Tapestry

Surprisingly, Sebastian beat both Sam and Abigail to the farmhouse by at least fifteen minutes. The hoodie-clad man arrived at Fairy Rose Farm wide-eyed and panting, but he immediately relaxed when he found Violet sitting on the porch, completely unharmed. When Sebastian tried to enter the house, Violet held out a hand to stop him. The young woman refused to enter the house again until Sam and Abigail arrived. "It's creepy," she warned her friend as his breathing became normal again. "Like cult creepy."

Violet did not speak again until the others arrived, clearly deep in thought. Sebastian noticed her biting the insides of her cheeks anxiously and he wanted to know what Violet was thinking, but he could not find a way to inquire without seeing what it was that upset her so.

"Yo, V!" Sam called out as soon as he and Abigail were in sight. "What's the emergency?"

Abigail ran up to Violet and scanned her for injuries. "Are you okay? We got here as fast as we could!"

The pastel-haired woman stood gravely and waved them all inside. "Take a look for yourself..." she instructed the gang, opening the door so they could enter.

The enormous tapestry was old and worn from age, but expertly made. The uppermost fabrics were a quaint forest scene with a large clearing with a tiny hut with strange runes displayed on its door off to the left. But, the further down the quilt one's eyes traveled, the more sinister the stitch work. The next portion of the textile seemed to be a depiction of a network of ore-laden rock tunnels filled with cave-dwelling creatures. The bottom half of the fabric depicted a grotesque tableau of death and torture. Violet was positive her grandmother never showed her this particular work - assuming her grandmother made it at all. It appeared to be much older than her grandparents, even to her untrained eyes. Humanoid bodies strewn about, likely dead, and tiny figures standing upon them triumphantly. A strange, lop-sided structure where the same small, horned individuals – whose faces remained concealed by dark shrouds – seemed to congregate.

Off to one side stood a circle of the human-like characters, decorated in gold finery and a small sun floating above another pile of gory victims at the center. The remaining hominids were not spared the pain, however. Another legion of horned figures unleashed a bright green explosion upon them, interrupting the rite, ending in disastrous consequences. It was as if the shadows of the people were attempting to flee from their bodily hosts, clamoring away from the scalding light as it melted the flesh off their bones. Their miniature faces were twisted in unnervingly accurate depictions of pain and misery.

"What… is this?" Abigail gasped, her eyes tracing every detail of the fabric. She reached down to brush her fingertips on one of the fallen humanoids, but she stopped herself just short, as if she were afraid of what touching it might do. She felt slightly nauseous by the unnervingly tiny, yet realistic expressions on the victims' faces.

Sam, who had also been studying the tapestry, finally spoke: "I think it's Pelican Town – or maybe the Valley overall - before it was settled. There are definitely some recognizable landmarks. "Look!" he indicated to the general shape of the town on the top portion of the quilt. "There's the Cindersap Forest, the beach, the mountain, and the river that connects them all." While the present-day buildings were absent, the blond appeared to be on to something.

Abigail posed a second question: "So, if this is the town, is all this supposed to be inside the mountain?" She gestured toward the more harmless mine dwellers, like the bugs and rock crabs. "I've seen these little guys in the mines, but I've never seen the others." To be fair, Abigail had only gone down a few levels while exploring. She had neither the endurance nor the equipment to brave much more on her own.

Sebastian chimed in with his own commentary. "Not to mention all the bodies…" The young man rubbed his chin, staring intently at the crude figures appearing to lie lifeless on the fabricated ground, "It looks almost like some sort of ritual. There, with the ball of light they're circling." He then pointed to the shiny, slanted structure full of tiny barb-headed figures, "And what the hell is this?"

Violet shook her head, "I have no idea," she confessed, concerned that she did not have any more details than the rest of her new friends. "But I think... this might have something to do with that Shadow that came to my window that night." Her deep blue eyes focused on the shadows separating from the bodies of the ritual-participants as she gingerly bushed her fingertips against the fabric. This odd tapestry looked similar in style to the quilts made by her grandmother. Perhaps it was a family heirloom? But if so, why had it never been mentioned? And why did such a grim textile even exist?

The farmer wished she had asked her grandmother more questions before she passed on, but Violet would certainly never known to inquire about the mysterious embroidery work. It was too late now, either way. They would have to figure this out without her help. Violet could not shake the creeping sense of dread filling her body, as if something were crawling inside her, stirring up old cobwebs in the back of her mind. The farmer had forgotten something important. And yet, no matter how hard she tried, Violet still could not recall. It made her feel ill.

"I think you're right," Sebastian agreed, breaking her concentration. He pulled his phone from his pocket and looked to Violet. "Do you mind if I take some pictures? I think we should all look into this more." As messed up as it was, this was the first time in ages something genuinely caught Sebastian's interest and he knew he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

The pastel-haired woman nodded her approval and the gang all backed away so he could properly photograph the tapestry. "I'll send it to all of you just in case," he informed them, "maybe if we split up some of the work, we can find some answers."

Abigail scoffed. "Where do we even start?" she asked incredulously. "Google 'Pelican Town human sacrifice rituals?'"

"I feel like the older generations would have said something if there were local legends about it," Sebastian reasoned. "If nothing else, just as a boogey man story to scare the kids into good behavior." He paused, scanning the tapestry with his dark eyes. "It must be something old enough to be forgotten through the generations. I mean, there aren't even any of the town buildings on this map, just… a hut in the place we're standing now."

Violet realized when it was pointed out that the hut was in fact – at least proportionally – on what was now Fairy Rose Farm. The knowledge gave her an uneasy feeling. "It looks… sort of like the Junimos' hut in the Community Center," she thought out loud. "Only bigger and more elaborate."

Abigail nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I've seen that thing, too," she confirmed, since neither of the men had encountered the Junimos as far as she was aware. "But I wonder what these symbols mean?" the amethyst-haired woman inquired, her hand hovering over the scarlet letters on the structure.

"And are they written with paint or… blood?" Sebastian added grimly. It was a fair question in connection to the other images on the fabric, but not something that anyone particularly wanted to think about when they were standing on the presumed location of the hut.

"So what do we do?" Abigail asked the gang.

Sam smirked, "We just found a crazy-old piece of Pelican Town history," he stated proudly. "I say we should uncover the truth about out quaint little home town. What do you all think?"

"I don't know if that's going to make me feel better or worse…" Violet admitted, her deep blue eyes still transfixed on the tapestry.

The blond shrugged, "Hey, for all we know this was just some elaborate method of story-telling for the people that used to live here and your farm is completely normal." He draped an arm around Violet's shoulder casually, trying to reassure the newest member of their friend group. "And if it turns out that your house is built on an ancient burial ground, I'm sure we can find a way to appease the spirits or something with a little bit of digging."

Violet could not help but pale slightly when Sam mentioned that she potentially lived on curse land, despite the fact that she knew he was only teasing. "… Thanks," she responded quietly, as her hand absently reached to stroke Bruno's head.

"Either way, we can't get anything done tonight," Abigail told the group. She turned to Violet, "It's late so the library isn't open and I'm sure you have a lot to do tomorrow for the start of the new season."

The farmer nodded, finally peeling her gaze away from the tapestry. "Right." Before she realized, Violet started folding up the tapestry to put it away again. Sebastian lowered himself to the floor to assist her, but the young woman did not seem to notice his presence beside her until she accidentally bumped into him. "Sorry…" she apologized, though unlike usual Violet did not blush from his touch. Sebastian could not read her, her face was blank and expressionless.

"I'll let you know if I find anything about it tomorrow, V," Sam assured the farmer, opening the front door to take his leave. "In the meantime, I've got to get home for the night. See ya!"

"Don't worry too much," Abigail said calmly. In a more confident tone, the amethyst-haired woman gave an additional comment. "I know it's kind of fucked up, but I don't think you're in any sort of danger from something that happened so long ago. Besides, if you're in any sort of trouble, just text us like you did and we'll be here before you know it."

Violet bobbed her head. "Yeah, you all showed up when I needed you," she agreed, though the grocer's daughter noticed that the farmer's eyes shot a look toward Sebastian, who had arrived on the scene first. "I appreciate it."

Abigail smiled, then waved her good-byes to the two remaining people in the house before she followed her boyfriend out into the night.

Sebastian watched Abigail disappear before helping Violet hoist the enormous swatch of fabric back up in the hatch in the closet before either of them spoke again. "Are… you okay, Violet?" the dark-haired man asked, his tone laced with concern for his friend. "You've been awfully quiet."

There was a moment of silence between the two of them as Violet hopped down from the chair and sighed. Her lips twitched from side to side as she pondered her words. "Do you ever… feel like you should know something, but you can't remember it to save your life?"

The programmer chuckled. "Like something you learned in grade school?" he questioned jokingly.

Violet's mouth curved up into a slight smile. "Sorta," she admitted sheepishly. Sebastian could tell now that her give-away expression had returned to her face that Violet's thoughts were starting to pull away from whatever bothered her so much. That was a relief. "I feel like… I saw what happened here," she revealed in a voice hardly above a whisper. "But I couldn't have possibly seen it," the young woman admitted. "This thing has got to be older than either of my grandparents."

"Could you have seen the tapestry before?" Sebastian suggested with a shrug. "It was stored here in the ceiling, after all," he reasoned, pulling the kitchen chair back to its rightful spot at the table.

The farmer shook her head, her wavy hair swaying along with her. "No… It feels like a memory of being there, seeing it through my own eyes," Violet clarified. "Experiencing it first-hand."

"Okay, yeah," Sebastian relented. "That is kind of weird." He gestured to the air around him. "But then again, Pelican Town isn't as normal as I thought, so who knows what it means? Maybe you're magic, too."

"Oh, boy. Location-based visions," she replied sarcastically. "Let me go wandering around the woods and find out where all the serial killers bury their dead around here." Violet was clearly not amused by the idea of that brand of morbid magical ability.

Sebastian tried to change the subject, "Hey, I've been wanting to test some magic for a while," he told the farmer. "Do you want to help me with that tomorrow?"

Violet sighed, "Well, the first of the month happens to be my busiest day of each season," she replied. "But I'll see if I can squeeze you into my schedule."

If his friend was feeling well enough to tease him, Sebastian felt better leaving for the night. "Well, be sure to hit me up when you're all finished," he instructed, waving his phone at her for emphasis before placing it back into his back pocket. "Unless you want a buddy to stick around tonight just in case?"

The woman raised her eyebrows. "Are you trying to invite yourself over for another sleepover?" she asked with a teasing smile. "I know I said you looked nice at the Flower Dance, but don't get too full of yourself, nerd."

"I was actually angling to steal all your books," Sebastian said, returning Violet's jest with one of his own. "I left so quickly that I didn't have time to grab the ones you leant me earlier."

"You finished those already?" Violet laughed, both impressed and appalled. "You could not possibly have taken the time to appreciate them!" she said accusingly.

Sebastian averted his gaze. "They were surprisingly good," he admitted with a shrug. "I wasn't sure what to think at first, but you weren't kidding about your warnings." The man chuckled nervously. "I got attached to the casualties before they died," he complained.

The woman gasped, "Don't you dare just call them 'casualties,'" she scolded. Despite herself, however, Violet gave Sebastian a smug look as she fished the next volume from her shelf. "Here, you can take one more," the farmer told her friend. "But you don't get any more until you return the others."

Violet glanced at the clock and her face dropped in horror. "Now leave!" she huffed, shooing Sebastian out the door. "It's almost midnight and I have to get up in six hours," she groaned miserably.

"You could just sleep in like a normal person," the hoodie-clad man sniffed in amusement.

"I'm too stubborn to be normal," Violet responded in annoyance, giving him one last gentle shove out of her house. "Good-night!" she said emphatically as she closed the door behind him.

Sebastian could not help but chuckle at Violet's change in mood. At least she seemed to forget all about the tapestry. On top of that, he even got the next volume of the series and the opportunity to test out his magic tomorrow. Summer was his least favorite season, but despite himself Sebastian found he was looking forward to it this year.