the idea of Dina's father killed (?) ,because of his alien parentage is just... Well, I love it! It shares light on why Calientes are so cruel to Bella

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm glad you've enjoyed it. I took the inspiration for Flamenco's death from the photos in the Caliente story album, which show the girls upset and with only their mother. The idea of him being killed out of hatred for aliens really works with the overall direction that conflict is headed in this story. Some sims REALLY hate the aliens, and this won't be the only time that hatred results in violence.

There's something more to the disdain Dina has for Bella and I don't quite have my head fully around it yet, but I know it relates to her heritage but also to her family connection in marrying Michael. I don't think Bella approved of Dina, and I don't think she was so subtle about letting her know that.

Thanks for reading! ^_^

[myrrhcat.livejournal.com]

I'm so happy to see something new for Strangetown, HWC! I read the entire thing for the first time a few months ago, and was sad when I reached the last chapter. But this is awesome. :D

[sophie10.livejournal.com]

Very intriguing! And I love the simplicity of the pictures. Glad to see you are writing again, I'm looking forward to more.

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

Love it. It's really good to see you writing again, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a new chapter soonish. :)

I enjoy Bella abduction theories, there's so many things you can do with it, even if it seems like such a simple/inflexible concept at first sight.

[fallingrain757.livejournal.com]

That was interesting. I like your take on the whole Bella disapearance story. It always made sense to me that the Caliente's were involved somehow (maybe just because it's hinted at so much in canon, but there's also the alien connection theme.) And I always love reading what you've written. :)

[goatminstrel.livejournal.com]

Thanks for getting that song stuck in my head. xD
*goes back to lurking*

[timberwolfoz.livejournal.com]

I only had time to glance over this when it was first posted (Mum was in hospital, all good now and she's getting better every day) so I thought I'd comment now.

Intriguing as always, and it adds yet another layer of complexity to STHWC.

Great to see you writing again!