PART ONE: A FEAR THEY'VE NEVER KNOWN

CHAPTER TWO:

A STORM IS BREWING IN LIMA (2018)

1

This is the worst storm that Lima, Ohio has seen since the fall of '93. And if anyone alive on that fateful day had witnessed when Samantha Fabray was found, one arm ripped off and an ear missing – then they surely would never forget it. By the end of the fall and winter season fifteen more children in Allen County had gone missing. By the summer of '94 all of ten were found. Their bodies decayed and…bitten, torn – teeth marks rotting around the wounds in putrid flesh – some of them were missing limbs, others heads. And out of all of the children that eventually turned up. None had had a more lasting affect than Samantha's. A beautiful young girl – gorgeous hazel eyes, and an entire life ahead of her – she was buried in Oak Park Cemetery, right next to her grandmother Lillian.

But things like that were not spoken of in Lima, Ohio. Police Chief Gaultier was young and calculating. He did not connect the dots of the missing children. He did not read Samantha Fabray's curious obituary – he did not interrogate the family. Because that was twenty-five years ago – and he has new problems to face today; a two-year old boy by the name of Devon Sawyer went missing last night. He was taking a bath, and when his mother Pam opened the door after leaving for a few minutes to grab more baby shampoo – he was gone – a small trail of blood leading to the vent under the sink, the only marker of a lost child.

Two weeks ago Mia Wittier, a thirteen year old straight A student at Lorraine Middle School disappeared after swim practice at the high school. Her body was found this morning. She was missing a foot and a chunk of flesh out of her abdomen. She was still wearing her bathing suit.

And if you had asked Chief Mark Gaultier if he had thought to read the old obituaries he would have said no. Because Lima is a good town, with good people – and children don't just turn up missing. And yet, here he was again. Facing a storm the likes of which Lima has never seen before, and an overflowing creek that needs attending. And sitting on his old desk are the files of two missing children, one dead. And it looks like Lima, just got a whole lot more complicated than he had wished.

2

"It was supposed to be funny, w-we didn't think…"

Robert Dandridge was chewing on his bottom lip, his braces flashing under the fluorescent lights of the interrogation room. Lieutenants Monroe and Wells stared at him from the opposite end of the long table. For once pitying the life of a seventeen year old. It was Monroe who spoke up first, his hair unkempt as he brought a hand to his eyebrow. It was late, and he was itching to get home to his girlfriend after a stressful night – but it didn't look like any of them were going to be having a happy ending as of late.

"Alright alright, take it from the top. What happened last night, the night of Thursday, October 23rd at approximately 11:22pm." Jerry Monroe's tone was calculating and warm.

He knew the kid would be petrified. He was a goddamn snake, and a prick. He wouldn't hold out long – all he needed was a false sense of security and he was sure to crack under the pressure. Wells walked over and handed him a cup of water, he looked up at her nervously and Monroe could have gagged at the fear stretched all across his pimpled face. It was disgusting.

"Me and some of the boys…"

"Which boys?" Lara Wells was the exact opposite of warm. And her voice pierced the closed room sharply as her gaze rounded on the quivering teenager.

"M-Me, Bubba James, Newt Furnish, Louie Towns…and Mitchell Green," Robert Dandridge paused to take a sip of water before he stilled his nerves. "We just went out drivin' looking for something to do because we were bored. We saw Freddie Kilger when we were leaving the gas station, h-he's a nerdy kid. We thought we'd have some fun and spook him a bit. We just played chicken with him in the car, Mitch was driving – he looked scared but we weren't gonna hurt him or nothing. We ended up cornering him on Rocketeer Bridge; he didn't have anywhere to go. And Mitch thought it'd be fun to scare him some more, so we got out of the car. And I stayed farther back and before I knew it him and Newt were pushing him around and slapping him a few times. Mitch got carried away and picked him up, him and Newt and Bubba flipped him upside down to hang him from the railing to spook him a little. I didn't see nothing cause I knew it was getting carried away. But – all of a sudden Mitch turned around and his eyes were…they were…weird. And he shook his head, and when he did he was smiling. And at that point he was the only one still holding Freddie's ankles – he looked directly at me again, and as his smile turned up he just let go…and that's when I ran."

"Are you aware of the story you've just told us Robert? You're saying that you were an accessory and a witness to a case of first-degree murder with malicious intent. That's a big felony, kid…Freddie Kilger died that night, the water was shallow he hit the rocks at the bank of the St. Evan's Creek. Can you explain what happened after Mitchel, Bubba and Newt dropped him – his hands were missing, and someone bit off his nose. That can't be the end of your story…" Monroe was tired, and he had a feeling that Robert Dandridge was done for the night, but he had to follow through and make sure before he filed the report with Wells.

"I told you I ran away…a minute or so later I saw Mitch's car speeding off of Rocketeer bridge toward the main street. But it was only a minute later. There wouldn't have been time to find Freddie at the bottom of the creek and then speed away. I don't think he would have done…that. It was an accident. But I did see something weird as I ran away." Wells inched in closer, and Monroe clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth patiently.

"What did you see Robert?"

"A-A…you're gonna think I'm crazy."

"If you tell us the truth you're gonna make this easier for yourself in the long run. "

Monroe watched the kid's eyes well up with pent up tears. He really didn't want to see this. He exhaled audibly while he waited.

"A-Clown…there was a clown. In an orange and white suit, with orange buttons. He was standing at the other end of the bridge when I turned around. He had Freddie's body in his arms, and Freddie looked beat up but he wasn't dead yet I don't think. And he – The Clown was…smiling at me. He looked…fucking evil. So fucking evil."

Monroe watched Wells scrunch her eyebrows. He just shook his head tiredly before shutting his file. He stood up quickly, grimacing at the crying pimple-faced teenager sitting across from him at the other end of the table. And as Wells turned to pull him up and cuff him – he followed them out of the door. Happy to finally be able to get home – despite the images of evil clowns that he just couldn't shake from his head.

3

The trial lasted three months. By the end of it seven more children had gone missing all between the ages of two and fifteen. Mitchell Greene, Bubba James, and Newt Furnish were tried and convicted of first-degree murder – they were all tried as adults. Louis Towns and Robert Dandridge were charged as accessories to murder with a three-year felony charge in federal prison. Jerry Monroe noticed that the clown was never brought up again during the trial…it was as if…Robert Dandridge had never seen or said…a thing.