Can you see the other Shawn's memory from where you are? Or does he have his own Feddler? Shawn waited patiently for a while, until he was sure the other Shawn and Bobby and Michael had cleared out of the way. Do you think two of me was part of the plan? Or was it something that happened by accident when he tried to do something else?I guess there's not much we can do either way.

Coast clear, he set off down the street, headed for where Bradford lived. Since other Shawn's watching Bobby and Ralph, we should take advantage of this opportunity. Mr. Clayton said he wouldn't interfere with this, so he's probably not with Bradford. If we can get our hands on the dummy, maybe we can get past all this. Keeping Mr. Clayton and Bradford separated hurts them...maybe we can even steal Bradford's connection to him. Shawn wasn't sure if breaking the connection between Bradford and Mr. Clayton would release the dummy's hold on Bradford, or kill him. But in this situation, he wasn't sure he could afford to care...

Shawn heard a shuffling sound inside of his head.

"No. I do not know any of that." Feddler advised. "Something is going on here. And it isn't really a good thing. Not a good thing at all. I could sense something when the other Shawn was around."

"It was another Feddler."


Shawn headed down the street. But as he got towards the street, he heard everyone inside his house singing "Happy Birthday."

It had been a long time since his parents even reminded him about his Birthday. Or the world had payed much attention to how old Shawn was. It was true though. Today, was his Birthday.

Only Shawn wasn't inside. Or, this Shawn wasn't.

Shawn looked back at the house a little wistfully, but continued on anyway. He could celebrate his birthday for real once Mr. Clayton and Bradford were taken care of. That makes sense, doesn't it? Another Shawn would mean another Feddler, right?

"Yes. Another Feddler." Feddler agreed, the sound of the birthday cheers fading into the background as Shawn made his way down the block.

It was night time now. Complete darkness except for the bright street lights and the sound of State Route 1, the distant noise of California cars moving down the coast just about a mile away.

"We have to get to Bradford's house. There it is." Feddler gestured, drawing Shawn's eyes to the structure. No lights were on inside the house. It sat there just like the day that Shawn, Delilah, Tiffany, Ralph and Bobby entered. Just like that day when Bradford brought them through what Mr. Clayton called 'Greater Ventriloquism' to the 'Underworld.' And according to what Mr. Clayton said, everyone but Delilah made it out alive, though Shawn still hadn't seen Tiffany.

Just like Shawn had that fateful day, he simply approached the door and tried to open it. He knew no one would get too suspicious about a kid going over to a house where another kid lived. Even if they were enemies.

The door to Bradford's house opened with a slight sound, the hinges creaking. Somewhere in the bushes, a cricket chirped nearby. Streetlights from across the neighborhood road cast their presence into the dark interior of the house.

The main hallway that Bradford had invited them all into that day appeared before Shawn.   Even through the small bit of light, Shawn observed the garish wallpaper of faded pink and purple flowers on vines in a vertical assortment adorning the walls of the hallway. They twisted to the left leading towards the kitchen as if the hallway walls were more of a garden overrun with weeds.

Shawn crossed the threshold and stepped inside the dark corridor of Bradford's house. The air was tight and smelled stale the way a basement closet might smell. Or like Grandpa's old clothes from when Shawn used to visit his house as a little child.

Shawn closed the door behind him, and quietly crept deeper into the house. He was looking anything that seemed Circus-y, or magical. It might lead him to Mr. Clayton, or at least whatever Bradford has planned.

Shawn felt the stiff clay tiles of the hallway under his feet. He heard the shuffling and scraping of his sneakers against the cold floor in the darkness with his first step. With anticipation of quietly moving down the hallway, Shawn prepared himself to advance with stealth, looking for anything that might be a sign of Mr. Clayton's whereabouts.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Dexterity + Stealth with the following results

0 Successes: 'Scuff..Scuff..Scuff' - Shawn's sneakers make an unanticipated noise against something on the floor. Walking in the dark, even carefully is really hard if you can't see in front of you.

1 Successes: Narrowly Avoided! - Shawn almost walks into a piece of furniture in the hallway but narrowly avoids it. Shawn does not have to make any further rolls of Stealth while in this hallway

2+ Successes: Silent as a Cat... - Shawn sneaks through the hallway, slinking around like a Cat Burgaler. Shawn does not have to make any further rolls of Stealth while in the house.

OOC: 08:52, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 5 successes using 8d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 3,6,10(+10,5),3,10(+1),8,8,5. Dexterity + Stealth + WP.

Shawn moved slowly and silently through the hallway, taking care not to step too quickly and to avoid the cluttered furniture.

As Shawn crept deeper into the hallway and into the depths of the house, the smell of dusty moth balls increased. It was like some kind of old closet. The stagnant air was almost choking and stiff.

Shawn stepped near the threshold of the kitchen. He could move into it, just like that fateful day when Bradford brought him and his friends to the Underworld. Or he could continue down the hallway where there were three distinct doors, probably representing different rooms in the house.

Shawn stepped quietly as he tried to figure out where to look around. He thought back to the last time he was here - Bradford hadn't had Mr. Clayton out last time he was there, so that made it less likely he was in the kitchen. He moved down the hallway; he was looking for wherever Bradford slept.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Intelligence + Composure

OOC: 18:49, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 1 success using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 10(+1),2,5.  Intelligence + Composure .

Three doors. And by the looks of the way the house was organized, the far door would likely be the master bedroom, where adults sleep. That meant that for Bradford to be there or sleep in there, he might have to consider himself an adult.

Maybe.

Then the other two rooms of the three bedroom ranch were probably kids or guest rooms.

Or were supposed to be.

The door closest to Shawn probably had a room of equal size to the non-Master bedroom further down the hall.

Maybe.

Shawn had to decide which door to open and explore.

Shawn considered the possibilities. He didn't think Bradford considered himself an adult...but he might consider Mr. Clayton an adult and keep him there. He knew he couldn't spend too long trying to decide, so he went with his gut and quietly went to the master bedroom and carefully opened the door.

Creeeeeeeeak...

The door pushed open with an elongated screech, the sound of a metal hinge that was rusty.

Shawn saw a bed with drapery and white fabric hanging off the side like someone had been sleeping there recently. There was cherry, oak furniture: dressers, a closet and a small matching desk. All this was visible thanks to the window which, for some reason was open. Moonlight cast its glow along the rug.

Somewhere to the right, there was a shuffling sound. The sound of paper or something close to it...

Shawn didn't step into the room right away. First, he looked at the bed and tried to see if he could tell how big the person who'd been sleeping in it was. And he considered all the different furniture around, whether any of it might fit a ventriloquist dummy. Then he carefully leaned in, looking in the direction of the shuffling sound, ready to pull back and slam the door shut if needed.

Now that Shawn had time to look and think, the bed didn't look slept in at all. It looked like burglars had ran-sacked it. Sheets and pillow cases lay strewn about the bed. Come to think of it, the drawers of the dresser were opened.

Shawn leaned his head inside the room, peering around the corner of the closest piece of furniture to see....

Tiffany.

She had her back facing him. Her once neat dress was stained and dirty with mud and soot. She was digging through packages from the closet.

Shawn suppressed a yelp, but on second thought, realized this was good news, probably. He hadn't been sure if Mr. Clayton had been lying to him about Tiffany surviving, and here she was. Carefully, not wanting to startle her too much, he cleared his throat softly. "Tiffany? Are you okay?"

OOC: Tiffany Resolve + Composure Roll to avoid being startled:

20:03, Today: Shawn's Neighbor - Tiffany Wilson rolled 3 successes using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((7,10(+6),10(+9))).

Tiffany turned around completely calm and collected. Shawn could see streaks of brown dirt, her face peppered with blood as if she had witnessed a horrible murder in the middle of a rain storm. Her eyes were dead serious though.

She raised a single index finger up to her lips as if to quiet Shawn down.

Then with her eyes, she pointed towards the interior of the closet, where there were a series of black suitcases strewn about, many of them unpacked and emptied, the contents of paper and clothing dispersed on the floor around her.

Shawn felt a bit of relief course through him when Tiffany seemed to recognize him. He hadn't realized it consciously, but part of him was afraid she had ended up like Eddy. He crept over to her side and crouched down with her, inspecting the suitcases Tiffany had torn apart. Not wanting to make any noise, he pointed to the strewn about objects, mimed opening and closing his mouth like a ventriloquist dummy, and then gave her an inquiring look.

Tiffany nodded her head, indicating that she was, indeed looking for Mr. Clayton's case. She pointed to one brief case and then to another, touching the black exterior. That's when it became evident that all of the cases were black and that Tiffany was looking for the one that might contain the Bradford's Dummy.

Shawn nodded seriously, glad Tiffany had understood him. He went over to an unopened case and started to silently open it.

Shawn opened the case and saw a few roughly opened envelopes inside. They were crinkled and carelessly thrown into the case. Letter's poured out the side as briefcase opened, spilling paper contents onto the floor.

Shawn took a glance at the letter to see if it looked even a little important. Then, assuming there weren’t any massive, situation shifting revelations, he went to the next briefcase.