Morning comes in a haze. There's a note on the pillow next to me, accompanied by some ibuprofen and an unopened bottle of water. My head swims when I sit up, so I take the pills when the room stops spinning. Then I read the note; it's from Sam.
Violet,
I'm so so so so so sorry about last night. I swear I'll make it up to you.
Take that ibuprofen and drink that water when you wake up. Seriously, drink a lot of water. I went home early this morning, after using your shower and borrowing some clothes… I hope that was okay. I'm sorry. I swear I'll return them clean!
Talk to you later!
- Sam
P.S. I promise I didn't look at your panties.
P.P.S. I did accidentally see a bra. I'm so sorry. I'm the worst.
He's really beating himself up over the whole incident. Honestly, I'm not even mad. I don't know where the shadowcrows go at night, and I didn't want to find out yesterday. He probably saved my life… How could I be mad?
I want to call him and tell him this, but when I put pressure on my leg to stand, there's a sharp pain that forces me back down. I try again, this time focusing my weight on my good leg, and hobble over to my cell phone.
Before I dial for Sam, I decide to text Shane, asking if he'll help me with my hens for a few days. It doesn't take him long to reply, and he agrees to help in the mornings before his shifts at Joja mart. He was actually one of my first friends when I first started settling myself in Pelican Town. I'm pretty introverted, so I did not want to approach any strangers at first. But I was familiar with beer, and spent a lot of time with it in the first few weeks. That's basically how I got to know Shane. He's also a fan of beer. And he would listen to me when I talked about my grandpa and the farm. I was sad and nervous, but so was he. We related to each other in that way, I guess.
It did get weird sometimes. Before I found my Obsidian Edge blade in the mines, I just had a cheap rusty sword that an adventurer gave me, and defeating the shadowcrows and slimes at night was not so easy. Especially when Shane came over and they would interrupt our Queen of Sauce and chill time by banging on the windows and mudding up my porch. It would take some time, but I always got them. Shane swore to never tell anyone about them, but wasn't afraid of them himself. Just annoyed. They seemed to peak in aggressiveness when he was around, and eventually he just stopped wanting to come over. Which was probably for the best. He was a fun distraction for a while, but I think we both knew we had to stop ignoring our problems and work on ourselves. We're cool, though. Or at least cool enough to where he's still eager to help me out with my chickens.
Then I call Sam. He picks up very quickly and starts talking very excitedly.
"Oh, Vi! I'm so happy you're feeling better. I know you're not a hundred percent yet, but don't you worry! I'm gonna help you get there…"
While he goes on, I kind of space out and scan the house. Peen is curled up on the sofa, which has a wrinkled blanket and pillow set on it. Sam must have slept there. It hits me that he's the first person to stay the night at my farm. And he probably will never want to do so again.
"Violet? Are you listening to me?" he prods over the phone.
"What- yeah, sorry, I just zoned out."
"Ugh. Okay. I'll tell you my plan again. Sebastian is gonna get you on his bike. Then we get you checked out at Harvey's. Then we go to Seb's for some Solarion Chronicles. What do you think?"
Through a short laugh, I say, "Okay, Sam. Sounds great."
"Perfect. I'll see you shortly." He smiles when he says it, I can hear it. Butterflies break loose in my stomach.
Upon his arrival, Sebastian helps me finish watering my flowers. I figured out a sprinkler system for my crops, but I like to do the flowers myself. He eases me onto his motorcycle with him and we make for Harvey's. Sam is leaning against the door outside when we pull up.
"Thanks, Sebastian," Sam praises with a pat to Seb's back. I thank him, too.
Harvey is slumped into the front counter and jolts upright when we walk in. He's the only certified doctor we have in town. He's training Sebastian's half sister, Maru, to be a nurse. Those two are the medical team here. Harvey is kind and sweet and does his job very well, but tends to deflate in social settings.
"Oh, rough break Violet," he begins, "Sam told me a bit about the accident."
I turn to Sam, bewildered. He shakes his head and mouths "scythe". I nod. I'm a little pissed, but also thankful that he didn't just spill the beans about my farm being haunted or whatever. It's best that it stays under wraps, so people don't get freaked out.
"Yeah, just hit some really tough weeds. My scythe got me good," I utter slowly.
Harvey nods firmly, but loses color in his face as we talk about it. "Let's just take a look see, then," he mutters hurriedly.
He peels back my bandage. What is revealed soars straight over everyone's head.
"Vi, what… What is that?" Sebastian gasps. Sam looks closer, but doesn't seem to have any words. Very out of character for him.
Harvey's face is hard, and matches the color of his white latex gloves. He's also speechless. I trace along the rip in my leg. It's no longer inflamed or bloody. Where it once was red, my skin is greying. And inside the cut is smooth, glassy blackness that is tough and cool to the touch.
"It looks like obsidian," I say plainly, feeling dumb about how casual it sounds.
Sam audibly gulps. "Right, but why is it… How is it…" He pauses. "Does it hurt?"
I tap it lightly with my fingers, making Harvey cringe. "Doesn't hurt to touch. It's real stiff trying to move, though." My guess is that I'm calm because my brain literally does not know how to react to the fact that part of my leg has become stone.
"I'm sorry to say, but I don't really know what I can do for this," Harvey sighs, standing up slowly. He loses his balance for a moment before finding uprightness.
Finally, I notice myself shaking. Fear. I feel so much fear. It's paralyzing. But again, my words come out with a calm; "That's alright. I will figure it out. Just please don't tell anyone else about this. I am rather embarrassed."
Harvey reminds me of the doctor-patient confidentiality policy he proudly implements, and recommends that I meet with the wizard Rasmodius. He writes up a description form for me that reads "Wound similar to rock, unsure of treatment," and hands it to me as we head out the door.
The three of us make the trek out to the eerie tower in the southwest forest that houses the fabled wizard. Rasmodius and I have actually become decent friends over the past year, and when we reach him, he welcomes us inside with a smile.
"Young Violet and company," he beams, "please, take a seat. I know what drew you here." He gives a nod to my leg. "Poor dear."
I chuckle nervously. "It doesn't hurt much, it just. Well. It feels exactly how it looks. Like a stone."
"Makes sense." Rasmodius swoops over to a shelf and thumbs through some books. "You've been injured by the Obsidian Edge, a blade smithed only for magical combat. You could think of this as a curse, sort of. Your wound becomes obsidian, and hardens the tissue around it. This will spread up and down your body until you resemble an obsidian vein, if left untreated."
Sam flinches, his hand jumping to my shoulder. His grip isn't tight, but he's shaking. So am I. Sebastian speaks up; "How quickly does it spread?" I also have that question buzzing around, but I can't seem to vocalize my thoughts.
"It is slow moving. While this means you have time to obtain the antidote, I would not procrastinate." Rasmodius locks eyes with me, an old book open in his hands. "You must bring me four solar essences, an obsidian stone, and a ghost fish. Make sure you are prepared to take on the obstacles." His eyes dart from Sam to Sebastian, and back to me. "And add the purple haired girl to your team."
After meeting with Rasmodius, we recollect in Sebastian's room with Abigail. She gets super pissed when we tell her everything that happened.
"Sam, you dope," she starts in on him, "if you would have just left with us-"
"I could have died!" I raise my voice over her. "It was a total accident that was part of a maneuver that saved me. Sam is not at fault here. And we have a solution. It's going to be fine."
She settles down and apologizes to Sam, though he confesses that he's still mad at himself for it. Sebastian makes a list of the food we should pack, and Abigail adds to it the weapons we'll need for the depths of the mines. She confided in us a while ago that she trained herself in swordsmanship to fight monsters there. This is her area of expertise, even more so than mine. We end up agreeing that in two days, we would get together and depart to get the antidote. That's enough time to gather the essentials and cover our bases in the town to avoid suspicion.
We do get into some Solarion Chronicles, and my character does the worst. I'm so distracted. I appreciate that my friends are trying to supply some normalcy before things get weird in the next couple of days, but I can't shake the anxiety. There's a lump in my throat the whole time, like I'm going to cry. I really don't want to though, so I swallow it and play on. Crying now won't help. We have to enter this task with confidence.
We can do this. We can do this.
Sam insists on walking me home, and I don't object. As soon as we leave the house, he says "Hop on my back. You don't have to walk." This, I protest. I'm not a very big person, but I'm still heavy, and it's a hike back to my place. But he counter-protests, and I know I'm not going to win. His sweetness cannot be beat.
We don't talk much as he walks. I rest my head on the back of his while trying to hold some of my own weight. Thoughts begin swarming me of the setting sun, and the attacks that I won't be able to fend off at home. Sam seems totally unphased walking down the mountain. Maybe he hasn't thought of it yet. Then I feel a terrible anxiety over what could happen to me and my best friends in the next couple of days, all because I thought I could fight a shadowcrow drunk. This is when the tears come.
I cry softly into his hood, unsure of whether or not he'll notice. It's beyond help now, though. Really, this is my fault. Abby wants to blame Sam, but I'm the one who invited them all over for wine. I'm the one who allowed Sam to stay. I blew it.
Sam starts walking down some stairs, which is alarming to me, as there are no stairs leading down to my house off the mountain. I wipe my eyes and look up. We're heading into town.
"Why'd you take the long way?" I ask through a sniffle.
He turns his head to answer, and when he sees my face, flashes a look of concern. We stop in front of Pierre's and he sets me down and hugs me. I stand with my face buried in his shoulder for a minute or two, just breathing.
He pulls away and explains, "I figured this way would put us closer to your house." He gently brushes a tear off my cheek with his thumb. Around us, the streetlights begin popping on, contrasting the growing shadows and exposing the static, glassy river water. There's a moment of uncertain silence before he says, "Stay with me tonight."
I find his eyes. They're serious, but soft. "Please," he sighs. "I can't just drop you off there. If anything happened to you, I… I… I would lose my mind. And this isn't one of those dumb things that I say when we're goofing around. I'm not flirting with you, I'm not trying to make any moves. I just need to know you're in a safe place."
"You don't think I could take those beasts out myself?" I try to joke with him.
"No, I know you could. I just…" He trails off, glancing at the ground, then returning to me. "I know you don't need protection. But the one time you did, I screwed it up. I'm not gonna let that happen again. If you really still want to go home, I'll sit out on your porch all night and take those bastards out as they come. Just please, let me do something right."
I ponder the idea. Peen is probably inside by now, safe from the monsters. He's a smart dog. Shane is taking care of my chickens early tomorrow. I could probably pay him extra to water my flowers. It would probably be safer for both of us to stay at his place… But I don't want any trouble. "What about your mom?" I inquire.
"She won't even know. She never comes in my room in the morning, and we can just leave when she heads out for the day. It'll be okay. It'll be safe. I promise."
I nod. "That sounds great, then. Thank you so much, Sam." He pulls me into another hug, and asks me to return to the piggy-back position. I comply.
He stops outside his house and signals for me to follow him to his window. Using only hand motions, he details that he's going to go inside and unlock the window for me to enter. It's a real talent of his. He might often be bad with words, but he's great with his hands.
I'm just terrified of his mom finding out and getting upset. There is one light on near the back of the house, so she's probably still up. I wonder if Sam will talk to her. She probably already hates me because she thinks I dropped an egg in her kitchen. Sam was the real culprit, but I took the fall, which was fine, but her catching me creeping into her son's bedroom would be the opposite of fine. She's such a nice lady. I don't want her to feel disrespected.
A few minutes pass and I assume he decided to talk to her. Probably smart. I was instructed to squat beneath his window until I heard three tiny taps on the glass. Roughly ten minutes pass before this happens.
Three quiet tinks, and I stand up. He's there, dimly lit by the lamp on his desk, opening the window. First he takes my shoes. Then he helps me climb through the frame with grace and silence. I'm in.
I've been in Sam's room before with Seb and Abby, but only for when they were rehearsing music. Never at night. It's kept fairly clean, save for the occasional comic book and/or shirt on the floor. His mother must have raised him to be tidy. Nice work, Jodi.
There's a small chair in front of his desk that I take a seat in. Sam reaches under his bed and pulls out an extra pillow and a couple of blankets. He assembles them on the floor a few feet away from his bed, then makes for his dresser. "You want some pajamas?" he asks quietly.
I nod. He hands me some shorts and a t-shirt and takes his own clothes to the bathroom. I change into the new ensemble and make myself comfortable with the floor-bed. He returns, wearing some familiar looking items.
"Nice sweats," I sneer at him. They're my sweatpants. They're not too small for him, but... They're borderline. "What else did you steal from me?"
He completely ignores my question. "Dude, what're you doing? You take my bed, I wanna sleep on the floor."
"No way, I'm not gonna kick you out of your bed."
"Look," he sighs, "I just washed the sheets today. It's way more comfortable than the floor. I'd much rather you sleep there; it'll be way better for your leg."
These are points I can't really argue with. But I feel a strange guilt. He's being so kind and generous to me, and I'm probably just causing him grief. There's no way he can get good sleep on the floor.
But when I start to express this, he just shakes his head. "You're not getting it, Vi." He sits down next to me. "I care about you. It would make me so happy if you'd let me do these things for you. I don't know what lies ahead, but I do know that right now, we are safe. And my bed is hella comfortable. And I want you to experience that. Just go lay in it, you'll understand the hype once you do."
I smile dumbly and use my good leg to get to his bed. It is crazy comfy. I turn to face him as he's getting situated on the floor. This is different for Sam. This isn't the weird goofball memer side I met all those months ago. I'm not sure what to think of it now, but I feel so grateful. "Thank you, Sam. Really. You're so kind to do these things for me."
"Yeah, yeah, I guess I can be a softie sometimes. Don't get too used to it," he remarks, flashing an overwhelmingly adorable grin at me. "Now go to sleep, we've got work to do tomorrow." Then he claps twice, and the lamp turns off.
I scoff; "Wow. Really?"