Sunday May 25, 1997 (The Day of the Disappearance - 9AM)

Winter woke up slowly from the heavy rain hitting the roof. She woke up this Sunday morning in Henry's small twin-sized bed on the lower bunk of the bunkbed. She awoke facing Henry, close to his body as he cuddled her into his body for the whole night. He was already awake, smiling at her as he brushed her hair back on the side of her head.

She smiled at him, "How long have you been watching me sleep?"

"Nearly fifteen minutes," he smiled at her as he watched her eyes, his nose brushing up against hers.

Since the 7PM rule had been placed for Derry earlier that week because of all the people going missing in the town, Winter stayed over at Henry's. Henry was suppose to call her a cab before he went to bed the night before as his parents told him to do so, but they ended up falling asleep in the middle of watching a movie on the sofa. By the time they woke up, it was 2AM. He had decided to sneak her up to his room and figure out how to sneak her out in the morning. Winter's parents were out of town on work business again, so she wasn't worried about not being at home that morning as they wouldn't have known she didn't come home.

Henry stared deeply into her eyes before closing them tightly and reopening them; "We should get married."

Winter let out a small laugh. She realized Henry was serious, "Like after high school, you mean?"

Henry shrugged, "Why can't we get married while we're in school? Waiting another year or two wouldn't make any difference. You will still go to Veterinarian college. I could skip college and just work for my dad, so I can support the two of us while you're in school." He cuddled her in tighter in his arms, "Then you can work for two years or so, and then we can plan a family."

Winter's heart melted at his plan that he had been thinking about; "I like the sounds of that. I don't think we're allowed to get married until we're a certain age though."

He said seriously as he looked deep into her eyes and rubbed his nose against hers, "I'm going to protect you for the rest of my life."

Winter kissed his lips softly and rubbed her nose against his as well. She felt protected when she was in his arms.

"HENRY! COME DOWN FOR BREAKFAST!" Ruth's voice shouted from the staircase.

Henry brushed her hair back one last time before getting out of his bed, leaving Winter cozy under the blankets. "I'll figure out a way to bring you up some breakfast," he smiled.

She smiled back, "Don't forget about me up here," she joked.

Henry laughed, "How could I?"

Henry sat in the kitchen with his mom, dad, Sally, and as this was a weekend that Robert decided to spend time with the Bowers, he was there too.

"Hey, man!" Robert smiled at Henry.

Henry gave a friendly nod to him, "How's it going?" He still wasn't sure how he felt about having Robert merge into the family from out of nowhere, but he tried to keep the peace between the two.

"Mornin' Henry," his dad said as he scooped up some scrambled eggs with his fork. He was reading the newspaper. The front page had headlines reading: 'DISSEMBLED BODY PARTS FOUND IN THE DERRY CANAL - 7PM CURFEW FOR ALL OF DERRY!' Henry stared at the headline and at the photo on the front page of the small river that was connected to the lake within The Barrens. There was something about that news article that spoke to him and he felt electricity go through his veins.

His dad, Earl, sighed with disbelief as he read the paper, "Another girl from Derry High School went missing. Do you or Winter know Tiffany Anderson, Henry?"

Henry thought about the name but couldn't think of a face, "No... I don't know if she could be in one of Winter's classes, but I've never heard of her."

"This is getting ridiculous!" his mom, Ruth, said from her side of the table, "It's just terrible all these kids going missing..." she especially felt it since she spoke from experience, "I feel so bad for the families."

"Hey, dad..." Henry started cutting up the sausage on his plate and changing the subject, "What's the legal age to get married?"

The question stirred concern for Ruth and Earl as they both quickly looked at each other. They were both seeing the personality change within Henry the past month as he was withdrawing from the family and was only hanging out with Winter, and when he wasn't with Winter and was with his family, he was daydreaming and noticeably transfixed in his thoughts. Robert looked over at Henry, too, surprised that the question came up.

"I believe it's eighteen, hon..." his mom stepped in.

Henry looked let down at the answer as Winter turned seventeen in March and he only turned seventeen on May 3. Waiting a whole year didn't seem good enough to him.

"Why are you thinking of marriage, Henry? You got to concentrate on your schoolwork. And, besides, people don't usually get married until they've dated for a few years anyway," his dad commented.

Henry kept his face down as his eyes looked up to reach his dads gaze. This was a new look Henry made whenever he heard something he didn't want to hear. This expression only began this month and the Bower's didn't like it - there was something about it that scared them - like a bomb about to go off. According to his mom, "It's not his eyes when he looks up at us like that."

"We're not like other couples. I'm going to marry her no matter what anyone says..." he said sternly.

His mom began, "Henry, I get that she's your first love-"

Henry turned towards his mom with the same expression, "I don't like how you call her my 'first' love; Like my relationship with her isn't serious because we're only teenagers and it's not going to last! She's not my 'first' love, she's my one and only!"

"Maybe we should all just relax a little..." Robert said to the family, mostly talking to Henry, but he didn't want to single him out. He noticed that same look of a growing rage in his eyes before Christmas when they weren't getting along, but this look was a new level of the look in his eyes from back in the winter from the year before. He didn't think it was only Henry that was growing with a rage, but Robert could feel the same rage growing just in the air in Derry. Something about the look in his eyes wasn't Henry's look, but it was the look of a sickness growing in Derry that spring.

Sally looked between Henry and the rest of her family; "Can I get married too?"

From upstairs in Henry's bedroom, Winter could hear the conversation Henry started with his family. She sensed the change in his voice when he was talking to them. She wasn't sure if she should have been flattered or concerned, but whenever Henry was around her, he was very caring - he was himself.

Winter turned her head to Kyle the Turtle. He was usually very quiet and would stay still in one spot for long periods of time, but this morning in the bedroom, he was tapping on the glass like he wanted out. He was tapping at the glass in the direction of the bedroom door.

"What's up, little guy?" Winter said as she went over to the aquarium and sat on Henry's desk chair as she watched the turtle knocking at the glass. Winter felt her intuitions kicking in, and she felt like the turtle wanted Henry to come back into the room, or he wanted to find Henry. She didn't know why, but that's what she felt when she looked at him.

The day passed by quickly, and since the family was home all day, Henry and her had no ideas on how to sneak her out. It was raining all day too, so they had no motivation to leave the warm house. They spent the rest of the day in the bedroom together, talking, cuddling and watching some movies on his small television. Winter had already been invited over for dinner by the family, so they thought they would stay in the bedroom until it was dinner time. By the time they were sitting at the dining room table, Henry would bring her downstairs and open the front door of the house and pretend to let her in as if she had just arrived.

The plan worked as the family had no idea that she spent the night and stayed for the whole day with Henry. The family enjoyed Winter's company as her presence kept Henry relaxed from his new attitude he had just developed. Henry, himself, also felt more relaxed when she was around. He felt protected from himself and he wanted nothing more than to keep her protected.

(8:50PM...)

"Do you know Tiffany Anderson?" Henry asked Winter as they watched television with Sally, Robert and Earl in the living room as Ruth finished up the dishes.

"Tiff Anderson?" Winter looked at Henry as they sat on the floor together and watched Dumb and Dumber, "Yeah, she's in my Phys. Ed class. We're usually on the same team when we're playing sports. What about her?"

Henry didn't expect Winter to know her, but since she does, he thought the news would shock her. He brushed her arm with his fingertips and said softly, "She's been reported missing in the paper."

Winter looked at him wide-eyed, "Are you serious? I hope she's okay!" It was about the fourth teenager from Derry High School that went missing out of twenty in total from the town since the beginning of May. It was the first time it was someone she knew though, and that made her stomach turn.

"Oh no!" Earl's voice said as he checked the voice messages on the home phone. Ruth came out of the kitchen and everyone looked at Earl.

"What's wrong?" Ruth asked.

"My brother, Darrell, is back in the hospital again with another heart attack," he said concerned. "I don't know how I haven't been in the hospital with a heart problem with my family history. How is it that my two younger brothers, both in their thirties, have both had heart attacks? Now Darrell just had his second one, and he's only 36."

"Well, your uncle passed away at 40 from a heart attack, Earl. It's something form your dad's side of the family," Ruth said concerned, "I hope Darrell's okay though."

"Uncle Darrell is having the worst luck with his heart," Henry said empathetically.

Winter never met Earl's side of the family before. She knew all of Ruth's brothers - Jim and Will - but it was the first time she realized that she never met Earl's side. It sounded like there were bad heart conditions on his side of the family.

"I'm sorry about your uncle..." Winter said to Henry as she rubbed his back.

Henry looked at her, "It happens more often than you could imagine with him. He's dealt with a lot."

Robert quickly glanced at his watch and it dawned on him; "Isn't there a 7PM curfew? It's already 9PM - shouldn't Winter get home?"

Winter looked from Robert to Henry, "I totally lost track of time!" She got up to her feet and grabbed her purse and jacket.

"Maybe we should call a cab?" Ruth suggested from the kitchen as Henry, Robert and Winter opened the front door to stand on the porch.

Earl grabbed the phone to call a cab for Winter as he had left his truck in his business's garage to fix the engine. If he had his truck, he would have given her a ride home.

As the three of them stood on the porch and crossed their own arms over their chests for heat, Robert said, "At least it's not raining anymore. How come it's still so cold out? It's going to be June next week."

"This May has been really bad with storms," Henry said to him as he went up behind Winter and rubbed her arms to keep her warm. "I don't remember a May like this before."

Earl stepped out on the porch and announced, "The cabs are backed up tonight for three hours. Can you guys all walk Winter home, including you Robert, and make sure she gets in her house safely?"

"Yeah, no problem!" Robert smiled at Earl.

Earl was about to step into the house as the three teenagers were stepping down from the porch. Earl had stopped suddenly in his tracks and looked in his house, at what he could see at the time were bright white lights that hypnotized him. Earl wasn't Earl anymore as he stood at the door frame.

"Actually, guys..." he said with a stoical tone as he kept his gaze in the house.

All three of them turned towards Earl. He didn't turn to look at them, and they didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but they noticed the sudden change of tone in his voice. It was like he was transfixed.

"Yeah, dad?" Henry said.

"I just realized that Henry has to finish his homework... Get back inside, Henry..." he said slower than normal. "And Robert... help Ruth finish up in the kitchen..."

Robert, Henry and Winter all looked at each other questionably, unable to understand why his voice was so aloof and like he wasn't even there in his own body. It was like his soul floated out of his own body.

"But, dad... I got to walk Winter home..." Henry pointed out.

"She will be fine on her own... She just lives down the street..." Earl said, continuing to stare inside his home at the bright lights that the others couldn't see. "Come on, Robert and Henry... Get inside..."

Robert squinted his eyes in confusion but followed the direction. "That was weird..." he said, as Earl's transfixed gaze had ended and he walked inside the house - the lights that hypnotized him had disappeared and Earl didn't know why he was standing at the door. He walked into his house without questioning the minute that had passed and left for a shower. He didn't realize that he told the guys to stay home instead of walk Winter home.

Henry looked at Winter concerned, "I don't know why he's not letting us walk you home."

Winter smiled reassuringly and rubbed his arm, "It's okay... I literally live two blocks away."

Henry still looked unsure as he stared at her.

"I'll be fine, baby," she kissed his lips.

Henry sighed, still concerned, "Call me when you get home, okay?"

"I will!" Winter smiled as she looked at him one last time before leaving the driveway and turning on the street as she followed the sidewalk. Henry watched her the entire time as she disappeared out of sight.

He went back inside of his house and went up to his room to start on his homework.

As Henry worked on his math homework, Ruth watched The Derry News in the living room. There was breaking news that caught her attention.

"This just in...

The arm of 6 year old George Denbrough was found an hour ago at the sewer drain on Jackson Street. Investigators are trying to find the rest of his body. We will keep you updated as this is the twenty-first abduction this month."

Winter walked in the cold empty streets. She didn't think about the abductions happening in Derry as she walked in the dark. As she walked, she kept her gaze on a rock she was kicking in front of her. She could hear police sirens on the street over, Jackson Street. Other than the sirens, it was pretty quiet.

She kept her gaze on the ground, but then she noticed pink sneakers on the ground just in front of her as she was about to kick the rock again.

She stopped and looked up. It was Tiff Anderson in her school gym outfit standing in front of her.

Shocked, Winter said, "Tiff! Where the Hell have you been? Everyone is looking for you!"

Very excited, Tiff said, "I found the circus, Winter! You need to come and see!"

"The circus? Are you talking about that Canal Festival? That's not suppose to be happening for another week! You should go home Tiff!" Winter said with her eyebrow raised at her.

She smiled a very toothy smile. Her teeth were yellow - she couldn't recall Tiff having yellow teeth, but she never really looked in gym class to know for sure.

"No, Winter! You need to see the balloons! They're all floating, Winter! They're floating all over the place in The Barrens!"

"The Barrens? It's dark out... You can barely see in there when it's dark..."

"Come on, Winter! It's beautiful!" Tiff began to run away from the sidewalk, into the trees that led into The Barrens.

"Tiff?" Winter watched her run, "TIFF?!" Winter groaned and began to run towards where she disappeared off too.

Winter ran into the trees, following Tiff's shadow as she kept running and seemed to know where to step to avoid tripping or crashing into the trees.

"COME, WINTER! IT'S NOT FAR!" she yelled as she continued to run and Winter ran close behind her.

She followed behind her all the way to the Well House, which was a concrete building in the middle of The Barrens. It was the side that her and Henry never usually passed by when they were in The Barrens. It was a creepy looking building that was there since the 1800s that led into the sewers. Winter didn't think that Tiff would keep running until she was at the entrance of the Well House.

Winter took a moment to catch her breath as she stood at the entrance and looked inside the dark building. She still couldn't see anything except for Tiff's shadow that quickly turned around so Winter could catch up with her.

"Tiff! There isn't a circus in here! It's the main entrance to the sewers!" Winter called out to her as she stopped.

"You got to follow me! I'll show it to you!" she yelled excitedly before she continued to run.

Winter took in one last inhale and could smell the sewage and taste it in her inhale. She cleared her throat from the stench (the smell of sewage and rot - like death), and continued after Tiff.

"Don't be nervous, Winter!" Tiff was at the well and looked towards Winter before she began to climb down the well into the sewers, "It's super cool!"

Winter got an eerie feeling and wanted to turn back. She didn't want to leave her gym buddy behind though, especially since she had been reported as missing. Winter climbed up onto the Steele ladder and stepped down into the dark sewer tunnel.

By the time she got to her bottom, she couldn't see Tiff anymore. There were only two ways for her to go and both paths were lit up by a couple of small lanterns that were left down there by the sewage workers.

She turned her head to the left and saw Tiff's shadow running down another tunnel. Winter kept herself to the edge of the tunnels so she didn't have the stream of water soaking her shoes and socks.

Every tunnel she turned into, she could see Tiff's shadow turning into a new tunnel. At this point, Winter had turned down so many tunnels that she hoped Tiff would know the way out.

"KEEP FOLLOWING ME, WINTER! WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" Tiff yelled as she turned into another dark tunnel.

After another five minutes of running and turning into new tunnels, Winter stopped, as the shadow of her friend had disappeared.

Winter looked around and only saw more tunnels to choose from. She wondered where she was and panic started to rise when she didn't know which tunnels to turn through to find her way out.

"TIFF?!" she yelled. It was only answered by her own echo yelling back at her. "TIFF!?" she screamed louder and was about to start crying from panic.

Winter thought to walk down the next tunnel to the right. As she approached it, her gut continued to tell her to not turn into that tunnel, but she kept going.

Once she turned, she was faced with a clown that was over 6ft 5inches tall. The clown looked at her with yellow eyes and looked at her with a big grin that almost went up to Its eyes and showed razor sharp teeth.

"Welcome to the circus, Winter!" the clown said in a goofy, yet terrifying voice.

Winter screamed.