Author's Note - The End?

"Hold on... wait one minute there! What do you mean The End?! 

"This can't be The End! There are these unresolved things! Vlad's back for Pity's Sake! And then there's that Faust guy and Max V... they're still out there!  What was going on in Moonwood Mill that kept Miranda's mom's from getting involved? What ever happened to that nice young couple, Jake and Beth? What about Jenny Poole? What happens to Genie... and to me? 

"This can't be The End!"

Calm down, Aadi.

First, yes... this is The End of Wyrd Girls. 

Aadi makes some good points, of course. There are a lot of unresolved storylines but first and foremost, Wyrd Girls has always been the supernatural coming of age story of Miranda... and, in College Years, Mariah. Frankly, coming of age stories involving young women, usually with a fantasy or sci-fi twist, are a particular favorite genre of mine. So, without really planning it at first, I set about to write one. 

We've watched Miranda and Mariah grow, through adversity and love, from uncertain teens into strong women. That story has reached its end.

I want to thank everyone who has been with me throughout this process. I especially want to thank my wonderful wife, Juno, who has been my sounding board, my constant reader (whether she wanted to be or not) and - from around the start of College Years - my editor (you may have noticed the dramatic reduction in typos). I also want to thank DaniRose2143, from the Sims forums, for her support and encouragement and for her letting me borrow her characters Londyn and Danielle. Without them, there would be no Mariah and this story just wouldn't be the same. Finally, I want to thank my readers... I know there are at least one of two of you out there.

So, that's it. I promised Dani a happy ending. She tells me I kept that promise.

Of course, to quote Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn - "There are no happy endings, because nothing ends."

So, yeah, Wyrd Girls is done... but there are more Wyrd Tales to tell.

I've already started playing around with some of the ideas Aadi mentioned. I'm not sure when I'll start updating again. I'm also a little undecided as to whether to start a new blog or continue this one, but there will be more stories.

- Leo 

Chapter 57 - Forever

Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen

There's no time for us / There's no place for us

What is this thing that builds our dreams, yet slips away from us

Who wants to live forever / Who wants to live forever

There's no chance for us / It's all decided for us

This world has only one sweet Moment set aside for us

Who wants to live forever

Who wants to live forever

Who dares to love forever

When love must die

----------------------------

"Please," Miranda breathed. "Please don't leave me."

"Maybe we can't grow old together," Mariah said, "but I'll take every minute I can get. If you'll share them with me."

"Yes," Miranda sobbed. "Oh, yes!"

----------------------------

But touch my tears with your lips / Touch my world with your fingertips

And we can have forever / And we can love forever

Forever is our today

----------------------------

"Wyrd. Fate. I asked Gwen once how, if the things that happen to us are fixed, can we have free will. I think I understand now. Things happen... we get horribly sick or fired from our jobs or... if you're me... your family gets attacked by vampires. We can't control those things. We can't change them. All we can do is decide how we're going to deal with them... and in that choice, we are free.

"Gwen says Fate is a riddle, and we choose our own answer....

"My name is Miranda Silver-oak Goth and I choose love.

"Forever."

Chapter 56 - Consequences

 "In today's top story - the verdict has come down in the Alto trial. After months of shocking testimony, crime boss Nick Alto has been found guilty of multiple counts of racketeering, extortion and criminal conspiracy.

"Later in our program, Dr. Richard Owen will discuss whether the fall of the Alto and Landgraab crime families marks the beginning of the end of organized crime."

"So, how was your summer?" Aadi asked. 

"Well, you know how it is," Genie said, "My dad's PR guys are pulling their hair out trying to distance him from the Altos. I'm not supposed to know, but I can tell mom's juggling meetings with the Families and the prosecutor's office. Probably trying to play both sides against each other. I moved the last of my stuff out of the house last week."

"I'm sorry, Genie," Mariah said.

"Don't be," Genie smiled. "It's not your fault my folks got in bed with Nick Alto. In my mom's case, literally, which is gross when you consider I did too. Anyway, how was your... oh... um?"

"Yeah, how was prison?" Aadi asked brightly.

"Prison was just like I remember juvie," Mariah chuckled. "So, pretty bad."

"I still can't believe the Agency had you arrested," Genie said, shocked.

"Well, it preserved my cover," Mariah said philosophically. "Picking me up with at the same time as the rest of Britechester crew means no one suspects I was the one to give Villareal's file on Uncle Nick to the authorities."

"Technically, I did that," Aadi smiled. 

"Yeah, but no one knows either of you were involved at all," Mariah said firmly. "Which is good because if they did, the Altos would probably have you killed."

"The burden of being a secret agent," Aadi sighed.

"Anyway, I mostly spent my time in the prison infirmary recovering from Miranda's vampire cure," Mariah added, "and Liberty got the charges against me dropped on technicalities. So, it's all good."

"The cure worked right?" Aadi asked. "No more fang-y stuff."

"Yeah," Mariah smiled. "No more fang-y stuff."

"Hey guys," Miranda came quietly into the room. "Uh, Mariah, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," Mariah smiled reassuringly.

Between Mariah's legal and medical issues, they hadn't seen each other much over the summer. Now, together again, it was clear something was bothering Miranda. Mariah had been trying to give her space, hoping she'd speak up when she was ready. Maybe she finally was...

Miranda led her to the house's little office / study room, clearly wanting some privacy. 

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Mariah said carefully. 

"I've been thinking a lot about what you said last spring," Miranda said.

"Oh," she said out loud while thinking, Madonna, what did I say? 

"About you wanting to grow old together," Miranda said, answering her unspoken question.

"Oh," Mariah sighed. "If you don't..."

"No... I mean yes," Miranda stammered. "I mean... damn it, I've been thinking about this all summer and now I can't talk. I love you!"

"I love you," Mariah smiled. "We don't have to... I mean, I want... I guess I... Madonna, I can't talk either."

"OK," Miranda took a deep breath. "Have you ever looked at this picture?"

"Umm... not really," Mariah said, puzzled at the sudden change of topic. "That's Dr. Psyded, right... the guy who founded Britechester like a hundred years ago or something? Is that his wife or something?"

"A hundred and fifty years... and no," Miranda huffed out a short laugh. "No, that's Ceridwen... Ceridwen Silveroak. Gwen's grandmother."

"Really," Mariah said, remembering her strange holiday in Glimmerbrook and talking to an empty chair which everyone assured her held the ghost of Gwen's grandmother. "Wait, a hundred and fifty years. I know you said she was old when she died, but that's... that's not possible. Is it?"

Miranda turned to the bookshelf, taking down a book.

"I want you to look here," Miranda said gently. "This is a picture of the Moonwood Mill Labor Collective... a mill workers' union... about a hundred years ago."

"OK, where are you going with..." Mariah said, puzzled.

"She looks the same," Mariah gasped, looking at the picture. "Are you sure about the dates?"

"Yes," Miranda said. "This is a hundred years ago... those men are the leaders of the Moonwood Collective at the time... and that's Ceridwen and her daughter, Arianrhod... and her granddaughter Gwenivar." 

"Gwenivar," Mariah breathed. "Gwen?!"

Miranda nodded.

"How..." Mariah stammered. "That can't... How?"

"The way Gwen explained it, there are two answers to that," Miranda said. "The first is that time doesn't... work... the same way in Glimmerbrook. Gwen says the further we are from the world... the less we're involved with mortals... the slower time moves for us. When she was child, she didn't have much contact with mortals... so she 'lived more slowly' ... she was child a hundred years ago, and a teenager when she moved to Willow Creek about thirty years ago. At that point she started aging at a more or less normal rate... for a little while."

"For a little while," Mariah said.

"She... stopped," Miranda said. "When she was about twenty, she stopped getting any older. It's a potion witches who are involved in both the mortal world and the witch world use. She doesn't age. We don't age."

"We," Mariah gasped. "You... you took this potion."

"Before I met you," Miranda said desperately. "Before all the stuff with the vampires... Gwen gave it to me, in case she couldn't later."

"I... I can't grow old with you," Miranda sighed, "because I'm never going to grow any older than I am now."

"I..." Mariah took a deep breath, "I think I've dealt with all this stuff pretty well... I mean, from the first time you told us your story on the beach, I was willing to believe. I've seen you do magic and I've tried to accept all the weirdness that comes with that. I mean, come on... I was a vampire, if only for about a day. But this... you're never... you're never going to get old. Never?"

"No, never," Miranda said.

"I... I need a minute. I just need a minute," Mariah said, turning and walking out of the room.

Chapter 55 - Blood and Ashes

"So, what shall we talk about?" Ms. H smiled slightly. "You know you can't defeat me no matter what bravado you show your friends. You are mine."

"You know, that's another thing I've been thinking about," Mariah said. "You said, once I turned I wouldn't be able to resist your control... but you haven't tried to control me. I've been trash talking you for a while here and you haven't even tried to get in my head."

"Perhaps I find you amusing," Ms. H said.

"Yeah, I'm just cracking you up," Mariah snarked. "You know what I think... I think you're afraid you can't control me. I could resist you when I was mortal... now I'm a vampire. I can... feel it. That power. Cold and dark inside me."

"I gave you that power," Ms. H snarled. "It's a part of me!"

"Not anymore," Mariah said, defiant. "Now it's mine. You can't control me, and I'm not afraid of you anymore. You tried to mess with my head. You threatened my friends. You tried hurt my girlfriend and, oh yeah, you fucking murdered my father! Puttana, I am taking you down!"

Mariah could feel the dark essence filling her up, black and cold, but racing with it, eclipsing it, was the heat and light of her own rage and will. She was barely aware of her feet leaving the ground as she rose to challenge Ms. H.

"Consider this your first lesson in what it means to be Vampire," Ms. H snarled.

"Consider this your last lesson is what it means to Fuck with Me!" Mariah roared as she slammed into the older vampire.

The last time they had fought, Mariah had used all her skill and training and still lost. Ms. H was older, stronger and had decades of experience. Last time, Mariah had been shaken and afraid. 

"How?" Ms. H groaned, defeated.

"I told you," Mariah snarled. "I'm not afraid of you anymore. You have no power over me!"

"Kill me then," Ms. H gasped, as she dropped to the ground. "Be done with it!"

"I'm not going to kill you, H," Mariah said. "You're going to stay away from me. You're going to stay away from my family, my friends and their families. You're definitely going to stay away from my girlfriend, or I will beat you down, but I am not going to kill you."

"Why?" Ms. H demanded.

"Because," Mariah said. "I Am Not A Monster."

------------------------

"Let's go home," Mariah said.

"So, it's over?" Genie asked.

"If she knows what's good for her, it is," Mariah said. "You guys OK?"

"I'm good," Aadi said.

"Aadi met a guy," Genie said.

"He was a vampire and he was going to eat me," Aadi insisted.

"I don't know," Genie teased. "It looked to me like you guys had a kind of thing."

"Well, he was kinda cute," Aadi allowed, "in a fang-y way."

"Fangs!" Mariah gasped, feeling her own. "The cure! Tell me you found the cure!"

"I found the cure," Miranda said softly. "I need to get a couple more things. I'll mix it up in the morning. You'll be OK."

"Good," Mariah said. "I was really looking forward to growing old with you."

"Oh," Miranda gasped.

------------------------

"This isn't over," Ms. H hissed. "I will hunt you down. When I'm done with you, Mariah, you will beg me to forgive you. I will drink the heart's blood of your friends and families! I will... urk!"

The wooden shaft slammed through her back, shattering her ribs as it drove into her cold, dead heart.

"No! No, no, no, no," Ms. H pleaded, clawing at her chest.

"In a way I am sorry, Marie Belle," Straud said coldly. "I have always been fond of you. That's why I've permitted you your little rebellions over the years. It's unfortunate, but I simply can't tolerate your insolence anymore."

"No, no, please," Ms. H whimpered. "I don't want to die!"

"If I makes you feel any better, my dear," Straud continued, "you are a victim of your own success. You might actually have succeeded, at least in disrupting my businesses. I doubt you could have supplanted me at Court, but in threatening Miranda, you challenged my plans.

"I need time, you see," Straud said, looking over her smoldering ashes. "Time to heal. Time to gather my strength."

"Only when I am ready," Straud concluded, "will I face Miranda and her fellow Guardians again."

Chapter 54 - Double Oh Aadi

Secret Agent Double Oh Aadi, carrying the Vital Intelligence back to the Good Guys, dashed gallantly through the night to escape the Vicious Enemy Minions.

It sounded better in their head than "Aaaaahhh!" anyway. Unfortunately, the corner of Aadi's mind still capable of thought had to admit "Aaaaahhh!" honestly summed things up nicely.

Arriving at the beach ahead of the Vicious Minions was all well and good, but the total absence of ferry sort of took the shine off that victory.

The Minions closed in, both moving with a kind of smooth, unhurried grace that the dancer in Aadi had to admire. Uncanny eyes, monstrous faces, really long, sharp looking fangs... M&M had said vampires. Snow had said vampires. Now, face to face with them, Aadi couldn't deny it. Vampires.

"Nowhere left to run," the dark one purred. 

"It was a good try," the pale one allowed.

"Can I eat him, Crowe?" the dark one asked her companion.

"Actually, my pronouns are they/them," Aadi put in. "I mean, if you're going to... ulp... eat me, you could at least not mis-gender me too."

"Yeah, Kat, really," Crowe said.

"Are you kidding me?" Kat snapped.

"Kat, didn't you listen to Johnny?" Crowe said. "Aadi here identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns."

"What does that even mean?" Kat demanded. "He's a guy!"

"No, Kat," Crowe insisted. "Aadi doesn't identify as strictly male or female, but as their own unique being."

"Exactly," Aadi said. "I never felt comfortable being 'a guy' but I'm not 'a lady' ... I'm me."

"And we should respect Aadi's chosen identity," Crowe concluded. "It never hurts to be respectful."

"Thank you. It's nice to meet someone who understands," Aadi grinned. "I don't want to be forward, but maybe we could grab a drink later."

"Actually, I was thinking of now," Crowe snarled, baring his fangs.

"I can't believe I walked right into that one," Aadi groaned.

"Can we please eat them now?" Kat asked.

A Word whispered across the beach, carrying with it a chill breeze. 

Kat shivered, feeling the bone deep cold for the first time since her death. As frost spread across his companion, Crowe wheeled, snarling to face the threat only to feel his own limbs grow cold and stiff.

Stunned, Aadi looked at the two vampires, encased in ice. 

"What. The. Hell," Aadi muttered.

"Aadi! You're safe!" Genie rushed forward, throwing her arms around them.

"I am?" Aadi gasped. "That's great!"

"Hey, Aadi," Miranda smiled.

"Miranda!" Aadi pulled her into a hug. "Wow, Girlfriend... I mean just Wow!"

"Come on," Miranda said. "We need to get to Mariah."

"Is she OK?" Aadi asked.

"Well, the last I saw, she was facing off against Ms. H," Genie said. "Aadi, she killed Johnny... who turns out to be a big creep who was totally using me, by the way."

"Genie, you have got to do something about this thing you have for bad boys," Aadi said.

"Maybe I should just give up on guys," Genie groaned.

Miranda laughed, "When this is over, remind me to introduce you to my friend Jenny."

Chapter 53 - The Garden of Bones

The first thing she became aware of was thirst, a dull, persistent thirst that pulled her slowly out of the silence and the dark. The second was that she ached all over.

Get up, Mariah thought. Just move.

It was hard. Her body was stiff, her muscles resistant to the very idea of movement. She could almost hear them creaking as she levered herself up.

This is the worst hangover ever, she thought. Way worse than that time... wait. What's wrong with my mouth? What?! 

Everything came rushing back in an instant.

"Madonna Santa!" she cursed. "I'm a vampire!"

Alright, she thought, I'm a vampire. We'll deal with that in a minute. First things first, find Genie and get her out of whatever trouble she's gotten into with Johnny P. 

"Hey Jeeves, you're awake," she called out.

"Stephens, ma'am," the butler corrected.

"Right, sorry," Mariah said. "Have you seen Genie? Ms. Genevieve? Or Aadi? I mean, Mx. Bheeda?"

"No, Ms. Huntley," Stephens said, rigid politeness crossing easily into dry sarcasm. "I might be able to assist you better if I hadn't been unconscious for much of the evening."

"Ok, fine, that one's on me," Mariah admitted. "Genie's in trouble. What did she say... if Genie's in trouble look for her in... something about a garden."

"The estate has a very fine hedge maze," Stephens offered.

"No, that's not it," Mariah muttered. "Bones! Look for Genie in the garden of bones. You got one of those?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, Miss," Stephens replied. "Perhaps if I didn't have this headache."

"Oh, I'll find it myself," Mariah snapped in frustration.

Porco miseria! she thought, running out into the night. Why can't prophecies be in plain language? 

---------------

Garden of bones, Mariah scoffed. You couldn't just say graveyard, mia amata? No, you've got to be all poetic.

I should have known she'd be here, Mariah added to herself. Confrontation with my vampire murderer in a graveyard. I guess that was inevitable.

"Alright H, let Genie go," Mariah said. "It's me you... Dio Santo! Johnny P... you killed him!"

"Yes," Ms. H smiled coldly. "He provided me with all sorts of information about you, and dear Genie here, over the past months... but now you are both mine, and poor Johnny had outlived his usefulness. Except as food."

"Oh, Johnny," Mariah sighed.

"He betrayed you, my dear," Ms. H said. "Why would you feel badly for him?"

"Johnny was a thief, a conman and a textbook narcissist," Mariah replied, "but that doesn't mean he deserved to die."

"Let Genie go," Mariah repeated. "You've got me. I'm here. I'm a damned vampire. You don't need her."

"Oh my dear, you're both mine," Ms. H hissed. "You see, I need dear Genie here to send a message to her mother. Luna needs to understand that she will do what I tell her... if she wants to keep the daughters she has left."

"Has left? You mean... I'm not going to let you kill Genie!" Mariah snapped.

"My dear child, I'm not going to kill Genie," Ms. purred. "You are. I know you can feel it... the Hunger, burning inside you. You have no idea the pleasure... and the power... that comes with slaking it. You will drink her blood and grow strong."

"I won't do it," Mariah said forcefully. "Besides, you're too late. Aadi has the Villareal files, enough to take down the Altos."

"Nick Alto is a useful ally, but hardly essential to my plans," Ms. H sneered. "Besides, your little friend will never make it off the island. My other children are hunting them down as we speak.

"As for feeding, soon you will have no choice," she continued. "The Hunger cannot be denied. You will feed, draining poor Genie here. Just as Kat and Crowe will drain dear little Aadi.

"When we are all strengthened by new blood, you will lure lovely Miranda to you," she went on, "and I will have her at last! I will drain her blood and power before the Dark Court and they will give me everything I deserve! Straud's title, his wealth, his power... it will all be mine!"

"You're actually crazy," Mariah gasped. "You're doing all of this to hurt the man who hurt you."

"He took my life from me!" Ms. H roared. "I will take everything of his."

"I get that. I really do... but there's one thing I don't understand. Why..." Mariah gasped, as suddenly she did understand. Suddenly, everything was very clear. "You're afraid."

"Straud is weak! I am not afraid of him," Ms. H snarled.

"Yes, you are," Mariah countered. "You've been afraid of him for a hundred years. He killed you, turned you. He did unspeakable things to you, made you do unspeakable things... and you couldn't stop him. He was too strong. They're always too strong. You got away from him and you've been striking back for decades... but you've never directly confronted him, have you? Because he's always been too strong... but now he's missing, hiding. Now you can move against him, hurt him without ever having to actually face him.

"But I wasn't talking about him," Mariah pressed on. "I've been trying to figure it out... you're so hot for her, but you've never gone after her directly either. You sent Claudette and Max V. When that didn't work, you started working me to get to her. You're a hundred-year-old Master Vampire... you could have taken her any night you wanted... but you're afraid! Because she did the one thing you never could... she faced him and she beat him. A teenage girl, alone, and she beat him! Dio santo, she beat him so hard no one has seen him since! You're terrified of her!"

"Are you quite finished?" Ms. H snarled.

"No. I have one more thing to say," Mariah said. 

Under the light of moon, Mariah called out. "Miranda Silveroak-Goth!"

With a flare of light and a rush of wind, the youngest of the Guardians of Glimmerbrook Watch appeared in the graveyard.

"About time," Miranda said. "I was going to start looking for you soon."

"Genie," Mariah started.

"Got it," Miranda replied, speaking a Word and gesturing with her wand.

Like a spring breeze blowing away the fog, Miranda's spell cleared Genie's mind. Confused and surprised, Genie leapt to her feet and rushed to her friend's side.

"What? What's going on?" Genie stammered. "Johnny..."

"We've got you," Mariah said soothingly.

Mariah added firmly to Miranda, "She sent her minions after Aadi. Go, help Aadi."

"What about her?" Miranda glared at Ms. H.

"Go," Mariah said confidently. "I've got this."