June 1989

It took two hours to get it all cleaned up from top to bottom, and I thought it would be longer.

We were precise in getting every inch of blood off of the surfaces. Thanks to the precision of Stanley with how he got the windows down with ease, Ben and I scrubbing down the walls and floors, and Eddie getting the sink pristinely clean, we were getting our bags filled with bloody paper towels and rags out of the way to see it was good as new. None of us said a word as we were cleaning, we just jumped right in without hesitation. Beverly could only assume that we thought she was crazy and that she was the only one seeing things. I was so tempted to pull her aside and tell her what I was, but it was not the time. But I wanted to let her know that she wasn't the only one.

Isolation within your thoughts was worse than ever.

As soon as we were outside and done with the classing of Beverly's bathroom, Richie wouldn't stop talking.

"No, I love being your personal doormat!"

We were walking and riding our bikes slowly down the street, away from the apartment as Richie was unloading his aggressions from not being involved with us and what we did. We were mostly still stunned from what we just went through, but none the less Richie was still trying to figure it all out with his usual tactics.

"Shut up, Richie!"

"Yeah, shut up, Richie!"

"Oh okay, trash the trash mouth, I get it. Hey, I wasn't the one scrubbing the bathroom floor and imagining there her sink went all Eddie's mom's vagina on Halloween," Richie said to us as he was peddling in circles around us, all of us still looking a bit solemn.

"She didn't imagine it,' Bill said to Richie, but loud enough for us. We all stopped in the middle of the street, looking at Bill now as he was looking a bit grave in his spot, holding his bike in a death grip. The moon was still ominous and a bit dreary, all of us feeling like something was heavy on his shoulders.

"You saw blood too?" Stanley asked, Bill slowly shaking his head.

"Not blood. I saw G-G-G-Georgie," we were all frozen when he said his brother's name, the look of grief was on his face, also confusion was evident as he was shifting back and forth on his two feet. We were all giving each other quick looks to see what we could do in this situation since now it felt like Bill was the one who was going something that didn't seem realistic, "It seemed so real. I mean it seemed like him, but there was this—"

"A clown," Eddie said in a low shaky voice, all of us looking at him now. He was holding his bike within his two hands in a vice grip as he was shifting his eyes from Bill to the rest of us, "Yeah, I saw it too," He looked down, almost in defeat and shame. But I was frozen, thinking that I was going crazy, or we all were at the same time. They both saw a clown….but was it the same clown…"

"At the pool," I stopped, gulping a bit as they were watching me now instead of Eddie, "There was something there that attacked me. At first it was a creature….but it changed to a….a clown." It felt good to say it out loud, but now it was worse since both Eddie and Bill looked like they were about to sick to hear that I saw the same clown too. It had to have been the same one, those allow eyes and that voice that would haunt me and make me think of terror.

"What, can virgins only see this stuff? Is that why I'm not seeing this shit?" Richie asked, clearly not catching on as to what was going on. We all didn't tell him to be quiet, not now since it felt like we were all going through something terrible that happened. Although they were different moments, they were just the same since we thought no one was going to believe us.

"Oh shit, that's Belch Huggin's car," Eddie said to break the tense silence. We all looked to where he was pointing, a blue car parked on the side of the gravel road. There was a clear path that did lead down to where the Barrens were, we would use this same path all the time. But now was probably not the best time to be around here since if Belch was nearby, so was Henry.

"We, should probably get out of here," Eddie warned us as I then saw another bike propped thrown to the floor near the car. it was a run-down bike, a makeshift basket was on the front. I pointed my finger then over at the bike.

"Isn't that the homeschool kid's bike? Mike, right?" I asked the group almost in a grave manner.

"Yeah that's Mike's…" Richie trailed off, all of us were thinking the same thing. We saw him around the town, knowing very little of him. He lived with his grandparents out of the main part of town on a large farm, and we hardly saw him since he was homeschool. Of course people talked about him about things that happened to him and his parents when he was little and how both of his parents died. Other than that, he was a mystery, but never the less a target for Henry Bowers and his goons.

We could hear from a far distance a fight going on down the bottom fo the hill where the Barrens were, it sounded rough as we could hear Henry and Belch down there, but someone else that seemed in deep distress and on the verge of hysterics.

"We have to help him," Beverly said to us in concern. The person who seemed unhinged at what was happening was Richie, of course, as he looked at her.

"We should?" He asked, having me roll my eyes as I hopped off my bike, the others following suit reluctantly.

"Yes," I said to him in a huff as I started to run. The last thing I ever wanted was to have someone fall victim to Henry. I saw Henry in action, I knew how he works and how he can really make someone hurt. Even though I was never a personal victim, he's done it to others moreover. Mike was hardly ever someone who would ever ask to have pain inflated on himself, he was quite the opposite of what I ever gathered from him.

I started to run down the hill with the others behind me, yet I had a few good paces in front of them all. I was only thinking fo getting there before something horrendous happened to Mike, hearing the voices getting louder and louder.

"Robin, slow down!" Stanley yelled from behind me as they were trying to catch up. I was trying to dodge the roots that would pop up from time to time on the dirt that, but I was just trying to get there faster. I could only think of Mike, even though I barely knew him. Yet we were all running down to save him.

Once I reached the bottom of the trail, the creek was right in the middle. On the other side of the creek was Henry, hunching over Mike who was pinned to the ground by Henry and his knee on Mike's back. His other two friends were not too far away, cheering Henry on in hopes that Henry would get rid of him. I was feeling my heart down in the pit of my stomach as the rest of the group skidded to a halt and we were watching in horror. Henry, being the deviant that he was, was finally holding a good-sized rock in his hand over the top of his head, about to strike on Mike.

Beverly was right next to me, reaching down within a second from what she saw and she too snagged a rock, reeling it back and throwing it before we could stop her.

"No!" I said out loud as Beverly's rock slammed hard into Henry's head. Henry blinked and staggered back a bit, releasing Mike from his grasp. The others were finally catching up to us at the edge of the creek as Mike coughed. He then looked up at us, seeing that we were there and he started to crawl through the water over at us in hopes that he could get away from Henry. Henry was still in a daze from what happened as Stanley finally looking at Beverly with a look of amazement.

"Nice throw," he said to Beverly. Beverly looked at him, briefly smiling at Stanley as I walked over a bit through the tall grass and rubble to reach Mike.

"Thanks," she said to Stanley as I reached out my hand to grab Mike. Squatting down, I got a hold of him on his arm as I gently helped him crawl through the tall grass.

"Come on, I got you," I said to him as he was still coughing and staggering a bit. Henry looked up, finally get himself together as both Mike and I looked over at him in horror. Henry had a sneer on his face as I instinctively grabbed Mike's shirt. Both Mike and I were frozen on the ground as the others were standing over us, Henry started to chuckle.

"You Losers are trying too hard," He said to us as he motioned over to Beverly, grabbing his crouch and making a slow and distasteful motion, "She'll do you, you just have to ask nicely, like I did."

Ben, out of the corner of my eye as I looked back at them briefly, looked like he was seeing red from the comment he made about Beverly. It struck a nerve with him, and not if felt like I had to say something as I looked back at Henry with a glaring look.

"Fuck off, Henry," I said to him in a low tone as I was still hovering protectively over Mike. Henry's eyes right to me, his sneer the was once on Beverly was now even more severe on me as his two goons were chuckling low. Mike even looked at me in concern as the others were shifting behind me. I knew I was making a dumb mistake with how I was being blunt and upfront of Henry, but at this point with all he did, first to Ben and how Mike, I was over him and his antics.

"Only if you want me to. Trust me, I can do the same to you if you ask, bitch," He said in a sneer. At first, I didn't do anything, not letting it sink in with what he called me and what he said to me. But within a millisecond, right behind me, I heard movement. At first, there was a shift and I saw a rock being thrown right over my head right at Henry. It hit him square in the head, Henry stumbling a bit and his two goons looked in shock.

I whirled around once again, seeing Ben lowering his hand and looking serious a Henry. Stanley then reached down and threw a rock too, hitting Belch in the arm and the others were grabbing rocks too as I pushed Mike up to the others quickly to get out of harm's way. The three goons were throwing back, trying to hit us back as finally Mike and I got to our feet.

"ROCK WAR!" Richie bellowed below he was slammed in the head with a rock. The new few minutes were consisted of flying rocks, dodging out and around the rocks coming towards us, and merely just trying to defend our own ground. I only got grazed once or twice, trying to throw rocks back with my one hand that was now open for use. We were getting vicious in how we were throwing the rocks, getting hit once or twice but it felt like we were getting the upper hand.

We were winning.

One of the goons got pelted in the head hard by Beverly as another one was finally giving up and running away. Belch followed right after, clutching his head in fear as he too was giving up in the fight. Henry got a mean blow, being hit hard in the stomach and he was falling to the floor in a heap as the rocks stopping flying high in the air.

All I could hear was out heavy breathing and the water in the creek, all of us standing with a bit of pride that we took on Henry and won this battle. Eddie started to help Mike walk up to the path, the others following suit as I was going along with Stanley. He looked me over briefly, as I did the same in case something was there that we wouldn't like.

"You okay?" I asked with a heavy breath as we were walking side by side.

"Yeah I think so," he replied with a short nod, "Did he get you?" he looked up at my head where my gauze was. For a brief moment I forgot I had it, the adrenaline that was going through me all from helping Mike and having a rock war with our mortal enemy. But once he pointed it out, I instinctively raced out to see if anything else happened to my head. Thankfully nothing was there, and I let out a relieving breath.

"No, I think I'm fine," I replied to him, the both of us giving each other a brief smile before we kept going. It felt like a sense of accomplishment within our group as we heard Richie call out to Henry one last time in a heap of triumph on his voice.

"Go blow your dad you mullet-wearing asshole!"

There was a sense of peace amongst us as we were all walking in a line back up to the surface, away from the Barrens and we could hear a train going by slowly but surely. We were all sweaty and bit scarped up here and there, but none the less we were riding on some kind of high that included relief, peace, and accomplishment.

"Thanks, guys. But you shouldn't have done that. He'll be after you guys too now," Mike explained as he was now in our line walking with relief on his face and no more heaviness on his shoulders.

"Ah no, Bowers? Yeah he's always after us," Eddie explained him with a small smile as he was leading the way for us.

"I guess that's one t-t-t-thing we have in common," Bill agreed from his spot in our line.

"Yeah, home-school. Welcome to the Loser's Club," Richie said in a grin.

That's when we went from 7 to 8, thanks to Mike Hanlon.

On the last day of June, Stanley came over to my house and wanted to talk to me about what happened with me at the community pool. It's been a few days since we cleaned Beverly's bathroom, saved Mike, and had our battle with Henry. Since then, we steered clear from Henry and his group as much as we could, and we were in the clear thus far. But at this point I could tell we were still reeling with all that we discovered that day.

For one, at least three of us saw a clown and had a beyond frightful experience with It.

It was a reassurance that both Bill and Eddie saw the clown too and that they were spooked like I was. But with the others who were more skeptical, including Richie and Stanley, it was harder. I could tell they were on the fence about to since it did sound outlandish. So how was I going to explain it to Stanley and not look like a loon to him?

It was late into the morning as he and I were sitting on the porch, side by side on the steps as I was slowly explaining to him what I saw. I tried to make it sound more realistic, and throughout my whole story Stanley was nice and quiet, not saying a word and keeping his eyes on me the entire time. He was even facing em slightly with his hands in his lap, giving me his undivided attention.

After I said all that I could say, I was once again quiet and I looked at Stanley to see his reaction. I could tell he was thinking nice and hard about, trying to analyze it piece by piece to make sense of it all. He then took in a slow breath.

"You think it's the same clown that Bill and Eddie thought they saw?" He asked, and I cocked my eyebrow at him in how he asked me that.

"You don't believe them?" I asked back, seeing him squint a bit on his face.

"I mean, it doesn't make sense to see some kind of clown out of nowhere," Stanley explained, "It doesn't seem logical or realistic," Of course, I was quiet when he said this since I had a feeling that this would happen with Stanley. I bit my lower lip, looking ahead and trying not to seem as though I wanted to sigh in frustration and defeat in how this conversation was going.

"So you don't believe me," I replied to him simply.

"Robin, a part of me wants to believe you," He said between the both of us, wanting to sound like he was on my side though it felt like he wasn't, "But you have to think of it in the way that I am,"

"Stanley," I said, stopping him from going on in a rant, seeing him instantly go quiet as I looked at him square in the eye, "Sometimes, when it involves your friends, it's better to believe something that doesn't seem logically right than the latter," He looked at me all confused as I cocked my head.

"My dad said that to me once," I explained.

"I'm not following," He said to me, having me sigh and turn to face him a bit more. I could see how warm his eyes were as if he was really trying to look deeper in me and to understand me though his brain was telling me otherwise.

"Even when you think you're right about something, it's better to believe your friend and to be on their side," I advised him, though I tried to make sure that it didn't sound hurtful. It felt kind of and for me to be like this to him, but I knew from time to time Stanley needed a push in some kind of right direction. Richie was more reliant, which left Stanley more rigid when it came to what was real and what was a fantasy.

"I want to be on your side," He reassured me, having me see that he was somewhat desperate to be on my good side. I felt a twinge of sadness from how he was dealing with this, and I just placed my hand there on his leg. He looked down briefly, seeing how my hand was right on his pant leg before I spoke up once more with him.

To me, it felt kind of natural to do that with him and it was just the both of us. But then it felt like I was leaving it there for a pinch too long, having me inhale really quickly as I moved my hand back in my lap. When I looked back at Stanley face to face I saw the small evident look of blush on his cheeks.

"You are always on my side," I reminded him, smiling at him, "And I'll be on your side,"

Present Day

"I'll be on your side," I muttered as I was still holding the phone in my hand, the battery almost dead, and I almost dozed off for a moment while I was walking down a familiar street, the same street where I used to live. I was shocked that I would remember that distinctive memory of just Stanley and I. It pained me that I would forget something like that, how that small conversation made our talk stronger and deeper together as friends. Hell, that whole day was intense.

After I hung up the phone with Stanley, I had to think of another place to go. He reassured me that he was fine and he needed to go anyways, and once again to let me know and give me updates. I figured the community pool as going to be a bust to find something there. I could only think of that afternoon when I slammed my head, and when I saw the lagoon creature about to eat my face off. There wasn't anything left for me there, so I had to find another place to go in order I had to find the token.

The whole situation with the ritual and with our token seemed too much, almost making my own head heavy from all of that was going on. But maybe just walking down my old street could help me feel a bit better. I could see the familiar trees that were lining the street and the sidewalks, and some of the houses looked the same. I could tell which ones were new and which ones were there when I was younger.

Finally, the 7th house down on the righthand side was coming closer and clearer for me to see. I slowed down in my walk, gazing at the two-story house that seemed to have a bit of a paint job and some remodeling along the face of the house.

But I had to smile, seeing my old childhood home.

I stood right in front of the house, gazing at the whole house and all its glory. Just looking t it alone brought back so many small flickers of moments that I had when I was a kid: riding our bikes up to the lawn and dumping our bikes to the ground before bolting inside, painting outside with my dad on the front porch when it was too much to be inside during the summer, and making sledding down the slippery sidewalk in the cold days of January right after New Years.

I loved this house, remembering all of the dents and marks that were made along the wall on purpose and on accident, and even the familiar smells that would come out of the kitchen and the fireplace from the crackling fire.

There was a rather large Birch tree that was right on the edge of the front lawn, tucked to the right and almost hidden by the bushes and a little garden that was placed there, but my eyes went to the tree and I felt a bit frozen. I knew this tree, I felt like I knew it. But then again, at first, it didn't click in my ahead as I was looking at how tall the tree was and the pristine green leaves that were spread out on the branches.

It then clicked in my head, having me smirk.

April 1990

Age 14

"Woah, check it out!"

I poked my head up from my spot on the front lawn, seeing the familiar squad of friends coming over to the house on their bikes. It was a cool spring Saturday morning, my dad and I were working away on re-doing our front lawn and making it look fresh and new. Since my dad was never one to fully rest and let things be, he was looking at the front lawn in a particular way, and when I asked him what he was looking at when we got back from an evening walk, my dad placing his arm around my shoulder and cocked his head to one side.

"I think we need to give our lawn a good makeover, don't you?"

"Mr. Levy, w-w-what are you doing?" Bill asked as they placed their bikes carefully on the sidewalk. We had a boombox out on the front porch railing, playing Van Morrison's Into the Mystic in the background. I was wearing one of my overall shorts, a bandana over my head with french plaid pigtails, and a dark blue cotton shirt along with my boots. I chuckled as my dad stood all the way and dusted the dirt on his hands off on his overalls he was wearing along with a yellow painting shirt that already had paint marks all over the place.

"Well Bill, my daughter and I decided that our front lawn was looking a little….what did we say honey?" my dad asked me as he was clearly lying playing as if he didn't remember. I paused for a moment, though I was smirking.

"Like a cemetery," I answered, the boys chuckled as my dad nodded and pointed at me.

"Exactly!" He said in glee as he looked back at Bill, "So we're doing a makeover of sorts."

"We can help if you want?" Ben asked as he was looking at all that we were doing. I could see the light going off behind his eyes.

"Oh, I don't want you boys to get into the trouble of helping us—" My dad started, but Ben shook his head as he carefully walked through the dirt over to where I was.

"This can be fun," He said in his warm fashion, then looking back at the others, "Come on, guys!" Richie then ruffled his oversized shirt in glee as he cleared his throat.

"On my way, Sir Haystack!" Richie said in amusement and a bad British Accent as he too was walking over, fixing his glasses and he shot a quick look over at Eddie who was trying to tread the dirt and not get dirty, "Edward, watch yourself good lad before coming through, or else your mom will have a cow!"

"Shut it, Richie," Eddie growled as Bill and Mike made their way over too.

"If I had my tools from the barn it could help," Mike said almost sheepishly.

"Don't worry, Mike. I have plenty of tools for you to use," my dad reassured him with a gentle smile.

"What can we do, Mr. Levy?" Eddie asked.

"Well let's see," said My dad in a light chuckle. I could tell he knew that talking the boys out of helping would be a bit impossible. He then was helping the boys out, telling them where to go and what to do as I was moving my head over to where Stanley was. He wasn't coming like the others, though he was looking rather curious as to what was happening. I walked over, my boots making tracks on the dirt as I stood in front of him and placed my hands on my hips.

"You don't want to get dirty, Stan?" I asked, seeing him still looking a bit hesitant as he shifted next to his bike.

"I don't think I should," he trailed off, already inwardly having a debate within himself. I gave him a solemn look, seeing how he was still a bit stiff within himself after all that happened to him this past year. The small scars around his face were settling into his skin, still visible but not as bad as before when we got out of that summer almost one year ago. since then, Stanley was more on edge than anything. And of course, there was me, and the others as well, who were trying to get back to normal with our lives. It was hardest with Stanley though, and we all felt it.

"Come on, Stan the Man! Some dirt will do you good!" Richie said in glee as he was helping my dad move around some dirt with his hands.

"It'll be good to h-h-h-help Stan," Bill said in agreement and he and Ben were helping with some of the flowers that we already had prepped out and ready. Stan still didn't move, but it made me get an idea and I grabbed his hand.

"I have something you can do, come with me," I easily said to him, lacing our fingers together as I lead him over away from the massive amount of dirt and mess, to a clearing that was off to the right and it was smooth. A circular hole was made on the ground, and a small stump of a baby tree was placed not he side with the dirt pile next to it.

"You're planting a tree?" He asked as we approached the hole.

"Not just any tree: A Birch Tree, " I explain as I manuvered around the hole to be next to the baby tree. It was right up to my calf, very small with one massive trunk and a tiny branches trying to reach up to the sky, "My dad and I picked it out after I read up on how Robins love to make their nests in Birch Trees."

"You read that?" Stanley asked, sounding surprised as I nodded.

"Yes," I answered, "I had to since I wanted to find the perfect tree. So, good sir, would you want to help me plant it?" I asked him, seeing him give me a look of shock now.

"Really?" He asked. I still smiled at him, though my now heart was breaking a bit from the thought of Stanley doubting himself and what he was vocable of doing. Since last summer and what he encountered, what we went through, Stanley lost something within himself. It pained me to see it and not find ways to help him come out of it. But I had to remember: Stanley was a very hard perfect to crack open and exposed. But this was a simple act, something simple and easy to do.

Apparently, it worked.

"Okay," he replied, having me feel as though my heart was bursting in how he was willing to do this with me. Both of us then went to work: Stanley kneeling on a towel but was willing enough to help place the tree in its new home, scattering the dirt around the space and making it just right. I turned it just right and made sure nothing else was tainted or hurt from our actions. I could even see Stanley smiling out of the corner of my eye as we finished the job.

After it was all done, the both of us were dusting our hands off on the towel as we were looking at our new tree, how it was snug in the earth, and looking just a fresh as ever. Even the others, including my dad walked over and dad gently clasped a hand on Stanley's shoulder.

"Well done, Stanley," he said to him with a smile. The others were nodding in agreement. Stanley looking a bit sheepish from getting the attention for a moment, and yet I knew he needed it. I gently nudged Stanley with my shoulder, seeing him nudge me back and neither of us saying anything. it was like we spoke to each other Brin silence, that he was glad to have helped me. I wanted to tell him that I was glad he was there to help me and he was willing to grow, like the tree.

I felt him lace our dirty fingers together, and we held hands there under the watchful eyes from the Birch Tree.

Present Day

I grinned, seeing that the very tree we planted when we were 14 years old, was now as tall as the house I lived in at one time. It was now sightly, a strong trunk and branches with beyond plenty of leaves that were giving enough shade for the flowers below. It was almost a somber moment to think that I was looking at this and not the others, having me feel a bit bitter about the situation. I then took a quick picture of the tree, making sure I wasn't looking like a complete creep about it since I was out here all alone and someone could come up out of nowhere and see what I was doing.

A part of my past looking right in front of me,

"Okay," I said, rolling my shoulder one more time as I then started walking to the next place that I thought would be best for me to find my so-called token. So the next place I knew I had to look was going to be a bit harder for me.

I had to go to the Art Community Center