Behind the Clouds ✔️

014

"I'm so happy you were able to stop by," Jean Corcoran hugged Violet, wishing it was her son instead, "I'm here anytime you want to talk, okay?" Violet nodded and let herself out. She rode her bike back to her own house, fear aching at her fingertips. She was so afraid she would be next. Whatever was taking these kids, seemed to only reach out to those who were close with Violet and that scared her.

It had been two days since the Losers' had exchanged fears and stories. Violet tried to separate herself from them, so she wouldn't succumb to all their theories. She stopped short on her bike, seeing Reginald's car parked in the driveway. She walked her bike next door and rang the bell. When Mrs. Hanscom answered the door, Violet was immediately pulled into another hug.

"It's been so long, dear. How are you?" Mrs. Hanscom put Violet down.

"Okay, I guess. Uh, is Ben home?" Violet pushed some hair behind her ears, as she kept glancing back at her house. Or rather the front door and the car in the drive.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear. He said something about staying for lunch at the Denbrough's. Do you know where that's at?" Mrs. Hanscom asked, taking a peek at her watch. Violet guessed there was food in the oven, cause footsteps pounded down the stairs a few seconds later.

"Aunt Arlene, is lunch ready yet?" Two pint sized voices trailed through the house. Mrs. Hanscom answered and turned back to Violet, smiling.

"Yes, ma'am. I know the way," she was about to leave when she was brought into another hug.

"One last hug," Violet hugged her back, just to make it seem more realistic. She almost imagined it was her mother. "Bye, dear. Stay safe!"

Violet was peddling as fast as she possibly could, to get away from Bowers and his gang. Coming up on Bill's street, she felt a wind of relief fly through her. She saw bikes toppled over in Bill's driveway and the garage open, and made a quick turn. She basically flew into the garage without seeing Richie in front of her.

"Watch out!" Richie and the gang turned, just as she crashed into him. Eddie rolled his eyes at Richie's cries of pain. He was such a drama queen.

"Vi, you're here!" Beverly hoisted her up into her arms. Violet stood there, waiting to be let out of, yet, another hug.

"Beverly, it looks like you're squishing her to death. Let her go," Stanley gently pulled Beverly off of her.

"Thanks, Stanley," Violet said, looking all around the garage. Bill was hanging up a poster of Derry, while the rest of them were covering any lighting. Mike shut the garage door, as Bill finished setting up.

"Wait, I thought you guys were having lunch? What's this?" Violet asked Ben.

"Bill borrowed one of the slides I had, said he had a theory," Violet groaned at the thought of another theory from these guys. Ben gave a small smile, before guiding her to a seat. Bill slid in the slide of Old Derry, which already gave them a lot of information on the projector than needed explained.

"Look," Bill got everyone's attention, "T-that's where G-georgie disappeared, there's the Ironworks, and there's The Black Spot. Everywhere it happens, it's all c-connected by the sewers. And they all meet up at-"

"At the well house," Ben finished for him. Violet looked at everyone, confused.

"Wasn't the well house where all those people disappeared to?" She asked, getting silent yeses.

"It's in the house on Neibolt Street," Stanley pointed out. That scared Violet even more. She tried hiding there from Bowers and his gang once, and found it even scarier than them.

"You mean that creepy-ass house where all the junkies and hobos like to sleep?" Richie commented, making Violet cringe.

"I hate that place," Beverly stated, as Eddie's asthma started going haywire, "It always feels like it's watching me."

"That's where I saw It," Eddie said between breaths, "That's where I saw the clown."

"T-that's where It lives," Bill finalized. Violet jumped from her seat and began to pace in front of them, freaking all of them out even more. Eddie took another puff from his inhaler.

"I can't imagine anything ever wanting to live there," Stanley said, sounding absolutely disgusted.

"Can we stop talking about this?" Eddie and Violet blurted in sync, Eddie standing up to join Violet.

"I-i can barely breathe," Eddie continued, as Violet rubbed his shoulders to calm him down, "This is summer. We're kids. I can barely breathe. I'm having a fucking asthma attack. I'm not doing this." He pushed Violet aside, making her jump again, and tore the map off the wall.

"What the hell? Put the map back," Bill ordered him. Eddie shook his head, defiantly. The projector suddenly began to randomly click to different pictures. "What happened?"

Bill looked through the projector slides to see no other slides put in. The pictures began to go at rapid speed. Bill on his dad's shoulders at a baseball game, the Denbrough's on vacation. The pictures soon added two more familiar faces to them. Violet reached for Eddie's hand, as the memories of Ashton and Georgie rose onto the screen. Violet had even joined them on a few occasions-  occasions she barely remembered.

"What's going on?" Stanley asked aloud, receiving no answer. Mike tried to fix it, but found nothing. The pictures suddenly stopped on a specific one. The Denbrough's and Ashton, but the projector seemed to zoom in on the two little boys.

"G-georgie," Bill stuttered out, in fear. Violet held onto Eddie, not wanting to relive It.

"Bill?" Stanley asked, cautiously. The zooming in suddenly transferred to Sharon Denbrough with her red hair in her face. The projector even began to twist it into slow motion of the hair actually moving. Her hair was beginning to blow out of her face.

Gasps were heard, as It's makeup became clearly there, instead of Sharon Denbrough's face.

"What the fuck?" Richie called out.

"It's It!" Bill shouted, above the chaos.

"What the fuck is that? What the fuck is that?" Richie asked, shaking Eddie.

"I don't fucking know!" Eddie exclaimed, before practically jumping into his best friend's arms. Violet moved off to the side, by her bike, tears free-flowing down her face.

"Turn it off!" Turn it off!" Beverly called out, as Violet slid down to the floor. She tucked her knees into her body and closed her eyes, praying it would stop. She opened them briefly when she heard a clang. She screamed, before realizing it was Mike kicking over the projector. She squeezed her arms tightly around herself.

The screen was crooked, but still in working order. It was in the picture, the projector switching between It and a black screen. Until It wasn't there...

The screen went black once more, before It burst in front of them for real this time. Every one of the Losers screamed, seeing It at the same time. It switched it's gaze to Stanley, who was closest, making him back up into Violet.

"Run, Stanley!" Richie called out, not wanting his friend to disappear. It began to crawl towards them, the projector still turning on and off. Violet's head was pounding with It's voice inside.

Lettie... Lettie... I can bring them back... I can bring them all back... I can leave your new friends alone... I want you to be my friend... And never leave me...

"No, Violet!"

"Lettie, move!"

"T-take me instead!"

Violet's whole body shook, before she opened her eyes to see It in front of her. Even more curious, was the light she was seeing. There were three balls of light that filled her line of vision. She couldn't see the Losers, she couldn't hear anything. She felt like flying, floating.

The Losers tried to fight It off of her, but It's power deemed stronger than their measly weapons. Mike and Ben grabbed hold of the garage door and lifted it. Violet's body fell softly to the ground, asleep. It had gone.