The Monster and the Maiden: Ch. 05, Part I
October 10th, 2008
Check out the previous chapters to catch up on what happened before.
15 years later
With a heartfelt curse, Edmond hurled the ancient spell book to the floor and slumped in his chair. His neck and shoulders ached after being bent over the text for so long. He sat there quietly for a moment listening the bubble and hiss of his potion boiling in its flask and let the sweet, musty scent of drying herbs and moldering texts wash over him.
Sighing, he sat up and rubbed his temple in frustration. It was useless for him to deny it any longer. It had been almost a decade and a half since he started searching for a cure to the curse that had made him into a creature forced to drink the blood of humanoids to survive. Instead of being closer to the answer he sought, he did not think he had ever been farther away.
A few months ago, he had the chilling realization that he may have been approaching this conundrum the wrong way. What if instead of being in thrall of a curse, he was instead suffering from some sort of possession? The thought curdled his stomach.
The logical course of action would be to ask the person who had initially cast the spell or curse on him and condemned him to this life, or undeath as the case may be—his former master and instructor in magic Koryll Bladestorm. But even after over a decade of fruitless research, he was not ready to go crawling back to Koryll, his tail between his legs, and beg him to fix whatever had been done to him. Instead, no matter how illogical it seemed, Edmond wanted to make Koryll pay for whatever had been done to him. But first, as always, he had to help himself.
So he had spent the past few months reexamining his spell books and grimoires from a different angle—that of possession—but still he had run up against a brick wall. Mon Dieu, he thought with a perverse twist of humor, perhaps I really am a damned vampire. Then logic once again reasserted itself and he rolled his eyes in derision for even contemplating such an idea. He was not yet desperate enough to cast himself as an imaginary creature in fictional tales.
Although, some of his habits certainly did resemble those of a vampire. No, stop it, Edmond, he chided himself. You will only drive yourself crazy chasing around these circular arguments…more crazy, that is.
His clock chimed and he heaved himself from the soft confines of the chair to walk over to his worktable. Not wanting the potion to overboil, he leaned over to blow out the candle that heated the flask.
He did not need to drink the potion any time soon, as he had fed only last night, but he liked to keep a healthy stock on hand just in case. Over the years he had developed a formula that had a shelf life that greatly outlasted the few hours inherent to the original formula.
His bottom lip captured between his teeth, he methodically decanted the liquid into his stock of empty bottles. It was a well-practiced task that he found oddly soothing.
He had just finished pouring his measured doses and moved to the other side of his worktable when a tingle—shimmery and warm—tickled the edge of his senses. It was a presence he had not felt since…well over a decade ago. Perhaps he needed to take a break for the rest of the day. He was beginning to imagine things.
26 Responses to “The Monster and the Maiden: Ch. 05, Part I”
October 10th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Oh HELLZ YES~!!!
October 10th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I have really been looking forward to this update but man was I surprised at Emily! I was really not expecting her to be all grown up! I miss the precocious young girl but really look forward to the young woman interacting with Edmond.
Brilliant screen caps as always but the story has really grabbed me again. I want to know what happened these last 15 years.
Edmond is yummy as ever. You have to love a man who can wear pants that look all shiny and wet…
October 10th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Totally worth the wait! Good to see you back, Kara.
Emily is gorgeous! It was surprising to see her all grown up, but I totally can't wait to see the interactions between her and Edmond. His tortured soul can use a jump start :D.
And I know this is an oddball question, but do you know who made the mesh for the mystery woman's outfit in the header? Her boots are incredible. The outfit is incredible, but I've never seen a mesh with that heel.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
YES! I'm sooo happyy you returned. I can't believe that it's been years since I found this site and have been pestering you. Now with the new update, I can drool over the Edmond. I hadn't realized how sexy he was until I was checking him out in this update.
Why are the two of them so attracted to one another? Why does she have that pull on him? I realize she is the maiden, but why is this so important in their attraction?
October 10th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
October 10th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
!!! YES! You did it! Kara thank you very much. It's marvelous. Emy became a beaotiful woman and Edmond….Edmond is still pretty and hot ))) I'm sooo happy!
October 11th, 2008 at 4:52 am
Oh, wow. I really wasn't expecting that, you know. Way to spring a surprise on dumb ol' me. But now I'm going to go back and read the first few chapters, because I've actually forgotten lots of the stuff that happened originally!
But yeah, it was unexpected. In a good way. I think Emily ended up gorgeous, so I'm not surprised Edmond is "pleased" to see her again. Now I keep wondering what could happen next! 😉
Ooh, and I like how you've written it as well. Sort of subtle, and not really tasteless like a lot of other people would have made it. I enjoyed the words, and the pretty pictures, an awful lot! Thank you!
October 11th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Hi Kara! 🙂 Great to see that the story continues, and haha I love the "yum, boobs" picture 😀 …Edmond, Edmond, you've been so horny lately! 😆
And to answer your question if I'm a Rammstein fan, well, I really am! 8) Are you a Rammstein fan too? 😛
Best regards, Persephone
October 11th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
I loved this update, & when he was checking her out, it cracked me up. Horny little vampire cracks me up. =P & btw, I love Edmond's hair it's really nice. =P
October 11th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
yeah!!! so happy to ses you back, and a beautiful update as well:D…….I love Emily!!!! I love her look…I am assuming GOS right? because I really need her hair and outfit now….hahahaha……..wonderful chapter, the way you captured their body language is incredible..it said alot.
October 12th, 2008 at 7:49 am
Uh! Edmon you horny vampire 😛 haha i rather have him horny, certainly, their body language said a lot, specially Edmon and his stares, I want to have him as my pet 😛
October 12th, 2008 at 8:41 am
October 13th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Kara lives, and bring with her possibly the best update yet! I love this sexual tension between Edmond and Emily, so exciting. Oh and Rmily's hair is so cute, it mathces her clothes – wow i just noticed that! Edmond official crushed the fan club of Tahlvin lol (Im sorry…hes just too hot 😆 )
October 13th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
yay! I getz a wink!
Your sims are so gorgeous. Their expressive eyes, the noses. The skins, which you seem to lovingly customize yourself. Every detail looks so well thought out and elaborate, but natural. I am in awe of your sim-making skillz, and they make my own seem sloppy and half-assed, even though I've amassed quite the custom content collections, which I lurve dearly.
Seriously, even their noses look great. And you somehow manage to squeeze out the most emotion out of standard sim animations. (how do you do those great camera angles btw?)
Again, the sims. Hot hot hot. (goes back to drooling).
October 13th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Emily still has quite the talent for managing to tie him up in knots with very little effort, even if she has gone from being precocious to being coy. Her timing is impeccable too, he looks as if he needs a bit of inspiration to keep himself going.
October 14th, 2008 at 1:02 am
Woah…I'm surprised the story skipped to 15 years later. It's funny but even when you first started the story, I had a feeling there'd be sexual attraction between Edmond and Emily but she was a little girl at the time. This chapter was entertaining, as always, and I must say you've made good use of the modeling hack. I didn't conceive of it beyond taking pics for clothing downloads and fashion photos but you've used them well and naturally for the story. I'm guessing Emily's mischievous personality will come into play in the next chapter… juicy juicy! I can't wait.
October 14th, 2008 at 1:18 am
Yeah, 15 years leap! I have been waiting for Emily to be all grown up to see what she would look like (one of the perks of helping with translation, you get spoilers 😀 And as always, you are very much welcome. I just love to help you with this story!) I love her eyebrows and hair by the way, especially the bang.
This chapter promises to lead to some interesting events, can't wait to read more along those lines. There should be some interesting interactions…
Lil note about the intro pic: at first I though it was out of Edmond's past, turns out it seems to be his fantasies at work 😛
October 14th, 2008 at 5:12 am
Wooow, Edmond is hoot too! :XO: I really adore your sims 🙂
October 14th, 2008 at 7:43 am
Hahahahaha! 😀 I don't know whether to praise you entirely based on the incredible text you've written (which I have to say is really ear-catching, if you catch my drift :wink:) or for the incredible pictures you took.
Emily has seriously grown up! And all those scenes you wrote between the two of them… meow! Made me just realize how much of a man Edmond was. Heheh. And as much as I love the idea of Rafe x Edmond… the new form of Edmond x Emily is seriously catching my interest. 😮 Kya~ I don't know which to support!!
Aside from that… I wasn't too keen on Emily's new hairstyle at first (didn't seem to match her face to me) but as I continued reading and looking through the photos… it grew on me. Her outfit on the other hand was to die for!
All in all, I love this chapter, am reading it again for the hundredth time! Hope to read more in the near future, but I won't push my luck. Great job!
October 14th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
I don't know how I missed this but I'm glad I read it. Edmond has it bad. Poor soul. Emily is indeed gorgeous. Hopefully he can contain his excitement and not hurt the sweet thing too much.
October 15th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Wow, I love this chapter. I especially love how Emily has grown up. She's so pretty. What skinone are you using for her? It's very nice. ^_^
~TiffyT
October 15th, 2008 at 8:27 am
October 19th, 2008 at 1:34 am
I have been truly waiting for an update on your writing, LOL! I started reading with WA MS and then came across this one a few weeks back. and must say it is absolutely lovely.
Your writing, the capture of emotion is inexplicable, and I love how the maiden was unconventional along with your use of a different language. 80)
Beautifully written and I cant wait to see the interactions between the beautiful Emily and handsome Edmond in the future. 80)
October 20th, 2008 at 9:34 am
October 21st, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I love that movie 😉 and will most certainly keep reading.
October 31st, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I had to take a second look at this since I was still thinking of Emily as a little girl — BIG double take LOL! Wow, she's gorgeous!
The amount of detail in your sets is astonishing, along with the angles, the color, and the way you shove things in there that I'd never think of putting together, but it all fits.
Edmond's character is completely fascinating. Pride, yes, but he seems to be second guessing himself at the same time. and it sure helps that he's French! Love your writing — smooth as honey and then snaps right back hard.