hold me closer, necromancer

A few weeks later, Sam was back in Olympic Park, hiking with new escorts. Ramon was spending some much-needed time with his family. He’d been easing into visits with them since his accident. When Sam told him he felt bad that Ramon had to miss out on family time because of him, Ramon had shrugged and reminded Sam that it could have been much worse. A few misplaced punches in the basement brawl could have resulted in him not seeing his family again ever, unless you counted his funeral.

( Final part, whoo! )

[NFB but open for calls/texts. Taken from Necromancing the Stone. Nothing objectionable in this post. AND I AM DOOOOOOOOONE WITH THIS CANON CATCHUP. Thank you to anyone who might have been reading along!]

Brid gave Sam a ride home on Sean’s motorcycle. He’d left the car with Haley so she could bring James back to the house whenever he was ready, and he’d made the rest of the crew follow in Gary’s van.

( This part made me cry the first time I read it... )

[NFB, NFI. Taken from Necromancing the Stone. It's pretty much all said and done save for some minor wrap up that I'll get to in a day or so. Thank you all for reading! Nothing objectionable in this part!]

By the fifth ring, Sam was afraid Dunaway wouldn’t pick up, but he did, greeting Sam with a wary hello.

( And we head into the home stretch! )

[NFB, NFI. Taken from Necromancing the Stone. Part 1 of 2. Warning for: post length, violence.]

It was dark when they finally got home, and, despite the nap, Sam was still tired. There was a tranquility to the house, with everyone ensconced in individual activities. He headed to my room with a wave to James. He needed some quiet time to think.

( And lo, Sam gets a visitor! )

[NFB, NFI. Taken from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: post length but nothing else objectionable in this part.]

“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.]

At some point after the funeral, Sam had passed out in the car. The world had started spinning brutally and he had closed his eyes just to stop from puking again. Sleep had overtaken him.

( And canon continues... )

[NFB. TBC since this chapter is super long. Lifted lovingly from Necromancing the Stone Warning for: not much. Nothing objectionable here. Open if you wanna talk to Sam (or, in this case, his sister, mother or James).]

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.]

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.]