Sleeping Beauty

Violet stirred from sleep at her usual hour, and judging by the lump under the covers on the bed across the room, Sebastian had opted not to sleep on the beach last night. Part of her was glad that he felt comfortable enough to stay the night after only knowing her about a week, though the other half of her wished he had done so when she was still awake so she could have at least helped him settle in. But, perhaps he felt that would have been too awkward. Bruno yawned and sprawled his whole body across the bed. "Oh, big stretch!" she cooed, giving him a scratch behind his large ears. Once she was dressed, Violet quietly called to the German Shepherd, "C'mon boy, we have work to do."

Without thinking, the farmer opened the front door, only to have the new chain clink from the strain as it stopped the door. Huh, Sebastian must have locked it after he came in, she thought to herself. Violet unlatched the guard and gestured for Bruno to head outside first. The dog grinned happily and bounded down the porch stairs to chase the first unfortunate woodland creature to cross his path.

Gathering up her hair and donning her grandfather's straw hat, Violet watered her crops and harvested her first bunches of green beans. When she finished, she added water to Bruno's bowl, rinsed the beans in the pond, and divided up which she was to keep for her own meals and which were to be sold to Pierre later that day. Over all, Violet was enjoying the quiet life as a farmer, on the patch of land where her grandparents grew old together. She thought fondly of her mother's parents and wondered how her mother turned out the way she did being raised by the two kindliest souls she had ever known. Violet looked down at her hand, and now that she was done with farm work for the day, she decided to undress the wrapping Granny Mullner put on it the night before. The small welts from the nettle venom were much better now and did not itch in such an infuriating manner anymore.

Evelyn and George seemed like such a sweet couple. Sure, George was the stereotypical cranky old man, but Violet thought that if she were confined to a wheelchair, she might be grumpy, too. The loss of mobility and the freedom that goes along with it would be difficult for her to handle. Violet did not like asking for help on her own behalf. It was definitely something she needed to work on. Then again, trusting others to help her had also gotten her into trouble in the past. But here in Pelican Town she had a new slate to work on, so maybe she could give people a fresh start, too.

For example, the farmer was pretty sure she had misjudged Alex at first. That did not mean that she was about to overlook the blatant sexism, but perhaps he would learn. He certainly had all the makings of a future reliving-the-glory-days-of-high-school middle-aged man, but when talking to him about his faithful dog, there was a shift in his demeanor. Violet thought to the conversation she and Alex had before she left the Mullner household last night. She wondered whether or not he would bring Dusty around for a play date with Bruno as she suggested. While he did not say so, the farmer thought Alex was grateful someone would allow Dusty to roam free on their property, especially on a sprawling space such as Fairy Rose Farm. "I'll bet he'd like to get out once and a while," was all Alex had said, but he had also smiled sadly. Violet pondered what he was thinking when he did so. Oh, well. She would have to wait and see.

Violet decided it would be best to let Sebastian stay in bed and get some rest. The poor guy was probably up most of the night and it would be inhospitable to wake him if he had only slept for a few hours. So, the farmer decided to head into town to run some errands for the day and check in on him again later. Violet first went to Pierre's to take care of the selling of her ripe green beans and bought a few more seeds to increase her food production for the season. After selling her own goods, Violet browsed the aisles for anything else she might need. Pierre must have assumed she left, because he immediately went to put the green beans on display with a sign boasting: "Home-grown in my garden!"

While she did not find anything to purchase that she could use properly without a kitchen, Violet did not want to let the blatant misadvertisement slide so easily. Approaching the small display box, she carefully removed the label from her precious green beans and brought it to Pierre at the front desk. "Oh, uh, hello farmer Violet," she said, clearly nervous when the plaque clattered onto the counter.

"I think you meant to put this sign on another product," Violet informed him with a wide, friendly smile. "I would hate for people to think that the owner of this fine establishment would try and take credit for the local farmer's hard work."

The brunet avoided eye contact, sliding the sign across the counter top toward him. "Ah, yes, of course. My mistake." Pierre twitched in a way that gave Violet a sense of accomplishment. She knew she did not look particularly intimidating, being below average height, but she could certainly be passive-aggressive. Perhaps Joja Corp. taught her a few valuable life skills after all.

A familiar, yet unwelcome sound suddenly raked against her eardrums. It was as if the mere thought of her former employer somehow summoned one of its employees to haunt her. "Ahem..." he cleared his throat. Before Violet turned, she knew she would see her former supervisor and his stupidly over-sized signature bow tie and retro round eye glasses. He actually thought they made him look "cool." Violet shuttered at the memory of that noise when Morris would sneak up behind her for a "productivity wellness-check." The little weasel never caught her doing anything she was not supposed to be doing, but she had been one of the more cautious ones.

"Come and get it folks..." Morris announced, "coupons for 50% off your purchase at Joja Mart!" Waving around the slips of paper, he asked, "Well? Any takers?" The farmer heard the footsteps and mutterings of other patrons going toward Morris to claim their freebie while Pierre looked aghast behind the counter.

Violet knew that at least for now, she looked completely different than the last time Morris saw her the day she quit Joja Corp. Part of her wanted to test his skills of perception, but she mostly wanted to maintain the anonymity of her new life. So, rather than turning to face Morris, she stayed at the counter, facing Pierre.

Pierre, who either did not care who heard or did not realize that Violet was still around, sighed forlornly. "But... I can't match those prices! I'd be selling at a loss!" The local grocer frowned deeply and muttered to himself about price margins.

Morris, as one who could not help but beat a man while he's down, approached the sales counter. "It must be so difficult for you... To lose your loyal customers like that." Although the former subordinate did not see, Violet could tell from the tone of Morris' voice that he was wearing that satisfied smirk that made his face so damn punch-able. "But can you blame them?" he practically purred. "Joja Corporation is clearly the superior choice. Soon the whole town will realize that." Pierre was at a loss for words and only bowed his head ashamedly.

Upon noticing that Violet was the only patron of the store that did not come to claim a coupon, Morris approached her. "How about you, miss? Surely a pretty young lady like you could find something to do with the money you would save! Maybe some new shoes, or makeup?"

The farmer rolled her eyes and the blatant sexism, "Not interested, buddy. Move along," she told him. Morris, ever the salesman, could not take the first "no" for an answer without trying to sway the potential customer.

"But surely you would enjoy the wide selection our store has to offer! Come inspect our goods for yourself and you'll see why we beat out all the rest wherever we go," he boasted, standing proudly and adjusting his spectacles. "We're going to improve this silly little town in so many ways."

Violet leaned on the counter, looking bored. "Yeah, yeah. Your company buys in bulk for an insanely great deal with which mom and pop stores can't possibly hope to compete. Then, your enormous company distributes those goods among the hundreds of stores across the Ferngill Republic. You get a wide variety for cheap, but you don't care what chemicals or ethically questionable practices go into the production-end of those produce." She waved him away, "Maybe you'll have better luck with someone who isn't the local farmer trying to feed the town organically."

"Ah, I see," he said, acknowledging that Violet was also part of the competition in town, "well in that case, may the best business win."

"Be my guest, pal," Violet challenged him, finally giving him her best interpretation of disgusted side eye. "Now fuck off." Morris bristled a bit at her language, but did not return the favor. He simply straightened his pristine black suit and briskly exited the shop.

Pierre, on the other hand, turned his head upward to look at Violet. From his body language, Violet assumed he was about to say something about his gratitude for her loyalty, but the farmer stopped him. "I didn't do it for you, Pierre. I did it for me 'cause I hate that guy and the enemy of my enemy is a friend or whatever," she informed the grocer. She jutted her chin out to indicate the sign which had taken credit for her produce, "But if I catch you taking credit for other peoples' hard work again, I won't be so nice." Violet was doing her best to maintain an intimidating demeanor after her brush with Morris, but she had to admit it was not her forte. But she softened the blow by adding, "It's not cool, okay?"

The store keeper nodded in understanding. As Violet was about to leave, she heard Abigail call out to her. "Hey, Violet!" she side-eyed her father and tilted her head toward the door into the house. "Can I talk to you about something?" The two quickly stepped into Abigail's room to chat, well away from the ears of parental figures who might want to butt into the business of the younger generation. "Sorry for not responding to your text," the amethyst-haired woman apologized. "I... needed some time to cool off after what happened, so I turned off my phone for a while."

"Are you okay?" Violet asked, wondering what in the world the argument was about. She could conjecture it was some relationship drama from the text messages and from what Sebastian said when he thought she was Abigail. Whenever unrequited feelings were involved, those sorts of situations could get especially ugly.

Abigail bobbed her head back and forth, a visual sign that she could not make a confident call as to how she felt. "There were definitely some hurtful things we said to each other," she acknowledged. "And I hope we'll be able to stay friends, but I'm not going tolerate someone getting all shitty with me because I don't return their romantic feelings." Abigail let out an exasperated huff of annoyance. "I can't think of Sebastian that way, we're too alike for me to feel like we would complement each other well and too different in other ways that make me think we would not be happy together."

"You don't have to justify anything to me," Violet explained to the agitated Abigail. "I only just moved here, after all."

The pale woman chewed the inside of her mouth, a stress-induced behavior, if Violet had to guess. Finally, Abigail said, "You're right. I just felt so attacked when Sebastian practically accused me of sleeping with Sam just because he found my choker necklace on Sam's bed."

"Ah..." Violet said in understanding, as she started to put some of the pieces together. "So Sebastian likes you, but you don't like him. And Sebastian's all mad because he thinks you and Sam are an item, even though you... aren't?" she ventured to guess.

Abigail rolled her eyes, and collapsed on her bed. "Not in the slightest!" she complained. Violet was not sure if Abigail was upset that she and Sam were not together or because Sebastian made the assumption that they were when neither party was interested. "Sam and I are allowed to hang out without being a couple, and my necklace has a stupid lobster clasp that won't close all the time. I must have happened to be sitting on Sam's bed when it finally slipped off." Violet could tell this whole affair would be a ruinous to the social circle to which she had just been welcomed. If Violet wanted a solid friend group to last, this would not do! She would have to make mediate.

"I'm sure Sebastian will come around," the farmer assured her new friend. "Hell, he thought I was you when I went to go find him on the beach last night. He gave a very heartfelt apology." She chuckled, found a stool next to Abigail's computer desk, and dragged it closer to sit down. "You should have seen his face when he realized I wasn't you, after all. Poor guy was mortified."

The grocer's daughter sat back up, looking surprised. "Oh, so you went out to find him after all?" Maybe there was still hope for Operation: Crab Cake after all.

Violet nodded, "Yeah, he didn't want to talk much once he realized it was me who came to get him. Then again, he didn't come back with me, but he must have come by in the middle of the night, since he was still in bed when I left this morning."

Abigail was happy to hear that Sebastian had made an apology, even if he had accidentally given it to the wrong woman. So perhaps their friendship would survive this mess after all. She sighed in relief. "That's good to hear," she said, nodding her head. "I was worried that this whole misunderstanding was going to ruin our friendship over nothing. Guys can be so... stubborn in stupid ways, you know?"

Her pastel-haired counterpart smiled knowingly, "I'm familiar with their kind," she chortled. Violet rested her heels on one of the bars of the stool, since her legs were too short to actually reach the ground. It was one of the annoying realities of being below average height. "So... do you think you two can forgive each other and still be friends?"

The younger woman shrugged, "All I've ever wanted was to be friends, he's the one who wanted our relationship to be something... different," Abigail stated. "So if he's cool about it, so am I." She looked over at her gerbil cage, where David ran on his wheel. "I want us all to be happy, but I think Sebastian and I would just hold each other back in the same old boring pattern." She looked over at Violet with her bright blue eyes, "You, on the other hand, are a breath of fresh air in this town. Maybe you two would be a good match."

Violet laughed nervously, trying to be a good sport at someone else in town making the suggestion. "He seems cool," Violet admitted. "He took it relatively well when I destroyed his favorite comic books series, after all. And I won't deny that I find him attractive, but the smoking is an automatic 'no' for me."

"I know it's bad for his health, but would that really be a deal breaker?" Abigail pressed on, trying to get to the bottom of this. "He's already smoking less than he was a few months ago. Sam and I finally got to him, I think. Or... maybe it meant more when I said something?" Abigail had a moment of realization as to why her words had gotten through to Sebastian more than Sam's. Ugh.

The farmer smiled sadly, "And I definitely appreciate hearing that," she admitted, "and maybe if I see that he's tapering off, because I know cutting cold-turkey can be really difficult, that's one thing. But my paternal grandparents both died pretty young because of their smoking habits and my dad has some health problems from growing up in that kind of environment. I don't want to have to worry about those kinds of things if I'm with somebody, you know?" Violet sighed heavily, "Besides, I'm not looking for a relationship so soon, anyway. I've hardly been here more than a week!"

"Fair enough, farmer," Abigail agreed getting up from her bed, turned on her game console, and sat in front of her TV. "I've been trying to beat this game for weeks and I can't even get past the first level. This game is ridiculously hard!" She frowned, "Or I'm just terrible at it." Abigail tossed a controller over to Violet, who caught it just barely. "Why don't you help me with this level? I think I might do better with your help."

The farmer did not have any other pressing matter to which she had to attend and Violet was actively trying to try new things to make friends. "I've got to warn you I'm not great at shooter games. Since this isn't first-person, I won't get motion sick, but don't get your hopes up."

"You get motion sick playing video games?" Abigail scoffed in amusement. "That's kinda sad, Violet."

The young woman nodded in agreement, "Tell me about it! Some of my guy friends used to invite me to play Halo with them because they thought it was funny. Those little assholes." Violet smirked, however, at a particular memory, "That is until I ended up vomiting on Mike. That was perfect." She blew a chef kiss to the universe. "They stopped inviting me to play first-person shooters after that."

Abigail tried to contain her laughter, but quickly decided it was pointless. "You threw up on him? Gross!" She had a fun laugh, Violet noticed. It was contagious.

Violet settled down on the floor beside Abigail. "It was his own damn fault. I wish I aimed for Kyle when it happened. He was the ring leader for the whole thing." She experimented with a few of the controls to get a feel for the game mechanics. "Well, ready when you are, player 1."

"Here they come!" Abigail announced as the pixelated foes approached. Violet shot at the one nearest her and after a few bullets, she finally got it.

Maybe this isn't so bad, she thought to herself. Violet immediately regretted that thought as the enemies began to close in from all side and in a much higher frequency than before. "Fuck! No, no, no, no, no, no!" she shrieked trying her best to flee from the attackers as she shot a barrage of bullets in her wake. Both she and Abigail lost their avatar within seconds of each other.

"We get three lives total," Abigail explained as the screen reset with a "2" listed next to the face of the cowboy avatar on the left side of the screen. "Here they come!"

The results of the second and third lives were much like the first, short-lived and with lots of cursing from both women. Despite the loss, Violet had fun. It had been a long time since she played a multi-player game with a friend. "Sorry I wasn't much help," Violet apologized.

Abigail shrugged, "No worries. At least I know I'm not the only one that sucks at this," she added teasingly. The amethyst-haired woman looked at Violet, as if she were evaluating her in some manner. "Can I ask you something personal?" she finally said hesitantly.

"Uh, sure," Violet responded, setting down the controller and turning her body to face the grocer's daughter. "What's up?"

"Am I an asshole for getting mad at Sebastian about his accusation?" Abigail wanted to know. Before Violet could say anything, the young woman raised her hand to signal there was more to it. Her azure eyes focused on the window outside. "I... I think I like Sam. I don't know my feelings for sure, but I like how I feel when we're hanging out, especially one-on-one. But... I don't want to fracture our friend group." Abigail tugged at one of the hair ties around her wrist absentmindedly and stared down at the floor boards. "My dad is completely married to his work at the General Store. It feels like my mom and I are just after-thoughts in his life most of the time..."

She sighed, "I don't want to have regrets regarding the person I spend my life with, you know?" Violet could tell that Abigail was struggling with something, not sure how to articulate what she meant. "It's like... Some times I feel like Sam is the wrong choice, too. I want to get out and see more of the world because I've been here in this town all my life but he says he likes living here. Or maybe I only like him because I only know the people in town. Maybe I'll find a good partner in the city, or in another country!"

"I guess that depends on what you believe," Violet shrugged, leaning back against the wall. Her ponytail got in the way of resting her head on the vertical surface, so she shook out her hair and put the tie on her wrist. "I, for example, hear what you're saying and wonder if you're worrying to much about 'what if' and not enough about what's right here in front of you."

Abigail furrowed her eyebrows, "What do you mean? There are only so many single guys in town and a whole world of them out there."

Violet shrugged, "Sure, there may very well plenty of suitable partners ten, a hundred, or even a thousand miles from here. But are you really willing to speed-date every available person in that area to find out? And how to do you know for sure if they're right for you if you can't properly get to know every single one of them?"

"I... think I see your point," Abigail admitted. "But I'm not sure it make me feel any better about it."

"Don't let anything I say stop you if you want to go out and see more of the world," Violet added, pointing directly at Abigail to emphasize her point. "Some people are happy staying on a small town their whole lives, others want to move every few years just for a change of scenery. Me? I had enough of the city life and needed somewhere to escape, at least for the time being," she admitted. Her dark blue eyes scanned the room, noticing the aquatic theme of the painted walls. "So do you like the ocean?"

The younger woman looked a little embarrassed, "When I was little, I told my mom I wanted to be a dolphin when I grew up," she confessed. "Mom really put her heart into painting the mural for me so I would feel like I was really swimming in the ocean. I just haven't had the heart to paint over it."

"Your mom painted this?" Violet asked in disbelief, getting up to inspect the work. "I could have sworn this was wallpaper!"

Abigail sighed, flopping back onto her bed. "Yeah, she did great, which is why it would be heartless of me to destroy it, even after over a decade and her constant nagging that I shouldn't be so obsessed with - oh, what does she call it? Right! The 'occult.'" She said sarcastically, rolling over to face Violet, who still sat on the floor. "The things we do for our parents, right?"

"Heh," the farmer let out, rubbing the back of her neck, "totally." Abigail could tell she might have struck a nerve with Violet. The amethyst-haired woman had to admit she did not know much about the newest member of their friend group.

The reclined woman propped her head up with her elbow on the bed. "Do you not get along with your parents, either, Violet?"

"I'm... closer to my dad than my mom," Violet told her new friend, twisting strands of her hair between her fingers. "Though that's not difficult. I'm pretty sure my parents were going to divorce until they realized that mom was pregnant. They really only delayed the inevitable with a kid neither of them wanted in the first place. They should have split long before I came along. Even Zach - my older brother - thought so." She scoffed, "I still don't understand how they ever got along enough to get married to begin with. They really bring out the worst in each other." She rested her head on her knees and smiled sadly. "At least dad feels guilty enough about his regret that he treats me well. Mom... Well, she's got her own version of 'tough love,' I guess."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Abigail said sympathetically, sitting back up, and sitting next to Violet on the floor. The grocer's daughter was not thrilled with her relationship with her parents, but at least they were all together. "Do you like... want a hug or something?"

Violet wiped her eyes with her sleeve and chuckled, "Nah, it's okay. It just caught me off-guard this time." She glanced over to her new friend beside her, "I appreciate the offer, though. You don't seem like the hugging type."

Abigail grimaced guiltily. "You caught me, newbie" she said. "I really only hug David and he hates it!" The young woman gestured to the gerbil cage, where the small creature now lapped water from the little bottle attached to his habitat. The gerbil, realizing he was being watched by someone other than his designated human, fled to the little enclosure in his cage with a squeak. "He'll get used to you, don't worry," Abigail assured Violet.

"It's okay," Violet told the gerbil's owner. "I won't be offended if he doesn't. They all have their own personalities." Truth be told, she was not a fan of keeping rodents, but she was not about to insult Abigail and her taste in pets. "I probably smell like a giant dog, anyway!"

"I've always wanted a cat, but dad is allergic," Abigail stated. "So I supposed I settled on David," she looked around like she was making sure no one was around. "But don't tell David that, okay? He'll get jealous!" She winked conspiratorially.

After promising not to discuss such matters around the gerbil, Violet realized it was getting to be late afternoon. "I better get going to check in on Bruno. He's been alone all day."

"Do you mind if I tag along in case Sebastian is still there? I want to make sure things are okay between us after our fight last night," Abigail explained. Violet agreed that might be best, but warned that if Sebastian did not want to talk, she would insist that Abigail not force the situation. "Of course," the amethyst-haired woman nodded.

Violet was glad that Abigail was willing to let her change the subject away from their parents on their way back to her place. For a while, the two young women talked about other things, like video games, their favorite TV series, and the kinds of food they liked. The farmer thought she misheard Abigail when she enjoyed eating amethyst. No one actually eats quartz! Not even the new wave hippie ladies back home who charged their crystals in the full moon's light each month, saged their homes periodically, and only ate organic fruits and vegetables from a questionable farm in Vermont ever actually consumed the minerals that channeled the good energy of the universe. She must mean grape rock candy, Violet thought.

Abigail told Violet about the spicy eel dish that she loved, and promised to let her know they next time Gus had it on the menu at The Stardrop Saloon so they could eat it together. Violet loved eel and a spicy version could only make it better, right? "It's a date," Abigail promised. "But you can't have any of mine!"

"Deal." As they climbed the stairs to the front door, Violet thought it only polite to knock to give Sebastian some warning that she would be entering the house. "I'm home!" the farmer announced. Bruno bounded over to greet them, but immediately dedicated his energies to Abigail, hoping to add to his collection of humans willing to give him treats. The sun was starting to sink in the sky, but Violet could still clearly see that the lump she had left in bed this morning was still there. "I... think he's still sleeping," Violet informed Abigail.

Abigail, who had been rubbing Bruno's soft ears against her cheek, looked up questioningly. "Seriously?!" she exclaimed, scandalized that Sebastian could sleep the entire day away. Even when she stayed up all night, she usually got up by three in the afternoon! The amethyst-hair woman approached the trundle bed and poked at Sebastian. "C'mon, wake up lazy buns," she ordered. "You've had plenty of sleep by now and we need to talk." But the lump under the covers did not stir, not even a little. Abigail, who was not to be deterred so easily, pulled back the covers to reveal Sebastian's sleeping form. He was sleeping on his stomach, his face slightly buried by the pillow, but not so much that he could not breath. His dark bangs covered what part of his face was not covered by the pillow as he slept.

"Ugh, quit being stubborn," Abigail insisted, shaking his arm. Again, no reaction. Not even a disgruntled complaint about the sheets being taken away. The woman slapped his shoulder a bit, trying to wake him more forcefully. "Dude, seriously, you need to wake up," she shouted in his ear.

Something was not right. No one was that deep a sleeper. Violet began to worry and tried to roll him over, though it was difficult a task than she anticipated. Sebastian was like dead weight, though once she got him on his back, she could tell he was still breathing from the rise and fall of his chest. "Well, he's alive," Violet confirmed.

Abigail scoffed in disbelief. "How can anyone sleep through all that?" She whipped out her phone. "I'm going to text Sam," she explained. "Maybe he'll know what to do."

Violet could not help but notice how serene Sebastian looked while he slept. His mouth was open a little, his lips stuck in a slight pout and his long, dark eyelashes lines his eyelids. While the sheet still covered most of his lower body and torso, her dark blue eyes traced the line of his collarbone and she blushed when she realized that she was staring. She turned away quickly, embarrassed by her inappropriate behavior. As she turned, Violet's dark eyes met Abigail's light ones and she could tell by the mischievous smirk on Abigail's face that she had been caught.

To the young woman's surprise, however, all Abigail said was, "Sam will be here soon."

Sam arrived on the scene, bursting through the door with an old boombox. "The wake-up expert is here," he announced. He blared a death metal song through the speaker and set it on the bed right next to his best friend. Despite the high decibel level, the dark-haired man lay there fast asleep.

"Well, that's weird," Sam mused, rubbing his chin. "He doesn't normally sleep through Renegade Reapers!" The blond asked for a glass of water, and slowly poured it onto Sebastian's face. Nothing. Just gentle, even breathing. Bruno, now interested in what the trio was trying to accomplish, licked the man's face, but to no avail.

"What the fuck is going on?" Abigail wondered out loud. "This is weird. It's like he's under a sleeping spell or something."

Sam thought for a moment, and rummaged around in the bed, looking for something. "Aha!" he cried, raising Sebastian's phone up toward the ceiling. "Let's see if we can find any evidence on his phone."

Abigail crossed her arms in front of her chest, "Yeah, and if you knew his pass code, that would -" she stopped mid-sentence as Sam quickly typed in the correct digits and the phone unlocked. "How?!" she demanded.

The blond merely winked at her, "I am his best friend," he replied as he scrolled through the phone. "No weird text messages, no recent voicemails or strange emails..."

"What about his camera roll?" Violet suggested hesitantly. "Maybe he took a picture of where he was that might give us a clue."

"Great idea, newbie!" Sam praised Violet, switching gears in his investigation. His eyebrows rose in surprise, "Oh, shit. There's a video from last night at 2:24 AM."

Abigail closed in on Sam and motioned Violet to do the same, "Well, let's see what it is!" she insisted, snatching the phone and holding at arm's length so they could all see.

The screen was mostly dark at first, but eventually the front of Violet's house came into focus from the pale moonlight outside. "Okay, so he was in the house..." Violet confirmed.

Sam shushed her, as what could only be Sebastian's heavy breathing grew louder. Something was at the window. A shadow gliding across the front porch. Violet felt a terror grip her, knowing that someone had been on her property in the middle of the night, staring into the home of a single woman living alone.

But... something was different. The movement seemed wrong, somehow. It was not quite human and despite the fact that people sometimes got red eye in old photos, these eyes were actively glowing. They stared through the glass portion of the door right at the camera, and the three of them could hear Sebastian panicking. Abigail covered her mouth in horror as a shaky whisper could be heard over the audio: "Ye shall not pass through this threshold. Whether oak'n, steel, or purest gold. This place is haven to those who dwell, heed my word or ye shall be fell."

The rest of the video was just the same pair of eyes gazing into the house, until finally, it slowly retreated back into the darkness of the night. The recording ended.

"What the fuck was that?!" Abigail shouted, visibly anxious as she rubbed her arms, still holding them protectively across her chest.

Sam sat there quietly for a moment, "The verse he recited..." he said quietly. "It was from one our of table top games. A spell of protection."

"You think Sebastian got that thing - whatever it was - to leave because of the spell?" Violet asked curiously. She glanced at Sebastian nervously, wondering what would have happened had he not been here last night. Would she have been the one unable to wake up? Would anyone have noticed? The idea frightened her, yet she also felt guilty that Sebastian was the one who lay unconscious in her home.

The blond shrugged, "It's possible. But if that thing somehow cast 'sleep' on Sebastian, usually a player can be shaken awake or they wake up naturally after a few minutes," he explained. They had a few run-ins with casters that could do just that, but not for such an extended period. Sam thought for a moment. "What are some other magical ways of waking people up from sleep?"

"You mean like a kiss?" Abigail huffed. "Yeah, like that's gonna work," she laughed.

Sam perked up at the idea, "Now there's an idea! One of you should kiss him to see if that works," he said with a straight face.

Abigail stopped smiling when they realized he was taking the idea seriously. "Isn't it supposed to be like 'true love's kiss' or something?" Violet interjected. "I hardly know him and Abigail literally just rejected him last night. I don't think either of us are qualified..." she reasoned.

The grocer's daughter jumped in, "Yeah, besides, you're the closest thing he has to a significant other, mister best friend who has his phone pass code," Abigail argued. The blond seemed to consider this for a moment.

"Alright," he agreed with a nonchalant shrug. "I'll give it a shot." He walked over to the bed.

Abigail's jaw dropped, "You what?" She shook her head, "I wasn't serious!" the amethyst-haired woman insisted. "I was making a point about how ridiculous the idea was!"

Sam put his hand on Abigail's shoulder, "My sexuality is not threatened by kissing my best friend to save his life," he said a very matter-of-fact tone. "In fact, it's pretty manly of me, wouldn't you say?" he said, straightening his posture and fixing his jacket.

Much to the women's surprise, Sam bent over and kissed his best friend smack on the lips right then and there. Abigail looked like she was going to implode, Violet noticed. She withheld her giggles, though, so Sam would not assume the laughter was directed at him. The blond pulled away after a few seconds, so it was little more than a peck, but much to everyone's surprise, Sebastian's eyes fluttered open to see his best friend's face hovering over him. The recently conscious man felt his lips, and his eyes grew wide as he pieced together what just occurred. "WHAT THE FUCK, SAM?!"

Sam squat beside the bed as he beamed and gave Sebastian a thumbs up, "Love you, too, fam."