Chapter Eight: Rest

Sisi tossed and turned, but sleep never came. She drank warm milk to calm her senses, yet it never arrived. Frustated, Sisi went outside and worked the treadmill. She figured that tiring herself out was the answer to her sudden insomnia. As she ran at the highest setting, she wondered about Emery, thinking about the chapters in her life that were not meant to be seen, read or known. Such voyeuristic sins were delightful.

Sisi thought about the seed she had planted, the link to Emery's soul. Thinking about the seed prompted The Third to speak up, saying that negligence on Emery's flower would lead to dire consequences. Before The Third could elaborate, Isis interrupted The Third and told Sisi there was a way out of this mess. The voices went back and forth against one another until Sisi stopped her exercise. As she stepped off the treadmill, Sisi realized it was near dawn, the sun hinting its rise from the horizon. She checked her watch and gasped. She had been running for six hours.

Sisi took a bath and went to bed. She covered her eyes with her pillows, drew her blanket over her head, moved this side and that side. She closed her eyes tightly, counted sheep, counted the seconds that ticked and tocked on her watch. She was supposed to be exhausted after a lengthy workout, but her body said otherwise. Sisi threw her pillow and blanket off and stormed out of her room.

Sleep was her refuge from the voices. Without it her head clamored for attention. The Third told her to go downtown and look for more souls to harvest whereas Isis told her to burn the books and burn down the house. Sisi knelt down and screamed, hoping they would shut up, but the voices continued on and on.

She ran outside, hoping the voices wouldn't follow. She focused on the sound of her inhales and exhales, each breath working against the noise in her head. It worked. She ran faster, and she sprinted like a graceful fox skittering through the virgin woods.

Soon, Sisi found herself at the edge of downtown. She smelled their essence. All around her, the sims that passed her by, they all had the scent, the smell of their being. Essence. Love had the scent of warm honey while envy had the scent of frothing acid. Sloth had the scent of mold while body had the scent of musk. Sisi followed her nose to that intoxicating musk.

She entered the gym and locked on her prey. Like a skillful predator, Sisi pounced on her target by cracking a joke. It was a success. Her name was Sonia Pearce, a gym instructors at Movers and Shakers. They chatted and joked and sometimes pranked one another, and soon they were close. Sisi even got a free training from her. When their session was over, Sisi exited the gym and hounded for more.

By the time Sisi got home, she was energized rather than exhausted. She had gotten four names from her excursion. Their names were now bound on their own book of life. She returned to her bedroom and hoped for rest. As hours and days, weeks and months, a year and another went by, Sisi accepted she'll never rest in peace.