Nightshade: A SimLit | Chapter 103: Partners In Crime

Evergreen Harbor. Judging by the name, you'd assume that perhaps the town would be beautiful, a verdant, peaceful paradise lush with life and greenery at every corner, and indeed, it was well known for being eco-friendly. Solar and windmill powered energy was plentiful, reducing, reusing and recycling were emphasized by it's environmentally conscious inhabitants; the pristine image that the harbor painted for itself was admired by many. 

But the truth? Unfortunately, not everywhere in Evergreen Harbor was very evergreen. 

In the slums, the noxious smog polluting the air was as thick as smoke, produced by a large industrial factory at the very edge of town. The water was foul with the oils and pollution being carelessly disposed of by the company, and rancid garbage littered the streets, accompanied by every famished rodent, roach and raccoon in the whole town. There was a time, before the capitalist corporation's toxic cesspool of a factory was built, that all of Evergreen Harbor was indeed green. Now, only the reasonably well-off could afford to live in the remaining nice neighborhoods. As for everyone else? Well, they had to look at it this way: they were lucky just to have a place to live. 

Or at least, that's what Tiffany told herself to cope with the perpetual state of respiratory distress that moving there had caused her. 

Since the divorce, life hadn't been as easy as she'd hoped it would be. She constantly found herself struggling to find a steady job, struggling to find affordable housing... perhaps she'd taken for granted the life that she could have had with Orion, but it was far too late to regret her life decisions now -- not that she ever would. Her latest endeavor for a fresh start lead her here, to what was certainly the most affordable place she could find, and landed her both a job at a nearby bar and a rather interesting roommate. Life was starting to look good -- or at least as good as it could get. 

Of course, all good things come to an end. 

Today was a day off from work, and Tiffany intended to spend it the same way she spent all the rest of her days off: being up to no good. She scoured her Simstagram feed for one thing, and one thing only -- Orion. Despite the lengths he'd went to in order to block her, it was hardly a deterrent. She simply created a fake account to stalk his profile with, and lately, it had become a rather unhealthy obsession thanks to his recently announced engagement. When she found out about it, she was livid. The sight of him with someone else made her blood boil inside of her veins, and the fact he thought that he could ever think he belonged to anyone but her was somewhere between infuriating and laughable. Skylar, in her opinion, could never come close to her in any way, and certainly wasn't even a fraction as attractive as she was. He must have been getting desperate, she assumed. He was nothing without her. He never would be. 

As expected, when she went to his profile page, there were new posts. Today's selection was a bunch of ridiculous-looking selfies of himself; in disguise form, to be expected for a public post, and his even more ridiculous-looking fiancée, featuring them doing appalling activities such as kissing and hugging and ugh, she couldn't make herself keep looking at the ludicrous photos long enough to register anything beyond that. Besides, what really caught her attention was the caption:

Moving in with my favorite girl in the whole world 💕 

Unbelievable. Tiffany's grip tightened on the phone so much that it's a wonder the screen didn't crack in her hands quivering with fury. He couldn't do this. He couldn't move on from her, he couldn't piece himself back together from the crumbled mess she made him to find happiness again. She wouldn't allow it. Seconds away from a fit of rage, the only thing that snapped her back to reality was the sound of the front door and a familiar voice.

"Tiff, I'm home!"

She didn't even look up from her screen to acknowledge his presence. "Ugh, Damon, you know how much I hate your stupid nicknames. How many times have I told you not to call me that? If you do it again, I'm going to start calling you Demon instead." 

Her roommate leaned forward, attempting to get a glimpse of whatever she was so fixated on -- he had a bad habit for snooping. "Yeah, I know how much you hate them, which exactly why I use them." 

Tiffany rolled her eyes dramatically. Sometimes, she really wished she'd never responded to his ad for a roommate, but moving in with someone and splitting the bills was unfortunately too financially convenient to pass up -- and, as a bonus, they found that they rather enjoyed each other's company for the most part. Over the past several months they'd been living together, she'd pestered plenty of deep dark secrets out of him, and he was definitely her kind of guy. For starters, he was also a vampire. The reason he was currently living in a crappy slab of metal in the middle of what was practically a trash dump is that this area of Evergreen Harbor was shady, and because everyone was shady and didn't snitch, it was a great place to hide from the law.

Which is exactly what he was doing. 

The backstory he gave her went something like this: a few years ago, he busted out of prison... again. Or, really, he just used his vampire powers to teleport out and leave like he always did. You'd think law enforcement would have figured out he was a vampire and got rid him a long time ago, but he was very careful about what cats he let out of the bag, and so far, he was lucky. His criminal record was extensive: breaking and entering, theft, assault with a deadly weapon, multiple drug charges in both ownership and dealership... the whole works. Since his last prison break, he'd been making an effort to clean up his act at least enough to stay off the radar and avoid being arrested again. To his surprise, she didn't judge him, and in return he didn't judge her. You could say they eventually became something like friends with benefits, and they were by all means partners in crime... as a team, they were powerful, determined and completely devoid of most morals -- a force to be reckoned with. 

"Sooo," Damon began, "can I ask what you're doing?"

"No," she replied bluntly.

"Oh, okay, so you're stalking your ex again and don't want to admit it." His nose wrinkled with disdain. "Really, you've got to stop being so obsessed with this... I get you want to make him miserable or whatever, but you're not really achieving that by staring at his social media all day. Are you sure you aren't doing it for another reason?"

She furrowed her eyebrows and shoved her phone into her pocket, rearranging her body into a proper position in the chair. "What are you trying to say?"

He perched across from her on the worn edge of the coffee table. "I'm saying you're jealous."

"Jealous?" Her face contorted in revulsion. "Jealous of what?"

"The fact that he's moved on from you with someone else," Damon said. "You feel like if you can't have him, nobody else can, and that's why you're so envious of his new partner--"

"I don't envy her!" She snapped. "There's nothing to envy! I already know she's nothing in comparison to me... but..." she sighed, pausing for a moment, "...you're right, I do feel like that. I don't want him to move on from me so easily. It's just... I saw that they're moving in together today, and in some weird way, it hurts."

He nodded silently, soaking in her words and trying to understand them. He struggled to comprehend what exactly drove Tiffany to have such a burning, impassioned hatred for this man. Despite how open he was with her about his past, she was certainly far from an open book herself. He'd at least pieced together that, from what she told him, she had a rough childhood and a toxic marriage. There were plenty of late nights, usually when she was somewhat intoxicated, that she'd tell him about how horrible her ex-husband was, and how she had no choice but to treat him harshly, fighting fire with fire, so to speak. She always kept the explicit details vague. Truthfully, it didn't really seem to add up and make sense. She would go on about how annoyingly "innocent and naive" he was, then turn around and accuse him of being just as cunning of a manipulator as she was. She would call him weak, then talk about the time that they were fighting and he definitely hit her way harder than she hit him. But Damon didn't really care if she was lying, and had no reason not to believe what she told him, so he did... for the most part.

He had no idea what a horrible decision that was.

"If you guys really made each other so miserable, and you really want revenge on him over it so badly... I can help you accomplish that." There was a mischievous spark in his eyes as he spoke. "If you want my help, that is."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. "How, exactly?"

"Well, I was thinking," he said, his lips curling into a smirk, "that we could pay them a visit to... congratulate them on moving in together. It's a polite thing to do, isn't it?"

Tiffany grinned, her eyes lighting up with a very malicious kind of interest. "I love the sound of your idea... why don't you tell me more?"

---

"I think that's the last of the boxes we have to get inside," Orion sighed, gingerly sliding an arm around Skylar's upper back as she leaned against him. "That wasn't too bad, I guess."

"It wasn't too bad? I'm exhausted," she whined and slung an arm around his shoulders. "My back is killing me and we still have to unpack all of this!"

 "There isn't a rush, we can do that tomorrow, can't we? We should relax for the rest of the evening," he reasoned. For hours, they'd done nothing but nonstop heavy lifting, went up the elevator way more times than was ever acceptable in one day, and probably pulled a whole body's worth of muscles between the both of them. Right now, the only thing that sounded good to him was climbing into bed and hibernating for the next twelve hours. Preferably more.

Skylar smiled. "I agree, relaxing sounds way better than unpacking boxes. Besides, you'd probably be happy to go to bed early now that we'll be sharing one... you'll take that as an all-access cuddle pass."

Orion flashed her the most innocent, pleading puppy-dog eyes he could manage. "I don't have to take it as one, you're going to give me an all-access cuddle pass, right?"

She could only laugh and pull him a little closer to her. "You know I can't say no to you... so yes."

Amidst their banter, they hadn't noticed the soft sound of unfamiliar footsteps behind them. "Sorry to bust your bubble, but I don't think you're going to have much time for relaxing."

Startled and confused, the two quickly looked over their shoulders at the intruder. Orion visibly tensed at the sight of the towering, unfamiliar man standing completely uninvited in his apartment. 

"Orion," Skylar cautiously began, "who--"

"W-Who are you?" Orion interrupted, his voice trembling. Every worst case scenario came to his mind at once; after all, there were only so many reasons for someone to break into your house. "How did you get in here? W-Wait, first of all, why are you here? A-Are you going to rob us? Kidnap us? I-I'll do whatever you want, I swear, just... p-please don't hurt her..."

The man grinned. "Well, pretty boy, I'm certainly not here to rob or kidnap you... but I can't promise you that I won't hurt her." 

 "The name's Damon, by the way," he added, leaning against the wall next to the front door, "and I came here for a reason that you'll both be finding out soon enough."

Orion defensively stepped between Damon and Skylar. His body was very visibly trembling, but the fear in his eyes was masked by a facade of bravery. "I--"

"Orion, get back!" Skylar interrupted, moving closer to pull him aside, but he didn't budge. She quickly turned her attention to Damon and glared threateningly. "I'm not waiting to find out. Tell us what you're doing here now."

 "Do either of you really think you're going to intimidate me? That's cute." He sneered and curled his thick, callused fingers around the doorknob. "Why would I tell you anything when I can just show you?"

Before there could be any objections, the door was slowly swinging open, hinges creaking momentarily before it came to a stop. Heavy boots thudded against the wooden floor. A relatively tall, slender figure appeared in the doorway, cerulean gaze hardening as it met Orion's. 

Every muscle in his body tensed. His mind was screaming; 'no, not again.'

It would always happen again. 

"It's been a while, Orion... I hope you don't mind me dropping by unannounced to congratulate you two." Her chuckle was cold and unnerving. "I've been wanting to meet Skylar for a while, anyway..." 

"T-Tiffany..."

The moment Orion uttered the woman's name, Skylar knew the situation was going to turn out badly for them and fear finally struck her. Realistically speaking, she knew they were face to face with two very dangerous vampires that they were entirely powerless against, but she also knew that she couldn't let him get hurt even one more time by Tiffany. 

Orion's hand subconsciously slithered it's way up to his neck, fingertips brushing against it in acknowledgement of the increasingly tightening feeling in his throat. He could still feel the pain, the fear, the despair. Every time he finally bottled those feelings up enough to store in the back of his mind, she seemed to show up and pour them all out again. Standing in slack-jawed silence, he hoped that courage would come to him, just as they did on that day he encountered her during the outing with his friends. He waited, and waited, and waited, for what felt like years but was only moments.

The courage never came.

Skylar looked down at him. She felt his vulnerability, how much he was struggling not to break down into a thousand tiny pieces. His fear was obvious. The strength that she always saw in him -- of the mental sort, not physical -- had melted away. Anger ignited inside of her, and with newfound determination, she stepped forward, not taking her eyes off of Tiffany. "You're not welcome here. He shouldn't have ever had to see your sorry face again. Get out."

Tiffany walked deeper into the living room. "I don't really care if I'm welcome here or not. It isn't like you can do anything to me."

"Maybe not, but I sure can try to."

Tiffany sprang forward, her arm outstretched in an accusatory point. "You can't try anything! If you do, you're as good as dead. What does he see in you? More importantly, what do you see in him? You don't really know anything about me, you're just blindly believing whatever he's told you! For all you know, they're lies!"

She flinched, but didn't back down. "I know he wouldn't lie to me." 

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I already know what kind of person you are, and he isn't like you."

Their eyes were locked onto one another's, loathing burning hotly in their gazes. Tiffany's fists clenched tightly, her arms quivering with rage and her jaw drawn taut. "Well, I know what kind of person you are! You're worthless! You're not good enough for anyone, not even someone as pathetic as him."

"No, who's really worthless and pathetic is you," Skylar retorted. "You wasted years of your life trying to ruin someone else's. You're still trying, and for what? Can't you see that you're never going to win no matter how long you try? You haven't torn him down, you've only made him stronger! He doesn't need your opinion on what he's worth and neither do I. Whatever we're worth, it's a lot more than you."

The blonde bared her razor-sharp fangs and took a step closer. "I've had enough of you! Why don't we see if I can finally succeed at ruining his life by taking yours!?"

"You won't do it. Deep down, you're nothing but a coward."

Orion's body finally willed itself to move and words squeezed their way out of his tightened throat. Hesitantly, he reached out toward Tiffany, prepared to throw himself into the fire despite knowing it would burn. "Tiffany, stop! Please--"

"Don't touch her!"

Before his hand could manage to make contact in order to interfere, Damon lunged. He was slammed roughly against the hard wood of the bedroom door behind him, hard enough to make him gasp as the air was knocked out of his lungs. Sudden, sharp pain radiated down his back and dulled as quickly as it came. Angry eyes pierced right through his fearful ones, intimidating him even further than he already was. Damon's hands were firmly planted on either side of him to block his escape, but he was far too afraid to move anyway.

"Orion!" Skylar gasped as she turned away from Tiffany, no longer caring about bickering with her. She reached out for them in vain, already knowing there wasn't any possibility that she'd be able to pull the much larger man away from him. 

"P-Please..." Orion's voice was a weak, quivering whisper. "L-Let me go..."

"Now, why would I do that?" Damon menacingly responded. His eyes trailed downward and his upper lip curled, just barely exposing his fangs. "I'd much rather sink my fangs into that pretty little neck of yours and drain every last drop of blood from your body..."

Orion's legs were shaky enough to nearly give out underneath him. He was completely frozen, unable to form a response or even any comprehensive thoughts in his mind. The only thing he could process was pure, unadulterated terror. 

Damon moved a hand from the surface of the door to Orion's neck, constricting lightly -- not enough to strangle him, only for his nails to dig into the sensitive skin uncomfortably. "What's stopping me from doing it? I'm sure it would thrill Tiffany to watch the life slowly fade from you... oh, but your dear little Skylar would be so heartbroken, wouldn't she? It'd only be right for me to put her out of her misery next..."

Tears formed in Orion's eyes, quickly spilling over as he quietly sobbed. There was nothing he could do. He was just as weak and defenseless as he'd always been, and as a result, it wasn't only him in danger this time, it was Skylar. It was all his fault, and god, in the moment he wished she'd never met him--

"I-If you're going to hurt someone, hurt me instead!" Skylar's voice cut through the fog in his mind. "He doesn't deserve this..." She stepped dangerously closer. Too close. 

"Bribery doesn't work on me," Damon growled. 

"Please, I'm begging you... wouldn't hurting me make her happier? T-Then there's... there's no one in her way, right? It's just her and Orion again, like it always--"

"Skylar," Orion interrupted gently. His teary eyes desperately searched for hers and locked on as soon as they met. "I can't let you get hurt because of me... s-so just... just stay back, okay? It's going to be okay. I'll be okay..." He could only assume it was a lie. 

"Orion--"

"Please."

"Well, isn't this a touching moment?" Tiffany laughed, a tone of mockery etched into her voice. "How does it feel, Orion? To be completely helpless again, like you always were before -- no, like you always have been? Did you think that by running far away from me, your problems would disappear? Maybe you think that you've made progress; that you've found a way to heal... but scars don't heal, they're permanent." She crossed her arms and calmly approached him, still being held at Damon's mercy. "You thought that you could move on from your past and have a second chance at happiness, with Skylar, didn't you? I bet you've never felt so safe, and warm, and loved... but let me ask you this: what happens when this human's mortality catches up with her? What happens when she dies, and you're left all alone again? You're a fool, only setting yourself up for heartbreak a second time..."

He listened in silence, soaking in her words. 

"What becomes of your happiness without her? Just how much do you lean on her for support, Orion? Is she your foundation? Will all of the pieces you've put back together just fall apart again?" She smirked. "More importantly, who will be here to protect you? You and I have the rest of eternity together, you know... a lifetime is like mere days when you're immortal. And when she's out of my way? I'll just be back to break you again, and this time, she won't be there for you."  

He broke down into sobs. She was right, he knew she was right and it was terrifying. Where would he be without Skylar? The few years she'd been in his life had been the best he'd ever had. He knew he couldn't have made it as far as he had without her support. But someday, she would be gone and he'd be forced to face the world without her once again. Would he be strong enough? Strong enough to be happy despite it? Strong enough to face Tiffany? 

He wouldn't. He already knew that.

Skylar searched for words that didn't come. Her mind was racing, desperate to think of a way to help him, but there wasn't a way. Her stomach churned at the thought of what was going to happen to him, to her... 

"Damon, you can let him go now."

Skylar's eyes widened surprise at the suspicious act of mercy but she chose to say nothing. 

"What? Why?" Damon glanced over his shoulder at her, his brows crinkling in confusion. "You don't want him harmed? What about the girl?"

Tiffany shook her head. "No, leave them."

He obediently moved away from Orion, who still didn't move a muscle, and approached her. "Then what the hell did we come here for?"

"To teach them a lesson, not to kill them." Tiffany's hands moved to her hips. "I just wanted to be sure that Orion didn't get too comfortable... or forget who he belongs to. I can't play with him anymore if he's dead, you know. Trust me."

"Well, you're the boss," Damon sighed. "Besides, if you wanted me to ruffle their feathers, I think I did a good job of it."

"Indeed you did," she said. "Come on, let's get out of here... I'm sure you want to be rewarded for your hard work, don't you?" 

His face flushed slightly when she winked at him, but he had no shame and returned it with a flirtatious grin. "You know me well." A cloud of smoke enshrouded him, and in a split second, he was gone. Tiffany decided to take the long way out, instead calmly walking to the door and opening it, but paused to look back at Orion one last time. 

"I'll be back when you least expect it, Orion. Always."

The door shut unnervingly gently behind her and the tension in Orion's muscles finally released. He slid downward against the door, his knees on the verge of buckling as his body was wracked with heavy sobs and labored breathing. His dry throat struggled to rasp out Skylar's name, and he wasn't even sure she heard him until she snapped out of her shock and rushed to his side. 

"Orion!" She threw her arms around him and clung tightly. His arms curled around her neck and he entangled a hand in her hair, stroking shakily as he tried to calm himself down, to somehow convince himself that she was right here, that she was safe and everything was going to be okay, even if nothing felt okay. 

"S-Skylar," he stammered, "I'm so sorry, y-you shouldn't have been put in that kind of situation, I--"

"Don't apologize, it isn't your fault. I'm okay," she soothed. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you at all?"

"I-I'm not hurt, I'm just... really shaken up, and..."

"I know," she said softly as she gently rubbed his back. "It's gonna be okay, sweetheart... I'm here for you..."

I'm here for you. Her words made his heart sink and his tears fall faster. "You won't always be," he whispered. 

Skylar's chest painfully tightened. She fought back her own tears the best she could, but to no avail. Tiffany was right; she was a mortal, a human already in the process of dying from the moment she was born. How could she so selfishly give Orion everything she had, only to take it all away? She couldn't, and she wouldn't any longer. "That's not true, I... I couldn't ever leave you..." 

"But I'm immortal and you're--"

"I can take the anti-aging serum, can't I? And your friend, Emiko, she's a witch, right? They're immortal; don't they have some kind of magic or potions for that? There's also the option of becoming a vampire," she said, but frowned when Orion tensed at the implication, "but... I'm not really a fan of the idea."

He sniffled. "You... you would do that for me...?"

"I would do anything for you." Skylar forced a smile even though he couldn't see it. "Since we got engaged, I've been considering it, anyway. I just wasn't really sure how you felt about it."

Orion pulled her closer to him. "I do want you here with me forever, but only if you want to be..."

"If I didn't want to be with you forever, then I wouldn't be here right now," she said. "I promise that you don't have to worry about what Tiffany said. I'm going to make sure that I'll always be here to support you, no matter what."

Orion sighed. "W-What if she keeps coming back? Do you really want to deal with her forever? Do you want to deal with all of my problems forever? I want you to be sure that this is really what you want, before--"

"My mind is made up," Skylar insisted, "and if Tiffany comes back, I'll just sass her again. Maybe she'll get sick of me eventually and leave us alone."

Through the tears, he managed a chuckle. It was relieving to know that she wouldn't stay mortal, that she would be here for him always. He loved her more and more every single day, so the thought of losing her was becoming unbearable. Despite how hard Tiffany tried to distress him, above anything else, he was happy. After all, why worry about how bad today was when there was an entire forever ahead of them?