"Well, we know that many kids of gone missing and it sounds like you've linked kids you know to being missing and the house."

"But there's still something we don't understand."

"I took notes on the microfiche." Chris said, producing a notebook. "Much better notes than when I'm in class." Chris smiled, as if noting that he was in fact, not interested in class and therefore could not be relied upon to take notes.

Shawn leaned in with interest, wanting to find out where the Celebrity Drive investigators were missing information. "What don't you understand? Maybe I could help." He looked impressed when Chris took out a notebook; for someone who didn't like class, taking notes was clearly a big effort!

"Well, for one, we we debating where the Circus was, and if it was just a kind of coincidence. I mean, I told you what I found at the library. That was the entire area where the Circus was: Main Street. And it had a name. Cherry or something. Here." Chris looked through his notebook.

"Cherrywinks." He pronounced.

"But then, that really is just the name of Circus that was popular at the time. Like, it made appearances in Wisconsin, New York and a bunch of other places. So, how do we know if it is important or not?"

Shawn hesitated for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to share what he knew. And ultimately, he decided to go with as much truth as he could. "It is important. Mr. Cherrywinks is the one who runs the Circus. And he's the one who's kidnapping all the kids - the ones earlier this year, and the ones recently." He said it as forthrightly as possible - he knew saying this would invite further questions, and he wanted to sound believable.

A murmur erupted from the rest of the group. One girl with long black hair and a skinny neck let out a wimper. A younger, short boy covered himself with his coat as if that would protect him from this new information.

"Should we go to the police?" Chris asked, stiffening now that a name had been placed alongside the occurrences. "Is Cherrywinks some kind of guy? Like an escaped convict?" He asked. "I saw an episode of  Macgyver where there were escaped convicts in the woods in the mountains." Chris offered, as if that would somehow help them all deal with the situation at hand.

Shawn shook his head. "He's not a guy anymore. He's like a ghost - an evil ghost. The police wouldn't believe us." And even if they did believe him, what could they even do against him? Admittedly, the same logic applied to the kids - what could they even do to stop him?

Where as before there was a murmur in among the rich kids in this--and it had to be admitted--opulent tree house, now there was complete silence as everyone took in the meaning of Shawn's words.

It was Lauren who first broke the silence.



"What do you mean, a ghost?" Lauren asked, emphasizing the last word while leaning forward, clearly interested in what Shawn might have to say.

"I'm not surprised" Chris said, folding his arms and then dropping the stance to pick up his notebook, and leaf through it. "Ehh...ghost, let's see."</Blue> Chris said, as if searching for any notes he may have taken on his visit to the library while Shawn answered Lauren's question.

Other kids were now talking, filling the moments before Shawn spoke with their own theories of what a Cherrywinks ghost could be.

"I mean, I dunno if he's a ghost ghost. Shawn was admittedly a little iffy on if Cherrywinks was a ghost, a demon, or even if such a distinction had any meaning at all. "But he's not a human anymore; he's a monster. That's why he can do the stuff he does. A regular person couldn't make nightmares that summon kids."

As Shawn starting speaking, the kids around him had quieted down. First there were whispers and then they all stopped talking. Almost all at once. All of the sudden, it was as if Shawn was at a try out for a movie part. Except this time he wasn't really pretending to be someone else or some other character. He was explaining things. Things that were based on his experiences.


"I believe it." Chris said, his voice dropping to a serious tone that made it sound even more sincere against the backdrop of silence.

Then he thumbed through the book.

"Actually, there's one thing right here. I wrote it down. The library really didn't have much stuff in it other than old news papers. But there's a much bigger library in downtown Los Angeles that has a book about this. A book about Cherrywinks. The librarian said that its old and its in the libraries out of print section." Chris said. Then he looked down one more time.

"I wrote the address to the library down."

Shawn felt relieved. Regardless of whether the other kids believed him, at least Chris seemed on his side - which was important, since they were living under the same roof! "How far away is the library?" If there was a book on Cherrywinks out there, he needed to try and track it down. He didn't have many other options!

"Um, I dunno." Chris confessed. "I've only been downtown in a car. Usually when Dad wants to take one of his new girlfriends to a fancy restaurant. Then I have to get all dressed up and I hate. He makes me wear a tie."


"But we could go there! I have bikes!" Chris said, as if the idea suddenly came to him.

Shawn had his own bike, and was about to mention that when he realized that it was still over at his Dad's house, and he didn't know what going to visit would do to...whatever was going on between him and Mom. "That seems like a really good idea! Two heads are better than one, right?"

Lauren nodded her head.



"Chris, Shawn" Lauren said in a tone that seemed to indicate the next step had been decided. "Go to the library tomorrow in downtown LA and get the book."

Then she looked among the kids gathered in the tree house.

"Melissa. You used to live downtown. Go with them just in case something happens and everyone gets lost. We can't afford to loose the book."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:17, Fri 21 Jan 2022.

"We won't get lost" Chris murmured, as if slightly annoyed. Still, he didn't seem too annoyed like when Shawn first met him. His mood had been really quite nice since they had gotten to the tree house.

A skinny girl with black hair stepped out from the rest of the kids to answer Lauren.



"Yoooooooooooooou betcha!" She said with supreme optimism.

"Hi, I'm Melissa." She said, voice a mixture of both excitement, energy but with a raspy sound to it. One of those people that were born with a raspy voice. She'd probably be the type that people would ask if she smoked in the future. Though that was clearly impossible given she was a kid like Shawn. Shawn had only met a few girls with a raspy voice like that on set.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:22, Fri 21 Jan 2022.

It wasn’t much, but there was a plan now, and Shawn had allies (maybe even friends, but it was a little too early to rely on that). He was feeling a little better about his chances. “I know we can bust this case wide open.” He was putting on his optimistic and trustworthy act for the others, but it was a little easier now that there was something to back it up.

After Shawn said the words everyone began to nod and the kids started to talk again. Melissa began speaking about how fun it was to live downtown near the library and all of the fun things that she used to do with friends there. Chris started to talk to Lauren about what they would do when they found the old book and how it might reveal clues about the woman living in Ralph's house. The other kids began to offer various theories, some outrageous about the old woman and her evil powers. Shawn heard one kid say that the old woman probably ate little children like in the story of Hanzel and Gretel.

Chris broke the silence.

"OK." He said. "Looks like Shawn and I have to go. Everyone can stay as long as they like. We'll get down to the library tomorrow morning after chores. Right now Shawn and I have to go to the Halloween Party."

A skinny girl with black hair stepped out from the rest of the kids to answer Lauren.



"Oh, a Halloween Party! That sounds like fun! Is it the same one you had last year? With all of the music and costumes." Melissa asked, clearly enthralled with the idea but her voice also gave way a hint of disappointment that she wasn't invited.

"Same one." Chris said, with a sigh, his shoulders slumping. "And no, it's not really that fun. It's supposed to be a party, so you'd think it would be fun for kids. But its more like adults acting like kids."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:06, Sat 22 Jan 2022.

Shawn listened to the other kids' speculation, in case he heard something that sounded like it made sense, but it was mostly just guesses. He tried to look sympathetic for Chris' sake when they talked about the party. "Well, I'm glad you'll be there so there's at least one person I know. Maybe we can make our own fun?"

Chris nodded, and went down the ladder. The light from the tree house faded and Shawn saw Chris look up at him before the darkness of the night shrouded Chris' face. The boy didn't seem happy to leave the treehouse.

"Come on." Chris said. "We have to go to the party now. Otherwise, they'll get into the places they shouldn't."

Shawn followed Chris, giving the kids in the treehouse a friendly wave goodbye before he left. He nodded resolutely in response to Chris. "I'll follow your lead."

Shawn joins thread: Halloween: A Party Not to Be Believed