2. Dear reader, welcome back to The Bookacy Family Alphabet Adventures! This time, it's time
for chapter 31, after a little bit of a break. Last time, the Bookacy generation C youngsters
went on with their cheerful college years, most with rather colorful love lives. Even Cyrus,
who was previously not very romantically-inclined, established a romantic relationship with
his long time best friend Chris. We also found out that our long-time villain, Salahuddin
Chamcha, was unable to resurrect the love of his life, our foundress Author Bookacy, even
though he had finally obtained the mystical Resurrect-o-Nomitron. Finally, before we left off,
one of our heiress Cho's many boyfriends, Nicholas Charvat, was having a moment of doubt.
Now that we are caught up again, shall we continue with our story?
~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was evening again, and Nicholas found himself at the Bookacy Greek House Greek House
once more, even though in the morning he had considered not coming.
”You're quiet today”, noted Carl while moving his knight.

3. ”Quiet? Yeah, I guess so...”
”What is it? Is it Cho? You guys haven't been fighting, have you?”
”No, no, nothing like that! It's complicated.”
”It probably always is if it's about love between two sims one of whom is a romancer”, said
Carl with a small, compassionate smile. ”Wanna talk about it?”
”I'm not sure there's anything to talk about really”, Nicholas shrugged. ”It's just me I guess”,
he said with a small sigh.
”Alright. But if you need to talk, just say. We're all friends here, you know that, right?”
”I do. Thanks, Carl.”

4. After the rather quiet chess game had ended, Carl decided to go for some SSX 3.
Unfortunately, Ryker was maybe even less of company than Nicholas had been – he said he
had to study.
”Study? But the finals aren't for weeks!”
”I know. But some of us like to know things, and some of us like being on time as well”, said
Ryker, grinning. ”Let me just finish this mechanical point and then I can play a round or two,
okay?”

5. To get his mind off things he couldn't do anything about, Nicholas went to grab his spare
sweatsuit – he barely even noticed that he'd picked up the habit of leaving his things at the
Greek House, for he'd need them there anyway – and went for a quick excercise on the
stereo that no one else was currently using. Afterwards he went to the kitchen to get a drink
of water, and that's where he ran into Cyrus.
”Hi there, Nicholas! Here again.”
”Yeah”, Nicholas replied, trying to smile. ”So I heard you and Chris are now officially dating.
How's that going?” he quickly asked.
”Oh we're doing just fine, thanks for asking”, said Cyrus with a wide, happy smile. ”I still don't
see much of a difference to how things were before. Maybe a little bit more of cuddling. Well,
I don't mind.”
Nicholas laughed. ”Well, I'm sure Chris is happy to know that.”

6. Chris was indeed happy.
”It's like, nothing's really changed”, she had told Cho only a couple of days before. ”We're
still best friends, and now I know we will always be, no matter what. I think I get what Cyrus
means – words such as 'dating' don't really mean all that much.”
”But... The quality of the feeling is different, even though the quantity isn't, right?” Cho had
asked, confused.
”Not necessarily. I think it might work differently for others, but with Cyrus, love and
friendship are essentially the same thing.”
”Well, as long as it works for you.”

7. The rest of the household probably saw love in way more similar to Cho's than Cyrus'.
Charlie, for example, still worked on his life's ambition of dating as many sims as possible.
He even went on a date with the university coach. The date may not have been the best he'd
ever had, but at least she didn't yell at him to work out. Not that there was any need for her
to do that, not with Charlie.

8. Cho herself was dating almost as much as Charlie, as their ambitions were somewhat
similar. They both wanted to know what kind of options the world had to give them, Charlie in
the form of first dates, and Cho in the form of simultaneous lovers.

9. The option Cho was currently exploring was River Buckingham.

10. She had to admit that she quite liked this option.
On the other hand, there were also many others she liked a lot.

11. For all of the crew, sometimes it was simply party time. For Claire, that meant chatting up
Colin Gothier.

12. Carl, for his part, took the opportunity to show off his skills as a guitar hero. Because, you
know, the girls dig it. Even if it was just your cousin's girlfriend, at least she was enthusiastic.

13. Charlie's favorite show off location was the bowling alley. He was perhaps the most naturally
athletic of the whole circle of cousins, he liked to exercise and consequently he was quite
capable on the bowling alley. And of course, just having fun and bowling together with his
father and cousin Cissy was a great way to spend an evening.

14. Cyrus and Chris decided to just hang out inside. It was comfortable, with some nice
background music playing and not much disturbance, at least once Carl had stopped
impressing girls with the guitar and hit the poker table instead. Nothing beated just relaxing
with someone important and chatting, except perhaps enjoying those moments when there
is no need to say absolutely anything.

15. Not very surprisingly, Cho and Nicholas found themselves enjoying the hot tub together,
once again. At least Cho could think of something that beated just hanging out.
”Hey”, she said playfully, splashing a little bit of water on Nicholas, ”good to see you. Again.”
For the shortest of moments Cho got the feeling that Nicholas' smile didn't look the same as
it usually did, but the feeling disappeared when he pecked her on the cheek and whispered
to her ear: ”Good to see you too.”
Their evening may have included less conversation than that of Cyrus and Chris, but
otherwise it was very nice.

16. Even later on the evening turned to dancing. For Carl, this meant slap dancing, while Chris
grabbed Cyrus and put his hand on her waist. She may have needed to lead, but Cyrus
caught along pretty fast nevertheless.

17. Upstairs Claire and Trevor had their own private dance party, now that Trevor had finally
made it to the party, several hours late due to a cafeteria shift he'd had to take on a short
notice. Consequently the two of them were the last ones awake that night.

18. ”Race you to the end of this assignment? The loser has to clean up all the bathrooms later
today.”
”Deal.”
The next day, after everyone had woken up, it was time to get back to work.

19. And some hard work that was.

20. ”So you're into sports and excercise?” Tamara Kalson asked Charlie.
”Absolutely”, Charlie replied with an excited smile. ”I do yoga and go jogging all the time,and
I follow the ball games from tv. The last game between the Llamas and the Cows was just
great.”
”Oh yeah, that was really cool! It really stayed interesting until the last minute!” said Tamara
with equal enthusiasm. ”Remember that one time when the Llamas seemed to be losing but
then...”
Charlie smiled on the inside. He was just doing what he did best, and enjoying every last bit
of it.

21. It wasn't very long until Charlie and Tamara found themselves in the most popular pastime of
the Greek House: the hot tub.
”This thing is kinda cool”, said Tamara with a shy smile.
”Yeah, it's nice to have, although in the winter you have to take care not to stay too long or
otherwise the others have to drag you inside to melt”, Charlie said. ”It's happened to several
of our guests”, he added when Tamara looked a little shocked. ”But don't worry, they all got
their original color back in the end.”
”Heh. I'm glad to hear that. You'd think that the hot water would keep you warm though.”
”Well”, said with a mischevious smile forming on his lips, ”if you'd like, I can help you with
that.” With that, he wrapped his arm around Tamara's shoulders.

22. The date was a success. Well, they usually were, but perhaps more so than most, Charlie
thought. Tamara might be on his list if he considered something serious later on in his life.
She smiled and leaned in to give him one more kiss. Yes, definitely on the list.

23. Also in other terms, a busy time was had at the Bookacy Greek House Greek House. A
second computer needed to be purchased, because in such a big household, it wasn't
enough that one person could write their term paper at a time.
I'm sorry, did I say ”their term paper”? Of course I meant ”someone else's term paper”.

24. The kids, as always, had more important things on their minds. Cho, as well as her younger
brother, did some pretty determined dating. The current vic... I mean, lucky fellow, was Jack
Wilkie.

25. ”So you're aiming to have twenty simultaneous lovers huh?” asked Jack. ”That's pretty
ambitious. And you know, not many sims would be so open about it. I mean, I know there are
many who have it as their lifetime ambition, but most of them would keep shush-shush about
it, and let everyone think they're the only one.”
”Yeah, well, I've been thinking about it, and I've come to the conclusion that it's best to be
open about it. Some sims might not date you in that case, but at least those who do, know
what they're getting into. That can't eliminate all jealousy of course, but this way at least
you've been warned”, said Cho, shrugging.
”Hmm... I haven't really thought of it that way”, Jack confessed. ”But it actually makes sense.
I appreciate that strategy, and I'd think that a lot of others would too. More sims should do it
your way.”
”Maybe they should. At least this way I'm hoping to get most family guys avoid me, and in
general those who'd be sad if I don't end up marrying them or anything. Less hurt for
everyone. Anyway, I hope you're not the type who doesn't want to go out with me once I've
cleared my strategy?” Cho asked teasingly.

26. He turned out not to be that type. They ended up having a pleasant conversation in a quiet
corner of the restaurant.

27. And the delicious dinner was a plus, too. Cho could appreciate a man who could appreciate
a good time, like a proper date with dinner and conversation. That way you could really get
to know a person, all while enjoying the food and the atmosphere.

28. After dinner things took a more romantic turn, which Cho also appreciated. The dinner part
was nice of course, but what came after the dinner was the best part.

29. Back at home, when Cho reached it after her date, there had been a new purchase. Many of
the Greek House members had long wanted equipment for practising singing, and after
checking the budget they decided they could well afford it. Claire, who was often enthusiastic
trying out new things, was the first to try the new toy when it came out of the box. The others
were lining up right behind her though, and after some thorough testing, the general
consensus was that it was lots of fun.

30. Cho was the next in line after Claire, and she got her chance when Trevor came in. Claire
decided that she'd had enough of singning for now, and could as well relax and have fun with
Trevor.

31. Among all the fun and relaxation, some of the Greek House members managed to study,
too. Not surprisingly, those were usually the more school-oriented types, namely Ryker and
Cyrus. Not that they didn't have time to exchange some important news while studying.
”So how are things with you and Chris?” asked Ryker while turning the page.
Cyrus laughed drily. ”You know, that's about the only thing anyone asks me these days. But
yeah, we're doing great.”
Ryker grinned. ”Well, I guess that's the most interesting thing that's been going on with you
lately. You know, we appreciate all the sinks being clean in the morning when we wake up,
but maybe your most recent date still beats that as a topic of conversation.”
Cyrus returned the grin. ”I guess so. So how about you and Chloe?”

32. ”Hey”, said Cho, addressing Vasyl Hamilton, better known as 'Mr. Big' in Alphabetia. ”Thanks
for coming.”
”You're welcome”, said Vasyl smiling, ”I wouldn't pass up a chance to date perhaps the most
notorious romancer of the town, now would I?”
”Well, I guess if you put it that way. I guess many others would think that would be exactly
the reason to pass up the chance, though. But if that's something you like, then all the better
for me.”
”I have have a reputation to take care of, too”, Vasyl said and winked. ”Can't risk looking like
a sissy. Now have you been to this gallery before?”
”No not really. Haven't had time. I already like it, though”, Cho said, looking around her.
”Then it seems I picked up a good location for us. Shall we walk around a little bit?”

33. And so they did. The exhibition was very interesting, especially for Cho who hadn't even
been to the gallery before. It also sparked a very nice conversation afterwards. It turned out
that Cho and Vasyl had quite a similar taste in art, and the same works had triggered the
most thoughts and feelings for both of them.
Although Vasyl had a little bit of a reputation as being mean, Cho had no problems
whatsoever coming along with him. Perhaps it was that Vasyl's reputation was exaggerated,
or perhaps they had in so many things common, Cho thought. Or perhaps it was her
undeniable charm.

34. Either way, the date definitely turned out to be successful.

35. And clearly, there was also some undeniable charm in the air.

36. Back at home Cho even made her finals on time, although it was a little bit tight. Cyrus and
Carl were already running towards the university when she climbed off the cab. But well,
they'd always been more worried about such things than she had. Cho smiled, payed for the
cab and went inside to get her writing equipment for the exam.

37. Ryker, in turn, was still inside, panicking over the exam and studying like mad.
”Stop it, Ryker, you've had your performance meter maxed out for ages by now, right?”
called Cho.
”But, but, what if I fail?”
”Come on, as if you'd fail. You've studied the hardest of us all, and are probably the smartest
as well. The only way you could possibly fail is by not showing up. Which, by the way, is
getting kinda close if you haven't noticed.”
Ryker checked his watch, squaked, tossed the book aside and rushed to get his things.

38. Despite Ryker's worry – and even he knew it was in vain, he just tended to stress over
exams – it wasn't long the whole Greek House crew had passed their exams with flying
colors as usual. It was time for a little fun and relaxation. For Claire, this clearly meant it was
time for a surprise pillow fight. Whether Carl agreed was anyone's guess, as he couldn't
express his opinion due to a fit of spitting feathers from his mouth.

39. After the pillow fight Claire decided that the time was ripe to try to gain entry in the Garden
Club. After all, their garden was in a pretty nice condition and they had beautiful decorations
nowadays as well.
”Nice to meet you, miss Riley. So you'd like us to make an inspection I hear?”
”That'd be nice, yes. We've been working on the garden for a while and we think we're
ready.”
”Well that's nice to hear. I'll just make the phone call to some other judges so we can begin,
then.”

40. The inspection took long into the evening. The Garden Club indeed did a thorough job,
scrutinizing every plant and decorative item on the yard.
The verdict was that the garden was worthy of the club, but to the disappointment of
especially Cho and Claire, the desired special prize of wishing well was reserved for even
finer gardens. That only meant they'd have to try again, though.

41. For Charlie, it was date night. Actually, most nights were, but now he was even more
enthusiastic over it than usual. He was getting close to his dream of 50 first dates, and he
knew he'd be able to make it well before graduation. All the fun things could do after that
were already making him excited, although he didn't really know what those would be. But he
was sure he'd figure it out once he got there.
”So a date or two again, Charlie?” asked Jaqueline Rauscher, who often worked as Sunny's
replacement. The word had it that Sunny herself was working hard on getting all the
necessary ingredients for Cyrus' cure, and couldn't make it to her matchmaking duties very
often.
”Yes please!” replied Charlie with a happy smile. ”We're getting close you know.”
”Indeed”, replied the matchmaker, nodding. ”Poor boy, what will you do when you're done?
And, what will I do when you no longer need me?” she asked in a teasing tone.
”I'm sure we'll figure out something”, said Charlie brightly.

42. And so the dating parade went on. Charlie spent a while discussing important issues with a
lady who worked as a chef.

43. She seemed pretty nice, Charlie reckoned.

44. But so did his next date, a pretty blonde who seemed a little bit bohemian.

45. She seemed a little shy in Charlie's opinion, maybe somewhat nervous. And sure enough,
after a while of chatting, she seemed to try and gather her confidence, then grabbed him by
the arm and planted a quick kiss on his lips. Charlie thought the moment resembled the one
he'd experienced as a teen when he got his first kiss. That would explain the nervousness,
he thought and smiled encouragingly when his date blushed vigorously, then directed the
conversation to a safe topic for a while.

46. It didn't take Charlie that long to return some confidence to his date, and before he knew it,
they found themselves chatting flirtatiously by the stereo.

47. Flirting eventually led to more kissing, and Charlie could mark down one more date as
clearly successful.

48. He was not the only one to find his date a success. From the outside, one could hear the
cheers of Vasyl, who had dropped by to deliver a vase as a thank you for a fantastic date
with Cho.

49. To celebrate another success, Charlie pulled Carl for a bowling game. That was always fun,
as both boys were equally good and enjoyed the sport. Charlie may have been a little
distracted, but he was in a good mood and didn't mind Carl winning in the slightest.

50. Meanwhile, in Alphabetia proper, Salahuddin Chamcha was having a phone conversation
with mister Tellerman, as he did on most nights nowadays.
”Good evening, mister Tellerman. This is mister Smith speaking.” The conversation always
started the same. ”I was going to inquire whether you have any new information for me.”
…
”It is as I feared”, sighed Salahuddin. The conversation also continued as it had every time
for weeks now. ”No, I do not have gained any new knowledge myself. It remains a mystery
why the resurrection was unsuccessful.”
…
”It was the Count, I am sure of it. Only I cannot imagine what exactly he did to prevent me
from bringing her back”, he said as he always did.
Salahuddin finished the call and sighed. This meant another night of restless pacing in his
lair, fruitlessly trying to come up with new ideas on how Author was protected against
resurrection.

51. And after the fruitless nights came the restless days in the coffin. Salahuddin had trouble
sleeping, he would toss and turn, and when he finally did get some sleep, he had
nightmares.

52. *zzz* ”They did something...” *zzzz* ”The count...”

53. Today, like so many other days, he had the same dream again. He woke up in a place he'd
never been to. There was a coffin, but it was different, and the room was different too. The
colors were lighter, and there was a large window.

54. It was more of a bedroom than a crypt, really. It had some bright-colored painting on the wall,
and an actual bed. It was an odd place for a coffin. The room was empty, like it always was.

55. And there was a door. There was always a door.
Salahuddin didn't really know why, but he got up and approached the door. It opened silently
without him as much as touching it.

56. He was in another room. That room, too, was already familiar to him, although only from the
dream. In reality he'd never been to that room, but in the dream it was always the same.
It was clearly a living room or hall of some kind. There was nothing out of ordinary in the
room, and it was brightly lit, but for some reason, every time Salahuddin had that dream, he
had a nervous, worried feeling that he couldn't explain. It was a nightmare without any
nightmare-like elements.

57. Salahuddin turned to his right. There was a couch, exactly where he knew it would be. And
there was someone sitting on the couch, reading. A red-haired, young, male someone,
whom Salahuddin had not met, but still he had a feeling that a name was just on the tip of
his tongue. Sometimes he tried to remember the name when awake, but even the looks of
the person escaped his memory then.
He wasn't always sitting on the couch, but he was always somewhere in the house, and
Salahuddin knew to expect him.

58. He moved closer. He didn't really know why, but he did not seem to have control of it.
The person on the couch didn't seem to notice even though Salahuddin had just moved right
next to him. In fact, Salahuddin always had the feeling that he didn't know anyone was in the
room. He wasn't sure if he was there himself.
Just as Salahuddin was pondering this, the red-haired young man on the couch suddenly
closed his book.

59. Salahuddin instinctively backed off when the man stood up, but he still clearly didn't see
anyone in the room. There was something slightly odd about him. Even though he acted in a
rational way and as if he had a destination in mind, he seemed to be lost deep in his
thoughts. It was a little bit as if he had been sleepwalking. He took the book, walked to the
bookcase, and put the book away. Salahuddin silently backed away in the other room.

60. Salahuddin was by the coffin, and the man came through the door. Salahuddin wasn't afraid
of him, but something continuously made him feel anxious. Something seemed to be wrong,
but he couldn't put a finger on it. The man slowly approached him, as if pondering
something. And all the while Salahuddin felt that the man had no idea he was there. He held
his breath, unable to decide if he should do something...
At that moment, a sound of breaking glass came from somewhere in the house.

61. The red-haired man seemed to hear that too, he turned on his heels and listened, waiting for
another sound. He then called out for someone, but Salahuddin couldn't hear what he said.
His dream had started to get unclearer, his vision blurred and the sounds were distant. He
was being sucked into darkness.

62. And moments later Salahuddin was back in his coffin, although he didn't know it. Through
blurry visions and darkness, he tossed and turned through another day.

63. Back on the Greek House Greek House yard, two young ladies were working hard on re-
establishing a garden, completely unaware that something may have been amiss in the
house, or indeed anywhere. What was on their minds was solely the planting and watering
they needed to do. The harvest time had passed, and the Garden Club had not yet awarded
the house with their greatest reward, so a new attempt was in order.

64. Somewhere in the process Cho had gained so much experience in gardening that she'd
gained a silver talent badge. Maybe that would help them make the garden thrive and
impress the Garden Club next time.

65. Charlie had gone to see what the sound of breaking glass had been, and that turned out to
be Carl who'd just dropped a freshly made plate of grilled cheese sandwiches. Charlie had
helped him clean up the mess and then he took up playing the guitar a little bit. Next he
might play a little pinball, or maybe a game of poker if someone else was up for it. All was
right in Charlie's world.

66. And even more right, when he got to have another date. Dagmar Bertino was a pretty girl,
and not only that, she was also fun to talk to. They seemed to share a world view.

67. Cho agreed that she was nice, when she later found Dagmar playing chess. It turned out
that they had a common sense of fashion, and they had a rather interesting discussion
starting from there. Cho was a little worried that her little brother was seeing another
romancer – but then reminded herself that she was also one, and secondly, Charlie wasn't
the type to let a girl stomp all over him. He'd manage.

68. After gardening, Claire had other pastimes in mind already. It'd been a while since she'd
seen Trevor, so it was about time.
”Hey honey.”
”Oh hey. Based on that, I'd guess that you've missed me”, said Trevor when he could again
draw breath.
”I guess you could say that”, said Claire with a smile. ”So, how are things?”
Before Trevor could say anything, she continued: ”No wait. You can tell me in the hot tub.”

69. And indeed, some serious catching up was done that day in the tub.

70. One of those days, it was also time for a good old Greek House party. Friends, including
many cousins, were invited, and the living room turned into a major hangout location. Carl
and Claire got to spend some time with Cissy and Barbara, while Bobby and Colin the llama
took up to some dancing.

71. Cissy met up with Beatrice, and they exchanged some travel experiences.
”Oh Three Lakes was really interesting, I liked it there. I was a little worried though, Mom and
Dad would so have wanted to meet a bigfoot but me and Barbara didn't think that was such
a great idea. I think they'll be going back one day, they're both convinced that there is a
bigfoot on those mountains somewhere”, said Beatrice. ”So how was Twikkii Island?”
”That was nice too. The beach, the warmth, the eternal summer. Oh and the old pirate ship
was pretty cool, it was where my parents went on their honeymoon, too. Yeah and then there
are the goodlooking guys wearing swimtrunks or grass skirts, of course”, explained Cho with
her eyes lighting up.
”Sounds nice. And I take it there were girls in bikinis too?”
Charlie walked by, shaking his head. ”And again this bunch got started”, he mumbled, then
flashed a grin.

72. The rambling romancers were soon forgotten though, as Ryker started a slap dance fest,
and almost everyone quickly joined. No party is complete without some serious slapdancing.

73. The evening continued with several music performances from some familiar faces.
Especially Charlie had gotten surprisingly good – but then again, he did spend a lot of time
at the music instruments. Nobody knew exactly, how he found the time for singing, playing
guitar, playing poker and bowling, and doing all those so well. Maybe it was some kind of a
pleasure sim trade secret.

74. And finally, before all the guests left for their comfy beds in the wee hours of the night, some
famous Greek House pizza was shared. All in all, not a bad night.

75. After yet another party, life went back to normal. The kids decided to place a small pond in
the yard, in the hopes of pleasing the Garden Club more next time. And well, Ryker thought,
getting to try out fishing was a plus, too.

76. Charlie spent some more time on the musical instruments, and finally mastered the creativity
skill. It was really a pleasure to listen to him after that.

77. Cho's routine stayed the way it'd been for long. We'd both lost track of the number of lovers
she had currently, but we both came to the conclusion that the next one must, actually, be
the tenth. So, excited over getting to her halfway mark, she asked out Ashley Pitts.

78. Ashley was more than happy to oblige. You don't get to be a tenth lover everyday, so this
was an interesting opportunity, really.

79. ”So how is it with your strategy?” Ashley asked Cho as they were waiting for their dinner to
arrive. ”Do you have a particular 'type' or do you just go with the flow or so? How do you go
about this all?” He waved his hands around.
Cho laughed. ”I wouldn't really say I have a strategy. I mostly just ask out guys whom I
somehow happen to like, and mostly they say yes, luckily to me. I'm always happiest to find
a fellow romancer, and I try to avoid family sims if I can, I don't want to make a guy unhappy.
Otherwise, I just try to be honest and 'go with the flow'.”
”That's admirable, I think. I try to stay honest myself, it's only fair. Of course, it isn't always so
easy, and there are other complications...”
”I know. I try to avoid complications when I can, but it isn't always possible.”
Ashley nodded. ”You know, it's great to get to talk to someone who really gets these things.”
”Yeah”, said Cho, ”I usually only get to talk to Claire about that, you know, my cousin.”
”Oh yeah, I remember her”, said Ashley enthusiastically, earning a mischevious grin from
Cho.

80. After a very interesting discussion over dinner, the evening took a turn that they'd both
expected, and that they both enjoyed very much.

81. Very, very much indeed.

82. When Ashley went home, Cho's evening wasn't yet complete. She got pulled into a
conversation by someone new, and well, she always enjoyed that.

83. It wasn't very unusual for her, really. This time it just happened to be several someone news.
What a great way to end a nice evening – and she was sure that Ashley would have agreed
with her.

84. Definitely, it was a very nice evening.

85. Back at home, creative pursuits were taken up by many. Carl, too, mastered the skill now,
and his playing was appreciated by all.

86. Ryker tried singing too, and found it fun. He didn't sound too bad either.
”Thank you, you have been a great audience today! Thank you!”

87. Charlie's creativity was, for the moment, directed towards dating.
”So, only a couple more to go, am I right?” asked the matchmaker. ”And, how is your brother
doing, anything out of ordinary?”
”Yeah, I think we can be done today if we try”, replied Charlie smiling. ”And no, we haven't
noticed anything odd about Cyrus. He seems to be perfectly fine.”
”Excellent. Sunny will be pleased to know. Shall we start?”

88. And so they set to work. Charlie met a hobby club member, who was very keen on
discussing nature with him.

89. And he met one of the senior professors of the college, who duly noted that Claire's
secondary aspiration was indeed Popularity.

90. And, finally...
”This is it, then. It's time for my fiftieth first date, Jaqueline.”
”I think congratulations are in order, then, Charlie my friend.”
”Thanks”, said Charlie, grinning from ear to ear. ”I've been waiting for this ever since I was a
teenager. Wow.”
”So, are you ready then?”
”I am. Let's do it.”

91. And so, Charlie Bookacy finished his lifetime want of having 50 first dates and became
permanent platinum. His final date was with a nice girl named Jill Smith. She really was just
a regular girl next door, and Charlie truly enjoyed her company.

92. The evening was a lot of fun. There was discussion, perhaps a little bit of dirty joking, and all
of it was in good fun.

93. Afterwards, Charlie celebrated joining a game of poker that was, as usual, going on in the
upstairs gameroom. What would be a better way to celebrate than a nice game of poker with
friends?

94. Downstairs, a different date was also taking place. Or perhaps, not so different really.
”That tickles!” giggled Chris happily.
”That's kind of the point of, you know, tickles”, remarked Cyrus and tickled her a little more.
He quickly squeezed her hand and continued: ”Anyway, thanks for coming. I'm sorry it's
been a while, I've been a little busy with schoolwork lately.”
”No problem, me too. And you're welcome, anytime”, said Cho smiling.

95. ”Chris?” asked Cyrus a little later, while they were dancing together in the empty livingroom.
”Yeah?”
”I've been thinking lately... After we graduate, would you consider living with me? I mean,
together we could afford a nicer house, and I'd love the company. But”, he added hastily, ”I
understand if you don't want to.”
Chris smiled. ”Are you asking me as a friend, or as my boyfriend?”
”Does that make a difference?” he asked, tilting his head thoughtfully. ”I'm both, so I'm
asking as both. But most of all I'm asking because you're my best friend in the world, and I
think living together with you would be awesome.”
Chris smiled even wider and said: ”I think living together with you would be awesome, too. I'd
love to.”

96. ”Hey man, good to see you!” said Carl, patting Nicholas on the back. ”We haven't seen you
for a while, I already thought you weren't going to show up again.”
”Yeah I haven't really felt like it”, said Nicholas, and Carl noted that he looked as if he'd been
ill. ”I've... I've been thinking it's maybe not good for me to come over too often. There are...
There are things I need to accept, and it's harder when I'm here”, Nicholas finished, avoiding
Carl's eyes.
”Is it that bad?” asked Carl.
”I don't know. I really don't know at the moment. But I had to meet you guys. I heard Chris is
here today too, so I thought I'd say hi.”
”Yeah she is, I think they went to bowl with Cyrus. But really, you should talk to her.” They
both knew Carl wasn't talking about Chris anymore.
”I don't know, it's not going to change anything. Hey listen Carl, can we talk about something
else?”

97. Carl decided it was best to do as Nicholas wished, he really didn't seem too happy. So a
moment later they were engaged in a friendly game of punch you punch me. Out of the
corner of his eye, Carl could see a flash of red hair moving past them, and a handwave
directed at them. Both guys smiled and grunted a greeting, but as his cousin had passed by
them, Carl saw that Nicholas' smile had faded away and he was even paler than he had
been a moment ago.

98. Luckily Charlie, who was in a great mood that night, came in shortly after with pizza to share.
That made even Nicholas forget to worry for a moment, and after pizza was had, he could
silently sneak out, after quickly saying hi to the rest of the gang.

99. The rest of the evening went by with pizza, poker, and at least in the case of Claire and
Trevor, making out.

100. The next days were mostly filled with studying.

101. Everyone picked a favorite spot of theirs, and did some hard work for the approaching
exams.

102. On her free time, Cho was back to business. No resting on her laurels even though she was
half way through. This time it was a nice dinner with Skylar Cameron. The dinner was always
nice.

103. But, again, what came after the dinner was even better.

104. Skylar had the honor of being the eleventh lover for Cho, and apparently he didn't mind. Cho
could head home happy after another succesful date.

105. Back at home, Cyrus was asleep in his coffin, like he was every day.
But he wasn't sleeping well. He was tossing and turning, and his dreams were unpleasant.

106. He was in a strange place. It had a coffin, too, and it was dark colored and dimly lit.
Somehow it resembled an actual vampire crypt a little bit. He'd never been there in actuality,
but he'd seen the dream rather often lately.
As if not entirely controlling his feet, he got up and walked to the door.

107. There was a living room of some kind. The colors were again dark, and Cyrus had the
impression that whoever lived there was rather wealthy. He was quite sure someone did
indeed live there, although he had never seen anyone in the dream.

108. Some rooms in the house did look a little bit like no one had lived there for a long time. Like
a room that had clearly been a little girl's room once. Many of the things in the room were
dusty, and apparently had not been moved for a while. On the other hand, sometimes the
table lamp was on, so maybe someone did come to the room every now and then. Somehow
this room made Cyrus feel sad, although he couldn't tell why.

109. And then, after a flight of stairs from a small garden, under the house was a large room,
apparently some kind of a laboratory. It had some strange objects, some clearly scientific
equipment, others even more mysterious. Cyrus always ended up in this room. He
compulsively started walking in circles, and felt an inexplicable sense of frustration. And that
was the room where the vision started to fade.

110. When Cyrus woke up in his coffin, he once again didn't have any recollection of his dreams
whatsoever.

111. Perhaps, had he remembered them, he would have been rather distracted in his finals. But,
happily memoriless, he rushed into his exam – his final finals in fact – and felt as sharp as
ever.

112. After Cyrus had successfully graduated with honors and the younger kids had made it
through yet another semester, Cho decided it was time to try to handle some unfinished
business. And by unfinished business she meant wishing well business.

113. And so the scrutiny began again. We had since the last time purchased some nice garden
items, and the gray lady was duly noted.

114. As was our pretty little pond.

115. Unfortunately for us, though, our beautiful garden happened to start growing weed the
moment the inspection was called upon. Cho and Claire spent their day trying to emergancy
weed the plants before the judges got to them.
”I'm truly sorry, mister, but the weeds only just appeared. The moment I turned my back.
Would you be so kind as to look at the weedless plant on the left first?”
Whether it was the sudden weeds or if the Garden Club was just being hard to impress, we'll
never know. Cho, too, made it as a member, but the wishing well matter stayed unfinished.

116. While the inspection was still in progress, the boys decided that enough serious business
was enough, and it was time for some fun and games.

117. Not everyone had equally fun in all games, though.

118. Cyrus would like the readers to know that the Garden Club not giving his sister a wishing
well was totally ”bleh”. He didn't mind tending the garden, though. A skill badge is a skill
badge, after all.

119. ”You know, Cho”, said professor Eric while picking one of his lime-seared prawns, ”I didn't
really expect to be going on a date with you again.”
”You didn't?”
The professor shook his head. ”No. I thought you didn't go back for seconds.” He smiled
slightly.

120. Cho couldn't help but smile back. ”Well, I usually don't”, she said. ”Not because I wouldn't
want to, it's more like I don't have the time. If you want to pursue twenty different lovers, you
gotta keep moving forward.”
Eric nodded. ”How many are you at?” he asked casually.
”Eleven.”
”That's pretty impressive for a college girl, really.” His smile twisted a little, he was aware of
how weird this conversation must sound to an outsider. ”So, why did you make an exception
for me?”

121. Cho shrugged. ”Well, maybe I just liked you that much. And I happended to have some free
time today, and felt like spending it with someone I already know and like, rather than with
someone new yet again. I can do that tomorrow.”
”It gets a little draining every once in a while, doesn't it?” asked Eric with an amused air.
”I wouldn't believe I'm saying this, but yes it does. A little break can only do good.”

122. ”Well, I'm happy that you chose me for your company on the break.”

123. ”Me too, Eric. Me too.”

124. The next afternoon, at the Bookacy Greek House Greek House. Charlie had just come home
from class, and he entered the empty living room. He hadn't had time to have breakfast, so
his stomach was churning with hunger. He was planning to go straight to the fridge and stuff
a couple of plates of Claire's spaghetti from last night right into his face.

125. But something stopped him in his tracks. Instead of the fridge, something else seemed to be
calling his name. He felt a familiar curiosity that he had occasionally felt for a long time. He
forgot about his hunger, indeed forgot about everything else.
Charlie didn't think, but turned and headed for the small bedroom on the left.

126. The house was silent. Only the flames on the coffin's torches kept a small, humming sound.
Charlie stepped on the stone, leaning over the coffin. He hesitated for a moment.

127. He'd never seen a sleeping vampire before. It'd be so interesting...
And carefully, he lifted the coffin lid just a little bit.

128. There was no time to react. The lid clanked open faster than anyone would have thought
possible, and the horrifying figure of an angry, vampire-formed Cyrus was reaching towards
Charlie.
”GGGGRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

129. ”AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

130. Charlie was screaming like he'd never screamed before, and he couldn't stop. Cyrus' hands
kept reaching for him, his eyes looking madly for something they didn't see.
The door was slammed open, and Cho rushed in.
”Cyrus, stop it!” she yelled over Charlie's continuing scream.

131. As suddenly as the noise had started, it died down. Charlie stopped screaming, and the
coffin clanked back shut hiding Cyrus from view. Cho was catching her breath.
”Charlie! What the hell do you think you're doing?!?!”
There was no reply.

132. ”Charlie? Are you alright?”
The coffin lid clanked open once again.

133. ”What was that?!”

134. ”What was that?!”

135. Thump. Charlie's knees had given in and he collapsed on the floor.
”Charlie!”

136. ”CHARLIE!”
To be continued...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dear reader, yes, I am indeed going to leave you right here. Thank you again for reading
The Bookacy Family Alphabet Adventures, and welcome back next time! Which I hope will
be a little sooner than this one was. Sorry about that. Happy simming to all!