On a beautiful Sunday, the Griffin family was getting ready for what promised to be the best day ever.
Sam Griffin, the eldest child, was awakened by his little sister, Sasha Griffin, the youngest of the family.
Sasha: "Wake up, birthday boy! OMG, this room is a mess…"
Sam: "H… hey… my beautiful sister…"
Sasha: "Don't even think about it. I'm not cleaning your room. I'll go wake up Oliver…"
Sam: "Why did you wake me so early anyway?"
Sasha: "Mom needs you awake. Now you're awake… bye!"
Sam: "Zzz… oh no, Sashy, wait! Oli is not alone in there…"
Sasha: "Wake up in he…re? I'm so sorry, I thought you were alone."
Oliver S. Griffin, the second child of the family, stirred as the noise reached his room.
Sam rushed out of his room, screaming.
Sam: "Sashy! Oli is not alone in his room! Lucy is there too… hey, Lucy!"
Lucy: "Can you please get out of the room? I'm so embarrassed "
Oliver: " hey don't be is Sashy's fault."
Sasha whispered, smirking:
Sasha: "Idiot."
Sasha took a few steps back and said,
"I already said sorry…"
She went downstairs and called out,
"Mom, I woke them up like you asked me to!"
Lilian Griffin, the mother of the kids, answered from the kitchen,
"Thank you, sweetheart. Breakfast is ready."
A few minutes later, Oliver, Sam, and Lucy came downstairs.
Sam and Oliver: "Hi, Mom."
Lucy: "Hi, Mrs. Griffin."
Lilian looked a little surprised.
"Oh, Lucy, I didn't know you were here. What time did you arrive?"
Sasha, a little too pleased, said,
"Mom… I think she slept here."
Lilian's smile tightened slightly.
"Oli, darling… a word."
Lucy was Oliver's girlfriend.
Oliver replied, slightly nervous,
"Yes… Mother."
Lilian lowered her voice, gentle but firm.
"Sweetie, we talked about this…"
Oliver replied,
"I know, Mom, but it was Sam's idea. It was late, and you know she lives a little far from Kamui. And don't worry we used protection."
Lilian froze.
"First of all, that's disgusting, and…"
Oliver raised his hands.
"I'm kidding! We didn't do anything…"
She narrowed her eyes at him.
"You better not have, young man. I am way too young to be a grandma."
"Mommm…"
"And as for Sam, he's lucky it's his birthday," she added. "And you, young lady, should be more careful. Sasha, darling, let Lucy use your room to get ready."
Lucy blinked, surprised.
"Ready for what?"
Sasha replied, a little offended,
"For the birthday breakfast…"
Sam shrugged.
"It's kind of a tradition."
The doorbell rang.
Sam's face lit up. "I got it!" He hurried to the door, but when he opened it — nobody was there.
"Probably kids messing around," Oliver said from the stairs.
Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang again.
Sam ran back. This time, when he opened the door, he smiled wide.
"Finally."
Selina stood there, hands in her jacket pockets, pretending not to smile too much.
"You were waiting for me?" she asked.
"You could say that."
Lilian called from the dining room,
"Alright, everyone, come on now. Let's start breakfast!"
Oliver looked around. "Where's Dad?"
Lilian's expression softened slightly.
"Your father had an emergency. There was a fire."
Jeremy Griffin was a firefighter, the father of Sam and Sasha, adoptive father of Oliver, and Lilian's husband.
After breakfast, Sam, Selina, Oliver, and Lucy headed straight to Kamui.
Kamui was where Sam and Oliver worked and spent most of their time. In the morning it was a coffee shop; at night, it turned into a bar.
As soon as they walked in, Sam called out,
"Yo, Hans, what's up?"
Hans looked up from behind the counter and grinned.
"And here comes the birthday boy…"
Oliver leaned on the counter.
"Yeah… by the way, you still good with letting us use Kamui later?"
Hans nodded. "Yeah, yeah."
At that moment, a group of cheerleaders walked in, laughing loudly.
Sam glanced at Oliver, then turned to their girlfriends with an innocent smile that fooled no one.
"Hey girls, we're gonna head out for a bit. We'll leave you with Hans."
Selina crossed her arms. "Oh, really?"
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "How convenient."
Sam backed toward the door. "Hans, we will be back here in four hours."
Hans waved him off. "You got it."
Love Sam nudged Oliver with his shoulder.
"Let's go, Oliver."
"I'm coming. So where do you want to go, bro?"
Sam smirked.
"The Traditional Tradition."
Oliver laughed. "You sound like Mom."
Sam shrugged. "Let's go to the forest."
Oliver didn't even hesitate. "Yesss."
"I knew you'd like it."
Years earlier…
Two boys ran between the trees, shoes muddy, laughter echoing through the woods.
"Bet you can't jump that!" Sam shouted, already climbing over a fallen log.
Oliver followed without thinking. "Watch me!"
They fell, rolled down a small hill, and burst into laughter, lying on their backs and staring at the sky through the leaves.
Present — Five hours later
Sam pushed open the door of Kamui.
"Sorry, Hans, we're late. No way those girls are still here…"
Hans wiped a glass, shaking his head.
"I don't know, man. They just keep coming."
Oliver replied by whispering,
"Well, throw them out."
"I can't, they go to the campus."
Lucy said, "Those girls are the cheerleaders of the school…"
As the night went on, Sam suggested a plan to move the party elsewhere because, after all, it was just a birthday celebration. They decided to go to the place in the forest where Oliver and he had the best childhood memories.
"This night is going to be legendary."
"You want to get a little louder, Oli?"
"Don't tell me you're scared."
"Nah, I said that for the ladies."
Selina replied, "Ooh, are the little boys scared of the night?"
Sam replied, "Oli is always more intense on nights like this."
Selina asked, "What do you mean, on nights like this?"
Lucy replied, "And what do you mean by more intense?"
"It's the full moon."
Selina said, "So he is a werewolf?"
Lucy said, "What is a werewolf?"
Oli said, walking around and looking up at the sky, "A werewolf is a lycanthrope, and a lycanthrope is a werewolf, princess."
Sam said, smiling, "More or less. And when I say intense, I mean it's like sensory overload, hyperarousal, or sensory processing sensitivity, but only on a full moon…"
Oli said, "This is it. Let's set up the tents."
They spent two and a half hours talking and sharing memories, wishes, experiences, and having a good time. Lucy explained the way she likes how Oliver calls her princess. Sam shared how supportive Selina is. Lucy shared how Selina had been there for her since she moved from Germany. Oliver shared why Sam is the only person who calls him Oli…
After two and a half hours, Sam said, "We should go check on Hans."
Oliver jumped in, "I'll check on him."
Selina said, "I'm gonna send him a text."
After Oliver left, the air suddenly became really heavy…
Lucy said, "Are you guys feeling this?"
Sam said, "Are you okay, Lucy? What do you feel?"
"I don't know… the only way I can explain it is like cold…"
The birds in the forest were flying in all directions, and some played dead. The wild deer ran in the opposite direction of a loud sound…
Sam said, "Lucy, Selina, hide. We don't have time to run. Don't make a noise…"
The sound was getting closer and louder. Lucy was crying but tried to keep her voice down. Selina stood up to make noise to take all the attention.
Finally, out of the dark came a silhouette in the shadows…
It was Oliver.
"Guys, I think I drank too much. I think I saw a herd of deer… did you scare them off?"
Sam yelled,
"Oli, behind you!"
"Why are you yelling"
Oliver suddenly went flying. He had no idea what happened. He was bleeding out on the floor and saw Sam's mouth moving before he passed out.