When we got to Candace's, she flew out of her house to greet me, bouncing and twirling in some excitement. When I looked back to Sam, his face was lit up with the biggest grin possible. He was clearly pleased with himself, but as they weren't explaining anything I was forced to ask. Candace realized that Sam hadn't told me on the way over, so she grabbed my hand and dragged me back into the house.
Laying on her table were rapiers. They didn't look finished, but they were obviously rapiers. Candace was all excited though and said that wasn't it. Sam had reached out to a friend he had made in the renaissance circuit and told them what we were planning to do for Halloween. They had the stuff on hand, and through some of their own friends could get us the tabards we were needing. It's all in the mail and Sam said it should arrive on Saturday. He said he's still got one more rapier to make, and then he wants to finish them all over the weekend. So we should have complete costumes by Monday.
I was floored, this was above and beyond for him. Especially after he'd been so disagreeable about Candace even joining us in the first place. Who knew he'd come through like this?
The problem started though when he said he'd like to catch Max and I after I get off at the museum on Saturday. Since the package would arrive by then he wanted to make sure everything fit right so that if changes needed to be made he could express the package back.
That's when I explained that I had dinner plans on Saturday. I had already warned Hal that it might get cancelled, so it was no big deal. But I guess I hadn't mentioned Hal to Candace or Sam, and suddenly Candace wanted to know everything.
There's just so much tied up in what's going on with Hal that at first I found myself stumped. Candace could see the concern on my face, so she asked Sam to put on some tea, and invited me to sit down. She said I didn't have to tell her anything, but that she was there for me if I needed. It was sweet, but ever since my conversation with Dr. Laurie I'd been wanting to tell her.
So I started with Dr. Laurie, and how my little death means I might start hallucinating. That I needed to be able to confide in someone on the level of being able to confirm what I'm seeing. Candace thought that I had chosen Hal for this, and I had to explain that in a way Hal is part of the problem.
So I laid it all out for her. Hal's secret society, and all the news articles, and how he thinks that he broke the Ohvao. Sam must have overheard while he was busying himself in the kitchen, 'cause he laughed that that. He realized that we'd heard him and looking up he sheepishly apologized. He made light of the whole conspiracy, that any of it was real, and asked "You don't actually believe any of this?"
I said that was the problem I was having. That's why I'm so worried about hallucinating. I'm not sure I will be able to tell what's real, and all his news articles made for a very convincing story.
Candace was giving Sam a hard look, and I think it made him rethink mocking what I'm going through. So he turned off his burner and joined us at the table. He apologized again, this time sincerely for kidding about something that obviously has me so concerned. I forgave him, and he went back to work. Candace and I talked more, and she took seriously my need to have a second source for confirming what was real.
So I told her about what I'd seen at the botanic gardens, and how it was probably a trick of the light on the back of some beetle. It seemed to really interest her, and she said that if I were to see anything like it again, I should point it out to her if I could. If it were real, she wanted to see it too.
Max joined us, and the atmosphere lightened. Max was thrilled with what Sam had managed to get his hands on and now she can't wait for Saturday. We got Candace's costume mostly in order, which puts her in the same boat as Max and me. Sam didn't have as much to work with, yet, but he did have a few items which allowed Max and I to work out our disagreement. Sure enough we were saying essentially the same thing. Of course, Max wasn't remembering our disagreement, she was more intent on being able to touch Sam while we were costuming him. At one point she had him removing his shirt, which was completely unnecessary. I have to admit though, that man's shoulders are amazing. None of us girls were going to complain at him standing shirtless before us. Though I think he caught me blushing and quickly covered back up. It all made for a good rest of the night.
As I sit here now though, something Sam said is troubling me. When he was making fun of what Hal was telling me, he joked something about the fay being real. I hadn't said anything about the fay, and to be honest I'm not sure what he meant by that anyway. I had only mentioned the Fomori. Now he could have just been reaching, and it's entirely coincidental. But I can't shake the feeling that it's not a coincidence. I get the feeling that he knows something, I also get the feeling that he's covering for something. His reaction in teasing me came across as forced, like he was having to lie on the spot. I don't think he was laughing about the conspiracy, but about the Ohvau being broken. Then after apologizing to me, he went back to cooking. He was quiet the rest of the night like he gets when he's deep in thought about something. He didn't even say much while Max and I were using him as a mannequin. I think he was on autopilot when Max asked him to remove his shirt, which is probably the only reason he did.
I don't know, like I said it could all be coincidence and I could be misreading the situation. I'm already concerned about a possible secret order that will kidnap me for what Hal's been telling me. I'm concerned that thanks to this conspiracy I can't be sure what's real or not. I already think I've hallucinated a tiny person, and I know I have a tumor that will likely cause that to happen. And to top it all off I still have this feeling that things are different, and I think it's the driving reason why I feel so uncertain about being able to tell what's real.
I think maybe I should take Dr. Laurie up on talking to a shrink.
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