Series 2.1; Episode 5: The Wicked Woes of Goth Manor

Series 2; Episode 5:

The Wicked Woes of Goth Manor

Chapter One:
The Attic

With Mortimer gone, Dina was at lost of what to do with her own life. She couldn't piece two thoughts together for herself, let alone her kids. All alone in the brooding mansion, she came to realize just how isolated she now was.

The first thing Dina did was organize laborers to bring the baby cots and changing tables upstairs, into the attic. She figured it could be only beneficial if she were away from the sound of endless crying. They would have their own space to develop and communicate with each other undisturbed. 
She had organized the layout for her children's future perfectly, having spent plenty of Mortimer's money on expanding the attic, and furnishing it to make it at least halfway habitable by human beings. It would have its own toiletries and fridge, as well as books for occupying the time.

But the hard part came when it involved actual parenting. She couldn't stand their constant need for attention. After all, she was the center of attention, and it was horrific to see the tables turn. She had never spent time with anyone unless it made her money, and she wasn't making a single cent for doing this! Sleepless night after sleepless night of changing nappies, foul smells and echoing cries, she had had enough. She wasn't made for parenting. But what could she do?

But then she had a brainwave - Yes, she wasn't being paid to be a parent, but she could always pay someone else to do it!

Chapter Two

 The Nannies 

'Here they are', spoke Dina to the horrified Nanny, Celista Despret, as she handed her a thick wad of Mortimer's simoleons. 'The ugly one is Dedra, the pretty one is Nevarina. The rest is up to you.'

There would be at least two nannies per day - a night nanny, Karen Gast, and a day nanny – Celista. Karen would tidy up and care while they were asleep, and Celesta would arrive in the morning, and spend the rest of the daylight tending to the children's needs in the attic. As long as they did their job, Dina hoped she should be able to live her life without and acknowledgement of the children's existence, apart from the occasional entry and exit of one of the nannies.

However, the workers weren't treated well. Dina refused to feed them nor accommodate them in any way, even during the full day shifts. She was harsh, constantly telling them off for minor things. Eventually, the stress became too much for the nannies, and they both died from exhaustion. The Sim Reaper was so disgusted by Dina's treatment of them, he demanded that Dina keep their ashes in urns within Goth Manor. Those urns remain there to this day.

Neither Dedra nor Nevarina would know that, even at such a young age, death had already been called on behalf of them. The two girls would never learn that the Sim Reaper had placed the shadow of curse to linger above their destiny for the ages to come... 

'I'm warning you,' the Sim Reaper spoke to Dina, 'never cause death on behalf of a child. If you do that, you will taint their innocence forever. I'm letting you off with a warning this time, but if it happens again, these girls will be cursed for all eternity, and this curse will pass on through the generations...  Their blood will be tainted by death. You have been warned.'

Chapter Three: 
The Outside World

As Dedra and Nevarina grew older, their life remained in the same dim shadows of monotony, as they prayed to the creators for something better, or brighter days in the future. Until then, all they could do is pursue the few objects of entertainment at their disposal...
Nevarina would read the same books over and over again to the point where she could recite them off by heart. Her favorites were science fiction novels. Dedra, on the other hand, would play the violin, creating monotonous, sombre lines with nothing to base her inspiration on.

As their personalities developed, they slowly split apart. Dedra was quiet and reflective; Nevarina was loud and boisterous. Their frustrations externalized as dislike for each other, and they began to argue and fight. Throughout their childhood they got into fistfights on 20 occasions, with Nevarina winning most of them, overpowering her quiet twin sister.


 The pressure of keeping two growing girls isolated from the rest of the world proved too much for Dina. She wanted to have nannies around to tend to them and keep them occupied and subdued, but after the horror stories of the previous nannies leaked out, no caregiver in SimNation would go near the town, and finally, Dina had to realize that according to Sim Law, the children would have to go to school, whether she liked it or not. All her inherited fortune couldn't change that.

Dina adapted to the situation, and decided to do that which she hoped she would never have to, and she let them out of the confines of the attic, allowing them to roam the mansion freely. Nor forced to socialize with her daughters, it was awkward for Dina at first. For one reason, she didn't know how to talk of anything but WooHooing and partying, and she soon learned that wasn't appropriate conversation for children.

However, in time, she found communicating with her daughters easier than she expected. She encouraged them to study as much as possible, but this is when she began noticing differences between the two girls. Dedra, who seemed more disciplined with her violin, devoted more time to study, whereas Nevarina, who spent most of her youth reading science fiction books, was less interested in learning. One possible reason for this was the ghost of Don Lothario, which haunted her at night. Dedra, who showed much more intelligence, didn't believe her sister.
  Dedra's grades at school soon reached A+, whereas the unfocused Nevarina stuck with D's. Although Nevarina, who physically and mentally resembled her mother, it was still Dedra, nonetheless, whom Dina favoured. This was not because Dina felt she had anything in common with Dedra – she didn't, but rather, because she was a mother who liked to be proud of her daughter. And Dedra, who had just been accepted into an academic music studio, made her mother proud, where Nevarina didn't.

Dedra would finish her work quicker than Nevarina, giving her more time to play the violin. Dina and Dedra would often jam together


However, there was one thing about Dedra that bothered Dina. While Nevarina was a near duplicate of her mother, Dedra bore a strong resemblence to Mortimer, so much that she almost 
felt as if she were looking into the eyes of her deceased husband. She didn't like to think about Mortimer, nor anything from the past, for it was there a lot of dark secrets for both the Goth and Caliente family lay, and she hoped her daughters would never have to know. Perhaps, she considered, that is why she had wanted to keep them locked away. To think of them walking about the carpet where Don Lothario's body once lay – that was a concept which horrified a very small part of her. If she could pay the past to go away with her thousands of simoleons, she would.
lot of dark secrets for both the Goth and Caliente family lay, and she hoped her daughters would never have to know. Perhaps, she considered, that is why she had wanted to keep them locked away. To think of them walking about the carpet where Don Lothario's body once lay – that was a concept which horrified a very small part of her. If she could pay the past to go away with her thousands of simoleons, she would.

But the past was destined to find its way into the life of her daughters. Nevarina, who had found little affection nor appreciation within her home, began seeking it elsewhere, trying to make as many friends as possible at school. It was there she met a young boy named Donald Goth, who turned out to be her half-nephew. Invited over to the Goth mansion, they talked and played with each other. The Full joy and innocence of childhood disturbed Dina as she watched, for they didn't know, and wouldn't know for a long time, the story of their fathers. Young Donald did not know why he was without a Dad, nor what Nevarina's Dad had to do with it. However, things won't stay a secret for ever... They couldn't. Or can they?