This is that second half of the last session. I really thought I'd have more to say. Here is the first half.
Wesley watched Poppy throw a rock at his window before greeting her. He supposed she couldn't see him through the window, and that this was as good a chance as any to do something about the situation.
"I messed up." Poppy said. "I was fighting with my mom, we were fighting and I thought the fighting was all over - I'm so sorry, I messed up. Then she asked to show the key to Dad and I gave it to her."
Wesley invited her inside. He tore a page out of a book and stuffed it in his pocket.
"She was supposed to show it to dad, but then they came home, and they were all there with everybody, she was in the car coming home. And it's gone, it has the key."
Next he took a photo out of a photo album, thinking he can burn it to try and curse himself.
"I'm - I've - It's fine. Your father would love this. I think the government's in on this."
"Wait, woah. What?" At least the world makes sense, even when it doesn't.
"Well, somethings in on this. I think they're getting ready to move. I don't know how much time we have. Getting readycould mean a week, or even a day, or an hour. They're here to help, but I don't know if that means help us, or help themselves." Wesley expected her to ask how he knew, but she didn't. She waited for him to keep talking. "We can try to settle this ourselves, or leave it to them. I don't think they know what we know, and we don't know what they know."
His parents' note was still on the countertop. 'Work emergency, we won't be home tonight. See you tomorrow at the lake.' He took a piece of paper from the refrigerator. He'd been thinking about what to write, or what to explain, but instead wrote 'Sorry'. Then he got his bike from the garage, and the two rode towards the mansion.
"But I think if we can't settle it we should at least burn it all, like Evan joked. I've been thinking and it'll probably be a good last option. I sort of knew where you were going when you started talking about your mom. Hey, so what would you have done if I were /it/ just now?"
"I didn't think about that. If you were it, and you already had the key, I don't think you'd risk coming back."
"I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe you could be itnow, or if not you I could be it. What if we're it, and we don't know it?"
"How could we possibly win?" The betrayal was still fresh.
"Fire. But before that we group up and we watch each other. If either of us are the faceless -"
"I don't think you're the faceless."
"I think it really wanted to open that door. It's probably going there right now."
"So between one and ten, how likely am I to be the faceless?"
"It'll be fine, don't worry about it."
Mr. Calhoun was beginning to worry, then his son Evan Calhoun came home. "Where's Jordan?" Mr. Calhoun asked.
"What do you mean where's Jordan, she's here in her room isn't she?" That did not last long.
"You went on some kind of adventure with - "
Jordan got into the car Evan was driving. Jordan didn't think twice about it, she didn't notice he had both his legs. Maybe she thought since he could run with the prosthetic, there was nothing suspicious about him driving with it. Mostly she was curious about why he needed her help. It drove them to the mansion.
"Uh, do you remember when we went to see Granny? We uh, it had something to do with the face stealer. That wasn't me taking Jordan, that was the face stealer. I need you to call Granny."
"Where are you - " Evan left through the door. He ran to Lila's since she's the closest. Mr. Calhoun dialed the phone.
Lila noticed Evan outside and supposed it was time to head to the mansion. Lila's older sister was quietly working on something. So when Evan knocked, Lila told a lie. "Veronica's at the door. We need to go somewhere for the science faire project."
"LILA?" Evan was still knocking. He had started knocking even louder. "LILA!?"
Lila raised her voice to cover up Evan's shouting and knocking. "WE NEED TO GO FIND BIOLUMINESCENT MOSS." She lied.
The surprise and adrenaline is crippling to Lila's older sister. She just wants to keep doing something, whatever she was doing. "Alright alright - sure - yeah, go." She puts her headphones back on, and writes a small note to herself about Lila in the margins.
"LOVE YOU GOTTA GO." And Lila was out the door.
"It has my sister." Evan said. Yeah, alright, that's good enough for me. Then he ran, and before she knew it, she was running too.
Evan had meant to go to Poppy's house, then to Wesley's who lived somewhat far from the mansion. Maybe Evan would have thought to phone Wesley from Poppy's. It felt so good to be in motion. Maybe this is what was missing.
They found each other on the long road to the mansion. Evan was running, Lila was trying to keep up. She was surprised that Evan could outrun her on a prosthetic leg, but Lila has never been very athletic. The run had filled her with tiredness, so she made her way across to Poppy and Wesley and when Wesley stopped to talk, got on the back of his bike.
"Oh." Was all he said. He decided to not mention the tiredness. Lila was mostly glad to not have to run anymore. Meanwhile Evan was convinced to get in Poppy's bike's basket. "It'll be fun," she said.
"Hey Lila, between one and ten how likely - " Wesley asked.
"Don't - it'll be fine!" Poppy said.
"It'll definitely be there right?" Lila asked.
"If it's not there we'll be out of leads." Evan said.
"Oh, when did you tell them about the key?" Wesley asked.
As they approached the mansion, they come to a stop. The fear set in. They got off the bikes, Evan hopped out of a basket.
"The faceless got the key from me. Wesley says the government is in on this and that they might be here to help themselves to the faceless." Wesley feels their eyes on him. He shrugs.
"It has my sister." Evan said, like it was the answer to the complication. He started towards the mansion through the clearing. Wesley saw new footprints, but followed over them. Poppy followed, pulling Lila by the arm. Lila checked her flashlight one last time. They go through the side-door, across the hall, to the kitchen.
Wait why's Danielle here? She muttered a reply to no one.
"Liz? What are you doing here?" Poppy asked.
"I'm waiting." She whispered.
"Who are you waiting for? Why are we whispering?" Poppy's moonstone is glowing.
"I'm waiting for Adam. He'll arrive soon, I'm sure of it."
"What's Danielle doing here?" Lila asked. Lila whispers to Poppy "Danielle's been losing time. I guess this is what she was talking about."
"Her name is Danielle." They stared at each other until Lila made a face. It was an expression of confusion. Or frustration. Maybe.
Danielle Manford hasn't been herself recently. She has been losing time and finding herself in places it doesn't make sense to be. Sometimes the Manford Mansion, or in the forest with the impression she has been sulking. Veronica hasn't done a good job keeping an eye on Danielle, but no one person has the time and energy to watch someone for all hours of a day, especially if one needs sleep for the next day. As a result Danielle has been losing time and space, and finding herself in different times and spaces.
Wesley asks if she has pockets or a key, but is ignored. The Sprite is excitedly orbiting Danielle. It seemed to be rolling around on an invisible floor, head height with Danielle.
"How do we get through the door?" Evan asked.
"You should be proud of me. I was very clever, you see I've had two keys made, but Adam hasn't arrived yet. I'm sure he'll arrive soon." Elizabeth said.
"Where's the other key?" Evan asked.
"Adam has it. Adam was supposed to have it, but he never arrived. It would be - I don't remember where it would be. It was so long ago. Wait, that can't be right. He'll arrive soon. I'm sure of it."
"Can you tell us anything about the locket?" Poppy asked.
Elizabeth is whispering even quieter now. There is a rhythm of talking, but everyone is listening to the quiet and hoping someone else can make it out. Danielle is confused. She asked a question with her eyes, and everyone looked away. They scratched their necks, the backs of their heads, they shrugged.
Evan brought out the discount store locket for the third time. This is the wrong locket. It made him smile. "Wait - I don't have the time for this." The smiling stopped. Evan dropped the discount store locket on the ground, it ticked and clicked like a clock or a bomb, but the showy lights were out of power. Evan has used it for the third time, but no unsatisfying lights this time. He headed out the kitchen and up the stairs to the secret door, thinking of his sister. It is still locked. Evan is trying to force door open, he kicked it with his prosthetic. When he decided that is ineffective because it hurts, he decided to tackle it, which hurts less. It doesn't seem to make a difference, but it feels too good to be doing something.
"Is there a ghost in you?" Poppy asked. She's holding her moonstone close to Danielle now. That moonstone's light had waned, dimmed, disappeared. Oh, it had been working this whole time. It doesn't have to be close at all. "Do you know where the other key is?" Poppy asked.
Danielle pushes the moonstone in Poppy's hand away from her face. She recognizes her surroundings, she orients herself. "There's a bunch of boxes in the attic upstairs. It's just a bunch of old Manford Junk. A decade ago? Decades ago? I think it was decades ago." Danielle cannot comprehend the length of decades. They follow a reluctant and confused Danielle into an attic. She is not convinced she isn't dreaming, Poppy is a surreal experience to her. Danielle wondered where Veronica was, but decided the key was more important, since everyone was insisting on finding it. Somehow she was confident the key is somewhere else, that Adam has it. But she can't remember who Adam is, and becomes more confident that she is dreaming since nothing makes sense, like in most dreams. She can hardly think and doesn't feel awake.
She leads them out the kitchen, down the hall, through the stairs, past the secret door, and up a ladder. Dusty boxes and darkness. It felt dark even with the flashlights. When Lila's flashlight began to flicker, she commandeered Evan's. Evan doesn't mind the darkness. There are five searching with two flashlights left. The encroaching darkness makes Lila work faster. This energy makes everyone work faster, except for Danielle who is very tired, and Wesley who decides dust is the worst.
Poppy wasn't even looking for the key, she was looking for Hartwood. She wants to do magic with Hartwood and finds a Violin in an unlit corner of the room. The violin might be Hartwood. "Woah look at this. Where's the rest of it?" It's bow is missing. It's case is also missing. She plucked it's strings, and found they are not tightly wound. She is afraid to wind them, since she has seen a sibling wind a violin's strings too tightly, and the string explode.
Dust and darkness. It is difficult to find a key in a box in an attic from sound alone. At first Lila thought the flashlights were losing power, but they aren't flickering like hers occasionally did. Once they had checked almost everything, she to double-check boxes they have already checked, leaving one flashlight to check containers that haven't been checked yet.
It is very slow checking boxes that haven't been checked yet. Eventually Lila finds the key in a box that has already been checked.
"Finally." Lila said. Now we can get out of this dark, messy attic.
Lila opens the door. The enormous mirascope-apparatus is shut. Above it is a hologram of Jordan's sleeping face. Evan ran to it to trying to force it open. Lila winced, there is a wall of misty darkness past the light of the kiln. The shadow wrapped itself around the apparatus, but the light of the kiln seemed to roll away the mists of it's shadow. Flashlights made smoke of the darkness, blowing it away like dust in wind. Lila scanned the room to find something to focus on, hoping it was a thing, and not a force. There was a tall thing in the mist, in the light of the flashlight.
As Evan tried to force the device open, Poppy pulled the lever next to it, the device creaked open. Evan pulled Jordan out. The shadow flows like water, it tries to divide the group from Jordan, but Evan fends it off with a one-foot-punch. Lila burns it with the flashlight, and it relents, it whispered and cackled, and echoed loud as shouts.
The shadow becomes a ball of spikes, hurling itself at everything, the tendrils spiral around the room. The shadow cackles, and whispers, it becomes a mist that spreads across the room, hiding the entrance and the walls.
A tendril shattered Evan's prosthetic leg. He fell, protecting Jordan. Lila flinches backwards, guarding her flashlight. The other tendrils wrap and spiral around the room. Wesley and Danielle dodge into the light of the kiln. The tendrils are a different kind of fire, made longer and violent by the kiln. Lila noticed the light of her flashlight is different from the light of fire, the flashlight burns the shadow away.
There are black cracks in their skin, with every volley. Like its turning them into ghosts, or making them disappear. The cracks look like tree roots, but an absence instead of a form and figure.
"I can still help you!" Elizabeth yells. "We still have time!"
It replies with incoherent screeching and echoing.
Elizabeth does not stop shouting and pleading with it.
Poppy tries to pull Evan back into the light, he sets Jordan down next to Poppy, and tries to tackle the shadow. Lila focuses her flashlight on the shadow, it is momentarily corporeal. Evan grapples it, then it hurls another tendril at Lila, destroying her flashlight.
Wesley snapped out of his daze. He got Lila's attention and tossed her a flashlight. He asked Poppy for the violin and tries to set it on fire. It is a shame to burn this, but the room is catching fire. The flickering lights everywhere are lengthening the shadows of the thing.
Evan not having two legs to stand on doesn't stop him. It doesn't even slow him down. He had been trying to wrestle with it since he cannot seem to strike it properly. But when Lila's flashlight was destroyed, it slipped away. He cannot grapple mist. Wesley starts to walk to the wall on the far side of the room holding a violin holding fire. Lila turned off her flashlight and followed him to the edge of the room. Evan does not relent. Evan has not stopped fighting. Evan finds when the shadow strikes anything, it can be struck back. Wesley started swinging the violin around like a baseball bat. When it got away from Wesley Lila turned on her flashlight. It was corporeal and surrounded. Evan grabbed it by the leg. Wesley swung and missed, but off balance, Lila shoved it into the fire.
It howled in pain, and wrapped its shadow around itself into a ball of pain. "You're hurting him!" Elizabeth shouted. The shadow bounded around the room screaming and howling, and on fire. Melding and unmelding itself from the dark before becoming corporeal and still. Poppy wrapped her scarf around her hands to try to pick up the shadow. Evan is the first to help Poppy, followed by Danielle and Wesley. The creature is smoldering, but not resisting. Lila keeps her flashlight on it. Together they pick up the shadow and place it into the apparatus, which Lila shuts with the lever. Poppy drops the smoldering remains of her favorite scarf.
After a moment of silence the creature pounded the metal from inside the machine, like it had woken up and was trying to escape. Above the apparatus was a hologram of a face they didn't know, Adam's.
The shadow sprite oscillated in the air to get their attention. It bumped against a force towards the device, like a balloon against a window. Wesley tries to help it approach the device. Then everyone tries to help it get to the device. The sprite's size makes this awkward and difficult, and as a result everyone is pushing against Wesley, who is pushing against a tiny shadow sprite.
The sprite does something, no one knows what. It's dancing by itself above the apparatus until another sprite pops out of the dust and darkness of the apparatus, and the clanging from inside stops. They dance into the sky. Everyone is watching the sprites dance.
"Everything is on fire." Danielle said. "Maybe I'm dreaming. Maybe I can put it out." She puts her hands up to try to do magic. Lila stops her. Poppy is disappointed.
"Oh right, of course. Fire." Evan said. The door is jammed shut, there is no handle. Something happened to the handle during the fight. There are alarms blaring in the background.
"I shouldn't have put my on-fire-scarf on the ground." Poppy said.
"The violin was a bad idea." Wesley said.
Lila knew the room was on fire but decided not to panic because no one was panicking. The tides have turned. Evan had seen enough movies to decide the room would eventually be on fire. So he broke the window with the least fire with his shattered prosthetic. Lila tore down the curtains and began yelling. She used the curtain to safely remove any glass that was left. Everyone started yelling. There were emergency services outside, and sirens. Evan threw his prosthetic out the window to get their attention before wondering how much the prosthetic cost. He decided it was shattered anyways, and did not regret this. When it didn't get their attention, Wesley followed suit, because he liked throwing things. Everyone was throwing things out the window and yelling.
Emergency services arrived with a tarp. Jordan was still unconscious. Lila was helping Danielle because she was having trouble staying conscious. Poppy helped Evan walk because he threw his leg out the window. Wesley carried Jordan, and thought a lot about how to jump out of a window carrying a body. After jumping he checked to make sure she was alive, and was glad he didn't kill someone that day.
Evan's dad and Granny Calhoun were there. Evan's dad was having a day. "I knew I should have home-schooled you two." Mr. Calhoun said.
"This doesn't have anything to do with school." Evan said.
Poppy's mom is there, she wraps her scarf around Poppy when she notices its missing.
"Evan? Evan! It would be great if just for once you didn't tell the truth. If there's one thing they learn, it won't be the truth. It would make things a lot, and I mean a lot, easier, if we did not tell the truth." Wesley said.
Evan cleared his throat. "Okay."
Wesley's parents are with a man wearing a black suit.
"Are you okay?" His mother is inspecting him for marks, shadow marks. Maybe it looks like she is looking for burns. "Wesley? What happened here? I need you to tell us what happened here."
Loudly, Wesley recounts the story of the party. He talks loudly and clearly but he isn't communicating to his mother, or the man in the suit. He is telling the story of what happened today, starting with the party, and ending in the fire. He is loudly writing the narrative of the party as a one-day-event. He wavers when he notices his mother does not believe him, but she does not say a word. Evan notices, and starts talking too, he talks about finding the locket and what was supposed to happen once they find the toy. Lila realizes the lies, and where they are going. She takes over the story convincingly, where Wesley words were stilted and Evan's were unfocused, Lila's lies were like silk. Maybe there was some value in their lies, obvious or not, but the moment the official noticed he had underestimated the children, and that they had successfully shared a narrative, it was too late to separate them.
They each recount the story they created together, Wesley found it was easier to speak the story the second time around. Evan had no problems the first time, nor the second time sharing his story. Lila had the least problems with the narrative. Poppy however decided to distract the official with such questions like "Are you with the government? Yeah? Cool cool. Do you know the president? Can you give him this letter?"
Evan spends the coming days in the hospital with his sister. Later when he returns to school, Spencer welcomes Evan to the track team.
Wesley spends the coming days with his parents at the lake. They do not acknowledge the drama. Their situation has never been more precarious, but the normal becomes a performance.
There's a lesson on Fairy Tales written by Ms. Redding. But another group assignment where the main characters are placed together, like last time, since they seemed to have the energy. Poppy has snacks. For a while they enjoy the snacks then Wesley starts to take something out of his backpack.
"Wesley, buddy, you're gonna give me a heart attack. Can you please tell us what you're doing first? I don't know if I can take another adventure."
"This is a book, probably mostly payback for the one Poppy loaned to me. It's called The Dreamweaver, sorry, you can probably see the title. It's about Rasputin." Poppy is making happy noises.
Lila participates in the science faire, she does her project about the energies produced by a similar occult apparatus, or maybe its vaguely or exhaustively about similar apparatuses.
"Interesting, out of the ordinary, well done." third place.
Eventually Veronica confronts Lila about the strangeness with the officials, and all the questions. Lila tells Veronica the truth.
"I can't wait to tell everyone." Veronica said.
"Ah, maybe don't?" Lila said.
"But then how will people know how cool you are?"
"I think this might get out on it's own."
Wesley makes sure the book makes the rounds with his friends. It was a practical read, but topical. At home his parents don't acknowledge what's happened. When he's ready to talk with them, he finds the house is bugged. He reads a note from his parents that they can't talk. He writes a letter over the coming days, he rewrites it until he gets it right. The day he gives it to his parents, they read it to each other on the way to work.
Poppy has been at work writing letters and thinking about the future ritual. The next year they make their way to the ritual site, Poppy has shifted the ritual to be about protecting oneself against the occult. Moonstones have significance here. Poppy has been writing letters to the president daily, one day she receives a letter with no return address and opens it.
