Violet had kept to herself for the next couple of days. She texted Ian off and on, and he kept her up to date on Eric's recovery. Eric would take a few weeks to recover physically, but despite his doctor's vocal rest orders, he still practiced warm-ups. His mother flew in and took over his house - Trevor stayed mostly with Ian and Louis to give them some privacy, and Manny was staying with his girlfriend.

Ian asked her how to make a casserole for Eric and his mom, to which she asked, "What kind?"

"Uhh, the tasty kind."

"Want me to just do it?" she asked.

"I don't think I can get away right now."

"I can come to you, unless Trevor and Louis are in the mood to burn the witch."

"The torches aren't lit yet, but maybe you should come before they start thinking about it. I tried explaining things to them, but they're still suspicious."

"Shit. Kay."

Violet elected to bring ingredients for baked macaroni and cheese. When she pulled up to Ian's house, he was already on the front porch of the house. He met her at her car as she had started unloading groceries.

"Hey," he said nervously. He moved to take some of the bags, not making eye contact.

She stopped him. "Are...are you mad at me? For not catching it sooner?"

"What? No Jesus. I - I'm sorry." He looked up at her. His face was pale and there were bags under his eyes. He looked so tired. "This thing fucked me up, I've been really out of it. I'm glad your here." His voice started out distant, but she could tell he was trying to come back. She was flooded with relief, so much so that she set the groceries down and wrapped him in a hug. "Fuck. Good." She squeezed him tightly. Her wrapped his hand in the back of her shirt and held tight for a long minute.

"You saved him. That's what I keep telling them." He let her go, but held her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "They're confused. But I know you can explain it to them."

Somehow that couldn't phase her much. "Otherwise your casserole will have some nicely crisped witch added to it. Punch up the protein content."

He looked at her, bewildered.

She shook her head. "Sorry. I'm pretty fucked too."

Ian grabbed a few bags and helped her to the front door. Louis had already wrenched the door open before they could reach for the knob. "You're a psychic?" He asked pointedly. Even his hair looked tired, lacking the normal spikes.

"Something like that. I have weird ass dream and see paranormal creepy-crawlies."

Somehow that answer was sufficient to allow entrance. Louis cleared off the kitchen counter to make room for the groceries.

"You see ghosts?" Louis continued.

"They're not that complicated. It's more like a ball of emotion that takes an animal form. They latch on to people in an unstable state and amplify whatever they're feeling."

Trevor was sitting on the couch on the other side of the bar. He hadn't even sat up at her appearance, but eyed her carefully.

Ian began unloading the groceries and asked, "So he's not really suicidal?"

"That's harder to tell. I'd say he wasn't ready to...do it at the time, the spider just went aggressive and pushed him to it. But no, I can't say definitively that it was just the spider." The words were thick in her mouth.

Ian stared at the box of macaroni noodles for a moment. "Fair enough."

Louis nodded. "His mom is already getting him a therapist. We have to make sure he goes."

"It it gone?" Trevor asked in a low voice. "Is that thing gone and never gonna bother Eric again?"

Violet rubbed her hand where the spider had bit her. No marks, but she could still feel the pain, aching and baffling at the same time.

"I don't know. It's not dead. It escaped. But I don't think it's going to go back to him any time soon. I...ejected it pretty harshly. There was another thing following him too, but it was just like a moody-ass blob. It has to be why I didn't suspect a second one. The blob followed him but the spider burrowed inside of him. I've been analyzing my dreams and they're all pretty hazy. Not as...visceral as the one I had on the couch. I may have snuck over to the house and slept outside in the bushes of it a couple of times to make sure I'm seeing everything."

Louis and Ian gave her a befuddled look at that. Trevor stood from the couch and crossed in to the kitchen. He hesitated by Violet for a second before he passed by her to the fridge. He pulled out two beers, popped the tops off, and offered her one. She accepted it gratefully.

"Yeah, Eric's mom thinks you're a total creep," Trevor chuckled.

She shrugged. "It could have been worse. She didn't have me arrested."

Louis couldn't help himself. "Why did you glow?"

She took a long drink off of her beer. "If you going to be a crazy psychic you might as well do it with some pizzaz. Fuck, I don't know why I glow."