One Week Later

Beatrice Santello was starting to worry about her childhood friend. For the past week leading up to the day when Gregg and Angus would be leaving for Bright Harbor she'd been beyond withdrawn. Bea had expected her to be a little subdued, or even depressed, but she just hadn't been around at all. She didn't come out to see Bea at the Pickaxe, and Gregg reported that she hadn't come to see him in all that time either. She was slow to respond to chattrBox messages, even more so than usual, and she never seemed particularly enthusiastic in replies either. Considering everything she'd confessed on the couch that fateful night, Bea had the distinct impression that Mae was potentially a danger to herself, and she'd even considered telling someone with the authority to do something about it. Gregg had talked her down from that, reminding Bea of the possibility that there were more cult members active in the police force and elsewhere.

So the two of them were just worrying about Mae together, even if Angus was certain they were worrying for nothing. That in itself was suspicious, since all Bea really knew of Angus was how exceptionally compassionate he was and that he was rather smart. He couldn't be too dumb to see what was happening, nor detached enough not to care, so he must have been keeping something from Bea about the situation. She didn't dare talk to Gregg about that thought, silently stewing in her growing confusion and melancholy.

This morning might finally bring the anxious girl some concrete answers, if what Mae sent her on chattrBox was anything to go by, and a small smile graced her face as she read it. "Sorry for being so bleh lately. It's been a rough week, but things are okay now. Head to the Party Barn as soon as you can. I've got something special planned for the band."

"She sent that before I even woke up," Bea groggily commented to herself. "Mae actually woke up in the morning." Even saying it out-loud didn't seem to help Bea make sense of the idea, but even though it baffled her it certainly made her happy. Maybe she'd been worried over nothing, and Mae had just had a bit of an off week. Were that the case it would be a massive relief. Her efforts to be optimistic didn't prevent her hands from shaking during her morning routine, and by the time she reached the Pickaxe her fingers couldn't seem to keep the key under control. She had to take a moment to steady her breathing and force her irrational thoughts down. Mae's message meant there was definitely good news on the way.

Definitely good news.

Gregg was ecstatic to read a similar message on the computer he shared with Angus, flailing his arms and yelling at the screen in excitement. "Angus! Mae planned something for us! Oh my God, this must be why she hasn't been around lately. She's been pulling some serious strings, I bet." Gregg rapidly typed out an enthusiastic reply to Mae's Party Barn summons, letting her know when he and Angus would be off work, but by the time he'd finished typing his mood started to sour again. He'd just reminded himself of what he had to do first. He had to go to work and see the vixen who wouldn't be his boss anymore the next day. He had to see Christine.

Gregg hadn't exactly been forthcoming with information as to why he got away with so much at his job, not to Mae or Bea, and not even to his boyfriend. For one, it helped him maintain a mysterious edge that kept people like Steve on their toes, but mostly there was the simple fact that what Christine was doing to him was an uncomfortable topic and no one could have helped him with it. The prospect of leaving her behind was a welcome one, but interacting with her at all was a pain, and it would certainly be much worse than usual now that she was about to lose him. He'd been obliged by policy to give a couple weeks of notice, which he would have ignored if he didn't need Christine's approval to assist him in searching for a job in Bright Harbor. A previous boss's seal of approval was a lot better than the opposite, so he did what he had to do, and he would have to do it one more time yet.

"Hmm." The comforting presence of Angus distracted him from his sudden apprehension, the bear leaning down to read the messages himself. "She mentions us as 'the band,' so she might have a special song in mind."

"Oooh! Oooh! What if she makes us play a song we've never heard before, like we've been doing to her?" Unlike Gregg, Angus had an idea as to why Mae had been so upset and withdrawn in the past week. He knew it had something to do with Casey's death at the hands of the cult, and since Casey was actively involved in writing original songs for them to play he was sure she'd pick one of those. They'd know the words, unless he was missing something hugely important.

"It's a good thing I have a half shift today."

"And a last shift today! AWOOOOOO!"

"That too. My point is that I'll be around half way through the day to help her set things up."

"You can't help set up your own surprise! You better ask Mae if it's okay for you to go in before you get there!" Angus rolled his eyes behind his glasses, but there was a smile on his lips from his amusement. Gregg was not amused. "Seriously, dude, don't mess this up for Mae. Having a sweet ass only get's you so many extra forgiveness points and you might have spent them all with her already."

"I solemnly swear that I will ask her permission before I even look through the windows." Gregg nodded his approval, but Angus was staring at him for the next minute before he spoke again, trying to riddle something out. "What did you mean by forgiveness points?"

"Huh?"

"You said I might have spent all my forgiveness points with Mae already. What did you mean by that, bug?" Gregg sighed, Angus' serious and apologetic tone bringing him back to reality.

"I just feel kinda bad for what we did at the Donut Wolf. When she tried to get herself killed and we almost lost her I started thinking about it a lot. Like, every morning a lot. I wanted to apologize for blaming her for everything. She showed up and I started acting like an idiot, then we both blamed her and it was always my fault."

"Bug, don't be so hard on yourself. We still have two days. We can apologize at the Party Barn today."

"You agree with me? Just like that?"

"I thought she was pressuring you to do those things you did together, but that was before I got to know her better, and if you don't feel like she did then I was wrong and I'm sorry."

"Alright, alright," Gregg put his hands up as if to defend himself from the tide of sincerity. "Let's save the mopey apology for Mae. She's the one who deserves it anyway. We should just be excited to leave this terrible town!" They were both smiling again as they made their way down to the bottom floor of the apartment complex, only parting ways when Angus reached the Video Outpost "Too" while Gregg still had a short walk from there to the Snack Falcon.

As he approached he adjusted the cuffs of his jacket to give his nervous hands something to do, and with a final deep breath he pushed his way past the door.

"Ah, Gregg, it's good to see you again!" Christine was a stunning vixen to behold, thin in the middle and curved everywhere else, always done up in makeup that drew eyes to her lips. Every time Gregg looked into her piercing orange eyes they seemed to be suggesting something promiscuous. He'd only ever seen her in formal wear, usually a decent looking dress of some sort, all cheaper knockoffs of designer pieces, and today was no exception. He thought the purple didn't really match her coat too well, but he'd keep that thought to himself.

"Am I getting straight to work today? I want to leave the place in good condition for the next guy." As much as he tried to hide it he was dreading what she'd make him do next. He counted himself lucky that she'd never outright forced sex on him, but she'd done almost everything else. She expected him to steal a glance at her breasts every few seconds, because she enjoyed seeing him do it. She liked to brush her tail against his legs whenever she walked by, kiss his cheeks, or even run her hands over his arms like she was doing right then as they talked. He didn't mind that one so much, because she was mostly just feeling up his leather jacket, but if he couldn't keep her attention off the fact that he was leaving soon he could be in a much worse position.

"You work too hard, Gregg." She was frowning slightly. He didn't like that. It took him a moment to realize why, and when he did he stared at her cleavage for a solid two seconds. He hadn't realized she'd leaned forward a bit to present them as a target. That worked and she was smiling again. "Gregg! Focus!" She feigned annoyance, swatting a hand against his chest and giggling. He tried to laugh like he meant it.

"S-sorry, Christine."

"I thought about what you said, about that Borowski girl working here." Gregg had thought for sure that she'd only consider other men, and maybe even specifically other Todds for the position so she could do the same thing to them as she was doing to him, but he'd put the idea of Mae taking his place out there two weeks ago anyway. Maybe he'd been wrong and he'd actually be able to do this for her. Apparently it was going to cost him, because Christine got as close to him as she ever had, her breath tickling his whiskers. She opened her mouth to say something else, but he couldn't do it.

She was taking it too far and he just couldn't stand there and take it. He stopped acting and bolted right back out the door, abandoning his shift and whatever was about to happen. He'd find some inane activity to distract himself in the woods until he would be expected at the Party Barn. He'd tried to help Mae but at the last and most crucial moment he'd failed.

He didn't notice Christine standing in the doorway, watching him run away with a hurt and confused expression.

Bea's day was dull from the moment she opened the Ol' Pickaxe to the hour she decided to close it, but at least she had some excitement in store for later. She couldn't count on Mae for much, since Mae didn't really do much, but she could count on her to make life interesting, because any time Mae actually did do something it was spectacular.

Flipping the sign to closed, Bea made her way down toward the Party Barn, but her town wasn't the same as it had been only days ago. The atmosphere changed quickly with both state and county police poking around in the trashy remains of the dying Rust Belt town, the peace of isolation robbed from the residents, many of whom didn't have anything else. Instead of seeing kids playing on the sidewalks and teens smoking by the monument Bea saw adults walking to their jobs with their heads down and frowns on their faces, cop cars occasionally passing everyone on the street. Citizen drivers didn't dare go faster than the nearest cop, and no one spoke when a police car was in sight, the feeling of being closely examined washing through them all.

The mystery they were all trying to solve was intimately understood by Bea, but talking with them about it wasn't an option. They wouldn't believe the truth and they wouldn't need to formulate an alternate theory to jail her and all of her friends just because of their apparent involvement in the mass disappearance; nevermind the fact that those missing were responsible for several other disappearances in the past, which would also likely be pinned on whoever was found guilty of the later crime. The state commissioner was trying to turn the whole thing into a publicity stunt to get more attention on the rampant economic decline of the area, but Bea knew it wouldn't help them in the end, especially if they actually jailed anyone. The only people they could catch were either innocent or justified by self-defense, and Bea certainly wouldn't go without making her stance that the state was in the wrong very clear.

None of that mattered when she stepped into the Party Barn and saw a drum set on the stage. "What?"

"Hey, Bea!" The others were already there, even Germ who was playing around with an opened Digisphere controller in the corner. "You won't need that laptop. We're actually playing everything this time."

"I can't play real drums, Mae."

"I know, but you could sing with us!" Bea gave Mae a look with the expression she wore most of the time: deadpan and unimpressed. "Ooookay, nevermind."

"I'm spectating then." She pulled the nub of a cigarette from her snout, dropped it on the ground, and snuffed it with her boot, quickly pulling another from the pocket of her tacky, Urevolution dress and lighting up. She held the stick of cancerous fumes to her lips, took a deep puff to fill her lungs with the burning poison, giving her mind the jolt of numbing nicotine she always needed. Then, she exhaled, Mae turning her head away casually. "Fine. Wow me."

Germ came up beside Bea, abandoning his little project for the time being. "This should be good."

"So I know Casey wrote Die Anywhere Else." the atmosphere became tense for a beat while everyone dealt with the idea that they'd be talking about their dead friend, save for Bea who just felt awkward for not having known him that well. Then, Mae passed sheet music to Gregg and Angus. "Apparently he made it after I left, but he didn't finish it before the cult got to him. You finished one version, but George helped me with another that Casey was considering. It has a really hype intro, some nice, slow buildup, and I think he'd want us to play it together before you leave."

Gregg was already crying. He couldn't just suck up Christine's advances to get Mae a job, but she went and did all this for him and Angus. He couldn't take it. He just stumbled over and hugged her around the neck, holding her stout frame close until he could compose himself. "Th-thank you."

"No problem, dude," she said awkwardly, almost anxiously if Bea was reading her expression correctly. Bea couldn't discern why she would feel that way though, and it bothered her. "Are you good to play?"

"Y-yeah, yeah, I'm fine, duder." The second version had the same melody as the first, and Gregg picked up on the changes quickly, Angus stepping next to Mae and giving her a thumbs-up, signaling her to start. He'd join in at the chorus.

Mae took a deep breath, turned inward, and gripped her bass. "Please stay with me, Casey," she whispered clearly to herself, and then she began to play. "Dust on this tired old street." Her voice was crisp, focused, and charged with a degree of emotion and vulnerability Bea and Gregg hadn't heard since her confession on the couch. "Mark corners where we used to plaaaaay! Dust trace our tired old feet, In circles as we pace our time awaaaaay!"

Angus joined her, not growling aggressively like he did for the first version of the song, and his strong bass voice was the foundation Mae's soft tones needed to stay powerful as the instruments joined in. It was a genius choral technique, that wasn't the reason Bea's cigarette fell from her lips. As Mae's fingers started to play the strings of her bass little threads of light sprouted from her, which was straight-up impossible magic on its own. This couldn't really be happening.

But Bea didn't wake up, because it was happening. Angus noticed right away, and his voice croaked a few notes in his surprise before he got back on track, watching her as closely as Bea was, until she saw what form the light was taking behind the drums and shifted her focus. Every move Mae made pushed more life into the apparition, and during the second verse something that looked a lot like a cat made of blue fog started playing those drums. The moment they heard it they knew it was Casey, somehow. Germ started backing away, his beak hanging open. Bea fell to her knees, dumbstruck.

Mae had written in a bass and drum duo in the middle of the song, and Gregg turned to watch with unbelieving eyes as Mae and a dead man played together. Gregg was openly weeping on the stage, but when it was time to start playing again he clumsily jumped back in, missing a few notes as he struggled to go on. He had to finish the song. They sang. They played. Gregg and Angus cried. Bea was shaking. The pace picked up at the end, concluded with a bang, and Mae threw her hands up triumphantly. "Yeah! Anywhere else! Can't... can't die here..." Mae didn't know exactly what she was doing, she just knew she could do it alone, but not for very long. Something about the others being there made it easier to push her limits, but it hurt now that it was over. Her eyes fluttered closed as her world went black, but she was at peace with her exhaustion. As long as she lived, Casey would never die.

She fell.

"Oh my God, Mae!"

"Somebody help us!"

"Get my niece a doctor right now!"

YOU PLAY FOR THE GODS