hold me closer, necromancer

“Kell wasn’t joking,” Sam panted, stopping to pull out his canteen to drink. Pello offered Sam his handkerchief, and even if it hadn’t been covered in filth and spots of … something, Sam wouldn’t have accepted it. Everything Pello owned fell into the category of “I don’t know where that’s been and I don’t particularly want to, either.”

( Time to go for a hike in Seattle! )

[NFB, NFI, OOC is okay! Taken from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: post length! Everything else is pretty harmless.]

After the meeting and a couple of phone calls, everyone left the Tongue & Buckle and headed over to the Den, except for Brid, who'd left early to prepare the pack. The carpool made them the oddest entourage in the history of the planet. It would have made Sam laugh if he didn't know what they were going to do.

( In which there is a lot of text... )

[NFB, NFI. Open for texts/phone calls/etc if needed. Taken from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: creepiness, blood, necromancy, loooong post. Part 2 of 2.]

Over iced coffee, Sam had talked with Haley about Brannoc's murder and the Brid's pack being a mess. It was nice to just talk about it, get it off his chest with someone not as closely connected to the whole thing. It was good to get a a fresh viewpoint.

( What Haley suggested... )

[NFB, NFI. Lifted and cut from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: post length.]

Douglas shuddered and wasn't sure when he'd last felt like this: relief and elation so strong that his whole body shook with it. Not since his youth, surely. He turned the key and stumbled into his bungalow, one of his many safe houses he'd purchased when the need to lie low arose.

( The room was spotless... )

[NFB, NFI. Lifted and slashed from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: length, some blood.]

When Sam finally swam back to consciousness, it felt like his brain was wounded and was trying to beat its way out of his skull. There was an awful taste in his mouth and his vision was blurry and stinging.

( And Mrs. W makes an appearance! )

[NFB. Lifted lovingly from Necromancing the Stone. This was a super long chapter but it's one of my favorites. Open, if needed.]

Brid leaned in and kissed Sam solemnly on the cheek. When she leaned back, her face was a mask. "What we need is answers, and we’d like you to help us get them. The pack and I would be eternally grateful.”

( And we continue on being sad today... )

[NFB. Part 2 of 2. Cut and slashed from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: post length, vomit. Open, but if you want to talk to Sam, you're probably going to get one of his friends at this point due to him being sick.]

Douglas was peering at the coin in James' hand. The coin was attached to a heavy, braided cord that was stained with age and had supposedly once been a hangman's cord. It was the first real thing he'd been able to examine closely since waking up in this state of limbo. James had been his only visitor and Douglas was sincerely hoping this item would mean he could fix both of those issues very soon.

( And the canon continues on... )

[NFB. Lifted, paraphrased and buzzed from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: post length and Douglas's general creepiness. Open, if needed.]

Brid had invited him over to the den for dinner. At first, Sam had been hesitant about going because a necromancer sitting down to a pleasant dinner with a bunch of werewolves didn't tend to happen. But, Brid had cajoled and his stomach had grumbled at the thought of a large meal so he'd relented and gone.

Before dinner, he'd spent some time with Brid, talking with her and laughing and feeling pretty content with things and with her. And then there'd been dinner. He'd hadn't talked much but he'd eaten a lot and his stomach was protesting by the time the evening came to a close and he was preparing to leave.

( Of course, it can't ever be that easy for Sam... )

[NFB but open for interactions, if you'd like. Cut and thwacked with a weed eater from the beginning of Sam's canon just to get it going a little further.]

Sam could barely get out of his car when he got home. He was trying to tell himself that it was worth it, that learning to fight and defend himself from Brid's brothers would mean he wouldn't constantly end up on his back with blood oozing from some new gash on his body. But, Brid's brothers were large, strong and fast and he was a wimp when compared to them. Sure, they could teach him to fall, teach him to deflect but he was still going to be immediately eat dirt if someone managed to hit him. He just wasn't a fighter and he was absolutely feeling that in his body as he limped inside.

...and then he was face down on the sidewalk. Sam didn't even know what happened but as he turned his face to glance around, he saw an army of gnomes, his own lawn gnomes, giggling and skittering away with what looked like a trip wire. The gnomes had tripped him and they were laughing about it!

"Ugh," Sam said, rolling over onto his stomach and looking up at the sky. He closed his eyes and thought about just going to sleep. It was quiet and the ground wasn't that hard. But, no. He wouldn't do that. Sam opened his eyes and was...now looking into the silver eyes of a familiar cat that he hadn't seen in awhile. Specifically, not since Douglas had been alive.

"Uh." Yeah, Sam was so eloquent this morning.

James just swished his tail like he'd been there the entire time and trotted into the house. So, apparently he was back and that was -- that was something.

Sam groaned and sat up. Okay, so things were happening now so he needed to not nap on the sidewalk. Right, time to get up.

[NFB but open! I'm just setting a few things up for starting his canon soon.]

Sam hadn't gone back home yet. Despite his emotional encounter a few days ago, he still hadn't been able to make myself him go back home. Right now, he was holed up in a small hotel room, nursing his lacerated palms and his ragged mind. He hadn't slept but he had rested which was a change from previously.

( When Brooke appeared at the end of his bed, he wasn't even surprised... )

[NFB, NFI. Sam will be back in contact tomorrow.]

It'd been nearly five days since Sam had taken off. He'd tried to put as much space between Seattle and himself as he possibly could. If darkness and evil was going to consume him, he wasn't going to be anywhere near people that he loved and that he could hurt. He wasn't going to let that happen.

He'd walked, hitched rides and just generally wandered from place to place. He'd slept on benches and in bus stations and train stations when he found them. He'd used the cash he'd pulled out of an ATM before leaving to eat and drink when needed. He didn't need his credit card to be followed. And he'd worn the bag of herbs his mother had given him to bound him and block him from people like Ashley and Brooke.

He was off the grid and he was headed...somewhere. Sometime between his latest scream inducing nightmare and his morning routine of shaking and coughing, he'd decided he was going to try and raise Douglas Montgomery. He was going to raise that bastard and make him fix this since it was his doing. And if he couldn't do that, he was going to ask Douglas how to deal with it, how to live with it.

Because that was smart. But, he was powerful and he knew it. If Douglas tried anything, he'd send him right back to Hell.

The sun was shielded by clouds and a light rain started to fall. Sam hitched his backpack over his shoulder and headed for a large cemetery somewhere in Washington. He'd get there sometime tomorrow, he figured, and he'd start the ritual.

If it killed him, then everyone was safe. If it didn't, then maybe he'd have answers. He kept walking.

[NFB, NFI]

Sam had walked all the way back to his house after waking up completely lost yesterday. He still had no memory of what had happened and that was scaring him. But, he'd made it back after multiple people had offered him help and some food. He didn't know how he must have looked to them if they were offering him food and shelter and water.

But, he turned down each offer and kept walking. By the time he ended up back at the estate, his feet were bloody and sore, his stomach was growling and he was dirty and tired. It hadn't been a good day. There was fear clawing at him, deep inside his belly but he was ignoring it.

He stared at the door in front of him, almost not wanting to open it. He knew his friends would be on the other side, possibly angry, possibly scared and he wasn't sure if he wanted or even had the ability to face that down right now.

He needed help. He really did and he knew it. Maybe he could sneak in, pack a bag and leave. That's what it was coming too. He was going to have to leave and either find his uncle or...find Douglas.

Sam shuddered and turned the knob so he could slip inside the house. He'd shower, pack a bag quickly and leave.

[NFB again but open for interactions, if needed]

Sam was actually sleeping this morning. There had been a nightmare or two but nothing he couldn't get past and he'd settled into a fairly restful sleep sometime around two in the morning. He was going to guess the addition of the other person in the bed with him might have had something to do with it.

He was still on his side, still fully clothed, and she was still there behind him. He hoped she was sleeping too because her staying up all night just would have been exhausting.

And that's what this morning was going to be: exhausting. So, they both needed some rest now.

[NFB but for the girl in the bed and then someone else a wee bit later]

Sam was pretty tired. With the increase in nightmares lately, it wasn't unexpected but it was annoying. He could deal with low levels of exhaustion but this was getting ridiculous. He constantly felt like someone was whispering in the back of his mind or that someone was right over his shoulder, smirking wickedly.

He needed to sleep. But right now, all he was doing was sitting up in his room, propped up by a bunch of pillows and covered with various blankets. The window across the room was open and he could see the rain hitting the window panes with some quiet thumps. Rain in Seattle. What a novel concept.

Sam rubbed his chin and realized he hadn't shaved lately either. He'd been so caught up with everything going on in his head that he was physically showing signs of exhaustion now too. If Brid saw him like this, she'd say something and then make him shave.

He'd do it later. Right now, he was just going to stay in bed, in his blanket fort to try and maybe get some sleep. But he doubted that'd happen.

[NFB but open for interactions]

Sam was in the basement of his house.

( Wherein Sam and Douglas reconnect (not really) )

[NFB but open for interaction, sure. Just kind of making Sam fulfill his self fulfilling prophecy a bit.]

The past week had been...interesting. Between the situation with Natalie and seeing his possible child again, Sam had come back to Seattle pretty tired. And as soon as he'd come back, he'd been in Brid's cross hairs. She wanted answers to every single little thing because of course she could tell he'd been holding things back from him.

He'd managed to avoid questions for the most part by just telling her he was tired and giving her the excuse that the welts on his wrists were from some harpy that he'd run into in a graveyard on the outskirts of Seattle. She hadn't bought it but she'd left him alone and that had been what he'd been going for.

But, she was back now. Sam had been trying to avoid her by staying in his room all day because that was gonna deter Brid. Nope. She'd pretty much kicked his door in and now she was actually sitting on top of him, using her strength to keep him in place.

"Brid. Get off me," Sam said, squirming around and trying to buck her off of him like that was gonna happen.

"Sure," Brid said, leaning down and letting some of her hair tickle his cheeks. He breathed her in and was struck by the different smells that she had versus Natalie. "When you start talking."

"Nothing to talk about," he said stubbornly. "And I don't wanna talk."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere until you do something that tells me you're not avoiding me," Brid pointed out. "It feels like you're pulling away and I don't like it."

"I'm not pulling away," he said, glaring at her. "I'm right here."

"You're not pulling away?" Brid shook her head. "Prove it."

Sam continued to glare at her before he lurched up and just kissed her. That was what she wanted, right? And it wasn't like he didn't want it at times either. And it'd keep her mouth busy and he wouldn't have to talk to her.

So, this was a great idea. And Brid seemed to agree because she was responding pretty quickly. Yep, this was a grand idea on the scale of stupid thing. Sam was cleaning up on that scale this week.

[I wrote this last night and just got around to posting it. NFB/NFI]

St. Patrick's Day didn't mean a lot to Sam. Sure, he wore green when he remembered but for the most part, it was just another day. This St. Patrick's Day though, Sam had gotten dragged out to a bar with Brid and her brothers. Her excuse had been she was tired of him moping around like a lost puppy. He'd tried to beg off but she hadn't been hearing it.

So, Sam was at a bar. And Sam was actually drinking. It actually got a little easier to convince him to drink after getting some alcohol in him. Maybe that had been Brid's plan all along. Whatever, Sam wasn't going to argue. Maybe he could get drunk for only the second time in his life and forget how bad he'd been feeling for months now.

Brid was off, trying to cajole one of her brothers into doing karaoke or dancing or something which left Sam at the bar alone. He chatted occasionally with the bartender but otherwise, just say quietly with a drink in his hand.

At least Brid wasn't trying to make him do karaoke.

[NFB but open for calls/texts/etc. Sam is a leetle drunk.]

Sam had gotten roped into taking Haley out shopping today. His mom had asked him and Sam really couldn't say no to his mom when she put her mind to it. Besides, he hadn't spent a lot of time with Haley and she did need some new things for school.

Right now, Sam was sitting on a bench in the shoe section of some store while Haley modeled different pairs of sneakers for him.

"The first time it rains and you step in a mud puddle, those are ruined," Sam said of a the pair of white sneakers she had on today.

"I'd just avoid mud puddles," Haley told him smartly.

Sam shook his head. "No, you wouldn't. Or maybe you'd try to avoid it but no one avoids every mud puddle. No one's that good."

"I am," Haley said and stuck a hand on her hip. Sam chuckled and crossed his arms.

"Then, they look fine," he said, nodding. "Very good for not stepping in mud puddles."

"They'll go in the maybe pile," Haley said before skipping away down another aisle. Sam laughed and closed his eyes before sitting up immediately.

"Wait, you have piles? Haley, we can't stay here forever!"

Haley didn't answer. Just laughed. Sam sighed and got more comfortable. He was gonna be there awhile.

[NFB but open for phone calls/texts]