The fog curled around Shawn's feet as he heard Eric's voice near him. "Are you...there?" Eric said, voice somewhat choked.

"I said...I can't die." Eric said voice still uncertain, that hint of doubt in his voice as if he might be getting ready to die. As if he doubted there was a way out of this.

The thin, red air pushed outward as Eric came into view, his own face worried, eyebrows drawn together, frowning.

"What? What are we gonna do!" He said, angrily or fearfully. Or both

"We just have to find a way out of the tent..." Shawn tried to sound reassuring, though he wasn't really sure where they were with all the fog. He just had to find a door; at least the fog probably meant they'd be hard for any dangerous clowns to see.

"Time is running out!" Eric said, frantically. "We're both gonna die!"

Shawn Rolls Intelligence + Composure -2 to attempt to navigate, find some way through the fog

OOC: 10:23, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 2 successes using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,9,6,8. Intelligence + Composure -2 + WP.

Shawn pushed through the red fog smelling acidic and tasting of smoke. Shawn's eyes were watering when he noticed a thin outline of shape. His hands reached outward as if searching for some kind of guide, tentatively feeling in the thick, blinding, crimson cloud, Eric yelling from behind in a voice that was thin and high.

Shawn grabbed a hold of the edge of the table and heard a jingling, a rattling of sorts. On top of the old, oak table were a series of glass jars that clinked together. Some of them were stacked on top of each other, brown, dirty and scratched. Others, were solitary, near the edges of the table or the left side. Many of the jars were labeled with old, yellow, curling masking tape, the letters scratched on. Shawn looked at the labels: "Step on A Crack" and "Frogs Cause Warts", "Find a penny, Pick It Up", "If You Stay In The Tub...", "Bloody Mary", "Hold breath at Cemetary" and "Funny Faces Stay That Way." were some of the names.

"Come on!" Eric yelled. "What are we doing here!? You said you could change this!"

Shawn hurriedly glanced at the jars to see what was inside, but he was more worried about finding a way to the Fortuneteller. Did these bottles look like they'd belong to her? At the very least, this table was probably pretty close to an entrance or exit, right? "We just need to find one of my friends, okay? They're bound to be nearby."

Shawn could see on the other side of him, the wall of the tent, red and worn. A dilapidated, slanted bookshelf could be seen through the mist. The wood was old and splintered. A shelf of strange books with odd, archaic symbols that Shawn didn't recognize.

"You're a nerd!" Shawn heard Eric yell behind him. The voice was strained and frustrated. There was a tension building within the fog. A tension that seemed to be more than just the ticking clock of the Clown in the world above. The heavy weight of conflict could be felt all a round as Shawn heard foot steps running at him from behind.

Shawn knew where the wall of the tent was, and roughly where Eric was, so he picked a direction that was away from both of them and just bolted. The fog was thick and all-concealing, and he had to hope that whatever problem he had finding his way might also apply to Eric.

Shawn darted through the thick, red fog, his face breathing in the acidic taste of stale air and stagnant, putrid smoke. A strange object jumped out at him. Or rather, he ran past it, almost head first into it. It was only when he past it when he realized that it was workbench filled with mechanical object, sprockets, watches, small hammers, bolts and screws.

Shawn was running through the fog now, and suddenly another object appeared through the fog...

OOC: Shawn Rolls Intelligence + Composure -2 again

Shawn Rolls Dexterity + Athletics -2 with the following results

0 successes: Crash!

1 success: Yikes that was close!

2+ Successes: Crash!..But from behind. Eric probably ran into whatever it was..

<Orange>OOC: 07:49, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 1 success using 1d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 10(+3).  Intelligence + Composure -2 again.

07:49, 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 6,8,4,5.  Dexterity + Athletics -2.
/Orange>

The fog was like red wool, drifting past him in fleecy flakes that looked as if they had solid substance. Warm fog that was like balm upon Shawn's skin. It clung to his arms and made his shirt wet as he dodged past a large grandfather clock that was just in front of him.

It felt like he was in some kind of race to get away from Eric, though it could be hardly clear because Shawn still couldn't see where he was going. It wasn't even clear that Eric could see him or knew where he was.

After a few chaotic moments, Shawn found himself at the edge of the tent once again, this time on the opposite side. The red canvas cloth heavy and dotted with moisture from the fog was cool to his finger tips as he was force to stop in front of it, or crash head-long into it.

That moment of silence was all he needed to realize that Eric had also stopped. Shawn could hear his heart pounding in his ear, the pulse inside his head banging like a drum as his breath quickened.

There was a sense that he was being hunted. A blind predator looking for a blind prey. And all the while the clock was ticking....

Shawn kept as quiet as possible as he knelt down and felt at the base of the canvas 'wall'. This was a tent, right? If he could force his way underneath the tent and out the other side, he could get away and hopefully find Griffix.

The tent was heavy but movable. Shawn reached his fingers under the fabric wall and began to lift.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Strength

"Where are you? Shawn? Shawn?" Eric's voice said. "I won't hurt you, I only want to know where you are?"

OOC: 07:00, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 1 success using 2d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 9,6.  Strength .

Shawn lifted the tent and scurried under its heavy tarp like a rat, underworld dirt and shrubs touching at his pants and pressing against his hands. The Circus ground was singed-brown. Scrawling sounds filled the air. The land was flat and barren.  Only the odd brittle bush broke up the emptiness of the Circus in between rides. In the distance, Shawn could see Sideshow Alley, the maze of gaming booths.

He must have just exited the Master Maker's Tent, he realized.

A screaming car came to a halt in front of Shawn. It was an old Volkswagen beetle. Gaggles was inside.



"I'm sorry, but I can't let you leave. The best I can do is offer you help." Gaggles said to Shawn, leaning out of the driver's side window, fresh blood tears running down her face. She seemed genuinely sad about Shawn's predicament.

Shawn felt his stomach sink as he saw Gaggles, though at least now he knew where he was. He tried to judge the distance between where they were and where he knew the Fortuneteller to be."I understand..."

Gaggles opened the side door and stepped onto the rough dirt. Her shoes were oversized and pink. They squeaked like a rubber ducky with each step as she made her way to the car's small trunk. She beckoned Shawn over as he was trying to gauge the distance to the Fortune Teller's tent.

Inside the trunk was a cornucopia of sharp objects and different weapons. There was a pop-gun that Shawn suspected didn't shoot a cork on a string, a bloody serrated hacksaw, a small ice pick, some kind of sharp pole, a meat cleaver and a rusty crow bar. There was even a flower of some kind. It was connected to a large tube that ran to a glass bottle labeled 'acid.'

"You can borrow one of these to cut the skin or flesh you need to take from him." She offered to Shawn, a sad, knowing look on her face. She looked around at the Circus and then fixed her bloody eyes on Shawn. "What doesn't kill you makes you wish it did." She said sadly.

"If you had a chance to kill yourself, no pain or blood and your family wouldn't get hurt for the things you did, would you take it?" Gaggles asked, waxing philosophically while the muffler of the car rumbled, the sound of Eric shouting inside the tent in the background.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Intelligence + Composure to gauge the distance correctly

OOC: 21:48, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 3 successes using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 10(+9),6,9. Intelligence + Composure.

It wasn't that far from the Master Maker's tent to the Fortune Teller's. Maybe about the same length as the long hallway, the one that went past the Principal's Office and the blue-colored lockers at Shawn's school. The Fortune Teller's tent stood at the bottom of the hill, flag raised and showing strange stars and symbols. A tattered flag blowing the wind, endlessly beckoning.

Gaggles, as if sensing Shawn was looking at something said...

OOC: Shawn Rolls Wits + Subterfuge + Striking Looks with the following results

0 Successes: Gaggles catches Shawn and guesses what he is thinking

1-3 Successes: Gaggles assumes Shawn wants some other kind of weapon not available in the trunk, but she eyes Shawn suspiciously

4+ Successes: Gaggles reveals something to Shawn

OOC: 23:39, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 2 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling on 9 or more with rolls of 7,7,1,9(+9,6),6,5,4. Wits + Subterfuge + Striking Looks.

Gaggles narrowed her eyes at Shawn suspiciously. Then she glanced behind her. Unable to find what Shawn was looking at, she shrugged her shoulders. Then she looked at Shawn once again ready to speak.

Just then Eric let out a scream that was so loud it cut through the air and caused Gaggles to look over Shawn's shoulder at the tent. She then turned her attention to Shawn.

"I have more things in the hood of the car." She explained. "If you wanted something else to cut something from Eric."

"What kind of stuff?" Shawn tried to sound like he wanted Gaggles to show him specific examples. He felt in his pocket for the rabbit's foot. He knew how far away the Fortuneteller's tent was; when Gaggles turned her back, he could return to the normal world, count off the right number of steps, and then return to the Circus in the right place.

"It's sad that you have to kill someone." Gaggles said. "I knew Cherrywinks would bring you down this path." Her eyes bled a fresh tear. It dripped down her china-doll face and patted onto the earth.

"Here" She said, looking down and pulling a razor blade out from her clown belt, the way Shawn had seen Batman pull an object out of his utility belt in the comics. "Take this razor blade." Her head was still looking down, searching for it as she spoke.

"I used to use it to cut myself before I came to the Circus. Now I wish I had killed myself instead of just doing it for fun so long ago." She lamented, finally finding the razor.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Occult + Subterfuge vs. Gaggles Composure + Subterfuge with the Following results:

0 or Less Successes vs. Gaggles: Shawn disappears using the Rabbit's Foot. But Gaggles sees how he did it and knows exactly what he did. She sounds the alarm and the Clown's begin to search assuming that he must have traveled back using the Rabbit's foot.

1+ more Success than Gaggles: Shawn disappears using the Rabbit's Foot. Gaggles does not see that he used the Rabbit's Foot, but she knows that he must have gotten away somehow. She sounds the alarm so the Clown's begin to search for him.

2+ More Successes than Gaggles: Gaggles doesn't know where Shawn went. She begins a search by herself, the magic of the Rabbit's Foot and Shawn's disappearance mystifying her.

OOC: 21:01, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 1 success using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling on 9 or more ((1,6,8,5)).

OOC: Shawn Join's Thread

Shawn: Sweating...