#Morwenna Golgotha

[littlemissnellie]

and finally for the forgotten hollow townies, we have my very own family of vampires: the golgothas! if you’ve been around for a while (and i do mean a while, like 2017/2018 a while) then you might remember/recognise these guys from the story i planned out in 44 pages of detail (yes, i care about them that much), started posting, and then completely abandoned. i might revisit these guys one day if inspiration ever strikes, but for now they can exist as one of my townie makeover households. 

so, as always, if you’d like to have these guys in your game then check out the download link below, and if not then i hope that you enjoy reading their little fact files! 

and if you fancy reading the start of their story, or a more in-depth introduction to them, then i’ll link their page on my blog, because even though it was ages ago, i’m still proud of how much effort i put into creating these guys. 

btw, this will probably be another really long post, because not only do i care about these characters greatly, there’s 6 of them, so that’s a lot of fact files to write. you’ve been warned haha!

download: simfileshare

i hope you’re well! <3

victor golgotha:

totally embodies that stoic, ‘man of the house’ attitude - he’s very protective over his family and often feels it’s his responsibility to be the rock that keeps them all grounded (even though that’s really morwenna’s realm of expertise, but knowing that would do nothing for his ego...)

lowkey broke up his entire family by arguing with, and eventually disowning, his brother (mortimer goth), something which his mother never forgave him for, even on her deathbed - his father, walter, stays around so that victor can keep an eye on him, but really walter knows that it’s victor who needs the help

was once quite the romantic; after all, he was willing to give up everything he had to be with morwenna: his love of garlic, his vanity, not to mention his mortality...

morwenna golgotha:

grew up as the third eldest of six children in a large, illustrious family of vampires - she had it all: the pressure to live up to her parents’ ridiculously high expectations, the stuffy older brothers, spoilt younger sisters and even a force engagement in order to grow the family’s status

eventually cracked under all the pressure her family piled on her and broke away from tradition to elope with the unapproved love of her life, leaving her arranged fiancé, vladislaus straud, in the dust - it took a lot of bravery to cut off all the security that came with her family’s reputation and wealth, but now that she has a family and a fortune of her own she’s never looked back

after years of travelling for business, she finally feels that it’s time for the family to return to their roots and find a sense of permanence instead of flitting from hotel suite to hotel suite - their manor has all the gothic glamour she could dream of, but staying in one place makes it all the more likely that her old flame and the family’s largest rival will track them down...

sterling golgotha: 

the eldest golgotha child by all of eight minutes and highly favoured, especially out of him and his twin sister, november, much to her dismay - he does feel guilty about the blatant favouritism sometimes, but he feels the pressure his parents put on him as the eldest, and only male, sibling is punishment enough

has one of those super magnetic personalities - everyone he meets is just drawn to him and that charming smile of his can win over even the toughest of critics - and that’s before his buckets of charisma are brought into the equation

helplessly romantic, like one look and he’ll be head-over-heels, practically drooling at your feet - he’s very trusting of his instincts and is not afraid to act on his impulses, regardless of consequences or the opinions of others - so really, if he feels a spark he’s more than willing to drop everything and propose on the spot

november golgotha:

sterling must have sucked up all the charisma in the womb, because if there’s anything that november struggles with then it’s connecting with others - after a lifetime of living in her brother’s shadow she’s never been able to have her voice be heard over his, so after a while she gave up trying and hasn’t opened up to a single soul since

forever bitter about being the ‘forgotten middle child’ and has practically resigned herself to a life of resentment and jealousy - her melancholy attitude isn’t exactly helping to change anyone’s mind either; her disposition is anything but sunny, so more often than not she sits stewing in her own misery instead of, you know, actually talking to anyone

and before you ask, no, her birthday is not in november - her name is just one more thing for her to sulk about - her parents clearly had their favourites picked from the start: one a type of precious metal, one a symbol for angels... and then there’s gloomy little november...

halo golgotha:

baby of the household and is spoilt to no end by her parents - they weren’t sure they’d have any more children after they had the twins, so when halo came along to be the daughter they never felt they had after neglecting november for so many years, little halo was a blessing (hence the name)

as much as she likes the attention from her parents, it can get a little much sometimes, which is why she often finds herself gravitating towards her grandfather, walter - she absolutely adores him and all his stories, but she loves his cheerful spirit more than anything else; he always knows how to cheer her up or make her laugh with his jokes and stories, not to mention the pranks they set up for the other members of the household...

being showered with love and affection from the moment she took her first breath has meant that she’s lived a rather sheltered life - her hand has been held every step of the way, so she’s never learned to make mistakes, or how to grow from them - come to think of it, halo’s never really had the opportunity to learn who she is in her own right...but she can’t just stay her parents’ little angel forever, that has to change eventually

walter golgotha:

the only mortal in the household - although it was quite the shock when his son broke the news that he’d eloped and was undergoing the transformation process of becoming a vampire, walter has always been extremely level-headed and wasn’t about to let that change, especially with such fragile family dynamic already

more often than not, he’s the only voice of reason too - everyone else has such strong personalities and intense emotions that it doesn’t take much for situations to get out of hand, so his calming presence is vital for ensuring that the chaos levels stay relatively low - maybe that’s why he’s stuck around with them for so long

very young at heart - he’s a total goofball and is always joking around with halo, something his much more sombre son would never consider - he and his late wife, miriam, were always so free-spirited and cheerful, it’s hard to understand how attitudes could shift so dramatically from one generation to the next - but, then again, he’s not a vampire, so what does he know?

[littlemissnellie]

happy valentine’s day! 

to celebrate I thought i’d make a little post showcasing all the most iconic couples on my blog to try to spread a little bit of love. so, whether you are spending today with someone special or not, just know that I love and appreciate every single one of you and that, even if you may not always feel like it, you are beautiful and deserve the very best the world has to offer.

ily guys! <3

[littlemissnellie]

Late morning sunlight filtered through the windows of Golgotha Manor and spilled across the intricately patterned rug that adorned the floor of the living room. Adorning the crushed velvet chaise lounge though, with ebony hair hung below her soft, porcelain jawline and her scarlett lips pursed in a sort of regal boredom, was none other than Morwenna Golgotha herself. Diamonds, a trademark of her attire, sat in her ear lobes, white, reflecting the light, toying with it like an infant with a rattle. But another, much more significant one sat atop a silver band, adorning her ring finger just as she adorned her husband’s arm. Her husband’s status. Her husband’s life.

It stood proudly, this diamond. This pride was not solely possessed by the diamond though; the mere act of getting to wear such a promise, of it being nothing but hers to hold onto was enough to make her treasure it, before worth was even brought into the equation. Just like her hair, like her heavily lacquered lashes, like the patent heels that were crossed before her, this diamond was black. Jet black. The colour of the ink that spilled out of her husband’s fountain pen across papers that wore facts and figures for business ‘much too complicated for you to need to understand, my dear’. The colour of the oil that would spill into the engine of the car she would glide along fresh tarmac in if a reason for her to venture past the mouth of the driveway ever dared to present itself. It never did. Too scared, pathetically so. The mere thought festered in her mouth, tasted bitter on her tongue. This diamond, capturing the sunlight like a feral cat catches a gutter rat, was the colour of forbidden secrets shared beneath a moonless, midnight sky. Something about it was unnerving, but exhilarating.

Daydreaming was not what women of Morwenna’s age, Morwenna’s status partook in, it was for silly little girls with dreams too wild for their future to comprehend. Immature, one might say. So Morwenna was not daydreaming, merely…reminiscing, reflecting on her life. Reflecting, like the diamonds that defined her.

She sat by the window, gazing out at the world beyond the manor through the invisible, gauzy curtains that warped her view of everything outside of these cold, brick walls. She was not relaxed, she couldn’t lower herself to such things. She could afford silken blouses and precious jewels, but she couldn’t afford to let her image slip for even a second, not even in her own company. After all, one slip was all it took to come crashing down, let the immaculate persona it had taken a lifetime for her to perfect disintegrate before her polished, mahogany eyes. Posture was key, a straight back meant a straight mind, and Morwenna needed that focus to get through each, mind-numbing day. She sat like a swan on a lake, calm and serene, or seemingly so. A black swan on a satin lake, nestled amongst reeds of marble, velvet and gold, basking in the glow of success, or at least her husband’s abundance of it.

Her eyes glossed over as she watched tree branches sway in the wind, each rustle of early autumn leaves, still clinging onto their emerald hues, bringing back a fleeting image of a year that had been and gone. The longer she stared though, the further back she fell and before she could help herself the image of a man she longed to keep locked away in the past looked to be right here in the present with her. Sunlight danced on wispy cedar locks and the ashes that rose from his skin. His jawline sliced through the wind like a sword through a training dummy. His eyes cold and hard as a glacier, but clear and captivating as crystals…as diamonds.

One word, one name stayed clamped between her lips. Red, cased in the blood that she tasted in her mouth, metallic and unnatural. Unwanted. Vladislaus Straud.

She blinked repeatedly, willing his figure to be a mere figment of her nervous imagination. Her rose-tinted lenses weren’t smudged though, this was as real as the polished wood beneath her white-knuckled grip. And as if seeing her ex-fiance after all these years wasn’t unnerving enough, not an inch of his appearance had altered since the last time that they had been together. He still looked like the fresh-faced, reserved yet innocent, especially when it came to their courtship, boy that haunted her past.

Looking at him, in that moment, it felt as if she were looking at an old photograph. A snapshot of her life, a memory pressed onto paper to keep and cherish. Wild hair, tamed only by an intricate braid, cascaded over her shoulders as she pressed herself against his side, hanging on his arm and every word that left his mouth. She would gaze up at him, she could remember doing it as if she’d done it just yesterday, feigning adoration that was slowly becoming more and more genuine.

But the photo, this particular memory, as she looked on it now, was far from cherished. Edges were torn and frayed until it was almost unrecognisable as ever being something of worth or meaning. This memory, their whole past, was damaged by bad blood, bitterness and broken hearts. So what the hell was he doing on her front doorstep?

Her heels tapped against the wooden floorboards like a fork against a wine glass, preparing her to make a toast, or more fittingly, to raise a question. She had managed to get to the door before he’d had a chance to knock, which meant that she could tackle this before Victor even knew that Vlad had ever set foot on his property. If she wanted this to end civilly, this is how it had to go.

As she pulled open the large, leaden front door she knew immediately that Vlad had not spotted her at the window. She didn’t even think that he had considered the possibility of her answering the door, because as soon as he laid eyes on her in all her sheer, silken, glossy glory his expression flickered like a candle in the wind. Panic and a strange, possible joy cracked his face for a split second when he let his composure slip. For a fleeting moment she saw the Vlad that she had entertained the thought of loving all those years ago, the one with a gentle side to his usually stoic demeanour, like baked apples on a biting winter’s night. But his solemn smirk returned with an all too familiar certainty. He didn’t let go of his composure for long, never long enough.

It was Morwenna who wanted to break the silence, but Vlad’s distress beat her to it.

“M-Morwenna,” he stuttered. He was startled, she could tell, but he masked it convincingly from then on. He couldn’t let her know that she had shaken him, but she was already one step ahead and had no time for games.

“What are you doing here?” she hissed. Venomous, like a snake, slipping through Vlad’s mind as he tried to gather his thoughts amidst the tormented feelings that were resurfacing themselves with an alarmingly rapid pace.

“Well, I-” He coughed, buying himself time to calm down. “I heard the news that you were back in town-”

“How?” Morwenna’s tone was defensive, she bit down on her words like a rabid dog.

“Word gets around these days, darling.” A smirk curled at his lips. This superiority, this knowledge he could hold over her made him feel empowered, fed confidence through his coarse, cold veins like it was a drug.

“Don’t call me that.”

“I don’t have to call you anything, I just wanted to come and see how you and the family were…settling in.”

“Don’t you dare speak about my family-”

“Don’t worry yourself over little things like that, Morwenna. I’m sure that you have much bigger problems to concern yourself with.”

“The only problem right now is you being at my house, and…and looking like- like that,” Morwenna said, her own confidence faltering as Vlad’s swelled.

“It’s not a welcome surprise?” he smirked.

“There’s something you want, Vlad, there always is. Tell me what it is and be gone, you’ve put my family through enough as it is,” Morwenna snapped. Her tone was sharp, juxtaposing her beauty, like the thorns of a rose.

“Oh Morwenna, I barely even know your family-”

“That doesn’t matter, you don’t need to know them to damage-”

“Damage? Why Morwenna, I haven’t even started yet,” he chuckled. This torment was amusing to him, watching her red lips drop open and her perfectly plucked eyebrows furrow.

Anger blazed within her stomach. Her temper shattered like an expensive champagne glass, delicate and explosive. “You lay a hand on them, Vlad, and I’ll put you in your grave myself,” she snarled.

“Oh dear, I’d never dream of such a thing, especially being a father myself,” Vlad simpered. He reeked of insincerity, of lies.

“Then what are you doing here? What do you want from us?” Morwenna asked, growing tired of such insufferable company. “Money?”

He scoffed and spat out his next sentence. “No, dear. I want something much more valuable.”

Morwenna refused to reply, darkening her glare was all that that he would get.

“I came to warn you, of how things have changed around here since you left-” he continued.

“We don’t need your warnings.”

“The power has shifted, Morwenna. You don’t have the same influence you did all those years ago, and at times like this that can be a dangerous thing.”

“And your suggestion?” Morwenna said, arching an eyebrow.

“I didn’t have one-”

But as Morwenna turned to leave, seemingly done with their conversation already, Vlad caught her arm. She tried to wrench it free, but his grip tightened and he pulled her towards him. His breath tickled her cheek, cool, stale and lifeless. It made her squirm.

“-Until now,” he leered.

She swallowed and her eyelashes fluttered as she looked up at him, praying that he couldn’t sense the rising fear behind her eyes.

“I have a proposal for you, Morwenna. And this time, I hope that it will actually mean something to you,” he said bitterly. Any traces of a smile were long gone now.

“And what might that be?” she choked out.

“A rekindling of sorts-”

But before Vlad could go any further, Morwenna’s disgust overflowed and she raised her hand to slap the thought out of his twisted mind. But he was too quick and had her held fast once again.

“Never,” she spat.

“You didn’t let me finish.”

“I don’t need to. I would never go back to you after everything you said about my husband, my children…me.”

“That’s all in the past, Morwenna. We’ve grown up, changed beyond recognition, you know that, and so do I. This could work, if you want it to.”

“It will never work, Vlad. I’m happy with the life I chose, and if you ever really loved me then you would be happy for me to. Let go of all this ancient bitterness, let go of me.”

But Vlad took another step towards her, his shoes touching hers, leering in her face like a monster from a nightmare.

“It will work if you want your family to stay out of harm’s way.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Morwenna said, choking back a gasp.

“You’re right, I wouldn’t…if you keep up your end of the deal.”

“No.”

“Come on, Morwenna. Let your heart beat for me once more and I’ll stay quiet. You and your precious family won’t hear a word from me again.”

He drove a hard bargain. His smirk smouldered on his face, knowing that his offer was burning away at her conscience with every passing second and every inch that his hand slipped down her side.

“Is that a promise?” Morwenna asked quietly.

“Of course, you have my word,” Vlad said, pausing as he let his offer brew and bubble in her mind.

“And you have mine,” Morwenna said, her words like velvet as she leaned into his touch and pressed her crimson lips to his with a startling certainty.

Her husband slaved over papers upstairs, determined to provide for his family, determined to keep them safe. But Morwenna played downstairs, toying with the emotions of a man who once toyed with hers. Their kiss was smooth as silk, forbidden, secret, unnerving yet exhilarating…anything to keep her family safe.

Her mind was made up, her decision clear, cold and hard. Rare, precious...like a diamond.

[littlemissnellie]

Morwenna; fav food??

“Ooh, now that’s an interesting question. I mean, I don’t often cook around the house; that’s something Walter likes to take care of, it keeps him busy, gives him something to do when the days are feeling particularly long. When I do though, it’s always nice and hearty, something to keep you going when…when blood‘s in short supply, frankly. When I don’t have to cook though, and I can indulge in the luxury of a date night with Victor, a rich glass of merlot and a steak (nice and rare, of course) over candlelight is just pure perfection.” - Morwenna Golgotha

[littlemissnellie]

A considerable perk of being in such a highly regarded position in his field was that Victor could leave the organisation of all the technicalities of the move back to Windenburg down to his assistant, meaning that little to no stress was actually placed on his beloved family and that, when the time came, they could just walk inside the manor and instantly consider it ‘home’. And everything couldn’t have played out more perfectly when the Golgothas did return to their family estate.

As Victor led his family, with his wife on his arm, down the driveway of his childhood home, nostalgia gripped his heart tighter and tighter with each step that he took. But as the early evening sun beat down on him, sending searing pains crawling across his skin, the thought of savouring this moment seemed to disintegrate into ashes similar to those he could feel being lifted away from his cheeks on the breeze. But as they finally reached the front door, with the sound of their children clumsily trying to haul their suitcases up the marble steps echoing behind them, the excitement that Victor felt seep into his bones when Morwenna squeezed his arm made him forget all about the dreadful mood the various mishaps from this moving day had put him in. He took a deep breath and let his hand close around the cold, metal door handle. And as the latch clicked beneath his touch, the door to his childhood world swung open along with the manor’s front door.

“Oh, Victor, it looks spectacular,” Morwenna gasped the very second that she stepped inside. Her black heels clicked along the polished wooden floorboards as she took a few sweeping steps around the entrance area, before eagerly returning to her husband’s side with a delicate smile stretching across her crimson lips.

“Just as I remembered it to be,” Victor agreed, almost allowing a sort of contented chuckle to slip past his owns as he too gazed around the room.

As Morwenna’s reaction would have suggested, the sight that the Golgotha family were met with as soon as they stepped through the gilded, scarlet doorway was truly breath-taking. The gothic styling, perfectly-preserved, antique-esque furniture and what seemed to be the very essence of shadows themselves woven into the house’s heart and soul was enough to make any Golgotha feel more at home than any of their own belongings ever could.

“It’s even more perfect than I remember,” Morwenna gushed with a serene elegance that shouldn’t have been accompanied with such elation.

The couple’s eager inspection of the entrance hall was quickly brought to a halt when their children came staggering through the door behind them with their several, bulky, plastic-clad suitcases in tow. Sterling not only had to struggle with his own and his parents’, but his little sister’s too once he had unloaded the others in front of the staircase. Halo was practically wrestling with her suitcase as she tried to haul it up the stairs to the front door, but her older brother soon came to the rescue and carried it up them with ease.

“Thanks Sterling,” she said, flashing him a tired smile as she followed him through the door.

“No problem, Hales,” he grinned, affectionately flicking one of her plaits after standing the suitcase amongst the others that were crowding into the hall.

“Hey, watch it!” Halo whined, grabbing at her hair and desperately smoothing the strands back into place. But all that she got as an apology from her brother was him teasingly, and ever-so-childishly, sticking his tongue out at her, which not only set himself off to laugh, but got Halo giggling as well, after she’d made a point of rolling her eyes at him though.

Their laughter wasn’t enough to drown out their sister’s frustrated sigh as she trudged inside after them and pointedly crossed her arms as she perched on the corner of the, in her opinion, hideous, candy-pink suitcase she had been saddled with.

“You having fun there, No?” Sterling called across to her. A teasing smirk tugging at his lips as he looked across at her.

“No,” she replied bluntly. Her face showed all her emotions, and as usual, when she spoke it stayed as blank and seemingly grumpy as ever.

“Okay, now that we’ve established that that is in fact your nickname, do you think you’d be able to answer my question?” Sterling asked, raising one of his eyebrows and allowing his smirk to crack into a full, cheeky grin.

“God, aren’t you hilarious?” November shot back. Her voice dripped with sarcasm, but was laced with enough venom to tell anyone that Sterling was pushing his limits by teasing her like this. But then again, when didn’t he?

“I like to think so,” he smirked.

“Oh, I know you do.” The sickly sweet, and clearly forced, smile that November shot him after that was practically murderous. But Sterling knew her too well to be phased by any of her irritability and just smiled right back at her.

Halo giggled away at her brother’s antics right beside him before reaching up and tugging on his arm, which prompted him to bend down to her level so that she could not-so-quietly whisper in his ear.

“How many lizard scales do you think she’s going to slip into your dinner after that?”

“Hopefully none if Dad catches her in time,” Sterling chuckled. “But I’m guessing about seventeen when she finds out that I’ve got a photograph of her with that pink suitcase that I’m going to plaster all over her locker-”

“I can hear you, you know!” November snapped, glaring at her brother and sister. Her anger flared up a lot more than would be expected of an ever-sombre teenage girl like herself, but when she was wound up like that it was as if lighter fluid was being thrown on the constantly smouldering fire in the pit of her stomach, and the billowing clouds of smoke that erupted from it came spilling out of her mouth as sharp-tongued spite.

“I know,” Sterling said, yet again accompanied by Halo’s giggles. “Was I right with my guess of seventeen then?”

“Yeah, one for every year that you’ve pissed me off.”

“November, Sterling, would you two please just get along?” Morwenna snapped. Her head was spinning enough as it was from the stress of the move, not that she really had anything to do with the technicalities of it, but she still did not need her teenage son and daughter squabbling on top of it all.

“Mum, that was clearly all November,” Sterling started. He was acting as seriously as he could, but the smile that tugged at his lips told his mother otherwise.

“Oh yeah right.” November rolled her eyes again and sulkily scuffed her boot against the floorboards as her mother continued to scold her and her brother.

“I don’t care who it was. You were winding her up and you were losing your temper with him.”

“Mum, can you blame me? Halo’s acting more maturely than he is.” But November’s complaints were quickly squashed by Sterling and Halo bursting out into fits of giggles again.

“Oh, be quiet, all of you,” Morwenna barked, tired of the quarrelling that had been ongoing pretty much from the moment that they moved out of their previous house. It was no doubt down to the frustration of being uprooted from their last town and school mere weeks into the new year, as well as having to abandon their friends and the community that they had grown to know over the past few years, but at that moment Morwenna couldn’t bear to listen to them bicker any longer. This was something that they could talk through over dinner, or if her splitting headache persisted, it was something that could wait until the morning.

“Oh come on, Mum,” Sterling began, almost instinctively switching on his easygoing charm.

“Sterling, don’t push it,” Morwenna warned.

“Yeah, Mum’s getting fragile now. If you push her too hard she might break something,” Halo joked, which yet again set Sterling off laughing.

Halo’s frenzied giggles, Sterling’s roaring laughs and even the small smile that threatened to shatter November’s permanent scowl pushed Morwenna to her breaking limit, as Halo’s insensitive, and rather ill-timed, wisecrack suggested. “That’s it.”

“Oh Mum,” Sterling half-whined, wiping a tear from his eye as he tried to catch his breath after laughing so heartily.

“No, I’ve had it. Take your suitcases upstairs, you can start unpacking your things. And if your attitudes haven’t improved by the time that’s done then you can set to work on your moving boxes too.”

The chorus of groans, sighs and mumbles of discontent that rose from the three children would have suggested a reluctance to abide by their mother’s wishes, but, despite all this, they obeyed, albeit begrudgingly. November dragged the ghastly pink suitcase she had been given, but hated so fiercely, behind her as she stormed upstairs to find her newly allocated bedroom. And, after Halo even struggled to get the handle of her suitcase up this time, Sterling stepped in once again to carry it up for her, still chuckling away at the comment she’d made about their mother as he went.

“Well handled Morwenna, my dear,” Walter said from the seat he seemed to have acquired beside the front door, smiling at his daughter in law in almost amusement.

“Why thank you, Walter. And it’s nice to know that you were there to support me, Victor,” she added pointedly, shooting her husband a sharp glare.

“You didn’t need my support, my love. You had that completely under control,” Victor replied, smoothing things over with a loving tone and a tender kiss to her hand.

“Luckily for you,” Morwenna sighed. A smirk twisted her blood-red lips though as she withdrew her hand and demurely crossed her arms over her chest.

“So, Father, what do you think of the house? Just as you remember?” Victor continued, turning to his father with a hopeful smile peeking out from under his greying moustache.

“A lot tidier than I remember,” Walter chuckled as he let his eyes wander around the room. “But, then again, there haven’t been twin toddlers loose in here this time.”

“Ah yes, Sterling and November often kept things…interesting,” Victor said, smiling fondly as he thought back to the twins wreaking havoc amongst the family artefacts and luxurious furnishings.

“I just wish that they didn’t act as if they’re the same age they were when we moved from here,” Morwenna sighed bitterly.

“They’ll adjust Morwenna, they just need time,” Walter reassured her. “It’s a big change, especially for little Halo, she’ll barely remember anything about the house.”

“Of course she won’t, she was just a baby when we first moved,” Victor said, before pausing to think for a moment. “God, has it really been that long since we were last here?”

“How long do you think it’s been?” Walter chuckled.

“It doesn’t even feel like I’ve left at all,” Victor admitted. “It still feels just like home to me, even after all these years.”

“Ah yes, that’s what the Manor will do to you,” Walter said, letting the amused smile form on his face again before waiting a moment to bring up his next comment, which you wouldn’t have been able to tell from the effortlessly casual way that it was presented.  “So, when’s the welcome party?”

“What are you on about now, Father?” Victor asked, having already started to busy himself with checking over the remaining suitcases and boxes in the hall.

“The welcome party. I assumed you’d be throwing one of your lavish gatherings to welcome the family back into the neighbourhood.”

“And why would I need to do that? We’ve lived here for decades before this.”

“Don’t you think it would be of interest for you to ensure you’re on good terms with these people before we get too…settled in our old ways?” Walter asked.

“Father, you’re stuck in the past. No one does that nowadays,” Victor scoffed.

“Victor, I know the people of Windenburg much better than you, I know how some of the families think.” But before Walter could continue, Victor cut in with an all too wise tone.

“Look, I’m sure that we’ll be more than fine without bringing people into the house to nibble on elaborate canapés and make polite small talk. I know what I’m doing Father, don’t worry. Windenburg is my home, I belong here more than I ever have anywhere else, and the townspeople know that.”

Victor’s words and confident smile would have been so much more reassuring if they had been correct though. And Walter was then left to sit alone, amongst the boxes in the hallway, to mull over this idea whilst his son and daughter in law went to go and check on their children.

As Walter had hinted though, the news of the Golgothas’ return had spread across the town like the plague, and its effects were just as devastating to a certain family on the outskirts of the community…

[littlemissnellie]

Morwenna Golgotha

Wealth and prestige had never been things that Morwenna Montfort particularly valued, they just happened to be luxuries that she never seemed to be able to part with. She grew up in a large family, being the third of six children, and lived nothing but lavishly from the second that she was brought into the world, and would continue to do so until the day that she left it, in whatever way that may be.

Her family, and their social prominence, appeared to date back to the very start of time itself. And vampirism had run in their blood for just as long. That is all down to the fact that each marriage was treated as a business exchange rather than a celebration of love though. A wealthy, powerful vampire would marry another, equally as wealthy, powerful vampire, quickly turning social connections into bloodlines and strengthening this immense Montfort empire until it became virtually unstoppable. With each new strain of power added to the family, by the time that Morwenna was born her blood ran purer than the diamond that appeared on her ring finger barely a year after becoming acquainted with the infamous Victor Golgotha. 

But prior to that, Morwenna had grown up under strict ruling in the great Montfort Mansion. Her parents did not care too terribly for their children, and it seemed that the more they had, the more thinly what little love they showed them had to be spread. Her two older brothers took a lot of the pressure from their parents off her shoulders; they were the future of the Montfort name and legacy, so ensuring that they turned out to be eloquent, successful and credible young men was their parents’ top priority. But they coped remarkably well, mostly because they were ideal candidates for the positions. Morwenna, not so much, which was perfectly alright for her parents, since she was not going to be carrying on the family name. She wasn’t a complete failure in their eyes though; her sensible, proper attitude meant that she became a worthy role model for her three younger sisters. They all seemed to inherit her mother’s overbearing, haughty attitude though, which made spending the lengths of the time that she had to in their company almost as unbearable as actually spending it with her own mother. Morwenna, luckily, seemed to have been forgotten when their parents were handing their snobbish tendencies over to their children. She still managed to keep her head straight despite being surrounded by so many closed-minds though. 

Since Morwenna would not be keeping, and bringing even more fame to her family’s name, the only way that she would ever be able to meet her parents’ expectations would be to marry a man they deemed fit. And Morwenna had barely passed her eighteenth birthday when her parents selected this young man for her. And they could not have found a more ideal suitor if they spent the rest of their immortal lives searching. Vladislaus Straud had every credential they checked for, and a bloodline rivalling their own in terms of vampiric strength. He was their dream son-in-law, but was more like Morwenna’s personal nightmare.

Vladislaus had only just settled into town when he got the message from Morwenna’s parents and met with her almost immediately. She was not captivated by Vlad when the first time met, nor the second… nor the third. But the constant pressure from her parents and Vlad’s unrelenting efforts to impress her soon had her thinking otherwise. And just when she was starting to believe that she might be falling in love with him, young up-start Victor Golgotha waltzed into her life. 

Morwenna was completely transfixed by Victor from the moment that they met at one of her family’s grand business dinners. And from that second she could already tell that Victor had won her heart in a way that Vlad would never be able to. A whirlwind, initially unapproved of, romance later, any trace of her arranged engagement to Vlad had disappeared and in its place was a happy marriage to the love of her life. No many how many years passed from the breakdown of her relationship with the highly-acclaimed Vladislaus Straud though, Morwenna couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that he never forgave her for leaving him at the altar…

[littlemissnellie]

Umm, hi guys! I know this is a little bit different from my usual posts, but there’s a very good reason for that: I would like your opinion on something...

Back on my birthday, about a month ago, I posted this picture, where I introduced this family: The Golgothas. At the time I was kind of obsessed with The Addams Family musical, which wasn’t helped when my mum got me tickets to go and see it for my birthday. Well, yesterday I finally got to go and see the show and now my love for this family and the story that I’m creating for them is spiralling out of control. 

So this kooky, spooky little family has captured my heart, but I don’t know if the same has happened for you. My question for you is, would you be interested in seeing me step away from my usual style to explore this family’s storylines in a more story-like style of gameplay? 

I’d still be posting my Disney and Daley legacies as normal, but there’d be ‘pages’ of this family’s story going up every now and again.

Let me know if you’d like me to go ahead with it! If you’d like to know a little more about them first though then let me know that too because I’d be happy to do a little introductory post to each character so that you could get to know them before making your decision. 

- a very happy littlemissnellie <3

[littlemissnellie]

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Vladislaus Straud never quite recovered from the breakdown of his engagement with Morwenna Montfort. Their whole relationship may have been orchestrated by their parents for the sake of enhancing their families, but Vlad fell in love with her regardless, so to suddenly realise that his feelings were not reciprocated was a real blow to his confidence. And when he found out that Morwenna had dumped him in favour of another, rather than her just not feeling as if she would work in a relationship with him, all the sorrow that had built up inside him crumbled away to reveal a furiously burning anger, fuelled by nothing but pure jealousy.

Whilst Morwenna went on to lead a happy, fulfilled life, Vlad wallowed in his own self-pity for years and let his jealousy warp him into a monster that he saw all too often to be scared of anymore. He could barely bring himself to leave his house, let alone go out and find true love, which is why before he knew it he'd inadvertently committed to a life of seemingly eternal solitude. That is, until word got around to him about the local orphanage…

Living on the outskirts of Windenburg was just as isolating as it sounded, but the small community that Vlad quickly built up were all so loyal to him that he almost considered them to be family. So when one woman, who had recently become a mother for the second time, went up to him whilst he was on one of his rare outings and asked him if he'd ever considered having children of his own, he didn't really know how to respond. Although after almost awkwardly explaining to her that he did not have any sort of female companion, which prevented him from having his own children, she went on to tell him about the new orphanage that was being set up across town, where she was certain that any of the children there would be grateful for any parent, regardless of marital circumstances.

So, after a lot of deliberation, and quite a significant interior overhaul, Vlad left his house one, late autumn morning alone, but returned that afternoon with two rather special companions: his son and daughter. They weren't from the same family, but that didn't matter; they were now; they were a part of his. The two children were practically the same age, with the boy being a mere five months older, but with both in their excitable, yet curious toddler stage, age had no meaning to Vlad, he didn't have time to ponder the matter when he was constantly running around after them.

Vlad didn't always like to admit it, but that woman had been right, having a family of his own was exactly what he needed. After losing Morwenna and the life that he would have been able to have with her, his own life had no direction, he felt as if he didn't have a purpose. But his two children changed everything. They depended on him, they needed him, and he needed them.

As the years passed though, and his children grew up, their independence blossomed and they started to need their father less and less. But after finding so much comfort in their dependence, the warmth his children once brought into his heart faded into nothingness, leaving it just as cold and empty as his house felt when they were out at school or with what little friends they had.

With every day that passed Vlad felt the divide between him and his children widening, but more significantly with one than the other. It was more common than not to go whole days without even seeing his daughter once. Secluding himself in his office didn't help with repairing this somewhat broken relationship, but a rather bad habit of Vlad's was running away and ignoring his problems instead of facing up to them. Unless a force greater than that of his own brain propelled him into doing something, it was usually left undone, untouched and unthought-about. And reconnecting with his daughter sadly seemed to fall under her that category.

Despite Vlad's strained, and rather turbulent (whenever they did cross paths), relationship with his daughter, the relationship that he had with his son was relatively strong. Yes, he often put pressure on the boy, and discipline was the foundation of the household, which sometimes caused a rift between the two, but other than that, he was a very loyal, determined, ambitious young man that Vlad was quietly, but extremely, proud of.

As thoughts of his son drifted through Vlad's mind, the sound of his footsteps running up the stairs drummed in chorus with his heart beat. The heaviness of the thudding was what immediately told Vlad that it was his son rather than his daughter, who preferred to drift around the house like a spirit. But the second that the boy burst through the office door, his lips slipped into a firm, disapproving frown.

"Dad!-"

"What have I told you about coming into my office like that when I'm trying to work, Maximus?" Vlad said curtly, letting out a long, irritated breath as he fixed his eyes on the stack of papers in front of him.

"Sorry, Dad," Maximus, who really preferred just 'Max', but often had no choice in the matter when his father was around, mumbled before hurriedly, but gently, closing the ornate door behind him.

"Now, what matter is so urgent that it compelled you to disrupt my work in such a manner?" Vlad asked slowly, lowering his fountain pen onto his desk and crossing his hands over each other above it. The quizzical look he sent his son would have sent a shiver down anyone else's spine, but Max took no notice and rushed over to his father with as much frantic eagerness as he had run up the stairs with.

"Have you seen the headline of today's paper?" he asked, thrusting the now slightly crumpled newspaper in his father's face as his own became masked with concern.

‘Golgotha Family Return To Their Infamous Manor’

Vlad's blue eyes scanned the page with equal concern as his son's, but that soon turned to a churning mixture of anger and anxiety as the reality of the words upon the page sunk in. The family that took everything from him all those years ago, the family he thought that he'd rid himself of for good...were back?

"You think it's true?" Max asked cautiously.

"Well...there's no reason for the local press to lie, is there?" Vlad replied, pursing his lips and stiffly straightening out the newspaper.

"But...they can't just come back like this, can they? They left the house to the town, it was going to be reno-"

"It's their property, son. Apparently they can do as they please with it," Vlad said shortly.

"But, Dad, after everything they did-"

"Maximus-"

"They can't just come in and take over everything again! Windenburg's changed, the people here have changed-"

"Maxim-"

"They don't have the same power they did before. Windenburg's our family's territory now, they can't just-just waltz back in and act like they never left. The community listens to us now; we're the strongest strain there is."

The more that Max seemed to be working himself up, the more eerily calm Vlad seemed to become. It took a lot of thought and reflection, which wasn't exactly easy for a vampire like Vlad in any sense of the word, but the more that he pondered his rivals' return to the town, the less concern it brought to him. His son was right; they were the strongest family by a mile now, where influence was concerned. No matter how popular the Golgothas may have been when they left town, years had passed since then. The town had changed, and so had the people in it, the Strauds more than anyone. They held a lot of power over Windenburg now, and Vlad was not about to undo all his hard work and give it up so easily.

And so, as he looked up at his son, who was nervously running a hand through his messy, mahogany hair, which was clumsily tied back with a midnight black bandana, but unsuccessfully trying to hide this from his father, Vlad set down the newspaper and cleared his throat.

"You're right son, and we'll let the precious Golgotha family know that. All in good time, of course…"

[littlemissnellie]

Walter and Miriam Golgotha

Walter Golgotha’s story is a very interesting one, fitting for such an interesting old soul. He grew in a very fortunate, but relatively normal family. They had never been short of money, or love, and Walter had blossomed into a fine young man by the time that he left school. After living in Windenburg his whole life, he couldn’t face the thought of leaving, and luckily, neither could Miriam. His love of literature and thirst for knowledge flourished into an extremely successful writing career, and with a loving wife at his side and two beautiful sons, Walter couldn’t have led a happier life.

That is where the normalities stop though.

This may be Walter’s introduction, but without Miriam and her story, Walter would have nothing. She was, and still is, everything to him. And her narrative changed his whole life.

The Von Haunt Estate has always been a well-known icon of Windenburg, everyone is fascinated by the rumours that drift through the town and speculation over its history only grows as time moves on. The story on everyone’s lips is that Lord Bernard Shallot, a troubled artist, started a great blaze after throwing one of his failed pieces into the fire, which killed both him and his wife Mimsy. And as tragic as that tale may be, it was far from the truth.

Miriam Von Haunt was her parents’ only child, and from the moment that she was born she became the light of their lives. She grew up in the family’s huge estate, often lonely because, despite the house’s immense size, very few people were ever there. When she reached eighteen her relationship with her parents changed dramatically though, all because they arranged for her to marry a close family friend’s son, Lord Bernard Shallot, completely against her will. Arguments became almost instinctive, and the distance from her parents, along with the loveless engagement that she had been forced into, made her unbearably miserable. That is, until she stumbled across a quiet, yet charming writer sat in the public gardens.

Love at first sight doesn’t even begin to explain Miriam and Walter’s first encounter. They fell head over heels in love with each other from the second that they were first in each other’s company, and from then on Miriam snuck out of the house to spend every waking moment with Walter. They would lay on the grass in a little inlet between the hedges, surrounded by bright flowers, under a sea of wispy clouds, and would dream about their future together. With Walter’s wild imagination he could captivate Miriam for hours, intently describing details of the house that they would one day share together, reciting love poetry and spinning stories about how one day they would run away and forget all their worries. But first, they had to get around the problem of Miriam’s betrothal.

Bernard’s bursts of anger occasionally reared their ugly heads at the start of his relationship with Miriam, but now they were getting more and more frequent, and more violent too, often scaring Miriam senseless. Although her parents had tried to see past them at first, they were now becoming too wild for them to continue ignoring. And even though her engagement to Bernard had broken her relationship with them, his aggressive outbursts were repairing it. When she couldn’t run to Walter, Miriam had no other choice but to go to her parents for some support through it all, and after seeing how dispirited she had become, they knew that they had to do something. They couldn’t bear to see their daughter this miserable any longer.

One evening, after a particularly bad argument between her and Bernard, when Miriam was sat with her parents, the truth about where she spent her days, and who she spent them with, came tumbling out. And when her parents saw the way that her face lit up when talking about Walter, they knew that this was the only man that would ever make their daughter as happy as she deserved to be. They met him for dinner the next day and, when Miriam asked for their opinion, they couldn’t find a fault in him. Thrilled, the four of them returned home, knowing that they would have to break the news to Bernard and his parents. They knew that it wouldn’t be easy, but nothing could have prepared them for what happened that evening.

As soon as Walter stepped through the front door, Bernard began barking questions, but Miriam managed to quieten him until her parents had notified his, and they had started to make their way over to the estate. After explaining everything to the Shallots, Bernard’s parents were surprisingly understanding, but Bernard himself took the news terribly and tumbled into a despair-fuelled rage that was terrifying for even his parents to see. He raved about his love for Miriam and Miriam argued that it was unrequited, he produced countless sketches of her and love letters addressed to her and started screaming about how much he did for her and how he got nothing in return, how it meant nothing to her. And then the argument took a turn, quite a dramatic one. Bernard threw the papers into the fire, well, in the general direction of the fireplace, and before he knew it, the flames from the fire were licking at the letters strewn across the logs, and the ones laid helplessly on the floorboards.

Panic started to set in for everyone in the room, but the fire was quicker than any of their reactions and hungrily tore across the floor. Bernard scrambled to try to move the papers, or put the flames out, but all it took was one wrong step for a flame to brush against his jacket and his whole body to become engulfed in the flames.

Miriam’s screams were drowned out by Bernard’s parents’, and as they, and her parents rushed to help him, the fire just swelled and swelled. Miriam was frozen in place, despite the room burning around her. Walter finally managed to come to his senses though and grabbed her arm, bundling her into the hallway. With smoke already spilling through the closed door, Walter knew that they were still in danger. That fire was burning so fiercely that it would take over the house in mere minutes. He had to get them out. And although Miriam was very reluctant to leave her parents, she knew deep down that there was no way that they would be able to rescue them now. And so, she took Walter’s hand and they fled to safety.

When rumours started to spread about the fire, Miriam knew that she couldn’t step out anywhere without being questioned. She knew people would think that she had started it, now that the town had become aware of her engagement to Bernard, if they heard that he and his parents had died in a fire, along with her own, and she and her new boyfriend were the only survivors, they were bound to pin her as the chief suspect. So, after some discussion with Walter, she decided to revert back to using her full name: Miriam, opposed to the ‘Mimsy’ the town knew and loved, and quietly marry Walter as soon as possible. With her virtually new identity, she made one venture into town to claim the insurance for the fire and then vowed to live in solitude with Walter in the newly restored Von Haunt Estate, which would soon become to be known as Golgotha Manor.

Walter and Miriam lived a quiet life, far away from the rest of the town up, and raised their two sons, Victor and Mortimer, giving them all the love in their hearts. But despite this, their sons never got along with each other, and their turbulent relationship put a definite strain on their parents. Walter and Miriam loved each other more than words could say, and their sons’ constant arguing could never change that, it did break their hearts more and more every day though.

The day that the ongoing dispute came to a head was when Miriam began to lose all hope for a happy future for her family. Victor and Mortimer’s shouts just got louder and louder, and when the final words were uttered and Mortimer stormed out of the house, and Victor’s life, Miriam completely broke down. When her sons’ hatred for one another had grown so horrifyingly strong that they disowned each other, Miriam didn’t know what to do with herself, and no matter how much Walter tried to comfort her, she was inconsolable.

Walter was still trying to come to terms with his sons’ feud and take care of his wife, who was still grieving the loss of her perfect family, when Victor came to him with the news that he would be marrying Morwenna, and would be trading his life for an eternal future with his vampire girlfriend.

He didn’t know what to do at first, he knew that he had to support his son and his decision, no matter how hard that would be, but his main problem from then on was his wife. She took Victor’s news terribly. Of course she was happy that Victor had found happiness and someone to love, but the fact that he was essentially destroying the life that she had given to him broke her heart beyond repair.

No more than a week later, Miriam died of seemingly nothing other than that broken heart. With her sons despising each other and ruining the beautiful lives she had worked so hard to give them, she had truly lost the will to carry on living. And now, it was Walter’s turn to live with a broken heart.

He never got over Miriam’s death, and still went to her grave to talk to her almost every day. But, for her sake, he learned to take each day at a time and keep going. He loved both of his sons the same, and although they were not a part of each other’s lives, Walter made sure that he was a part of both of theirs. He grew to love Morwenna and Bella as if they were his own daughters and loved his grandchildren even more. They seemed to pump the joy of life back into him, and not a single day went by when he didn’t crack a joke to make them chuckle or entrance them with one of his incredible stories.

Walter and Miriam did not lead exactly perfect lives, but they made each other happier than anything else in the world, and that’s all that mattered. They built a life for themselves out of the burnt rubble of the Von Haunt Estate, but created their legacy in the bricks and mortar of Golgotha Manor...

[littlemissnellie]

Halo Golgotha

After the twins were born, Victor and Morwenna thought that they had everything that they could ever want in the world: a son and a daughter. But as the years passed, they started to yearn for something more. Whether it was from neglecting their first daughter, or because they really just felt that they needed something new in their lives, the second that, after years of trying to conceive, Morwenna fell pregnant with their second daughter, everything changed. She was their little blessing, their own little angel. Which is, as I’m sure that you’ve already guessed, is how Halo got her name.

Because of the obvious imagery that was packaged along with such a name, Halo seemed to be forever burdened with the requirement to behave like a saint. It wasn’t really a burden for Halo though, not yet anyway, because with her parents fussing over from sunrise to sunset it was harder for her to behave any other way. She was their little star, and in their eyes she shone brightest of all. 

It would be expected for her older siblings to be rather jealous of the unrelenting affection she received from their parents, but in fact, they both seemed undeniably fond of her too. She was their perfect little sister, so naturally there would be some underlying envy laced into their relationship. But despite the obvious quarrels about who sneaked into who’s room or who touched who’s things, Halo was loved unconditionally by Sterling and November. She was loved unconditionally by everyone, because little Halo could do no wrong.

Halo, with her perfect, pitch-black plaits, perfect porcelain complexion and perfect personality, truly was loved by anyone and everyone that she knew. Something about her seemed to reach out and touch your heart within mere seconds of being in her presence. But Halo herself found it rather difficult to reciprocate and return that love. Being put on such a high pedestal of adoration from birth had meant that she had experienced very little of anything else, and the more praise that was thrown her way, the less it actually meant anything to her. Instead of building up her walls and surrounding her with a pillow-like barricade of cuddles and compliments, it was actually chipping away at her confidence. 

The only person she felt that she could really connect with was her grandfather, who she spent a great deal of her time with. Her mother had her father, her brother had her sister, so, as if by a happy default, Halo was left with the jolly, fascinating soul that belonged to her grandfather. She had grown up with him being her best friend in the whole world and she adored him so much that she wasn't about to let that change for as long as she would live. And, thanks to the vampire blood that ran through her veins, that would e a rather long time. 

Halo was still too young to fully understand the extent of her vampiric powers, but she knew enough about who and what she was to be able to stay safe when she needed to. But with her parents' ever-watchful eye, that kind of situation had thankfully never arisen. 

Halo lived a very sheltered, but unquestionably idyllic life. It was just a shame that because of this, Halo was not quite an idyllic little girl. After being bombarded with praise and affection from the second that she took her first breath, Halo has had no opportunity to figure out who she is on her own. With a label rather than a name, and a trophy status within her family, Halo had never gotten the chance to take control of her own destiny and discover who she really was beneath all of that. Times were changing though, and as Halo would soon discover, people could too. 

[littlemissnellie]

Victor Golgotha

Victor Golgotha’s heart had always belonged to Windenburg; it’s where he was born, it’s where he grew up and it’s where he met the love of his life. So when his latest business venture led him and his family to return, it was as if he was being welcomed home. And welcomed is exactly how he felt, mostly because his brother was nowhere to be found.

Victor had never gotten along with his brother Mortimer, much to their parents’ dismay. As soon as Mortimer was born, a streak of jealousy ripped through Victor that only seemed to deepen with age. The bitterness between the brothers couldn't be sweetened by the love their parents gave them, and the heartache caused by their constant, spiteful arguing was too much for their mother to bear. Her death only intensified Victor’s resentment for his brother, especially since he had never been able to shake the feeling that his mother had always favoured him. And before their father knew it, Victor had pushed Mortimer too far...

Victor had always been driven by an overwhelming, and frankly unexplained, obligation to succeed. And he felt that this responsibility should be shared by his brother too; their mother had died before they could prove themselves to her, so now they had to do everything in their power to prosper. Alas, instead of following in Victor’s sensible footsteps, Mortimer strayed from the path in order to follow his dreams of becoming an author: a move that was unforgivable in Victor’s eyes. And one almighty argument later, the brothers parted ways, went on to lead their own lives and have never looked back since. 

Victor did not let the destruction of the turbulent relationship with his brother phase him though. He worked his way up in the world and quickly became acquainted with a rather influential family in the town. The family’s eldest daughter, Morwenna, despite being betrothed to another soon fell in love with Victor, and to his surprise, Victor found that he had fallen for her too. Before long Victor had become so entangled in the family’s world that he started to forget what life had been like without them. And the reason why was far beyond anything that Victor could ever have comprehended.

The girl, the family and the lifestyle he had become so enraptured with were all gripped by vampirism and upon stumbling across this discovery, he soon was as well. The transformation had been intense and Morwenna had been wary at first, but once it was complete, and Victor was aware of all the power he could now harness, he never looked back.

He and Morwenna went on to raise three beautiful children, bringing them up with the same ideals and mind-set that he had, no matter how unconventional they were. The business he had created for himself only continued to grow, as did his influence over the surrounding towns. But his hunger for power never ceased. The underlying anger and jealousy never seemed to work their way out of his system either, despite the great divide he had created between him and his brother, as well as any other threats to his dominance and success. But time would only tell when that that anger would erupt once again...

[littlemissnellie]

Sterling Golgotha

Sterling was the eldest child of Victor and Morwenna Golgotha, and had been their only child for all of either minutes, which was when his twin sister November entered the world. The fact that he had been given this life-long attachment to someone else didn’t stop him from excelling on his own though, in fact it only made him shine brighter. Shining seemed to be something that Sterling had been destined to do from the moment that his parents chose his name. They had set him up for success before he had even taken his first breath. 

Victor had always longed to have a son, so when Sterling was born it was a dream come true. He was cherished by his parents for this very reason and he basked in their adoration from a very early age, adoration that was often dragged away from his sister just so that he could be showered with more. Growing up, this was never a problem for Sterling, mostly because he never picked up on it. But the older he got, the more obvious it became to him, and the guiltier it made him feel.

Sterling hadn’t always gotten along perfectly with November, as is expected with siblings, especially twins, but there had never been an altercation that they couldn’t patch up later. Arguments were begrudgingly resolved on the spot and the temperamental twins would walk away unscathed, seething with rage, but still unscathed. The rest of the day would go ahead as normal, just with the twins avoiding each other at all costs, until bed time that is…

It was always Sterling that made the first move, November was either too shy or too stubborn to, Sterling had never actually found out which it was, though it was probably a mixture of both. He would appear in her bedroom doorway dragging his teddy bear by the arm behind him and would apologise for whatever trivial disagreement had gotten the better of them today. November would never actually apologise back, she would just move back her duvet so that Sterling could crawl into bed beside her. Her duvet would quickly transform into a cave though and the pair would sit inside giggling and playing until any remaining anger towards the other had disappeared, along with their parents’ undivided attention when their little sister Halo came along...

Sterling loved his sisters, and they loved him too. But their love wasn’t nearly as significant to him as his was to them. How could it be when you were adored by everyone that met you? 

Sterling had always had charisma, it was a part of who he was. People were fawning over him before he could even string together a proper sentence; there was just something about him that people couldn’t help but become entranced by. No matter where his father’s business ventures took him, no matter what school he went to, everyone bent over backwards to get his attention. Popularity seemed to be grained into Sterling’s entire being. Silver may not be magnetic, but Sterling’s personality told otherwise.

Everyone loved Sterling, it was hard not to. The praise and attention may get to his head sometimes, but a he had a good head on his shoulders and a strong heart that always led him in the right direction. His parents always glowed with pride whenever he was around; they didn’t think that they could have raised a more perfect son. The closer Sterling looks at himself and what he wants for the future though, he starts to see a different person to what his parents want him to be forming. Will he listen to his heart and believe in himself, or will his parents win the battle?

[littlemissnellie]

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Vladislaus’ hand traveled up the bare skin of Morwenna’s thigh. It didn’t feel like it belonged to something living...it frightened her how accurate it was. It was as if Jack Frost himself were tracing the patterns as cold dread seeped into her muscles, threatening to freeze her in place. She felt rigid under his gaze, a pretty porcelain doll he was eyeing up in a shop window, exposed and vulnerable. But she was not about to surrender herself to his touch. She wasn’t going to let him have the satisfaction.

Her hand flew up from beside her to slap him across the face. But just like back at the manor, he stopped her in her tracks and held her hand fast. Her wrist felt brittle as his fingers curled around it. Part of her wished it would snap.

“You agreed to this, Morwenna. You can’t back out now,” he said in a low tone that sent a shiver down her spine. “Not if you want to keep your family safe anyway.”

“I can’t keep my family safe at all because of you,” she spat back. Her crimson lips curled into an unsightly grimace. “At least this way you don’t get to hurt them.”

“So you’re taking on that blame all by yourself? My my my, quite the noble heroine, aren’t you,” Vlad smirked. “As I’ve said, I’d be more than happy to take that trouble off your hands-”

“I would sooner rot in hell than give you that satisfaction,” Morwenna hissed. She wished she could strike him down, then and there with that slimy grin on his face. His hand began to slither over her body again. She tensed and hardened her grimace to stone. 

“Mmm, feisty,” Vlad chuckled slyly. “I’ve always liked that side of you.”

She didn’t know exactly what provoked it, but in that moment Morwenna clocked the cracks in his smirk and latched onto those weaknesses with every power she could summon within herself. Vlad liked her feisty and if feisty kept her children safe from his poisoned plots then it was feisty she would be. Her cool, glassy skin suddenly burned as wild, hot determination coursed beneath the surface. Before her instinct could falter and her rational could reclaim the helm, her body rose and pushed him back. She entwined herself around him and skimmed her fingers across the glistening skin of his cheek.

His form kept shifting beneath her touch, like the rippling of a pool, revealing hints of the Vladislaus Straud she wanted nothing more than to run from. But as long as he kept up this disguise she could choke down her guilt and play the fair maiden. It transported her back to her youth more and more convincingly the longer she remained in his presence, unnerving her but drawing her in, warping her grip on reality until she was begging for someone to pull her back to normality, to the manor with her family, where she felt safe and just. But no one came. And so she remained in Vlad’s chamber as his pretty new toy, all packaged up in black satin and tied with a lacy bow. She didn’t feel safe here at all; she felt dangerous, dangerously powerful. She knew better than to allow herself this much freedom; she becomes reckless. 

History was bound to repeat itself, she just didn’t expect it to reverse like this. 

“You never did get to see this side of me much, did you, Vlad?” she asked huskily. Her words felt like a velvet cloak being wrapped around his shoulders, drawing him in close and thawing out that icy malevolence. She blinked and suddenly he was that young, vulnerable boy again, so foolishly in love but so blatantly unwilling to relinquish his desire.

“You didn’t exactly give me the chance,” Vlad said quietly, dropping more and more of his hostility with each word that passed his lips. She was drawing the fight out of him and in her presence he felt unable to bring himself to fight her. Part of him loved this lack of control, this feeling of slipping under the surface. struggling for breath... He could feel her casting a spell over him all over again and he found himself urging her to continue.

“Well, you didn’t bring me back here for nothing... How about I show you?”

Morwenna would do anything to protect her family. Anything. But something about this felt worse than she could ever have anticipated. Black guilt soaked into her skin and became as much a part of her as that satin robe now felt as if it was. She hated herself for this, for betraying the promise of faithfulness to her family, for tearing down the barricades an accept to a proposal once built up for her many, many years ago. But she hated herself even more for relishing every second as it passed.

There was something beautiful about reckless abandon, dark and twisted as it may be. Suddenly she had become the snake...