A Surfacing Secret

Monday, November 8, 2010

Fear can prompt us to do many things we aren't proud of. There are moments in our lives when a cool mind could ward away mistakes, save us from needing to keep secrets from the ones we love... But fear, it is a dangerous thing. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," a quote that speaks on many levels -- for fear itself loves to create more things to be afraid of. ... Well, enough of the philosophical hooie.

For many who know Meredith Kane, there is very little to be suspicious of. Although often anxious and worrisome, her caring heart more than makes up for her short-comings as a hero. But, it is an error of many to believe that she's an innocent woman; for, where fear is, there is also danger.


And, hard as Meredith may have tried to hide her fears, she may soon find that trying to hide them is more worrisome than it's worth.



The speakers on the television seemed to shake the whole basement of the Kane house, but it wasn't the only noise coming from there; the squeals of two little girls was an added amount of annoyance to anyone unfortunate enough to be listening but not fortunate enough to be in on their fun.

Naomi Leman had been spending quite a bit of time at the Kanes the last few weeks, such that Amelia would probably say "Who?" if ever asked what had happened to her friend Alesha.


Such as things were, Amelia didn't have time to miss Alesha; Naomi had far more interesting stories of all the places she'd lived before, was able to stay up way later before getting tired, and was a lot more competitive -- not that Alesha was really boring, but Naomi was actually... well, fun.

And, for a young girl like Amelia, having fun was an incredible distraction.


"Uuuggh, you totally did not just do that!" Naomi expressed in disbelief as Amelia knocked her friend's car off the racetrack... In the video game, that is. "That's so unfair!"

"Haha, suckeeeeeerrrr," Amelia squealed loudly; loudly enough that she didn't hear the stomping footsteps coming down the stairs.

Both girls jumped a little when Bradley's voice suddenly seemed to come from nowhere, yelling, "Can't you two PLEASE keep it DOWN?!"


"I'm trying to get some work done, and with you two goofballs making such a racket, I can't focus on anything," Bradley grumbled as he came around to the other side of the couch. It was obvious he was trying to remain civil, but his lack of sleep and the noise of giggling people actually enjoying themselves were starting to press on his nerves.

"Oh, come on, Brad..." Naomi stood up from the couch as Amelia began switching the game, her eyes clearly trying to avoid contact with her older brother's -- for fear of getting too upset about his anger. "It wouldn't be so bad if you joined us, would it? There's an extra controller if you want to," Naomi finished.

Bradley was definitely not amused, though. "No, I do not want to join you two. What I'm working on is far more important than... than video games."


While they were talking, though, another intruder had also ventured down the stairs -- but this one wasn't coming to rain on anyone's parade. "Brad, why don't you just calm down, okay?"

July -- their cousin -- was far more even-tempered than most of the Kanes, but even she seemed a little irritated at her best friend's current... issues. "Your mom told me you were down here," she continued. "She's seems kind of worried about you. Why don't we go out? We haven't gone on a fishing trip in a while..."


"Look, July, I know you mean well, but I'm really busy right now," Brad said with a furrowed brow. "I'm working on a really important project, the kind I can't exactly walk away from. You understand, right?"


"Well, yeah... I do, but Brad, that's all you've been doing for weeks. At this rate, you're going to work yourself to death. You've gotten hardly any sleep, your grades are slipping.. I care about you, and if I believe that you've gone too far, then you really have." July shook her head and shrugged, concern clearly on her face. "You used to love the outdoors, Brad. I know it reminds you of her, but... You need to stop shutting yourself away."

July had a feeling that what she was saying was falling on deaf ears, but after a minute, Bradley hung his head and sighed, nodding slightly under the weight of his chin.


"Yeah, yeah. I suppose you're right." He still didn't look all that happy about it, but there was no use arguing with her. "There's no way I'm going to get anything done in this racket, anyways," he said as the two girls behind them suddenly broke out in laughter.

Yeah, probably for the best.





As the cousins pulled off of Savannah Lane and started heading towards the outskirts of town, Brad turned to July, and said with a staunch voice: "Well, we can't stay out after dark, so this is gonna be a short trip."

"That's alright," she responded with a shrug. "It doesn't matter how long we're out, as long as you get away from all that inventing business. Even inventors need a little R & R, you know..."

He grumbled, but shrugged in acceptance. "Yeah, I guess."


The sun was still high, and although the air was crisp, the feeling of the pole between Brad's fingers made him remember, if only partially, what he was missing.

"See, isn't this great?!" July was certainly enthusiastic, although her expertise with a fishing rod left a little to be desired.

"Yeah... I'm glad you talked me into coming." Bradley couldn't help but crack a smile. "This is great... thanks. I guess I forgot what it was like..."


As things went quiet again, Bradley turned away from watching his bobber and looked at July, his tone going morbid again as he spoke. "So... You're still with Thomas, huh?"


"Thomas? Oh... yeah..." July shrugged, clearly not all that happy about it. "Things haven't been too great ever since I found out he'd been necking Jade behind my back, but, whatever. This town isn't exactly full of great boys, and it wasn't all that serious to begin with, anyways. He's been trying to make it up to me and everything, ya know, especially since he's afraid Travis'll beat him up again if he doesn't, but... I guess we'll see. That's just life, ya know."

"Yeah, things never work out the way we plan. You at least happy?"


"Oh, sure I'm hap--" But before July could finish her statement, a blood-curdling scream suddenly broke the quiet talking between the two teenagers.

Surprise gripped both their hearts so tight that they each were frozen stiff, their eyes glued wide at each other, and their fishing poles quivering under their grips.

"W..W-What was that?" July finally said.

"I-I don't know, but it sounds like someone's hurt..." Once they both got over their shock, they set down their poles and turned towards where they both believed the sound to be coming from.


"This way!" July said as she raced up the hill, confident that once they crossed it's horizon, they'd find someone -- someone hurt, frightened... Or even dead.

Trust teenagers to be as morbid as possible, naturally.


But, as they both reached the summit, all they found was a thick stone tablet, with a few words scratched into the finish: "Rest in Peace."

Bradley shook his head, completely confused. The scream forgotten -- there was clearly no one in sight, from this vantage point -- he asked, "What the heck is this? A... Gravestone?"


Before he could even consider anything else, July suddenly seemed completely overtaken with fear. "Oh... Oh no... I know what this is... It's...It's..."


"It's probably a prank, is what it is," Bradley grumbled with a roll of his eyes. "Some upper-classmen trying to hoodwink people into thinking this spot is haunted. Don't think anything of it, July."

"No-- N-no, you don't understand, Brad. I know what this is. It's real. Very, very real."


"What the heck are you talking about, July? You're the last person I thought to buy into hocus-pocus stories like thi--"

"Brad, you're gonna be really angry at me about this, but--"

"What, you planted this here?"

"No... Of course not. It's way, way more serious than that." July was almost shaking, she was so anxious. "Bear with me, and please, don't be angry..."

July paused for a moment, before starting warily, "See, I was going through some stuff of my mom's one day a few months ago... June dared me to break into her safe because she didn't believe I could. And well, we found some stuff saying that your mom... like... buried someone here."


"What?!" Brad stepped back, raising his hands in disbelief. "You've gotta be joking me."

"No, I'm not, I wish I was," July said, her voice quivering. "June and I promised each other we'd never say anything about it to anyone, especially you guys, because we weren't sure how you'd react... I don't even know if it's true. I just don't understand why my mom would keep a letter from your mom about where she buried some... Chandra person... unless it was real."


"Please, please don't be angry that I didn't tell you," July continued, her eyes and hands both pleading to her older cousin. "It's just if my mom had found out that I went through her things... If your mom had found out you knew where she buried... Well... Like, a body, then..."


"No, no, I'm not angry at you, Julee," Brad said, trying to calm her down, although he was having a hard time keeping calm himself. "I'm just confused. My mom is like, the nicest person I know. I can't believe that she'd do something like that... It just doesn't make sense."

"No, it doesn't." July seemed a bit relieved, but she still began to turn away, clearly more spooked than ever. "Not at all."


As July disappeared down the hill, clearing up their supplies to begin heading back to the car, Brad stood poised over the stone, trying to understand what may lie beneath. Was it really a body that his mother had buried? Was it a secret past that none of them had ever known?

What had his aunt... His mother... done?

Bradley couldn't be sure, not even that it was true... But if anything, there was one thing he knew for certain: he was going to find out.

15 comments:

Unknown November 8, 2010 at 7:10 PM  

Bit of a short post, but it'll help me get back in the swing of things. (Also, if I made it any bigger, it would've been absolutely huge.)

I've been playing quite a bit of the Sims the past couple days, and things are going on swimmingly. The Travis and Amelia had their birthdays, and so far I've been pretty much glitch-free, so as long as LN isn't any worse than the patch, I should be a-ok, when I get it.

Also got the entire rest of the storyline mapped out in my notebook. Which is ironic because it's like... 4 separate storylines. This should be fun! ;D

Di Al Martini November 9, 2010 at 4:53 AM  

Oh, Amelia.. but I understand that she's still a kid and I remember that we often did something that we shouldn't have done at that age. Well, I couldn't blame her for having fun with Naomi, but at least she should have not comparing or forgetting old friends, moreover a nice friend like Alesha.

I wonder what Bradley has been up to. It's good though to have a nice cousin and best friend that could be a distraction for once in a while.
This teenage love affairs (Thomas, Jade, July, Travis) is somewhat very true to real life.

Ouch! someone's deep secret is going to surface, I guess.

Great update, Kaleeko!

Unknown November 9, 2010 at 2:58 PM  

Thanks, MJ!

Amelia is a confused little youngin' that, at this point, just wants to be liked. She'll realize pretty soon what a sacrifice she might have to make for that... but over time, it'll begin to make more sense why there's such animosity between Naomi and Alesha. Amelia's really just an innocent bystander that got swept into all of it!

Bradley needs to get out of the house, for sure! He's kind of going through a 'metamorphasis' of sorts, where he's choosing the priority of some traits over others... Like why he's being grouchy when he's supposed to be Friendly, and locked away when he's supposed to be Outdoorsy. At least July's given him a distraction, for a while.

Proves to be a very big distraction, too. The "grave", that is. I hope Meredith is ready to do some explaining...

This little 'mini-plot' doesn't really contribute a lot to the over-all story, but I figured the kids had to find out what happened eventually. That, and Meredith isn't getting a lot of attention this Season, so I wanted to give her a little moment in the spotlight. :)

Deema316 November 9, 2010 at 4:12 PM  

I love this. It's so good to see you back and writing again.

Of course you left use hanging and wondering what is going to happen next. I love that too. :)

Ahhhh, Bradley, Bradley, Bradley. Just what *are* you up to? I still beleive he is going to try to raise the dead. Although now he has a mystery to solve.

Unknown November 9, 2010 at 4:15 PM  

Aww, thank you Dee. I missed it!

You won't have to wait long to find out what happens. Now that I've got every 'episode' sort of outlined, it's a lot easier to plow through a post fast and get it up. :D

Brad's up to no good... That's all I'll say, though I figure it's pretty easy to guess what, isn't it? ^^

Raisin Hale November 9, 2010 at 5:19 PM  

yay! an update. i miss the kanes. they're in one of my games but they're not so desperate there. i like your new picture. interesting how they stumbled across the past like that, can't wait to see where it goes from here.

mmmcheezy225 November 9, 2010 at 6:06 PM  

Great update! I wonder what Brad will do next now that he knows about his mother's secret?

Unknown November 9, 2010 at 7:37 PM  

@Raisin: I have to say, I'm glad that the Kanes get respite in all of you guys' games! They deserve some peace after what I put them through.

And, thanks about the pic! It's from a recent screen I cap'd of Amelia, I loved it so much I thought I'd make it my icon. :D

@cheezy: Thanks! It certainly was a lot of fun putting this little bit together, hehe... This next post is actually some of my favorite screenshots that I've gotten in the game so far.

The next post is finished, but I'll pry wait 'til tomorrow or the next day to post it. Hang tight! Kaleeko is back! *does a little dance*

Anonymous,  November 9, 2010 at 7:44 PM  

Another curve thrown into the mix. Interesting. I bet Meredith thought all that was truly behind her.

Dang, you've drawn me right in, again. As a very bad villain would say with fist listed in the air, "Curses!"

Unknown November 9, 2010 at 7:57 PM  

Meredith shall never be let off the hook... and neither shall you! Bwaaahahahaha! *cackle*

It really is so great to be writing again. I missed you guys!

On a side note, I'm not allowed to have Late Night until I finish writing this season, so I have extra incentive to write faster! ^^

PiB - Nicarra November 10, 2010 at 10:57 PM  

Hurrah, the Kanes are back in action.

Poor Alesha, now totally neglected by Amelia. Are the Lemans encouraging their daughter to be with Amelia as part of their plot to clip Jeb's wings? I wouldn't put it past them.

Good to see July forcing Brad to get out and about. He needs a bit of a shakeup. Not to mention leaving behind the giggling girls would help his nerves a bit. :)

The blood curdling shriek gave them something new to think about. So June and July knew that Meredith had buried someone even though her kids know nothing about it.

Great update, I'm happy to see that you're back to writing.

Unknown November 10, 2010 at 11:48 PM  

The Lemans, up to something? Nooo, never... ^^

I had a hard time deciding how exactly Brad was going to figure all of this out, but in the end I decided that July knowing (partially) was the easiest way. I knew that if I made it any more difficult than that, I'd spend more time on this side-story than I'd like to. It was a fun bit to do, though!

And, thanks! I'm glad to be back, too. :) I'm way behind where I would've liked to be by now, but, in the end it just gives me more incentive to keep writing!

PiB - Nicarra November 11, 2010 at 2:44 AM  

:) If Jeb is working his way to one plot, I'll lay odds that Thomas and Carolina have some plans too.

There are times when easy is good. :)

Jen November 15, 2010 at 12:37 AM  

Oh Brad don't forget to work on your very important project while finding out what your mother and aunt have been up to! lol

Wonderful update Kaleeko! Very enjoyable. I just love your writing so much. ;) It's really so much fun to read.

Super shots too. I loved July's face when she was suddenly over come with fear. lol

It looks as though Amelia and Naomi have become besties. Poor Alesha. She never had many friends anyway, now she probably has none. :(

Unknown November 15, 2010 at 7:46 PM  

Thanks, Jennifer!

I don't think Bradley will forget about working on his project, for long. ;) It's a well needed distraction, but it was about time he do something other than sit in front of the inventing bench. ^^

Alesha really gets the short end of the stick in all this. :( I can guarantee that eventually, things get better for her, but this part of her life is very rocky. Kids just don't realize how hurtful they can be, sometimes!

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