| Hope can hear a barrage of noise blaring from the old Goth Manor as she tentatively steps out of her car. |
 |
| She is immediately confused. There were rumors that the Goth family had somehow lost their wealth, but the details are very sketchy. Honestly, Hope never really understood the complexities of business, and really had no inkling to. Nonetheless, the address Michael gave her is correct, and there does seem to be some kind of party raging inside. |
 |
| As she enters the old, wrought-iron gates, she can hear wild hooting, yelling, and laughing; barely audible over the thunderous assault that beats out something akin to music. The unmistakable odor of alcohol wafts from the place. She resists the involuntary urge to gag, as she remembers the night of her teen birthday party. She hesitates a moment, at the brink of changing her mind to go home, when a bright light from the house is shown directly onto her. |
 |
| She is blinded for an instant as her eyes adjust. A man’s voice yells for “Mikey” over the noise, telling him that his birthday present has arrived. The tone and connotation of that statement scares Hope. But then she hear’s Michael’s voice, which is now decidedly deeper and huskier, and she feels that irresistible wave of electricity coursing through her. As her eyes adjust, she sees him coming closer. |
 |
| He is now an adult. And sight of his bare, muscular chest sends her hormones into a frenzy. He grabs her arm and tugs her roughly along behind him, just as she had done to him so many times in the past. He introduces her to his “friends”; a dicey looking bunch, at best. She had never seen any of these sims before in Sunset Valley. Everybody present shouts their approval as Michael announces that Hope has stolen nearly two thousand simoleons worth of wine from her family’s stash; and that there is much more where it came from. |
 |
| The drinks flow, and the music continues to rage throughout the night. But try as she might, she cannot bring herself to enjoy the evening. There are things going on that she knows ought not be going on. She tries to look away from some of the more wanton behaviors, but Michael makes her watch. He does not leave her side the entire evening, and he drinks more than any sim should be able to tolerate. She prays for the guests to start leaving; but instead, they simply pass out wherever there is room to crash. |
 |
| When it is just the two of them remaining awake, she begins to stutter that it is time for her to go home. But Michael laughs, grabs her by the waist, and throws her over his shoulder. She is conflicted between the feeling of her hands on his bare skin and the fear of knowing what he wants to do. He deposits her on the floor of a very formally decorated bedroom, then stands in front of her, demanding his “happy birthday”. |
 |
| The smell of rancid alcohol is heavy on his breath, and she is paralyzed with fear. This isn’t how it is supposed to be. She stutters again, her voice trembling, telling Michael that she loves him. The only response is a low growl and the same demand, only angrier, that she give him his “happy birthday”. |
 |
| The word No barely leaves her lips when he strikes. His fist hits her square in the face with a force that sends her sprawling to the ground. He continues his demand, screaming at her to get up. She can taste blood flowing from her nose and into her mouth. He pulls her up by her shirt with an action so forceful, that it rips away from her torso. |
 |
| As he draws his fist back to take another shot, all she can think about is how badly she wants to make him happy. It is all she had ever wanted. From the time she met him as a reclusive child to the night of her teen birthday in the cellar. Why can’t he just be happy? Then for a moment, she contemplates whether doing what he wants will finally make him love her the way she loves him. |
 |
| The second hit never comes. She hears a familiar voice demanding that Michael to stop. Richard Nava, Michael’s baby brother, is standing at the door in his pajamas. |
 |
| Richard rushes to Hope’s side to see if she is hurt, and try to stop her nose from bleeding. Michael threatens to kill Richard if he doesn’t move out of the way. But the teen stands up to his older brother and dares him to do it. He yells at Michael to go and get his “happy birthday” from one of the passed out drunks downstairs. After the duration of a single heartbeat, he reminds Michael about some kind of warning their father had given him about waiting to do the Barimen girl. |
 |
| Michael screams in fury and hurls a chair across the room before blasting downstairs, where he can be heard shouting at somebody to wake up. Hope collapses in Richard’s arms and cries, trying to assimilate what has just happened. |
 |
| But somewhere, deep within the back of her mind, despite the bloodied nose and shattered friendship, and amid the uncontrollable sobs of fear, is the irrational determination that she will be the one to bring happiness into Michael Nava’s life. |
Stories by Zoxell 
Wow. This was an INTENSE chapter. I feel awful for Hope – you’ve certainly taken an original approach to a sim that loves to please others. It seems she wants him to be happy SO bad, she is willing to let her own self come to harm. And the last line is a little scary – if shed shown us that she had better self-control, that she could be a good EXAMPLE, I’d have more hope. But it seems Michael has more control over her than she does…
I’m also curious as to watch Richard said about their father…this is going to get complicated and likely dangerous, I can tell.
LikeLike
Hope is used to having sims riding on her coat-tail. She loves the attention and doesn’t seem to mind whether or not she’s got any “real” friends, she just loves being around other sims. When Michael came along and actually made her work to get some kind of reaction, she was “hooked”. He’s been in control of the situation all along. Her Party Animal trait is really taking “front stage” right now. It really takes over next chapter.
LikeLike
Oh, Hope. What a destructive path you’re treading. I sincerely hope that her father or mother get wind of her and clear this up before things get totally out of control. Michael certainly could stand to learn from his younger brother – although both of them having relationships with the Barimen girls seems a trifle dubious to me …
LikeLike
Kinda sad to put her through this, really.
Hope (as with many other characters) represents an old friend of mine who went down a really dark path at some point. I find that personal experiences make for the best drama. Hehe.
The one thing I will give you is that Richard is harmless (better than harmless, really. But you’ll get to see that in the next few posts, though).
LikeLike
What a shaky and “on the edge of your seat” chapter. I was so afraid for Hope that I could barely breathe. Im so happy that Richard stepped in and stood up to his brother…but then what he says about what his father told Micheal, makes me wonder if hes just taking his old mans advice himself with Dara.
Micheal definitely grew up handsome though.
Hope is really making me nervous. That last line send chills through me. After all the danger, the fear of this night, she still has it in her heart to want to make him happy, to be the one to change him. I just hope that it doesnt destroy along the way.
LikeLike
Thanks!
I think Richard is going to turn out to be an OK kid, and he might just surprise us with some pretty brave heroics at some point as well. As for Michael, he definitely is a lost soul. The “father” is quite certianly attempting to manipulate the puppet strings behind the scenes, though.
LikeLike
Well well well, this was an interesting read. I’ve noticed a difference in the screenshots as well, they look a lot…I guess the word is…cleaner? Must be those upgrades doing their job. 🙂
As for the chapter? Well, I can honestly say I’m not too surprised, Michael is a rather…abrasive person, to put it lightly, and Hope is just so dead-set on making him happy, that I don’t see this ending without some hurt feelings. They’re both so headstrong and stubborn. I do hope Richard adds a bit of stability though, he seems like an OK kid.
LikeLike
I’ve been playing with the graphics settings to see what I can squeeze out of my GPU. I’m pretty pleased with how solid that card is.
LikeLike
Oh Hope 😦
LikeLike
OMG ! This was such a scary and emotional chapter! Everything was so well done; the scenes, the pictures, the writing! Everything. Hope was really in danger there, it was getting me nervous!
Super!
xcin100x
New chapter on my blog, can you place check it out? http://xcin100x.wordpress.com/
LikeLike
O: Ian and Michael are no longer the same person. I officially don’t like Michael. Poor Hope. I hope (heh) things start going her way.
LikeLike