"At least my coiffure has some style, unlike some of us who merely scrap their hair back into a ponytail," Cynthia sniffed at Delia. "Besides, having leaves in one's locks is the latest fashion. But now that you have your shiny little key, I suppose you don't need me anymore. That's gratitude! I shall go see if Lisette is finally awake."

She turned and walked back to the mansion, muttering to herself about the dust and the state of her slippers and really, they should've told the guests to bring galoshes.

She walked in the front door, and heard a voice coming from the basement. She wandered down the stairs and saw Lisette sitting in a chair near the foot of the staircase, looking as though she had fallen asleep, with that Decker man looming over her. Then Cynthia saw the blood on her blouse.

A blood-curdling scream shook the mansion, followed by the sound of several windows shattering.

"What have you done to my maid?! Lisette never hurt anyone in her life, and she was the best servant we've ever had! Don't you know how hard it is to find good help these days?!"

And the last person in the galaxies that Neal wanted to bump into had found her way into the basement. A calm and sarcastic response was going to be what Decker said to Cynthia, but after the combined effects of the high pitched scream, the hurling of accusations and the residuals of prior encounters... well, the Darkling kinda snapped

"Shut up, woman! SHUT. UP! YES, I killed your maid and everyone else. I'm the full fledged killer of your nightmares. So you better watch your back... because I'm on the verge of coming for you."

After his heated rant, which also included the throwing to the side of his fedora, Decker walked to one of the walls of the basement and stepped into the shadows. "See you in your dreams...." he said when just his face was visible before completely disappearing into the shadows.

Delia let Selena go, and wandered slowly behind her back to the Mansion. Rather than going in, however, she stopped by one of the trees near the well. She studied it for a moment, then stuck her apple between her chin and chest and shimmied up the tree, settling in the sturdy V and taking a bite out of her apple. This world was strange. She knew something was wrong with it, but she hadn't quite been able to put her finger on it....

"Confounded, miserable little...." Decker came storming from around the side of the mansion muttering various insults and exclamation under his breath. While he was usually rather calm, the whole experience of this place was finally starting to get to him.

Finding himself next to the well outside of the Mansion, Neal idly picked up one of the loose stones from around the well and began tossing it in the air.

------

Selena was already in the kitchen when Cynthia's screech came through. Grimacing slightly, the red-haired woman simply turned her attention back to the coffee she had fixed for herself.

"What's wrong?" Delia asked, taking a bite out of her apple. "Something's got to you. No, wait. Let me guess. It was Her Majesty, wasn't it?"

"Could there be anyone else?" Neal replied, still idly tossing the stone in the air. "She found me in the basement putting Malcom's body away and instantly began hurling accusations that I'm the killer. Oh yeah, the Cat and Cynth's maid are dead now as well."

He caught the stone and glanced up at Delia perched in her tree. "Not by my hand, mind you." He added with a cheeky half grin.

Delia grinned at him and took another bite.

"I know," she replied. She sat chewing for a few moments.

"You know what's weird about this place?" she finally asked.

"I can think of several things..." Neal finally looked up at the tree again. "But I'll go ahead and bite. What?"

"There's no ghosts. Like, none at all. No spirits of any kind. Not even ones from the blokes down in the basement."

"I don't suppose we could be dead? I mean, everyone that has died so far has completely died, no mostly dead or the like." Neal mused on this for a second before continuing. "Unless this is some kind of purgatory or holding place."

"No, I've been in Purgatory," Delia said, continuing to munch. "I've been through all those places. Remember, I'm a ghost wrangler. The only reason I do what I do is because Angel Octavius was a fool and left the gates of the Grave open and started an apocalypse."

"Somehow that's not very comforting if even you don't recognize this place." Decker sighed and tossed the stone he was holding behind his back and into the well. "At least we're not dead. That's a plus."

"There's tons of places I haven't been," Delia replied. "They're just all...oh, I don't know how to explain it. Physical spaces, I guess. But even that doesn't make sense. Planets and things. I haven't been to all the planets."

Neal smiled. "I don't think very many have been to all the planets... though I've met a few who have tried."

"I'm sure I'll get to all of them eventually, what with the chasing escaped souls and such," Delia replied, finishing her apple and dropping the core to the ground. "Ditto Town is a nice place to vacation in, though."

She slid down from the tree, landing next to Neal and smiling up at him.

"Even with the getting transported into other dimensions."