Behind the Clouds ✔️

010

No one had seen or heard from Violet in the next twenty-four hours. Ben thought she was next, as did Beverly. The rest of the gang went out in search of her, before Stanley called them to let them know that Beverly wanted them over immediately.

As the Loser's Club, including Ben, rode their bikes to Beverly's house, Violet was biking to Leroy Hanlon's farm to see Mike.

"You're welcome over anytime, Violet," Mr. Hanlon said, smiling and nodding at the shy girl as she entered the farmhouse. Her bike lay up against the house, looking as though it had taken too many falls.

"Violet!" Mike called, from the kitchen. She followed the sound of his voice and running water, to find him peeling potatoes. He looked up from his handiwork and smiled at his friend, who returned the gesture.

"Would you mind working on those grapes? Gramps wants all this done before I take more meat to the store." Violet grabbed a stool and joined him at the sink. She began to pluck each grape off of the stem.

"I could help you this time. When you called me yesterday, you sounded distracted or frightened," Violet replied, gazing softly at her friend. Mike's eyes glazed over, with the clown in his head. He shook it off, and nodded at Violet. Violet knew that look.

"Hey, Mike?" He perked up. "If I told you about something that sounds absolutely crazy, w-would you think I'm crazy?" Mike's eyebrows creased in concern. For a second, he didn't know what to say.

"My dad always said, 'If you found a completely sane person, wouldn't you think they were insane compared to you?' I don't know about judging you personally on a story, but I will listen to your story," Mike said, as he finished the potatoes. He grabbed a bag of carrots from the farm and began to peel them, as Violet explained to him about Ashton's disappearance and her encounter with a creepy clown that no one else seemed to see. She was in tears, before she knew it. Mike put a carrot back on the counter and hugged her, seeing the pain.

"D-do you think I'm c-crazy? D-do I n-need to see someone about this?" Violet asked, feeling lost and confused. Mike let go of her and rubbed his neck, in contemplation and fear. She described the exact clown he had seen a day prior.

"I will never think you are crazy," Mike said, staring out the window, "but if you are, we can go crazy together, right?" Mike turned to look at his friend. He wiped away her tears, as she smiled.

"I'd like that," she responded quietly. After a moment, Mr. Hanlon had entered the kitchen.

"Mike, meat's ready. Good to see you again, Violet," he nodded his head at the girl, before heading back to his chair. The two kids exited the kitchen and brought the meat out to Mike's bike. Violet grabbed her's and they sped off together, toward Quality Meats in town.

Already in town, the Loser's Club was busy with an extremely gross task. Cleaning Beverly's bathroom of being stained with blood was unsettling, especially for Eddie, who's inhaler was in his mouth the whole time.

While Stan and Eddie took out garbage bags, Bill and Beverly began to talk. Ben tried not to bring attention to himself, as he noticed the love letter he wrote to Beverly sitting on her bed with a few patches of blood on it. He smiled and went back by the bathroom and listened.

"S-so you have never been to the Derry Summer Fair?" Ben could hear them talking as if they were old friends.

"No, I don't think so," Beverly responded, "I've definitely heard about it. Betty's family always tried getting her to coax Violet into joining them, but it never worked. It's like she was always afraid of doing anything."

"Well, I go there every year, but I was there one time with R-richie and technically won 'cause I hit the t-target," Ben walked down the hall to join the boys outside, "But there were so many prizes, I didn't know which to p-pick." Beverly gazed at herself in the mirror that was now free of blood.