The moment he stood outside the doors of the hospital after however many days it was, Sammy felt a momentary peace he had not felt in a long while. Norman had been checking up on him from time to time and gave him progress on what was happening at the Studio.
Including the temporary musician who was making a good deal of botching up the music. Which Sammy knew he was going to give the person an earful.
But he couldn't help but wonder why his face seemed a little, shifty. He had tried asking him about it, but Norman kept his mouth shut on the subject. And then his eyes would pierce into his own as if to say 'not now'.
He didn't know what that meant, but he was determined to find out when he went back to work. For now, though, he had a home to go back to and rest up. Before he was once again thrown into the lion's den that belonged to Joey Drew.
But the one thing that hurt him the most, was that Susie had not visited him once since he was stuck to the hospital bed.
The next day, Sammy had made sure that he was clean and well-rested before his march towards the nightmare. He stood outside the main door for a good few seconds before he entered the building, and already his ears went into overdrive over the loud noises of the main room.
Along with the many exclaimers of workers when they realised who it was that entered the building, they began barging him with questions on if he was okay to work.
He decided he should be grateful. It was clear that he at least still had a job, something should have occurred to him after he left the hospital, or should have asked Norman about it. But judging by their happy expressions and questions, he decided to just push it to the back of his mind. After all. How many people could say they had a second chance in these troubled times?
Leaving that question for later, he pushed past everyone who was trying to invade his personal bubble. But it didn't last long when he heard the voice of the one and only-
"Sammy, I'm so glad to see you're doing well, I hope" and there was the devil himself.
"Hello, Drew" Sammy replied tiredly. Great, not even in this building for a minute and he was already feeling the mental drain of a long day of work "as much as I would like to stay and catch up, I have songs to write, they don't write themselves you know"
Joey made a joyful 'HA!' and slapped Sammy on the back hard enough that he almost lost his balance "true dedication, that's what I love about you, Sammy. I knew there was a reason I kept you around"
Besides me being the only one that can put up with you? Sammy sighed mentally Where's an axe when you need one?
"Nice to see you again, keep up the amazing work" as Joey left, Sammy liked to imagine the little devil himself running after him with a pitchfork.
He had to hold back the laughter that was threatening to escape. No need to give the people any concern about his 'health'.
He pushed past everyone and made his way to the Music Department. He had work to do and one Norman Polk to talk to near the end of the day. His memory, for the most part, was fine if a little hazy, and a mess. More so than it already was.
He still found it creepy to see everyone looking at him with a smile and saying they were glad that he was alright. He was used to seeing them either running away from him or rushing past him to avoid eye contact. He wasn't bothered completely. Although he did hope to find Susie at some point so that they could talk.
He and Susie had been secretly dating since the building's reconstruction, and while they had been to keep everything behind closed doors, there were some people who seemed to know the truth. Both had agreed to keep everything personal outside the workspace.
It didn't stop the occasional flirt, wink, and sneaky kiss every now and then.
"Sammy?" speak of the angel "Sammy, oh my god I am so happy to see you again"
He barely had time to turn when he was suddenly engulfed in a warm hug from his girl.
His girl. Was she even his girl to begin with?
"Sammy, I only heard yesterday that you were being released from the hospital, I am so glad to see you here again" she sniffled slightly "are you okay to work?"
"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't Susie" Sammy replied softly, giving her a pat on the shoulder before pushing her off of him gently, she could be a handful sometimes.
He still cared about her though.
Once she was in eye contact with him again, she continued "well considering you survived an ink pipe burst followed by ink poison, I'd like to think this would be called for some concern"
Not my fault that my past came back to haunt me Sammy thought, but he verbally replied with "my office, now Ms. Campbell"
That sensation came back again, someone was watching him. That sentence he gave Susie was code for 'someone's coming'. She didn't need to say anything as she gave him a nod and followed him all the way to his office.
The few people that did encounter them just gave him a nod of acknowledgment and carried on with their walk. To which Sammy was grateful. For now anyway.
The second he shut his door, Susie wrapped her arms around his own and began to kiss his cheek down to his chin a few times.
"Hiding in your office? Reminds me of the old days" she chuckled seductively before letting go, backing up slightly.
She seemed completely unfazed at the fact that Sammy had completely frozen up the second she had hugged him from behind. He had to suppress the shiver when she started kissing him.
"Last I checked, we did nothing of the sort Susie, so please keep your hands to yourself while we're on the job" Sammy snapped quietly in case anyone was outside.
Susie shrugged as Sammy turned around and moved towards his desk, freezing up when he noticed something.
"Has Wally been in my room at all during my absence?" the room was warmer than his voice that promised pain.
"Wally was off on the day of your accident" Susie informed him as she leaned against the wall "he somehow caught the flu, he's still off work now"
"Did Joey hand the keys to anyone else to clean up?"
"Someone in the Music Department, but that's all I know" she tilted her head as she moved away from the wall "why is your voice promising death?"
"Because someone left things on MY desk"
Susie looked to where Sammy was gesturing. Sure enough, there was a black looking rose and a single sheet of paper lying innocently on his desk. She moved forward, picked up the paper, and read its contents, feeling a mixture of caution and admiration for the person who was bold enough to do this.
"Aww, should I be jealous that you have a secret admirer?" she decided to tease him a little.
"What are you talking about?" he tried to look over her shoulder before she held it up for him.
"Someone left a lovely note for you" she tapped it lightly on his nose before he snatched it from her hand to read it.
The words once again looking like a child had written them. The contents were 'I heard you were coming back today, I am so happy to know I did not hurt you from my accident'
Sammy frowned, accident? Unless this person was talking about the pipe burst, which was highly unlikely. He could not think of any other accident he had gotten in.
"Was anyone with you during the pipe burst?" Susie continued "besides Norman?"
"I don't know" he lied "I only vaguely remember Norman being with me when the pipe burst, I hope to talk to him about it after work"
Susie handed him the black rose and quickly gave him a peck on the cheek "I'll leave you alone then, don't hurt the newbies too much"
Sammy snorted as he let Susie move past him and left the room. Leaving him alone with the note and the flower. Finally. Peace before midday.
Giving the window a final glance, he sat down in his chair before taking a proper look at the 'flower' in question.
At first glance, the flower looked normal, save for the black colour. But as he held it up into the light, he noticed there was an odd shine upon it. As he traced his free hand on the stem, he noticed that it was smooth, too smooth for common flowers. Then he traced the petals. He noticed that there was no rough texture that he was used to seeing and feeling when he handled the flowers he occasionally gave to Susie.
He gently placed the flower back onto the desk before tapping his finger against the wooden surface. Just who was this person, that dared doing something like this? Were they connected to the writings on the walls? The writing was definitely similar, he would have thought it was a child playing a prank. If it wasn't for the fact that children were not allowed in the studio. Ruin the magic and all that.
He shook his head at the thoughts, he could worry about this stuff later when he had a talk with Norman. Right now he had some music to fix. But seriously? How bad could it be?
His hair practically looked like Einstein who got electrocuted by cable, a stingray, and an angler fish. His headache was already back and his eyes looked ready to turn the nearest person to stone.
The last musician was so incompetent that the music was literally all over the place. HOW THE HELL DID JOEY DREW PAY SOMEONE LIKE THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE?!
He had to start all over again just to save this pile of crap.
Elbows on the desk with his head in his heads, teeth-gritting together like a saw on wood. Sammy counted under his breath to stop himself from having a mental breakdown before he could run over to Joey and smack the guy into next week.
It didn't help when more people began to make their appearances and make the corridors noisier than they needed to be.
He slammed his hands on the desk and was about to shout in frustration when he noticed everything went completely silent.
Closing his mouth, he turned his head back towards the window. There were people still moving, he could see them talking. But there was no sound coming from their mouths.
For a second, Sammy thought he had walked into a silent movie. Which was stupid in of itself. Maybe this place was finally getting to him.
He lifted his hands back up, and the place was swarmed with noise. He placed them back down again. Silence.
He looks down and notices that one of his hands is touching the flower.
Am I really experimenting with a flower when I should be making music? Sammy thought.
Giving the roof above him a 'why me?' look, he turned back towards the flower.
He lets go. Noises. Touches it. No noises.
He continued the cycle like a kid with a new toy. A part of him was still refusing to believe this was even real. Then when he finally had enough, he snatched it up and held onto it like a lifeline.
Pure silence. Quiet as the grave. His sanctuary had been restored. At least until he let go of the flower. He didn't care that it looked stupid. He had been desperate for a quiet sanctuary. And he didn't care if it came from mistake mumbo-jumbo.
He could worry about the possessed flower another time. Right now, he was safe. He could rest just a little...
"Sammy? Sammy wake up"
"GAH!" Sammy jolted out of his seat and crashed onto the floor "what the-?"
When he finally got his bearings, he realised it was Norman who had tried waking him up.
"Sammy, are you sure that you're okay?" Norman asked in concern.
"Why shouldn't I be, I only had a little nap" Sammy groaned as Norman helped him up and back into his seat.
"Sammy, you've been asleep for the entire day of work"
Sammy felt like doing a cartoon version of eyes-bulging with a draw drop "WHAT!" he shrieked "HOW THE HELL DID I SLEEP FOR THAT LONG?!"
Norman held his hands up in surrender "I'm just as confused as you are Sammy, people saw your head on the desk but didn't try going in for fear of your wrath"
"They didn't tell Joey did they?" crap if Joey found out then he might as well kiss this job goodbye.
"No, I managed to convince them not to, I explained that you were still recovering from ink poison, so you were bound to still be tired from time to time"
Sammy let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, and practically sank into his seat "thank you" and for once, he meant it.
"Do you think we should hold off on the catch tomorrow? I don't mind waiting"
Sammy shook his head, silently surprised that he felt more. Well. Rested "I'm fine Norman, I'm just as surprised as you are that I slept for that long, didn't realise I was that tired" not to mention that his headache was gone.
He rubbed his hands when he realised that he had slept with a flower in his hand. He looked around on the floor before seeing his desk.
It was still there, still lying innocently next to his papers.
"Didn't you say you were going to show me something?" he asked, not taking his gaze away from the flower.
"I was, but are you-"
"If you ask me one more time I will shove your head in the projection myself" well at least it wasn't one of the more colourful threats he had used before.
Norman looked at him with caution before nodding his head "okay then, but I strongly advise that we move this to the music room and that you sit down before you meet" he shifted in his spot, looking awkward "this person is... responsible for your accident and wants to apologize in person"
This made Sammy raise both of his eyebrows at the man. He had found the one responsible for the pipe burst just like that? This guy had to be keeping a secret. But what though.
"Very well then Norman, but only because I managed to get a decent amount of sleep"
This time Norman gave him a big smile "of course Sammy, now, since I am the one in charge of locking up for the night, we are going to be the only ones in the building, the person I need to get is currently hiding for. Reasons, so while I'm getting them, why don't you go grab some of the leftover snacks and wait in the music room"
Sammy grumbled but did as instructed.
He had waited for a good 10 minutes, sitting on one of the chairs with a stale sandwich. It tasted horrible but it was better than nothing he supposed.
His leg though betrayed his anxiety and tension. Whoever this person was would have a lot to answer for, for the destruction of private property. That, and he needed to ask them if they had any knowledge of who those creeps were.
And if they knew those goons were related to him. He would send them to the police.
"Be careful, and don't rush, he's already going through enough stress without more being added to it" came a hushed voice of Norman Polk.
Sammy frowned. What could Norman be saying to the one that wouldn't push his wrath to a whole new level?
He opened his mouth ready to ask Norman that, only to freeze when he came by alone. And was holding a bucket of ink?
"Before you say anything, yes, this is what I was talking about" Norman interrupted before Sammy could say anything.
Sammy clamped his mouth shut before gesturing to Norman as if say 'the stage is yours'.
Norman lifted the bucket up to his face "remember what I said okay?" he said softly before moving forward to place the bucket a suitable distance near Sammy.
At first, nothing happened. But then Sammy noticed the bucket started to shake.
And Norman wasn't anywhere near the bucket.
Sammy. Music man. It's so good to finally meet you.
Sammy paled when he saw something rise up from the bucket. It looked like a cobra.
I hope, that we will become such good friends.
The cobra shook its head slightly before looking at Sammy properly.
"Hello. Sam-me. Law-ence"
Sammy felt himself pale even further.
Why did the snake sound exactly like the voice he had been hearing from his dreams?
Best friends. Forever.