As far as Shawn could tell, people spent a lot of time on their Halloween decorations, but it seemed like this year the adults had really out did themselves. They spared no expense in gathering all the materials they needed to successfully creep out children and other adults alike. Anyone who ventured in the neighborhood at this time of night would have thought that it had gone a little bit crazy.

And by all accounts there were plenty of people out in the neighborhood tonight. Children ducked under thick cobwebs that were strung between naked trees. Driveways were dark and lit only by the jack-o-lanterns that sent out an orange flicker through their mouths and eyes. In shaggy grass that wet kids' costumes lie gravestones and severed body parts, hands and feet. From the doorway of one house, a witch stood shrieking and casting spells as she waved her wand up and down in a jilted, robotic animation.

Up ahead at Ralph's neighbor's house, the front door was open and from the inside came horror movie music. Children passing by poked their heads into the gloom to see if there was anyone to give out candy.

And in the middle of the neighborhood was Ralph's house. There were no decorations and no sounds. Not even a sign of activity or a light that indicated anyone was home.

"It could be that no one is home." Michael said. "Or that everyone is in the basement like Leonard said." He suggested in a flat tone.

Shawn kept on his toes as they approached Ralph's house, shooting glances at it, but trying not to seem too openly interested. "I don't see anyone. But we should be extra careful and check before we get too close. Look for anything unusual about the house."

He led Michael past Ralph's house, relatively slowly and casually like they were any other trick or treater. Once Shawn was sure Michael was watching the house, he switched his own attention to the other people out trick-or-treating, looking for anyone who was acting like a robot.

"Look at that."  Michael pointed at the chimney. A thin plume of smoke was coming out of the chimney at Ralph's house.

Shawn looked around. There didn't seem to be any robots about. A couple of kids were just now fumbling up towards the front door of Ralph's house, ready to push the door bell to Trick or Treat. They were dressed as WWF superstars. Cheap plastic masks of Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior.

Shawn slowed his pace a little as the other kids approached the front door. It seemed like there was someone home, at least, but his strategy would change quite a bit depending on whether it was Ralph or Ralph's "mom" who answered the door. "All right, keep watching. We gotta know what we're getting into."

Somewhere in the darkness from one of the houses nearby, there was a rattling sound from up above, like an old window being opened.

"You kids! Get out of here! Go back home! It's not safe outside." An old, adult voice shouted at the two trick or treaters.

"I thought he was talking to us for a second." Michael said with all the enthusiasm of an empty sink.

The two kids ran past again, this time fleeing the house and the adult voice, their plastic, WWF masks bobbing up an down as the cut through the front yard, leaves crunching under their feet.

Shawn watched the kids flee as he continued to pretend he was just out trick-or-treating normally. While it was probably safer for those two kids that they never rang the doorbell, it didn't help him and Michael all that much. He glanced towards Ralph's house's back yard - was it fenced off? Did it back onto woods or another house's back yard?

Michael appeared to be already ahead of Shawn's thoughts.

"Look." He said, pointing towards the fence on the side of the house. The rotted wooden door of the fence stood out as a black outline against the night sky.

"We could just walk right in back there." Michael suggested, as if walking straight into the backyard of an evil robot's house was a normal, everyday, boring occurrence.

Shawn saw the opening, but it still worried him. “It might be too easy, though. What if there’s a trap?” He spent a moment in thought before looking to either side of the house. “What if we sneak into a neighbour’s back yard and look over the fence first? Then we might be able to see if anyone’s home.”

If Shawn had been looking for some kind of feedback from Michael then he would have been disappointing. The boy just stared at him for a long while without answering, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight, dark hollows under his cheeks hidden by the shadows of the bushes.

"Could be." Michael said. The words came out flat. Did it mean that Michael thought going into the neighbor's backyard would be a good idea? Did it mean that he thought there would be a trap? Did he care at all?

Michael's response didn't seem to answer any of these questions.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 00:32, Thu 07 Jan 2021.

Shawn looked between the two neighboring houses on either side of Ralph's house, trying to gauge if either of their backyards looked easy to sneak into. It was two main things he was looking for - whether the backyard looked accessible, and how easy it would be to avoid being seen. He knew at least one of the neighbors was watching for kids, judging by what happened to the ones wearing wrestling masks.

Shawn peered into the darkness. The house to the right had a large backyard with no fence. A large spotlight beamed down into the neatly trimmed grass and there was a sign that read:

BEWARE OF DOG.

The house on the left was cast in shadows, a short, chain-link fence was a barely visible form standing out in the inky darkness.

"What are we waiting for?" Michael asked.

"All right, follow me and be careful." Shawn glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, and then started moving towards the house on the left. He definitely didn't want to have to worry about a spotlight or a dog.

Michael shrugged. He got up and followed Shawn, his thin, stringing body hunching low to the ground. A great breeze blew through the air, rustling the leaves across the lawn and bringing a stinging chill to Shawn's face.

The got to the chain link fence. It was clear that it would have to be climbed in order to access the backyard, but it wasn't as tall as a normal fence.

"You first." Michael said, looking one way, and then the other to make sure no one was watching. It didn't seem like anyone was.

Shawn looked up at the fence. Before he even went into the backyard, he might be able to see more from the top of the fence. Of course, he’d have to climb it first. He looked down at Mr. Clayton. “I’m going to need both hands to climb, so Michael’s going to hold you for a minute. Will you be good?”

"Yucka! Yucka!" Mr. Clayton bobbed his head, almost shouting the words and nearly making Michael wince.

Michael took hold of the Puppet as Shawn got ready to climb the fence.

"The police are investigating us." He said with nonchalant affect, just as if he was commenting about the weather. "For what we did in the forest." He added, in an equally bored tone. "They stopped by my house the other day to ask me questions."

This message was last edited by the player at 19:53, Thu 14 Jan 2021.

"Be careful not to put your hand in Mr. Clayton's back." Shawn made sure to warn Michael before handing the dummy over - after what had happened to Leonard, he wanted to be extra careful.

Michael's other comment stopped him short as he was about to start climbing. "Did you tell them anything?" Shawn was more worried about the 'Robot King', but if he somehow made it through this, that could be another problem. Then again, the body in the woods was his own...he couldn't get in trouble for that, could he? He decided to put it aside for now and start climbing. To begin with, he wasn't trying to climb over the fence, just up to the top of it so hopefully he could see into Ralph's backyard.

Just then, a chill breeze blew, crackling the leaves across the lawn. Michael shrugged.

"No. But that policeman asked me about you. He said he was going to stop by your house and ask you about the forest and if you knew there was a body back there."

Shawn felt relieved Michael hadn't said anything, though it looked like there'd be something else for him to worry about if he made it through all of this. "Thanks for keeping quiet about it. We'll figure it all out later." Carefully, quietly, he started to climb the fence, intending to stop at the top.

Michael was right behind Shawn, climbing gingerly up the chain link fence. Shawn's feet crunched down onto a bed of leaves, the backyard completely shrouded in darkness.

It wasn't clear whether or not anyone was home at the house. Turning around an looking at Ralph's house, there appeared to be  strange, red glow coming from the basement. Light leaked out through the small windows on the side of the house.

Shawn glanced down at Michael. "Careful. And make sure not to go over the top. We're just scouting right now." He saw the glow from the basement, and knew that had to be where the danger was. But he was also searching for where Ralph might be - if there were any other rooms that showed signs of habitation from the outside.

Shawn could see the side of Michael's face in the darkness, one eye catching the glint of the moon for an instant. The boy didn't say anything, just sat there in complete silence.

It didn't look like there was any sign of activity in Ralph's house. The windows on the upstairs were shrouded with curtains. The lower ones showing no signs of moment or light. The house looked like it was abandoned. Yet there was a single Dodge dart parked in the driveway and the eerie, red basement glow that could only be seen from this vantage-point.

"Did you kill my sister?" Michael asked in a flat tone, the words hanging between Shawn and himself for a long moment in the darkness.

Shawn was caught up in watching the house for movement or places they could break in, it took him a moment to realize the question that Michael was asking. It wasn't a happy question to answer, but at least it was one that he could answer honestly. "No, I didn't." He knew Michael well enough that he could just answer bluntly.

Michael didn't offer a response and the conversation ended just as abruptly as it started.

The focus turned back towards the house for the moment. It stood somehow towering and tall, a black outline against the dark sky. Shawn looked about, peering through the darkness and trying to look past the strange and somewhat distracting glow of emanating from the windows in the basement.

His eyes were drawn to the lattice work, once white but now even through the darkness it was faded and chipped. Ivy grew up the wood towards the second story of the house. There was a boarded up window - not part of the second story but more part of the attic. A small hole in the board showed signs that maybe an animal had been at work, perhaps a squirrel or some other suburban creature looking to create a home for itself inside the attic.

If there was a way in the house that might be the only way. And the only way to get there would be to climb somehow.

Shawn felt leery about climbing a rickety lattice, but it looked like that was the only way in that wasn't the front door. Finally, he looked around the yard itself, wary for any signs of movement. The other house had a 'Beware of Dog' sign, and he wanted to make sure this one had no surprises.

Shawn peered into the darkness and caught movement in the backyard.

"Did you see that?" Michael said in a whisper that somehow still sounded deep.

Squinting his eyes, Shawn could make out something small on the lawn in Ralph's backyard. Or rather, some-things that were small. Whatever they were, it seemed like they were moving together on the lawn: Small shapes that would move quickly and then stop. Then move again.

"What is that?" Michael asked, no longer whispering.

The shapes emerged from the long shadow of Ralph's house: It was two squirrels chasing each other. One had a large acorn in its mouth. They chased each other round and round the trunk of a tree in Ralph's yard, spiraling around and up into the branches, now hidden from sight.

"Squirrels." Michael said, observing the obvious. "Rats with tails." He added in a flat voice.

Shawn froze when he saw movement, and tensed up in case he needed to run. He only relaxed a little when he realized they were squirrels. Nonetheless, he kept still and silent after they clambered up the tree, watching to see if the movement stirred up anything else in the yard.

The two boys sat there in silence for a while, Michael's eyes two glimmers in sea of darkness. Out in the front yard, the sound of a passing car came and went, its headlights briefly illuminating the autumn scenery and casting a narrow beam of light into the yard before it was gone.

"Did you see that?" Michael asked in a bored voice, this time pointing a finger into the yard.

Indeed something else had moved in the yard, though it was tough to say what it was. Shawn had seen something scurrying that appeared much larger than a squirrel.

Shawn squinted into the dim yard, trying to pick out whatever details the passing car had illuminated. "There's something else. Bigger than a squirrel..."

Now along time ago Shawn was certain that a dog that wasn't his was in fact, his. The dog in question was brought to him by his Dad. And Shawn was told that it was his dog. But in reality, Shawn's Dad had stolen the dog.

As Shawn peered through the darkness he saw that dog. It was strewn across the yard, its stomach gashed wide open, several pointed ribs jutting out, their bone-white color catching the glint of the headlights that had passed by seconds ago.

A few crows were pecking at the carcass, their eyes shimmering in the darkness.

Shawn squashed down a scream as he realized what he'd just seen by the glint of the headlights. He'd played with that dog, back when Bobby was still...around, and seeing it brought it all back. What was worse was that it was a warning, too. It wasn't like the dog had been run over by a car or something - something had to have killed it, and it might still be lurking in that yard.

He took a moment to compose himself enough to trust himself to speak. "It's a dead dog...but what killed it?"

Michael's face was a black outline in against the starry sky, the few clouds that had been there now pushing past at hurried clip, moon shining down.

"It's a dead dog." He confirmed, stating the obvious.

Shawn stared at the yard for another few long moments, and assuming there wasn't anything else that caught his attention, figured he wasn't going to get anything else. He carefully climbed down the fence. "All right, now we need a plan."

Michael nodded. "It should be a better plan then when we got rid of that body." He told Shawn in a deep flat tone, same as if he was pointing out what time it was or when recess would start.

Michael’s comment stung, but Shawn told himself that he clearly wasn’t trying to be insulting. Still, his movement was a little jerky as he grabbed Mr. Clayton and settled the dummy back into place. “Okay...we need to figure out supplies. Do you have any matches or lighters? We’re probably gonna need fire no matter what happens.”

"I have matches." Michael confirmed in his drone-like voice. Then he squinted out into the darkness and spoke to Shawn, only the hollows of his cheek bones seen in the pale moonlight.

"Do we need fire because what that thing.....said?" He asked, clearly referring to the Puppet.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to listen to that thing?" The question came out blunt and direct with no judgement on Michael's part. He didn't say whether he believed that Mr. Clayton was a separate being or whether Shawn was just making it up. In fact, he gave all appearances as if he didn't care one way or another.

Shawn felt a little defensive at that comment, but again reassured himself that Michael probably wasn't trying to judge. "Him and what Leonard said. Hopefully we won't need to use them." He had a feeling, though, that it might be needed to stop what was going on at Ralph's house. "Leonard also said explosions might work to wake people up. Do you know where we can get firecrackers?"

"Yes." Michael said, a machine's voice blurting out a response. But "yes" to what? To that hopefully they wouldn't have to use fire or explosions? Or perhaps it was just a "yes" to confirm that he had firecrackers or knew where to get them?

Michael stared blankly at Shawn

Shawn chose to interpret the answer as Michael talking about the firecrackers. "Can you get them without getting caught or in trouble? And before it gets too dark for trick-or-treating?"

Michael didn't answer right away. He just sat in the silent darkness for a few seconds, eyes two glints blinking.

"Yes." he said finally.

"How long would it take you?" Shawn knew he'd need the firecrackers. But he'd also need to have a chat with Mr. Clayton without Michael listening. With luck, he could kill two birds with one stone.

Michael shrugged and then paused for a very long time before saying.

"It would take me about 5 minutes. Five and a half minutes."

Shawn nodded seriously, setting the time in his head. “All right, go get a bunch of firecrackers and come right back. And don’t get in trouble on the way, okay? I’ll scout more here.” That should hopefully be enough time to prepare to sneak in. He tried to ignore the growing pit in his stomach.

Michael nodded his head. He stood from where he was squatting and began to trudge off, the sounds of leaves crunching slowly fading into the distance as he made his way back to his house.

This left Shawn alone with nothing but Ralph's house in front of him, the sound of the crows pecking at the dead dog, and the ominous, red glow coming from the basement windows.

OOC: Optional Roll: Shawn may roll a Wits + Investigation roll to investigate the scene

- 8 successes are needed.

- Each roll represents 10 minutes of activity

- Shawn may roll 3 times, as it will take 30 minutes for Michael to return, even though he claimed it would only take 5

Shawn considered investigating the house further, but realized he didn't know the first thing to look for. So instead, he found a relatively quiet corner where he could see the front walk of the house and notice if anyone went in.

While he waited, he needed to have a chat with Mr. Clayton. He tried to relax his mind and let the dummy speak freely. "All right, what's going on with Ralph's mom really? We know who she really is, but what's she trying to do?"

OOC: Unfortunately, Shawn's got a chance die in Wits + Investigation, so he'll hold off on rolling.

Mr. Clayton perked up as if he'd been just waiting for Shawn to talk to him. A cold breeze blew by, rustling the leaves and chilling Shawn's skin as the Puppet spoke.

"We both know what Ralph's Mom is, Yucka-Yucka!!" Mr. Clayton said in his sing-song voice, slotted mouth opening and closing.

"I tried to destroy Mr. Cherrywinks, I really did. It was hard enough to get into the dreams to find him. Bradford was trying to do that for a while but he got all distracted. We were trying to get at the Clown and stop him from doing what he always does when he appears. But it didn't help when you burned Bradford's face off when you betrayed him and gave him away to Cherrywinks. I think he took it personally. He kind of never got over it. Right from the beginning everything was confusing for him. He wanted to get out of the Circus and he also wanted revenge."

"Imagine that? It's like trying to do a show and not having a good script! Everything was all confusing. We'd make it so far, kill off a Clown without the Order knowing about it, or burn a roller coaster in the Circus. Then next thing you know, Bradford's making me kill some kid that we were trying to protect from Cherrywinks, Yucka-yucka!" Mr. Clayton joked, as if killing a kid under those circumstances was so ridiculous, it could be laughed at.

"So everything I know has brought us this far. At least we found him again. At first I thought maybe Ralph's Mom is trying to bring the Circus back. But I know that's not possible, because I destroyed it. So....I don't know...." Mr. Clayton answered, his last words trailing off as if he was thinking about the possibilities. His eyelids clicking like some camera as he stared vacantly at those dull, red lights coming from the basement windows.

Shawn stung a little at Mr. Clayton implying that it was his fault that Mr. Cherrywinks was still around. He hadn't done it on purpose, and Bradford was the one who couldn't get over his revenge. But he didn't let that anger and frustration show. Instead, he tried to concentrate on what was going on right now. "But he seems really different this time. He didn't hide in people's bodies before, he didn't turn them into robots or whatever Leonard meant. Why has that changed? Could he always do this stuff and just didn't want to?"

"Because there's no where to go. There's no circus to go back to. I destroyed them all!!! Yucka! Yucka!" Mr. Clayton laughed like he had given quite the punchline.

"But just because the Circus is gone, doesn't mean that Mr. Cherrywinks doesn't have a job. He still has to come up with souls to lower into the ground. You know that, don't you? You're always playing with me! Hehehehehehehehe!!!" And he gave a little bounce on Shawn's like much like he was enjoying the conversation, like Shawn had given him a little tickle in the gut the way a doting mother might tickle a child.

"It could be that. But it could anything else. It's was never a real Circus. It was just hiding what was underneath. And who knows what Mr. Cherrywinks really is behind that thing veneer of the Circus. We've never seen it!"

Shawn didn't like the thought of there being a 'true' Cherrywinks under the veneer of the Circus. The one he'd met was bad enough! Still, while that was good to know, it didn't really help the immediate situation, at least not yet. "Can Greater Ventriloquism protect us from him? If he looks at us like Leonard said, will you be able to stop us from getting hypnotized and going underground?"

Mr. Clayton shook his head, a gust of wind blowing a large, yellow leaf across his face, before the breeze took it away."Probably not. Hehehehehe! Yucka-Yucka!"

"I don't think there would be anything that I could do." Mr. Clayton's hand came up to his mouth in a pantomime of thinking gesture, the effect slightly spoiled by the stiffness of his arm and rigid hands.

"That's why I think we should find a way to just take the whole house....and get rid of it. Maybe we could bury it some how with everyone inside."

"I know, I know what you're thinking! But if you want to make an omelette you need to break a couple of eggs!!! Yucka! Yucka!!!"

Shawn felt disappointed, but at the same time, he also knew Mr. Clayton sometimes didn't tell the whole truth. "Really? There's nothing the power of Greater Ventriloquism can do at all? I thought it was the most powerful thing in the world?"

He looked at the house and the red-glowing basement. He knew what Mr. Clayton was hinting at, but there had to be a better way.

Mr. Clayton's eyebrows drew inward with annoyance."Nothing is free, you know that. You want something done, you should have practiced more." He said, as if Shawn had not been practicing enough, even though it was clear that Shawn had spent hours and hours alone in his room. Truly, Shawn had practiced so often and so long, that his room had begun to smell terribly. Even his Dad had said so.

Then his look softened as he considered the situation. "But I suppose we could make up for it by sacrificing something. For myself, I'm willing to shut up for a while after this little investigation tonight is over. And believe me that ain't easy! Yucka Yucka!! That means you'll have to put me in my case before meeting your Mom tonight to go to your new, super-special neighborhood. And don't wake me up for at least a week, understand?"

"Now, what are you going to sacrifice?"

Shawn had tricked and been tricked often enough in this sort of situation that his first instinct was to look for ways he could be getting ripped off. "So that'll be protection from Mr. Cherrywinks' evil powers, right? And it's for me, Michael, and Ralph, so none of us get left out?"

He considered what he could offer in sacrifice, and abruptly realized he didn't have a lot. He spent all day practicing with Mr. Clayton, he barely had friends anymore, his parents hated each other...was there anything positive in his life that he could offer to give up? He'd have to think of something.

"Ha!" Mr. Clayton barked out a joyless laugh.

"I want to destroy him as much as the next guy, Yucka! Yucka! The more we sacrifice, the greater the results. The more something is important to us, the more the....benefits?" He finished, lamely.

Shawn wracked his brains, trying to think of something he could give up - or a way to avoid having to pay the price. "What about...the other me that Bradford killed? That was a sacrifice, since it only happened because Greater Ventriloquism made it happen. Bradford couldn't do it by himself. That's gotta count for something, right?"

"Stop being a fag!!" Mr. Clayton yelled at Shawn in sudden anger.

"I was the one who set all of that up because Bradford made me do it." He snapped in a savage tone. "It's not your sacrifice if I do it."

"The things I've done for Greater Ventriloquism, for Bradford, for you." He intoned the last word as if Shawn was being ungrateful.

Then he started naming things the way a disappointed adult would do to a child that wasn't appreciating the efforts Mom and Dad were doing.

"I destroyed the Circus and the Order you were a part of."
"I helped you get rid of Bradford."
"I got rid of Tiffany."
"I helped kill the other you."
"I switched places with you, so you could do your....things."
"I've told all of these funny jokes."
"I did a show with you to impress Junior."
"And I sat in front of the mirror over and over again to practice for hours and hours and hours and hours!"
"I even agreed to let you see Papa!"

"Don't call me that! And half of that stuff I didn't even want!" Shawn felt stung, more by the accusatory tone of Mr. Clayton implying he was ungrateful than anything he'd actually said. Shawn hated it when people implied he was ungrateful.

"I spend all my time with you, so I can't give up on doing other stuff for fun, and I can't give away my toys because you're the only one I play with now. My parents hate each other and me, all my friends are dead or missing or I'm tricking them so I dunno if they count anymore. I don't have anything left to sacrifice, thanks to you. So unless you wanna put me in a water tank like you did with Junior's show, or stick me full of cords like you did to Bradford, I'm all out of ideas, Mr. Clayton!"

There was a long pause.

In the distance the sound of kids saying 'trick or treat' was far enough off that it seemed to confirm Shawn being alone rather than provide comfort that someone else was out at night in the neighborhood.

Mr. Clayton's dead, vacant eyes stared up at the sky as if the Puppet wasn't really animated at all, but just some toy.

Then he finally spoke.

"Maybe we got off on the wrong foot." Mr. Clayton said in an apologetic tone.

"Why don't we, you know, start off small." His voice was soothing now, but still high-pitched, like a deranged grandmother trying to be kind.

"If you're out of ideas, then I have to do the suggesting. But you have to do it like always -- in the name of Greater Ventriloquism. And you have to say it. Give yourself to it."

He brought that hand up to his mouth again as if he was thinking.

"Let's see....." And then Mr. Clayton's eyes grew wide.

"Let's start small like I said. Tell you what, when you see your Mom tonight when she picks you up.." He quickly corrected himself "...Us up, why don't you say this word to her while looking her in the eyes..."

And then Mr. Clayton leaned in close to Shawn and looked him straight in the eyes and said:

"DICK-BAG."

Shawn's first instinct was a shocked refusal. He'd get in so much trouble for saying that to his Mom! But before he could tell Mr. Clayton that, he realized that was the whole point - that was the sacrifice. "I...if that's what I have to do, then I'll do it."

The Puppet nodded his head and then clarified his position:

"We can make it so that Mr. Cherrywinks can't use any of his special powers against you." Mr. Clayton's head bobbed up and down in a nodding gesture.

"But if he hits you with a Clown baseball bat or a cleaver all bets are off! Yucka-Yucka! Also, I can't do anything about him getting someone else to attack you. So if you find some strange kid in that house, you've got to iiiiiiimprovise!!!!" He said, and his heads spread out in a flourish.

Shawn  was hoping for a little more, but he understood that without paying a bigger price, he couldn't expect more. "What about Michael or Ralph? They're not strangers."

The Puppet considered Shawn's question.

"As long as you can see them, it should work for them the same." Mr. Clayton said.

"If they wander off or you lose sight of them in that big house....well, it's every kid for himself!!! Yucka! Yucka!!!" He laughed, as if it were really funny that some kids might die in there.

"Mr. Clayton, don't laugh at that!" Shawn had honestly gotten used to the puppet saying stuff like that, but at the same time he knew he probably wanted a reaction, and Shawn was willing to give it to him.

He thought about anything else he could do to prepare, or possibly get an advantage from Greater Ventriloquism, and an idea occurred, one which might require a bit of trickery. "Hey Mr. Clayton, Cherrywinks is hiding inside a regular person, right? That sounds a bit like the time you and me switched bodies. Does that mean you can hide yourself inside a person?"

Mr. Clayton rejoiced at Shawn's reaction with a titter

"Hehehehehe--desired effect achieved." He said, the last words coming out like a fake robot on a cartoon show.

Mr. Clayton paused at that second question. Paused would be an understated word for it: The Puppet seemed to recede inside and shy away from Shawn without saying anything or moving.

"Hmmmmmm...We can talk about that after this." And he gestured with one hand towards the house. "Maybe after you wake me up from my long sleep in my case. Then, after I wake up, we'll talk about the other aspects of Greater Ventriloquism."

Shawn noticed Mr. Clayton trying to weasel out of answering, and his reaction made him think he was onto something. He decided to push harder. "Are you sure? It's just, it'd probably come in really handy if you could. I'll need my hands free for the house, after all, and I can't just leave you by yourself outside..."

It was clear that Mr. Clayton didn't want to answer Shawn, or at least not right away. He paused before he spoke, changing the subject and intoning his words slowly and with emphatic foreboding.

"Someday soon, someone will ask about me. An adult. They will ask if I'm really real. They'll ask you if you hear voices or if you think I'm real. They'll ask you about Greater Ventriloquism." He said

Shawn wasn't sure if Mr. Clayton was answering his question, or changing the subject, so he played along for the time being. "What should I tell that adult?" He knew his first instinct would be to just lie about it. He'd tell them that he thought Mr. Clayton was just an inanimate dummy, and that he was just pretending. Maybe he's say it was an acting exercise or stage practice. But he also knew Mr. Clayton wouldn't be talking about it if it was going to be a normal situation.

"Deny, Deny, Deny, Deny." Mr. Clayton said over and over again. "They'll think you're crazy. They'll ship you off to some hospital."

Then he looked up at Shawn with furrowed, worried brows "You're not going to abandon me, are you? Outside here? Or whenever it suits you?"

"Well, of course I'm gonna deny. And that why I'm asking if you can hide yourself inside someone. So you come with us and I don't have to abandon you." Of course, Shawn did have an ulterior motive - if Mr. Clayton came along and they were in danger, he might use the power of Greater Ventriloquism to protect whoever he came along with, beyond what Shawn had already 'paid' for.

Mr. Clayton paused, eyes moving across this way and that as if to check if anyone was around. Then his shoulders slumped as he relented. He spoke with a sadness as if he was conceding defeat, talking about something he was trying to avoid.

"I can't do it. Not yet." He admitted. "The truth is, we haven't done enough together to achieve that level of Greater Ventriloquism. It's something that can only happen through practice and experience. And I mean certain experiences. We'll get there. I can show you the way. But we don't have time jam that into just one night."

Shawn felt a little disappointed, but he expected an answer like this. “It’s all right, I understand.” He felt a little weird comforting Mr. Clayton, but he was trying to be nice. “If I slip you under my jacket, will you be able to hold on?”

"Yes." Mr. Clayton said, for once uncharacteristically terse in his response and devoid of all joking. It was like his admission of limitation and weakness had drained all the fun out of him, even if Mr. Clayton's fun was often inappropriate at times. Or maybe it was just that the Puppet had been out of his case for so long.

"What are you doing?" Another voice interjected, this time with a terse question.

It was Michael. He was holding what looked like matches in his hand and a lighter in the other. He was looking at Shawn without any expression. There was no telling how long he had been looking at Shawn in that same spot.

Shawn froze a moment when he realized Michael had been nearby. He knew the actual explanation would sound crazy, so he quickly tried to make something up. "Sorry, I was working up my courage by talking to myself. Did you get the stuff?" He tried to casually withdraw his hand from Mr. Clayton, and tuck the dummy under his jacket.

Michael said nothing, his face a mask of stone. He just extended his arms to show that he was holding what looked like matches and a single M80.

"Remember." Mr. Clayton whispered to Shawn in a voice that Michael probably couldn't hear given the wind and the 10 foot distance. "Don't be a fag about this. This is serious business with Ralph's Mom."

And then, as if to contradict the seriousness, he whispered "yucka...yucka.."

And then, as if to reinforce the seriousness he whispered to Shawn. "But seriously, don't be such a fag."

Shawn tried not to look like he was hearing voices from his puppet as Michael stared at him. Fortunately, didn’t think the other boy cared about or even noticed awkward silences. As the insults faded away, he tried to refocus on the task at hand. “All right, you know how to set that off, right? Make sure you don’t use it until I say so.”

Michael said something in his deep voice and waited for Shawn to answer. But there was a big gust of wind that carried Michael's words off for a second. That and Mr. Clayton kept whispering while Michael was talking, making it difficult for Shawn to hear what Michael had actually said.

Mr. Clayton's words were barely audible, but he whispered them in a sing-song rhyme.

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Shawn is a big, fat fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Shawn is a big, fat fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Shawn is a big, fat fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Don't be a fag"

"Shawn is a big, fat fag"

Shawn was a little irritated at Mr. Clayton's taunts, but not really hurt. He didn't know enough about what the word "fag" meant to get too upset; he just knew it was bad. He tried to ignore Mr. Clayton and stepped a little closer to Michael "Sorry, I didn't hear that first part 'cause of the wind. Can you say it again?"

Michael didn't seem upset by it. He didn't seem anything, now that Shawn looked at the boy.

"Too much wind to light these here." Michael said, a gust of cold wind blowing the leaves around them, Mr. Clayton's taunts fading away until the Puppet was silent once again.

"Okay, hopefully we won't need it out here." With Mr. Clayton's taunts fading, and the cold wind blowing around them, Shawn refocused his attention on the house. "Now we just need to get inside."

Michael shrugged as if to say "How are we going to do that?" Or maybe he was just shrugging because it was cold and windy. Now that Shawn looked that the skinny boy with his dirty face, expressionless, the hallows of his glinting eyes shrouded in darkness, it seemed difficult to know what Michael was thinking or if he even cared if they got inside or not.

Shawn's eyes traced the latticework on the side of the house up to the second floor window with loose boards. "I think we might be able to get up the side if we're careful. We can sneak in the window with the hole in the boards. Can you climb?"

Michael looked over at the lattice work. It was shrouded in darkness and if not for the white paint against the pale moonlight it would have been completely pitch black. He turned back to Shawn, a breeze tussling through his hair.

Then he simply nodded.

Shawn tried to gauge the best way to make it to the lattice without being spotted. Obviously, there was the fence between the neighbor's yard and the house, but would it be easier to climb the fence, or to go around through Ralph's front yard?

Shawn looked up and down. The front of the house was clearly visible to anyone who walked by, so that meant that the two boys could be spotted both by Treat or Treaters and by anyone inside the house.

The lattice, by comparison, looked old and was riskier to climb since falling off would lead to quite a tumble. Because it was shrouded in darkness, it appeared unlikely that anyone would see them while climbing.

Shawn realized he'd been hesitating out of fear, trying to put off his attempt, and made himself start moving. "Let's go." He started heading for the lattice - the wind was inconvenient for conversation, but hopefully it would cover their approach as well.

Heading towards the lattice, it was in fact, very dark and foreboding. But before Shawn could start climbing, Mr. Clayton piped up.




"Put me on your back." Mr. Clayton whispered to Shawn

Shawn was screwing up his courage to climb when Mr. Clayton interrupted. While he wasn't sure about Mr. Clayton being on his back (it was the opposite of how things usually were), if he brought it up now, it must be important. He reshuffled Mr. Clayton until the dummy was on Shawn's back, then prepared to climb.

The lattice work was surprisingly warm to the touch and it tingled Shawn's fingers. Thick ivy leaves stuck out from behind the somewhat rotted wood, entwining themselves round and round the fixture and then upward like some kind of strangling vine.

As Shawn began to climb, he could see above his head that one of Mr. Clayton's hands was reaching out and pulling upward on the lattice, the other puppet hand wrapped around Shawn's neck for support.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Strength + Athletics + equipment as follows:

Strength + Athletics + 5 - (Mr. Clayton is the equipment)

Shawn focused on climbing to the exclusion of anything else, though he felt grateful Mr. Clayton was there to help.

OOC: 08:35, Today: Shawn rolled 7 successes using 10d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 10(+9),1,10(+2),3,10(+1),10(+3),1,8,2,9.  Strength + Athletics + 5.

Shawn was moving at a slow and careful pace, with the aid of Mr. Clayton pulling him upwards towards the widow. When Shawn got to window itself, he saw that it was fogged with the stain of old mold and broken seals on the window pane. Mr. Clayton's wooden hand reached out and pushed the window upward, and Shawn could smell a waft of old must escape from the interior of the house.

A little more, and Mr. Clayton pushed the window up still further, making an opening large enough for Shawn to pass through.

Shawn squinted into the gloom, but only long enough to gauge where the floor was on the other side of the window. Then he carefully squeezed through, trying not to make noise as he passed into the house.

As Shawn's eyes adjusted to the light, he could see the white paint over the soft wood floor boards. The flakes peeled at random depths showing different sun-baked hues underneath. In its decrepitude, the old house seemed abandoned. The window had led Shawn into a bedroom. At the far end of the bedroom there was a door, once cherry red, now with peelings all shades of a pink.

A rough Autumn breeze blew through the window, moving the dust in the house and nearly making Shawn sneeze. The door moved slightly on its hinges, but with the weariness of of an old man. It creaked, the moan echoing to the rafters that still fight the sagging roof above.

Mr. Clayton appeared to be quiet, taking in the surroundings as Shawn was.

Shawn quietly stepped forward a little, away from the window in case Michael needed the space. He didn't want to make any noise, and he glanced at Mr. Clayton as if to ask if he wanted to stay on his back, or hide under his suit again. If it was the former, he let the dummy be, but if it was the latter, he'd slip him back under his clothes again.

"It's so nice and warm here." Mr. Clayton whispered in Shawn's ear, confirming that the Puppet did indeed want to stay on Shawn's back.

"Do you hear that?" Mr. Clayton asked, there was a low hum sound coming from somewhere in the bottom the house.

Shawn kept Mr. Clayton where he was, and tried to listen to where the hum was coming from. In a regular house, hums would be entirely normal, but here where there didn’t seem to be any lights or any sign that the electricity was even hooked up, it was really out of place.

Shawn listened quietly to the hum. It was a slow gentle thrum, a whirring sound. Even though it was dark inside the room upstairs he could see the dusk on the floor in the hallway shaking. There was debris in the hallway, perhaps fallen pieces of plaster in the house and something else....



"What is that?" asked Shawn, the Puppet's own curiosity piqued, head erect and peering over Shawn's shoulder into the dark hall.

Shawn had no idea what could be making the sound, but he knew anything in this house was a potential threat, and he didn't want to be caught off guard. He crept into the hallway, making sure not to make a sound, trying to pinpoint the noise's source.

As Shawn got closer to the hallway he heard that the sound was almost certainly coming from the first floor of the house or the basement. Abruptly, the sound stopped, leaving Shawn in the silent, stillness of the upstairs.

Cobwebs decorated the corners of the ceilings and Shawn could see a thick layer of dust upstairs. If Ralph did in fact live here with his new Mom, they hadn't really used the upstairs in years. Except for a pair of fresh footprints in the dust on the wooden floor, everything looked abandoned.

Following the foot prints with his eyes, Shawn could see that they led down the stairs. But whomever had made them had dropped something near the stair Bannister.

Shawn peered into the darkness and saw that the item hat was dropped was.....

Lettuce.

Shawn froze when the noise stopped, in case it led to further movement inside the house. When the silence remained, he gingerly explored the dust footprints. The lettuce was quite strange - what an odd thing to drop. He saw the trail led downstairs, but before he followed them, he checked the other direction. If they led downstairs, where did the trail come from?

Now that Shawn had gathered his bearings, he could see that bits of lettuce were on the top step and more leading downward all over the stairs. Turning around and looking at the wooden flooring, there was a trail of lettuce and what looked like other green leaves, bits of tomatoes that led down the hall where he was standing and towards the master bedroom on the second floor. He could see from his vantage point, the double doors of the master bedroom were wide open.

Shawn considered his options very carefully. If something was in this house, there was a pretty good chance it was dangerous. If he went to look and something was in the master bedroom, that was definitely risky. But at the same time, if he didn't look and something was in there, it might follow him or potentially ambush him when he tried to escape.

Ultimately, he decided to investigate the master bedroom, though on the way he tried to take a closer look at the footprints in the dust. He wanted to check two things; first, whether the footprints were kid or adult sized, and second, if he could tell which way they were going - were they heading into the bedroom, or away from the bedroom?

It was easy enough to follow the trail of vegetables to the master bedroom because Shawn was concentrating on them. It was clear that it was a single pair of prints, leading away from the master bedroom and towards the top of the stair case on the second floor. Shawn could see that the size of the prints indicated that they were kids footprints and were in all likelihood Keds sneakers or perhaps Converse shoes. Without a doubt, besides the vegetables, they were the only noticeable disturbance in the heavily coated dust on the floorboards, indicating that whomever made the prints had only traversed this area once and then made their way downstairs.

Shawn felt a little relieved that the footprints were small, and that the original source seemed to have left, though it was a little odd that they only came from the master bedroom. How'd the mystery walked enter the bedroom in the first place? Perhaps that meant there was another way in or out of the house? He crept towards the master bedroom, now completely unsure of what he might find in there.

"I’m not sure what we’re going to find in there. Yucka Yucka," Mr. Clayton spoke Shawn’s own thoughts out loud, though his ‘Yuckas’ completely lacked their usually loud volume and instead sounded more quiet, reserved and almost nervous. Shawn got closer to the bedroom and he saw that there was a window open, old curtains flailing about in the autumn, night breeze.

Shawn saw the open window, and wondered who would possibly break in here? Sure, that was exactly what Shawn had done, but he had a personal reason to be here. As he got closer to the room, he kept his eyes open for any hiding places that were accessible to a kid. Maybe there'd be clues here?

As Shawn made his way over to the window, he could see the master bedroom was old and of a different time. It had a four post bed, of the old style and therefore had any number of hiding places: underneath the bed, in the closet...even the corner of the room in the shadows.  The window was the only sign of movement and the ragged curtains waved lazy with each passing breeze.

Looking out the window, Shawn saw there was a ladder pressed against the side of the house, the opposite side from where Shawn and Michael had trekked. Whoever had gotten into the house had made no attempt to hide their entry.

Shawn bent down and picked up a discarded lettuce leaf and put it in his pocket. He didn't know why they were there, but if someone who'd broken into this house thought it was important to carry one, he had to assume it was for a reason. Then, he carefully searched the room, making sure to start with the hiding places closest to the double doors, ready to bolt at a moment's notice.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Wits + Composure + Equipment

Shawn Rolls Wits + Composure + 5 - Mr. Clayton is the Equipment

OOC: 14:28, Today: Shawn rolled 1 success using 9d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,2,1,4,4,4,5,9,2.  Wits + Composure + Equipment.

Shawn searched through the master bedroom of the old house. Under the bed, there was nothing but old dust on the floor boards. In the closet there was nothing but old clothes that smelled like moth balls. The shadowy corners of the room held peeling wall paper that was probably stylish in the 1930s or 1940s but now gave the room a dead, haunted appearance.

In the end Shawn found absolutely no one in the room. Still, after the search it was conclusive that the kid carrying vegetables must have come up the ladder and into the room and then proceeded downstairs, dropping lettuce and other vegetables here and there on the way. It was also clear based on the foot prints that Shawn had examined, that the kid had only done this once and that it was unlikely that anyone else had come back up the stairs and into the Master Bedroom.

Shawn was definitely more confused than ever, but a kid carrying vegetables at least didn't seem like an outright threat. With a slightly befuddled look to Mr. Clayton, he resumed his exploration of the rest of the house. There didn't seem to be much else up on this floor, so he might have to follow this mysterious trail downstairs.

"Don't look at me" Mr. Clayton said as Shawn got to the top step of the stairs and looked downward. "I don't even like vegetables."

As Shawn took the first step, the stairs creaked slightly. "Careful, we don't want anyone to hear us. Hey, remember that time you tried to get up the stairs and I helped Bradford kill you? Well, not  you, but the other you."

Shawn shot Mr. Clayton a nasty look - he did remember that. He remembered quite vividly what had happened to the other 'him', and the memories he'd absorbed of being stabbed to death still gave him the occasional nightmare.

But rather than start arguing with Mr. Clayton, he refocused. He had to make it downstairs without making noise. He kept to the edges of the stairs, and tried to descend slowly enough that any noise he made would be lost in the ambient creaks and groans of the house.

Even looking at Mr. Clayton in the dark Shawn could tell the Puppet was slowing down. He had a sleepy look in his porcelain eyes.

"I know, I know. But those were different times. We need to be quiet. You're doing just fine." Mr. Clayton said sleepily.

"This will be our last night together for a while. Then you need to put me back in my case where I can sleep. Don't worry, we'll be together forever. But before then, I can still help us."

OOC: Shawn may roll a Stealth Roll to remain quiet. If he does, he can roll

Dexterity + Stealth + Equipment

Dexterity + Stealth + 5 - Mr. Clayton is the Equipment

OOC: 20:22, Today: Shawn rolled 5 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 8,4,10(+10,10,1),2,8.  Dexterity + Stealth + Equipment.

Shawn crept down the old staircase where it led to the first floor of Ralph's  house. This floor, clearly had been used. There were kids coats, four or five, hung up by the front door on an old coat rack and sneakers, shoes and boots carelessly discarded by the front door. There was a crooked portrait of an old woman hanging up on the peeling wallpaper nearby, frame slightly broken, black and white photo faded yellow with age.



Mr. Clayton's hand slowly reached around Shawn's left ear to point at the ground.

"Look at that. More vegetables" Mr. Clayton said

It was true. The ground had what looked like old, spoiled vegetables. Carrots that were brown and lettuce that was wilted were scattered around the hallway leading to the kitchen.

The whole place had a rotten, sweet smell.

Shawn was surprised to see the coats, and he looked at them carefully - did they seem new, or were they covered in dust like most other things? He stayed low as he headed towards the kitchen, wary of making a sound.

Shawn touched one of the coats. It was red and soft and downy. It was just like any other coat a kid would wear in the Autumn or Winter. The next coat was decorated with a Transformers logo, the Decepticons, if Shawn was not mistaken.



"Those jackets are new." Mr. Clayton observed in a tired tone. "They probably belong to dead kids now. Yucka! Yucka!" he laughed quietly, as if missing and dead kids were a great joke.

Shawn gave Mr. Clayton another angry look, but he had to concede he was probably right. But then again, someone had passed through the area recently, so maybe there were kids alive in here somewhere? He continued to follow the trail of rotting vegetables to the kitchen.

06:43, Today: Sean's Puppet - Mr. Clayton failed (no successes) using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((1,4,6,4,6,3)).

Mr. Clayton started to snore sweetly, and therefore he was unable to advise or help Shawn with what was coming next.

Shawn continued to follow the trail towards the kitchen as carefully as he could. The house was completely shrouded in darkness, the customary lights from the old, 1940s chandeleers covered in dust like they hadn't be used in decades.

As Shawn turned the corner in the hallway as carefully as he could, he bumped right into something....no....someone.

Shawn was on edge and aware of the danger he was in. As he bumped into...whatever that was - whoever that was, he jumped back, preparing to immediately bolt as he saw who he'd collided with.

Shawn looked up, ready to make a run for it.

Half a second later, he realized who he had bumped into.


Michael turned around with the strangest look on his face. There was a sheen of sweat on his forehead. His hands hung low and relaxed at his sides. There was a slight twitch on one side of his face, almost a spasm.

"I think we should go." He whispered to Shawn in his usual flat tone. But there was something else in the tone this time. An eagerness that Shawn hadn't seen from Michael before. As if the boy was eager to be done with something.

Shawn was anxious to be gone as well, but there was a strangeness to Michael he hadn't seen before. It made him a little uncomfortable, but he knew they couldn't leave quite yet. "We have to find Ralph first."

Michael raised his eyebrows at Shawn's response. A single bead of sweat ran down the side of his head and curved down the skinny boy's chin.

"You don't understand. There's something here. We have to find a closet to hide in. It just passed by here a second ago." Michael whispered.

"There." Michael pointed to the right of the old kitchen, passed the large wooden table and towards a pantry. "We need to hide in there."

Shawn glanced at the pantry, still unsure. He nudged at Mr. Clayton, trying to wake him up a little, in case he had an idea of what was going on. He started heading quietly towards the hiding place, though a though occurred to him that made him pause. "Micheal, how did you get in here? You were right behind me before, but I didn't hear you follow me in. Or any of the doors open..."

Michael's face betrayed no inkling of what he was thinking. He opened his mouth and ....

OOC: Shawn Rolls Composure + Empathy + Specializations (Contested Action vs. Michael)

OOC:  12:33, Today: Shawn failed (no successes) using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 2,1,7.  Composure + Empathy + Specializations .

...."You went into the big bedroom and I went down stairs" Michael whispered to Shawn almost mechanically, referring to the time that Shawn spent looking through the Master Bedroom, examining what was under the bed, looking at the open window and ensuring that no one was hiding in the dark corners of the room.

The boy gestured once again to the pantry, this time, not waiting for Shawn to respond, and instead, heading over there himself as if he was going to hide in it with or without Shawn.

Shawn realized he must've been too focused on looking around to notice Michael heading downstairs...though he must've gotten some footprints mixed up with Michael's. Either way, he wasn't going to hang around in the open if Michael said something was coming - he headed for the pantry behind Michael, listening carefully for the sound of anything approaching.

Shawn pressed himself into the pantry closet behind Michael and the door closed tight against his elbow, the shelving jutting out into Shawn's ribs. The pantry had a an old, stale bread smell. The only thing Shawn could hear in the moment the door closed was Michael's breathing and then Shawn's own breaths.

Michael told Shawn in a hushed whisper. "I saw it turn the corner. It is probably going to come back."

Though the pantry door was closed tight, the outside world was no only visible through the slotted blinds that adorned it's center. And through those horizontal lines, Shawn could make out the kitchen table, empty of people and covered in dust.

Shawn nodded in response, watching and listening for any sign of activity. When the waiting set in, he reached up to try and quietly shake Mr. Clayton awake - regardless of what happened, he felt weirdly less alone with the dummy around.

"hmmm?" Mr. Clayton murmured, clearly rousing from some kind of sleep.

Michael's head turned a quarter inch to face Shawn, whites of his eyes gleaming in the darkness of the pantry."It is not a good idea to play with that just now." He whispered in a low voice.

Just then, there was a shuffling sound. Slow at first, but then getting faster and closer. It sounded like the footfalls of someone.

Shawn put a finger to Mr. Clayton's 'lips' to silence him, then frozen in place. He didn't want to make a sound, lest whoever was making the approaching footfalls heard him.

The footfalls came closer and the person came into a view. It was a kid Shawn saw, and a girl at that. She had long hair but her shape was merely a black silhouette, an outline against the dark background of the kitchen. It was only when she turned that Shawn saw who she was:

It was Sara. The girl who had vandalized the upstairs bathroom in his house. Or at least was somehow associated with that incident during the summer.

But something was off about her appearance. She was hunched over in poor posture and she was breathing heavy. There was a slight gargling noise in her throat. Her pupils looked so dilated that there was barely any white in her eyes. In one hand, she held a large steak knife, the kind that Shawn usually saw on the set of horror movies. Only this one looked real.

She looked from one area of the kitchen to the next.

Shawn could barely hear the sound of Michael swallow next to him.

Shawn hadn't expected to see Sara here, and despite being a recognizable face, her appearance definitely wasn't reassuring. He could sense the danger coming off her, so he kept completely still, barely even breathing.

Sara looked around, brandishing the knife, then she stalked off in the direction that Shawn and Michael entered the kitchen.

"We have to get out of here." Michael whispered, breath smelling like he hadn't brushed his teeth that morning, pantry now hot and cramped.

Shawn listened carefully as Sara wandered off, not wanting to make even a whisper until she was well out of hearing range. He leaned in close to Michael so he could speak as quietly as possible, ignoring the smell. "We have to find Ralph." Even as he said it, he didn't know how they could possibly do that with Sara lurking around the house. Was he even still there?

Michael's eyes glinted, light from the slotted blinds of the pantry door casting the side of his face in shadows "No. She's not the only one." Michael whispered to Shawn in a foreboding tone.

"I think I saw some other kid in the house. I think they might be looking for us. We can find Ralph later. We can come back during the day." There was an almost pleading tone in Michael's flat, monotone voice. It was the closest to an emotion Shawn had ever seen the boy demonstrate.

"I don't know if I'll be able to come back during the day..." Still, Shawn realized that if they were being specifically searched for, there was definitely no way they'd be able to find Ralph without getting caught. He'd have to figure out something else later. "All right, we need to sneak out of here. Where was the other kid? We've gotta avoid them both."

In the shadow's of the pantry, Shawn could see Michael's Adam's apple bob as the boy swallowed. There was a long pause. Then an even longer pause.

It became obvious after a few moments that Michael either had answered Shawn with a gesture that couldn't be seen in the dark, or had just remained silent.

Shawn wasn't sure if he'd missed Michael's answer or just hadn't seen it. He paused for a moment to make sure Sara hadn't turned around before repeating his question. "Where was the other kid?"  He leaned in a little closer to Michael, to make sure he didn't miss a response this time.

"I do not know. I do not know where Sara is. Or where the other kid is. I only know what I see through this pantry." This time Shawn heard Michael swallow now that he was in close. It was a sweaty, nervous swallow, even as Michael's voice sounded flat and monotone. Shawn could hear Michael's breaths too, somewhat fast and heated and adding to the suffocating air in the pantry.

"We should just run out the back door." Michael suggest in a tone that was informational and completely at odds with the rapid pace of his breathing.

Shawn tried to picture the layout of the house - he hadn't seen the back door from the inside, at least not clearly, but he knew where it was from the outside. He compared it to the front door, which he'd passed by on the way in. Did either seem like the better route? Certainly, the back yard gave him the creeps...
This message was last edited by the player at 11:58, Thu 22 Apr 2021.

Shawn tried to remember the outline of the house both from the interior and the exterior. For whatever reason, it appeared as if the luck he had received upon entering the house had faded. Just then, Shawn heard the fluttered whispers of Mr. Clayton snoring just above Shawn's left ear. The Puppet, it appeared, had fallen asleep.

OOC: Shawn may Roll Wits + Composure +1 or take any other action

OOC: 10:24, Today: Shawn failed (no successes) using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 6,7,3,1,3.  Wits + Composure +1.

Shawn couldn't quite figure out the interior of the house and where the door might be. Was it in the kitchen? Was it off to the side?

"We have to get out of here. We should run for it." Michael suggested.

Maybe it was the stress or the fear or just general tiredness, but Shawn couldn't remember which way the door was. All he could do was rely on Michael's memory. He nodded in the dim light, then realized that Michael probably couldn't see that. "All right. I'll follow you."

Shawn heard Michael breath in and in one motion, his skinny arm came up, hand gently pushing on the pantry door. The dim light entered the pantry and stale air replaced the stuffy, suffocating den of Michael and Shawn's hiding place.

Michael took one tentative step forward, his large, converse shoe making impact with the cheap, linoleum floor in the kitchen, calve muscles and legs almost comically thin. He looked back at Shawn without much emotion for anything, though Shawn could see that Michael's forehead was covered with a thin sheen of sweat and there were dark stains around the boy's armpits, his costume hanging loose.

"Quiet...we have to be really quiet" Michael advised Shawn in an obvious whisper that was so quiet itself, it didn't disturb the silence of the kitchen.

Shawn didn't need much encouragement, carefully stepping out of the pantry and watching his step to make sure he didn't make any noise as he crept onto the linoleum. He nodded back to Michael, not wanting even the tiny risk involved in whispering back.

The boys moved with the silence of a shadow getting out of the pantry and heading into the kitchen. Past the table, with its settings and towards the counter which was completely empty save for the thick layer of dust.

"There." Michael said, pointing to a sliding glass door that was 15 feet away.

Shawn nodded again as he trailed after Michael. He kept his eye open for hallways or entrances that someone could come from as they headed towards the door. Once they were outside, hopefully they could make a break for it.

Shawn tried to move as silently as possible, the sounds of Mr. Clayton's fluttering snores in rhythm with Shawn's own breathing.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Dexterity + Stealth

OOC: 07:54, Today: Shawn rolled 4 successes using 8d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 7,4,9,2,10(+10,1),5,9,5.  Dexterity + Stealth + WP.

Quietly, quietly Shawn crept across the linoleum floor in the kitchen. Each step was taken in total silence, leaving foot prints of dust in the areas where no one had trespassed.

Shawn could see the sliding glass door now. The one that Michael pointed out. It was glass but it was old, perhaps twenty or thirty years old. It looked like the kind of sliding glass door that Shawn's old, dead agent Mr. Sellick would use. That memory alone seemed to fit in this house: The idea of Mr. Sellick's neck splitting open, a large gout of blood shooting out all over the interior of the car. It seemed to fit with the knife that Sara had been holding.

Just as Shawn made his way to the sliding glass door, with Michael ahead of him, he saw Sara. Her back was facing him. She had the knife in one hand and she was bending over to pick up something: lettuce. There was a pile of lettuce and carrots and other assorted vegetables on the floor, a broken wooden crate carelessly turned over near her feet.

Shawn kept absolutely still and silent, the memories of the deaths he'd witnessed serving to remind him of the stakes if he didn't keep quiet. He felt like his heart was about to stop when he saw Sara, though fortunately he didn't make any noise. He had no idea what the significance of the vegetables was, but at least they seemed to be distracting her.

OOC: Is Sara between Shawn and the door, or is she off to the side?

Sara's back was facing Shawn as she bent over to gather several armfuls of lettuce, knife carefully held in the other hand. She was at the intersection of the hallway and the entrance to the kitchen, not at all in Shawn's path and her back completely turned to him.

Without noticing, she opened a side door nearby, then momentarily stopped as she accidentally dropped a few vegetables, bent over to the pick them up again.

Shawn kept quiet, breathing silently as he saw her pick up the vegetables. Seeing her drop them explained why there was so much scattered all over the place, but it didn't really explain the 'why'. He looked at the side door she opened - if it looked like a closet, he'd start sneaking out of her view towards the glass door before she turned around, but if it looked like a hallway, he'd wait for her to get further away before he started to move.

As Shawn watched Sara, she disappeared in behind the door she had opened. Then he heard footsteps.

...Clock

...Clock

...Clock

As Sara went down, down, down what sounded like old wooden stairs.

A Basement.

The Basement. It was almost certainly where that loud sound had been emanating from earlier on. The sound with the red light that Shawn had seen outside. The light that came out from the basement windows and illuminated the nearby grass.

Shawn was filled with a frightened curiosity, but he knew he had to retreat lest he get caught by whatever else was in the building. But as he quietly headed towards the back door, he decided that if he had the chance when he got outside, he’d peek in the window to see what was going on with the red light and the noise.

Michael opened the sliding glass door as quietly as he could.

OOC: 13:57, Today: Michael failed (no successes) using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((7,7,6,6)).

But the door was old, very old. It opened with a squealing protest, a loud sound of metal on metal as Michael strained to push it open, tendons on the side of his neck standing out.

There was a sudden shuffling near the entrance way that Shawn had seen Sara disappear to. Then footsteps of someone coming up the stairs!

Shawn winced as he heard the noise, and assumed the worst when he heard the shuffling noise from the basement. "Go." He let Michael step through the door first, then followed, breaking into a run the moment he crossed the threshold. They had to make it to the streets, where the trick or treaters were.

Shawn ran. He he ran as fast as he could. The ground was pounding up from underneath him as his feet hit the ground, world bobbing up and down, lungs burning with fresh autumn air. He turned around to see Michael's robotic face running just behind him. Further still against the fading background of Ralph's house in the distance, Sara poked her head out to see the boys running away, knife catching the gleam of the moonlight above.

In the distance a group of trick or treaters huddled around a streetlight.

Shawn aimed himself towards the group of trick or treaters and kept running, especially when he saw Sara poke her head out. He didn’t slow down until he got close to the street light, trying to compose himself into something resembling normal, like he was just out having fun on Halloween.

OOC: Shawn rolls reflexive Stamina roll with the following results

0 - Successes: Shawn can't breath for running so fast, he approaches the group gasping for air and unable to speak coherently (Three NPCs post first before Shawn speaks)


1-3 - Successes: Shawn draws on the adrenaline of the moment (Two NPCs post first before Shawn speaks)

4+ - Successes: Shawn is able to speak as soon as he reaches the group draws on the adrenaline of escaping Ralph's house with Sara and her knife.

OOC: 07:48, Today: Shawn failed (no successes) using 2d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 6,4.  Stamina .

Shawn arrived at the gathering of kids breathing heavy and unable to speak. He bent over resting his hands on his knees and gasping.




"Whoa! Like, did  you see them both run across that yard!? It was like, totally tubular!!!" Said a fat, short kid that appeared to be dressed like a witch.

"Totally Houston!" A kid dressed up as a ghost exclaimed. "You gnarley treat or treaters ran like 'Whoa!'"

"It was like totally rockin'! But like, what are you guys like, running for? Are you like running from a car that's throwing like, eggs? Because that's like a totally not cool thing that we saw earlier."

Shawn wanted to reply, but he was still catching his breath from his sprint and just gasped for breath instead. While he recovered, he glanced around behind him to make sure Michael had stuck with him, and that Sara wasn't following them.

"We ran from that house." Michael said, but he didn't seem to be gasping as much as Shawn was. Michael's head turned to Shawn as if it was on a swivel with an expectant silence that Shawn had become accustomed to. No one else noticed it, but Shawn had been around Michael enough to know that with this gesture, Michael wouldn't be saying anything else for a while and if there was to be a conversation, Shawn would have to do the talking.

"Whoa! Like, what did you run from!?" The tall kid asked Michael. And seeing that the only response he got was silence, he turned his head toward Shawn in hope that Shawn would reply.

Shawn had finally caught his breath enough to speak. He straightened up a bit, and readjusted Mr. Clayton from piggyback to on his arm as he did. "It was a scary older kid. With a knife!" It was almost entirely true - the only thing he wasn't entirely sure of was Sara's age compared to his. But he wanted to warn the other kids away from the place, and he worried the whole truth would make them want to investigate.

"Was it like, a fake knife?" The tall kid asked.

Shawn arrived at the gathering of kids breathing heavy and unable to speak. He bent over resting his hands on his knees and gasping.




"Or like, a really-real knife!!!?" the fat, short kid asked.

At this point, Michael had pulled up alongside Shawn and was also breathing heavy. But, by the sound of his complete silence, it appeared he wouldn't be offering any answers to the group.

Shawn was still a bit out of breath, but he was recovering enough to speak at least a little. "It looked like a steak knife. From the kitchen." It had looked real to Shawn, at least. Sara had definitely been carrying it like it was real. He glanced over at Michael, glad that he was going to let him take the lead on what details to share.

One eye peeked out from under the fluff of messy hair the fat kid had. The eye was wide open in shock at what Shawn was saying.




"Like, a real knife!!! Was she like, trying to hurt you or was she like, totally dressed up in a costume just pretending. And was it like the spooky house over there?" the fat, short kid pointed somewhere off in the general direction from where Shawn came

"It was the spooky house. And it didn't feel like a trick. No costume or anything." Shawn's sentences came out in short rushes as his breath started to come back. He readjusted Mr. Clayton a little so it didn't look like he was staring at the other kids.

The two kids looked at each other for a moment as if hearing something that Shawn said sparked some dialogue between them, though neither spoke. A third kid was there, Shawn saw. He was short with blondish hair and had large eyes like an owl. He was wearing a cheap, plastic costume of Hulk Hogan, the flimsy, plastic mask turned sideways, thin elastic band horizontal across his forehead.



"Dude. That house. It's like, that house is like, totally not a good house Dude. We're supposed to be like, investigating it for the Club. I mean for Edith. But we were told to like stay away.  I mean, I know it sounds weird Dude, but like, I swear Dude. That house is like, I've never seen it. I mean I've seen it Dude, but like, I don't like, remember seeing it. Its like, on Main Street. And like, everyone knows that Main Street is where like, the bad stuff happens since early on this summer. Do you live on Main Street Dude?" The tall kid asked Shawn.

Shawn didn't really know anything about a club or Edith, but it made sense that there were other kids trying to find out what was going on in the neighborhood. "Yeah, that house is bad news. You should stay away from it. I live on Main Street, and bad stuff happens all the time."

Gathering his bearings, Shawn could see that he was actually on Rodeo Drive under a street light. A few houses down, a kid dressed up as a ghost in flimsy bedsheet walked up the stairs outside a house, accompanied by what looked like his Mom and knocked on the door:

'Trick or Treat!' he said.




"Like, what kind of bad stuff? Like bad stuff, or like really, really bad stuff?" the fat, short kid was now completely interested in Shawn's experience on Main Street.

The tall kid actually put his pillow sack down, candy wrappers crinkling as he came closer to Shawn.



"I'm Bart" The tall kid said. "And this is Houston." He said, signalling over to the short, fat kid with a jerk of his thumb. "We live on Rodeo Drive and we're running a super-dooper secret investigation about what's happening on Main Street."

"Nice to meet you - I'm Shawn." Shawn thought about the stuff he'd been through, and tried to translate it into a version that didn't sound completely crazy or involve him that much. These kids seemed nice, but he wasn't sure if he could trust them to listen or not go off investigating something dangerous. "I dunno, there's spooky stuff. Kids go missing, and even the adults act weird sometimes."

The tall kid actually put his pillow sack down, candy wrappers crinkling as he came closer to Shawn.



"Dude, she was right!" The tall kid said to Houston. "It is happening on Main Street. It's like totally happening, it isn't some kind of like, joke. Like, kids are disappearing Dude. Duuuuuude." He said in wonder.

"Dude. It's not funny." the fat, short kid said to Bart

"Dude, that's like what I mean. It's not funny. Kids are disappearing."

"All I know is you should definitely stay away from that house." Shawn didn't need the reminder that it wasn't funny - he'd seen way too much. And now that he'd seen it, he knew he should go back to see Leonard. Partly to find out if he could do anything with what Shawn had discovered, partly because he didn't quite trust when Mr. Clayton had said he'd fixed him after he'd been sick.

"Wait a minute!" Bart said with a sudden jolt that cut through the air and made his fat companion jump.

"Like, I recognize you! You're like,  the kid from the commercial! You're like the kid from like the scare Halloween commercial that I saw!" Then, as if doubting himself, he peered closely at Shawn, eyes squinting through the light of street lamp.

"It's you right? I mean, its like totally you that like, was in the commercial and like, doing it on TV?" he asked Shawn in a round about way.

Shawn had been so focused on the danger and strange occurrences on Main Street that he hadn't expected being confronted with the relatively mundane part of his life. Still, he'd been asked about acting stuff by other kids often enough that the response was basically automatic. He gave Bart a rueful smile. "Yeah, that was me. I hope I was okay, I didn't get a lot of time to practice."

The boys didn't seem to offer any opinion on Shawn's performance, and instead seemed fascinated.



"Dude. TV. Like, what's like to like, seeeee yourself on the screen. Is it weird? I'd be be like, whoa! Who's that fat kid!?" the fat, short kid exclaimed

"It's kinda weird, because you don't see yourself when you're doing it, it's only afterwards when you're done." Shawn knew they were going off on a tangent, but at least it was distracting them from the house on Main Street.

"Its like poo" the fat, short kid added. "You don't see it. You don't see yourself do it."

If it were someone older, the commented might have appeared flippant. However, there was no sense of irony in Houston's tone.

"Ewww Gross!" Bart objected.

"Its nothing like poo. Poo is gross. Commercials are gnarly."

Shawn didn't really have any idea how to react to that, so he fell back on a giggle at the word 'poo'. "Haha, I guess? Making commercials and stuff does get messy sometimes."

"See? He like said so" the fat, short kid retorted

"Dude, Houston, man. He didn't mean it like that, Dude. He just said like, totally, like messy. But not like, messy, like gross, number two messy. Dude, that's like totally another like, another kind of messy Dude."

Then the two boys began to argue in a friendly, joking manner about what Shawn meant.

Shawn let them bicker for a moment or two before realizing they probably didn't need him there anymore. "I've gotta get going, there's still some Halloween left. But just, you know, stay away from that house, okay?" He needed to talk to Leonard again and figure out what was actually happening there.

The boys said goodbye to Shawn, noting that it was really nice to meet him. When Shawn got a few steps away from the street light, Michael pulled up alongside him.

"Where are we going?" He asked flatly.

Shawn agreed that it was equally nice to meet the other two kids, but soon he and Michael were on their way. Once they’d gotten far enough away from Houston and Bart that Shawn didn’t have to worry about them overhearing, he answered Michael’s question. “We need to go tell Leonard what we found, see if he can help us figure it out. Like, why vegetables?” He also wanted to make sure he was recovering from whatever Mr. Clayton did to him. The dummy had said he’d fixed him, but “fixed” could mean a lot of things.

There was about ten seconds before Michael said something, the silence only filled by the sounds of the boys sneakers crunching on the fallen autumn leaves in the street.

"The vegetable thing was weird." Michael said in his deep, flat voice. Another ten seconds passed, Michael not saying anything.

"We were also supposed to get some candy for Leonard I think. But I do not remember what candy Leonard wanted. I believe it was a candy that Leonard wanted to have because he did not have it at his house." Michael speculated.

It took Shawn a second to remember, but he had a pretty good memory for things people wanted. “Yeah, he wanted a full sized Snickers. Did you see any houses that had that?” Full sized candy bars were the jackpot every kid was after on Halloween.

Michael raised one arm, his pillow sack dangling in the wind as he pointed towards a small, yellow house with a white picket fence that stood out from its neighbors.

"That house had them last year." He said, not offering any other information then what was asked.

Shawn glanced at the yellow house with interest. "That's lucky. Let's give it a try - the people there haven't moved or anything, have they?" He turned to start heading in the direction of the house, adjusting his costume and Mr. Clayton so they looked properly Halloween-y.

The next few moments were silent again as Michael and Shawn steadied into the rhythmic sound of their own footfalls on the pavement and leaves.

The yellow house stood out from the rest with its white picket fence and lawn that was clear of any leaves or debris, giving the impression that it's owner was diligent and took time to clean up. The boys headed up the driveway and onto the porch.

From within the house they heard a muffled kid's voice "James, Trick or Treaters!" then the sound of something like a plastic bag, as if whomever was behind the door was rummaging through candy, preparing for Shawn and Michael's approach.

Shawn got his bag ready - he'd stuffed it in his pocket before since it wasn't like he'd had a chance to put anything in it up to now - and coached his expression into something cheerful and excited. And it wasn't even a lie, really; he did want to trick or treat and eat some candy like any other kid.

The door opened, the interior light cast on Shawn's face and then a short kid Shawn's age appeared. He had blonde hair and eyes as wide as dinner plates.

He stood there with a bowl of candy, as if waiting for Shawn and Michael to say "Trick or Treat." Though Michael said nothing.

Shawn gave the kid a cheerful smile, like it was a completely ordinary Halloween night. "Trick or Treat!" He held up Mr. Clayton with one hand, and his treat bag with the other.

"I like your costumes" The kid said, looking from Shawn to Michael. Then he rummaged through the bowl, grabbed a fist full of candy and then gave it to Shawn and Michael.

Just for an instant, Shawn's eyes met the kid's eyes. In that moment, the kid's eyes --already wide--grew wider. So wide in fact, that the expression was almost comical, cartoon like.

"You...." The kid stammered, mouth dropping open. "You're the kid on TV." he sputtered out.

Shawn couldn't help but glow a little at the compliment as he opened his bag for the fistful of candy he was about to receive. He tried to glimpse what sort of candy he was getting, watching for Snickers - though he wouldn't comment either way since that'd be rude. He tried to seem modest about being recognized. "Yeah, that was me. I hope that's okay?"

The kids eyes were still as wide as ever, but his tone shifted from awe, to acceptance.

"I suppose it is whatever it is supposed to be." he conceded in a voice that was very relaxed. Shawn saw that these were full candy bars. Not the small little Snickers that were bite-sized. They were full size. Long Snickers, double Twixes, even full size Milky Way bars and 3 Musketeers.

"You should come with us Trick or Treating." Michael blurted out in flat tone that was very uncharacteristically inviting, given the fact that he never said anything.

Shawn was surprised at Michael suddenly chiming in of his own accord. He wondered what it was about Wallace or the situation that caused him to do that. Of course, while Shawn wanted to keep Trick or Treating, it was also important to find out more about Ralph's house from Leonard. And of course, he didn't want to be rude to this random kid.

Carefully, he decided to split the difference. He brightened up like Michael had said the most brilliant idea he'd ever heard. "You could totally come out Trick or Treating with us! It'd be fun!" He held his smile for a moment or two, then seemed to come to a disappointing realization. "Oh wait, I promised a friend I'd check on him. He was too sick to go Trick or Treating, but I promised to bring him some candy soon. But you can totally go Trick or Treating with Michael if you want!"

The kid looked from Shawn to Michael and then said softly.

"My name is Wallace. Who are you?" he asked in a relaxed tone. "I could come with you, but its Halloween and I'm not sure that my Mom would like me to leave tonight. I've heard that there are things going on in the neighborhood lately. It might not be the right time for me to go out and play just yet." He offered in what seemed like a sincere gesture of honesty but also stopped short of fully describing what everyone knew the situation was in the neighborhood with the disappearing kids.

"I'm Shawn and this is Michael." Shawn tried to match Wallace's relatively relaxed tone, though it was purposefully slightly more excited to give him room to emote. "Yeah, it'd be cool if we could Trick or Treat together, but you should probably listen to your mom. I don't want to get you in trouble." He tried to convey with tone that he still thought Wallace was cool, so hopefully Wallace would like him as well.

Wallace seemed to pause for a second. Before answering.

OOC: Shawn may roll a Wits + Empathy + Specialization Roll to 'read Wallace' in the social situation or simply just wait for Wallace to respond. If Shawn decides to roll, the following occurs:

0 Successes: Shawn gains little intuitively from the interaction, other than that Wallace is pleasant and polite. The interaction ends after Wallace speaks.

1-4 Successes: Shawn seems to read the social situation well and learns one specific thing from the interaction.

5+ Successes: Shawn reads the social environment entirely, gleaning two specific things from the interaction.

OOC: 07:46, Today: Shawn failed (no successes) using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 5,6,1.  Wits + Empathy.

Wallace was calm and collected as he answered and Shawn understood that there wasn't anything false in what Wallace said.

"It's ok. I've got to stay inside tonight. Mom says so." He smiled and there was no regret in his voice. "Maybe I'll see you guys around." He said.

"That'd be great!" Shawn smiled back in a genuine sort of way - he didn't really know many boys his own age. He gathered up his Trick or Treat bag and gave Wallace a friendly wave as he and Michael headed off.

The boys continued walking down Rodeo Drive, the distant sound of 'Trick or Treat!' reverberating from somewhere in the neighborhood, giddy kids eager to get their share of candy.

"Where is Leonard?" Michael asked flatly. "Is he on Rodeo Drive or on Main Street. I feel a bit lost since we escaped Ralph's house. I am think right now about the girl with the knife." He said, tone not indicating fear, but the words implied that Michael was worried.

"She saw us. She might be out here." He looked up at the sky. It was dark. A lot darker than it was or at least felt when Shawn had started trick or treating. In fact, it was, for all intents and purposes, night time.

Shawn mentally retraced his steps, not from Ralph's house, but the route he'd taken from his place to Leonard's. Unlike Michael, he'd been to Leonard's a few times, so it was easy to remember. "He's on Rodeo Drive. I remember because we live on different streets, and I'm on Main Street."

Shawn didn't answer Michael's other statement right away, but he did start walking slightly faster (though he made sure Michael could keep up). "She might be, but she might not. Let's get to Leonard's quickly just in case."

Unfortunately, this was the one night of the year you could stalk through the streets carrying a knife and people wouldn't get upset. He wondered if she'd be persistent enough to keep following them, or if she'd need to return to...whatever she was doing in the house at some point. She hadn't chased after them immediately after they left the house, so did that mean she was intelligent enough to avoid other people? It was a bizarre situation, and he was really hoping Leonard had answers.

Michael didn't respond as they headed towards Leonard's house.

Falling leaves tumbled from the interlocking branches above, branches that grew so thickly only bright gaps of moonlight broke through. It was a reminder that Halloween night was a march towards winter. Shawn and Michael trudged in silence as they finally made their way up to Leonard's driveway, sneakers crunching on leaves of red and brown.

But Leonard had beaten them to the punch as he opened the door.

"I have answers!" He declared.

Shawn marched along in silence, though he kept his eyes peeled for any sign of danger. The tension was palpable, so when Leonard opened the door, Shawn ducked inside before he replied to him. "That's great, because we need them. But I brought Snickers!"

Leonard's eyes opened wide at the sight of the Snickers.

Shawn could see that Leonard wasn't wearing a costume anymore. The cardboard of the robot had been discarded for sweat pants and a long-sleeve red turtle neck. The vomit...or blood vomit had been wiped clean from Leonard's face and the drained, exhausted look on Leonard's face also seemed to be gone.

All in all, Leonard appeared to be in good spirits.


"Did you EVER!" Leonard said, feasting his eyes on the fist full of Snickers that Shawn presented.

Michael, of course, said nothing.

Shawn opened his bag wider so that Leonard could take some if he wanted. "We got really lucky!" He gave Leonard a smile even as he surreptitiously looked him up and down to make sure he was fully back to normal.

Leonard opened the door to let both Shawn and Michael in.

"Boy, you guys did well. I cleaned up. I cleaned up really, really good. I learned my lesson. No more candy before going on on Halloween."

He seemed in good spirits and by all appearances Leonard was completely back to normal.

"Did you see anything scary out there like we talked about? The Robot?" Leonard asked Shawn.

"What happened at that weird house?" Leonard asked before Shawn could answer. Leonard was carrying a small folder in his hands, sheets of paper loosely held together and peaking out as if he had been drawing.

Shawn felt a bit of relief that Leonard was feeling better, but now he really needed to figure out the mystery of what was going on in the neighborhood. "We didn't see a robot, but it was still really freaky. We went inside, but it didn't look like anyone's living in there. But we saw someone from the neighborhood, but she was acting really weird and she had a knife. And she was carrying vegetables." It all came out in a bit of a disorganized rush, but hopefully Leonard's weird perceptiveness would help him pick out the important details.

"VEGETABLES!!" Leonard exclaimed, almost immediately after Shawn said the word. "A KNIFE!!!??" His voice now registering an octave higher at an almost girlish level.

"Yes." Michael intoned in a deep, flat voice that somehow sounded the exact opposite of Leonard.

"A girl, with a knife that had vegetables." Leonard repeated, taking his time, his voice now returning to normal.

"Yes." Michael said in the same monotone as before.

"Well..." Leonard began. He started to fidget with the wrapper of the Snickers bar as if he was going to open it. Then he let out a large belch and winced, patting his stomach as if whatever had happened earlier with the vomiting blood still wasn't totally behind him.

Thinking better of opening the Snickers, he put it instead in his pocket.

"It just so happens that I know someone who might be able to help us." He declared.

"A girl." He exclaimed, as if the person being a girl was big deal or as if it was obvious that no one else, neither Shawn nor Michael knew a girl or was accustomed to talking to one. From the way he was speaking, Leonard sounded like finding a girl to talk to or to help them was akin to finding a rare species of animal, like Big Foot: A thing that people claimed to have seen, but there was rarely ever any evidence so any accounts of interaction had to be taken with a grain of salt.

“A girl?” Shawn sounded a little incredulous, though probably for different reasons than Leonard. Shawn had worked with girls a bunch as an actor, so the idea of seeing or talking to one didn’t worry him more than talking to people in general - it was the same desire to make a good impression and not have them think he was bad.

What confused him was the idea that there was a girl out there who could solve this whole problem. Maybe if she was an all powerful wizard, or, like, a superhero or something. But not a regular girl. “What girl?”

"Oh yes." Leonard said, as if proud to be ahead of some game.

Leonard's eyes grew wide as he described the girl that might solve all of their problems.

"Well, she's short. But she's got red or reddish hair. And she's got freckles. And her favorite color is green." Leonard described her, as if he was ready to draw a picture in one of his comics.

"But that's not the most important part. She's really, really really smart. Like super smart. She's the smartest person in the world." He said, filling the in the details.

"Oh. And she's got a really, really, really big head."

Shawn nodded along with Leonard’s description as he wracked his brain trying to match the description of the girl to anyone he knew. “By a big head, do you mean, like, big for a person? Or big like house sized?” He was, admittedly, still thinking of her in terms of a potentially magical creature that they could unleash on the situation.

Leonard pondered Shawn's question, looking up at the night sky. Then he went into a full description of what the girl was, trying his best to help Shawn understand.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Intelligence + Composure +3 (Leonard's Help)

OOC: 18:10, Today: Shawn failed (no successes) using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,6,5,4,4,4.  Intelligence + Composure +3 .

Shawn couldn't get what Leonard was trying to get him to remember or identify about the girl, which made Leonard really frustrated.

"She has a big head! A BIG HEAD, OK!!?" Leonard said sharply, as if Shawn not remembering was somehow Leonard's fault, a blame that Leonard refused to accept.

Mike just stood there.

Shawn was getting frustrated with his own lack of understanding, but he didn’t let it show. But as Leonard got upset, Shawn switched to searching for a way to break the tension. “Sorry, Leonard, I know whose fault it is.” He slipped his hand into Mr. Clayton and set him on his knee. “Mr. Clayton, you’re supposed to be the dummy, not me! Gimmie back my brains!” He spoke in a silly, joking voice, trying to distract Leonard from blaming himself or anyone else.

It was enough to make Leonard crack a smile and then laugh.

"That's funny." Leonard commented. Then he scratched his chin. "So, are you saying...." He looked at Mr. Clayton. "What's your puppet's name again? And, I mean, I know he's part of your costume. But you really sound like you know how to use him. Have you practiced a lot?"

He looked at Michael, seeing that he wasn't getting any answers from him, Leonard turned his attention back to Shawn.


"Let's go trick or treating outside, I think there's still time even though I don't have a costume."

Shawn looked like he was prepared to speak, but then his dummy started to move and butt in. "My name's Mr. Clayton! And you've got no idea how long I've spent trying to teach this dummy to talk right!"

"Oh, come on, Mr. Clayton, I'm doing my best."  Shawn pretended to look annoyed at being interrupted, but in a fun way. Mr. Clayton looked straight at Leonard, insofar as a ventriloquist's dummy could look at anyone. "Hey, you know a lot of special stuff, right? Can you tell Shawn here what he needs to do to really get good at this ventriloquism thing? He's all right, but frankly I don't think he's smart enough to figure things out on his own."

Leonard gave a little titter at Shawn's impression.

"You know what he has to do?" Leonard said. "He has to....he has to....he has too..." He started to stutter as if he was thinking about the answer.

Then he sighed as if a wave of relaxing belief washed over him.

"You have to..." He started.

"Give it up. Give it all up. Just let it go. Let go the idea that you have to be good at it. If you don't get so attached to it, it will come."

"Wow, Leonard. You're really smart!"Shawn wasn't entirely sure how to apply that advice, but he trusted Leonard's answer, so the practical meaning was something he could figure out later.

But he belatedly remembered Leonard had another suggestion that he was less sure of. "Oh yeah, but do you really want to go out trick or treating again? It's late, and there's that girl with a knife. One of the robots you warned us about."

Leonard considered this question.

"Maybe you're right." He decided, forgetting about the promise of candy. "I mean, I've already been sick once tonight. And girl's with knives..." He paused, taking in the idea of a girl with a knife and momentarily making Shawn remember the sight of Sara poking her head out of the back door or Ralph's house, the metal of the knife catching the gleam of the moonlight.

"You're right." Leonard decided. "I'm not going out anymore tonight." He finished.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:39, Sat 12 June 2021.

Shawn found himself thinking of Sara, and the knife in her hand, and her loud breathing as she stalked through the house. "What happens to those people, anyway? The robot ones? I mean, I met the girl before, and, like, we weren't exactly friends, but she wasn't someone who'd stab people. She was just kinda mean."

"I mean, they're still out there. The Big, evil robot. The one that traps the kids. It's still doing it. That's what's scary."

Leonard let out a big sigh. Then hey took a step further towards his own driveway, the conversation now back in the midnight air, the crisp smell of autumn.

"Well, I don't know. I want to go out. But I'm not going to." He concluded, even though he had carried the conversation further still away from his house.

"So. You'll have to do it by yourselves tonight. If you want I can draw more about all of this stuff while you guys figure out what's going on. Maybe I'll pray on..."

He stopped abruptly, as if slightly embarrassed.

"I mean, I'll draw a lot. But, as far as say, what all of this means. My drawings just point to stuff. I don't really KNOW anything. I just draw what's like, given to me. I don't know how it happens. It just happens. Like the arm on the robot...that's just his arm you know? I just know that it's his arm. And so that's how it comes out."

"The real person why knows all of this stuff is Edith. She's the one with the big head."

Shawn knew that this wasn't going to stop by itself, and that he was going to have to encounter more of the house and the kids in it. But this was a rare opportunity to learn more details about what he might face. "You said the robot people can be turned back to normal by explosions and fire, right? So their real self is in there somewhere?" This was all pretty different from what Shawn had encountered before, and he was determined not to get caught off guard.

"When the big evil robot turns someone into a robot, is it like a robot takes over them, or are they the robot?" He frowned a little, realizing he phrased the question in a confusing way. "Like, if you or me got taken over, would our robots know where our houses are? Would yours be really good at drawing? Are they just like any other robot, or would they be us but evil?"

That question in turn reminded him of another question. "Oh, and are they robots all the time? The girl we ran into, do her parents think she's just missing and she lives at that house now? Or will she go back home and do normal stuff until the big robot needs her?" It was worrisome to think of encountering someone who acted normal, but was secretly a robot.

The name Leonard gave sounded familiar, but it took him a few seconds to place why. "Oh, Edith? I don't know anyone named Edith, but there were some people we ran into who said she was trying to investigate the house. If she's in your drawings, she must be on the right path!"

"The robots..." Leonard started. "Oh I don't know." Leonard's shoulders sagged.

"I just know there's a Robot in there. A bad robot and he's starting to take control of the kids. He doesn't like fire. And the more time he stays there, the more kids he's going to take."

"The drawings....It's like they point to it. But the details, sometimes I can't see them all or they don't come out on the paper."

"I don't know what the kids do, other than become like, his little robots."

"But Edith might know."

"Hey, you know way more than I do, and you're really helping." Shawn gave Leonard an encouraging pat on the shoulder when Leonard looked a little upset. "Do you maybe know where Edith is? Oh, maybe you can tell us something to tell her so she knows she can trust us?"

Leonard looked at Shawn and then sighed. It was a sigh of total resignation as if he wanted to continue going out on Halloween, but it wasn't in the cards.

"Edith? She lives at the end of Rodeo drive at the last house. In fact, here house backs right up against Celebrity Boulevard."

Shawn gave Leonard a sympathetic look as he considered how much time they had this Halloween. Edith was probably out trick or treating, and it was getting darker out. Did he have time to find her before he was expected back, or would he have to track her down another day?

It was getting late, but it wasn't clear if Edith would be home or not. There weren't many kids out on the street as Shawn looked down Rodeo Drive.

Just then, a gust of wind swept a couple of dried, brown leaves into the road.

"Well, I better get back inside. Thanks for stopping back at my house guys. See you tomorrow?" Leonard asked Shawn with some hesitation, perhaps a hint of hope in his voice.

"I do not know what to do now." Michael said, unhelpfully.

"I'm gonna try really hard to meet you tomorrow, but it depends on what my Mom and Dad do..." Shawn wanted to be able to promise to meet up tomorrow, but he also didn't want to disappoint Leonard. "We should walk by Edith's house tonight to see if she's there, but tomorrow, Michael, can you keep watching out for the girl at the house? See if she's doing normal stuff during the day or not."

For a second there was a pause, and it looked like Leonard might become clingy like Junior had done to Shawn in the past. But then shouted out with excitement. "That sounds like a good idea!" Leonard finalized.

"And you guys will walk by the house tonight and Michael will look out for her tomorrow." Leonard said, and Shawn noted that the boy was still clarifying that Leonard would not be joining them, having already decided to stay home.

"Yes." Michael said in a his impassive, deep voice. "I will look out."

Shawn nodded resolutely, like they were GI Joes who'd just received their mission briefings. "All right, we have a plan. Leonard, while you're waiting to hear from us, just keep drawing, as much stuff as you can, okay? Anything else you can find out will help us."

Leonard nodded his head and stood at attention in a well rehearsed, if not, immature military gesture.

"I salute you Gentlemen!" He said, giving his best salute. "Do it for God and country!"


And with that he turned on his heels and headed up towards the stoop, only turning around once to say before closing the door.

"But seriously, be careful guys."

There was a moments pause, the ruffle of leaves filling the silence before Michael said

"OK."

The comment was delayed, and out of place, as Leonard had already closed the door.

Michael turned to Shawn and motioned with one hand down the road, his face dead-panned.

"The end of Rodeo Drive is this way."

Shawn returned Leonard's salute, though with the wrong hand since the correct one was holding Mr. Clayton. "Good luck, Leonard."

He actually kind of enjoyed the instant of silence after the door closed - it almost felt like a normal Halloween. But, Michael's reminder brought him back, and he nodded resolutely. "All right, let's go." The two of them marched off towards Edith's house.

It was only a few seconds down the road when Shawn heard it. It sounded at first like a low, mechanical growl. Then the unmistakable sound of screeching accompanied by the smell of burned rubber.

The car shot out from around the corner at the intersection of Rodeo Drive and Main Street and hurdled down the street driving at a mad pace in Shawn and Michael's direction. Its two headlights bore down on the two kids like angry demon eyes. One window from the side of the car opened and a silhouette, just the torso of the person sticking out of the car could be seen.

Shawn was already on edge when he heard the sound, and looked around wildly before he saw the source. He wasn't sure if this was more Main Street danger, or something else entirely, but either way it made him worry. He got ready to run, looking for terrain he could hide behind if the vehicle jumped the curb.

Shawn got ready to run to avoid the car barreling down upon him and Micheal

OOC: Shawn Rolls Dexterity + Athletics

"Get ready to run." Regardless of what happened, the last thing he wanted to do was abandon Michael on the sidewalk.

OOC: 07:50, Today: Shawn rolled 3 successes using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 8,9,5,9,1,5.  Dexterity + Athletics.

Shawn ran onto the grass, jumping out of the way just in time see two...no...three objects fly by his head. There was a wet cracking sound.

Michael dove in front of Shawn

13:09, Today: Michael rolled 1 success using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((7,7,5,6,9)).

The car sped off, but Shawn could see that there was yellow, spattered egg yoke all over the grass.

Shawn was braced for the absolute worst, so when he saw the eggs splattered around him, there was almost a sense of relief. And then that relief faded when he realized that no, someone throwing eggs at him and Michael was an awful thing to do!

He didn't feel any splatters on himself, but Michael had dove to the ground in front of him, so he bent down and tried to help him up. "Are you okay, Michael?"

When Shawn grabbed a hold of Micheal's arm to help him up, it felt like he was grabbing a stick, so skinny was Michael.

"Yes." Michael said, and he got up with no problem.

He moved his head to look down the street.

"The house is probably that way." He indicated, looking down Rodeo drive.

Shawn could see there were street lights on each side of the street, small homes, some decorated with yellow Halloween lights. Behind, in the distance, a much larger neighborhood rose up from upon a distant hill, its houses huge and luxurious. The stood like tall shadows in against the backdrop of the night sky.

"Celebrity Boulevard." Michael noted, seeing that Shawn could see the rich homes in the distant neighborhood as well.

Shawn pulled Michael up easily - Shawn wasn't particularly strong, but Michael was incredibly light. Neither of them seemed to be any worse for wear, so he dusted himself off and looked toward Rodeo Drive. "All right, let's get going. Keep watching for Edith, I dunno if she's out or gone home." He'd occasionally wondered what it would be like to live on Celebrity Boulevard, but it seemed like a whole other world. It was like they were a different species, the people who lived in the rich homes.

As Shawn walked down the road with Michael, the backdrop of Celebrity Boulevard grew closer. The wind picked up slightly and it carried with it the sounds of kids saying 'trick or treat!' from not so distant homes. There was also a pleasant firewood smell in the air, as if some neighbor had decided to start using the chimney early instead of waiting for the cold December that would be upon the neighborhood soon.

It wasn't long before Shawn saw a single, bright light coming from the someone's backyard. It stood out from the typical neighborhood lights adorning the homes and from the streetlights that gave Rodeo Drive a sense of welcoming, safety. This light was much, much higher. It was coming from a very tall, very old tree that was in someone's back yard. The light illuminated a small, neat structure in the tree: A genuine tree house.

"Who goes there!?" A kid's voice shouted out from across the street. It was a boy, and from the sound of it about Shawn's age.

Shawn hadn't been to Rodeo Drive very often - the welcoming feeling was in stark contrast to what Main Street felt like. He looked over in the direction of the voice and called back. "Trick or treaters! Who're you?"

"I'm Corey." A kid stepped forward. He was of average height and definitely about Shawn's age.

He looked Shawn over, at first with suspicion. And then, with a quizzical look. "Do I know you?"

Shawn searched his memories for whether or not he'd met Corey before, but he was drawing  blank. "I'm Shawn. I don't think we've met before?" He wondered if maybe Corey had seen that Halloween commercial, though it felt a little self-centered to bring it up first.

In the middle of Shawn's thought, Corey shouted.

"Wait a minute!" And then

"I saw you on TV!"

Shawn felt happy he'd guessed right, even though he hadn't said it out loud. "Oh! Yeah, I was in that commercial, that's probably why you knew me." He wondered just how popular the commercial was - it seemed like everyone he'd met had seen it.

"Yes!" Corey agreed with what sounded like enthusiasm.

"But I don't like TV or commercials"

It was a negative comment. No other way to take it in. And as Corey said it, he had a little disgusted look on his face, like TV really wasn't something he was into.

Shawn heard the negative comment, and like he usually did when there was negativity pitched in his direction, he tried to put himself on the other person's side, so he could be extra sure he wasn't target. "Don't tell anyone, but I kinda don't either." It was a half-truth; he liked TV well enough, but he was usually way too busy to watch much of it.

Corey nodded.

"There's only reason why someone comes down all the way here on Rodeo Drive" Corey said.

"You're trying to get to the Clubhouse aren't you?"

Shawn was glad that Corey changed the subject and he didn't have to badmouth television any further. But he looked a little confused at what Corey said. "There's a Clubhouse on Rodeo Drive? I was just coming here to find someone who lives down here. Her name's Edith, do you know her?"

Corey nodded again, this time with a bit of an exasperated look.

"Edith. Also known as 'The Head.'" Corey said.
"Everyone knows her." Corey affirmed. "She's the smartest kid on Rodeo Drive. People say that she aced Mr. Mulligan's test in Math last year. But not just one test. All of the tests. And she didn't even get one answer wrong."


Corey looked Michael up and down, indicating he wasn't impressed by the skinny boy's appearance. Then he spoke about the tree house.

"The Tree House is also known as The Club House. It's where the kids on Rodeo Drive go to plan things. We were planning to name the club something. There's a new kid named Ling An that we were planning on bringing into the club. Also, there's a kid named Kevin. These are new kids that people thought might join the club."

Corey switched tones to indicate possible fear.

"But you've probably heard that kids are starting to disappear since the end of the school year. Mostly on Main Str...."

Corey stopped abruptly.
"What's that?" he asked, pointing to Mr. Clayton.

Shawn had trusted in Leonard's predictions, but it was always good to hear confirmation from someone else. Edith sounded exactly like the kind of person Leonard had talked about, so he knew it was extra important to find out what she knew.

He was about to mention that he might have information to bring to "The Club House" when Corey suddenly switched subjects. "Oh, uh, this is Mr. Clayton. He's part of my costume." Shawn made Mr. Clayton wave his hand as if to say hello. "Hi Corey!"

Corey reacted with displeasure at the wave of the Puppet's hand.

"Ughh. I don't like puppets." Corey complained.
"My Mom took me to a magician's show once and he had a puppet. He kept doing all of these jokes with the puppet, like over and over. I felt like the show would never end." Corey complained. "Here, let me bring to the Club House." Corey said, starting to walk in that direction.


As he began walking, Corey started in with another thing he didn't like. "I can't stand climbing the ladder to the Club House. We have to do it over and over again. It hurts my legs."

Shawn was worried he’d have to explain away Mr. Clayton as no big deal, or share a story about why he also didn’t like puppets, but to his surprise, after complaining about them, Corey just completely changed the subject and started helping Shawn get exactly what he wanted. “Umm, thanks - the Club House sounds really cool!” As they walked along and Corey started complaining about the ladder, it started to dawn on him that maybe Corey complained about a lot of things, so Shawn didn’t necessarily have to take it super seriously.

Corey, Shawn and Michael walked for a bit more down Rodeo Drive, the voices of trick or treaters fading behind them. They passed a road side that read "No Outlet" at it was clear they were coming to the last house on the right side.

It was a ranch style house, only one floor. A large TV antenna stuck up from alongside the Chimney that had worn brick. A large weeping willow tree covered the side yard, standing watch and looking over the house, giving the impression of having done so for ages. Passing under a Willow Tree, the boys entered a small backyard.

There was a single tree that towered above, and about 15 feet or so upward, a small tree house with a single light on inside, illuminating the interior constructed of wood. A pully system had been established so that anyone could raise or lower objects up to the house. On one side, there was also a balcony, though the wood seemed somewhat warped from use and age.



"The fort is just ok I guess." Corey said, appearing to stick by his earlier comments, even though for most kids having a treehouse like this might be considered a dream come true, especially for younger kids.

"Yes." Michael blurted out suddenly and in a vapid tone devoid of all emotion. It wasn't clear what he was agreeing to.

Shawn was deeply impressed by the tree house setup that he saw - it was more elaborate than any he'd seen before, at least it real life. He gazed up the light inside. "Is Edith there right now? There's some stuff I should tell her."

"Yep." Corey confirmed. The single light Shawn saw illuminating the tree house cast itself down upon the boys, as if it was a special, safe place.

They approached a ladder, a worn, makeshift wooden beams some crooked that led up to some kind of trap door up top underneath the floor boards of the tree house high above.

Corey put a single hand on one of the ladder's beams and leaned in close to Shawn in a conspiratorial gesture like he had some kind of secret to share.

Shawn noticed, for the first time that Corey was wearing a cheap makeshift shirt that said 'I Want My MTV.'

"The Head is going to walk all over you. She's all business. It's really annoying but don't take it personally." Corey sighed in annoyance.

"Well, I guess we should all go up there."

Shawn leaned in to receive Corey's secret, and nodded seriously. "I understand. I'll be extra patient." If nothing else, Shawn had a lot of experience taking direction, both while working as an actor, and at home with his parents. People who were all business at least made their expectation clear.

He steeled himself as he stared up at the light. "Right, let's go."

Corey started up the ladder and Shawn had gotten to the second rung when all of the sudden Michael said.

"Wait."

Shawn had never heard Michael say the word and Michael's voice had a hint of emotion to it.

Shawn immediately froze where he was on the ladder and looked down at Michael. Anything important enough to make the normally stoic Michael express even a hint of an emotion was worth paying attention to. "What's going on, Michael?"

Corey, who was two rungs up the ladder also froze, looking down at Michael to see what he had to say.

"Do you remember when we went to that hill and waited until the door opened at that building?" Michael asked Shawn.

"Do you remember that there might have been naked people inside when the door opened?"

Shawn did remember going to that building on the hill and watching the door - it had been shortly after they'd first met. But he wasn't sure what Michael meant by that. "Yeah...are you saying there might be naked people in the tree house?" That certainly didn't seem likely. If nothing else, it was October and the weather was too cold for that.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:10, Sat 17 July 2021.

"No." Michael answered, evidently needing some kind of prompt to shift over to what he was saying.

Shawn tried to think of what else Michael could mean by this. "Are you saying you want to stand watch? Like we were at the door?" Of course, that didn't explain why Michael mentioned the naked people. "Or is there something up there that might get us in trouble?"

The more questions he asked, the more he realized he wasn't going to get anywhere by just randomly fishing. "I'm sorry, I don't think I'm getting it. Will you tell me what you meant?"

Shawn heard Corey sigh in exhaustion above him on the ladder. It was a petulant, annoyed sigh, like he wanted others to hear it.

"I counted them." Michael said.

"There were 14 bar stools. Seventeen women with no tops. Five women that were completely naked. There were about 10 costumers that day. And there were two red doors, not counting the door that was open."

It was an impressive bit of recollection, but it still took Shawn a second to figure out how it might be relevant. "Oh! Did you do the same counting when we visited the house?" That could tell them a lot, especially since Michael had potentially seen different parts of the house than he had.

"Yes." Michael said robotically.

“That’s great, Michael - it’ll really help everyone.” Shawn used an even tone, trying to match Michael’s general affect to make him comfortable. “Come on, we should get going to the tree house.” Unless Michael had any further objections or points to make, he started climbing again to let Michael on the ladder too.

"Whatever." Corey huffed in an annoyed tone.

"I hate waiting. It's soooooooooo boring."

Shawn made it to the top of the tree house, right through the trap door in the bottom. When he emerged from the ladder, the room appeared bigger on the inside then on the outside far below. The interior was made of notched wood, cleanly lacquered to make it appear shiny. It was like no other tree house he had seen.

At the far end of the room there was a small desk and behind it a girl with a frumpy look on her face and an enormous head.

Shawn looked around the fancy tree house as he clambered through the trap door, clearly impressed. He cleared out of the way of the entrance so Michael could join them, getting a little closer to the small desk. "Umm, hello? You're Edith, right?"

As Shawn got closer, he saw that the girl had red hair with two small, pony tails. She was writing notes down on some kind of notebook, the sound of pen on crisp paper and the scratching of fast cursive handwriting audible in the silence around them.

Closer still, Shawn could see that behind her, one full wall of the tree house was covered in a sort of diagram. Names of people were written under hand drawn pictures. Relationships between the entities connected threw strings of yarn, colors of yellow, orange and red. Above the diagram was a title written out in large blue crayon:

"The Case Of The Fairground Horror"




"You!" The girl said, clearly surprised that Shawn was here, and clearly recognizing him, though from the sound of her voice, she wasn't impressed.

"What are you doing here?" She said, a hint of disgust at Shawn's presence.

Shawn was immediately put in mind of the more hostile auditions his mom had taken him to. The onus on him to justify the use of everyone's time. He tried to seem confident but not cocky, eager but not desperate, friendly but not needy. "We heard you were investigating what's happening on Main Street. We wanted to find out what's going on; and help too. I live there, after all."

Edith looked Shawn over, as if deciding what she thought about what he said, and maybe even judging him like some kind of judge at the Olympics.

Shawn Rolls with the following results: Presence + Expression + Specialty +1

0 Successes - Less than impressed: Edith's reaction is positively hostile towards Shawn

1-3 Successes - Lukewarm and suspicious: Edith's reaction is cautious, but not hostile

4-6 Successes - Quick tongued and rude: Edith displays a sharp tongue with Shawn and is slightly rude to him, but doesn't display anything that might indicated she is suspicious of him

OOC: Wasn’t sure if my Acting speciality applies, so I rolled it separately. Exclude the second roll if it doesn’t count.

19:36, Today: Shawn failed (no successes) using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling on 9 or more.  Presence + Expression + Specialty +1.

 19:37, Today: Shawn rolled 1 success using 1d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling on 9 or more.  Speciality .

OOC: It counts - 1-3 Successes - Lukewarm and suspicious: Edith's reaction is cautious, but not hostile


There was a moment of silence in the tree house. Shawn could hear Corey swallow audibly.

"What do you know..." Edith started, what sounded like a line questioning from a Magnum PI episode

"...about Circuses?" She finished.

Shawn didn’t show it, but he was a little unnerved by the question. He’d been told Edith knew a lot, but he hadn’t anticipated she’d know that much. He decided to hedge a little, so it sounded like he was being honest if she truly knew what was happening, but could play it off if she was just guessing. “They’re places with big tents and clowns. Kinda spooky, though. I don’t really like them.”

"I see." Edith said with a tone of judgment. She opened a little note book on the desk that Shawn saw. The notebook had an image of My Little Pony on the outside. But after she flipped the cover open Shawn saw a fresh page. Edith wrote down the words "First Interrogation of Subject: Shawn of Main Street"

"Let me be clear" She told Shawn. "This is an official investigation."

"An official investigation." Corey repeated, as if he was somehow a part of the questioning, even though he was just basically repeating what Edith just said.

Shawn squinted a bit to see what Edith was writing upside down. At least it said 'Subject' and not 'Suspect'. He tried to maintain his air of friendliness. "I just want to help. There's some scary stuff happening on Main Street."

"We'll get to that." Edith said.

"First, I want you to know that we've been watching everyone in the neighborhood. And that just because you've been on TV that doesn't mean we'll be cutting you any slack." She told Shawn.

"Nope. No slack." Corey echoed.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:49, Wed 28 July 2021.

"In fact, I don't even like TV." Edith said.

"Except sometimes My Little Pony." She said, shutting the notebook and looking up at Shawn and then Corey as if daring someone to say something about My Little Pony.

"That's okay, I like being treated normal." Shawn nodded agreeably. He'd never really seen My Little Pony; it had never been said out loud, but he'd always got the impression that his Dad would be mad at him if he caught him watching.

"I have a few more questions." Edith told Shawn. Then she flipped through the My Little Pony notebook as if the questions were somehow in there. Stopping at one page. She looked down and then up at Shawn with what looked like an accusing stare.

"There was a girl down the block. She lived on Main Street. She had blonde hair. Her name was Tiffany. Do you know where Tiffany is?" She asked.

"Tiffany is my sister." Michael said. Though by the way he stated it, you wouldn't have known it because it sounded more like he was explaining how to give instructions on what homework needed to be done.

"I don't know where she is. I have been looking for her."

Edith's pencil scratched furiously in the notebook. But Shawn noticed that the 'Head' didn't say anything to Michael. Instead, after writing down some notes she looked up at Shawn as if expecting him to answer.

Shawn shook his head to indicate his ignorance. "I met Tiffany. But I don't know where she is now." He knew Tiffany had last been in Bradford's house, and that had probably gone badly. But he didn't know for certain what had happened to her; Bradford might have killed her. But he also might have trapped her in the krinner, or she might have escaped, or  Mr. Clayton might have turned her into a bird for all he knew. He was afraid to ask Mr. Clayton, in case he got an answer.

More scribbling down in the notebook.



"Where was the last time you saw her? When was it? Yesterday?" Edith asked Shawn.

"We need to know. No rock can be left unturned in the investigation. " She stressed.

Michael's heard turned to Shawn as if it was on a swivel.

Shawn looked like he was trying to remember. "It was a long time ago - before school started, so I guess it was at least two months ago? We were outside, I think maybe? It might have been near my house?" He shook his head apologetically. "I'm really sorry, I didn't know it was going to be important until later, so I don't remember much."

There was a long drawn out pause as Edith stopped writing in the notebook. She narrowed her eyes and looked at Shawn. It appeared for a moment that she was about to follow up with another round of questions when her posture soften behind the desk.

She placed the notebook to one side, neatly flipping the cover back and closing it to reveal the My Little Pony logo.

"Alright." She said with finality. "We believe you" she finished, as if her word spoke the final verdict on behalf of the kids of Rodeo Drive. Though she said the words, there was no sense of kindness in her voice, but rather the formality of cold, hard logic.

Shawn felt a little relieved that there wouldn't be more questions about Tiffany, but mostly he was just glad he'd been believed. "Thank you. This whole thing on Main Street is really scary, but I heard you already know a bunch about it?"

Edith nodded her head. "We've been at this investigation for about two weeks." Edith confirmed. "But no thanks to you." Edith said, taking a bit away from her earlier softness.

"Members of the investigative team have been looking for you. You play some role in all of this---probably you don't know it." She added, moving a bit back to that softness she had displayed a moment earlier, but which never seemed to meet her eyes.

"We have a partial list of missing kids." Edith instructed "And we think things are somehow centered on that kid's house that you like to play with. The young one."

She flipped open the notebook, pages shifting this way and that until she settled on a single page. "Ralph." She said.

Shawn wanted to protest that it wasn't his fault they hadn't included him in the investigation, but the conversation moved on and he didn't want to double back to it. Especially now that they'd got to the important part. "I've been trying to find Ralph. Do you think he's...is he okay?" It was the question he'd be expected to ask, but it was also what he really want to know. Even if he dreaded the possible answers.

Edith[s big head slumped as she sighed. "I hope so. But from an investigative point of view, if Mumm-Ra is in a temple and all of the bad stuff is coming from there..." Edith paused. "We don't know, but it doesn't look good." Edith said, and she folded her hands.

"What else do you know?"

It wasn't really good news, but Shawn had been bracing for confirmation of the worst, and more uncertainty wasn't that bad by comparison."Well...I've been inside Ralph's house. And I think it's the lady who lives there's fault." He wasn't really sure how to broach the subject of supernatural happenings - whether it was Leonard's slightly metaphorical version, or the one he'd learned - since Edith seemed so logical and methodical.

"What!!!?" Edith's eyes opened so wide that they looked like they might fall out. "When were you inside? Did you see any of the missing kids?" Edith asked grabbing the notebook and flipping it to blank page.

"You went inside that place?" Corey asked, but it sounded more like he was shocked than he was interested in knowing about the experience.

"Michael and I did, yeah. It was an hour or two ago, I guess?" Shawn decided to play it coy for the time being about the supernatural stuff, feeling out if Edith would believe him or not first. "I dunno if she's missing, but I saw this girl I know, Sara? She didn't notice me, but she was acting really weird..."

"Ughhh! I haaaaaaaaaaaate Sara." Corey complained. It had to be said, that for even Corey this sounded like a forceful complaint from what Shawn was learning was one of the most expert complainers he had ever met.

"What do you mean....weird?" Edith ignored Corey, her big head leaning towards Shawn as if ready to soak in the information, analyze it.

Shawn wasn’t a big fan of Sara either, but he still didn’t think she deserved whatever was going on in that house. “I dunno, she was all hunched over and stuff. She was just wandering around the house with a big knife, and she didn’t seem all there up here, you know?” He tapped his head for emphasis. “I know it sounds crazy - you probably don’t believe me.”

Shawn heard shuffling from below, the sounds of sneakers on the ladders rungs and voices that were talking. As Shawn spoke about Sara, several kids emerged from the bottom of the tree house almost too busy to notice Shawn. The formed their own semicircle around the desk, then one by one stopped talking and began to listen to the conversation between Edith and Shawn, taking notice of Cory and Michael.

Michael, for his part, had completely abandoned the conversation as such. He was sitting Indian-style in one corner of the tree house, candy displayed out in front of him. He had already arranged the candy and grouped them by type. Shawn could see Michael's lips move as he counted them.


Edith appeared less interested in Shawn's guilt or innocence or even if Shawn was believable or unbelievable. Instead she focused on writing the details of what Shawn was saying in her notebook.




"A knife." Edith repeated, hand furiously scratching down notes.

"Was she wearing any clown costumes or anything?" Edith asked.