The Westenras: A Vampire Dark Comedy
Background: This is my first attempt at writing a story based on the adventures of my Sims, so I have no clue what I’m doing. This is in no way part of a legacy or any other challenge -- it simply showcases the narrative side of my regular gameplay. The story itself will take the form of a mostly PG-rated dark comedy. As for additional gameplay notes, I turned off aging and used a few cheats to help establish the world when I began my playthrough (i.e. starting with $350,000 to build a mansion and using object unlock cheats to decorate the interior). I haven’t used anything beyond move-object cheats since my first session.
Overview: The story is essentially that of three vampiric sisters--Melinda, Hester, and Cassandra. As the rightful heirs to Charles Westenra--a wealthy and powerful vampire lord--these privileged girls have only known luxury. All of that changes, however, when they discover that their father inexplicably donated the family fortune to charity before he, himself, mysteriously vanished. Melinda, Hester, and Cassandra now find themselves left with a beautiful estate… but with mounting bills and no way to pay them. Will they give up their leisurely existence, get to work, and live within their means? Or will they take more nefarious measures in an effort to preserve their socialite lifestyle?
Charles Westenra: Much of his life is shrouded in secrecy, and even his daughters know surprisingly little about him. They believe that he earned his fortune as a crime lord, using his supernatural powers to manipulate mortals to do his bidding. After all, there is evidence to support this theory in the very architecture, design, and contents of Westenra Manor itself (secret passages, counterfeit items, suspicious log books, etc.). Of course, the girls never really cared where their money came from… only that they had access to it. Charles married an equally mysterious woman who appears on many of the old paintings and photos that line the manor’s walls. However, she died in a tragic accident when the daughters were very young, and they do not remember her at all. Charles rarely spoke about her either.
Writer’s note: As of this writing, I have no idea who Charles and his wife really were. This is the type of thing that I hope will simply reveal itself through gameplay--perhaps if the daughters ever become interested in their lineage.
Melinda Westenra: The eldest of the three daughters, Melinda is also the most ambitious. Although she seems rather content with the party-lifestyle, part of her wants to follow in her father’s footsteps and become the most powerful and feared vampire in the criminal underbelly. She has an intense desire to control others--both physically and emotionally--and she doesn’t care who she has to use to achieve her goals (or at least that’s what she tells herself). Despite these tendencies, she absolutely has a softer side to her. Melinda is a tremendously gifted painter, and, since she has never harnessed this talent for economic gains, all of her beautiful work still hangs proudly in the halls of Westenra Manor. Melinda also bears a striking resemblance to her late mother.
Hester practices yoga on a balcony of Westenra Manor. She typically wears shades of red and pink, symbolizing her passion for life.
Hester Westenra: The vampire equivalent of a sorority girl, Hester is a bit of a wildcard. She stays up late into the afternoon (she’s a vampire, remember?) and will never say “no” to another round of shots. Although she tends to be a flirt, she avoids long-term relationships like garlic and instead sticks to carnal pleasures. As such, Hester is the sister most in touch with her own body--an elegant dancer, a formidable athlete, and a proficient cook. She often laments that the other Westenras cannot appreciate human food quite like she can… especially when she’s the one preparing it. Hester’s aspirations seem to change with the coming of each new moon.
Although she is a classically trained musician, Cassandra loves to jam on her guitar. She typically wears shades of blue, symbolizing her calm and peaceful nature (relatively, of course).
Cassandra Westenra: The youngest of the Westenras, Cassandra is also the most shy and introverted… although I suppose that isn’t saying much considering how out-of-control her sisters can be. Compared to Melinda and Hester, Cassandra is also far more empathetic, and she seems to have an uncanny understanding of the human condition. She pours these feelings into her music; she is practically a virtuoso on the violin, and she is a similarly accomplished organist and guitarist. Occasionally Cassandra will stay in to watch movies or play video games when her siblings go out to party.
The girls show off their dance moves.
The night passed like any other--whiskey shots and plasma chasers. At Discothèque Pan Europa, the Westenra girls were practically royalty. With so many desperate guys there, Melinda, Hester, and Cassandra didn’t even have to bring their purses… not that it would have mattered. After all, appearances can be deceiving. The Westenras were broke.
Yes, it seemed that their old man inexplicably grew a conscience and donated the entire family fortune to charity. At least he left the girls his beautiful manor, complete with its gabled roofs, flat-screen TVs... and colossal utility bills. But the girls weren’t going to think about that tonight. No, tonight was for drinking and dancing--the two things they knew best.
Selfie! Are their carefree clubbing days literally behind them?
Reality, however, is hard pill to swallow. After receiving the new bills in the morning and doing some quick napkin-paper math, Melinda realized the truth. They had two weeks to come up with the money. She broke the news to her sisters.
Melinda explains to Hester that their money is running out. The skull on the table seems to represent the girls coming face-to-face with the problems of mortality for the first time. Or it could just be a meaningless decoration. Yeah. That’s probably it.
There were, of course, some easy solutions--sell assets, find jobs, relocate… but the Westenras were proud vampires. Melinda was determined not to let her ancestral home fall into disarray or, worse, into the hands of unworthy humans. Melinda would never allow her sisters to resort to menial labor in an attempt to make ends meet. The Westenras would work for nobody. And so, Melinda gathered the sisters at the Old Quarter Inn to discuss her plan…
The girls arrive at the Old Quarter Inn to hear out Melinda.
“Are we vampires?” began Melinda.
Not catching on, Hester and Cassandra instinctively nodded their heads in agreement. Melinda took a long sip of wine and flashed a wry smile, “Then why continue to deny the natural order of things? Or have your fangs dulled over the years?”
Cassandra gasped, “You can’t possibly be thinking of enslaving humans? Like the vampire lords of old used to do?”
“There are two types of people in this world. Butchers… and cattle.”
Hester groaned, “That doesn’t even make sense. Like--you sound like Yogi Berra trying to quote a Clint Eastwood movie or something. I get it, you’re going for the heartless, brooding vampire thing, but--”
Cassandra nearly spilled her drink. “We’d get caught for sure! There are no shadows to hide in anymore--I’ve seen CSI…”
“Relax. We wouldn’t be enslaving an entire town, a whole family, or whatever you read in the Encyclopedia Vampirica. We’d simply be making a ‘business arrangement’ with one little human--our very own Renfield,” Melinda mused.
“Great,” Hester said, “Because referencing Dracula gives me soooo much more confidence,”
“Well, aren’t we Westenras? Aren’t we vampires?”
Melinda hatches a plot to solve their problems. Hester is skeptical and points out the risks. Cassandra seems aghast at Melinda’s suggestion. Will they go through with it?
James Winterbourne whistled through Forgotten Hollow.
The spire of Westenra Manor looms in the background...
Of course he knew about the legends… of the twisted creatures and malicious entities that stalked the woods around the secluded neighborhood. That is, after all, why he was there in the first place. A mystery novelist is only as good as his latest idea--and James was completely out. In fact, he hadn’t struggled this much to write a sentence since his AP British Literature classes in high school. Perhaps the cold air of Forgotten Hollow would help wake him up from this stupor; it certainly couldn’t hurt… or so he thought.
Finding a quiet bench, James gazed out over the bluff and lost himself in thought. But as he racked his brain for ideas, he slowly became aware of a strange presence lurking nearby. Silhouetted against the moonlight was a woman. Although many of her features were difficult to make out, it was clear that she possessed an Old Hollywood beauty--a blonde Audrey Hepburn ripped from out of place and time. And James knew she was trouble from that first sight.
She looked too at home--too comfortable in the dark of night. Give her a cigarette and she’d be quintessential noir dame, James thought. He was on his guard.
Melinda approached the man slowly, making sure to put a flirtatious swagger into her step. No, this wasn’t going to be a seduction--just a simple smash and grab--but Melinda liked theatrics. She eyed her victim up and down. A bit scrawny. And those nerdy little glasses? Cassandra would probably like him, Melinda thought, chuckling silently to herself. This should be easy.
She slid next to James on the bench and then looked down on the winding river. “You know, we don’t get many visitors in Forgotten Hollow at this time of night.”
Hester and Cassandra, who look on from nearby, cannot believe how cringeworthy their sister’s opening line was.
James smiled and shook his head in disbelief. Yup. A noir dame with a gothic twist. I guess I’m not the only one lacking creativity these days. He turned to her, “I’m just passing through. The name’s James, by the way.” He extended his hand.
“Charmed. Melinda.”
“Well, Melinda, to be honest, I was a bit curious about this place--Forgotten Hollow--I wanted to see for myself if some of the rumors were true.”
“Curious?” Melinda could barely control herself; her Bond-villain moment had surely arrived. With a sinister glow in her eyes, she bared her fangs, “You know what they say about curiosity!”
James was ready though. His hand was already cocked back into a fist. He had never hit a girl in his life, but he was certainly willing to make an exception for the scheming vampire. Unfortunately for him, the dead travel fast. Hester and Cassandra had been eavesdropping nearby, ready to swoop in on Melinda’s cue. Part of Hester actually wanted to let the human get one good shot in on her sister, but she thought better of it at the last moment. Outnumbered and outgunned, James became easy prey for the Westenras.
The girls spring their trap on the surrounded James. For the three vampires, it’s nothing personal… just business.
“‘You know what they say about curiosity?’ Really? That’s the line you went with?” Hester was already reconsidering her decision to prevent the human’s fist from connecting with Melinda’s jaw. The grandfather clock struck eight, and the morning sun began to peek through the curtains of Westenra Manor.
The girls debrief from their encounter with James. Hester seems exhausted by Melinda’s recent antics.
“Girls… vampires, remember? It isn’t enough to simply dominate our victims--we must strike fear into their mortal hearts!” Melinda said, clenching her fist.
“I don’t think he was scared.”
Melinda turned to Cassandra for a second opinion. She sheepishly shook her head, too.
“At any rate, he’s ours now--and that’s what matters,” Melinda continued, “It’s time to inform our business partner of his roles and responsibilities.” She turned her back to her sisters and opened the door to the family crypt, where James was being held captive.
James awakens to find himself in a dark dungeon...
Groggy and bleary-eyed, James stumbled to his feet. His throat felt dry and his muscles ached. He peered around the dimly lit room in an attempt to find his bearings. Light from red candles flickered off of the walls revealing what could only be described as a dungeon-office hybrid. Frankly, it was more cartoonish than it was threatening. There was a floor-to-ceiling portrait of a shadowy figure, a massive fish-tank filled with bizarre squid-like creatures, and a comically oversized swivel-chair that James half-expected to seat Dr. Claw. To cap it all off, he suddenly became aware of the sharp, stabbing pain at his neck. Of course. Bitten by a vampire. Is there seriously a box that Melinda isn’t trying to check here?
As if on cue, the eldest Westenra burst into the room. “Greetings, cattle.”
“Melinda…”
“That’s ‘Master’ to you now. Or ‘Butcher.’ Whichever you prefer, to be honest. Just don’t go around saying I didn’t give you some choices down here.”
“Whatever you say… Master Butcher.” James was willing to play her game for the time being.
Melinda gave James a long, sideways glance, “Good. We did some research on you while you were out.”
James didn’t respond.
“Journalist at the Windenburg Times? Half a dozen novels to your name? Zero that I’ve heard of. Normally, we’d just have you wire us money--but we’re going to need a lot more than you probably have stored up. No, we’re going to need a bestseller out of you.”
In that moment, the lightbulb finally flashed on in his head, and James smiled, “Of course, Master.” It seemed he found his inspiration in Forgotten Hollow after all.
https://i.imgur.com/xix7XtLl.png
Melinda--in her dark form--explains to James that he works for the Westenras now. He’ll be kept alive and well in exchange for his book royalties and plasma. The caged candles separate the two characters… but some light still passes through.
James likes to spend his free time reading and daydreaming at the library.
James Winterbourne: Journalist and part-time fiction writer, James Winterbourne is good-natured young man that mostly has his life together. Unfortunately, he has recently come down with a pretty severe case of writer’s block and has been struggling to produce anything creative. He hoped that a late-night stroll through Forgotten Hollow might provide some much needed inspiration… but he ended up finding much more than he bargained for. Now at the mercy of the three Westenra sisters, James will have to rely on his resourcefulness and logic to plan an escape. He might even get that new mystery novel out of his ordeal...
Writer’s note: I’ve always been intrigued by the memes about the “painting goblins” that some people would use to make money in their Sims games. With James, I’m basically asking what would happen if a “painting goblin” had a face, a name, a history, and aspirations? What if the “painting goblin” fought back?
Writer’s note: I actually have the next 4-5 chapters of gameplay already complete, so I’m trying to let my writing to catch up to my gamestate.
