Chapter 1: Dreams

"You will forever be miserable! The pain you feel, both physically and emotionally will never cease!"

A woman, an ugly woman, wearing a medieval style formal dress stands in a forest, pointing in the distance. I cannot see who she is pointing at. Her dress is black, as black as her heart. The woman laughs maniacally and runs away.

I wake up from my dream, the same dream I've been having for the past 3 months now. I always get snippets of this forest and this woman. She isn't always yelling the same harsh words in her scratchy voice, but she is always harsh. I don't know what this dream means, but I'm sure it means something since I have it all the time.

I come from a strange family, an unconventional family. I have 31 siblings, most of whom I don't know since they moved out long before I was born. I don't know much about my mother because she had to spread her attention among multiple children. I don't know why my mother felt like she needed so many children. I don't know who my father is. My mother always had a different guy over at our house, so I don't think any of my siblings have the same father. My mother died a month after I turned 19 and moved out of my house. I got a call from the funeral home. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. Even though I was distant from my mother, I was sad.

I called my therapist to schedule an appointment. Maybe he could help me sort out this dream. We had been talking about it but I hadn't had any breakthroughs yet. He agreed to meet me at one o'clock that afternoon.

"Hello Sicily. How are you today?"

My therapist smiled at me, his pearly white teeth glistening in the light.

"Not well. I had the dream again, Dr. Agosti. It was yet a different snippet of the same horrible woman saying those mean things."

Dr. Agosti shifted in his chair while scribbling notes down on his notepad.

"Sicily, would you like to do a hypnotic session? I think it would help get to the bottom of this. Three months is a long time to have the same dream."

"Sure, if you think it will help."

I relaxed on the couch in Dr. Agosti's office and crossed my legs, listening to the sound of his sexy voice as he slowly hypnotized me.

"Imagine that forest you always see. Picture the leaves of the trees, the grass around your feet, feel the air touching your skin. Completely immerse yourself in the forest. Note any smells and tastes as well. Now tell me what is going on."

The horrible woman is walking in the forest, following a dirt trail that leads to a small pond. She passes me as if I am not there. I don't think she can see me. For the first time, I see another Sim in the area. The other Sim is a female with hair just as blue as mine. I do not recognize her.

"YOU! You have disgraced the Zenteri name once and for all! You will be punished for your actions. Your future children will be punished as well!"

The woman starts blabbering in a language I don't understand. Suddenly she switches back to Simlish and says those words that I have become so familiar with.

"You will forever be miserable! The pain you feel, both physically and emotionally, will never cease! This pain and misery will be passed on to your children and your grandchildren!"

The blue haired woman begs for mercy.

"Please, Grandmother, don't hurt me, and especially don't hurt my daughter. She has done nothing wrong. None of this is her fault."

"Silence, wretch! I cannot believe that you have the nerve to plead with me, especially after what you have done!"

"But, Grandmother, I love him!"


"I said SILENCE! What has been done has been done. The spell I have just placed on you and your future generations will continue forever!"

I came out of my trance prematurely, and tears were rolling down my face. Dr. Agosti gave me a tissue to try to help me without being unprofessional about it. I was freaking out about all the things I had just supposedly remembered.

"Sicily? You are safe. You are here in my office. You were in a hypnotic session. Are you with me?"

"Yes, Dr. Agosti. I am okay. I just can't believe this dream is a memory of some sort? How else would it come out in a hypnotic session? I don't even know who these people are! My family name has a spell attached to it? Like a curse?"

"Sicily, it's all right. The mind works in mysterious ways. We may have memories we didn't even know existed. Often times, these memories come out as dreams. The fact that you don't know those people is okay. Memories can sometimes become confused with imagination."

I must not have been convinced because suddenly Dr. Agosti had come over to the couch and sat down next to me. He patted me on the back gently. I grabbed his hand and looked into his bright orange eyes. He was so sexy and his cologne smelled very nice. Something was possessing me to hit on my therapist even though I knew it was wrong.

"Sicily, you shouldn't be holding my hand. I just came over to comfort you, not to start anything. I am your doctor and we can't be involved in that way."

"Oh, but, doctor, you're so sexy, and you smell so good."

"Sicily." Dr. Agosti said my name sternly, but that only turned me on more. I put my arm around his shoulders and started rubbing his soft orange skin, hoping I could turn him on.

"Come on, we have 20 minutes of my session left. No one will have to know. I won't tell if you don't."

Then I kissed him passionately. He didn't seem to be resisting anymore. Maybe it was because he was a guy and I was basically throwing myself at him. We threw our clothes on the floor and had each other on his therapist couch. After I had my way with Dr. Agosti, I was suddenly feeling apologetic and awkward.

"Dr. Agosti, I am so sorry. I know I shouldn't have had sex with you. You are my doctor. I don't know what came over me."

"It's ok, Sicily. It was partly my fault too. I could have stopped you, but I gave in."

"I don't know where to go from here. I would feel guilty continuing to be your patient."

"How about this? I stop taking you on as a patient, but continue on with life as your boyfriend."

I looked at Dr. Agosti, a little shocked that he was being so forward. Could he do that?

"Sicily? Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I just- can you do that? Won't your boss think it strange that I'm no longer a patient of yours?"

"Sicily, I am my own boss. This is my practice. As long as I don't continue to have sessions with you as a therapist, I can date you. Plus, this way you can talk to me as much as you want about your thoughts and I will always be there."

"Oh yay! Are you sure you want to date someone so messed up?"

"I think normal is boring," Dr. Agosti said as he kissed me again. "Now run along. We can sort out living arrangements later. I have one more appointment today and then I will call you."

Now I'm dating my former therapist, and I found out I potentially have a curse on my head. Am I screwed up or what?