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.