sammy

Who: Sammy and Eben!
Where: MSHS
When: Last period

Turmoil roiled through Sammy like waves tossed and turned on the sea by a hurricane as he sat by himself on the side-lawn where he and the others had met for the system-setting-up meeting. Technically he should have been inside like everyone else in his last class, but he didn’t want to sit in there anymore. He also didn’t want to go home once the final bell rang, to be honest. He just wanted to…sit. And do nothing. Yes.

For before school stuffs.

For buddies checking up on each other.

For morning-grocery-getting scene

To: muted.raven@gmail.com
From: corwinlovescats@gmail.com
Time: 5:36AM

Sammy,

I saw your house on my way home this morning! Are you all right? Did you get out in time? Is your family all right?

I have no idea if you have any way to respond to this, but email is all I have. Please respond, if you can.

-Corwin

Who: The Williams.
Where: The Williams' Domicile
When: 3:17 a.m.

Silence reigned supreme over the house, for once. It was still and peaceful outside, the damp chill of early fall gently breezing in George William's open window. If it had been entirely by choice, that window would have been closed. But it was an old house and the window was stuck an inch open - wouldn't open further, wouldn't close. It was ok, really, though - the cold wasn't touching him through the thick warmth of his quilt. He was awake, and yet not awake, laying on his side, his good eye half closed as he stared out the window into the dark, cloudy sky. The sky looked like an endless void through the rain-tracks: not a reassuring thought in these days.

If you'd like to walk a while, we could waste the day...follow me into the trees, I will lead the way.

He lay there, earbuds buzzing softly in his ears. Music was his lifebeat, his constant, it aided him in trying to think and trying not to think at the same time. He really only succeeded in having his brain half awake and in a haze; the strange, non-restful sleep that he couldn't escape; the strange limbo that was close-to-but-not-quite full awareness.

Bring some change up to the bridge, bring some alcohol...there we'll make a final wish just before the fall.

The low, soft bass in his ears sounded predatory. Hungry. Strange, in his mind; the song he'd heard a million times before and - quite possibly - would hear a million times more had an alien tone in it, something that didn't belong. He flopped over on his back, rubbing at his eye as he yawned. The clock said 3:16 - and it felt as if he was never going to get back to sleep. There was too much of that...feeling in the air. Not anticipation...but something very like it.

Watch the sunrise all alone, sitting on the tracks. Hear the train come roaring in, never coming back.

Who: Sammy, and Buttahfly
When: Five p.m.
Where: The streets of Marquette,

The morning had been chilly, and it was still chilly now as Sammy wandered homeward from his trip to the store. The whole trip had been futile - they hadn't had what he wanted, which was a different type of feed for his ducklings, who were being checked over by a vet - but there was always the internet. He could order feed online, and hopefully it wouldn't take too long. Or something. And the walk itself had been nice - there hadn't been any rain, no vampire attacks, or any zombie attacks. No frog-sized hail. No fire and brimstone, either, or whatever might decide to hit Marquette next. Yeah, it was nice.

To: muted.raven@gmail.com
From: corwinlovescats@gmail.com
Time: 4:06PM

Good afternoon, Sammy. I thought I'd drop a note by to see how you and your brother are doing. Is Geo's eye doing better? Will it heal, or do you know?

Also, I thought you might like to know, but I'm absolutely sure the Acherus are gone. The news is right. I've been looking these past few nights, and I haven't seen a single one.

-Corwin

Who: Charlotte, Dean, Herbert, Joshua, Isaac, Peyton, Sammy, Stacey, and Thom.
When: Lunchtime.
Where: Side lawn at school.

Charlotte would have felt much better about this if Kaysen was there. She hadn't been nervous about this until she woke up this morning and realized she had no freaking idea what she was doing. Or maybe everyone would think she was crazy, or that it was a waste of time. They won't. she kept telling herself. If they agreed to show up in the first place, they must think it's a good idea. She just kept telling herself that.

Who: Herbert and Sammy
Where: Riding home from school
When: After school

Because he knew he'd forget if he didn't, Herbert had made a list of things he wanted to talk to Sammy about. It had wound up being a rather longer list than he'd expected, and as he came down the front steps after school, eyes, ears, and nose already questing for some sign of Sammy, he had it folded neatly in his pocket.

Geo.
Vampires.
Sign language.
Lunch meeting thing.
Ducklings.
Texting.
Spending the night.

From: Herbert
Sent at: 8:32PM

i dont know how to make a question mark or a period or anything on this phone but can we talk about stuff after school tomorrow if youre going to school

Who: Corwin and Sammy
When: Early morning on up.
Where: The internets

It was a battle of wills. Or a battle of will. Singular. Sammy was awake in the wee hours of the morning for the...well, he'd lost track of how much sleep he had missed in the past few days. Point was, he was awake still. And debating whether or not he should email the vampire who had saved him and Geo - well, mostly Geo? - the night (morning?) before. The email was written out and the ancient mouse hovered over the send button. Should he send, or should he trash the missive?

He thought.

And he thought.

And he hit send.

Your message has been sent.

September 11, 2007
9:00 pm

Who: Harper and Sammy
Where: Nevermore
When: Late Morning

Sammy was of the opinion as he once more walked the streets of Marquette that he had headed for Nevermore too late the day before. So, today, he was headed for it early. Or, rather, earlyish. This time his pockets held no misplaced or lost jewelry as he'd turned it in to the police department the day before along with his name, phone number and address. In fact his pockets were rather empty. Completely empty. As he pushed open the door to Nevermore - elated to see the "We're Open" sign hanging - he reeled his mind back in, away from the worries that were plaguing it.

Harper was in her spot, a little creeped out still from her earlier customer she'd gone back to her book, watching the time and trying to decided, again, when the best time to close up would be. The ghost town just wasn't worth the business... Harper had actually clocked out two hours ago, feeling really bad about getting paid to do nothing, although the other customer did buy something so at least there was a little money exchanging hands today. As Harper flipped the page she winced slightly, Damn it. As the door opened Harper, glanced up to see if it was someone real, or another bathroom seeker. She gripped a pencil in her hand and as she smiled at the person tried to slip it under her cast to get at the itch. "He-llo." She said, huffing at her futile effort. After a second she gave up and put the pencil down, focus on the person and ignore the itch. "How can I help ya?"

Who: Corwin, Sammy and Geo
Where: The Streets
When: One AM or thereabouts

The horrible smell of blood still seemed to cling to the inside of his nose, cloyingly copper, the scent almost strong enough to coat the back of his throat. He felt almost like gagging - he'd never seen anyone killed before, much less helped kill people. Vampires or not. The thought - You've seen death, you've helped death - loomed at the edge of realization like a slow-moving glacier: distant now, but sure to arrive and crush the framework that was currently keeping the thought of screaming away.

Who: Claire and Sammy
When: Afternoon
Where: Out and about, heading for Nevermore

With the town seemingly in full destruction mode, Claire's mother had wanted her to stay inside for the day since school had been canceled, but since she had been forced to stay inside all weekend, Claire had been determined to get outside and get some fresh air - if that's what you could call it. The air was stale and smelled of fire and ash. Everything seemed so gray and depressing outside, and she occasionally bent over to pick up trash on the sidewalk and toss it away properly. She ignored the bits of stained blood she passed, greeting a few familiar faces on the street who were also trying to clean up Marquette. She wondered if it would help or make a difference, or if people were cleaning up and boarding broken windows and doors in vain. Would everything start up all over again after sunset? Claire turned the corner onto Washington Street, bending down to pick up what looked to be a broken silver bracelet with tiny heart charms on them. There was a bit of blood dried on the end of it. Rather than throw it away, she pocketed it, thinking maybe by some miracle she could get it back to it's owner.

Who: Geo, Sammy, Melia, Caleb, Mathias, Ash, and Linn
Where: Out near the beach
When: Night

Mathias was strolling, actually strolling, a slight smile on his face, looking completely relaxed. He was also apparently alone, just him, walking along one of the streets near to the edge of the lake. It was a nice night for a stroll, after all - or, well, it would be if the town wasn't, say, overrun with blood thirsty, marauding vampires. But why let a little fact like that spoil one's evening.

Who: Helen and Sammy
Where: The grocery store
When: Mid-afternoon

There was a dire need of more soap. Well, maybe it wasn't dire, but Geo and Sammy did need it - at least they needed non-spiced soap, as currently the only stuff to be found was loaded with mace, clove and cayenne pepper, and when it got into cuts it stung like a mother. Sammy shoved his hands in his pockets, playing with the bills and coins as he wandered through the aisles aimlessly with the basket held in the crook of his arm, edge resting against his hip. Already in the basket were two loaves of bread for the ducklings who had hatched earlier, and a box of cereal, and oh, look, there was the soap. ...and Helen? Sammy couldn't help the surprised choking sound that escaped him as he took a step back quickly.

Packing was a bitch. Unpacking was even worse - they had nothing to eat. At all. Helen had drawn the short straw, so, well, here she was. She'd had to exert herself in the liquor aisle, not to blow the whole wad of bills in her trousers on beer. She heard a small sound as she added a bottle of soap to her cart - and when she looked up, her dark eyes narrowed to slits. "...Sam? What the hell are you doing here?"

Who: Herbert and Sammy
Where: Williams' house
When: 11:47 a.m.

The night previous Sammy had crashed, and crashed hard. The caffeine and sugar had worked it's way out of his system and sent him crashing into the couch cushions as soon as Geo had worked his hair out of the braids. The rest had been welcome, and unlike the night before he'd slept without waking -- scratch that, he'd slept. His body was so tired that by the time he woke up Sunday it was 11:30 in the morning. Sammy swung his legs over the edge of the couch and pushed himself up, rubbing at his hip where the cellphone in his shorts' pocket had been pressing up against it as he stumbled into the laundry room to check on the eggs still nestled in the blankets. He blinked, stopped rubbing his hip, and fumbled for the phone which thankfully had enough battery power for him to send off a text to Herbert.

Water's broken! It said. Two small funny words. The power on the phone died - it had been on for days now - as Sammy fell to his knees beside the basket with a wide, sunny, happy grin.

Who: Herbert and Sammy
Where: The Williams' house
When: Midday

The adrenaline was gone. It had been gone for quite some time now, in fact. Sammy wasn't even scared now - well, not too scared. The fluttering palpitations of his heart could only be chalked up to one thing, and that was his caffeine and sugar intake. Oh yeah, the coffee and soda and anything with sugar that he could lay his hands on were all combining to make sure that he was Sammy-the-hummingbird as opposed to Sammy-the-raven. It was fun, in the kind of way that is so not fun. The music was still going in the livingroom, but it was quieter now. He'd had to do that once Geo left, since he'd have to be able to hear if someone came a'knockin' at the door. Like, what was happening right now. It sounded like someone was pounding on the front door with both hands instead of the customary one hand - lovely. So he should get that. Probably...

Bouncing on his heels he pulled the curtain next to the door aside so he could peer out. A smile crossed over Sammy's face as he recognized Herbert and made short work of the locks on the door so he could pull it open for his friend and wave him inside.

Who: Geo and Sammy
When: 3:34am
Where: The Williams' House

Normally, the Williams' house seemed to exude an air of dignified, friendly peace. It was an older house, the kind with dark, soothing, flowery wallpaper; dark finished paneling, soft carpet and smooth-polished hardwood floors, where the lights always seemed dim and hazy and mellow. There was always music playing in the distance, always the quiet trickle of Laverne's fountain in the living room, the ticking of Fred's homemade grandfather clock in the den, but never enough noise to make to hard to think. Laverne was very Zen about such things - too much noise was bad for the soul.

Or something.

Which is why, right now? Geo Williams was so glad his mother wasn't home. The house sounded like a rock concert had set up shop in the living room, and it looked like it too, clothes and bandaids and towels littering the floor in a path clear down the stairs - like the mosh pit had torn through the kitchen at the same time, soap smeared on the floor in front of the door, cabinets left open, a thin layer of cayenne-pepper-red-pepper-onion-powder-black-pepper-ginger dusted over the counter top and left in fingerprints across the table, two exacto-knives rammed into the wood of the kitchen table. The shards of the one unfortunate coffee carafe still glittered on the floor, blocked off with a chair. The whole house spelled like spices and soap, sweat and fear and espresso. It wasn't such a nice combination.

Who: Herbert and Sammy
Where: The land of texting
When: Late, around 11

The first thing Herbert did when he got home was throw up. He felt like he never wanted to eat anything ever again-- which was not the way to feel when autumn was settling in, but the very thought of food made him want to throw up again. The second thing he did was brush his teeth. Twice. So that was the second and third thing he did. Or did it count as two things, since it was the same thing? His brain felt like it wasn't working quite right.

Who: Sammy, Linn and Geo.
Where: The Williams' house, then the streets
When: Sometime after eight, but before the gunshots in the park.

Sammy snagged an Oreo off the plate he had balanced on top of the monitor, steadying it with one hand as he dropped back into the spinny-chair of dOOm in front of the desk. The house felt weird all dark and without his parents inside. At least they weren't going to have to be here long. Just until close to one, when he and Geo'd be leaving to catch the bus. That wasn't long to wait, right...?

Who: Marlowe and Sammy
Where: Mya's Diner
When: 4:40 pm

The little bell above the door of Mya's Diner rang as Sammy pushed the door open, and he looked up at it, watching it jingle merrily as he stepped into the diner. It wasn't all to busy just yet - it wasn't all that late just yet - but he knew that given time it would probably get busier. The food here was good, so how could it do anything but that? He closed the door slowly so that it wouldn't slam and made his way to the counter, glad he had a list of what Herbert and Geo wanted for dinner, he probably wouldn't have remembered otherwise.

Who: Geo, Herbert and Sammy
Where: MSHS, then walking homewards
When: After school

Yesterday's weather had been nasty. Wet, and aiming to make anyone who dared to walk around outside in the weather wet as well. Today, though, was nice. No rain at all, and the sun was out. And there hadn't been any bad news stories either. It should have made Sammy feel better, but all it did was make him feel paranoid. He sat on a cement pillar at the bottom of the stairs, twisting and turning to look this way and that, dark eyes scanning the area as much to just watch out for anything that might be abnormal as much as it was to watch for either Herbert or Geo. Whichever boy turned up first.

Probably unsurprisingly, Herbert did. Given the horrible rain the day before, and his after-school plans with Stacey, he hadn't seen Sammy at all the day before, and he was actually looking for him as he came out the school doors. And scenting for him, but he was mostly out of luck, there. Being on crowded school grounds made seeking people out by smell difficult.

Who: Jordan and Sammy
Where: Lunchroom; MSHS
When: Lunch hour

Yesterday the crowded lunch room had been understandable - it had been raining, who would want to eat outside in that? Today? The crowded lunchroom was less understandable. No rain, so...why was the lunchroom so crowded? ...and why was he eating in here, too? Hrn. Maybe it was because it felt safer inside than outside. That was probably it. Sammy held his bagged-lunch closer as he wove his way in and out of the crowd until he came to a semi-empty table. Stepping out of the way of yet another person Sammy leaned forward and knocked on the table, a questioning look in his eyes as he indicated the empty chair opposite the blond girl who was the only person at this end of the table. Was the seat taken?

Who: Peyton, Sammy, Geo and Laverne (NPC)
Where: On the way home from school + The Williams' House
When: After School

Geo told his mom he'd got fired the moment she picked him up from Econo Foods with the groceries.

He told her flat out, a damn dirty lie, jade pendant's broken leather thong looped around his wrist. It was - he'd told himself - an experiment. Either she'd smell through his lie - smell the sweat, smell the stink of a lie - or hear through it - the tiny change in voice, the minuscule increase in heart rate - or...she wouldn't. She wouldn't smell or hear through it, and he'd get away with it...

She didn't notice.

Who: Kaysen and Sammy
Where: MSHS; English classroom
When: Right after lunch

The day was seeming to stretch on forever for Sammy. He couldn't believe that it was only a little after one o'clock in the afternoon - it felt like...well, he didn't know what it felt like, but it didn't feel like it was one in the afternoon. He smiled nervously at the English teacher as he quietly shut the door to the classroom behind himself and avoided meeting his classmates' eyes as he made his way to the back, where the only free seats were now. That was - of course - what came from being late. He huffed a bit in annoyance - it wasn't like he had actually meant to be late for English. He liked the class!

Who: Sammy and Linn

Where: MSHS lunch room

When: Lunch hour

Soup. It was perfect for the day, which was rainy and just...really, really unpleasant. Weather-wise and mood wise. Sammy stared down into the bowl he'd picked up from the lunch-line, just...staring into it, really. He hadn't taken a single spoonful, he just let the steam rise up, warming his face. The sounds in Sammy's ears were muffled and he was half-asleep in his seat, all kinds of miserable. News of more deaths on top of his dreams on top of...well, everything...Sammy just wasn't happy. He rubbed at his eyes - they felt like they were burning.

Linn made his way through the lunchroom, clutching his paper sack lunch in one hand. It had been kinda a crappy day for him. More bad news about freaky murders, plus he hadn't done very well on his science homework last night and was going to have to go back to Mrs. Wu's class after school for some help. Super suck. Oh well. Nothing a peanut butter sandwhich and a ho-ho -- hold on there. Was that Sammy Williams? He hadn't been in science class... Dang, he looked mad-sick. Linn ducked through the crowded noisy room until he got to Sammy's table. "Hey..." Without waiting for an invitation he plopped down next to the other guy.

Who: Sammy
Where: His room, the hall, then Geo's room.
When: Morning, before school.

Summer sun beat down on the Chicago-suburb's streets. It beat down hot onto Sammy's dark curls where he sat on the front porch of their house with his blue popsicle melting all over; cool liquid dripped down the back of his hand and down his palm. He laughed, squinting as he leaned down and licked it off, contorting his arm and hand as he avoided getting his curls in the melting, syrupy mess. A shiver ran up his spine as despite his efforts the popsicle continued to drip all over the place - cold, icy liquid dribbled down his leg leaving blue tracks behind as it slid down the arch of his foot and down between his toes.