Thursday, 19 June 2014

The Monroe Legacy - G.3.Chapter 7 - I'll Be Seeing You

Saffron hardly recognised the man who stepped out of the taxi as her brother.



It was more than a physical change, sure Gray was thinner, his hair was a mess, his usual clean shave gone and there were dark circles around his eyes, but his spirit seemed broken. He carried himself differently, the sparkle in his eyes had been replaced by a dead hardness.

Saffron wondered if he would ever have come back if she hadn't called and begged, begged him to come home for Hallie's sake.

 
Eva's disappearance had changed Gray but it had aged their mother. Always vivacious and full of life she was now quiet and somehow smaller. The gray streaks in her hair had become the majority, before finally chasing the last if the black from her long braid. Just as she had promised her son she had campaigned for her granddaughter's return making appearances on TV, hiring investigators, pushing the police to look further, to look harder. She kept the house going, she bore Gray's pain along with the deaths of two of her siblings, Belle died quietly in her sleep while Georgia finally gave in to her illness.

 Until one day she could go no more.

Saffron and Leyton had watched the whole thing, trying to slow her down, trying to shoulder the burden but Hallie was stubborn. Gray's despairing calls from the search had kept Hallie pushing until her body simply refused. The day that Saffron found her mother asleep in her car, in the garage with the engine running  exhausted and bent, was the day she had called her brother.



While she knew that no amount of time would numb the loss for Gray she warned him that he was going to lose more of his family if he kept going, and miss out on moments he would later regret. Though she didn't want to say it, Saffron could tell her mother was nearing the end.

Gray had argued, claimed to be on the edge of a breakthrough in Mexico, but Saffron could hear him trying to convince himself as well as her, and once she finally spoke out her fears, he agreed to return.



With Gray back the Monroe house was fuller but sadder. Hallie's energy waned, she often spent all day in bed, her heart breaking for her son's loss and her head worrying about what he would do once she was gone. Saffron and Leyton helped where they could but stuck mainly to their own quarters, it seemed cruel to parade their relationship in front of Gray who could mostly be found scouring Mexican newspapers, calling the contacts he had made whilst searching or just staring at the wall.

Violet stayed away, she was expecting a second child any day and Amelie looked a little too much like Eva for Gray to bear. Sienna and Jet were both out of the country and though they called, Gray would rarely speak to them.


Amelie Monroe-King 

When Hallie, on a good day, told Gray that he had to keep hoping and get out of the house he started walking. He would go out for hours, covering miles, always carrying Eva's picture to ask people if they'd seen her and Aisha's too, he'd have loved to destroy it, to watch it burn, but she was a link he might need, a face that might be recognised. 




Though the police still came up with new angles from time to time, Gray no longer felt the thrill of hope he had when the search began.



The only light in this dark time was the marriage of Saffron and Leyton. They had planned to wait until they could afford a home, but given the circumstances and Hallie's declining health they decided to have a tiny service at home. Hallie smiled throughout, it was good to see another of her children settled and happy, she prayed that Saffron's fate would be happier than Gray's had been of late.




Gray was on one of his walks when his mother died. He received a calm but heartbroken phone call from Saffron telling him to come back, her tone telling him what her words did not, that Hallie was gone.

Gray sat, frozen to the spot, letting the snow fall on him and watching the tiny flakes settle on his knuckles. He wondered how long he would have to sit still before it would stop melting, chilling his body until the snow could cover him and make him forget.



But as he sat, he could hear his mother in his head, see her face in his mind's eye. She had always supported him, believed in him and to give up would be a pretty horrible way to honour everything she'd given up for him. Gray forced himself to move, for the first time in almost two years moving Eva from the front of his mind and replacing her with his mother.

She deserved more from her legacy than a quitter.



The funeral was small and quiet. Hallie's surviving siblings, Oscar and Lola and their families, all of Gray's brothers and sisters, Leyton, Derek and little Amelie. They talked and wept, remembering their parents who were now together again until it got to be too much and everyone dispersed, returning to their homes to grieve in their own way.

As Gray turned to go back to his room, to figure out his next step, Saffron stopped him. Handing him a letter she hugged him hard.

'Mom asked me to give you this when this day came. She also told me to say that things are going to get better'.
 
Gray tried for a smile and settled for a nod, taking the letter.

'Thanks Saff' he said gruffly, 'not just for this, but for everything. I owe you.'

His sister's eyes glittered with tears and she shook her head,

'This is what family is for' and she turned and went to find Leyton.

Gray made his way to his bedroom trying not to look at the doors of his mother's room or the nursery, focusing instead in the letter he held.



Collapsing by his bed he gently unfolded it, smoothing the creases out and running his fingers over the curving script of his mother's handwriting,

Gray,

I have tried over and again to think of the right words to leave you with once I am gone. Some are obvious. I love you. I am so proud of you. I wish you peace and happiness.

The others are harder. I wanted to find a way to take away your guilt and your pain and your longing, but all I could come up with was this.

Live.

Gray, you have to live. I believe that Eva will be delivered safely home, I pray for it daily. Keep looking, but remember to live. If you forget yourself completely, pouring all of yourself into the search then you will have nothing left for her when she comes back. Find a way back to happiness even as Eva finds her way back to you.

We will watch over her, your father and I, just as we will watch over you.

I love you,


Mom 




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Read the next chapter now - Ch. 8 - Choosing the Light

11 comments:

  1. You just love to rip out hearts and trample on them don't you :( this was a beautiful but very saddening chapter. Hallie is so far my favorite Monroe, I don't think most of your readers were ready for her death. Watching gray crumble is so sad. He was so ambitious and lively but seeing life destroy people(even if fictional) is just really upsetting. I hope Eva comes back :( Gray's story is just that, gray. I love every word of it but it's so sad.

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    1. I'm sorry :( believe be I take no pleasure in writing the miserable bits and I miss Hallie :(

      The change in gray is certainly profound! hopefully he finds a way back to himself, he deserves a little colour in his life.

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  2. Oh, so sad! I LOVED Hallie! She has been one of my all time fav sims! :( So sad to see her go. Hopefully, Gray will take her advice to heart and start moving forward with his life. I mean, he'll never stop looking....I know I wouldn't, but....

    I KNOW Eva will come back. :D Glad that Saffron & Leyton got married! Amelie is such a cutie! :D

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    1. Me too :( she was a lovely lovely sim and I miss her a lot. I think Gray will at least try to take his mom's advice, but it won't be easy.

      Whether she comes back or not, Eva wouldn't want his to suffer endlessly. And Amelie is adorable but her new baby sister Celine is cuter!

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  3. That was really great advice, and all just in a single word. That word holds so much in it, I hope Gray takes it to heart. It would be so tragic (but a great story) if Eva managed to come back, but then came back to the empty shell of the man her father used to be. Poor Gray, he's so determined, so much that it's tearing him apart. I feel so bad for him. LOL.

    O_O When you said Hallie was found in the garage in the car, I was like... did she attempt suicide cause she couldn't take it anymore? *bites fingernails* LOL. I'm happy that Saffron and Leyton can find some happiness in these dark times.

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    1. Thanks :) I wrote a whole other letter and it just came out pretentious and wordy, I hope Gray can run with it and find a reason to go on.

      Yeah, I realised the Hallie bit sounded a bit suicidey but it wasn't meant to, I just wanted her to pass out in her car but withiot anyone but her being in danger :p

      Hopefully we'll be getting some more light spots, but Leighton and Saffron are certainly a start. They're really cute together and my first sims online dating couple :p

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  4. Love drama and tear jerker movies/stories and this was one of those. I am so hoping for a happy ending! Hallie's letter to Gray was lovely and I hope he takes her advice and starts to live his life again. I know it will be difficult and he won't want ever stop looking for Eva.

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    1. I hated writing this chapter, Hallie was one of my absolute favourite sims I've ever played. Gray certainly has a lot against him but hopefully can find a way to fight through and live the life he deserves.

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  5. What a bittersweet chapter.

    I really will miss Hallie. I think her death is so much more tragic than that of Marlie's, as with Marlie I felt like her time was up and the kids were fine without her... with Hallie I feel like the family could fall apart in her absence :-(

    I love how each generation has come with a different thematic approach (I don't know if this is intentional or what but it's brilliant anyway :D) and with Gray I just sense it getting darker and darker, it's so bleak but written so well.

    I sort of worry that Eva may never be found... at least for now, maybe even till Generation Four (or will you not keep us in suspense that long?)

    Anyway, great to be back reading. I've missed the Monroe's :-)

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    1. It was bittersweet to write, I hate when an heir dies and Ha.lie has beena njoy to play. What made it worse was that she glitches and restarted her elder phase so I actually had to manually trigger it or she would have lived forever. She was certainly the foundation they all relied on.

      Re- generational themes it's been semi intentional. Gen 1 was my initial idea, gen 2 I wanted to do more of a romance and then this time around I wanted to go with the mystery of gen 1 but take it to a darker place. To keep myself interested I like to have an arc for a generation that I can work in game events in to. I'm glad you're enjoying it :)

      As for Eva's return.... No comment :p

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  6. Just to let you know there isn't a link to chapter 8 in this chapter :)

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