"That's the cave that..." Shawn felt a little sick - there wereso many of those bones in that cave. Then, he went pale as a horrible thought occurred to him. "Wait - when I agreed to help...do I still have my soul?"

"It would be really sad if you were demanded for all eternity like I am. Serving Mr. Cherrywinks so that he can serve the proprietor. The contract, if signed, is something that can never be broken. If you have signed a contract with the Circus, then you must fulfill it. There is no other way around it.  But if you didn't do that, and you just made an agreement, that might be....might be really sad. You'd still have your soul, but there's no way of knowing when, or if Mr. Cherrywinks will call your debt 'paid.' l know many who were never let go until the day they died. " Gaggles concluded.

"Oh no, oh no no no..." Shawn buried his face in his hands as he realised what he'd done. He thought he'd bought his safety, but what if there was no end, no way out. Had he really betrayed all those other kids, just to trap himself as well?

"I know it's sad. He doesn't all of the time. But you're right to feel the way you do. Truly, there is no hope. Everything is lost. Everything is hopeless. Everything is depressing and sad. There isn't any hope for you while you're alive. For me it's even worse. There isn't any hope for me forever. It's a terrible thing, really. Being trapped somewhere with no hope of doing anything. No hope of ever being free. No hope of being able to do good in a world that probably needs it. Truly, all hope for you and I is lost." Gaggles concluded.

Shawn was barely even paying attention to the clown at this point, so mired he was in his own self pity. All he had left was hoping for mercy from Mr. Cherrywinks, which seemed an utterly absurd scenario.

Eventually, however, Shawn broke his silence. He had a look of disgust on his face, but with his actor's gift it'd be difficult to tell that the disgust was directed inward for even pursuing this line of questioning. "You...you said Mr. Cherrywinks made you a sad clown, that you're always sad. Did he choose that for you? Was it in the contract?"

As the Clown spoke Shawn still felt that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't helped by the bumps and bounces the small car made as it rounded its way around the edge of what looked like the Evil Circus. It drew closer and closer to a tent, ragged white and red striped fabric moving in the stagnant air.

"No. Not at all. I became the Sad Clown. At first, I was called Gaggles, because I was so happy with the idea that I would never, ever die. Even though I lost it all, there was still something new and exciting about being around forever. About belonging."

"Now I know better. I know that everything begins to die as soon at is born. And so when I was born anew, it was only a matter of time before even in my new life, the possibilities slowly narrowed, the future turned dark along with the sky, and the work....the work that my hands had to do...that became darker and darker work also."

"How many of us feel that life is like being on stage? There is that element of loneliness you get from traveling and being on the road. Being up there when everyone is watching you. That's what changed me from Gaggles to being Gaggles the Sad Clown. I slowly realized that forever is a really long time."

There was a pause for a moment.

"Its going to be really sad if you don't do what he wants." Gaggles offered. It came across as unsolicited advice. Not a threat. But a resigned sense of things as they were. Like she was speaking from experience.

Shawn withdrew once more, waiting quietly for their destination. It seemed there truly might be no way out.

The car stopped in front of a small tent structure.

There were poles that seemed fastened into grommets made of rope, covered with canvas. Red material streaked outward and there was a large sign. It read:

"The House of The Master Maker" In crooked, wooden blocks above the entrance.



Gaggles started to honk the horn in front of the tent.

She turned to Shawn.

"It's such a shame. You aren't the only one he is calling for. We have to pick up a carnie who was captured and made a deal the other day. Everyday it gets worse. Every day someone else is taken. There's no hope."

And then, with less patience.

"He's going to be mad if Ralph doesn't get out here soon. It will be so sad to see him punish Ralph. "

Shawn tried to keep his expression from showing any sign of recognition or foreknowledge, just the dull fear and self-loathing he'd been expressing during the trip. "What if he's gotten away? I know it sometimes happens."

The horn kept honking and honking. As it did, the mood in the car seemed to change. Gaggles face became a mask of anguish, crimson tears began to streak down her face. She pressed the horn harder and harder as if willing Ralph to get out the Master Maker's tent. But as Shawn knew, it wasn't going to change a thing.

Finally, Gaggles pulled away and drove on, saying something about how sad the whole situation was. For Shawn, it would seem, that the Evil Circus didn't know everything.

They made their way down a winding path uphill towards a tent that  seemed distant. It overlooked the circus structure from a distance.



Gaggles parked the car at the top of the hill outside and the two exited. Shawn immediately noticed rats scurrying out of the tent, disturbed by his approach like cockroaches when a light is turned on.

Gaggles pushed the flap of the tent away and Shawn could see a Clown. He was hunched over a desk using an old time telephone.





"We're missin' the Fortune Teller, The Master Maker, and the Lead Carnie. We can't open nuthin' without 'em. Circus ain't ready. We can't open yet with this short staff. You gotta understand. Pleaaaase!" The Clown pined on the telephone in a gruff, but surprisingly nervous voice.

Shawn didn't say anything to interrupt, and strained to hear the kind of voice coming from the other end of the telephone.

As Shawn stepped into the room, the smell hit him like a slap to the face. It was a combination of peanuts and sour smelling meat. Like a hot dog that had spoiled but was still sitting around in its own juices.



Mr. Cherrywinks, for that's who Shawn knew it was, slowly turned around in his chair. He had lank, straggly hair that stuck out in a frizzled red strands and chaotic, maniacal eyes that burned with madness. His teeth were like a line of broken tombstones.

He held the phone away from  his ear for a second and Shawn could hear something...


OOC: Shawn Rolls Wits + Composure

"Ahh! *cough* *cough*." Mr. Cherrywinks said, recognizing Shawn. Immediately, the temperature in the room seemed to get colder. Gooseflesh broke out across Shawn's arms.

"There you are. Good job Gaggles. Where's the other kid? *cough* *cough*. Where's Ralph?"

"It's so sad." Gaggles said, drops of red blood, pouring down her face.

"He wasn't there. He's gone."

The Clown roared in anger. "ARRRGHHH!" He slammed his hand down on the desk, and there was a loud crack, splinters flying off in jagged spikes and spinning into the air against the canvass sides of the tent.

Shawn stood there and watched as the Mr. Cherrywink's breathing became intense. His face turned a red complexion and smoke began to waft out of his nose in hot wisps.

Then, he turned on his large shoes and stared at Shawn.

"OK. Kid." he said in a measured tone.

"Ralph is out. Sometimes when you got a job ta' do, it's better to get it done right away. *cough* cough*"


"Ya' did good last time kid. Ya' did good. But now I'm callin' ya' in. Callin' in a favor. You'd do me a favor, wouldn't yah kid?"

OOC: 20:36, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 1 success using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 7,4,9,2.  Wits + Composure.


Shawn took a few involuntary steps back as Mr. Cherrywinks slammed his desk. But he tried to stay calm, and actually managed to find it somehow. Existential fear and self-loathing was one thing, but he'd worked with screaming, mercurial personalities, and he'd handled it. Albeit not with such high stakes. You just held on, crumpled all the fear and anger into a little ball in your stomach, and you didn't break down until no one could see you. "I can be helpful..."

Shawn heard the muffled, static voice from the phone. It sounded deep and indecipherable. Something that sound like it's trying to imitate human voice, but is subtly wrong. Example, its words echo when no one else's does, it speaks like a collection of animal noises coined together etc.



Mr. Cherrywinks smile widened and Shawn saw that the clown's tongue was like a slimy worm. It started to run along the front row jagged teeth, caressing them slowly.

Then suddenly, he bobbled the phone and returned it to his ear in what looked to Shawn like...

OOC: Shawn Rolls Wits + Empathy

OOC: 22:03, 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 2,7,9. Wits + Empathy.

...fear. That's what Shawn saw flicker in Mr. Cherrywink's crazed eyes as he returned the headpiece to his ear. Just for a moment, but it was there. As if Cherrywinks was afraid of whoever or whatever was talking to him on the phone.



"But we can't open up just yet. It ain't ready." his rasping voice pleaded into the phone. "Right. OK. Yes." And he hung up the phone.

Then turning to Shawn, he said.

"Ah, Kid, you're here. That's good of *cough* *cough* *cough* *sic* *urggh* *cough*...!!" he broke into a long winded coughing fit that sounded like a cancer patient on a deathbed.

"Now.." he said clearing his throat. "Let's talk about what you need to do. I need you to help out. See there's a few things I need from you. I need a few kids. To get the show started."

He opened a small black book.

"We've got...

-Roger. He's on the list.

-Dawn. She's running around here in the Circus and needs to be reigned in. You already met her. You already gave her ta' me.

-Then there's Jeremy. He's a youngah' kid. Also Easy pickens'.

So, which one you want ta' help me out with?'"

So. This was the price of his soul - hunting down other kids. Sure, he'd done this before at the cabin, but this time what Mr. Cherrywinks was asking for was far more explicit. But despite his shame, despite the nightmares and the self-loathing, Shawn wanted to live. He had to live. All he could do was make the best of it. "I'm ten years old, I don't know how to kidnap people."

"Oh, I ain't expectin' you to kidnap p...*cough* *cough*....people."

"I like you kid. You got a good way of lookin' about things. You don't sugar coat nuthin'. You also call things like they are. For that' I'm gonna give you treat."

He reached behind his back and pulled out a large lollipop. It was one of those oversized, swirling lollipops, colors of orange and blue. But the colors were faded and the lollipop was covered with lint.

"No magic there. Just a good ol' fashion treat." He offered, continuing to speak as he waited for Shawn to accept the lint-covered, decayed-looking sweet.

"Kid. You're an actor. I don't expect you to work with no brute force. You gotta act. Act like you're on the silver screen or like its part of a show under the big top. It's all part of the show kid." Mr. Cherrywinks explained. And as he did, his eyes widened in a horrifying gaze. Shawn could see the features of the Clown's face much more clearer now. There where what appeared to be lice crawling in and around Cherrywinks' red, matted hair. His jagged teeth were yellowed and each one had a slight barb on the end.

"So, it's like this." Mr. Cherrywinks continued "If you pick Roger to bring me, then you go and act like you're one of the kids in Minnesota. You know, just hangin' around and playing in the snow. Hell, kid, I might even show up to play too. But really, you'll be out there acting. Acting like you're one of them. You use the Book to bring Roger back here after ya' convince him that you're a friend."

"It's all part of the show under the Big Top kid. If you choose ...*cough* *cough*.*cough* *cough*.*cough* *cough*...." he broke off, the fit of coughing somewhat uncontrollable. Then, as Cherrywinks gagged, a large cockroach fell to the floor from somewhere in his hair around his left ear. It chittered along the worn carpet and out of sight. "Choose...Dawn...eeurmm." He cleared his throat. "Choose Dawn. Then you stay here in the Circus until you find her. You act like you're here to help. You convince her like you're a friend. You find that brat and you bring her here on top of the hill. To this tent." He emphasized with one ragged, Clown-gloved hand.

"If you choose Jeremy. Then kid, you gotta use the Fortune Teller's Babble Book. You gotta change into an adult. Like a costume on a movie set. Jeremy ain't gonna trust no kid. He's too young for that. He ain't got no friends. The kids only 2 and a half, ya see? No. You gotta come in an take 'em. You gotta pretend that you're a friend of the family or somethin'. Convince him to go with you. Use the Book to bring him back here."

"You see kid? It ain't about bein' ten years old. It's about acting. You like acting, don't ya kid?"

Shawn took the lollipop and immediately stuck it in his mouth. It looked disgusting, and hopefully it tasted disgusting - he deserved nothing better.

But no matter how awful it was, how awful the things he did, he had a responsibility to stay alive and protect his family. "If I do help bring Roger here...I want you to wipe away Bobby's debt. He doesn't owe you anything, he's free to live his life without any of...this." Shawn tried to sound forthright and confident, as if he had any sort of position to bargain right now.

Shawn's mouth registered a sweet, stale taste, and then the prickly sensation of fuzzy lint that was stuck to the lollipop and now touching the roof of his mouth.

The Clown, meanwhile, considered this proposition. He raised one ragged, gloved hand to his face and tugged his lower lip in concentration.




"mmmmmm..*cough*..*cough*" he sounded, as if he was thinking the idea over and perhaps even coming up with a counter offer.


"You're a tough one kid. Tougher than you look. I like that. It takes a lot of gumption with so much on the line to make a counter like that."

The room seemed to grow silent. Shawn noticed in the silence that the room itself had already gotten much colder. The silence became drawn out, and then the Clown said.

"hmmmmm...."

"You gotta understand kid. I'm runnin' a business here. You think this place...." He gestured with his hands in the air in an arc, the rotten clothes on his body shuffling slightly.

"...runs itself?" He deliberated. "I tell ya' what. You bring Roger here and we'll wipe Bobby's debt clean. But if he comes here makin' deals like you." he waved a finger in the air. "That ain't something I can do nuthin' about. So you go tell Bobby that his debt is clean. And that if he wants out he's got to get out now. No comin' back askin' for his parents or none of that baby-stuff. The Circus is openin' soon and when it does, whose-ever is in, is in. No ifs or buts about it. That's how things go when the Big top starts to run."

Shawn, for an instant, froze. But then he was back in performer mode, with the fear on his face being seasoned with puzzlement. "But Bobby told me his parents were dead?" It was technically true, and he had to find out more.

"They are dead kid. Dead as a door nail. And that's pretty dead." The Cherrywink's Clown answered.

"There ain't nothin' that can bring them back. Nuthin' at all. Gaggles took care of that, didn't ya' Gaggles?"