DISCLAIMER - This chapter includes references to violence which some readers may find upsetting.
Marlie stood frozen. What would await her on the other side of that door. Where there had before been noise there was now only silence.
Two shots. Hank? Ralph? Norma? If Hank was standing there could well be a bullet waiting for Marlie. She crept to the window and peeked through. A movement caught her eye and she jerked back. Prepared to run.
'Marlie, it's Ralph' came a voice. 'I need your help'.
Cautiously Marlie approached the door, afraid of what was through it but also of the spectre of death which had entered. The scene that greeted her was a relief. Ralph stood, gun still raised and Hank was curled on the floor, unmoving in a pool of blood.
'But I heard two shots', Marlie questioned, 'Tell me it's not Norma-'
'Norma-Jeane's downstairs. I think she's okay. I fired a warning shot and the idiot grabbed his gun and tried to shoot me. It backfired and hit him instead. If he dies then his blood is only on his own hands.'
Marlie hurried to roll back the rug as the Reaper returned with Hank's soul.
Even in death Hank was a bully, cursing Marlie and Ralph before turning to beg for his life. But even Death recognises that there are those who do not deserve another chance, no matter how unfortunate their death and it left with Hank in its grasp. All that was left of the man and the monster that Hank had become was a box of ashes which nobody claimed.
Downstairs Norma had lain listening with tears streaming down her face. Sh had heard the shots and the muffled voices but without hearing the words she had no idea whether the next feet on the stairway would bring her salvation or death.When the light filtering down the stairs revealed a blonde woman, Norma-Jeane convinced herself it was her mother as an angel, come to take her away from this horror.
Marlie rushed down and gathered her shaking sister in to her arms, Norma-Jeane barely seemed to register she was there. Calling for Ralph they hurried her into the light and Ralph quickly surmised that she was in shock from the psychological trauma of the situation. There didn't seem to be any major physical harm done.
Marlie drove Norma-Jeane home with instructions to get her straight to bed, warm her up and keep a close watch until he returned. Ralph looked around the shack before grabbing a large bottle of bleach, shuddering at the thought of its intended purpose, and descended to the basement.
Looking around and knowing what his wife had undergone he wished he'd fired the killing shot. But with Hank's misfortune came an opportunity. Ralph bleached everything Norma-Jeane may have touched, he bleached every surface. When he was convinced there was nothing that would tie his wife to that place he returned upstairs and repeated the process before leaving the cabin as abandoned as it looked,with nothing to tie Hank's death to any of his family.
The police found the crime-scene several weeks later and put out a request for information. Nobody came forward. The deceased was soon identified as the felon Hank Monoe and when the post-mortem came back with cause of death being a misfired weapon the case was left to go cold with an unofficial ruling of accidental death.
The family of Hank Monroe never came forward with any questions.
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Marlie and her family tried to go back to normal life but everybody was shaken by the danger which had come from nowhere and come so close to destroying them. Norma-Jeane recovered fast physically but the psychological scars were deeper.
Where before she had been wary of exposure she was now completely paranoid. Added to this was the increasing presence of her biological father in the media as he ramped up his presidential campaign, the threat Hank had passed on from him fresh in everybody's minds. Norma-Jeane wouldn't even go to the mailbox on her own.
Ralph knew that they needed a change if they were going to heal and, with heavy hearts, Norma-Jeane, Carson and Ralph packed up to leave town. Ralph said they were going to go overseas, that he couldn't say where but that once they were secure they would make contact under an assumed name and the two families could at least exchange news in safety. Maybe one day they would meet again.
They left at dawn, less than a month after the incident. After saying their good-byes the Monroes retreated to the house to process. All except Lola, who watched Carson pull away with a heavy heart, hoping that now it was hopeless her stubborn heart would admit what her head knew, Carson would never be hers.
Inside Marlie cried at the loss of her newly discovered family and Brody held her, grateful for what they had to hold on to.
As the Monroes began to heal around the hole left by Norma-Jeane and her family, Marlie began to think of their future. Each of her children was so different, they each had such wonderful characters and they each had their own flaws. She hoped that they would all be able to find a way in life free from the tragedies she had gone through and began to think of a plan to safeguard her legacy.
She decided to wait to share this plan until all of the children were old enough to understand it, a time which was becoming frighteningly short. Before she felt she'd had time to enjoy the baby years of her little twins they were growing into children. It was a special occasion as Brody was sharing their birthday so they threw a small party for their close friends.
Brody blew out his candles before the guests arrived, not wanting a big fuss about him entering his twilight years. Although he was beginning to tire more quickly he was determined to keep advancing in his career and marching up the chess ranks until his hair was snow white!
Once all the guests were having a great time the twins were ready to blow out their candles. Oscar was older by 40 minutes to he went first. Having spent so much time playing with Belle's phone as a toddler it was no wonder that grew up into a handsome little computer whiz!
Georgia was next and as she blew out her candles she wished very hard to be just like her brother, they were firm friends. The birthday gods were obviously listening as she developed the Disciplined trait, just like her brother already had!
Marlie had been back at work bringing in a second income so as a special treat the twins were allowed to pick their own outfits to be delivered from the local salon. They both looked absolutely adorable.
Marlie couldn't believe how fast her family was growing up. That night she sat at the dining room table with a blank notebook and began writing.
Under the title, The Monroe Legacy she wrote a list of rules she had lived by, a list of rules she hoped her children might agree to live by, rules she believed in.
Then she turned to the next page and began her story.
Generation One - Marlie Dee Monroe.
Marlie Monroe was a mess.....
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Click here to read The Monroe Legacy Chapter 20 - As Time Goes By and then cast your vote as to who should be the heir to Generation 2!
Yay so glad Norma-Jeane made it, and although she had to leave, she's alive, so that is always good. I'm happy she has Ralph, he's a good husband to her.
ReplyDeleteI hope Marlie will be okay now. :)
Originally she didn't! I have screenshots for her death scene but as I moved forward in planning it didn't actually make sense to kill her... but she did have to leave. Marlie and she were never truly safe when together.
DeleteI have a feeling that Marlie will be fine!
Ha! He killed himself accidentally. That's funny!! I think it is also funny that as a ghost, he still has the gun in his hands. :)
ReplyDeletePoor Norma-Jeane...what a shock. I can't even imagine trying to recover after that. I am not surprised they moved, but I'm very sad. I liked having NJ around for Marlie. :(
The twins are gorgeous! I'm such a sucker for blonde hair. :D That's interesting how you showed that Marlie is the one that wrote this story and the rules. :) Great idea! I'm excited to see who will win. I'm not even sure who I will vote for. Gotta read the next chapter first. :)
Haha yep! I really wanted it not to be on anyone elses conscience, he was till her Dad even if he was crazy evil. And it's possible that I forgot to take the gun off him before he died - whoops!
ReplyDeleteI was sad to see NJ go too, I agonised for hours. At one point she was going to die but I couldn't bring myself to do it - I burned the cabin down with her and Hank inside :S But it felt wrong so I thought and thought - there was no way around her leaving though... You can't have a dead celebrity sister in a small town and keep it secret forever :(
ahah - the blonde hair thing amuses me now I know how you voted!
The kids look great! It's so sad to see Norma going, especially since she and Marlie had such a good chance to finally be close. :(
ReplyDeleteBut can I just say that I love what you did at the end? Having her be the one writing this, that is very interested and I wasn't expecting that at all. It kinda adds to the story though, and is very fitting for Mar's character I think!
They're real cuties, I'm a proud sim Mom.
DeleteAnd yes - I was sad to see Norma go but as I was planning out the rest of the Gen I just couldn't get round the fact that as a supposedly dead megastar her living close by a sister who looks simila with the surname Monroe was just going to bring drama to both of them and they deserved to be happy - even if that meant they had to say good-bye :(
And thank you - I felt like it suited the way theat O've been writing it - having everything come through the characters - I've decided that with the exception of the heir votes I want to try and keep it all "in story" as much as I can,
So glad everyone made it out okay. Not including the monster in that statement. He's not worthy enough to be called someone. xD
ReplyDeleteIt is sad Norma-Jeane and her family are leaving but it is understandable. Hopefully one day they'll be able to communicate again.
Loved the ending of this chapter! Very nice touch
Yep, hank certainly wasn't much of a person and now he is fine for good but a big scare for all involved. I certainly hope they'll be able to stay in touch but sadly you can't really vanish and still hang out with your family if you're a movie star :(
DeleteAnd thank you, it wasn't planned and then it just popped into my head and I though it suited my style of story telling. Thanks for keeping on reading and commenting, I love to hear from you :)
Yay happy ending! Now I can stop reading for now without yearning to resolve a cliffhanger XD
ReplyDeleteThe younger twins are still such cuties. I look forward to picking this up again later to read :D
Finally so e peace for those long suffering women, I figured nothing they and the readers (and even I) could use a bit if a rest!
DeleteI love Georgia with her purple eyes and Oscar ages up rather nicely too!
Yay so glad Norma-Jean made it! Though I feel so terrible for what she is going through :( she may be ok physically but not otherwise, poor girl.
ReplyDeleteThe kids are growing up nicely :).
How ironic that Hank was the instrument of his own demise. So sad that Norma Jean & family had to move but it was probably for the best since she had so many enemies. Too bad one of them had to be her father:(
ReplyDeleteHa, you are such a good writer! A nice touch that she started to write her own story, makes this blog seem even more like a diary.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of your previous chapter I was so scared Norma-Jeane was dead. Especially after reading the title of this chapter. But they made it through, phew :-)
I hope Lola wil be the heir, but I'll read that in the next chapter.