"Hey! Everybody just calm down," said Jack. "We'll figure this out."

"Could you just read it again?" Mush asked.

Jack held the paper up to the light as he read the advertisement for the fifth time that morning. "Coney Island's very own 'Children of Darkness' at Irving Hall December, 31 starting at 7:00 P.M. Welcome the new century with magic and mystery, a night you'll never forget."

Everyone looked up at the sound of the door opening. Helena and Denton entered.

"Hey," Jack said.

Helena held up the paper that she had found taped to her window in the morning. "Did you-?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "This is really odd. I mean, Medda never just rents her theatre out to anyone."

"So this isn't a regular thing?" she asked.

"No,"

Helena turned to her uncle.

"I'm thinking this is another clue." he said, folding the ad and slipping it in his notebook.

The door opened again with a burst of cold air and snowflakes. Spot and Story were completely out of breath when they came inside.

"You ok?" David took Story's arm.

She shook her head.

"Jack," Spot pushed himself to the front of the group. "You gotta see this."

"I know, I got one too."

"No, you don't understand. You have to see this one." Spot handed Jack the advertisement. On the front, it was exactly the same one Jack found at the lodging house, but there was a note written in jagged, messy writing on the back.

Jack read out loud. "You have two choices, Brooklyn. You either come to the show or you don't come to the show. I got a little surprise for you, and if you don't you'll never see your girls again. Choose carefully. Chase and Spark are just dying to see you, don't be late. Love, Shade."

It was quiet for a while as they all let this new information sink in. No one even whispered.

"A-alright guys, just hold on a second. We gotta think this through. Go get your papes and start sellin'. We'll get a late start." Jack had Mush, Spot, and David follow him upstairs. Denton came as well.

"Come on, guys." said Racetrack, appointing himself temporary leader. "Yous heard Cowboy."

Skittery was the last one to leave the lodging house, by choice this time. He just wanted a moment to breathe alone. The girls weren't dead, yet. But they were still gone, and there was a chance that Shade might kill them, due to the nature of his note.

"Skittery?" He jumped, not realizing Helena was still there. "Do you want to talk?"

He shook his head.

"Ok," she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

When Skittery hugged Helena back, he felt something new. There was a warmth he felt inside. It startled him, he even jumped a little.

"Is something wrong?" asked Helena.

"No, I'm fine," he said. "We- I-I mean I gotta get out there before they run outta papes. You wanna come?"

"Yes,"

They walked out together to find Les and Story sitting on the steps.

Story stood up. "I waited for you- both of yous."

"Thanks," Skittery said, still in a mild daze.

"We should go."

"Yeah,"

Skittery offered the two girls his arms. Les walked ahead, swinging his wooden sword at imaginary opponents. Other than the sounds of the street, it was relatively quiet. None of them talked, there was nothing to say. There was still a line at the circulation desk.

Helena watched the boys who handed the newsies their papers, the Delancey brothers. She'd seen them many times before and she didn't like them. They were antagonistic and relentless, even to the younger boys. The few times she'd visited the newsies in the morning, she'd witnessed fights that they had started. More than once, Helena heard rude comments the Delanceys directed toward Chase and the other newsgirls, which made her wonder about their history.

"You comin'?" asked Skittery.

Helena found herself still standing at the desk after Skittery and Story had paid for their newspapers.

"Um..." she got an idea. "I'll catch up with you in a minute."

Skittery stared at her. What could she possibly have to do here? "You sure?" He didn't want to leave her after all that had happened, especially after the new development in the case.

"It shouldn't take long."

"Ok... We'll be in the park, by the fountain."

After the last boy bought his papers, Helena reached up and rang the bell.

One of the brothers answered. "We're all out ya better-" he, Helena thought his name was Oscar. "Oh... What can I do for you, Princess?" He looked her up and down raising an eyebrow suggestively. Helena crossed her arms over her chest.

"I need to talk to you and your brother."

"Oh you do, do ya? Hey Morris, come over here!"

The Oscar's brother sauntered over, smiling when he saw Helena. "What's goin' on here?"

"She wants to talk to us." said Oscar.

"Well it would be rude of us to decline."

The boys led her behind the circulation desk. This whole situation made her more uncomfortable by the second. She probably should have asked Skittery to stay. But she needed to do this for the case, and more importantly, her friends. And she needed to do it alone because she wanted to be a real journalist, that transition would be tough. The room was bigger than she expected, but there was only one chair, which the two boys fought over as soon as they entered the room. Helena resigned to sit on the counter (Oscar offered to help her up, but she refused).

"So, Princess," Helena could tell Oscar loved calling her that. "What is it you wanna know?"

"Um..." she forgot her whole purpose for staying back for a moment. "Did you hear about the two missing newsgirls?"

The brothers glanced at each other. "Remind us," said Morris. "Um, Chase Myers and Spark Masi went missing a few days ago, not too far from here."

"Oh..."

"Do you know anything about the girls, or anything related to the case?"

The boys looked at each other again, as if they were deciding on their answers together. Helena wrote this highly suspicious behavior down on her notepad.

"Chase," Morris said. "Ain't she Conlon's moll?"

"Yeah, Brooklyn girl." Oscar added. "Ain't that girl, Spark, from there too?"

It was clear the Delancys were hiding something. "Where were you two on the night of December 27th?"

"Here at home," said Oscar.

"Yeah, we sleep upstairs." Morris pointed to a staircase that led upstairs. There was another staircase, on the other side of the room, leading down. "What's down-"

"Is there anything else you need?" Oscar asked her, standing up.

"No, thank you." Helena smiled cordially.

She left quickly, trying to write down everything that struck her as strange about their conversation. They were innocent until proven guilty but Helena was sure they knew something.


A/N: "Moll" is not a typo. It's a slang term originating in the 1820s and it means "A mob doll or a mobster's girlfriend". Even though the Brooklyn newsies aren't technically gangsters (I use technically very loosely) they still have the reputation of being a like the mob. I just loved researching 1800s slang for both of my stories. I remember in "Five Thousand Reasons..." I wanted to use the term "tough cookie" but when I looked it up I found out that use of this term wasn't recorded until the 1950s (if I remember correctly. I can't even find the origin of the phrase right now). A lot of old-fashioned slang terms are so fun. I really like the term "ducky". I don't know why, but I just do. I even found a place to use it in "Five Thousand Reasons".


"Read any good books lately?" Skittery asked Story as they walked through the park.

"Not like I've had the time." She frowned.

"Watchin' your girls?"

"Yeah, It's been- it's been difficult without Chase. I miss her. And my sister, of course."

Skittery squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry,"

"No, please don't be." said Story. "There were a lot of things we coulda done differently that night."

"But we didn't." Skittery raised an eyebrow.

"Hey!" she smacked his arm, laughing a little. "Don't be so pessimistic!"

They sat down at the edge of the fountain to read the paper while Les climbed trees and played.

"How are the Casellas takin' it without Chase and Spark there?"

Story sighed. "They're really upset, they practically raised me and Spark and it's like Chase is their own. But unfortunately this has happened a few times before. We're all kinda at that numb stage."

Skittery kicked the ground with his heel. The world was a messed up place and the kids were just trying to survive. He hated that they still didn't have many rights even after the strike and that the only people who cared whether a kid came home at night were the ones closest to them. The police weren't doing anything. If they were, more missing kids would be found.

He took a breath to calm himself down. "Are you gonna tell them about Spot's note?"

"I don't know. I guess I should."

Just then, they saw Helena walking up.

"Hey, Helena."

"Any good headlines today?" she asked.

"Nah," said Skittery. "But I bet either one a' yous girls could find one. Yous is brilliant."

Helena and Story both giggled in response, giving Skittery butterflies. But he couldn't tell who they were from.

"So, uh If you don't mind me askin', Helena," Skittery started. "How come you stayed back?"

Helena sat down next to him, smoothing out her skirt. "I stayed to interview the Delancey brothers."

"Oh you- wait, WHAT?!"

Helena and Story both jumped. "It's important for the case. The girls were kidnapped not far from there and-"

Skittery grabbed Helena's hands, which probably would have caused both of them to blush if it were not for Skittery's outburst. "Do you realize how dangerous those guys are?"

"Yes, which is why I stayed back in the first place."

Skittery smacked himself in the head. "And I let you be with them, alone! Stupid!"

"You didn't know-"

"Yeah, I didn't." he realized. "You're the crazy one here, not me."

Helena felt a little stung. "Ok, well now that we have that straightened out-"

Skittery ran a hand through his hair. "I mean, if anything happened to you I woulda-" He stopped, feeling a blush coming on.

"If anything happened to me, what?" Helena cocked her head.

"Forget it." Skittery dismissed her question. "I'm sorry, I'm just not in the mood to lose anymore of my friends." He stood up and walked away to sell his papes, calling 'Extra!' down the path, leaving Story and Helena at the bench.


"Ok," Jack said. "So what do we know about Shade?"

"'Member Myth?" Spot asked.

Jack nodded.

"Shade's his younger brother."

"So it's safe to say he'll be true to his word, then."

Jack didn't know much about Myth. He stayed in Brooklyn and Jack was a Manhattan boy through and through. But what he had heard was horrible.

"Spot," Mush said. "Do you have any idea why Shade would do somethin' like this?"

Spot thought for a second. "Well Myth just liked causin' trouble for fun. Until he tried takin' over."

"You think he's tryin' to take Brooklyn?"

"Yeah, that makes sense, don't it?" said Spot. "And I bet he's usin' the girls as a trade."

Myth played dirty, so Spot wasn't surprised that Shade would do something like this. At least he knew who he was dealing with, that would help with strategy when the time to fight came.

Mush stared at the ground, fighting back tears. "I- I know it's your city a-and all and you got lots of others to think about, but Rosie means a lot to me and I don't think I could lose her again." The past 8 years had been hard for Mush. The only things he had left were his faith and his memories. But there was only so long he could live with just the memories. That's precisely when he found Roselia again and he never wanted to live a day without her again.

"Mush," Spot said firmly. "You know I love your sister. I love her more than anything this city, or even this world could give me. So if it came between her and Brooklyn, I'd choose her without a doubt."

"Thanks," Mush smiled.

Spot punched his friend in the arm. "Besides, I know my boys ain't goin' down without a fight. There's no way Shade could beat us if he had half of New York behind him."

"Just like last summer." said Jack.

"Yeah, just like last summer."


Chase and Spark were asleep when Prima came to get them after sunset.

"Come on, yous gotta get up." Prima nudged them awake.

"I need my beauty rest." Spark said sleepily. "The papes can wait, Chase."

Prima rolled her eyes, flicking on the light.

"Ahhhh!"

"We have to go. Right now."

Chase sat up. "Where are we going?" she demanded.

"Rehearsal."

"For the show?"

Prima nodded. She started untying the girls' wrists.

Spark hopped off the bed once she was free, still holding onto the frame for support. "Yous ain't afraid we'll try to escape?"

"If you try, you'll regret it." Prima rubbed her arm.

Chase noticed something. "Hey," she said, grabbing Prima's wrist. "What are those?"

On Prima's arm were two dark bruises Chase didn't remember seeing before. She looked at Prima's face. Her right eye was also darkened with a purple bruise.

"Are those from-"

Prima was quick to shake her head, pulling her sleeve down before Chase or Spark could get a closer look.

"Does your brother beat you?" Chase asked, locking eyes with Prima.

She didn't answer for a while. "Yes," she said finally. And the tears started flowing.

Spark and Chase looked at each other, not knowing what to do. They knew Shade was evil, but beating his own sister? How long had that been going on?

"Why?"

"Because I forgot to tie yous up yesterday." Prima sniffed. "And because I told you about Myth."

Chase felt her temper flare. "How did he know I didn't already know about that?"

"He just knows, ok? So stop bothering me about it!"

"You shouldn't let him do that." said Spark.

"I don't have much control of him now, do I?" she crossed her arms.

"Why don't you run away?" Chase ask.

Prima didn't answer. But her tears kept coming. The girls could tell she'd thought about this before.

Chase put a hand on her shoulder. "It's because you love to perform."

Prima nodded.

"Suffering for your art."

"And he's all I got left..." Prima wiped her tears. "So if you don't wanna end up like me, don't try to escape."

The girls got up and stretched. Spark needed assistance going up the steps. There was a black carriage waiting for them upstairs. Shade opened the door for the girls, offering his hand to help them inside. Spark ignored his help and attempted the steps herself but she tripped, falling into Shade.

He laughed. "What's a' matter, you hurt or somethin'?"

She glared and Chase helped her get in

"We're going to Irving hall?" Chase asked Shade, remembering the flier from last night.

"Yeah," He said.

"How did you swing that?"

"It took a little persuasion." Shade had a mischievous smile.

"You threatened Medda?" Every moment she spent with Shade, she hated him more.

"No, I just explained our little situation," he said. "And she agreed right away that it would be best if she let us borrow her theatre." Shade hopped into the driver's seat. "Get in so we can go.

Chase stomped up the three steps into the carriage, sitting next to Prima. "Oh great," she said when she saw who was sitting across from her. "What are you doing here?"

Oscar touched his heart. "That hurt, Doll Face."

"It was supposed to," She smirked.

"Seriously," said Spark. "Why are yous here?"

"'Cause we're part a' the show." Morris answered.

"Since when do yous got talent?"

As Spark and the Delancys argued, Chase looked out the window. They passed the Manhattan boys' lodging house, and Chase struggled not to cry. She missed Spot and her brother and Story, Jack, Crutchy, all of her friends. They were probably so worried. She just wanted to go home.


A/N: Sooooo... No one told me I accidentally uploaded chapters 2 and 5 from "Five Thousand Reasons..." instead of "Underworld". Not sure how yous got past those without being confused because I sure was when I was previewing the story tonight. Anyway, yous should probably go back and read those chapters now that it is the right story. Also keep reviewing and commenting. I love hearing your responses!