Every delay was a chance at not finding Simon in time to stop him from heading back to the police station with the sign but she really wanted a weapon. She knew that a throwing dagger or two wouldn't really be much use against another one of those Hunters. Still, it would be useful against a faceless or a cultist. And really something, anything, was better than nothing.

She headed for the tent, hoping it wasn't a waste of time. She entered cautiously, wary of more monster's lying in wait. She figured she would need to pass through the main stage area to the back performer's prep area. That's where the costumes and props would most likely be. If she didn't find anything useful soon she would have to leave. She just hoped that there weren't anymore surprises.

In the tent there were a plethora of seats and the central area where the performer would be though it was vacant other than a wooden pole where a target had been set up. There was someone there strapped to it, a woman, no a Faceless. But in inspecting those restraints she found that they had been legit. Yet the Faceless responded as she supplied herself with weapons hearing them being pulled from the target, trying to lunge at her.

Boneless or not it was held fast though armed now she continued on avoiding just a few Faceless that had not wandered from the area, all of which had been stuck some place that they could not get out of such as behind a closed gate for a ride though the rides were off.

She had not heard from the big guy for a bit, but did find the tea cup ride and near it … the wax museum was near here, if not for the fog she would have seen it. In looking for it though she saw Simon running out of the fog toward her, he jumped at the same time that he witnessed her, probably having the same idea that she was a Faceless too.

“Kristy?” He seemed confused and alarmed but oddly not relieved, he seemed more scared then anything “What are you doing here?”

She noted that he kept his distance almost as if he were deliberately staying at the edge of her vision so he could dart off into the fog quicker if necessary.

"Simon! Thank god I found you!!" She said with a sigh of relief. She had been prepared for facing another monster but once she saw it was the kid she'd lowered her guard again. After a second she realized that Simon hadn't lowered his though. She was confused and hurt for a moment but then she remembered what he'd talk her about Yeager's abilities. "Oh right, I forgot. Yeager steals faces."

She gave the kid his space, knowing she would have to prove herself to him before he would trust her. "Look, Simon, it's me. I escaped and came looking for you because I learned more about the sigh and what it does. We can't give it to Yeager. It's too dangerous." She explained want had happened back at the police station, talking to Miguel and breaking out. "Look, I understand why you'd be suspicious of me but we don't have a lot of time. Do you remember what we did on the trip to the hospital?" That had been a private moment between them so hopefully it would be enough to prove she was who she appeared to be. "We wrote notes to each other and you warned me about Dean. It was Rachel who ended up betraying me sadly though I did appreciate the warning. Is that good enough proof that I'm me?"

He was suspicious, that was understandable given what he had told her earlier and how they had parted. “I'm no Aqua Man,” he was going to use that for a test but she mentioned the notes, that was something Yeager didn't know about but he could have tortured her and he was unaware of his actual abilities. He had thought that the Yellow King could steal memories as well as faces too but he gambled, Yeager couldn't empathize though, she had lowered that knife a bit, even seemed relieved. Had he known she was an actress though he might have figured that Yeager got those abilities by assuming her identity.

Unlike Miguel he had been into things like comics rather then seeing plays. Even if he was aware of her profession she wasn't famous and not in the movies he saw advertisements for. But he wanted to believe too though he had brought her into the nearest building so they were out from the open, some sort of optical illusion where the room moved around but you felt that you were stationary … The Houdini … they hadn't entered into the room of the actual ride but they were in the building itself were they could talk without anyone or thing sneaking up on them.

“That book sounds ominous, don't know what that means. Both the word and the book,” he grinned adding a little bit of humor to ease the tension he thought.

“So what now? We can't give him that sign, no wonder why I couldn't find it, I've been back and forth all about the tea cups but didn't see it and was beginning to think I was in the wrong area. The Hunters are quicker here, the smaller ones.” It was his turn to fill her in, it had been the worm things that was why they had been ignoring her they were after him and she wasn't relevant. He had no idea what the other thing was but his best guess was that it was after her sent in the same way that the Hunters were after him.

“There's no way out of the city, the only option would be getting rid of the Yellow King.” It was the second time he used King in place of Yeager though it was not much of a surprise and seemed somewhat natural for him. “Do you think we have to kill him? I like the Punisher way better than Aqua Man but how do you suppose we even do that with everything that he's got after us?”

She maybe should have been concerned about Simon suddenly calling Yeager the Yellow King. Only Yeager himself had used that epithet up until now. But Simon had already proven himself with the Aqua Man reference so she did question him now.

"I'm not sure he can be killed." She frowned, thinking back to when she had stabbed him and the way the wound had bulged and writhed. "He's not completely human. Maybe..." A thought sparked in her. "Maybe we can make him human! The sign is supposed to be able to reform reality so maybe, if we find it, we can use it against him."

“Well I sort of figured that he wasn't human unless he moonlights as Leather Face … wearing people's faces and all while not normal it's seamless like he's actually that person and not wearing a mask. And what I've seen here, well it's not as if you're trying to sell me on seeing Big Foot.

“I heard he was human once, he still uses the name he had while human. He goes by lots of stuff but he bonafide crazy, off his meds, bonkers, however you want to put it. I've heard lots of rumors but even if he is human then the sign can defeat him. Can't hurt,”

He shot her a smile. When the two knocked heads as far as where the sign was and the mention of seeing it in the photo Simon groaned. “Do you know how many times I past the wax museum and the tea cup ride? The sigh isn't hanging up like it is in the picture. It's gone but I suspect it might be in there, the only trouble with the place though is that I've been by there a lot so there's a ton of Hunters. They shouldn't bother you though.” He considered a bit.

“I do hope someone decided not to place it elsewhere. Then I'll have to think of all the places he can't go. I know this park is one of them but he can send his things here. I don't know why he can't go to certain places though I heard Otis and Dean talking once about places of strong emotion but your guess is as mine. Not even Batman can figure out what's true and what's not.”

"What do you mean, it's not there?" She asked, exasperation creeping into her tone. Had she gotten the location wrong? She had seen it clearly in the photograph. She might have to check it out herself but if it truly wasn't there... "Oh blast! What if Rachel moved it?" She recalled the conversation she had had with Rachel at the hospital. She'd showed her the photo of the amusement park where she had seen the sign but she had also said she wouldn't give it to Yeager unless he gave her Claire. She retold the story for Simon. "She clearly knew the sign was here. What if she took it and hid it somewhere else to use as leverage against him. To force him to release Claire?"

She cursed and started pacing. "That would be severely not good, Simon. I have no idea where Rachel would have hide it if she took it. Look, I need to go to the spot I saw it in the picture. Maybe, because I know exactly where it was I'll have better luck finding it. Or at the very least maybe I can find a clue as to where it might have gone. We'll figure out what to do from there." She got some further instructions from him about how to get to the tea cups and wax museum from here and then told him to stay put. "The hunters have been ignoring me so I should be able to get by them without issue. You wait here. If I'm not back in 10 minutes then go on without me. Head for the hospital. Maybe there is a clue in Rachel's room there."

“Oh ...” that was all he said about Rachel possibly moving it. He listened then thought it all over for a bit.

“It might not be too hard then to find it if that's the case. If she doesn't want to give it to him she's probably taken it and wants to keep it from him. Yeager can't go to certain places so she would likely hide it in one of those places. Either she would keep it close to keep an eye on it or a place she shared a moment with her daughter, by default it should be one of those places that are off limits and has some significance to her and Clair. I have a few ideas if the museum doesn't pan out.”

He gave her the necessary directions. The only obstacle thus far were the Hunters and they had not opposed her. If she startled one they startled her right back zipping by and emitting a shrill shriek. That lizard thing had not shown any signs of returning nor did the wax museum have one either.

There was a place for one to hang but it was gone. The only two witnesses as far as she could tell were the two beings that stood in the window of the museum the first and sixteenth President of the United states. Top hatted Abe Lincoln and George Washington without a jacket, rolled up sleeves and wielding a hatchet. Between the two was a tree laying prone as if it were cut down. The fabled cherry tree she could guess. All was still and by the photograph the sign should have been hanging right there even though she didn't quite remember it all that well save for the color a yellow, possibly wooden, sign.

She scowled at the empty spot where the sign should have been. Had Yeager known she'd sent Simon to the wrong place? What would have been the point in that? Just to screw with them some more. She turned back to return to Simon, wondering if this was how it started for the other cultist who had seen the sign. Did Yeager wearing them down with impossible tasks and sending horrid monsters after them or was it the actual physical presence of the sign that drove people mad? She and Simon still had really seen the sign itself. She had seen a photo but that wasn't really the sign. It was a photo of the sign which was not the same.

She sighed and plodded on, still wary of hunters and on the look out for the reptilian thing that had been stalking her. Once she met back up with Simon she gave him a shake of her head. "No luck. It definitely isn't where I saw it in Rachel's photograph. Unless it can change shape or something. You said you had some idea where she might have hidden it? Where do we need to go next? We should probably hurry..."

She had no idea how long they had been out here but surely they were nearing Yeager's deadline. Good news if he needed the sign by a certain hour for his ritual to work but bad for Simon. The hunters might very well have only been playing with him before but she suspected that might change if they missed the deadline. Yeager might send all his monsters after them in earnest then. He didn't even have a sacrifice now to appease his god. They needed to hurry. She didn't want to see what a desperate Yeager was like.

Nothing … Simon thought, there had to be a few possibilities and he was thinking of which had been more likely then the others. Finally he concluded which was more significant. “The high school auditorium. Rachel told me that she was proud when her daughter graduated. We were going through the school at the time scavenging for supplies when she told me that Clair would do something she couldn't. She had to drop out, got pregnant with her before hand. She said it was the same school, I don't think it was but she believed it was and that might have been enough to form a safe area there or maybe she just thinks it's safe and hid it there any way.”

Simon explained the best possibility he could think of. If everyone was mad with the exception of her and Simon Rachel may have associated a familiar school with the actual one she was at, the name would have been different in that case but was Rachel deliberately misrembering the past?

It was hard to say but they were running out of time. There was no sign of the lizard creature and the Faceless were distracted for the most part or looming about the noisy areas. The Hunters had been a cause for alarm for Simon but not her. They gave her a scare but zipped by when she startled them.

Simon lagged behind her a little. He used her as an early warning system of sorts since the Hunters were not after her she could give him the heads up to run for it if necessary.

She got to the entrance of the amusement park before she saw the humanoid figure in the fog before her. An arm came up and she heard a click of a gun being cocked. The figure did not move with jerky movements and was not a Faceless.

“Found you ...” It was Dean's voice. “Come along, we mustn't keep Yeager waiting.” Though she could just make him out now. He was looking straight at her with a 9mm aimed at here seemingly oblivious to Simon's presence at the moment.

She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Dean and his gun. She waved a hand behind her gesturing Simon to stop too and moved to block him with her body. She wasn't sure if Dean had seen Simon yet but she didn't want to risk the kid becoming another target. "Careful, Dean. If you shot me you won't ever find you sign." She bluffed easily. "I found it and hid it someplace no one will be able to get to it except me so you really Don't wanna fire that thing."

Simon paused, seeing her reaction and hearing what was going on. The fog was great in that he had only to take a step backward and be consumed by it. Dean's focus had been on her and he had not noticed the boy nor had it looked as if he had expected to see him. It was clear that he came after her.

Her bluff only got him to grin, his eyes widened vacantly and the look creeped her out. “Is that so?” His aim had yet to waiver though.

“Last I checked Yeager wanted that sign, not I. It can do nothing else for me.. You have been a nuisance to chase after but when I heard that thing roar when driving past I felt this was the place. Yeager has ways of getting that information out of you.

“Whether or not you cooperate is another matter but he will obtain it. Now come along, can't have our sacrifice running out on us … besides, that boy still has time to pull threw.

“Or if you like you can test your luck ...” He let loose a shot into the sky answered by a roar somewhere back near the hall of mirrors, the creature she had eluded up to now, a creature Yeager probably sent to retrieve her as Dean didn't seem too worried about gathering it's attention.

In addition to it some of the Faceless had to have decided to abandon the rides they had been drawn to in order to investigate. “Car's right over there, but be my guest and run some. They won't kill you but you'll wish they had.”

He ginned at her leaving her to her choice. She could hear two others fast approaching too.
Someone running, it sounded to quick to be Faceless too again Dean had not seemed too worried about it.

His words confirmed that he hadn't seen Simon yet. She wanted to keep it that way so she scoffed. "Oh please, Dean, even you aren't that stupid." She put on a cool air, as though she was weary of all the maneuvering. "The kid's gone. That's why I came here, to help him find the sign. But he wasn't here. He probably ran off the second Yeager released him... I can't say I blame him for that."

She hoped Simon took the hint from her words and took off. He still had a chance of finding the sign on his own. She could stall Dean here, try to outsmart him and get away if possible. She was pretty sure he wasn't going to shoot her now. He still needed her for something, though she was beginning to wonder if it was the same thing Yeager wanted her for. "So, you see, I have no incentive to go back with you. I won't give Yeager the sign and I have no desire to be sacrificed like Otis." She gave him an ugly look. "You think you scare me with that gun? I'd rather die here than on some alter to a false god."

He fired the gun into the air and she jumped in spite of herself. She saw Faceless heads turn there way and the distance roar of the beast that had been sent after her. She glared at Dean. "That was real smart. You have some assurances that those thing won't attack you too?" She heard footfalls and turned to look and see who it was. Afraid it was Simon about to do something crazy. She was prepared to run if it turned out to be another monster. Dean hadn't seemed concerned about it but he was probably just as crazy as the rest of the cultists.

He shook his head. “Naw though the big guy isn't after me and as I said I have a car right over there. The Faceless don't move quick enough to catch me in such a short sprint.”

Simon seemed to get the hint earlier though she looked thinking that he may have been doing something crazy but what she see were two humans run on up, other cultists she had not recognized. Both seemed confused, one looked angry with Dean.

“Found her. Charlie, get that look off your face or you'll be walking,” he laughed then pointed at her with the gun gesturing into the fog behind him in the likely direction of his car. “No faith in the boy? I wouldn't trust him either, but I don't even think Yeager knows he's color blind. He won't find it. Coming?”

The cultists hurried past having the sense to be afraid. The angry one still looked angry as if he had it with playing stupid games too. Both ignored her other then a casual glance but in the end Dean wasn't going to stick around for much longer either though he delayed until he could hear the Faceless getting close to make it a bit harder for her. He aimed his gun at her leg but seemed to weigh the decision of hobbling her or not. The big guy he referred to had to be the lizard thing that was after her though he had his doubts as to how the Faceless were ordered, if at all. Shooting her could lead to the Faceless taring her apart which was no good, it was clear that he didn't want to let her off easy but didn't want to hinder Yeager either. Getting her back for him would have been the rational thing to do but he wasn't rational. None of them were except for Simon and Otis and the later was dead.

“Coming or not?” He snapped. Answered by another roar she heard the lizard creature closer too clattering with steel, injuring itself maybe? If anything it proved to be rather straight forward in it's approach.

She hesitated, taking him seriously for the first time. She had distracted him long enough for Simon to get away. He still had a chance to find the yellow sign but Dean's revelation about the boy being color blind gave her pause. Was Simon truly color blind? He hadn't said anything to her about it... Would he be able to find the sign on his own? She hadn't known anyone with true color blindness. She had brothers with mild forms of it, being unable to differentiated red from green or blue from purple but they had no trouble seeing yellow. She needed to go after him, help him.

But Dean had delayed her as much as she had him and what's more, he had attracted more unwanted attention to her. She looked to the gun in his hand, still directed at her legs. If he hobbled her it would be just as effective as dragging her into the car to be returned to Yeager. Worse, in fact, because the monsters around them were more likely to play with her first. She might very well be crippled or maimed before they delivered her to their sadistic master.

However, if she went willingly with Dean now there might still be a chance of escape. If she appeared to be compliant then perhaps they wouldn't bind her or anything. She could let them drive her back into the main part of the town, further away from her reptilian stalker and closer to the school, and then jump out of the car. It was the best option she had for the moment. She only hoped her luck would hold that long. "Fine..." She said, letting a tremor of fear enter her voice. She didn't really have to fake that. The faceless things were getting closer and the beast from the mirror maze too from the sounds it was making. She moved towards the car. "You win, Dean. I'll go back with you. Just put the gun away and let's go..."