33. Elixir

When the battle’s over
We’re going home.

— Walter Hawkins

🎶

“A cowplant,” Guthrie stated almost factually as she paced the room. Shiva looked up at her from his seat at their table, eyes impossibly innocent. It only made Guthrie angrier. “A $%$@%# cowplant.”

“Look, Guthrie…” Shiva started.

“Oh, yeah,” Guthrie cut in. This is gonna be rich! Please do continue. Reveal whatever excuse you’re gonna be using for this one. Can’t wait to hear it.”

“It’s just… I’m trying to explain, alright?” On the defense, he went on. He knew he wasn’t going to successfully lie his way out of this one. “You know… my biggest fear. It’s nothing to do with the cowplant, or with being evil, this whole thing. It’s nothing to do with any of that. I’m scared, Guthrie. I’m scared of growing old. It’s my biggest fear in the world. I’d do anything to avoid it. To postpone it. This cowplant–“

Guthrie interrupted him. “So you steal other people’s lives? Just because you’re too much of a wuss to face life, you steal that of others? This,” she gestured to the cowplant in the other room. “This is unforgivable. It’s absolutely, 100% unforgivable, Shiva. It is.”

“No, but look. I haven’t been stealing lives! I… you can just feed it meat, yeah? Just meat. It’ll try to lure in some people, sure, but I’ll just give it some meat and it’ll-it’ll extend my life. No lives are lost. There’s just absolutely no wrongs here, I swear there isn’t. I’m not killing anyone.”

Guthrie was silent. Didn’t respond to his words immediately – instead, she contemplated. Could it be true? She had never actually seen any Sims over. And if they were, she should’ve heard them, right? But she never heard anything. She never saw anyone. Maybe he was telling the truth. As much as Guthrie knew she shouldn’t, she was inclined to believe that he did. Or, well, she didn’t think she believed him, per se. She just desperately wanted to – so desperately, that she’d choose to ignore the facts if only for him. Because for all intents and purposes… as much as he troubled her, as much as he’d lied, as much as she deserved better, she loved him. She loved the damn guy.

“And, I mean, it saved you, didn’t it?” Shiva went on. “I wasn’t gonna use this, but it did save you. Doesn’t that show that it doesn’t have any malicious intentions? It could’ve eaten you, but it didn’t. Instead, it protected you.”

“It doesn’t even know me.”

“Well, apparently, it does. Or maybe it knows how important you are to me–“

“–Okay, just stop. Stop. This is a plant we’re talking about here, okay? A plant. God, this whole thing’s just too crazy. It’s just…” she paused. “Promise me,” she started, then.

“Promise you what?”

“Promise me that you’re not lying to me right now. Promise me that you haven’t actually taken any lives to extend yours. Just please, Shiva, for once, tell me the truth. Please.”

He was silent for a moment. Then he went and took her hand. “I promise.”

They looked at each other. For a moment, Guthrie wanted so desperately to give in and pretend that everything was good. But it wasn’t. And she knew that – he did too. So she withdrew her hand and turned away. “I’m gonna need some time to process this. I just, I need time.”

“Alright,” he was quick to respond. “Anything.”

***

That night, Guthrie sat down on her bed. Shiva was out with friends – she’d told him not to sleep in their bed tonight, and she had no idea how he was going to take that; whether he’d sleep on the couch… or maybe choose to sleep somewhere else entirely. Inwardly, she fervently hoped he wouldn’t go with that last one.

She looked around and sighed. God, how complicated things had gotten. Her father’s girlfriend was trying to kill her. Her boyfriend had a cowplant to avoid aging.

This was her life.

A humorless chuckle escaped her lips.

And she hated it. The more she thought about it, the more she realized just how much she did. Vampires, cowplants… she didn’t want any of it. She didn’t want any potential future child of hers to have any of it. No, she decided. Guthrie did not want to be involved with the supernatural. Not anymore.

She was done.

Or, well…

She was almost done.

***

Shiva, meanwhile, was struggling himself. Frightened by Tori’s attempt on Guthrie’s life and left in uncertainty after Guthrie found out about his most shameful secret, he didn’t know what to do with himself.

And so he spent all night at the gym, rationalizing that he had to shape up if he wanted to protect Guthrie – notwithstanding the fact that even with all his brawn, he wouldn’t stand a chance against Tori. This wasn’t about strength, Shiva knew. It was about power.

Shiva worked out until he was fatigued, exhausted and dizzy.

He had to fight not to pass out right there.

***

A few days later, Guthrie once again found herself in a town she’d had rather she didn’t have to visit…

…But with the threat that was Tori still looming around the corner, she felt like she had to.