'39 [Stanley Uris]

23: House Of Pain

Stan couldn't seem to think straight, and maybe it was the music on the radio or maybe it was everything going on.

"House Of Pain," by Faster Pussycat echoes around him.

Bill seemed to be getting more and more serious about the weird occurrences in Derry, and he knows if it escalates, something bad will happen.

Another thing still ringing in his mind is how Mike insists that it's all one thing: A monstrous entity. While he did witness a strange happening himself, logic keeps finding ways to try to explain what happened any other way.

He still hasn't told Andi about any of this, and she always seems to conveniently be gone when they discuss it— he wonders if she's had any experiences.

Today, he plans to stay at her house again. Alone. For the first time since they first started dating weeks ago.

As he gathers his over night bag, his Dad walks into his room uninvited.

"Where are you going, Stanley?" The man questions, making his son nervous under his stare.

"I-I....I asked mom if I could stay the night at—"

He doesn't even make it through his sentence before gives him that disappointed look. That look that has single handedly guilt tripped him from having fun almost a million times before.

"Have you even been practicing reciting at all? You're out for the night practically every other day, son. It's like you don't even live here anymore, you just visit," Donald sighs.

"Dad, I haven't stayed over at anyone's house since the night before the independence parade, and that was last week," Stan murmurs. "I have been studying, and I promise I won't embarrass you."

There's a stiff silence in the air before his dad sighs and begins to walk towards the door.

"Alright, but be good. You know I've been hearing a lot about you hanging around with a few girls," The man hums.

Stan freezes for a second, almost exposing himself right then and there. Quickly, he finishes packing his bag and walks past his father out the door.

"They're just friends, Dad," he responds, rushing down the stairs and out the house before anything else can be said.

Donald Uris stares at the front door after Stan shuts it behind him. A suspicious look forms on his features, and he decides he'll look into it a little later.