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