When the Stars Fall
Ignored

Ardyce's phone clicked shut.

Waking up the next morning, she discovered DrowningWizard was still ignoring her. How she felt about this, she didn't know, what with the self-doubts regarding whether she should trust this person or not. She still remembered how they'd insisted Maru must be alive, having gone on a trip with her friend – Ardyce that is; thinking back to how she felt at the thought of Maru's body being found, she wondered if she could blame DrowningWizard for not responding.

After all, the reality of a situation could take time to set in.

Of course, Ardyce still couldn't use her computer for work let alone for looking up information regarding the body found in the reservoir. "Well, at least I might be able to get that problem fixed. Of course, he didn't say when he'd meet up with me today."

This simply meant getting to the west side of the clinic early enough that she wouldn't miss Sam. She prepared a sandwich from a couple of pieces of toast and mini sausages she cooked in the microwave available in her apartment, wrapping it in a paper towel before dropping a couple of water bottles into her shoulder bag just like she did the day before, wondering the entire time how long she needed to wait.

Ardyce didn't need to wait long, having finished the sandwich she made not long before Sam came book towards the clinic. She folded the paper towel the sandwich was wrapped in and tucked it into one of the pockets of her shoulder bag, completely expecting Sam to acknowledge her when he arrived at the side of the clinic, but instead, he continued booking it past her. Her mouth twisted, and she called out. "Hey!"

Sam stopped in his tracks, turning and looking at her. "Oh. It's you."

"You said you'd introduce me to the person who could help me get my internet fixed, remember?" Ardyce continued frowning, finding herself rather frustrated with the young man. "You don't know him, so you shouldn't have decided he would actually be reliable."

"Oh. Yeah," Sam let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Something's come up."

"Since we talked yesterday?" Of course, there was something that had come up yesterday. "Does this have to do with the fact the police may have found Maru?"

"Did you see it in the news?"

"Given the fact I actually don't have a television in my apartment yet and I don't have any internet, no."

"Then how?"

"I…" Ardyce's mouth twisted. "Someone who said it would make for a good murder mystery." What she said made Sam take a deep breath. "What?"

"Man with long brown hair?"

"Yes."

"That would be Elliot. He said that because he's a wannabe novelist, but I doubt he would have done anything."

"He said something about Sebastian being a prime suspect."

"Seb…" Sam laughed, shaking his head. "That's just plain ridiculous. Anyways, I'll need to take a raincheck on the promise I made yesterday, but I really need to see if Seb's okay, alright?"

He turned, heading up the path which would lead up into the mountains. Ardyce took a deep breath before falling in step next to him. "I'll go with you."

Sam startled, turning his head to look at her, slowing his pace as he continued up the mountain. The way he looked at her indicated he was debating whether her coming with him was a good idea. "I, um…"

Ardyce took a deep breath. "Look, you simply referred to him as Seb yesterday, but I just called him Sebastian, right?"

Sam titled his head slightly, the corner of his mouth twisting slightly. "Isn't that the only name you can shorten to Seb?"

"I also knew he and Maru are – were, siblings."

The blond-haired young man stopped walking up the path, narrowing his eyes at her. "Alright. Look. You're trying to tell me something, so get to the point already."

"It never once seemed strange to you that a new girl moves to this place right after a local girl goes missing."

Sam let out a sigh, glancing away. He folded his arms across his chest. "I guess? It's honestly something I would have noticed was strange because Seb told me as much, which given the fact it would be Seb pointing it out would make it even more strange but isn't it just a coincidence. That you…" Sam stopped speaking, his blue eyes blinking. He turned his head so that he now looked her in the eye. "This isn't a coincidence? That you're here, is it? You knew Maru, right?"

"We went to high school with each other. Graduated the same year."

"And you're here now, because…"

"Someone from here contacted me online because they thought Maru went on a trip with me that she didn't tell her parents about, but she wasn't."

"You're her best friend from high school." Sam let out a sigh, looking up the mountain.

"Yes." Ardyce's eyes narrowed, unsure of how he knew that.

"The person who contacted you…"

"DrowningWizard." She heard him let out a sigh. "You know who they are?"

"Yeah. I do." A smile spread across his face, his eyes twinkling. "Have you met any of her family?"

"Just her parents." Ardyce shook her head, her black locks of hair bouncing ever so slightly. She took a deep breath, unsure of where he was going with the whole matter.

"Well, you might as well come with me then. Give your condolences to them, right? That's what you want?" Sam's eyes twinkled.

Except, in the back of her head there was the inkling that Sebastian might have done something to his sister. After all, parts of her conversation with Maru stuck firmly in her mind. Saying as much to Sam, when he was, in fact, convinced Maru's brother had nothing to do with her disappearance. Her eyes remained towards the ground while she kept pace with his steps. The way he went from appearing rather down in the dumps to all sunshine and roses was certainly unsettling.

The walk up the mountain was quite far, but upon arriving she felt the breeze blowing off the mountain lake. Near the lake was a rather large home built from logs which made Ardyce guess the place was the home Maru's mother built, Maru's childhood home. Much to her surprise, Sam just walked into the house, but not before he beckoned for her to follow. Letting out a rather exasperated breath, fully planning on apologizing to Maru's parents for Sam's intrusion.

"Oh, Sam!" A woman with red hair, which Maru inherited looked up. "I'm glad you…" Robin stopped speaking. "Ardyce?"

"Sorry for intruding like this," Ardyce smiled half-heartedly. She wanted to say something more, to explain why she was there, but suddenly any explanation felt super awkward not to mention she felt out of place.

"You came to Stardew Valley because of Maru? But you heard about…" Robin paused, trying to smile.

"Hey. You asked if I would come to see Seb, but when I ran into Ardyce here I thought I'd bring her along."

"Are you sure?" Robin hummed. "He's kind of, well, you know Sebbie."

"No, but if it helps, it helps." Sam smiled at Robin. "I'll see what I can do. Honest." He then turned, heading to a door before heading downstairs into the basement of the hose, calling over his shoulder. "Come on. Meet Seb."

Ardyce took a deep breath, following Sam down the stairs, not sure what to expect. "Scratch that. I expect Sebastian to look like his mother, a red-haired white boy with a smattering of freckles."

She didn't expect the room to be dark, or for Sam to turn on the light revealing a basement room with a black couch, a couple of rather large tables, and a bed with black sheets. A person was on the bed, their head tucked into their knees while their pale arms were wrapped around his legs. Her breath sucked in, taking the black hair and skin that was paler than Robin's, her mind remembering someone joking about someone turning into a vampire.

Specifically, the person who she would need to talk to regarding her internet was most likely Maru's older brother Sebastian.