Dina didn’t waste any time escaping.

The larger man from before came back down to the squad car. He grabbed ahold of Kimberly and, after a quick instruction from the fake sheriff, pulled her along toward the property down a long driveway that wound haphazardly back away from the road.

I could hear Kimberly screaming, "Please don't hurt me, I'm pregnant. Please!"

She didn't have to act scared. She was scared. At least she managed to get her Pregnancy Reveal activated, though it only buffed her Grit by a single point. She had not really had time to set it up. I had a feeling that was going to be an issue with a lot of our tropes in this storyline. The Party Phase was zooming by and we were going to have trouble with that sort of thing.

The sheriff grabbed Dina and followed him.

The third guy gave me the absolute creeps. He was still called Deputy Bradley Speirs on the red wallpaper. Whatever trope hid his identity was still blocking me.

But he looked thrilled as he ran up to Dina, ruffled her hair, and let out a hyena’s laugh. He was younger, unshaven, unkempt.

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Antoine and I were left in the back of the car as the three of them walked up to the property. Up close, it was clear that the vehicle we were in was not a modern police car—not even in 1989 where the story was set. It was old, rusty, and worn down. If we had seen it in daylight without the high beams in our eyes, our characters would have known those guys were not actual cops instantly.

Off-Screen.

“I don’t like this,” Antoine said. I could see that he was testing the strength of his handcuffs against his pure strength, trying to squeeze his hand out of one of the cuffs. Of course, his efforts were in vain.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to do that off-screen,” I said.

“I'm going to go for it when I get the chance," he said. "I did say I was a weightlifter, at least. Might help.”

I shrugged. “It might if you pick your moment. Dina should be out of hers soon.”

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He nodded. “But what about Kimberly? Those guys… they looked dangerous,” Antoine asked. “Did you see anything about their tropes?”

I shook my head. “The two with the masks were just called Grave Robbers. I assume they have a trope to stop them from being scoped out from the road when they come to grab Samantha. The other two looked like NPCs still, but I’m guessing that will change.”

Antoine nodded.

“We could try kicking out the window,” I suggested, pointing to the window beside Antoine. There were bars blocking us from getting into the front seat. Unfortunately, as soon as I said it, I knew it wouldn’t work. We were Captured on the red wallpaper. If my escape idea were plausible, I would have gotten a buff from my Escape Artist trope.

“Never mind,” I said.

“Gotta set you up for the TV buff, right?” Antoine asked.

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I nodded. "We should try," I said. "I'm not sure we'll have time." Raised by Television required the audience to know I was a Film Buff so that I could do some movie hero stunt and get a boost for it. Like Kimberly's Pregnancy Reveal, I wasn't sure we would get the chance to set it up with how fast the plot was moving.

“And Bobby has already gone into his role somewhere,” Antoine said. “Any idea when he’ll show back up? Do we know for sure?”

“Finale at the worst. Finale for Dina too,” I said.

He looked up ahead. I followed his gaze.

“Right on schedule,” I said.

Two of the men, the larger guy and the sheriff, were running in our direction. They were absolutely booking it with a panic in their eyes.

The sheriff reached the car, and we were suddenly On-Screen.

“God dammit,” he said as he opened the driver’s side door and got inside.

“What do I do?” the other man with the yellow bandana asked. He had previously not had any important information on the red wallpaper other than “Grave Robber,” but now had the name “Tank,” Plot Armor 18.

“Go find her!” the fake sheriff yelled. “Bring her to me!”

The sheriff reached to turn on the car and I realized that he had left the keys in the ignition. That would explain why he was in such a hurry to get back to us—he didn’t want Dina getting here first. Antoine and I couldn’t have reached them.

Antoine and I screamed and yelled and threatened as we thought our characters would do in that situation.

He drove the car up the driveway. We curved around until the thick woods cleared and we could see a large, worn-down plantation-style manor sitting upon a hill. The side panels had once been white, but they were now gray from weathering.

There were lights on in some of the rooms.

Lumber had been piled up under tarps outside as if someone were planning to renovate.

It didn’t look as decrepit as I was expecting from the look of the sign in Camden’s picture, but then the sign was technically thirty years older than the building, which I believed had been brought to Carousel back in 1989.

Standing in front of the building was a man I had not yet seen. He was arguing with the fake deputy, pointing his finger out in the distance, clearly ordering the deputy off.

I could see both of them clearly on the red wallpaper suddenly. I looked at the sheriff driving us. I could see him in my mind too.

We pulled up in front of the house and the sheriff opened his door.

“Got two of them right here, boss,” the fake sheriff said like a kissass. His name on the red wallpaper was still Randall “Randy” Halloway. His Plot Amor was 19.

The man he had called “Boss” was called “Merritt Speirs,” Plot Armor 22.

Off-Screen.

I could see now that all of the enemies had three tropes in common: Desperation, Home-Lair Advantage, and Nowhere to Run.

Desperation

This villain is in a desperate situation. The worse their situation becomes, the more desperate and violent they will act. Debuffs Moxie and Savvy to buff Mettle and Hustle.

Home-Lair Advantage

The villain can travel freely, unnoticed due to their knowledge of the setting and its passages - both public and secret.

Nowhere to Run

The setting for this story is isolated. There is no one to ask for help within the story, and nowhere to go that the enemy will not find you.

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