Vol had secured his own belongings, carefully and precisely, within his carriage. The wolverines were actually tucked in the rafters of his carriage, he had modified them to be lounges for the animals, comfortable and spacious. It’s a good thing though, that he preferred wolverines and not polar bears.

He leaned indolently against his carriage, hating to be cooped up before he had to be. It may be cold out here but at least the air was fresh.

The carnival was in a strange state now. The tourists gone, murdered and devoured, and all that was left were the workers. It lacked a certain jua de vivre. All business, quiet and serious. No enjoyment, no playfulness. Most workers jogged hither and yon, trying to get everything taken care of in the few minutes left before the Carnival would be on the move. Even the colors now were muted, brilliant tents having been packed away leaving everythig cold and gray.

He spied Mina making a leisurely pace towards her own carriage. She, at least, seemed not to be rushing. He tipped his hat at her.

“Best hurry Miss Mina” he said lightly. “Wouldn’t want such a lovely lady to be left behind. Besides, you might find yourself growing bored.” He grinned and winked. “Boredom is such an unpleasant state.”

Mina's mixed up eyes gleamed mischievously as she spotted Vol, leaning against his carriage. His voice was like a lure to any woman, and to Mina as well in this state. She almost purred delighted as she spoke to her and she couldn't help taking in a generous look of his body.
'You wouldn't let them leave me behind, now would you Vol?' she asked in a honey-sweet tone of voice. She neared him, standing before him with a small distance between them. 'Boredom is such a bother indeed...' she brushed her fingers past his arms with an obviously lustful intend. 'You would help me get rid of that troublesome state, wouldn't you Vol?' she asked softly.

Mina didn't have the skills Baba had, nor did she have the ability to talk people into things like Vol could, but her amber colored eyes could make any man drown in them. She didn't intentionally use them, it just happened in this state. She didn't even know if it would work on Vol, seeing as she hadn't tried it before. Right now none of that even mattered, it became all about the game of hunting for her now.

Vol leaned a head back and laughed. He didn’t mind the flirtation, not one bit. He was careful, however, to keep it only a flirtation. There wasn't the time for one thing. For another he tried to keep his involvements with other members less...just less.

“I’ll admit Miss Mina that men have a certain charm. But I doubt even I could charm Hag into doing something he doesn’t really want to do. You on the other hand my dear” Vol’s smile was all innocence and charm at once “if you purred just right, would have much better shot.”

When he thought about it Vol thought it was entirely possible he wasn’t lying about that. Hag did favor Mina over the other workers. Whether she knew it or not, she could probably influence Hag if she put her mind to it.

“Boredom is such a drag man” he said in a voice that perfectly mimicked a full on beatnik.

He slid gloved hands over her hips and yanked her closer leaving maybe two inches between them before letting her go.

“However” he slipped back to his normal charming voice, leaning in to speak to her as if sharing in a conspiracy. “Somehow I don’t think you suffer over much with that condition on a regular basis. I’ve seen the trail of eager young men lined up outside your tent.” His smile was all innocence. “I doubt you need poor little unassuming me. Even if it could be…Oh whats the word I’m searcing for?” he asked absently leaning back against his carriage.

Mina giggled lightly at Vol's teasing notions towards her. Such a fun man to interact with, he and his charming voice and innocent charm. She leaned against his carriage a bit, her hips leaned backwards slightly, making her cleavage all the more obvious. His way of playing around with her was cute, she had to say, but eventually she wasn't here simply to play this little game.

She purred lightly as he pulled her closer to him by her hips, her chest already in contact with his. Her eyes gleamed slightly as he leaned in close to talk to her, an amused smile on her lips as he did, though a certain want in her gaze.
'Oh but Vol, I'm so lonely in my own carriage.' she pouted, leaning against his chest, placing one hand on his shoulder gently. 'Young men entertain me, but eventually they are all like children, only good to fill my stomach.' she ran her fingers past his firm chest. 'I need a man, not a boy.' she stated softly, hypnotically.

Mortimer appeared behind the two lovebirds who were flirting to each other. "Must I remind you of what I said? Pack your stuff and leave already! Get into carriages! Hag doesn't want to be in this place anymore!" Shadow said in his own mindset, quite jealous that Vol was having fun with the one girl he had fallen for. His fiery garnet eyes stared into Mina before both, Master and pet disappeared.

Hag just moved his hands a bit in what seemed a magic act and his whole office and Mortimer's place were shrinked and put inside the main carriage. Hag hopped aboard the main cart and took the leashes of the haunted horses, devilish creatures who were simply bones, but still had the strength to take on such a massive ammount of weight behind them. Hag just sat there with Mortimer next to him, who was still really worried about the people they would meet in their new location. "T-Those religious flocks...t-t-they don't seem friendly...H-Hag..." Mortimer said shyly.

“Carriages are cursed uncomfortable Miss Mina” said Vol in a teasing voice “You have to bend yourself into all sorts of strange positions. Now Miss Violet, she could keep you company in true style.” He grinned for a moment imagining that scenario. That would be a lovely scene to watch indeed.

He wasn’t too disturbed when Mortimer popped out of the shadows; its not like the man wasn’t everywhere. He was still annoyed though, particularly at being lectured. Hadn’t he done this countless times already.

“Never fear, already packed” said Vol easily, his grin still in place. “You think I want to stay in the gods cursed place any longer? I had once thought a god’s cursed place would be a bit more welcoming.”

He shook his head as Mortimer vanished as rudely as he had arrived. He hadn’t been oblivious to Shadow’s dislike.

“Scolded like school children. How quaint. One of them has a bit of tendre for you Miss Mina. I wonder just what you have been up to?” He smiled slyly. “It matters not to me naturally” He skimmed his own hands up her body, stopping just shy of her breasts before releasing her and grinning. He tipped his hat at her and winked before reaching a hand up, grabbing the edge of his own carriage, swinging himself inside with a graceful jump.

He leaned out of his carriage for a brief moment longer. “For now I shall amuse myself with what could have been. Another time Lovely Mina” he said smiling his charm filled smile.

“Always another time” he said as he settled down to rest. “As it always must be.”

He slept, and when he slept he dreamed. And while the lovely Mina graced his thoughts once or twice, the depths of his dreams were much darker and much more heady and addictive.

Mina grinned lightly at his reply. 'Miss Violet would be some nice company as well, Vol, but you know where my preference lies.' she stated with a light purr in her voice. She looked back with a bit of a cold look as Mortimer and Shadow appeared from the shadows, disturbing her conversation. She pouted playfully as they were lectured, winking at Shadow lightly. 'Don't worry, little bringer of darkness. We'll all be ready soon.' she stated, right before the duo left.

She returned her gaze towards Vol and chuckled. 'I've been up to many things Vol, many you could probably imagine right now.' she giggled. She purred again as he ran his hands over her body, before biting her lips disappointed when he swung himself into his carriage. 'How very nice of you.' she stated jokingly as he stated he'd amuse himself. 'I'll hold your word Vol, that other time will come.' she licked her lips lightly, before turning and heading to her own carriage and resting on her bed once she entered.

Kodama watched chance come back after she ate by that time he was getting up grabbing for his trunk where he kept everything "I rather cuddle with you in the blood and chunks not pack up either but you heard the boss man chancy" he opened the trunk and started tossing his things in it without rhyme or reason lightly swatting back at her with his foot at her pawing each time he passed by her like one would do to a kitten swatting at your feet.

no matter how much he put in the trunk it did not seem to fill, but that was clown car science for you, soon the tent was empty save for the woman chance brought for kodama, and chance herself. Kodama closed the trunk and a tattoo of a key gave shape and formed in his hand, after locking it he sat down on the top with a thud then he realized he was all packed.

When everyone was inside their respective carriages, the Carnival made a wierd, 'carnivalesque' sound and the horses trotted away from the cold ground of Russia. A simple swing of the light leashes against the bones of the dead horses made them trot even faster as they were approaching their destination. "Ah...Mortimer...the advantages of supernatural and undead horses, right? They are...perfect! Look at them! Seconds ago we were in Russia and now we are in...England?...I...Guess..." Mortimer gazed outside with a worried looked. It seemed the idillic weather they were expecting in England had turned to a fiery and thick mist coupled with wind and thus making it very cold. Mortimer shivered and Shadow sneezed, then cawed. "Agh! This sucks! Hag! I told you we shouldn't have come here!" Shadow pouted at him angrily. "I know! I know! But we need souls, and these stupid religious people...know what we are up to...and no witnesses are allowed if they have souls..."

Finally, the carriage stopped in a deserted village in the middle of nowhere...more precissely, England. There were christian crosses everywhere and a church not far from where they stopped. A man with a flash-light and a gun approached the main carriage and saw the spooky horses. He gripped the flash-light harder and ordered for Hag to come out. Hag kept his mask though and walked out to speak to the man. "May I help you with anything sir?" The old man with the gun and the source of light looked at him angrily. He had a robe, meaning he was with some sort of cult. "What are you and your damned people doing here?" "We? Ah....We have this carnival here to entertain people...you know..." "And you entertain them with dead horses who can move by themselves? Gross...this seems some kind of devilish arts....don't move...I'll search for the high master to come." The old man suddenly disappearing, leaving both Hag and Mortimer quite shocked. Hag walked in front of all the carriages and knocked on them. "Alright, time to come out. As soon as you are all down, the circus will settle by itself. But I don't want you in your tents. I want you in the main gates since we'll have a meeting with the denizens of this place."

Esme heard Hag talking and poked her head out from the cart. She ghosted her way over to him and stood nearby but off to the side, not wanting to get in the way. What she really wanted was someone to hold her hand, put their arm around her, something. It seemed she craved contact with people, maybe because she was a ghost and wanted to make sure she was still there.
A meeting with religious people? Esme shook from fear. Being a witch, she had had run-ins with religious people before. Mainly Catholics. They were narrow-minded and horrible to anyone different.
Esme didn't want to tell Hag that she was scared, but she was sure her eyes showed her fear.

Hag looked at his sister when she came out and put an arm around her waist. "Esme...I'd...rather you stick with the others...or Mortimer...until the meeting takes place. I do not want to leave you unattended. You are really important to me...My sweet sister..." he whispered to her and took her hand into his. He intertwined their fingers and then kissed her lips deeply. He pulled his mask back down and sighed. "Oh darling...How much I love you...I'm afraid this place will change us...as these people are truly unpredictable..."

Esme was happy when Hag came over to her. She soaked up the attention and the physical contact. The kiss was expected and didn't disappoint.
"I understand my brother, and thank you for your consideration. Religious people frighten me. I have had bad experiences with people like them before," she said and shivered at the memory. She laid her head on his shoulder. "I will stand with Mortimer. I know him more then anyone else. I hope Mina is nearby as well."
She gripped his hand in both of hers. "Will the meeting last long? I really want to spend more time with you."

---

Chance bounced onto one of the carts and spent the short trip cleaning up and cuddling with Billy (corpse/doll). She really wanted to cuddle with Kodama, but he never seemed to want to cuddle. Sometimes she had fantasies about them dancing in the blood of their shared victim, the music of painful screams of agony around them. It wasn't a secret that she had a major thing for her clown partner.
When the cart stopped she jumped out and cartwheeled over to Hag, only to be surprised by a new person.
"Oooooh Hag's got a pretty girlfriend," she sang in her childish voice, laughing and giggling. "Pretty girl, pretty girl, Hag's got a pretty girl! Let's all play together! We'll have fun!" she exclaimed, leaning forward to show off her ample breasts.

Esme moved away from the girl, uneasiness and some disgust on her face. The clown girl was obviously crazy and so overly sexual it made Esme highly uncomfortable.
Chance laughed at her discomfort and did a backbend that turned into several flips. She ended up hanging on Hag provocatively, attempting to be cute.
"Ooooooh I've made her sad," Chance said with an exaggerated frown face. "I've been a bad girl Hag," she said suggestively, rubbing against him. "I'm a bad bad kitty that needs to be punished. Punish me good Haggy."

Hag was happy her sister wanted to spend time with, but he was really saddened that this location would be their dead end. "I don't know...I want all of you in the meeting so you can hear what the high father will tell us about the rules. I want to spend time with my beautiful sister too, but I need time to gather my ideas. Mina and Mortimer will be together I guess, so they'll take care of such a delicate soul as yours." Hag then gasped when Chance jumped out of the carriage. A grin spread behind his mask as he watched the beautiful clown he once used to crave for dance and flip around him. He just shook his head and placed one of his hands around Chance's hips seductively. "I would....gladly have fun with both of you...my gorgeous ladies..." he told to both his sister and Chance, "But I'm worried Kodama wouldn't want me stealing his gorgeous girlfriend, right?" Hag was always gentle with his workers, strict, but gentle.

Kodama soon followed behind Chance his black eye falling on everyone in the cart they were piled into, Kodama found a seat on one of the crates that they used to haul all the circus gear, he watched Chance cartwheel over to Hag and pester Esme. Kodama could only smile when he heard Hag's comment "if you think I have a chance to tame that beast, i think you give me to much credit buts its that animal she has inside her that keeps this warlord of weird thinking i might be able to....with the right about of chloroform and some heavy duty chains" he let out a laugh and looked over to Esme his smile not leaving "I do not think we have meet yet...where have been keeping you?"

Kodama gave Esme a wink with his black eye and looked back to Chance and Hag "oh Chancy, I saved that gift you brought me when you had your lunch before we left...she...i mean it will be a great snack after we get all hunkered down and before we hun...explore around" he kicked his feet up on a barrel the teddy bears around his boots jiggled as he moved his feet "

Mina awoke in her carriage, yawning a bit, her head aching lightly. She remembered how she had acted before and blushed, feeling stupid about her flirt with Vol. She got dressed in loose skirt, white stockings with short boots, a white shirt and a belt around her waist. She frowned as her skirt was a bit short, but shrugged it off as she walked outside while tying her hair up into a ponytail.
She immediately despised the damp, rainy weather that drew into her clothes. In the distance she spotted Hag and Esme, accompanied by Chance. She shivered as she went towards them, not wanting to go near the girl.

'Morning Hag, Esme..' she said then looked at the insane clown girl. 'Chance...' she said. She spotted Kodama arriving as well and gave him a faint nod as greeting.

Hag acknowledged everyone as they surrounded him and his sister. Only Vol was missing. "Greetings, Mina. You may not have heard me...but later on you'll go to the main gate of the carnival and wait for me and Mortimer. We must have a talk with the high father of this place who wants to share a word with us and tell us about the rules." Mortimer then appeared behind Hag and stood still, quite silent and not saying anything. "Oh, I forgot..." Hag clapped his hand and made a few moves pointing to the empy piece of ground next to them, which was quite huge and the carnival started to unfold quite quickly. In a matter of seconds, Hag's dark magic had set up everything the carnival had: the tents, the worker's living places, the ticket-booth and Mortimer/Hag's office. "Oh....one more thing...You cannot use magic or any other kind of supernatural abilities when you are being watched by these guys...they don't like anything that's out of their normal lives or believes." With that last word, he gave Esme a kiss on her cheeks and a small squish on Chance's beautiful rear before disappearing, leaving Mortimer to rule them.

Chance giggled when Hag squeezed her bottom. She stuck her tongue out at Esme.
Esme frowned at her. She didn't like it that Hag claimed to love her, yet touched this psychotic clown so intimately.
Chance made an exaggerated frowny face. "Aww the wittle girly girl is mad that I got Hag's attention. Don't be mad that I am more of a woman than you honey. Once you finish growing I'm sure Hag with grope you too."
Esme frowned darkly. "Leave me alone."
"Uh oh, I've made her mad. You gonna throw a tantrum girly girl?" she asked before leaning closer. "Stay out of my way pretty girl or you won't be so pretty anymore," she warned before laughing and skipping off to Kodama. She jumped up and wrapped her arms and legs around her clown partner. "Yes let's go, let's go! We'll eat and play in her blood!" she said, giggling like a crazed school girl.

Esme turned away, disgusted with both of them.
Why had Hag touched that crazy clown whore so intimately? He claimed to love her. He had even kissed her several times. But now he flirted openly and touched this clown, who was as different from Esme as night and day. What was she supposed to understand from that? Was he lying to her about his affections? Did he really want a slut to jump in bed with?
Sighing, Esme didn't know what to do so she sat on the ground near the ticket booth to wait for the meeting. She caught sight of Mortimer and Mina and waved, giving them a sad smile.
Hag seemed to change his mind so often. First he killed her, wanting to make her suffer. Then he claimed to love her deeply and wanted her with him. And now he seemed to want another woman, one who was completely vulgar and bat-shit crazy.
Esme stared off into the rain and fog. She began to hum, then sing. She always sang when she was sad, to make herself feel better.

Mortimer looked at the cute ghost girl who sadly sat down by the ticket booth with a long face. She seemed really sad about something, so he decided to go and find out what happened to her. However, in order to keep everything calm, he left Mina and Shadow together, who stood on top of Mina's shoulder. "Aye Matey! I guess we are ruling these guys until Mortimer returns! Have you had any lunchtime since that time?" he asked Mina in a flirtatious way as it was more than clear Mortimer and Shadow shared a crush on her.

Mortimer reappeared next to Esme and sat down next to her, her head barely reaching his elbows. "M-M-Miss Esme..." he spoke shyly, this also being the first time she heard his true voice. "I bet something....i-is troubling y-you...And if I'm c-correct...it must be the way Hag t-touched that dirty clown's rear...Let me tell you something. Hag is a very troubled m-man...and holding so much souls in his ring for more than 20 years....has c-changed Hag in swingy way. But...he never disappoints those who he l-loves...or he cares about. We have a really s-strong bond...He is my best friend, and so is Shadow. We are unsplittable. But...that man...it seems that he l-loves you....have you told him that you feel the same? That you love him the way he does? If you haven't...then Hag doesn't really feel any love towards a girl who doesn't feel the same..." Mortimer sounded so sincere with such a shy and calm voice.

Baba snarled a few choice curses—a tree began to wither nearby—as she was told she couldn't use her magic in view of the locals. "Well then," she hissed, perfect lips curled back to reveal the teeth Hag had given her, complete with sharp eyeteeth. "I'm not sure what you expect me to do, Hag." She paused. "No, I tell a lie. I'll have to start selling crosses, won't I?" Her eyes narrowed, hidden by the drooping hood with its flickering mirrors.

"Though I'm not sure why we're here, Hag. If you don't want us using our powers, how do you wish for the Carnival to feed? Do you want us to use knives and axes?" She cocked her head. "Or are we planning on going hungry? Truly, why did you bring us to a place like this? Unless you want us to wipe it out?" She set her head to the other side. "Is that what you want, Hag? Do you want us to raze this town and devour the souls of the righteous?"

The sound of Mortimer's voice surprised Esme. It was so different than before, stuttering but gentle and kind.
"But what if he wants the clown more? What if he's changed his mind about... loving me that way? He has kissed me as though he wants me in... the way a man wants a woman. But what if I'm wrong? Is it wrong that I... that I want him to... love me that way?"
Esme was so confused. Was she sick to want those things from her own brother. Her mind told her it was wrong, but her heart desired it. She craved that intimate contact that a man and a woman shared and she craved it from Hag.
Perhaps she was wrong. Perhaps she was damned for wanting such a thing.

She looked at Mortimer sadly and hugged him on impulse. "I'm sorry that I am putting all of this on you, but other then Hag you are the only other person I'm close to here, that I feel like I can talk to and you won't condemn me."