Coward // The Sims™ 4 Backstory "Rewrite"

Erwin Pries Loses His Mind :: ♡

[TW :: Character death, blood/slight gore descriptions, violence]

A little inspired by "The Tree on the Hill" from The Percy Jackson Musical

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Shuffling. That's the sound that Erwin heard as he was nearly falling asleep at the shop. He had been neglecting the "lesser needed" things of life ever since he had seen what was in the bottom of that lab. Apparently sleep was one of those things. Papers were scattered around him, making a mess of the usually neat(-ish) Curio Shop.

"Erwin, wake up." Alice sounded frantic, and that's what made him open his eyes. "I-I need to leave, and I... Just take this, okay?" Erwin blinked, adjusting his glasses. He wasn't really sure what Alice was saying. She pushed a jar of something to a place where he wouldn't hit it off the wooden ledge, and she took a deep breath.

"Alice...? What..." Erwin rubbed his eyes and fixed his glasses.

"I need to go. I'll be back soon, alright?" There was a pause, almost as if she didn't believe her last statement. Erwin was much more observant than he let on, so it wasn't like he didn't notice. He sat up a bit, but the words he wanted to say never came out of his mouth. "Stay safe, please." Alice took a few steps backwards, studying Erwin as if this was the last time she was ever going to see him. The package underneath her arm crinkled. After a long moment, she turned and walked back in the direction of the trailer park before Erwin could even try to ask her what was going on. Erwin looked down at his watch, his eyes widening once he saw the time. It was nearly 3am. Where would Alice be going at 3am? They had classes in the morning.

"Hey, wait!" Erwin finally scrambled to his feet and ran out of his shop, trying to follow his friend. Somehow she was gone already, and the lights in their trailer were off. "Alice?" He stopped in his tracks. He was sure that she would be fine wherever she was going, but that didn't make him worry any less. The way she had been acting before she left was so odd... Pushing the thoughts away with a shake of his head, Erwin decided to go shut down his shop for the night.

Erwin paced in the living room, trying to ignore the bags under his eyes that felt like they were weighing him down. He chewed on his fingernails and chipped the toxic looking green nail polish that Alice had insisted he wore. She had been gone for hours. Erwin was sure that it would be just about four hours exactly, if he was counting right. It was 7:03 in the morning and the sky was now lit up fully. Not like anyone would really be able to tell with the storm in the way. Stopping abruptly in front of the couch, Erwin pulled his phone out of his back pocket to check it for the fifth time in the last ten minutes.

Monday 4:56 AM
hey you've been gone for a few hours where are you

Monday 6:09 AM
alice are you ok

Monday 6:41 AM
please answer me we have classes soon

Monday 6:52 AM
let me know when you see this

Delivered. Alice hadn't seen any of the texts. Usually, when Erwin was texting her, she never missed one for this long. She always checked her phone in case it was important, and she'd answer within at least 30 minutes of the text being sent (with a few understandable exceptions, but this wasn't understandable). Erwin wished that she would at least see the texts. He had no idea if she was okay and his paranoia was wearing him thin. He swore that he was about to start ripping his hair out or something... He dialed Alice's number, but he went straight to voice-mail. Is her phone dead? He didn't bother leaving a message.