Behind the Clouds ✔️

022

It was the first of August, and Violet couldn't wait to go back to school. Greta and the girls loved having her around and vice versa. Violet became the sarcastic one out of the four, which balanced the girls equally. Margaret was the preppy one, Sally was the one who pretended to hate anyone she meets, and Greta was the leader.

Violet was currently with the girls at the photo booth in the arcade. Each girl was wearing a different color, making the photos stand out a lot. Sally had chosen blue, Margaret had worn pink, Greta picked red, and Violet had put on a lovely green outfit. They each grabbed a set of pictures that came out great, before heading into the theater. It was Violet's choice for a movie, and she wanted to see Parenthood. It had just come out the day before.

"Hey, Violet," Margaret pulled her aside, "Thank you so much for setting Reginald and I up. And guess what?"

"Uh, what?" She asked, confused.

"He asked me out, again!" Margaret pulled Violet into a hug. "You are such a friend. We wouldn't have gotten together without your help." She and Violet soon joined the girls again to grab popcorn and Coke's, and head inside.

All four girls chose pretty good seats in the long run. Sitting in the nosebleeds was out of the question. Obviously it wasn't for Richie and Eddie, who had yanked along Mike and Bill, to make it seem like a group activity. Eddie was watching as other people entered the theater and saw four very familiar girls sitting near the front, giggling together.

"No fucking way," He said, getting the other boys' attention, "Is that Violet?" They all looked around the theater before spotting the Queens of Mean and Violet together.

"W-why is she with G-greta?" Bill asked, looking her over. She had really gone all out to hang out with them. Her green dress made her appear older to him. He glanced down the row to Richie on the end with a look. Richie didn't even look his way. Richie was still pissed off at him for punching him in the face. It wasn't even his idea to bring Bill. He had asked Mike to join them and Eddie said he'd invite someone else. Richie was obviously thinking it would be Beverly or Stanley, hell he'd be okay with Benny-boy tagging along, but not Bill.

"She looks pretty today. I wonder if I'll get lucky after this," Richie said, as Eddie gave him a look. Eddie then realized what he was trying to do. He was using his filter to cover up the evident 'date' they had planned. Thank God for Richie's filter!

"Shut up, that's disgusting!" Mike whisper yelled, as the movie started. While he did think Richie's comment was not comforting, the idea of Violet friends with, what the Loser's would call, the Queens of Mean didn't settle well with him. Once the movie was over, Mike leapt from his seat to catch her.

The front of the building was packed with people entering and exiting that he couldn't find Violet if he was ten feet tall. Bill patted him on the back, as an effort for trying, as the boys walked out and went their separate ways.

Eddie and Richie just so happened to be about fifteen feet behind Violet and Greta's girls. The two of them watched as, at the next corner, Violet turned away from the girls and waved goodbye. The two boys shared a look before following Violet from a distance.

They'd only been to Ben's house before once, but never to Violet's. As the two watched her enter the house, they both failed to recognize the one vehicle that carried their favorite bullies, in the driveway. The two boys finally split after a hug, and walked away from Violet's house.

Violet breathed a sigh of relief as she closed her door. She saw all four boys knocked out on the couch downstairs and prayed they would stay like that for a while, without bugging her. She grabbed an Anne Rice book that came out the previous year and began to read. Having already read the first two books in The Vampire Chronicles, she was really interested in how Akasha would succeed this time, or at least try to.

While Violet delved further into her book, Patrick rubbed his eyes and saw his friends still knocked out from the beer they had that morning. Patrick looked at them, and then at the stairs, wondering if he could keep her quiet enough to not wake them.

August 13, 1989

Violet woke up in pain. She nearly couldn't get out of bed, it hurt too much to move. Patrick had punished her every day since the month started for no good reason and the previous night, while Patrick was out getting more beer with Victor and Reginald, Henry had his way with her again. Violet closed her eyes, hoping it was just a really bad dream.

She slowly managed to take a shower, trying to wipe away at herself. She felt dirty. She pulled on a purple tank top, white shorts, and her mother's old denim jacket. She took one look at her closet, not wanting to use any more energy than she had to, and slowly made her way over to grab her tennis shoes from inside.

The minute she opened the closet door, she was gone...

Bill had ridden his bike down the dirt road he and the boys had taken to the sewers. Beverly had said she would meet him there, just like they'd done for a while now to look for Georgie and Ashton. Bill checked his watch and noticed she was way later than usual. He turned around, thinking something was wrong.

At the Kissing Bridge, stood Stanley. He and Violet had been meeting up to discuss birds, flowers, and all sorts of things in the past few weeks. Violet usually beat him there, but now that she was a half hour late, Stanley worried. He worried a lot. He sighed and rode his bike back into town to find her.

Stanley had reached his own house, to drop off his supplies, when Bill called him.

"What on earth do you want now? I'm busy, Bill," He leaned against the wall, and waited for Bill's precious explanation for calling him, of all people.

"B-beverly! S-she's missing!" Stanley stood up straighter and hung up the phone. If It had gotten Beverly, who's to say It hadn't gotten Violet as well. Stanley went up to his room and searched through his closet. He soon found what he was looking for and left the room in a panic.

"Stanley, where are you going?" Andrea Uris called out, exiting the kitchen. She then noticed the part of his old telescope he had gotten two years ago for his birthday, in his hand. "What is that for?"

"Sorry mom, I'll explain later," Stanley called out, as he left again. He rode his bike carefully with the telescope piece in one of his hands. Riding one handed on his bike was easier than he thought. He rode up to Eddie and Richie, who were also going toward the Neibolt house. Not that long after, Ben, Mike, and Bill had joined them. As they reached the horrendous house, Stanley tried to calm himself down. He was doing this for Violet.

"Stan," Mike asked, looking around, "Where's Violet?" Everyone went quiet, realizing yet again, that their resident missing person was in fact, missing.

"Shit, don't tell me It got her, too?" Richie exclaimed, looking distraught. Stanley looked down. That told them everything they needed to know. It had gone too far. Those were their girls down there, and they weren't leaving until they got both of them back.