Chapter 0.05
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A dash of this, a little bit of that… ah, perhaps a little bit less parsley next time, she thought. It wasn’t like it tasted terrible, most likely. Cassandra was just being overly picky, but she supposed being picky about the food they ate was not the worst thing in the world. This was a recipe she hadn’t tried yet, but all her other recipes seemed to be well received, so Cassandra figured trying the next one wouldn’t be a bad idea.
It smelled good, at least.
As she worked, humming softly to herself, she heard Alexander come in behind her and start washing the dishes. He still had a bit of soap on his arm. That was odd. “Hey kiddo,” she said.
“Hi Cass,” he answered.
“You’re a little soapy still,” she said. “What’s up? I thought you were in the shower.”
Alexander laughed slightly under his breath. “Was in the shower,” he replied. “Said shower decided to suddenly break while I was in it. Did you know broken showers just kind of leak cold water everywhere?”
Cassandra looked sympathetic. That had to have been unpleasant. Of course, the plumbing and appliances had been breaking nonstop since… well, Cassandra couldn’t really say for sure when it’d started, only that it certainly had and it’d been so long now she no longer remembered when. It usually wasn’t much of a problem. Things broke maybe once or twice a week, which is common, but not constant. Now, though, it seemed like something was always broken.
It was hard to say why, though. Cassandra didn’t know much about these sorts of things. She’d never had occasion to learn about appliances and the nuances of plumbing. Being fair about it, she wasn’t terribly interested in it until now, either, but that was perhaps a whole other issue. She frowned, thinking to herself, as she busied herself getting dinner out onto plates. Alexander had also gone quiet, washing the dishes over there.
The most interesting part to Cassandra was that neither Mortimer nor Bella seemed truly concerned about the fact nothing in their house managed to remain unbroken. It seemed strange the furniture was ever in one piece, but she supposed she didn’t need to go tempting fate with that one.
“It’s so strange everything’s always breaking now,” Cassandra said. It was more to herself, but Alexander snorted softly. He’d gotten the soap off his arm with the kitchen tap.
“It is,” he agreed. “And mom and dad don’t seem to want to do anything about it except fix it when something breaks. Maybe this is normal?”
“I highly doubt this is normal, Alexander,” Cassandra answered. No one she knew ever said anything about everything breaking all the time. That could just be because it was normal, and no one thought to mention it, but wouldn’t everyone talk about certain things more, like repairman costs, or how annoying it was to fix things all the time?
“I’ve got no other ideas,” Alex said. He finished the small amount of dishes, and headed to the dining room to set the table.
“Maybe the house is just old,” Cassandra suggested. And that was possible. Maybe nothing seemed to last in this house because it’d lasted for a long time already. She wouldn’t deny that possibility, which would also explain why their parents didn’t seem to be too alarmed.
“I guess,” Alexander said, setting down the plates on the table. “It just seems like a lot to be happening because the house is just old. Shouldn’t we replace some stuff if that’s the case?”
Cassandra frowned in thought. That was a good question. Why didn’t they replace some things to make their appliances stop breaking all the time? Maybe they were running out of money. Cassandra considered that for a moment. That would also explain why the butler was gone now. If they couldn’t afford to pay him, it’d make sense if he left of his own volition, or her parents sent him on to better horizons. One couldn’t live on good intentions, of course.
Alexander certainly didn’t need to be worrying about their finances. She mulled over something to say that wouldn’t give away her thoughts for a few minutes, but then Alexander came over to her and started talking again.
“Well, they were talking about sage or something,” Alexander said. “But I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean. Isn’t a sage a plant?”
“It’s an herb,” Cassandra replied. “Usually used in food seasoning.”
“Maybe they’re planting more herbs in the garden,” Alexander said, his face screwing up in mild confusion. “I’m not really sure how more herbs in the garden will help.”
Cassandra had an idea. If they had more plants in the garden producing crop that could be sold, it might help make up for the financial deficit. But Alexander was too young to be concerned about things like that.
“Maybe that’s just to help with making dinner,” Cassandra suggested.
“Oh!” Alexander looked surprised, like he hadn’t thought of that. “That sounds more logical.”
Cassandra giggled quietly at him. He was cute, really, but sometimes her brother also tended to miss very obvious things. What was the saying, book smart but common sense stupid? It wasn’t exactly like that. Most things Alexander picked up on just fine. Other things seemed to slip right under his nose or through his fingers, so to say. It wasn’t his fault, it just was.
“Did you do your homework?” she asked. Come to think of it, she didn’t remember seeing him do it when he came home from school.
“Not yet,” Alexander answered. “I’ll do it after dinner.”
Cassandra nodded once. “Make sure you don’t forget,” she said, handing him the plate to go onto the dining room table for them to eat. “Go set this on the table and then get dad, I’ll go get mom.”
“Okay!” Alexander then happily ran off.
Cassandra wondered if she should ask about what was going on. It was like she never had the opportunity, and if it did have anything to do with the finances, she didn’t want to ask around Alexander. Maybe later she’d figure out what to do. For now though, it was dinner time.
* * *
With the shower having broken again the night before, Cassandra had been careful not to take a shower in one of the showers that was difficult to get out of the water stream in. Just in case it decided it was going to spit cold water, or entirely hot water, randomly, she could get herself out of it before it gave her trouble. Alexander seemed to have a sudden aversion to taking a shower at all, and had apparently decided to start taking baths instead, but this meant he was always upstairs using Cassandra’s bathroom, because hers was the only one with a tub.
She was working on her homework in the dining room again. Alexander had already done his, fortunately, but he hadn’t gotten distracted this time in his defence. She smiled a little to herself, working out the maths problem in front of her. It wasn’t her favourite or her best subject, but she was capable of doing it at the very least. Alexander was a lot better at mathematics than Cassandra had ever been, but fortunately she didn’t want to be a mathematician or anything.
The door opened and closed, the clack-clacking of her mother’s heels echoing in the entryway. They used to have something of a foyer, but didn’t anymore.
“Welcome home,” Cassandra greeted.
Bella didn’t say anything, simply glanced into the kitchen, looked immensely annoyed, and sat down at the table. That wasn’t a good sign. Apparently the day had gone terribly, and Cassandra felt bad about it. It wasn’t really her fault, but she’d never been fond of seeing her family upset. Cassandra wasn’t really a family-person, so to say, like her mother was, but there were some values you picked up from being raised by such a person.
“I take it your day wasn’t so great?” she asked.
“Men,” Bella answered, her tone venomous. “They seem to have the sudden inability to hear or see or think around attractive women. Do yourself a favour, Cassandra, and get a man that loves your head, not your chest.”
Cassandra looked a little uncomfortable, shifting in her seat. She didn’t have her mother’s um, chest. That was entirely a Bella Goth thing, something Cassandra hadn’t inherited, and frankly she was glad for that, because it seemed like shopping for undergarments was more complicated the larger your chest was. It was difficult enough already for her, given how shy Cassandra was. She’d never gotten Bella’s confidence, either.
“I’ll try and remember that,” Cassandra replied. She’d be surprised if anyone was ever interested in her. The Goths were wealthy, or at least the last she checked they were, but they were also known for their strange habits and weird beliefs, and some even rumoured the Goths had ties to the occult. (Cassandra had yet to see evidence of the last, but what did she really know? There were likely plenty of things her parents didn’t decide to tell her.)
“How was school?” Bella asked.
Cassandra shrugged. “Just fine I guess,” she said. “So, the shower broke again last night. And the toilet this morning. Any ideas why?” It was worth just asking. Sometimes if she asked outright, one or the other parent would tell the truth. She was sure Bella and Mortimer discussed things between each other and decided what to tell their kids and what not to, maybe they even corroborated their lies when they decided to lie, but occasionally they gave straight answers.
“It’s a long story,” Bella answered. “One you don’t really need to worry about. That’s for your father and I to figure out.”
That wasn’t a real answer as far as Cassandra was concerned, but as she opened her mouth to reword her question and start pushing her mother a bit, Bella’s gaze hardened and turned into that warning look. All Bella Goth had to do was look at her children a certain way, and they understood that they would be pushing their luck if they kept whatever it was they were doing up.
“I see,” Cassandra said instead, loosing a quiet sigh. That was notably less information than she was hoping to get out of her mother, but then she also hadn’t really been expecting to get more than that, it was true.
Bella didn’t say anything more on the subject, simply reached over and patted her daughter’s hand. It was logical that she might start questioning such things, but these weren’t things she needed to be worrying about. It was probably just the mother in Bella. She’d much rather her daughter stayed young and innocent a little longer. Sooner or later, maybe Circe wouldn’t give her a choice but to grow up, so Bella wanted her and Alexander to have as much of a childhood as they could before then.
Maybe it was all a futile effort. Despite all her skill in divination, one thing that was difficult to determine was how one felt. There was a saying that the Watcher could see everything except what was in Sims’ hearts. The same was true for fortune-tellers and the like. Mortimer was right and Bella likely couldn’t have stopped Circe’s descent, but she still felt like…
It didn’t matter. And maybe in some way, sheltering Cassandra and Alexander from the truth for too long might yet be putting them in danger. Bella knew that. The sooner they could start Cassandra’s magical training, the better, because Mortimer wasn’t getting any younger, and Bella knew that better than most.
“You’ll understand someday,” Bella said, quietly. She stood up then, heading up the stairs. Cassandra watched her go, and then heard another metallic creaking sound and a clank to the right. Brown eyes moved from the staircase to the kitchen, finding the kitchen sink spraying water all over the floor. Cassandra tried not to roll her eyes, but her expression puckered like she’d bitten a lemon. “Daaaad!”
Unfortunately, Mortimer was the only one that could fix these things when they broke, but at this rate, maybe Cassandra should look into levelling her handiness skills.
* * *
The birds were chirping, and mostly, Cassandra wanted them to shut up. She groaned, rolled over in bed, and shoved the covers over her head. It only dimmed the sound of the birds chirruping outside her window very slightly, and she was beginning to get annoyed by it. It seemed another five or ten minutes of sleeping wasn’t in the cards for her today.
The girl sighed, sitting up and tossing the covers off her. Eventually, she got out of bed, putting the covers back in place on her bed, and glanced in the mirror. She should wash her face at least; those teenage pores were getting a little unruly.
As she tried to block out the sound of the birds, she heard another sound. It seemed to be running water, and that was curious because – then again, with the plumbing breaking all the time, maybe that wasn’t too surprising. Cassandra rolled her eyes at herself in the mirror, moving around her room to the bathroom. The sound became louder, and she opened the door to find her bathtub, toilet, and the sink all spraying water everywhere.
Cassandra heaved another sigh, closing the door again and heading down the stairs. Interestingly, she could hear the sound of running water on this floor, too, and on the ground floor. There was another sound down here, though. It sounded… electrical? And perhaps like fire. Fire?!
Quickly, Cassandra ran down the stairs two at a time, and rushed into the kitchen.
“Oh, good morning dear,” her mother greeted, mopping up the water off the floor where the kitchen sink was spraying it. There was a consistent dripping from the refrigerator, which seemed to be crackling, and the fire sound was the stove leaking flames.
“What… happened?” she asked, confused.
“Everything in the house broke overnight, I think,” Bella replied. She sounded so nonchalant about all this, Cassandra was really starting to wonder about her.
“I see.”
“Even the refrigerator broke!” Bella exclaimed.
Cassandra blinked, looking back at the fridge. Was that what the leaking and the electrical crackling was? She’d hate to be the poor Sim that had to fix that fridge, with it dripping water and crackling that way. That seemed a little more dangerous than she was willing to forgive. Oh, no her father had to fix that, didn’t he?
“I didn’t even know refrigerators can break,” she murmured under her breath. Bella cheerfully moved from the kitchen to the hall bathroom, just a toilet and a sink, as Cassandra stared in confusion at the chaos that was their kitchen.
“Everything’s broken!” Alexander exclaimed, running down the stairs. He stopped, gasping at the stove. “Literally everything!”
Cassandra sighed, reaching out to pat his shoulder. “I think morning showers are cancelled today,” she said.
“Apparently so,” he agreed.
This was getting ridiculous. Normal people’s houses didn’t suddenly have everything in their house break overnight! That was not to imply Cassandra was ever under the impression the Goths were normal whatsoever. But a little sense of normalcy of some kind would have been expected in this situation. They could at least pretend they weren’t weirdos. And no, she didn’t figure this was really their fault, but maybe it was in some sense given they seemed unwilling to do anything about it at all.
Cassandra just didn’t know what to think.
“I’m going to go wait for the bus outside,” Alexander said, getting his bookbag from the hall closet. “If the house starts gushing water, I don’t really want to be in it.” Alexander then turned and headed out front of the house to stand on the sidewalk and wait. The kid probably had the right of it, but Cassandra’s head was whirling with too many turbulent thoughts to figure anything out.
She turned at the sound of metallic clanking. Mortimer appeared in the hallway (no, he must’ve turned a corner), and turned towards Cassandra. He looked surprised for a moment, and then maybe almost embarrassed, and then he held a wrench up.
“Good morning pumpkin,” he greeted. “Could you do me a favour and call the repairman?”
Cassandra blinked in surprise. “Um, sure, but why?” He was normally one to take care of the repairs personally, so it didn’t really make sense to her that he’d want her to call anyone.
“Well, everything in the house is broken,” Mortimer explained. “And I’m only one person and can’t quite manage to fix them all in a timely manner. Unfortunately,” he glanced at his watch, “I have to go to work in another two hours. It’d be more beneficial to just have the repair company send out a hand or two.”
He had a point, Cassandra realised. If he had to go to work soon, then he wouldn’t have enough time to fix everything in the house. As much as Cassandra would much rather not think about it, her father wasn’t quite as spritely as he used to be. “Okay,” she said, nodding once. “I’ll do that before I go.”
“Thank you,” Mortimer said. “Have a good day at school, I need to get a shower in.” He ran upstairs, and Cassandra sighed a little, pulling her phone out.
“Let’s see…” She wanted to call the repair company… a little bit of scrolling, and she found the right option on the phone. Every Sim’s phone was preprogrammed with useful numbers, and the repair company’s was one. She held the phone up to her ear, listening to it ring. Eventually, the call connected and someone answered.
“Thank you for calling Simadonia National Repair Company, how can I help?” the operator answered.
“Yeah, I need a repairman out to Ophelia Villa in Willow Creek as soon as possible,” Cassandra answered.
“Alrighty, and what’s broken?” the operator asked.
Cassandra leaned over, peeking her head into the kitchen. The sink still gushed water, the fridge still crackled, the stove still whooshed with flames. “Um…. everything,” she said.
“Everything?” the operator asked.
“Yep, everything. Did you know refrigerators can break?”
There was some silence on the line. “I’ll send our best repairman over as soon as possible. Thank you for choosing Simadonia National Repair Company, and have a cherry topped blessed day!”
The phone clicked, and Cassandra turned the screen off. That was a greeting. Well, it was probably time for school. With that, she left the mess in the kitchen to whichever hapless repairman was sent to their house.
