hold me closer, necromancer

"Yeah, you've got Sam. I'm not here so leave a message. If this is Frank, whatever Ramon did, just clean it up and suck it up. You're in charge there."

Sam didn't feel too great today. He knew the reasons behind it but still hated that he could barely get out of bed and that James felt the need to bring him water and a bunch of dried up vegetables to try and get him back on his feet.

He'd expended a lot of energy yesterday, raising and speaking with several people who'd recently been found dead with puncture marks in their neck and claw marks on their back. They'd initially thought it was a vampire and a werewolf working together but the people that he'd managed to raise and calm had contended there was only one person that had attacked them, one grotesque creation who'd drained, slashed and then killed them.

The Council had convened and Sam had passed out right there in his seat. He'd even drooled a little. Brid's brothers had carried him back to his home and James had dumped in bed which was where he was now. He was powerful, able to raise and control the dead but even he had some limits and even he got tired.

His bed was comfortable, at least, and Taco was curled up in the space between his legs. Ramon had brought one of his record players into the room and there was some quiet jazz playing now. Sam closed his eyes and sighed.

[NFB but open, sure]

The Council meeting had run last night leaving Sam tired and worn thin. It hadn't been a bad meeting but it continued to be something he just didn't want to do. The only good thing had been Brid and her good mood. She'd spent the entire meeting making faces when others had been talking or throwing him notes when the faces got old.

It was a huge change to how she'd been acting towards him. Maybe things would thaw out further and Sam could have his friend back. He desperately wanted that. Sam had all of his friends around him but he continued to feel that tiny blank spot where Brid used to be.

"You look terrible," Ramon said once he'd breezed into the kitchen and headed towards the refrigerator. "Something a werebear dragged in."

Sam raised an eyebrow and took a sip of his coffee. "You make a habit of dragging stuff in? What's your room look like these days?"

"Animal carcasses, pictures of naked ladies, and recipe books," Ramon answered. "I like a variety."

Sam snorted and shook his head. "You making breakfast?"

"Depends, you like cereal?" Ramon took the box out and shook it in Sam's direction.

"My favorite thing in the world."

"Then, soup's on!" Ramon grabbed two bowls and served breakfast.

[NFB but open for the usual things]

Sam was staring at the ceiling.

Luckily, that was by choice. He wasn't sick or injured or currently the captive of some supernatural baddie. Nope, he was just laying on the floor of his music room, staring up at the ceiling. Being that close to the ground, even in a house as big as his, meant he could feel the dead things around him.

It finally didn't freak him out.

Taco was curled up against his side, snoring quietly. Sam wished he had Taco's ability to fall asleep anywhere. There was jazz music on the record player, filling the room with sound and energy that almost made Sam want to get up.

Almost.

But, it felt good to stretch out and close out the world for awhile. James could handle the house, Haley could handle James, Brid could take care of the Council and everything else could wait awhile. Taco was all the company he really needed. If he got bored, he'd talk to his pet chupacabra.

The thought alone was enough to make Sam snicker.

[NFB but open for the usual things!]

Sometimes, Sam just needed to get away.

While normal people might have taken a vacation, Sam just went up to his music room, shut and locked the door and put a record on his record player. He turned it loud enough that people passing by the door would hear it but not so loud to bother everyone else.

His head was aching and he knew the simple explanation was a slow changing of seasons but he also knew stress wasn't helping. Council meetings kept him busy, busier than he could have ever expected and when he wasn't doing work associated with the Council, he was at home, working to try and mend fences with Brid or cleaning up Ramon's mess or trying to get James to calm down because of one of Ramon's messes.

It was a lot of work but when it was just him and the music, he felt better. He flopped down bonelessly in his chair, legs splayed out and body curving so every inch of his back and hips were hitting the soft padding. He sighed and closed his eyes.

No one here but him. Nothing hard to deal with here. Somewhere downstairs, he heard something drop and break. Nope, he was ignoring it. Taco, who'd sneaked into the room with him, climbed up and curled up on Sam's lap.

No one here but Taco and Sam.

[NFB but open, if needed]

Sam had decided to get a new tattoo today. The pandas on his chest had turned out really well and Sam kind of liked the idea of getting a new piece of ink every few months. Nothing huge or garish but something. Ramon had already suggested a skull and crossbones (Sam had vetoed that) while Haley said he needed to get a flower on his neck (Sam had also vetoed that).

Instead, he'd decided to keep his zombie motif (so maybe Ramon was a little right). He was going with a face, half bone, half human and was probably going to design something around it in the future. For now, it was just going to be that somewhere on his back.

Frank had volunteered to come with him and Brooke planned to hang around outside (since she didn't want to freak out the artist by randomly appearing) so it looked like they were set to go. Sam wasn't much looking forward to the pain but his back was probably mostly numb anyway. The werewolf attack from years ago had done a number to the nerves back there.

Could that be considered a positive? Sam wasn't convinced.

[NFB but open for typical things]

Apparently, they were going to have Thanksgiving at Sam's house. Haley had suggested the idea because of the space and with Sam's large array of interesting friends, it would just be safer and more comfortable. Sam hadn't really argued that much. The house was still clinging to some of the uneasiness that it had come with when it had been in Douglas's possession and he hoped that maybe this would vanquish it.

But, Sam wasn't cooking. He could cook but he wasn't. Instead, he was sitting on the counter in his kitchen, eating an apple and watching Haley get a pie together. James was nearby, glancing over to Haley every once in awhile and pretending he definitely wasn't doing that nope not at all. It amused Sam. Maybe he'd given James the 'if you hurt my sister, I'll kill you' talk just to make him sweat.

Before Sam could entertain that fact further, Haley dumped a bunch of flowers and a basket in his lap.

"Make a centerpiece."

"What's the magic word?" Sam asked.

"Shut up."

"Ding ding!" Sam laughed and went about making the world's worst centerpiece.

[NFB but open for stuff]

Sam didn't tend to have a lot of nightmares anymore but when he did, they were awful. This one had been full of blood, zombies, Brid, Ramon, Frank, his mother, Haley, everyone. The last thing he remembered was seeing his face in a darkened mirror, splattered with blood and grinning in a feral fashion.

Sleep...wasn't going to be happening the rest of the night. The sun hadn't risen yet and the rest of the house was quiet. Sam had stumbled his way down to the music room and put a record on. Door closed, he was able to listen to it without waking everyone and using headphones.

He fell into the seat there and closed his eyes, rubbing at his temple to try and stave off the headache he knew would come. Hadn't had something this bad in awhile. Hopefully it wasn't going to be some harbinger of doom. Everything had been calm and uneventful and Sam wanted that. Craved that.

He didn't care that Ramon got bored or Frank was considering getting a part time job. Sam needed a damn break.

He sighed and rested his head against the back of the chair. His heartbeat was calming and he was starting to feel a little less keyed up. Better. This was better.

[NFB but open for the other stuff, if needed]

Sam was used to water. He lived in freaking Seattle so rain was more likely than sunshine on any given day. But, that didn't mean it should rain inside. Sam's roofs were sound (James made sure to have them checked) and leaks were not a thing that happened in Douglas Montgomery's old estate.

So, the rude awakening of getting ice cold water just dumped all over him while he was asleep was not cool. It soaked him through and through and had him sitting up, looking around for Ramon because he's the only person who'd do that. His bedroom was completely empty though and completely quiet save for the chattering of Sam's lips. It sucked that he'd gone to bed wearing nothing but his shorts and now his skin was goosebumping and he felt himself shivering.

"What the hell?" he mumbled, slogging his way out of bed and watching the carpeting beneath his feet get wet. His bed was a mess of wet sheets and wet quilts and he had no idea how he was going to explain that one to James. Maybe he'd just do the laundry before James discovered it.

"I'm gonna catch a freaking cold," he mumbled mopily, stomping over to his closet and tugging his robe on. It did nothing to dry his soaking wet shorts but it gave him some warmth at least so he could assess the situation. There were ice cubes on the sheets and water dripping from the ends of his quilts onto the carpeting.

"What a mess," he mumbled, peering up at the ceiling for any signs of where the water had come from. He didn't think a ghost would have or could have done something like that but it was definitely something he'd ask Ashley or Brooke about.

Later. After he got cleaned up so Ramon didn't find out about this and tease him about having an accident as an adult. He didn't need that.

[NFB but open for the usual stuff!]

Today's office hours were being spent on the telephone. Specifically, on the telephone to Brid back home. They'd gotten a little better at talking with each other since everything with her dad and Douglas but it there was still a distance that Sam hated. So, he was doing some reaching out and asking if she wanted to visit tomorrow, help him out with his class.

After Brid had gotten done laughing at the thought of him as a teacher, she'd agreed and now they were just spending the rest of the time catching up and idly chatting. It was really, really nice. Sam missed it and really liked having it even if for a few short moments.

[Open]

Sam was never more grateful to be off in Seattle then when weird things happened over the weekend on the island. He'd only listened to last night's broadcast but all he could do was shake his head and chuckle a bit. The island never changed, it seemed. It was kind of endearing.

While he caught up on the weekend happenings, Sam was putting together some lesson plans for the future weeks of his class. He was trying to go as daring and risky as he thought he could go without needing permission slips signed by parents.

Some days, Sam just spent all of his time in the music room. Douglas had brought so many terrible things into his life but he couldn't really list the house in that category. He'd grown attached to the weird estate and all of its strange inhabitants over time. And he couldn't deny that having a big house with a music room and a skate ramp in the backyard wasn't a cool thing to have. He knew he was lucky so sometimes he just liked to have those quiet days where he could sit and think and listen.

He'd gone for something jazzy today, turning the volume up and closing the door so he didn't bother anyone else. He didn't even know where James or Frank or Ramon were. The only person he had tabs on today was himself.

And Taco. Because Taco seemed to love the music room just as much as Sam and had curled up on Sam's lap as soon as he'd taken a seat. Though maybe it wasn't the music room that Taco loved but the attention that Sam tended to give him while he was there.

Sam's eyes were closed and his fingers were gently stroking under Taco's chin while the music filled the room. Not bad for a Sunday. Not bad at all.

[NFB but open for all the usual stuff, sure]

Sam hadn't gotten out of bed just yet. Since Douglas's death, he'd been sleeping better though sometimes he still had nights filled with nightmares and ghostly visits. This morning, he just hadn't wanted to get up. Ramon had come in earlier and jumped on him just to wake him up. They'd lay there for awhile and talked before Ramon had gotten bored and went outside.

Now, it was just Sam again, laying in silence in his mountain of blankets and pillows. Hey, he was allowed some luxuries in life and a comfortable bed was something he was gladly going to take advantage of. Later, he had to head to his mother's and help her out with a few things before tonight's Council meeting but he had nothing to do for awhile.

And that...that was just strange. He'd spent so many months in constant motion that being able to be lazy was a luxury itself. Sam sighed and closed his eyes, listening to the rain hitting his window. The only thing that could interrupt his relaxation would be James coming to bang on his door and get him up.

Hopefully Frank could distract him. Somehow.

[NFB but open for calls/texts/the like]

For the most part, things had settled. Sam had physically recovered from the beating he'd taken several weeks ago and the emotional scars were dulled. His mood was lighter, more buoyant than it had been awhile. His friends were alive and well and though Brid was still distant, she'd come around a little more often in the past few weeks than she had been and Sam counted that as a win.

So, Sam was spending today doing something he loved and hadn't done in a long time: skateboarding. The half pipe in the backyard had been sorely lacking his company while he'd been dealing with Brannoc's death and with the reappearance of Douglas. His board had started gathering dust and that just wasn't right.

It was overcast and cool today. The minotaur had somehow found an umbrella and was sitting outside near the half pipe, watching the gnomes make battle plans in the grass. Sam let them be. They weren't hurting anything and the less he knew about battle plans, the better.

Sam jumped on his board and started skating up and down the sloped sides of the half pipe. It felt good, it felt natural. He even cracked a smile or two while he went shooting down the side of the half pipe and up the other.

It felt good to finally feel like things weren't about to crumble. Sam approved.

[NFB but open for calls/texts/visits/other things]

Ramon came back a few days later. Things had settled down a bit by that time. Sam was lazing about on the front porch steps, drinking his coffee, petting Taco, and watching the gnomes train Frank in some of their fighting techniques. It was pretty hilarious. He'd bypassed going to the doctor, deciding just to rest his ribs and other injuries. He didn't need to explain this to anyone.

( Ramon and Sam have a manly heart to heart! )

[NFB but open for phone calls/texts. Taken from Necromancing the Stone. No warnings for this part. One more post to go in a day or so and then done-zo!]

Bridin Blackthorn had spent most of her life surrounded by Alpha males. She was used to the swaggering. The posturing. The jockeying for position. But that didn’t mean she always had patience for it. So when Eric grabbed her shoulder and turned her away from the dome, away from her view of Sam—who had just now been blown back against the edge of the circle—she didn’t even think. She reacted, smacking his hand and pushing him back.

( And Brid is a badass and Sam manages to do some stuff! )

[NFB but open for calls/texts! Follows this. Post 2 of 2. Taken from Necromancing the Stone and just about at the end! Warning for: post length, violence.]

As the group all sat in Sam's kitchen, Sam was pretty sure they were all thinking about the same two things. One, that Sexy Gary, at least whilst under the glamour, was indeed worthy of his moniker. He was all thick-corded muscle, auburn hair, and dimples. Sam could easily imagine him in a hot firemen calendar or a sexy lumberjack photo shoot. Not that he spent a lot of time imagining those things.

( Stupid Sexy Gary! )

[NFB but open for phone calls since there's finally time for him to get a phone call or text, if wanted. Taken from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: talk of corpses and insults directed towards Keanu Reeves. ]

Nick came to sometime on the hike down. He didn’t look super happy, but then again, he didn’t complain either. He kept an eye on Ramon for the rest of the trip, even though Sam's friend was just smiling and whistling. Sam scratched Taco’s head and tried to hide his smile.

( Ramon offered to drive... )

[NFB, NFI. Taken from Necromancing the Stone and TBC as this chapter is super long. Warning for: description of a dead body.]