– Not another one!
This is the first thing the Therese, Thomas, and Darian hear from Dr. Compton when they make it to the hospital
Dr. Compton: Let me guess. He too, decided to go for a swim, right? And he’s going to start biting, and kicking, and scratching. Oh Watcher, why did I go into medicine? It’s freaking unsafe to be a doctor these days.
Darian, slurring: I’m not going to do any of that, doc. My legs are still all cramped and shit. Although, some dry clothes would be nice. For you as well, I see.
Indeed, the doctor’s medical wear is dripping with water.
Dr. Compton: Well, this one’s not belligerent, it seems. The other two are a nightmare. The boy we’ve brought in from almost drowning outside? He almost bit one of the nurses! He’s now under sedation so they can check him for lung damage.
Therese: It’s that bad?
Compton nods.
– Yeah, and the old guy is even worse. We had to call for firefighters to come and restrain him before we could treat him. I don’t know what they’re on, but it’s the worst case of drug abuse I’ve seen in a while.
Therese: It’s probably not drug abuse, but poisoning. Darian here is almost in the same situation, but we got to him fast enough. You should see what’s in his bloodstream because it’s probably in theirs as well. And Thomas here really needs a CT scan because he’s been whacked on the head pretty hard earlier today and he also spent several hours in the water, so check him for hypothermia also.
Around this time, Thomas gets exhausted of hauling around the weight that is Darian and both men end up on the floor.
– Sorry, guys. I’m juiced.
The doctor throws off his wet medical wear in annoyance.
– Alright, nurses, CT scan and bloodwork! Come on! And find them both some clean warm blankets. So, Mrs. Famke, do you know what happened to these people?
Therese tries her best to explain.
– They got poisoned by someone they all know. A woman who goes by Rena Nichi around these parts, or possibly by Serena Nichi, or Serena Delmare. She sings at the Screaming Cat Bar, but somehow I don’t think she’ll be there right now. She’s had a busy night already. Also, you might want to go over this when you have some free time.
She quietly gives him Esteban Warner’s diary.
– I don’t know if you’ll believe what’s written in it, but it might clear some things up for you.
Before the doctor can ask more questions, her eyes land on the people who are exiting from one of the rooms: Jeremy and Jenelle.
Both look exhausted.
As Jennelle slumps against the door, Jeremy spots Therese and makes a beeline towards her.
– Oh boy, am I glad to see you! But why are you here? And what’s wrong with Thomas? And with Darian?
Therese: It’s a long story, but Rena is likely an evil siren and she was getting ready to drown Darian. We got to him just in time while looking for you. As for Thomas, he got attacked in his own home, and now I strongly suspect it was Rena who was responsible for the attack. She knows he’s immune to her – just like you are! And what happened to you? Where did you get these scratches?
Jeremy: Whoa, whoa, siren, attack? Is everyone alright?
Therese: Well, we’re all here and alive, so I suppose we are. But are you? What happened? You weren’t answering any calls or texts. I thought she got to you too.
Jeremy: Oh, that. That’s all courtesy of Maurice. Never thought the old fart had so much energy in him. Apparently, he got really strange and belligerent and decided to go for a swim. And dragged his son along, despite the fact that the boy doesn’t know how to swim at all. Well, the kid freaked out, and locked himself in the bathroom with his father’s phone. We were the last ones Maurice talked to, so he called us for help. So, Jenelle and I spent most of this time trying to calm him down, but it’s not easy. He scratched, tried to bite, even kicked Jenelle. It’s been a wild day.
Jenelle: You could say that again…
Jeremy: And the idiot threw my phone out the window while I tried to grapple with him. Although, I doubt I could’ve answered the calls even if it wasn’t broken at the time.
Therese: And he was trying to go swimming, you say?
Jeremy: Yes… oh, crap. You think she got to him?
Therese nods.
Jeremy: Well, it would explain his strange outburst of energy. At least, the paramedics and the firefighters got him calmed down now. But you are definitely alright?
Therese: Yes.
Jeremy: I should probably check on Thomas too.
Therese: Not just yet, the doctor is with him now.
Sol: “And the dragon promised to stop stealing livestock, as long as he’ll never have to hear another one of the knight’s terrible jokes ever again.” Well, sleep tight, kid.
Walking outside, he is met with a newly flooded room.
Sol: This is getting ridiculous. I need to call them. Mom? Finally! Are you alive Where’s Dad? He’s there with you? Where are you guys? Marina had to get a ride home from Rosemary because you forgot all about her!
Therese: Sol, honey, we’re ok. We’re going to be home soon. Wait, the house is flooded again?
This time, she understands why her house has been getting these strange floods so often, lately. Her pipes are just fine. The safety of her home and children? Not so much.
Thomas wasn’t the first one Rena has visited today. They were. And she likely intended to do the same thing to them that she did to Thomas.
Therese: Sol, listen very carefully. Go into Marina’s room, lock the door, and stay there. Do not unlock the door until your father and I come home and tell you it’s ok, do you understand me?
Sol: But what about Moonshine and Tiffy? They are downstairs.
Therese thinks for a moment. Rena has been to their home before. The animals were fine both times. The kids are there alone.
– Sol, don’t go downstairs. Just do what I tell you. And keep that door locked.
She hangs up.
– We need to go. I think Rena is there right now.
After he hangs up, Sol wonders why his mother sounded so panicked on the phone. He’s not in danger in his own home, the doors are locked. Although… the substance in the water. What if it didn’t get into the house through the pipes, but rather because someone trailed it in? That would mean someone’s broken into their home before.
He hears footsteps downstairs. Two-legged footsteps, making him rule out the dogs.
He recalls hearing his mother mention something about a bad backdoor lock. likely, whoever is downstairs used that to their advantage.
Jumping back into Marina’s room, he shuts and locks the door. Marina is still sleeping, blissfully unaware of the fact that there is an intruder in their house.
Sol: But why did they break into our house? Sure, we’re right by the beach, but most homes here are, so that’s hardly an indicator of wealth. And we’re not famous or anything like that.
And why did his mother tell him to lock the door and wait for her and Dad instead of calling the police? What are they planning to do when they arrive?
Not knowing what to do in this situation, he sits on the floor, with his weight against the door. Just in case. His sister is still asleep and he decides it’s the best to stay quiet and have the intruder think no one is home. Maybe, whoever it is will just go away?
With increasing nervousness, he hears someone approach and ascend the stairs leading to the second floor. For the second time, he realizes. If this person trailed in the water, they’ve been up here earlier tonight. In fact, they must’ve been here while he was reading the story to Marina.
This is disconcerting on many levels. For one, this person would know someone’s certainly home. And that the only people present are a child and a teenager.
As the intruder approaches, Sol thinks he can distinguish the sound of wet feet slapping across the floor.
Strange. Who would break into a house barefoot? He hears the intruder start to mutter under their breath.
– Doesn’t seem like he’s home. And the brats are finally asleep. Perhaps I should wait for him outside. But then, the wife would suspect something. She needs to go, too. At least the other one was easy to handle.
Sol recognizes Rena’s voice. But something’s different about it. What could have been described as a charming accent before, now sounds more sharp and less… human. Also, he’s pretty sure she’s talking about offing his parents.
Who are still somewhere else, even though (he checks the time) it’s nearly 4 in the morning!
Sol: I need to warn them about this.
He quickly texts his mother: “Rena’s here. She’s acting strange and means you harm. Mar and I are locked in, like you told me.”
He gets a quick reply: “Good. Don’t open the door. On the way.”
– Is someone awake? Marina? Sol? Which one of you is it?
Crap! He should have known she would hear the text sound. He hears his bedroom door open and close.
– Both of you, then.
Rena approaches their door and Sol knows she is only a few feet away from them.
– And just who were you texting? Your girlfriend? Or your mommy? You humans are all the same, aren’t you? With your houses and your jobs and your families. Trash.
And then she starts singing, making Sol’s blood run cold. It’s hypnotic and charming, and it implores him to unlock that door and to let her in. To do whatever she wants him to do, even if it means helping her murder his own family.
And it sounds like nails against the chalkboard. It’s the worst sound he has ever heard.
Marina, groggily, woken up by the song: Sol? What is that noise? Is someone singing in our house? Where are Mom and Dad?
Sol: Go to sleep, Mar. We’re ok. The door’s locked.
That wakes the girl up completely, and she starts paying attention to what’s happening. Understandably, she is terrified.
Outside, the siren still sings, much to Sol’s consternation. The sound is truly terrible. Finally, he can’t take it any more and screams:
– Shut up! Just shut up already, will you! You suck, I can’t believe they let you sing anywhere!
Rena: Oh, is that so? You’re just like your precious daddy, aren’t you? Well, this should be easy, then.
She lunges at the door, but luckily, the door is strong, the lock is in place, and the only thing shaken up for the moment is the children’s mood.
Sol: It’s ok, Mar. They’re on the way.
On the way home, Therese drives across at least three red lights, all the while filling Jeremy in on anything she might have missed. She isn’t sure what Serena wants with their family, but she suspects it has something to do with the strange resistance Jeremy and Thomas show to her spell.
Come to think of it, Jeremy’s resistance caused her to lose out on the opportunity to sing with the orchestra, which would have exposed many more victims to her charms…
Jeremy: But what’s her game? Didn’t she think people would eventually notice how presence leads to all these deaths? What about the women who are immune to her?
Therese: I know, I’ve thought about all of that too. Maybe that’s why she left Isla Paradiso – because people started noticing. Hell, maybe that’s why no one warned us about the dangerous jellyfish – because the proper people knew what the danger really was. And they were just happy to be rid of her.
Jeremy, glumly: And they probably didn’t think anyone would believe there was a dangerous siren hunting men…you know, after all that craziness with the gemstone, I’ve always wondered how much supernatural we simply disregard because we don’t think it can exist.
They arrive home as it’s dawning, only to discover the dogs barking from the bathroom and their house flooded again. Rushing upstairs, they catch Serena in the middle of trying to break down their kids’ door.
“Hey you! Get the hell away from there!” Jeremy roars as soon as he sees their intruder. “And don’t make me repeat myself twice!”
“Or what? What will you do to me?” Serena whirls on them, smirking. “Do you really think that being able to tell some old idiot what to do at his workplace makes you strong enough to take me down?”
Therese gives the woman a good look-over. She doesn’t look like someone who could have murdered several strong healthy men, but nevertheless, she did, and that is something to heed. At the same time, Serena is currently threatening her children, which puts her right at the top of Therese’s shit list.
“Are you certain you could take out two of us at once?” Therese ventures. “Besides, the cops will be here any time now. And I’m sure they’ll be all too happy to question both why you are in our house throwing around threats and why you hardly look human.”
She is bluffing, of course. In their rush to get here, calling the police escaped her mind. But it’s not like the siren knows.
“Oh, please, like they’ll do anything to me,” Serena laughs. “We both know they’ll think I’m just lovely after I sing them a little song.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t know about that,” Jeremy adds, catching on. “The local police are very chill. So chill, in fact, that they are completely unopposed to some recreational herbs. Are you sure you want to take a chance on that? Considering that it’s the weekend? If I were you, I would leave right now.”
Serena chuckles coldly. “Oh sweety, you really think I can’t see through your bluff? I know just as well as you do that as soon as I leave, you’ll send your authorities after me. So, really, I’m better off getting rid of the rest of your freakazoid family before I move one to better tides.”
“So, it was you who attacked Thomas,” Jeremy accuses.
“Me? Well, it’s not my fault he decided to go for a walk along the beach while intoxicated out of his mind,” she laughs. “You both should’ve stayed out of my way. And you?” she glares at Therese. “You really should keep you nose out of people’s business.”
“Hey guys! Be careful there!” Sol shouts from his bedroom. “She’s got venom. Literally.”
Sol’s warning comes just in time, because the next moment, Serena lunges at them, backhanding Jeremy with enough force to send him reeling backwards. Not expecting so much strength from someone Serena’s size, he is momentarily frazzled.
Therese, now fully alert, jumps in with a well-aimed kick at the woman, but the later parries with superhuman speed, buckling Therese’s knees down and sending her to the ground.
“Hey, don’t you dare!” Jeremy comes to his senses and tries to push the siren away, only to be met with a face grab that would have been at place in a systema fight.
The siren is too strong.
“Hey, do you need help out there?!” Sol shouts from behind the door.
“Stay inside, Sol!” Therese reminds him. “We’ve got this.”
As Serena throws Jeremy back hard enough for him to land on his back, Therese uses the moment to nail her with as much strength as she can muster. The siren’s skin feels much harder to the touch than Therese imagined it would and the impact hurts her arm, but the punch sends the woman flying back.
Not to be outdone, the siren swings at Therese and tries to push her down, but at this moment, she finds slippery footing caused by one of her own puddles. Serena grabs Therese at the last moment and both women tumble to the floor, but Therese finds herself advantaged by years of diving in a weighty diving suit and and wrangling various oceanic creatures and plants underwater. Her reflexes kick in and she manages to get the siren pinned under her, using her own body weight to prevent the later from getting up and attacking again.
Serena: You bitch!
Therese knows Serena will attack again once she finds her balance again and she prepares to continue the fight. But to her surprise, after one more raspy breath, the siren doesn’t. In fact, she doesn’t do anything
“Therese! Therese, are you alright!?”
She realizes that Jeremy has gotten up, that he’s fine, and that he’s yelling for her, but the adrenaline has made her so focused on the fight that she has stopped noticing anything else.
“Peachy. Just peachy.”
“She’s not moving.”
He’s right. After her last curses, Serena has remained still.
Risking a closer look, Therese notices that the siren’s skin is much grayer than it was when they have arrived and her scales are starting to look dry.
“Oh… I suppose she’s not going to be moving again at all,” she admits out loud.
Disentangling herself, Therese moves away from the now-still woman.
“Are you sure you’re ok?” Jeremy is looking at her with concern. “Are you hurt? You’re scratched.”
He points to the long lines on her leg, courtesy of the siren’s sharp nails.
“Oh. I guess it’s only fair. Considering…” she shrugs, trying not to look at Serena. She did what she had to defend her family and it was most certainly self defense. But the idea still feels shocking to her. “Can you stand?”
“Yes. I didn’t hurt my back. Just skinned my elbows, that’s all.”
“Mom, Dad!” This time it’s Marina. “What’s going on?”
“Everything’s fine, baby,” Therese breaths a sigh of relief. This nightmare night really is over.
Once the kids come out of their room, they are rejoiced to see their parents safe and sound, but still shaken up. The siren’s body is a reminder of what nearly happened to them.
Sol: So… what are we going to do now?
He nods towards Serena.
Jeremy: Honestly? Call the doctor. He should check all of us over. And I can only hope he’ll know what to do with her.
Sol nods.
– Good. I have some samples he might find useful.
It is a new day. The sun rises and the night’s fears and worries seem to dissipate.
Therese knows that her family is safe, that the threat that hung over the island is stopped, and that things will now go back to normal.
And she’ll be fine. A mother always does what’s necessary to keep her family safe.
Sims Stories of Violincat 