At least, not initially.

No, Bex issued a command before moving to rush after Kay. "Don't follow me."

But Agnes had her wits about her and stepped in the way of the suspicious adult. "How about don't move, Bex. You've strung us along long enough. There's something going on and you know the deal, so you will stay put until I say so."

Green met blue as the two leaders stared down. Who would be the first to take a step? A silent understanding passed between them. Try me. I dare you.

But the tension was cut short by a short girl named Yvonne. Ever the one to break up a conflict, she stepped in front of Agnes, the flyer in hand. "Tell us what the big deal is about this."

Bex held Agnes's glare a second longer before sliding her gaze to the paper. "I don't know."

"Lie," Agnes spit. "You didn't want Kay to see it. You knew she would react that way. What does it mean?"

A humorless chuckle rose up from Bex's chest, and their smirk didn't reach those flashing green eyes. "There are a million things I don't want Kay to see, including the snide comments I leave on our performance reviews. I hadn't a clue she would react to that degree, but I feared she would keep the paper away from my Bits for her own selfish reasons. I'm not a fan of thieves."

With a fluid motion, Bex snatched the poster from Yvonne, then held it out to the shadow girl Margot. "For you, Bits."

Beaming, Margot reclaimed her flyer and hugged it close to her chest. "The best Favorite I ever did have."

Agnes nudged Yvonne from behind. After gaining her attention, she gave a subtle shake of her head. She wasn't buying this explanation for a second, so it was important the pitiful girl didn't, either.

"We have had enough of half answers and false truths," Agnes started, circling Bex with the couth of a panther. Slow, calculated steps that commanded Bex to stay put. "To have us believe there is no difference between you and Kay's intentions in regards to helping us is laughable. You two aren't playing the same game, so tell us the rules to yours. What do you know that she doesn't? What does the flyer mean?"

Agnes finished her opening statement just in time to stand opposite of Yvonne. The two had Bex boxed in, but if they were worried about their positioning, it did not show. No, the adult merely appraised the duo who seemed so certain in their interrogation tactics. How cute, their expression said.

Aloud, Bex gave a simple, "I don't know."

"Give it here, Margot," Yvonne said sharply. "If this imbecile won't be of help, I'll try to crack it myself."

Margot gripped onto the paper for dear life. "No, it is mine! You saw how it was just returned to its owner. Touch me and I will scream until all of Eldritch crumbles at my feet!"

"Margot, don't start—"

The child bellowed out a cry so horrible that Yvonne nearly lost her footing. "Alright, alright, I'm not taking it!" A beat of silence followed. Yvonne gave a sigh, then addressed the adult once again. "Bex, please just tell us what you know."

"I know as much as the next person. I've never been known for my extraordinary intellect," Bex answered. Vague, sure, but it was better than the I don't know. "All I can tell ya' is what I already said. Kay is what we kindly refer to as dramatic. This flyer isn't something she's seen before, and I didn't want her freaking you guys out." Another beat passed before Bex added, "Which...clearly failed."

"No," Agnes insisted. "That's not it. You're still lying."

Bex cocked a brow. "It seems you have an answer in mind already, so perhaps share it with me so I can repeat it back and end this."

Agnes bristled, her hands tightening into frigid fists. The snow was picking up and falling in heavier chunks, but she couldn't feel any of it through the heat coursing in her veins. "That flyer means something, and I am certain that it has to do with the disappearance of my brother. Kay may be your partner, but there are things you know that she doesn't. I can feel it in your gaze, in your tone, in your cadence. Spill your secrets or I shall be forced to spill your blood as retribution for my brother's life."

The rest of the children sucked in a breath, but Agnes paid no mind to her gang's reaction. Never had she felt so sure in her life. As the words were leaving her lips, she knew they rang true, but the flicker in Bex's eye was more gratifying than she could've ever anticipated.

That flicker was gone just as fast as it appeared, replaced with a mirth that froze the air around them. The moment suspended itself in ice. "You truly are a smart mind, aren't you? I couldn't tell you you're wrong even if I tried—which, I will not. Truly a waste of my breath. Believe what you wish to ease the pain of losing your brother, but you will not find what you're looking for in the answer I could give you. Though I hate to give Kay credit for anything, what she said of your comprehension is the truth. You cannot understand."

It was the final straw, this obvious dig at her intelligence. Agnes threw herself at the terrible Bex, only for the adult to sidestep her at the last moment. A spin on her heel and Agnes was revving up to to strike out again, her eyes murderous. This would not be her first sacrifice for Eldritch, but it would be the most rewarding by far.

Something caught the back of her sweater just as she took off again. Slamming back into a body, Agnes's weight sent both her and Yvonne tumbling into the snow. The pitiful girl shouted in her leader's ear. "Stop it, you'll ruin it all! Think of Bogart—"

"Bogart is gone," Agnes wept, the gutteral sound mixing with tears and snot. "And it is all their fault!"

Bex showed no emotion at the spectacle. None of it softened their face of determination to not be of any help. They watched on with mild contempt, never once offering up words of comfort. At their side was Margot, who did show an emotion. Her face was filled with glee as she giggled at Agnes's pain.

"Oh my, she is ugly when she cries," the shadow girl said. "Thank you very much for doing this for me, Favorite."

"Any time."

Agnes slammed her fists into Yvonne's sides. "Let me go!"

Yvonne ignored every blow. "If you kill them, we will all be truly lost!"

"My life means nothing without Bogart! I would rather die in honor than live with only half of my soul."

Back and forth the girls went, wrestling around in the snow like pigs in the mud. All the while, the shadow girl watched like a kid in a fig store. Margot turned to Hugo in hopes he was laughing too. But...

"Hey," Margot pouted. "I thought he was standing here."

Bex glanced over at her Bits. "Who standing where?"

"That ugly boy. I wanted to see if he was enjoying the show, but now he's playing a trick."

On the ground, Yvonne had her arms around Agnes's frame, anchored at the wrist to hold her still. The young girl was still bawling like the babies in the snow. Loud, unapologetic, and downright terrifying. Surely the sound would attract the very adults they feared? No matter, Agnes's sobbed on and Yvonne simply held her.

Until Yvonne tuned into Bex and Margot's conversation.

"A trick?" the adult asked. She glanced down at the shadow girl who was very much standing alone.

"A disappearing trick!" Margot announced. "Look, Hugo has gone missing too!"

Everything stopped at once. The sobs, the glares, but most importantly, Yvonne's pitiful heart. As her head whipped around the dank back alley, the shadow girl's observation was proven true. Yvonne didn't see the lanky frame of her brother anywhere, including near the dumpsters where the flies buzzed along. All of them still with their wings.

"Hugo?" she barely uttered. Then, a screech. "Hugo!"