2.17 Good Intentions

It's so easy to pretend that everything's ok sometimes... 

But only sometimes. 

Reality gets in the way soon enough. 

The last thing he wants is to be here. 

"It's a chance to say goodbye," his father gently reminded him, "We all need the closure." 

While his father tells him that Krista wouldn't want him to be sad, and other almost unbearably hopeful platitudes, Paolo feels...numb. Tired. Drained. He wears the black clothes, stands in the cemetery and watches everyone cry but...he can't bring himself to feel anymore. The five stages of grief feel more like an erratic pendulum to him; swinging from depression to shock to anger at random. 

When is it going to stop? When will everything just settle down and be normal? Paolo wishes someone could tell him that. 

"I'm worried about dad," Tula confesses to her aunt. Tula has never properly met her aunt Tulip, with her being crime fighting most of the time, but she does know that Tulip is one of the police officers involved with Krista's arrest. Tula has never met a Vampire before, so she studies her aunt carefully. The glowing eyes, long canines, the umbrella she uses not because of the rain... 

Tulip looks down at her niece sadly. "I'm worried about him too..." 

"He never really talks to anyone now. Like, Aunt Xara is here and he hasn't even said hi... you're here and he won't even look at you. It's like he hates you, or just everyone right now..." she shifts a little, glancing at the ground, "...maybe even me." 

Tulip feels a wave of guilt crash over her. She doesn't regret arresting Krista, but she never imagined anything like this coming from it. 

"Your dad doesn't hate you," she chooses not to speculate on how Paolo might feel about her right now, "He's just going through a hard time. We all are." 

Tula scratches the back of her neck, "Even you? I-I've heard people say that Vampires can't feel..." she has heard this from television and other fiction, and Tula wants to know if maybe she's like a Vampire; just pretending to fit in. 

Tulip's face hardens, "Even me. And I can feel." Though sometimes it would be easier if I couldn't. The hurt and offense is subtle, but Tula can pick up on it. 

"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I can't ever say anything right... I know I shouldn't believe what the other kids at school say...." Tula apologises profusely. 

"Have they been picking on you?" 

Tula bites her lip nervously, "N-No." Everyone's been giving her and Guy a wide berth of space, actually. But her aunt doesn't know that. 

"Tula."

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine! I don't care anymore..." 

Tulip's face softens, "If kids pick on you, you can't just take it, Tula. You have to stand up for yourself." 

Tula looks away angrily, "Ok, I get it. I don't want to talk about it anymore." She rubs under her eyes as if she were crying. 

Tulip decides to leave it alone for now. This isn't the time or the place for this discussion. 

"Is the sky crying 'cause it's sad?" 

Xara tilts her head. That is so...innocent, in a horribly depressing way. 

Xara finds the question naive and childish coming from someone almost in their teen stage, but there's such a pure perplexity in his eyes that she can't help but feel her heart melt. The poor kid is just confused. 

"Maybe it is," she equivocates, not quite having the heart to burst his bubble, "But it won't be sad forever. Eventually the clouds disappear and the sun comes..." 

Guy's unearthly blue eyes gaze at her owlishly. It's such an intense stare that Xara can't help but break eye contact. He looks at her, but it's like he's seeing something else. 

After several seconds pass, Xara looks back at him, still spaced out, and squeezes his shoulder. 

"I miss Krista, too." 

Guy's eyes slowly move to stare at her hand, and his brow creases. 

Can you miss someone who was never really there? he wants to ask. Krista was there...sometimes... maybe. And now she's maybe gone...forever. He doesn't know how to put that feeling into words, so he just stares at Xara's hand. It feels like her hand will phase through him if he lets it sit long enough, as if he didn't exist. 

Maybe it's him that's not real. He was imaginary, after all. 

Tula has long returned to her grandparents' side, leaving Tulip standing to the side. Alone. 

Tula's words are still ringing in her head. It's as if he hates you. She would be surprised if Paolo didn't resent her. Seeing him stand numbly, not hearing anything being said to him, she wonders if she shouldn't have come. 

She decides to duck out quietly. She folds her umbrella and begins to move to her parents and say goodbye, and pauses. There's someone else she needs to say something to. 

"I'm sorry." 

The grave offers no forgiveness. 

Hours after everyone has left, Tulip comes back to the graveyard. She has an important meeting. 

"Her funeral was today," Tulip says as she approaches. 

Keith doesn't glance away from his sister's resting place. "Was it really?" 

Tulip stares at him. "You were the one who asked to meet here. You must have known." 

Keith scratches the back of his neck. "We're not here to talk about Krista." 

"No, we're not." 

They move to one of the benches. It's raining, dark, and cold but they put their umbrellas to the side. 

"I hope we're almost done with all of this," Keith grumbles. 

"Almost," Tulip confirms. "We have Pablo in for murder, and his things are being searched. We'll need you to meet up with a few of your old business partners. Say that you're trying to handle things for your brother, clean up his mess. Keep them distracted long enough for us to move in." 

Keith smirks, "So I'm bait? Like Krista?"  

Tulip clenches her jaw and looks forward. "Do you think you can do that, or should we ask someone else?" 

"Sorry, did I hit a nerve? Don't feel bad, she was bound to get herself hurt sooner or later. Krista was always so...clumsy." 

Tulip continues to stare forward. "Be careful, Chandra. If you're clumsy, you'll find yourself without a plea deal." 

Keith's expression becomes neutral, "Yeah, I haven't forgotten." 

They sit in silence for a few minutes. Everything has finally fallen into place. Tulip wants to say the sacrifices were worth it, and let herself revel in finally toppling over the Parrotts. 

Instead, for the first time, she wonders if it was all worth it. 

After all, they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. 

2.16 Let This Be a Dream

Blunt force trauma...too much blood... gone. 

Paolo squeezes his eyes shut. No matter how much he thinks about it, it doesn't make sense. Krista was just here. She can't be gone. It's just not possible. 

She has to come back. For Tula. For him. 

She has to. 

Marko quietly prepares dinner. The past two days have felt like a dream to everyone in the house; the person they've all been living with, a member of their family, was helping criminals. 

Money launderer, fraudster, an accomplice. 

Or an inventor, mother, wife? 

Could she have been all of them?

They'll never really know.

Marko swipes at his eyes. Krista's absence has been hanging over everyone like a sickly shadow; he can't look at the inventing table without feeling nauseous, or at his son without feeling an uncomfortable pinch in his chest. 

He glances over at his shoulder at Tula. He's tried to get Paolo to explain things to her, but this was met with a heavy silence. He's not sure how much she's aware of; a part of him hopes not much, but he knows kids need stability and transparency. They can't keep her in the dark forever. 

Tula scowls at her sullen father. Ever since that thing with her mom happened yesterday, he's been a depressed mess. Everyone's been walking on eggshells around her, as if she couldn't piece together what happened herself. Her mom got arrested then murdered. End of story. Why can't they just get it over with so she can cry her sad little girl tears and they can move on? 

Well, at least, from observation, they expect the tears. It's supposed to be "healthy" to cry in times of grief. She doesn't really get it; the way her dad is grieving seems anything but healthy. Why should she do the same? 

And Tula herself? Aside from frustration from being ignored, she doesn't feel...anything. 

Not anger.

Not sadness. 

Not joy. 

Just a strange emptiness. 

Though this emptiness persists even in the company of others, Tula is somewhat grateful to Guy for his distractions. 

She wonders if he feels the same way. Does he understand what's going on? Would it even affect him? He seems to be...somewhere else... mentally most of the time. 

But really, is that so different from her? She gets lost in her thoughts, the adults call her "brooding" and "mature". Guy gets sidetracked and he's "disturbed" and "not quite there". 

Are his vacant smiles really so different from hers? 

"What was that for?" she asks when he pulls away. She can't remember Guy ever hugging her before. 

"I just wanted you to feel better," he mumbles. 

She gives him a hard stare. Did she look down before? Isn't that what she's supposed to be doing? 

What makes him want to comfort her? Is it because he's trying to fit in with sim society better? Is it because as "best friends", he fulfilled a role? 

Guy is staring out into space, so he doesn't notice the intense scrutiny. Nobody will tell him why Tula's mom hasn't come home. He clenches his fists tightly; is it because he's crazy? Are they afraid to set him off? Or is it normal for sim adults to just disappear like this? Is it another thing he doesn't get? There are a lot of things here he doesn't quite understand... 

Tula breaks her gaze and glances at the floor. 

"Thanks, Guy," she says, smiling sadly, "I-I do feel better." She wonders if she should blush now. Sometimes the other girls at school do that when they're near boys. But then they also say boys are "weird", especially their brothers. Guy isn't really her brother, but people seem to treat them as a pair. 

Guy looks surprised. He half expected Tula to yell at him, or threaten to beat him up. But maybe that didn't really happen. He seems to remember things no one else does, or forget when things really do occur. Maybe Tula's mom was never here. Or maybe she went on a trip and he just forgot. 

Maybe Tula's dad crying behind him is the illusion. Or Tula's grandpa cooking. He never cooks. 

Or does he? 

Guy's brow furrows. 

"I'm tired, so I'm gonna sleep. Night," Tula says, unceremoniously ending their conversation. Guy looks after her and blinks. 

"Night..." 

Tula passes by the tense dinner table. For a moment, their deliberate silence fills Tula with white hot rage. How dare they treat her like this, like she's a stupid child? She is so angry that she practically seethes, "Good night." She opens her bedroom door, and tenses her arm to slam.

Then as soon as the violent anger overtakes her, it disappears. How silly of her. She closes the door softly behind her. 

For a long moment, no one says anything. 

Paolo looks up and sighs heavily, "You're going to say that's my fault, aren't you?" 

"I wasn't going to say that," Marko says wearily, "But Paolo, for god's sake, Tula's nearly in high school. She's old enough to hear about Krista." 

At the mention of Krista's name, Paolo's eyes fill with tears. "C-Can't we give it a bit of time? Do I really have to hurt her now?"  

Persis smiles sadly. "Tula's a smart girl...she probably already knows, Paolo. Her dad keeping the truth from her won't make it any better." 

"Why should I make her feel like this?" he asks bitterly. "Why does she have to know that Krista's gone? I wish I didn't know." 

Persis feels a hard pang of sympathy for her son; everything happened to him so early. Becoming a father, getting married...and now, being a widow. She reaches over and squeezes his hand. She wishes she knew what to say to comfort him. 

But words often fail at times like these. 

Memory Lane Challenge

I was nominated for this challenge by heatherfeather19 over at Anything is Possible. Here are the rules:

Congratulations! You've been nominated for a totally legit award. Get a gold star and stick it on your forehead like a boss.

2. Share FIVE of your favourite moments from your legacy/challenge so far.
3. Nominate 3-5 blogs to do the same.

After heatherfeather mentioned it, yeah it is weird that the rules start at 2...

So in order of least favourite (but still good) to most favourite moments...

1. Persis getting harassed by zombies

This picture has always been funny to me because of how non-threatening sims 3 zombies are. Persis has no reason to be scared here.

2. Paolo getting harassed by Xara

This really exemplified their relationship for me, and made me smile while writing it out. Xara made such a good slightly annoying older sister. 

3. XARA. IS SO. EXCITED. 

4. PAOLO. IS NOT. AMUSED. 

5. Karma is a cold bi Marko gets abducted by aliens

The timing of it was hands down the best moment in this entire legacy- Marko abandoning his children and then immediately being abducted afterwards. It's like the game knew. 

Now, for my nominations. There aren't too many blogs that I like that haven't already been nominated, but I'll put a few here; 

The Goldbeard RLC

The Soapberry Legacy

Pleasant Oaks Asylum

2.15 Finished

After changing into her civilian clothes, Tulip comes back to the interrogation room with two cups of coffee. She holds out the cup to Krista, who only belatedly notices the proffered caffeine. Wordlessly, she took it. Tulip frowns as Krista looks into the styrofoam cup dejectedly, swirling the hot liquid around a few times. When she imagined beginning to take Pablo Parrott down, she thought she would feel a lot happier. Instead, Tulip feels a wave of dread. 

"As according to your plea deal, you're going to leave with me and Officer Sterling in a few hours. I need to brief you now." 

Krista continues to look into her cup. 

"...do you understand?" 

"..." 

Tulip scratches the back of her neck. "Let's finish the coffee first. It'll be easier once we're both more alert," she decides. Krista doesn't even nod. 

Tulip faces away from her sister-in-law and takes a gulp of her drink. She grimaces; Keith had a point about the coffee being shit. 

Krista wordlessly consumes her beverage. Tulip looks down pensively. After Krista helps with this task, she'll be going to jail. As their agreement outlined, she's looking at a minimum of six years, a maximum of ten. 

Tulip shakes her head. Krista made her choices. Nothing can change that. 

And Pablo will finally go to prison. With him gone, the entire organisation will collapse. 

And I can move on to other cases. The other work awaiting her in neighbouring cities flashes through her head; bringing down the drug rings, stopping human trafficking,  eradicating the bigger criminal empires... 

She takes a final, long swig from her cup. She's ready to work the case. 

After throwing the coffee cups away, Tulip reenters the interrogation room. She then perches herself on the edge of the table and pins Krista with a hard stare. There is no room for misinterpretation now. 

"We need you to set up a meeting with Pablo," she says, simple and blunt, "Today, if possible." 

Krista's eyes fly to Tulip's in surprise, "W-why?" 

"You were going to deliver some harvesters to him this week, right?" Krista nods, "We need to find out exactly who's going to be using them, and for what. You can say you need to know for...technical reasons, to fiddle with the holding capacity or something like that." 

Krista looks down at her hands, "Will he even trust me? I've been in here all night, he might think I've betrayed the organisation already..." 

"If you were that important, he would have bailed you out by now." 

"Yeah, right..." 

Tulip sighs. "This might be a test of trust on his part; to see if you'll crack under pressure." 

Krista laughs bitterly, "Looks like I make a terrible criminal." 

Tulip's stare remains steady, but inwardly she can't help but agree. Krista does make an awful criminal. She wouldn't be here otherwise. 

"You'll go and meet him," she repeats, "And get the names of his associates, the ones who will be using the harvesters." Keith could do this, but the department has him on other, more important matters. Getting this information would help to show how they've been stealing, and who exactly is guilty of illegal harvester use. The metaphorical icing on the cake, as it were. 

Krista finally meets Tulip's eyes. She looks close to tears. 

"What if he doesn't want to tell me?" 

"Tell him that after being interrogated by the police all night, that you need to know who you're supposed to be protecting. You're the only inventor in Appaloosa Plains- you may not be hugely important, but Pablo's lazy and the 'empire' has shrunk under him- he prefers using family members and locals to help him. He won't take the risk of losing someone he has under his sway already." 

"But...what if he gets angry, threatens my family if I ask too many questions?" 

"Stick to your point. Even if you hadn't been arrested today, you would need to know who you're selling to anyways. The organisation is too small to keep everything impersonal. You can use this as a starting point to move up in their ranks, in a way. Pablo can't rely solely on Keith forever." 

Krista looks down, a watery smile on her face. "You guys really thought of everything, huh..." 

"We've been investigating your brother for a long time. We had to plan thoroughly." 

Captain Sterling and the undercover operative had to plan thoroughly. Tulip was really only included here at the demand of Keith Chandra. She still can't figure out why. It shouldn't bother her.

But it does. Immensely. 

"I...I'm ready," Krista's soft voice breaks Tulip out of her musings, "Let's do this." 

There is no time to waste. 

The operation is simple; Krista has a wire under her sweater. She will meet Pablo at his house, and discuss the details of the harvester sale. She will press for the names of Pablo's associates. After getting the names, Krista will leave the house and go to the junkyard, ostensibly to collect scrap. There she will meet Sterling, who will "menace" her, get into a fake fight, and be arrested again. Then she will wait in jail for her sentencing hearing, during which time Captain Sterling hopes to use the other evidence gathered by Chandra and the agent undercover to not only find Pablo, but his associates. Thus the already fading criminal element in Appaloosa Plains will be more or less eradicated. 

Tulip and Captain Sterling are at the consignment shop under the guise of visiting his wife who works there. In reality, the consignment shop is close to Krista and Pablo's meeting point. If something goes wrong, Tulip can be there in a supernaturally-speedy flash. 

"Do you think she'll be able to get those names?" Tulip asks. There's a certain anticipation in her tone that makes Sterling furrow his brow. 

"I hope so. We'll have to see." 

***

Pablo is, to put it mildly, furious. 

"Hey, dip-shit Krista," he taunts, using Keith's well-thought out teenaged 'nickname' for her, "Are you fucking stupid? Coming here after being interrogated by the police all night- you must think I'm an idiot." The town is small enough that Krista's early evening arrest did not escape his notice, even without an inside man in the police department. 

Krista flinches, but then looks him in the eyes. She and Tulip went over this; Pablo doesn't know about the attorneys and the plea deal. He will give her another chance, if she's convincing enough. 

"And why do you think they took all night to interrogate me? Because I wouldn't tell them anything. Paolo came in later and demanded a lawyer- they had to let me go." 

At Pablo's silent enraged expression, Krista's thin veneer of calm begins to crack. She remembers how strongly his emotions ran as a teenager. She doesn't want to make him angrier. 

"I-I know what you would do to my family if I snitched. I'm not that stupid, Pablo." 

His expression remains steely, but some of the fury seems to dissipate. "That's right. Now, what do you want? I haven't got all day." 

"Who do we sell these things to? If I'm going to be interrogated for their sakes, I'd rather know who I'm supposed to be covering for." 

Pablo scoffs, "You don't need to know. It's not like you'll ever meet them." 

Krista wracks her mind for what Tulip told her to say- how can she counter that? Pablo's eyebrow arches. 

"Why do you need to know?" 

Krista's eyes widen in alarm at the suspicion in his voice. "I-I thought I could sell them directly myself. It's pretty inefficient having to do this whole run around with Keith- he picks them up, has to give them to you to give to your associates, or he sells them. I know the products, I could present them better, probably could sell them for a better price from them too." 

Pablo rolls his eyes, "You? A saleswoman? Please. I'm fine with our arrangement for the time being, I suggest that you become fine with it too." 

Krista begins to panic. "Just let me help out more, Pablo. I know that you've been struggling. You can't depend on Keith to help you forever. If the business goes under, I'll have no way to support my family." 

"Who says I've been struggling!?" he explodes, "I don't need your fucking help!" 

Krista flinches at the volume of his voice. She knows she shouldn't provoke him further, but she can't afford to fail. 

"I've heard things Pablo, even if I'm not that high up... Ethan's kids aren't in the business, yours aren't interested in helping out either, Tula's too young.... We're the last Parrotts working together. Dad had all of us, you just have Keith." She tentatively  places a hand on his shoulder, "If something doesn't change...we're finished." 

This...was the wrong thing to say. 

Pablo's fists usually solved his problems. This time, however, the problem seems to be stubbornly clinging to life. 

"I already told you, be quiet," he growls. His hands are strong enough to silence and crush, but Krista keeps on trying to pry them off of her throat. 

"Pablo..." her voice is nothing but a gurgling whisper. Pablo presses harder.  

"I don't need anyone's help. Not yours," he tightens his grip, "Not Keith's, not even dad's. You say the business is going to fail- what the fuck do you know? You got to grow up on that tropical island with your mom. You get to play house with Mr. Stand-up-Military man. What have you ever known about our business?" 

Krista's hands fall away, but her eyes stay trained on his. With a frustrated growl, he grabs a fistful of her hair and slams her head on the floor. 

Everything...is finally quiet. 

Her eyes are still wide open, boring into his. He sighs with disgust and flips her over, her face finally out of sight. He looks down at his hands, which are slick and red.

He has a mess to clean up. 

And he needs to clean it quickly. 

Krista's screams of pain suddenly fill Tulip and Captain Sterling's ear pieces.  Their eyes snap to the other's. 

"I'm on it." 

In a blur, Tulip speeds out of the parking lot. Sterling stays behind and radios for assistance. He will follow later. 

Tulip's face contorts into a snarl as Pablo's low growl comes through the wire. Her muscles burn as she forces them to pump harder. 

She can't let him get away.

It's only minutes later that Tulip catches Pablo slinking back into his house, his hands still covered in blood, but the sun disappears quickly. 

Tulip's heightened senses pick up on the scent of Krista's blood long before she actually sees it. To anyone else it might have been repugnant, but in a young vampire like Tulip, it awakens a deeply buried hunger. The alien sensation makes Tulip uncomfortable and fills her with a vicious anger. She launches herself at Pablo , knocking him down with a loud and resounding thud. 

"You're under arrest," she grits out at him, pinning his arms behind his back. 

With his breath knocked out of him, Pablo doesn't respond or resist. There isn't anything he can say. 

He failed. 

Inside the house, Captain Sterling watches silently as the paramedics descend on Krista.

"I don't feel a pulse," Sameh Miller says. His voice is controlled, but Sterling notices how blanched his skin is. Since moving to Appaloosa Plains, Sterling knows that paramedics are rarely needed. Even though Sameh has been in the medical profession for years, this could be the first time he's ever been called. 

Sterling also knows that Sameh is Ethan Parrott's son. Like his other siblings, he did not follow his father into a life of crime.  This could very well be the first time he's been to his uncle Pablo's home. 

Lakeisha Sheperd-Pinkerton, who's at Krista's head, nods tersely. "Not here either. She's not breathing. We need to get her on a stretcher." 

As Krista is carried out of the room, Sterling sighs deeply. More and more often, he's been remembering the words of his last captain. 

You can't save everyone.

Sometimes it feels like he can't save anyone at all.