[R]6.1 World of Despair

Please Note: I have made my grand return to simming! I didn’t want to give up my legacy but at the same time, I felt completely lost upon my return. I dug myself into a hole with the vast scope of the legacy and as such contemplated rewriting the entire thing. Though, that just doesn’t feel right and I think I came up with a really effective way to return to my legacy that will give you guys the best story and me, the ability to jump right back into my story.

 

I will be rewriting Graciela’s generation. What does this mean? I’ve left all the chapters of the original gen 6 up but aside from the origins chapters- nothing is canon. We will continue the legacy from the end of gen 5, with Graciela as a teenager and go from there. The story will be way more focused, with a clear goal in sight by the end of it. These new chapters will have the [R] in front of them for rewrite. I hope you enjoy!

Graciela walked into the study cautiously, trying her best to remain calm, cool, and collected. She had heard from both Camilla and Pax that their parents were a bit on edge today and it’d be best to avoid them if they didn’t want to get dragged into anything unruly. That was Graciela’s plan, until she had been called downstairs from her room by her father. She didn’t know what this whole thing was bout but if it involved both of her parents, it was something serious. “Hi mom and dad.” Graciela bit her lip and leaned forward.
The expression on Charlotte’s face was unreadable. While she looked completely calm, Graciela knew that simply couldn’t be the case. “Graciela, we got a call from your school. The absences are a big problem- you’ve exceeded the amount you get per year- by a long shot.”

 

Graciela’s shoulders drooped. Yes, she was aware that she had spent more time at home than at school. This was because the voice in her head- the darkness- was the loudest when she was in class. Even if she was present, Graciela was never able to concentrate on her studies and to make matters worse, her ex best friend, Nerissa, had teamed up with the other popular girls to make sure Graciela knew she was a social reject. School just wasn’t the best place for Graciela and she appreciated that her parents understood and respected that.

 

“We understand why you need to stay home from class,” Jeffrey began. He looked directly at his daughter with an air of decorum. “But we also understand where the school is coming from. They are wasting resources on someone who, on paper, doesn’t look like they want to learn.”

 

“I do want to learn!” Graciela cried. “That stupid voice in my head doesn’t let me learn! But when I tell people that they just make fun of me and treat me like a freak. Even the guidance counselor doesn’t understand me. So what am I supposed to do? Show up and endure the torture for 7 hours a day?”

 

“No” Charlotte said softly. “We don’t expect you to stay at a school that can’t support and nourish your intellect. That’s not why we called you down here. We want to move you to a different school.”

 

“There’s only one high school in Fortitude,” Graciela said. “Fort Natural High. What are you going to do? Try to homeschool me or something?”

“Tempting, but no.” Jeffrey shook his head. “There is one other school we know about. We talked to Myra about the boarding school that Leon goes to. It is open to students that exhibit special mystical talents.”

 

“First of all,” Graciela began, lowering her eyes at her parents. “I have no special talents. There is nothing I’m good at especially nothing magical! Second of all, I don’t want to go to a boarding school. You guys are here, Braylen is here, why would I give them up? And third of all…”

 

“There’s more?” Charlotte asked slightly smirking at her daughter’s passionate outburst. It was justifiable- but Charlotte was happy to see her daughter showing some emotions other than sorrow all the time.

 

“Yes, there’s more!” Graciela cried. “I don’t want to be in a boarding school with Leon. I don’t know why you guys are holding onto the past for. I haven’t spoken to him in years. We’re not best friends anymore. Honestly, if I go and Pax or Camilla aren’t there who will help me with the voice? No one! I rather stay here and fail out of high school.”

 

“Your education is important,” Jeff said. “You can’t be content with just throwing it all away because of a voice that’s trying to stop you. Look at your mother and I. If we stopped when things got tough, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”

 

“Honey, he’s right,” Charlotte agreed. “We’re not forcing you into anything. We are just giving you options to help you find what works for you. Myra tells me that Leon is finally able to visit Fortitude again and when he’s here you can pick his brain. See if boarding school is something you’d be interested in. We’ll handle the rest.”

 

“Is that it?” Graciela mumbled, feeling the tears biting at her eyelids. She didn’t know why, but the thought of seeing Leon again made her angry. He hadn’t so much as called her in the five years that he had been gone. Was she supposed to hold onto their old memories forever? “I need to lie down.” She sniffled and rushed out of the room.

Graciela had often felt emotions pent up inside of her that she could not express in anything other than tears. No matter how hard she had tried to verbalize her feelings no one seemed to truly understand how alone and detached she felt. Though she knew her family and friends cared for her, the reality of the matter was that they’d never truly understand how it felt to be constantly ridiculed by a voice in her head and her peers. Sending Graciela to another school would do absolutely nothing in the greater scheme of things. Especially, sending her to a boarding school where she had no one to rely on but a stranger who she used to call her best friend.

 

“Oh, little lamb. Whatever is the matter? Surely you can’t be upset over your parents looking out for your well-being, can you?”

 

“Shut up,” Graciela grumbled, turning on her side. “I don’t want to hear you right now.”

 

“Why not, my child? Are you afraid I’m going to make you think about something you can’t face? Like the fact that you’re being ungrateful when all your parents want to do is see you succeed.”

 

Graciela didn’t respond, instead she stared up into the ceiling light. Though bright and almost blinding- the darkness of curling under her covers or covering her face with a pillow wasn’t an option. The voice inside of her seemed to only grow louder when darkness was present.

 

“I will not be silenced, Graciela. We are one, do not forget that. No amount of bright lights will erase me. Such is your curse.”

 

“Well I didn’t do anything to deserve being cursed,” Graciela replied, blinking slowly. “I never even had the option to prove myself before you reared your ugly head. Er…voice.”

 

“My voice is lovely and you know it. I also have very intelligent and well meaning things to say, yet you choose to ignore me as if I’m the same primitive voice who used to berate you as a child! As I once told you, that darkness is gone. There is no place for her in your heart.”

 

When Leon had left to boarding school, the menacing voice had seemed to stop altogether. For a brief period of a few months, Graciela had been able to enjoy a silence unknown to her before. Though, it was short lived. In its place, a brand new voice had surfaced. Not quite as vicious as the first- this one still seemed to mean harm. The well intentioned advice it claimed to have for her had translated to manipulation in Graciela’s eyes, and any other presence in her head was unwarranted and unwanted.

“I’m really worried about her,” Charlotte mumbled. She cuddled into her husband as he placed his arms around her. “Knowing everything both of our families have been through, whatever is happening to our daughter can’t be ignored just because we don’t have the answer to solve it.”

 

“I don’t know what to do,” He replied breathlessly. Being married to a vampire and raising supernatural kids wasn’t something he had ever thought would happen to him. he loved his family dearly, he just felt very unequipped to handle certain situations and if his wife was at a loss, so was he. “I don’t like the idea of having her so far away without us. Graciela brought up a good point, she hasn’t heard from Leon in five years. Are we not going to hear from our daughter for that long as well?”

 

“I was only thinking of a way to help Graciela without having to turn to Damian,” Charlotte replied. “I don’t want him or anyone else near our daughter. The last time I saw him, he was so sure that he could save Gracie.”

 

“Do you honestly believe anything that man says? I wouldn’t even doubt if he wasn’t who he said he was,” Jeff replied. “Is there a way we can meet the headmasters of this school and see where we’d be potentially sending our daughter? Which, we’re only doing if we’re sure it will benefit her.”

 

“I’ll talk to Myra again and see what she says,” Charlotte replied. “I’m sure that she can put me in touch with the headmaster or someone else who works there. We need to protect our daughter, that’s all I care about.”

 

“I’m not sure how we’re going to do it, but we’ll manage,” Jeff whispered, placing a kiss on the top of her head. “She’s strong like her mother. No darkness will stop her.”

There was loud pounding on the dresser in Graciela’s room. She jolted up, kicking her legs over the side of her bed. Her usually translucent wardrobe was fogged and she could see the outline of three people banging on it.
“Graciela, let us out!” One voice wailed, slamming an open hand against the dresser repeatedly. “Please!”
More and more voices began to call out for her help, though she was paralyzed with fear and couldn’t move a muscle. She wasn’t even able to scream and alert someone else in the house that she needed help.  She stumbled backwards, tripping over a crease in the rug and falling to the floor.

 

“Look at all these people who need your help, Graciela.”

 

“No,” Graciela mumbled, covering her head with her hands and pressing her face into her knees. “I don’t hear anything. Nothing is happening.”

 

“You can try to ignore it all you want, but they will not go away. They want to be free.”

 

“I’m not freeing anything!” Graciela cried, coming to her senses. She jumped to her feet and shot another glance at the wardrobe which seemed to be shaking violently. “I didn’t ask for this!” She ran towards the door of her room, though it was shut and locked tightly. She had usually always left it open. With the voices screaming her name and no ability to escape, Graciela collapsed to the floor and shouted as loudly as she could as hot tears fell from her eyes.