Behind the Clouds ✔️

013

"Will it ever end?" Violet asked, through her sobs. She was now sitting up on the bench, with Bill and Stanley sitting next to her.

"It will," Ben started, "It really will, for a little while, at least." Violet looked at her best friend, wiping tears away.

"How can you be sure?" She asked, a yearning look on her face.

"So I was going over all my Derry research and I charted out all the big events. The Ironworks explosion in 1908, the Bradley Gang in '35, and The Black Spot in '62. And now kids being..." Ben trailed off trading glances with Bill and Violet, "I realized this stuff seems to happen, every twenty-seven years." Bill finished with him. Everyone shared a look in silence.

"Okay, so, let me get this straight," Eddie breaks the silence, "It comes out from wherever to eat kids for, like, a year? And then what? It just goes into hibernation?"

"Maybe it's like," Stanley started, snapping his fingers, "What do you call it? Those bugs that come out once every number of years?"

"You mean cicadas, Stanley?" Violet asked him. He nodded. "They only come out every seventeen years."

"My grandfather thinks this town is cursed," Mike shared a look with Violet, knowingly, "He says that all the bad things that happen in this town are because of one thing. An evil thing that feeds off the people of Derry." Violet remembered the stories Mike's dad and granddad had told them about Derry.

"But it can't be one thing," Stanley said, trying to understand better, "We all saw something different."

"Maybe, or maybe it knows what scares us most and that's what we see," Mike figured.

"I saw a leper. He was like a walking infection," Eddie looked around, hoping no one was going to find him crazy.

"But you didn't," Stanley interrupted, "Because it isn't real. None of this is. Not Eddie's leper, or Bill seeing Georgie and Ashton," Violet turned to Bill at the mention of her brother, "or the woman I keep seeing."

"She hot?" Richie sped off at the mouth, the second Stanley said it. Violet and Stanley both shot Richie glares.

"No, Richie. She's not hot. Her face is all messed up. None of this makes any sense. They're all like bad dreams," Stanley began to cry. Violet let his head lay on her shoulder and she soothed him.

"I don't think so," Violet said, loud enough for them to hear clearly, "Mike and I both know the cruel difference between a bad dream and reality."

"What'd you both see?" Eddie asked, before Violet shifted uncomfortably again. She turned to Mike, hoping he'd go first.

"Yes," Mike stated softly, shifting his position, "Do you guys know that burned-down house on Harris Avenue? I was inside when it burned down." Mike and Violet shared a solemn look with each other. "Before I was rescued, my mom and dad were trapped in the next room over from me. They were pushing and pounding on the door, trying to get to me. But it was too hot. When the firemen finally found them," Mike let out an airy breath in fear, "the skin on their hands had melted down to the bone."

Violet's eyes met her shoes afraid of what she was about to reveal. Bill nudged her arm gently, still making her jump. She tried to meet everyone's gazes, but her heart was pounding so hard, she could barely peek away from her shoes. She took a long breath in and out.

"All of you know the story of how my dad died and how my mom went crazy," she locked eyes with Eddie and Richie mostly, "b-but no one knows the whole story.

"I was six years old and had a dream of leaving this town to become a ballet dancer. My dad was making that happen. He bought me a pair of ballet slippers for my fifth birthday, and got me started at Madam Brodeur's in the next town over. I'd gone their every Monday and Thursday after kindergarten. My parents were so happy for me. Believe it or not, Patrick would join them to come see my performances and would cheer over everyone else in the small theater just for me." That got a laugh from everyone. The Losers' saw a genuine smile show up on Violet's face.

"At one of my performances, I watched from the stage as my father stood up and hurried out of the theater. After the performance was over, I sat on the stage in my costume, waiting. Madam Brodeur had offered to drive me home, but I said no. She waited with me, until my dad showed up with messy hair and his clothes in disarray. He looked so happy, that he couldn't even tell my frustration when he left during my part. At home, I was surprised to see Mom and Patrick on the couch with a bundle in blue on Mom's lap. My mom was giving birth, during my performance, to Ashton.

"I forgave my dad, but it eventually got to the point where Mom couldn't join us because she had to care for Ashton. Patrick even grew weary of the time he spent at ballet performances and stayed home. It was a week after my sixth birthday, when my dad was driving us back to town and we got hit," Violet's body was shaking, "The largest crash to ever happen in Derry; six cars including my dad's. He had let me sit in the passenger seat that night. I watched as the light left his eyes. And for everyone else in those cars to die, but me was even worse. All the looks I get just sitting on my porch or going to get groceries for my family, it's painful."

She leaned into Bill, sobbing. The Losers' sat or stood there in shock, having heard it all. Bill hugged her tight, Beverly and Stanley soon joining in. Every family has family problems and all the Losers' could attest to that, but being ignored or abused by family seemed like child's play to losing a parent. 

"We're all afraid of something," Mike mustered up.

"Got that right," Richie muttered, looking off elsewhere. Everyone turned to the Trashmouth in slight shock and awe.

"Why, Rich?" Eddie asked, getting Richie back to attention, "What are you afraid of?"

"Clowns," he spoke simply, as everyone saw the clown on the stage not far off from them. The clown's gaze turned in their direction, getting the fear in each of them riled up.