Raven Meets an Old Adversary

Raven awoke to a pressure on his face, and around his arms. His backside felt numb, so he assumed that he was sitting on a hard surface, perhaps a wooden chair? But with the blindfold so tightly bound around his face, he couldn't be sure. Common sense and an inbuilt survival instinct kicked in as he listened for noises, any noises, that would give away his whereabouts. He sniffed the air. As far as he could tell, it was dusty with a hint of..... wait a minute... was that disinfectant? And formaldehyde? He felt nauseous.

Yep, definitely a laboratory. But whose?

There was only one that sprung to mind and it was closed down a long time ago and it's inhabitors ran out of town. But surely they hadn't returned? Had they? They couldn't be THAT brazen? And what did they want with him? He cocked his head as he heard a door squeak open. Then close with a click. He clamped his mouth shut, and tried to stay calm.

"Ah, subject is awake?" a thick scandinavian accent announced.

Raven felt a cold chill. Can't be. How did he know I was here, I never heard the whirr of surveillance cameras. That meant only one thing. Raven swallowed hard as another voice, close to his ear, murmured, making him jump slightly.

"He's been awake for a little while now."

Had she been sitting there all this time? It creeped him out at the fact that she'd been here, watching him.

"Haven't you?" she asked, stroking his cheeky with a slightly cold finger.

He refused to speak. Or rather, fear glued his tongue to the roof of his mouth.

"Oooh, strong silent type," she crooned, "just how I like them."

He felt her fingers loosening the blindfold and he blinked sharply, expecting the lighting to be brighter, but it wasn't.

"We adjusted the lighting to accommodate your sharp eyesight," Loki said matter of factly, "in a contradiction of terms, we're not the monsters here. You are."

He jabbed his finger at Raven, his expression fierce. Circe stalked up to Loki and snaked her arms around him. As thin and delicately built as she was, for some reason, she managed to calm down her husband.

"Now now Loki," she crooned, "we don't want to give you a coronary. Not after all the hard work you've put into this project."

She kissed his cheek lightly and turned to Raven.

"You have ... or had," she corrected, "something that belonged to us."

Nervous. It had to be.

"You kept him a prisoner in ...." His eyes quickly adjusted and he scanned his surroundings.".... here!?!?"

It seemed so bare, so empty, void of all the lab equipment that was scattered around in the photographs he'd seen. His crack team had been quick and efficient. Whisking Nervous away and taking loads of pictures for evidence should they need it in the future. Before confiscating all the lab equipment and putting it into storage.

The place had been stripped bare and locked up after the Beakers fled empty handed. But now they were back. What possible dastardly deed would they commit this time? Raven felt cold dread at the idea of him being their guinea pig.

"That's right," Loki said finally, "we're home. MY home. My ancestral home to be correct. Or it was, until you confiscated and violated it."

"We had a tip-off that you were keeping Nervous a prisoner and under squalid conditions. We had to act on our instincts."

"You have no idea what you've unleashed. Do you know that?"

"By the time we got there he was fully institutionalized."

"And there was good reason for it." Circe replied, she paused before walking up to Raven and looking directly into his face, "I heard he put up a fight."

"He did, yes. Knocked one man unconscious and broke another one's arm in three places. He wasn't in his right mind."

"Too right he wasn't." Loki interrupted, rubbing his wrist tenderly, "and that's why we had him here. For his and everyone else's safety."

"He was a prisoner. We saw his living quarters."

"Was he not well fed?"

Raven paused, thinking. As a matter of fact, in all the photographs they'd taken of Nervous, apart from being a bit lean and wiry, he wasn't exactly undernourished.

"That doesn't explain the bruising though."

Loki smiled coldly. It sent shivers down Raven's spine.

"I guess you never checked him out an hour later and found that they'd mysteriously vanished?"

What??

Raven blinked.

"Oh yes," Loki continued, "he was very adept at healing his own body. He was a medical miracle. But for his 'flaws' he'd have been worth a fortune."

"There were blood tests," Raven pressed on, "that signified substantial drugs in his blood stream, how do you explain that one?"

Loki rubbed his face and sighed heavily.

"Haven't we been through all this questioning many times before? At interviews and hearings? The longer we delay, the more in danger the public will be."

"You didn't answer my question."

"You already know the answer. All I want is him back."

"To torture him again?"

Loki growled loudly and turned away, but not before slapping his palm onto the surface of the nearby side table. Raven noticed him wince in pain.

"Did he injure you?"

Loki turned, defeat written all over his face.

"I just want him back home where he'll be safe ... where everyone will be safe."

Editor's Notes:
I was impatient to get this update published that I never took the pics. So you're getting a sneaky preview for now. Got a very heavy schedule over the next couple of months, but the minute I get some spare time, I'll load in Sims and get the pics that I want for this and other updates.

Lisa Goes A-Meeting and A-Greeting

 ***WARNING PICTURE HEAVY UPDATE***

Lisa, like the rest of the community, was deeply concerned about the disappearance of Raven Valdin. It appeared as if he'd simply vanished from the face of the earth! He wasn't registered at her practice, but she did still wonder about him and his family. That was the problem with being such a high profile character... like the Mayor of SimCity. They had targets on their heads.

But, life went on and she still had sick patients to attend to, conferences to take part in. It was all go go go for her. Occasionally, she'd let herself out. But most days she was on call, her phone ringing off the hook at all hours. Sometimes in the early hours of the day or night, waking her up.

 

Then there was the County Fair. A great occasion for villages and towns alike to visit and enjoy the local fayre. Stalls with homemade produce and great places to eat the finest locally produced foods around. It was nice to be out and about, meet and greet people.

 It was set in a small clearing near to a forested area, with stalls of all varieties laid out. A wooden bridge spanned the river. It was a perfect setting actually. Very picturesque.

The day was beautiful and sunny, hardly a cloud in the sky. By the time Lisa had arrived, people were milling around. The only notable absence was that of the Mayor. Raven Valdin. His abduction had been big news. No ransom note, no phone calls. Nothing. His family must be frantic, she thought to herself.

It was Father Thomas who had to step up and open the Fair. Something this rather reserved vicar, secretly enjoyed. Although he blushed and stuttered his way through his hastily written speech.

So it was a great surprise to everyone, including Lisa, to see him jamming with a few other people on the bandstand. It appeared that he loved to play drums. Although that's as far as it went. Since he was completely tone deaf and out of sync with everyone else.

Whilst she was wandering around, the most delicious smells were wafting on the breeze from the food stalls. Lisa had been hearing about their famous Chicken Pot Pies and Seared Cat Fish meals that she just couldn't resist trying them out first.

"Be with you in a minute ma'am." the chef called out, "what's it ya wantin'?"

"I'll have one of your pot pies please."

"Hey, good choice good choice, they're very popular."

By the time he served her the meal, she was practically salivating from the aroma and her stomach grumbled rather loudly. The chef laughed.

"I get that all the time, it's me pies, folks cannot resist em."

"I can understand that, this smells gorgeous. What's your secret?"

"Ah." he tapped the side of his nose, "secret."

She was tucking in, when she spotted none other than the rather cantankerous Frank Isaac. Minus his walking cane.

"Hey Frank!" she called over, "where's your cane?"

"Oh hi doctor," came the sheepish reply, "I ... um... guess I forgot it."

"Just remember to look after it, and try not to exert yourself."

"Will do."

Funny, Lisa mused, he appeared distracted about something. Since usually he came back with a rather tart reply. She wondered if his daughter knew about him faking his slow recovery rate. He always grumbled about his aches and pains at every check up.

"Enjoying that pie?" a voice cut through her thoughts.

"Um, yeah it's really good."

"That's my brother for ya. He's really proud of his cookin'. He's in the Military ya know. Aiming to be an astronaut at some point in his life. He's just fillin' in time here whilst he's off duty."

"Oh, that's interesting."

Hey bro, want one? It's on the house!"

"Nah, I've already eaten thanks. Give it to this young lady, she could do with a little meat on those lean bones of hers."

Lisa blushed at his generosity... and his forthrightness. She found him charming and easy to talk to. And so they struck up a conversation for a little while. Until he suggested the log rolling contest. Lisa wasn't so sure.

"It's a great way of unwinding, and it's fun," he insisted.

So, with a little hesitation, she finally agreed. However, she wasn't carrying a swimsuit, so she had to buy one from one of the stalls. It wasn't her type - too tacky with the leopard skin pattern. But she knew that once she went home, she'd never go back out again.

The water looked murky brown and she paused, before stepping onto the log.

It wobbled a little. Then a lot, and she fell in with a mighty splash!

Hauling herself out, she tried again and found she was thoroughly enjoying herself.

Sadly, nobody else was willing to challenge her, the light was starting to fade and people were leaving. So she headed for the shower to clean herself off and change back into her clothes.

As she started walking away from the park area, a tall skinny man stormed past her, muttering to himself. By the time she'd turned around, all she could really see was the back of his head.

But something struck her about the way he was acting. His hands were clenched into fists and his shoulders were stooped slightly.
Something familiar.
Very familiar indeed.

*************

Editors Notes:
Many apologies for plumbobs and thought/speech bubbles appearing. I've forgotten how to turn those off, so they've had to stay. Also, it's been a long long time (about 2 years) since I last loaded up and played Sims. Hence the deluge of pics - I kinda went nutzo with the camera. It wasn't the update I wanted, but still.....