Hey everyone. Bugsie2016 and I have decided to do the pen pal project. If you're unfamiliar with the Pen Pal project, here is the forum link that explains it. How it works is that one character from Bugsie's simLit , What Are We Really Made Of? (WAWRMO) and one character from Friends of Foes will be writing each other letters. The protagonist from WAWRMO, Robin Haynes, and Paris Hellewell from Friend of Foes will be the pen pals. If you haven't checked out Bugsie2016's story, I recommend you do. It's based on the Apocalypse Legacy Challenge and is packed with heart-pounding drama, but nicely balanced with adorable sweet moments that will leave you sighing before the drama starts up again. In other words, it's a bit of a rollercoaster. Hope you enjoy the letters. :) If you'd like to read Robin's reaction to Paris's first letter, click here. Paris's letter to Robin Haynes Dear Robin, I hear you are looking for a pen pal? So am I. Now, before I tell you a little bit about myself, I notice there might be a few complications that may get me rejected. If you are the superstitious kind, I can imagine you’ll be tossing this letter in the nearest recycling bin at first glance of the return address. If you are not the superstitious kind, you are probably wondering why this address does not appear on any world maps, but in fantasy encyclopaedias. Therefore, assuming that I am a fake, who is trying to ‘con’ you, you will chuck this letter in the garbage, anyway. But before you throw this letter away, that is, if you do, please at least read what I have to say. I spent days crafting it and I really put a lot of thought into this. Okay, first off, yes, I am indeed a gothic vampire – ‘fangs and all’ living in Forgotten Hollow. Oh yes, it’s true. I’m not making it up. The story of how I was turned is a long one, which I shall not bore you with right now…. … But the short version is, I slayed the former Grandmaster vampire of Forgotten Hollow. I’m sure you’ve heard of him. Does Count Vladislaus Straud ring a bell? Yeah, he’s the one in all the ghost stories. They’re true, you know. Anyway I slayed him, automatically making me the Grandmaster. Oh don’t get me wrong, I didn’t slay him because I wanted to be ruler of dead plasmasuckers; apparently some people do, so I just wanted to make sure you didn’t think I was one of those ‘immortality’ chasers. You see, the Grandmaster kidnapped my sister Lauren. Have you heard of vampire kidnappings? They’re in some of those old mythology books. I can’t say I’ve read many myself. Well, I have, actually… I just don’t like admitting what I’ve read, just in case someone has read them too, and then they might ask me about certain details, such as the name of the third best friend, what happened in chapter nineteen, and so on and so forth, and I can never remember any of these little details. So, best to say I haven’t read it to avoid embarrassment… I think. Anyway, I’m rambling again. My friends and I embarked on a search to rescue Lauren. There were about six or seven of us. Sorry, I’m not good at counting people – it might have something to do with my lack of spatial awareness, but yes they were all close friends of mine…. Not so much now. It’s tough keeping in touch with humans when you’re not one anymore…. particularly if your food is… Anyway, to cut to the chase, we found Lauren in the basement of Vladislaus’s giant mansion. Of course, we didn’t completely escape his place without a 'vampire' versus 'human' battle. My parents actually turned up too and joined in the fight. The good news was I drove a stake through Vladislaus’s heart. The bad news was, something happened afterwards; a sort of agonising energy and I not only became a vampire, but the Grandmaster of Forgotten Hollow. Well, I said I wasn’t going to talk about how I became a vampire and now I have. I hope you believe that it came about by accident rather than design. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I really hope I haven’t confused you/put you off. I confuse myself sometimes, which is why I thought I ought to mention it. Hope life’s not too awful in Glassbolt. Kind regards, Paris Hellewell Robin's Letter to Paris Hellewell (Written by Bugsie2016) Dear Paris, That sounds like quite some story. I hope Lauren was okay. Being kidnapped can’t be fun. Well, it isn’t. Trust me, it happened to me one time. I was scared but everything was okay in the end. Still have nightmares but I’m doing okay. You didn’t mention that much of your family. Do you get along? I only have a small family myself, it’s my sister (Amy) my fiancé (Max) and my son, Addison or Addy. Amy just got out of the hospital, that’s a long story that I won’t bore you with the details of right now. Being a vampire must be interesting. Or maybe it’s super boring. It must be lonely though, now that you lost contact with your friends. Do you have any vampire friends? Sorry, I’m probably asking way too many questions right now. It’s just nothing really happens here. Glassbolt is a waste land. People come in but they don’t leave. We’re not allowed to so no chance of me stumbling across Forgotten Hollow. I’m doing okay myself, I don’t know if I mentioned it already, but I’m angry at Max, he came home drunk the other night. I have no clue how he got drunk because you can’t get alcohol in Glassbolt. That and many other things…such as anything that requires power. The plumbing is pretty bad too and it breaks a lot. We also only one kind of meat, fish. Just vegetables and fish. No milk or anything like that. Gets boring so you learn to make new fish dishes. I make a very good fish soup…well it’s more boiled fish as we don’t have stuff to make soup. Max hasn’t eaten anything other than fish or vegetables in his life. Sometimes the government import coffee but it’s expensive and so it’s more a once a year birthday gift than an every day occurrence. I actually want coffee now that I mention it. But it’s probably a good thing I can’t get any. I’m pregnant again. Guess you can drink some for me. I’m rambling now. I do it a lot when I’m excited. I haven’t had contact with anyone outside Glassbolt in a long time. I used to have a sister outside of Glassbolt but she moved here with her family. I am glad she decided to live nearer. I thought I’d never see her again. So, that’s life in the aftermath of a nuclear meltdown for you…. Best Wishes, Robin Haynes. P.S I didn’t mention but I wasn’t born in Glassbolt. You probably figured it out but I moved here after the meltdown happened. It’s been interesting. Hoping to hear back from you at some point. Not sure how good the postal system is here…. The Grandmaster's Mansion, Forgotten Hollow, (Date unknown.... or is it?) Paris sat in the study on the top floor of the mansion. A letter lay open on the desk in front. The writing in bold black ink was smudged in places. By the reddening around Paris's eyes and the trickling eyeliner, Paris was probably the cause of those smudge marks. It wasn't because the letter made Paris particularly miserable... or maybe it did, Paris wasn't sure. It was so.... complicated all these emotions. Paris picked up a pen on the desk and began to write on a blank sheet of paper. Paris's letter to Robin Haynes Dear Robin, Congratulations on your pregnancy! Hope you are getting lots of rest, although I'm aware that's easier said than done. Mum worked right up to the due date when she was pregnant with Lauren. I certainly don't recommend doing that, but we needed the money. No, you weren't rambling. It's lovely to read about your family. You sound like a lovely bunch. Yes, my sister, Edith, lives a while away too, not that we're close. I'm glad your sister's out of hospital and living close. "Keep your family close," mum used to say. "You never know when they will come in handy." You noticed I didn't mention my family much. I don't because I don't exactly associate myself with them. I don't suppose you've heard of the Sweglords in Glassbolt? Well, I hope not, at least. I don't want you to have any preconceptions of me, but the Sweglords are a family of thugs and hitmen. They're my family and to be blunt we get hired to kill people. As a Hellewell, which is the family name, we are born into the business. In other words, you have no choice but to be a Sweglord. I was lucky because, as the Grandmaster vampire, I have power to make my own choices, without too many consequences (for me anyway). My cousin, Wesley, and my older brother, Nicholas, tried to leave the Sweglords, however, and they weren't quite so lucky. My brother left me his two daughters when he died. Their names are Kristen and Madelyn. It was a shock when I discovered that he had. I always thought he'd leave them in Edith's care, for he and Edith were close. That's what I thought at least, but maybe something happened that I was not aware of. Anyway, sadly no one could prove the Sweglords murdered them. Not even I. Yes, I could have threatened my family and forced them to spill, but whom would I threaten? I don't know who killed my brother and cousin. No one's admitting they knew anything. What if I'm completely wrong after all and it was indeed the Evil Geniuses who killed them? Oh right, yes, the Evil Geniuses are another gang in my town. They work for the secret intelligence organisation, His Evil Services (H.E.S). Moving on, you wrote that you had been kidnapped too? I am so sorry that happened to you. Yes, Lauren gets nightmares too. I don't think it helps that she's stuck in the mansion she was imprisoned in. I would love to move out for her benefit, but I can't. As the Grandmaster, I will be bound to this mansion forever. I can leave temporarily for travel, for example, I just can't live anywhere else. I will always have to return to the mansion. You asked if it was lonely being a vampire? Yes and no. I do miss my old friends. That's true. I see some of them now and again, but usually on matters of business. I won't be specific in case this letter should fall into anyone else's hands, because these matters are a secret that not even the Evil Geniuses or the Sweglords know about. The thing about friends, though, Robin, is that they come and go. Yes, I've lost some in my life, but so have most people. But as you lose friends, you gain some too. I've gained a friend in, okay, well, I was going to say I gained a friend in Lilith, but that just proves I'm desperate. Oh, right, sorry, I'm terrible at introducing people. Lilith is a vampire who works for me. I run a vampire society called "Vampires Anonymous." Lilith is one of my chief advisors, I think. I still don't really know how this vampire business all works. I was only turned about seven or eight years ago... or was it longer? I can't remember. I have a terrible memory for these sorts of details. Anyway, Lilith is a vampire who works for me and she's okay, I suppose. She's been very supportive through a certain family crisis I'm experiencing. She's just boring. She saps all the energy out of you with her, ugh, I don't know... melancholy demeanour? Do you know what I mean? I don't think I've ever seen her smile. I think she's just too morbid, or something like that. Oh and don't get me started on the way she talks. I don't think her upper-lip ever moves. She's one of those 'po-faced' individuals. Do you have many friends in Glassbolt? You mentioned you were angry with your husband. I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you two can make amends. I was going to be married once. Well, I was planning to propose to my girlfriend, Felicity. I'm pretty sure she would have said yes. We had already been discussing our future together. Unfortunately, I got turned into a vampire and had to make the difficult decision of letting her go. She was deeply hurt, as you can imagine, and refused to talk to me for years. She was my best friend. I suppose that's what happens when you choose to date your best friend. If things go awry, you may lose them forever. Anyway, now I'm rambling again. I do hope you get that plumbing sorted and all the best with your pregnancy. Kind regards, Paris Hellewell Comments are closed.
|