On the way back home that evening, Delilah and Susan had ran briskly back to the house.  The strange way of seeing Shawn had made its mark in eliminating all thoughts of hunger that Delilah had felt earlier. Or maybe it was just Tiffany's candy bar.

Either way, Susan remained convinced that leaving was the right decision, even if she didn't exactly understand Delilah's reasoning. Truth be told, it was more than likely that Delilah could have said almost anything, as long as it didn't sound weak, and Susan would have bought off on the idea. Many at school had accused Delilah's little sister of being cruel or mean. But Delilah knew that the other side of that coin was her little sister's fierce loyalty.

And so as Delilah was taking off her shoes in the hallway, she heard the loud, gaudy chime of the doorbell. When Susan opened the door, Bradford was standing there.

"Hi!" Bradford said, great eyes blinking behind those glasses like some kind of owl.

"Ummm....do you guys want to play? I've got a few secrets I want to talk about." He said, eyebrows moving up and down in a Groucho Marx sort of way.

Delilah opened the door a crack and peered out. It could have been Shawn. The stupid decorative windows were too high for her to see anyone. Her eyes were hard and her mouth drawn into a tight frown. When she saw Bradford, she opened the door a bit wider.

"Oh. It's just you. Wait, I mean like, in a good way." She waved him in, then looked across the front yard and the street. She couldn't see much of it from behind the door. "Quick! Get in! Were you followed?"

"Yeah, get in here!" Susan agreed, pawing at Bradford. "You want some Kool-Aid? We got lots in the fridge." She offered Bradford.

"Yeah." Bradford answered. "I mean, No! No!" He said, clearly overwhelmed by the number of questions coming his way, the questioners and the pressure of Delilah and Susans' affect.

"Suit yourself. Well I'm gettin' some." Susan snipped, skipping away to the kitchen door which a smack of her lips and an eager thirst.

Bradford watched her. And Delilah watched Bradford's eyes behind those glasses watching Susan. He looked confused and bewildered, fascinated and yet mesmerized. Concerned and somehow waiting for a signal to speak.  Then his eyes shifted back to Delilah.

Then he shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'now what?'

Delilah watched the strange exchange. Susie bringing up the KoolAid reminded her stomach to growl. She closed the door.

"Sorry. We don't have any real food or anything. Just KoolAid. C'mon!" She jerked her thumb towards the stairs.

"Ah, hang on. Take off your shoes."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:09, Sat 03 Feb 2018.

Bradford took off his sneakers. "You guys have a really nice house." He said awkwardly, as he balanced on one foot.

"I just moved to my house. Me and my Dad..."

"Huh? Yeah, it's alright." Delilah glanced quickly at the impressive furnishings. Her attention was on the doorways and the hall. The Mom-Thing could show up any second. "C'mon! Hurry! I gotta tell you something, too." She picked up the shoe Bradford dropped and hurried him into taking off the next. It would be easier to sneak around barefoot.

Bradford fumbled with his laces as the pace of excitement seem to descend on the hallway. Finally, he managed an awkward tug of his sneaker, pulling it off and then presenting it to Delilah like it was some kind of present.

"Alright!" He said, making a striking gesture of optimism with a closed fist swinging across his body, face all smiles.

"Where are we going?" He said, moving forward into the hallway to follow Delilah.

Delilah screwed up her face in a grimace and swiped the shoe out of Bradford's hand.

"Upstairs! Let's go go go!"

She tugged him along, even if he were still hopping out of the other shoe. "You can not see my mom. Not before you're ready."

"Umm..alright." Bradford agreed. He walked up the stairs awkwardly, his body facing forward, his head turned down, one hand pointing toward's the kitchen.

"Aren't you gonna wait for Susan. I mean, the Kool-Aid?" He asked, still following as quickly as possible, but maybe sad to miss out on such a treat.

But then when they got to the stairs and he saw the entrance of Delilah's room, all of that seemed to be forgotten. "Wow! You're room is super-dooper super spactacular!!!" he announced.

"Yeah, yeah. We can get some KoolAid later. Or we can have Susan bring it to us." Delilah's stomach gnawed on nothing. She folded her arms across her stomach, but she'd have to eat something soon. Right now, there were important secrets to share. Secrets about That Place. She waved Bradford through the open door, then closed it most of the way. She peeked out through the crack before turning to her guest.

Bradford was impressed by her bedroom setup. Ordinarily, she'd eat that up. Today, she ordered him to sit at her princess pink tea table.

"Yeah, I know it's cool. Sit! Listen! I saw someone bad today. Real bad! I think they live on this street." She paced the room. The end of her ponytail skimmed against her knees with each step. "How long you been living here? What kinda secrets do you know?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:47, Mon 05 Feb 2018.

Bradford sat down at the tea table, and jumped a little. He reached a hand underneath and produced a stuffed animal that he had sat on. A bear.

Owl eyes blinking behind magnified glasses, he sat the bear on the adjacent chair, taking care to correct its posture several times, the stuffed animal constantly threatening to tip over.

There didn't appear to be anyone coming towards the room at all, leaving Bradford to endure Delilah's inquiry.

"Ummm...I just got to the neighborhood." Bradford said. He leaned forward to make a point. "But I don't really live with my Dad. I don't live with anyone." He said, looking sideways in a conspiratorial gesture to demonstrate he had just shared a secret.

"Who is it?" He asked suddenly. It took Delilah a moment to notice and register that he was referring to the bad person who just moved in.

"It's Junior, isn't it? He's not the only bad person that is coming. There are others. The new kids coming to the neighborhood aren't like regular kids. They're bad boys." he said, taking note to emphasize the last two words.

Delilah turned on her heel to face Bradford.

"Junior? Yeah! Him too. He was just a regular wuss-baby. But his face is all weird now. It was all creepy and gross." Her fingers pushed at her cheeks to indicate his permanent grin. She took one of the playset chairs and spun it, sitting on it backwards. She fired off one question after another and grilled the boy like a tv detective.

"What do you mean they're bad boys? They're not going to be regular boys? I saw someone today. Someone who was in Minnesota. I don't think he's a regular kid, either. I think something's really wrong. How do you know all this?"

Bradford seemed satisfied by Delilah's explanation and description about Junior. Then, he said "A kid from Minnesota?" as if he didn't understand who Delilah was talking about. He squinted and then tried to answer Delilah's next question.

"Oh. How do I know?" He repeated. Then he looked back to the hallway to make sure that no one was looking.

"Because Mr. Clayton told me about it..." He confessed, leaning forward.

Delilah leaned forward, propped herself up against the back of the chair.

"What else does Mr. Clayton say?"

Bradford put his elbows onto the small table, making the arranged cups and even the teapot jingle with the movement of his weight. He leaned forward, great, big eyes blinking from behind those glasses.

"He says that some bad kids are going to be moving into the neighborhood. And that there's a monster that needs to be fed. The monster is part of an evil place that's called 'The Circus.'"

"He also said that the monster is part of an evil, secret organization called...." he swallowed, adam's apple bobbing in his throat like some kind of chicken bone that was lodges in there.

"The Order..."

Delilah frowned, both at the news and at Bradford's weird goggle eyes.

"There's a boy here already! He was with the clown back when I was in Minnesota. I saw him today and he knew my name. We gotta stop him. We gotta stop all of them!"

"Yeah, I know, I know." Bradford agreed, breaking the whisper. The comment didn't come across as a dismissal of what Delilah was saying, but rather an admission. It was like a kid who knew he had been ignoring a task like doing homework or studying, and that Delilah had reminded him.

Bradford resumed the whisper, great blinking eyes suddenly squinting. "But we can't do anything until the monster goes away. Until its satisfied. Otherwise...."

"It will...EAT....all of us."

"You knew?" Delilah sat up and leaned away, as if Bradford had taken a swing at her. She rubbed at her eyes and forehead. Her stomach churned.

"Then how do we make it go away?"

"It likes to eat the bad things that kids do. We have to write them down. And then when it comes, we feed it to it."

Delilah took a moment to think. Her stomach growled again. She put it off a little longer by chewing her lip. Mom didn't like when she chewed her lips. Said it was a bad habit.

"If the monster likes bad things, then how do you know it won't pull a fast one? It says it's going to eat the bad things, then BAM! Switcheroo!"

"Because...." Bradford said, giving Delilah his most conspiratorial look. There was an element of fear in his face.

"I'm in the Order. It isn't something I wanted to be in. But they kidnapped me. And then they put me into it.  They just...forced me into it." Bradford confided, a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"After they...they....killed my friends...."

Delilah folded her arms across her stomach. Her fists clenched. She saw the similarities in their circumstances.

"Am I in the order, too?"

She swiped at her nose and stared at the carpet. An angry heat was building behind her eyes.

"No....I don't think so." Bradford said. The conversation had gotten more analytic, and the excitement of conspiracy faded into the background, along with need to whisper, at least for now.

"You're property of the Carnies. You're owned by the Hogwash. He's the lead Carnie. He took you and...." Bradford grimaced. "your soul." He emphasized soul, almost accidentally, like it hurt him.

"Wait a minute...." Bradford said. "Actually, I think I'm wrong about that. Good gracious!" he chastised himself.

"I almost forgot. Mr. Clayton told me that you were owned by Hogwash. But he sold you and some of the other souls in a deal he made with another person in the Order. Hogwash sold you to the Order. Or maybe he traded you. Mr. Clayton wasn't clear about that. Boy, its all so confusing." Bradford sighed.

"So, I don't know what that makes you? Property? Of the Order?"

Delilah turned to the table and put he head down. Her face was hidden behind a fall if hair. It wasn't right to be traded and swapped like an old toy. It made Delilah feel very small.

"I hate Hogwash! And I hate Shawn and the order and everybody with it! It's not fair. Why can't the monster eat them? They do all the bad things?"

"Hey...hey." Bradford said, putting a hand on Delilah's shoulder. The gesture was meant to be comforting. And as such, he didn't follow it up with anything else. Just a simple, sympathetic touch. An acknowledgement of what Delilah was feeling. And a two words to help her feel better.

"Hey, yourself."

Delilah squirmed to shake Bradford's hand away, but not very much. She coughed and sniffled and worked very hard not to cry. Her eyes were red when she sat up.

"You still want koolaid? I'd ask if you could stay for dinner, but I don't think we've got any." She slid off the chair.

It was at that time that Susan entered the room. She was holding a the pitcher of Kool-Aid, her arm loose, hand tilted. Drops of Kool-Aid spilled from the lip of the pitcher onto the hardwood floor.

drip....

drip...

drip...

A curtain of messy hair covered the right side of her face. Jutting out of the left side of her face, and stretching all the way back to the base of her jaw and neck, was a wide, maniacal and physically impossible smile.

Susan took two steps forward and then stopped, the Kool-Aid swishing forward and backward like it was some kind of choppy, red sea during a storm.

She did nothing. She just stood there with the Mom-Thing's smile, staring at Bradford and Delilah.

Delilah stumbled back into the table, jostling it and knocking the play China over the edge. Susan's face was ruined, just like mom's.

"Get out! Go away!" She backed away from her sister, shaking.

"What?" Susan asked, as if nothing was wrong.

Delilah's head turned between Susan and Bradford and back. Her braids whipped back and forth. He saw this too. He had to. Her breathing was shallow and getting faster.

OOC: Delilah Rolls Wits + Empathy with the following Results

0 Successes - Delilah (******)

1-2 Success - Delilah (****** and ******)

3+ Succeses - Delilah (****** and ****** and ******)

19:43, Today: Delilah Gray rolled 2 successes using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((9,10(+1),2,2,7,1)).

Delilah saw the expression on Bradford's face. It wavered between what looked like an uncomfortable grimace and the uncontrollable need to laugh. It was like Bradford was astonished at seeing Susan's fake smile and didn't know whether to run or laugh at it.

"That....." Bradford said, adjusting himself and then looking over at Delilah.

"She...."

"Yeah...huh-huh." he said in a way that seem to conclude something, though whatever he concluded was left unspoken.

Delilah's brow furrowed. She didn't understand why Bradford thought this was funny. Why wasn't he scared? She was scared when she saw her mom's face stretched out into a sick grin. It wasn't right. It wasn't normal.

"Get! Get outta my room!"

Delilah balled up her fists and shouted at Susan. Even if she didn't look like Susan anymore, she might still act normal.

Her fists were shaking. She hoped that this Susan couldn't tell how very frightened she was.

Susan took several steps backward in a clumsy, topsy fashion. Her body language was completely out of whack with the outstretched smile on her face. She looked like some kind of smiling zombie - slow and uncoordinated, retreating with that hideous skull smile plastered on her face.

Still, she slowly backed away, disappearing around the corner.

When she looked back, Bradford's hands were up around his face, as if bracing for some kind of blow from Delilah.

Delilah stomped to the door and slammed it shut. She wheeled on Bradford with angry eyes, blinking back tears, and stalked around the tea table.

"What happened to her? What happened to my mom?! What do you know? You better talk!"

She reached for his arm, his shirt, anything she could grab to shake the answer out.

Bradford slinked back into the corner, but Delilah was too quick and he was already in a defenseless position.

She grabbed a hold of his wrist (OOC: Delilah successful grapple)

Bradford was shaking his head slowly.

"No..."

"No..."

Bradford said, shaking his head, as if in disbelief. "It...it wasn't me..."

Delilah got one hand around Bradford's wrist and went for a handful of hair. She didn't often get physical with other kids. That's what Susie was for. Susie knew how to throw a real punch. But once she had him, she could shake him.

"Then who did? Who did it?" The screaming got higher in pitch.

"a..bubbubb....bubububub..." Bradford stammered, fear and weakness filling up those large spectacles, eyes wide with fear.

"Mr...Mr..Clayton!" he yelled out. But this admission seemed to fill him with even more fear. He crawled at the ground now, not so much trying to avoid a blow from Delilah, but as if trying to curl himself up in to the smallest, least threatening object he could. It was as if he now feared something else much, much greater that whatever Delilah could do. His head shot around wildly as if to check his surroundings for any threat that might appear.

They twisted around, shrieking and tugging, until Bradford slipped away. Delilah swiped at him with and open hand. She circled the table as he tried to cower beneath it.

"But why? I thought he was gonna help us!"

"He...he is." Bradford stammered. He slinked underneath, back hitting the table and causing the adjacent teddy bear to fall onto its side, tea cups jingling.

"we shouldn't talk about this here..." Bradford went into a desperate whisper mode, voice high.

"It...it was an accident." Bradford cried, moving to one side of the table as Delilah moved to the other side. "He wouldn't....couldn't do it to hurt anyone."

Delilah stalked around the table.

"You're supposed to be my friend now, Bradford!" Despite the fact that friends usually don't try to throttle each other at tea.

"I am!" Bradford's voice shrieked and cracked. He scurried under the table like a rat when Delilah circled towards him, emerging on the other side.

"I am!" He clarified, this time with panic but voice remaining steady.

"I am. It's...not....me.." He complained, hands out in surrender.

Delilah reached down to pull Bradford up.

"Then c'mon! If you're really my friend, act like it."

"Alright, alright, alright...." Bradford proclaimed in a panic as he stood up, knees still buckling.

"What..what do you want me to do!?" He stammered. "What, do I do to act like it?" He asked, trying to stand up straight. "To prove it to you.."

One could see the little wheels in Delilah's head cranking out a scheme.

"You're gonna make a blood promise with me. You're never gonna keep a secret from me again. Or else."

This went deeper than a pinky swear. Being someone's Blood Brother or Blood Sister meant life or death back in Minnesota. The things from the Other Place meant life or death, too.

She had never made a blood promise with a boy before. And that was ten types of gross, but this was serious.

To show she meant business, she took one of her China tea cups and smashed it against the table.

Bradford winced. He winced first at the word 'blood.'

He winced second when Delilah smashed the tea cup on the table. Then his magnified eyes looked over the wreckage, darting back and forth before meeting Delilah's own eyes.

"What does Blood promise mean?" He asked, voice reaching a girlish register as if he really didn't want to know.

Delilah could smell his trepidation. Bradford, was not made of the 'stuff' that Susan was made of. He wasn't made of the 'stuff' that Delilah was made of. It was possible that Bradford didn't know that kind of promise. Maybe they didn't have things like that in Nebraska or wherever he was from.

Delilah worked the point of a broken shard. Into the meat of her thumb. It stung a bit and she inhaled sharply when she broke the skin.

"You make a cut. Like this. Then we press our fingers together and swear to always tell the truth to each other. No matter what."

Bradford winced at the shard.

"Oh." He said, the 'Oh' sound coming from a dry, startled throat. Then he cleared his throat, coming closer to the broken shard--great, big eyes blinking behind those glasses. He looked like someone who had just seen fire for the first time: scared, but somehow drawn to it. Curious, but cautious.

"....and what happens if one of us breaks it?" he asked, leaving the idea of breaking the shard, the skin, or the pact unclear.

"If you break our promise," She paused to let the threat hang in the air. "then I'm going to be on you like this!"

Delilah pounded her fist into her open hand. The reverse of the situation never occurred to her. The creatures of that other space could and would do far worse, but this was about team building and sticking together. There was no hope against these bad kids and the freaky smilers if she couldn't even keep Bradford from chickening out.

OOC: Delilah Rolls Presence + Intimidation vs. Bradford's Resolve + Composure with the Following results:

0 or less total successes than Bradford: Bradford listens quietly to Delilah and avoids eye contact with her before responding

1 more success than Bradford: Bradford winces at Delilah's gesture and than stammers a repsonse quickly

2+ more successes than Bradford: Bradford jumps back into his chair  just as Delilah's fist hits her palm. The chair falls over onto the ground.

23:38, Today: Delilah Gray failed (no successes) using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((7,3,4,2,7)).

Delilah could feel herself losing points. She wanted this threat to stick, but her eyes were open a little too wide and they darted around. She was too frightened of what was to come to scare anyone else.

Bradford finally looked up. His eyebrows were knitted in an expression of deep concern. His eyes squinted a few times a he looked at the shard with an expression somewhere between nervousness and curiosity.

His hand reached out to the shard.

And then he retracted it, as if it might bite him.

Then he reached out one more time, touching the side of it.

As he slowly pulled his finger away, and said. "Do...do I have to do it myself. I mean. Cut myself. I...."


"I don't really like needles. I don't like going to the doctor and getting shots."

Delilah squeezed her fingertip; massaged it until a drop of blood welled up. The shallow cut stung, but she didn't want to admit it.

"Don't be a baby. If you won't do it, I'll do it for you."

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just...." Bradford said shrinking back from the needle, face turning away.

It was clear that if this going to be done, Bradford wasn't going to have enough mustard to go through with it himself.

Delilah sucked her teeth and took Bradford's hand. She worked the shard of the broken crockery against the soft pad of his index finger.

"Ahhhh!" Bradford squealed. "That hurts!" He yelled. He tried to pull his hand back, but it was too late.  The blood left his index finger.

He stared at it for a while, Delilah still clutching his hand.

"Wha....what did you do?"

"I hardly did anything. Just poked you, is all."

Delilah lined up her bloody fingertip with his and pressed them together forcefully.

"Now we've gotta swear. Like this.

"I, Delilah Eloise Gray, swear to never ever ever keep any secrets or tell any lies to my friend, Bradford Stork, for my whole entire life and even after that. Cross my heart and hope to die."

That sounded good enough.

"Okay. I'm your blood sister now. Now you gotta swear to be my blood brother."

Bradford had closed his eyes when the two fingers touched. Then he opened one, the other still shut. Then he opened both. He stared, facinated, yet horrified. His mouth dropped open. And then he said.

"I, Bradford Stork..." He cleared his throat.

"I, the Good Bradford Stork." He clarified, as if trying to make it more formal, like a knight would say.

"I...umm...the Good and Courageous Bradford Stork." He clarified again, this time with a bit more confidence.

"I the Good and Courages Bradford Stork." He said again, wincing only slightly at the pain. "Swear to never ever ever keep any secrets or tell any lies to my friend, Bradford Stork.....I mean Delilah ...for my whole entire life and even after that. Cross my heart and hope to die."

He stared at Delilah.

"Like that?" He asked.

His wrist was limp. All resistance gone. It was like he was completely into the ritual. How could he not be? It was a blood pact. It was more serious than a handshake. It was more important than a double or even a triple dare.

There was no turning back.

Delilah nodded along impatiently as Bradford selected his grandiose title.

"Yeah. Yeah. Okaaaay. Just like that."

She let go of his hand and wiped her hand on the side of her leg. It had gotten sweaty.

"Okay. Okay." Delilah counted down from three under her breath. She cupped her hand near Bradford's ear and whispered, "My mom's face turned like that, too. And Junior from down the street. It really scares me."

Bradford retracted his hand with relief, examining it closely and shaking the pain off.

Then he giggled a little at Delilah's talk of the faces and how she didn't like them.  "Hehehehehe!" He burst out.  It wasn't nervous laughter or the kind of laughter that a kid gives when he has the 'sillies.' This was genuine laughter. It was the kind of laughter that a kid gave during a magic show when a magician pulls off a particularly entertaining trick.

"I know it isn't funny...." Bradford said, seeming to recognize the inappropriateness of laughing at such a time when someone confessed a deep held fear, which wasn't something kids necessarily did lightly. He gave another little chuckle.

"...It's just...part of me thinks it is funny." He confessed. Then, as if jumping to his own defense. "You said I couldn't lie to you."

Delilah looked hurt, but the rules were the rules and Bradford was following them. She crossed her arms and hunched down in a seat at the tea table.

"It's not funny. It's my mom and my sister," she whined. She tried to wipe her eye with her shoulder, but that didn't work out. She refused to wipe her eyes with her hands. Bradford might think she was crying. "Something's wrong with 'em."

"Yeah!" Bradford giggled, a response that was somehow filled with genuine mirth. It was the response that sounded like the 'Yessssss!' A kid might give when the teacher was reading out the correct quiz answers to a class, and a student Delilah's age learned that they had answered correctly.

Then Bradford's face softened. "You look sad about it." He commented, tone now filled with note of concern for Delilah's well-being. He extended his hand out to the center of the table.  "Maybe you want to.....talk about it?" He suggested, the line sounding much like something he had heard from an adult and was repeating, trying on, with a newbie's confidence.

A little part of her wanted to fling herself on the table and shout no, like a tantrum baby, but she swore to tell the truth. She nodded.

"Why do they have to look like that? They don't know their faces are all weird. I can tell."

Bradford winced a little as he leaned forward, as if getting closer to Delilah was just like getting closer to the burning flame of judgement.

"It's ummmm. Something. Just something that. Well, it's something that Mr. Clayton thought up, really. He thought it would be funny to have the people that are 'infected' with bad stuff to look happy. To looke happy, even though they aren't really happy. And so as kind of a joke, they'd be really really happy. Too happy, really."

"Do you think it's possible to be too happy?"

"Infected as a joke?" Delilah sounded horrified. "So, they've got the bad stuff? My mom and sister are going to do the bad things?"

She looked to the door. Worry crossed her face. They could come in at any moment and do something terrible.

Bradford let out a giggle. "Well, Mom is kinda infected for forever. But it really depends on just how much Kool-Aid Susan drinks to see what happens to her."

He put his hand over his mouth, as if trying to contain another giggle. "Mr. Clayton made the mixture. And he mixed it up. I think he was very specific about the recipe. Two parts water and one part Kool-Aid, so it would be really sweet."

Then all color suddenly drained from his face and he looked worried. "You're not going to tell him I told you, are you?"

"They're not gonna be infected forever! I'm gonna fix them!" Delilah paced her room, trying to think. "I won't tell anybody. But you gotta help me."

Bradford looked relieved that Delilah wasn't going to tell Mr. Clayton. "Thanks for not telling him. I don't think he'd like that. When he get's angry, it's like the whole world shakes and everything falls apart. The sky gets really dark. There's no telling what he'll do when he gets angry. Mr. Clayton really can't be controlled when he gets angry. It's terrible." Bradford spoke in a quavering voice.

"Well." Bradford said, changing his tone and beginning to think about ways to proceed. "It's gonna be really hard. I mean...." He looked around and hunched his shoulders.

"..it's just that.....we'd have to try to keep it a secret from Mr. Clayton...." He said in a whisper. It was a small gesture, like a toe dipped into water. Just something to see if Delilah was willing take a step that Bradford had indicated would be dangerous.

Delilah stopped pacing to look around and over her shoulder, too. The way Bradford described Mr. Clayton's changes was unnerving.

"I'm scared, too. And I'm not real good at secrets, but I'll keep this one." It was hard to be good at secrets when you wanted everyone to know how awesome you were.

"It's OK." Bradford whispered. "I'm studying Greater Ventriloquism. So I've already learned a bunch of secrets about the Circus that I can't tell anyone. One more secret is nuthin.'"

"It doesn't mean I'm not scared though." He rubbed his shoulder with one arm. Then he looked up at Delilah.

"Hey. I'll tell you a secret about me, if you tell me a secret about you?"

Delilah listened quietly. She didn't know what Great Ventriloquism was. Wasn't it all the same? Throwing your voice? Making it look like something else was talking?

Then he mentioned secrets.

"Um. Okay. You first, though."

She rubbed the ends of her hair against her open palm.

Bradford looked nervous. His arms were by his side clutched tightly against his ribs and his sitting posture was slouched, neck hanging low.

"OK." He agreed. "But you gotta promise not to tell anyone." He said, reluctant to fully commit to the deal without some kind of agreement. Maybe he had forgotten about the blood pact, or maybe he was just reciting the things that kids usually said before a big super secret was told.

"I can't tell. I'm your blood sister now. Cross my heart and hope to die, remember? I don't wanna die for this. So come on. Spit it out."

Bradford still hesitated. He shrinked away slightly as if if expecting a blow from Delilah. Then his gaze looked downward, searching for nothing, but avoiding Delilah's eyes all the same.

"My..." Bradford said.

"This isn't..." Bradford said.


"It's..."

"This isn't really my face!" Bradford shot out all in one sentence. "I...I made a deal with the Circus. I..I wished that my face was back. I...I..."

He stopped. Looking up at Delilah with an expectation of judgement.

She didn't want to talk about that place or those things, but she had to. It loomed over her new life like a shadow. Delilah thought about the pirate ship waiting like an open mouth.

"It looks like a real face."

Curious, she reached out to poke his cheeks and forehead.

Bradford shrinked back, but Delilah still got one poke in around the cheek and chin area. His arms came up in a weak defense and his feet shuffled under the table.

It felt like a real face, so far as Delilah could tell.

"Ugh!" Bradford said as he shifted away.

"It's true. Only half my face is real." He protested.

Delilah stopped prodding. There was no enjoyment to it.

"I've got secrets, too. I saw that boy Shawn talking with a clown. I know that everything is all his fault. But when I saw the spiders... and the clown and the stabbing scissors, I ran." Delilah looked at the ground. She couldn't face Bradford.

"I ran faster and harder than everyone. And I got away until the pig came. It's Shawn's fault the circus came. But it's my fault they're dead. 'Cause I left them back there."

Bradford watched everything. He watched Delilah with fascination and open ears.

"Wow." Bradford exhaled. "So you know about Cherrywinks too then." He observed non-judgementally.

"And you know that Shawn is...well. It's just that Cherrywinks was after him too." Bradford said. "I mean, its not his fault really. No more than it's my fault that I chose to be a Greater Ventriloquist once the Circus got hold of me."

"So,  you really can't blame him. Not anymore than you can blame yourself for leaving the kids behind. No one could know what they are going to do in a spot like that until, you're like, in the moment. You know?"


OOC: Delilah Rolls Wits + Composure

"Maybe. Or maybe he coulda ran, too," Delilah muttered darkly. She crossed her arms and frowned at the new thoughts in her head.

"Well, it doesn't really matter." Bradford shrugged. "I mean, if you ask me, I think that everything is going to be hunky-dory!"

"even if Shawn is a liar..."

"I haaaaate liars." Delilah shook her head slowly, disapprovingly. Bradford was on her side and he wouldn't dare lie.

"Can I tell you something else?"

Bradford nodded his head agreeably. Then as if he noticed what he was doing, he stopped nodding and said abruptly.

"Hey, wait a second. It's your turn! We agreed to do it together. I was going to do it first. Now that I've done it, you have to tell me something." Bradford seemed excited by the prospect.

"Something.....secret." he said, as if it didn't matter what Delilah said, as long as it was something, anything that was secret, and could only be shared between the two of them. Still, Delilah got the sense that it couldn't be that was from Minnesota.

"But I diiiiid," she whined. "I told you about Shawn. And that I left the others behind. And you know about my eye and my house..."

But that wasn't enough. She mulled it over, then added, "I'm,kinda glad that happened to my mom's face. She thinks she knows everything. But now I know something she doesn't. Wouldn't want my face to turn like that, though."

"Oh, Wow!" Bradford exclaimed, all excited. He smiled a wicked, smile, like he enjoyed Delilah's resentment. "Have you been angry at your Mom for a while?"

"I have." Bradford interjected before Delilah could answer. "I mean, not your Mom, but at..." He paused as if trying to get to the bottom of explaining and expressing this feeling, like it was the first time he had thought about it.

"At everything." He finished. "I've been angry at everything. I think I've been angry at everything since Shawn betrayed me." He admitted, looking at Delilah for both an answer to his question, and to see if she judged him for his admission.

"I don't know. Since this whole thing started, I guess."

Listening to Bradford's confession kicked a hornet nest in her head.

"I hate Shawn for everything he's done. And I hate Josh and John for not being strong enough to get away. And I hate them double for not wanting to be boyfriend-girlfriend with me. And I hate Sammy and Hannah for not being smart enough to figure a way out. I hate Roger for being gross. And for being a crybaby at the end. And I hate that now I can't be friends with any of them anymore. And I hate Susan for trying to brain me when I was a pig. And I hate that I even got turned into a pig! But most of all, I hate the clown for killing my dad. And my mom for not even caring that he's dead."

All the bad things Delilah couldn't say before tumbled out. Her face grew red all the way to her ears. She turned and wiped her eyes before the tears could start. If you beat the tears before they fell, it didn't count as crying.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:57, Tue 06 Mar 2018.

Bradford nodded his head with malicious agreement. Deep within those magnified eyes, Delilah could see wells of murderous rage. Or maybe it was Bradford just looking like he was going to cry. His fists were clenched.

"I hate the world." He announced, fists and forearms trembling as they shook. He nodded in agreement as Delilah listed the people and things that she hated. He leaned forward as his hanging on her every word. Every person, every time she said the word 'hate', it was like he was drawn to her speech, like a moth to a candle.

"Have you ever heard about the oceans?" Bradford asked. "People put gas in the oceans. And they kill animals. And they kidnap them. And they put them in Zoos. I used to think when I was younger that the Ape House in the Zoo was all fun. But now I know that people are actually taking Apes and putting them into Zoos like they are kidnapped people."

"It would be better if people didn't exist at all."

Bradford mentioned the ocean and Delilah, shook her head. She didn't know what he was on about, but she knew it was going to be something good and awful. Something like the circus. Something worth hating.

What he said about the zoos was terrible. Just about the worst thing ever for animals. And she knew what it felt like to live in a cage. That's all zoos were: Cages.

Her head nodded along with every word. She ate up his gospel of hatred. Until--

"Wait, they can't all go. If no people exist, then who claps for you and gives you medals?"

"Oh." Bradford said, snapping to. "Did I say that?" He asked. Then he sighed.

"Ughh." He sighed again, hands loosening, unclenched. "Actually, I knew I said it. I was just...lying. I knew I said it. I did. Does that make the pact bad? I mean, I didn't really break it by asking if I asked it, even though I knew I asked if all the people should go."

"Maybe you're right. I mean, I know you are. I'm probably just, I don't know, upset. I mean, Shawn is actually pretty fun to hang out with, I think. Or at least he probably would be fun."

"Most kids are fun." Bradford said, second thinking his original diagnosis of the world.

"What! You can't lie! You promised not to! That's not fair!" Delilah pushed Bradford, then stomped around her room as she paced around the tea table. "And right after you did a blood swear, too! That's real bad. Oh, brother, I don't even know how bad. You crossed your heart and hoped to die. Do you wanna die?"

It's a good thing they didn't promise with "Stick a needle in my eye" or else Bradford would be done for. Not that Delilah could bring herself to do that to the kid. Nothing made sense anymore, unless...

"Did you have your fingers crossed? Are you calling Backsies? And cancelling the whole thing?"

"No!" Bradford exclaimed. "I mean, yes! I mean...No!"

"Yes, I lied. But that's part of me telling the truth, right? To know when I just did and stop it from doing more."

"So yes. But no I didn't continue. And no, there's no fingers crossed? And no Backsies."

Bradford wiped his brow.

"Geez. This is harder than I thought."

Delilah crossed her arms with a huff. She stared at Bradford for a long, silent moment.

"Okay," she grumbled. Her temper soothed somewhat. "But you better do it right from here on. And yeah, it is hard. But you can't quit just because something is hard to do at first. If you do, you'll be a chump for life. Okay?"

"ugh." Bradford sighed somewhat annoyed. "Oh-^{kkkkkkkkkkkayyyyyy}----uh." He agreed in a peevish voice. It was clear he wasn't upset by Delilah as much as what she was saying. She was reminding him of 'responsibility' and that he had failed to live up to it. He didn't like the reminder.

Because it was true.

"I don't want to be a Chump." He confirmed, voice self-berating.

"Nobody wants to be a chump, but there's plenty of 'em anyway." She scratched at her nose. Her tone was lighter now. It was an apology without her having said the words. Delilah kicked the broken china shards under her bed.

"Hey, Bradford? Can I ask you something?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:24, Mon 12 Mar 2018.

"Yep!" Bradford responded, suddenly more chipper himself. "You can ask me anything, I'm in the pact!" He said all smiles and optimism.

"Okay." She propped herself up on her elbow at the table. "How come you and Mr. Clayton picked me? I mean, I know I'm the best pick, but how'd you guys know? Why not somebody else...nicer?"

Delilah trailed off, but her thoughts turned to Jody. She wondered what happened to all the other kids she left behind in Hogwash's tent. Jody was nice. And Esther and the ones that helped catch her were the worst. She was glad it wasn't one of them living in a dream mansion, but she wasn't exactly ready to trade places with Jody, either.

"Well, um, it's not really me. Or Mr. Clayton that did that." Bradford clarified. "You see, Mr. Cherrywinks, the Clown that is.." Bradford cleared his throat as if to begin a longer story or explanation.

"Mr. Cherrywinks started attacking kids. I didn't have any control over being chosen as one of those kids than you did. He was taking kids souls so that he could help build the Circus. Each soul he took he used to bring back something that would help the Circus get started. But then the Fortune Teller came back too. And then she started taking souls for the same reason because whoever gets the most souls at that point is in charge of the Circus."

"I was sort of forced into the Fortune Teller's side, because....well, because I didn't want to die and that was how I survived. And because they were going to protect me from Mr. Cherrywinks. And when I got there, to the Fortune Teller's Order, Shawn was there too."

"They offered him the choice to be a Magician or the Circus' Ventriloquist. And he chose to be the Magician. That's how I got paired up with Mr. Clayton. Mr. Clayton really wasn't anything until I started to listen to these cassette tapes about Greater Ventriloquism that the Tattooed Lady found. I found out they had long, forgotten knowledge."

"So really what Mr. Clayton is trying to do is to set things straight so we don't have to do this whole thing all over again and so that kids don't die like I almost did. And like you almost did."

"So really, I didn't do anything or choose any of this. And actually, neither did Mr. Clayton. We're all sort of forced into this."

"Now it's your turn. But you better hurry before Susan tattles on me for throwing her out."

Susan could be tattling right now.

Sorry! I did it again. I lost a post.

"OK" Bradford said. "What's....."

"What's the worst thing you've ever done?"

Delilah went quiet. She looked at one of the trophies lined up on her shelves.

"I put itching powder on a seat Leslie Bowen sat on." She quickly took a defensive tone. "She didn't die or nothing. And it wasn't like it cost her a win. She just wasn't any good. She was on the team because her parents signed her up and paid for all the classes and private lessons and stuff. But she was fat and slow. And we had this meet coming up. And we had a new girl, Sonya Liotta, who was real good. But she signed up too late. So I put the itching powder on the bench at the meet right when Leslie was gonna sit. She fell off the beam later, but she only got a sprain. Sonya got an ally-bye. So we won. And Fat Leslie quit the team. So we kept winning. So not like real terrible, but some people were mad, yeah."

spelling and stuff
This message was last edited by the player at 09:50, Thu 15 Mar 2018.

"Itching----powder." Bradford repeated. Then there was a long silence.

Suddenly Bradford broke out into a cacophonous laughter. He doubled over and slapped his knees. It was genuine, deep mirth. Not the kind that could be interpreted as making fun of Delilah, but rather the kind that thought the event was genuinely something. Something that was a really good prank.

A giggle slipped out from Delilah.

"I guess it was pretty funny."

She couldn't laugh about it that day. She had to keep a straight face for the good of the team.

"Ha! That's funny." Bradford said in an amused tone. Then he straightened up. "So, what are you going to do? I mean. About the the whole Circus thing? Is it over for you?"

Delilah's eyebrows rose.

"It can be over? HOW?"

If there was a real escape, she had to know.

"I don't know." Bradford said. "Mr. Clayton says that he's trying to end the whole thing. He said that there's a way to end it."

"If he finds out, do you want me to let you know?"

Delilah nodded eagerly.

"YEAH! You gotta tell me when."

She crept closer to Bradford. "Is he gonna kill them? Hogwash and the clown and all of them?"

"I dunno." Bradford replied. "But I think I'm gonna find out. I don't know if its safe to talk too much about it." He moved his head left and right to check his surroundings.

"It has to be a secret. I mean, I guess you can tell anyone else who knows about the Circus. Or maybe not. You never know what would happen if the monsters in Circus found out that Mr. Clayton and us were planning to stop them all."

"Mr. Clayton told me that there's this instrument. It's like a flute. If you go down to the Circus, and then you travel to somewhere, and you get it. If you play it, all of the Monsters...they just...I mean. The whole things ends."

Delilah was taken aback.

"You can go there? Whenever you want? Is that how you get the flute?"

In her mind, she saw herself pulling off a heist.

"Yes!" Bradford said, suddenly. He was full of optimism and a bright, happy face. Then it soured slightly.

"Well, actually, since we said we were going to tell truth, I really don't know if it is true. But when I found out about it, it sounded really like it could be true. And, there's no other way that I know of. And Mr. Clayton said there's no other way that he knows of. And I don't want to be in the Order anymore, or any other part of the Circus."

"So, even if I don't know about the whole thing and I'm not sure...I don't really have any other ideas. So what I mean is that...."

"I hope it's true?" Bradford offered, this time decidedly less confident.

"Then, I hope it's true, too. And if it is, then we're gonna find it."

She nodded twice with a grim determination.

"Alright." Bradford said, getting up from the small table. "I have to get going so I can practice with my dummy." He said. "Everything is dumb and everyone is a dummy." Bradford recited.

"I have to practice in front of the mirror for hours to make sure I hear the loud sound and to make sure my lips don't move."

"I'm not a dummy," Delilah said quickly.

She opened the door to let Bradford out. If he said anything else, she missed it. Her thoughts were focused on getting this magic flute without getting caught.

"Maybe not." Bradford said. " I haven't really listened to all of the steps of the cassette tapes that help me study Greater Ventriloquism. Maybe there's something in one of the next steps that explains you, or has some kind of exception to the other step." Bradford allowed.

And with that, Bradford left, a little bit happier than he had arrived. There was a little bounce in his step.

OOC: end scene
This message was last edited by the player at 21:45, Mon 19 Mar 2018.