It was a bright, warm Sunday morning. Unusually warm for the time of year. The window in Suzan's lounge was wide open in an attempt to let in a cooling breeze, but it was doing nothing to revive the two visitors slouched upon her sofa. Suzan sat in a chair opposite them, conflicted between being annoyed and excited. She decided to start with the former.

"Where have you both been? I tried calling you yesterday but neither of you picked up. Did you have a day out without me?" a scowl formed on her face.

"No, no. I was on a date yesterday." Ezra answered.

"Evidently a successful one." Basil said, looking at Ezra. His friend's hair wild and unbrushed. Heavy bags lay under his eyes and he leant back into the sofa like he had no energy to move again.

Ezra smiled, "You can say that again."

Suzan turned her frown upon Basil. "And what about you?"

"I was visiting my cousin, Amelia."

"Ohh, no wonder you look so rough." Ezra laughed. For Basil too looked sleep deprived and worn out.

Suzan looked questioningly at them both.

"My cousin is a bit reckless." Basil explained.

"Reckless? She's a party animal. If you're not unconscious at the end of the night, either you're doing it wrong or she's losing her touch." Ezra said with surprising enthusiasm. He looked at Suzan. "Honestly, if you can, get yourself an invite. It's an experience." Turning back to Basil, he said "I can't believe you went."

"Neither can I" Basil moaned, "I'm regretting it tremendously."

Suzan's façade faltered, struggling to keep her frown for any longer. "I suppose those are reasonable excuses." She smiled. Then she hesitated, "I've got something I need to tell you both."

Ezra and Basil looked at her expectantly.

"Wait here" she said, hurrying out of the room.

The two friends looked at each other in puzzlement.

"I wonder where this is going?" Said Ezra.

Basil shrugged.

Suzan re-entered the room hugging a wooden box between arms. She carefully placed it on the floor in front of the chair. The lid of the box was heavily stuck down with lots of duct tape.

"So" she said "I'm not going to use it, but just in case, I've decided to-"

A loud rustling came from within the box, followed by what sounded like scratching against the wood.

"Oh, you haven't Susie." Ezra said quietly, looking up into her eyes. His face went pale.

"I thought it was a good compromise." She said.

"It's dangerous." He said, "You shouldn't have gone alone."

"I did try calling you."

"Then you should have waited."

Basil held his hands out in front of him, "Hold on" he said, looking between them with groggy eyes. "I don't understand. What's in the box?"

Ezra looked pointedly at Suzan.

"The cockatrice." She said slowly.

Basil gave a loud sigh, "Not this again."

"What?" she retorted, "I think it's a good plan."

"And what is the plan?" Ezra asked.

"It doesn't exist." Basil cried.

"You saw it!" she said, "You literally saw it."

"I saw something. Something that could easily have been a, a deformed, wild chicken."

"That's ridiculous."

"And a mythical creature isn't?"

"Basil" Said Ezra, "like Susie said, you have seen proof that there are more things out there than we all knew, so will you please stop being so obstinate and perhaps focus on the more pressing matter that there is a dangerous creature. In. That. Box." His voice rose to a crescendo, striking his finger out towards the box on the floor.

Basil went silent and crossed his arms.

Taking a deep breath, Ezra asked "What are you going to do with it Susie?"

She glanced down at the box. It had gone silent.

"I'm going to keep hold of it until I'm either certain about Mr Snotem or I'm certain I don't need it."

Ezra nodded slowly, realising he wasn't able to persuade his friend to get rid of it. "You need to keep it somewhere secure. You need to be safe."

"I know." She said.

"Just to be clear" Basil said, "What can this so called creature do to Mr Snotem?"

"It can kill him" she replied, a little too cheerfully.

"You're going to murder him?" Basil said, wide eyed.

"You told us you were going to scare him with it." Ezra chided.

"That too." She replied. "Like I said, I haven't decided exactly what to do with it yet."

"You cannot kill him." Basil said.

"You absolutely can't." Ezra confirmed. Both of them were staring at her, concerned. Neither of them had thought her capable of actually contemplating such a thing.

"I don't want to lose my job again." Suzan said, "I'll do what I can to keep it. And so should you."