Chapter 4
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4: The Invitation
Miss Cordial: So how is being in your new school?
Willow: Different.
Miss Cordial: It certainly would be.
Miss Cordial: It must be somewhat exciting being in a new situation, meeting new people. How do you feel about all of that?
Willow: Well...
Willow: I know it was my idea. Mom and Dad didn't want me to stop being home tutored. But Rowan and Linden got to go to school and they're okay for it.
Miss Cordial: It is different isn't it. Once you got there, it's not quite what you expected.
Willow: I guess not. Everyone's mostly nice... I guess. Mostly. They're all younger than me, that's kind of weird. For them, too.
Miss Cordial: You'll be behind in some classes for a bit. I'm sure you'll be pushed ahead soon once they figure out what you're capable of.
Willow: I hadn't had an...an episode in years, Miss Cordial.
Miss Cordial: I know, and I'm proud of you. And you also don't have to see me as often as you used to.
Willow: I... well, this sounds stupid...
Miss Cordial: Nothing you say sounds stupid to me, Willow.
Willow: Sometimes I still get the feeling I'm being watched.
Willow? Hello?
Willow: Sorry, Jasmine. I was thinking about something.
Jasmine: You were thinking how totally awesome and fun and cool it would be to go to my Mom's show with us tomorrow night.
Willow: No, that's not quite what I was thinking of.
Jasmine: But it'll be fun, right? I'm saving this extra ticket for you.
Willow: I don't know... you know me, I just don't go to concerts or anything like that.
Jasmine: It's not a big concert though. It's a small venue in an exclusive piano bar. Mom sings jazz now so it'll be classy affair. I promise, no crowd surfing.
Willow: There are probably a hundred people on campus that would love to see Denise play.
Jasmine: I know, but I'm asking you. Seeing Mom back is uncomfortable enough, it just makes it easier if a friend is there.
Willow: Cecilia and Gabriel will be with you.
Jasmine: Totally not the same. And I don't want this ticket to go to waste. I'll shoot myself if I have to hang with one of those TriVar girls. Cecilia is enough.
Willow: Listen, I'll think about it. I have a lot of work I need to do.
Jasmine: Well don't think too long. Cecilia's probably queuing up one of her idiot friends for that ticket already.
Jasmine: Speaking of idiots...
Willow: Holy geez... don't creep up on me like that!
Wren: We got your e-mail.
Wren and Raven Marlen were the twin sons of Willow's uncle Peregrin, and Jasmine's Aunt Jodie. They stood behind the girls casually, looking like they were much too familiar with the place despite being obviously awkward teenagers that clearly didn't belong there. The first thing Willow wondered was how their younger cousins were able to track her and Jasmine down on campus.
Willow: What are you two doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be in school?
Wren: We are in school.
Jasmine: I think she meant your school.
Raven: We're not bound by the traditional methods of education. We have our own ways to bypass the system.
Jasmine: So you're skipping class.
Raven: Our work is more important!
Willow: Seriously, what are you two doing here?
Wren: It's about your e-mail and the Resurrect-O-Nomitron. The situation may be more grave than you can imagine. Pardon the pun.
Jasmine: The ressurecto-what?
Willow: It's that device I showed you a picture of a while back. I was just curious about it.
Jasmine: So in your pursuit of knowledge you decided to consult... these brilliant minds?
Raven: What do you know about the Resurrect-O-Nomitron?
Jasmine: Well I know that some people like to take fictional devices way too seriously.
Wren: Resurrect-O-Nomitron is not fictional. It's a device used by the early occult Sims to return the dead to the living.
Jasmine: Riiiight... and let me guess.. " this device must not fall into the wrong hands..." Give me a break.
Raven: I can't believe you're not taking this seriously. There's a lot of weirdness happening out there right now that the government is trying to cover up!
Wren: Raven, calm yourself. You have to remember her grandfather's the Mayor, she's obviously on their side. She probably already knows that three tombs have been illegally excavated recently and that the corpses have been stolen.
Wren: We suspect that occultists are at work creating some kind of zombie army. We're also pretty sure that there is one of these devices somewhere and it's being put to work... suspicious work.
Jasmine: These dorks can't be for real. Willow?
Willow: I... honestly don't know...
Jasmine: So you people really are going to bring the zombie apocalypse.
Raven: Not us. Them. The occult sims that are trying to return the undead to our streets. Vampires, witches. Aliens! We're here to stop them.
Willow: Wait a minute, where are you getting all this information from? I didn't hear anything about bodies being stolen.
Wren: That's because the government controls the media and they don't want you to hear about it. We have our methods of extracting this kind of intelligence.
Jasmine: You read about it on a conspiracy blog.
Raven: So what if we did?
Wren: Unfortunately our knowledge is limited. We didn't put two and two together until you sent that e-mail. We did some more research and discovered where that one necromantic device may be hidden.
Wren: It's in the Landgraab Secret Society.
Raven: That's right. We think there are students in YOUR college that have been conducting horrible experiments in the occult.
Wren: You need to find a way to get into the secret society and find out what they've been doing. It might be tricky, by their nature they will be very elusive and hard to track down.
Wren: The Secret Society are probably very dangerous Sims. They are ruthless, intelligent and ambitious. They could be anyone. If you pursue this course, you'll need to be extremely careful.
Jasmine: You know how much of a moron you sound like, Wren?
Wren: Figures you of all people wouldn't believe us. But we know more than you think we do.
Jasmine: Yes, well, that's all fascinating but some of us have class to get to. Willow, I hope you don't take these two nutjobs seriously. As for you two get back to school before I tell your parents you're here.
Raven: Are you threatening us, Baird?
Jasmine: No, I'm not. If I were threatening you, you can rest assured that I'd make good on that threat and that your ass will be properly kicked from here back to town.
Raven: You know, that's kind of hot.
Wren: Dude, she's your cousin!
Willow: Come on, Jasmine, let's go. Wren, Raven, thank you for the information, it was really nice to see you again. Say hello to Aunt Jodie and Uncle Peregrin for us.
Jasmine: You have the weirdest relatives, Willow.
Willow: Well, they're your relatives too.
Jasmine: I like to think they get it from your side of the family.
Even though Jasmine thought the whole thing was ridiculous, Wren and Raven's visit made Willow even more curious about the necromancy device. She couldn't help wonder why she felt compelled to research the device, and she couldn't fathom why something like that would exist at all. She knew magic existed... she can call on it herself... but if this thing worked, this was something even she thought was creepy and dangerous.
She was hesitant to try to find a way to join the secret society, though. She had enough problems approaching and talking to friends let alone strange people, asking them to join exclusive clubs. Buried in her thoughts, she had completely forgotten about Jasmine's earlier request. It just makes it easier if a friend is there.
Miss Cordial: So have you been making new friends?
Willow: Not exactly.
At first Willow thought she'd just blend into the background, just be another quiet face in class. But it was easy to pick on her, some kids found out. She was far too quiet, she wore strange clothes, and she wore thick glasses. She never fought back.
Every sort of rumour about her started up, just because it amused them.
No one wanted to sit beside her in class and when they were made to, they complained.
Carrie Thomas was the worse of them. She found it her personal mission to torment Willow. This was something she was hesitant to tell Miss Cordial.
Every day, Willow had nothing much to look forward except for more verbal abuse in the hallways before class.
Miss Cordial's voice was a little tense as she spoke to Willow about Carrie, as if she herself was sympathizing with Willow's anger.
Miss Cordial: I can imagine you really wanting bad things to happen to this girl. She doesn't sound pleasant.
Willow: I'll admit, I wouldn't be upset if she just went away. If I could just say a word and she disappears.
Miss Cordial gave a strange, awkward smile, but she didn't admonish Willow for those awful thoughts.
Miss Cordial: Some kids.. well they're just mean, Willow. I wish I give you more advice than that. But it's something you're going to have to be strong about. I'm sure there are really nice people in your school that you have yet to meet.
Willow: Well.. there's one...
Willow: His name is Adrian.
Miss Cordial: He?
Willow: Yes. He's really nice.
Adrian: Hey Carrie, Marie.
Everyone liked Adrian Duarte. He was handsome, smart and popular. All the girls gushed about him.
Carrie: Oh hi, Adrian! I just want to say how nice it is that you're in our homeroom.
Adrian: And I just want to say how nice it is to see you two for the losers you are. It helps to see what kind of assholes I can avoid around here from now on.
Adrian: Listen, don't pay attention to them. Not everyone in this school are jerks. Maybe we can get together at lunch and go over our assignments.
Willow: Um.. sure, okay.
Miss Cordial: It sounds like you really like him.
Willow: Well... he's nice and he stood up for me.
Miss Cordial: Interesting. A young man already...
The last part was spoken in a low voice as if Miss Cordial was making a personal note to herself.
Willow: What was that?
Miss Cordial: Oh.. sorry, just thinking aloud. Does this boy like you?
Willow: Um. I don't know. I guess I wish he does.
Gabriel: There you are, just the bookworm I wanted to see.
Gabriel: I've been sent by her highness, Jasmine Baird, to try to convince you to attend tomorrow nights' festivities.
Willow: Oh.. Denise's show, I almost forgot about it.
Willow wasn't sure what else to say to Gabriel. He sat himself next to her as she tried to ignore him keep reading. The silence was awkward.
Gabriel: Well?
Willow: Well... I still don't know. I'm sure you can find yourself a date for that extra ticket and Jasmine will just have to get over it.
Gabriel: Listen Jasmine thinks it's a good idea that we all go as one big merry bunch. I think it's a good idea because we've been living here this long, it's about time we get to know one another, you think?
Willow: Oh, um, I was okay with our situation before.
Gabriel: Wow. Harsh.
Willow: I didn't mean it like that!
Gabriel: Despite my broken heart, I'll ask again and only because I promised Jasmine I'd be persistent. Do you know how many girls have said 'no' to me?
Willow: Not really...
Gabriel: Well, pretty much all of them. But I'm not going to give up this time.
Willow: You can go back to Jasmine knowing it was a valiant effort on your part.
Gabriel: Ha ha, you have a sense of humour.
Gabriel: Okay one more time. Willow, will you please come to the show with us, it'll annoy Cecilia and make both Jasmine and myself happy.
The way he smiled at her made it impossible for her to stay stern and stand her ground. She finally relented.
Willow: Okay, fine, but only for Jasmine.
Gabriel: Great! My ego hurts slightly less. But don't worry it'll be fun!
It'll be fun, Willow. She's heard that before.
Marie: Listen... I know we sounded like jerks back there. I have to apologize for me and Carrie.
Willow stared blankly at Marie, wondering why she was even talking to her.
Marie: Adrian's right. We can be bitches. But we're not really, we're just having some fun. Sometimes we forget that other people have feelings too.
Marie: We're all going out tonight.. there's a big party going on. Maybe you can make it. We're going to try to invite Adrian too.
Marie: I can pick you up at your place. It'll be fun.
Miss Cordial: So even though these girls were making fun of you all week, they still invited you to this party?
Willow: She seemed really sorry about it. It was a nice invitation.
Miss Cordial's entire demeanor seemed to have changed as she slowly got to her feet and walked towards Willow.
Miss Cordial: Willow, I want you to really think about not going to this party, tonight, even if your parents allowed you to.
Willow: I actually wasn't thinking of asking my parents. I mean... Rowan sneaks out all the time...
Miss Cordial: Don't you think it's too much of a big step to start going to strange places with strange people without your parents permission?
Miss Cordial: Willow, I know I haven't really stressed this before, but there is a lot of danger out there. You have no idea how much. I need you to promise me you will not go to this party. Stay safe at home until I can come by later.
In a way, Miss Cordial frightened Willow just then. The psychologist had never been this adamant and intense before. Willow averted her eyes and twiddled her fingers, not knowing how to tell her that she had already said that she would go, that she would sneak out of the house and meet up with Marie. At the least, she may get a chance to hang out with Adrian. She couldn't understand what kind of dangers there could possibly be.
She didn't understand then exactly how cruel some people could be.
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