By the time we dropped Tommy off with his parents and made it home, I needed about 10 ibuprofen, five glasses of wine and for my two gremlins to put themselves to bed. It was 10 PM, both kids were in their rooms for the night and I was downstairs in the kitchen with my laptop, getting ready to buy myself a ticket to Bangor, Maine. According to Goggle, Derry was too small of a town to have even a three-terminal airport, so I'd have to drive an hour into it.

I checked 'get plane ticket' off of my list and looked down the other items:

to-do

• Have Melanie pick up the kids from practice tomorrow; Watch them ✓

• Call mom to see if she can stay with them ✓

• If she doesn't answer, beg benny (and later regret it) ✓

• Take 3-day leave (no more than 4) ✓

• Book rental car ✓

• Buy plane ticket ✓

• Pack

I let my pen drop onto the counter and leaned back with my wine glass, finishing off the last sip. I'd have to pay Melanie extra for picking up the kids and taking care of them until on a Saturday. I knew there was a lot of other things a College Junior would rather do than look after two kids on a Saturday night. Mom answered, thank God, and said she'd be able to come to stay with them Saturday night until I came back. Thankfully, she was only a good 5 and a half-hour drive away. She said she'd come sooner, but she couldn't cancel on her book club again. The rental car company was easy, my plane ticket was now booked and all I had left to do was pack.

Should be easy, right?

I hopped off of the barstool and headed up the stairs. The family pictures hanging on the walls of the kids growing up throughout the years seemed to only make the nagging worry feeling in my stomach, worsen. As if they were trying to remind me of something that I had forgotten. But that made no sense, what could Matthew and Madeline possibly have to do with the phone call?

I walked into the room and headed over to the bed, bending down and grabbing the suitcase from beneath it. Dropping it on top of the comforter, I flipped over the lid and headed towards my closet. What the hell was I even supposed to pack? Would the weather in Derry be like it is in Pittsburgh? I grabbed a mixture of long sleeve and short sleeve t-shirts, folding them and setting them off to the side. Pants...would pants be good enough? Jeans or khakis?

I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed both, tossing them by the t-shirts. I grabbed a hoodie and a pair of tennis shoes from the bottom of my closet before placing them with the shirts and pants, then picking them all up. I stood in silence as I folded everything neatly and placed it into the suitcase. I haven't done anything extensive but yet I could feel my heart racing against my ribcage as if I had just finished a half-marathon in the first place.

I walked into the master bathroom and tossed the essentials into a travel bag before walking back in and tossing that on top of the essential clothes I'd packed. I shut the suitcase and zipped it, placing it onto the floor. It stood there by my feet, and if it had eyes it would probably be giving me a look that said I should be remembering what I was getting myself into...yet I couldn't.

"Mommy?"

I jumped and stared at the door only to see Madeline standing there in her pajamas and holding the stuffed Build-A-Bear Workshop Turtle that Richie had gotten her for her birthday.  "Sweetie it's almost 10:30. What are you doing up? I thought you were in bed."

She looked at her feet, shuffling them against the carpet as she held onto her turtle tighter. "Mommy...there's something in my closet."

The chill that had shocked me to the core hours earlier had returned and if it wasn't for the suitcase next to me, I'm sure I would've fallen right over. My throat was dry as I swallowed, nodding my head. "Okay sweetie uh, wait for me at your door. I'll be there in a second."

She nodded and turned down the hallway, her footprints echoing against the wooden floors. I let out a shuddered breath before reaching into my bedside table and pulling out my work gun and its case. I unloaded it and placed all of the bullets and extra magazines into the case before placing the gun itself into the case, then locking it. I unzipped my suitcase again and placed it on top. "Looks like I'm checking luggage after all."

With the zip of the suitcase, I stood back up and walked down the hall to Madeline's room. She was standing at the door, looking into the darkened room with only a glimmer of light coming from her nightlight tucked into the corner. "I don't want to go in."

"It's okay sweetie, there's nothing in your closet," I smiled, turning on her bedroom light and trying to convince myself that my statement was true. With each step I took towards her closet, I could feel my stomach sink further and further into my shoes. Standing face to face, I closed my eyes and let out a breath before sliding both doors open to reveal her closet full of clothes.

"What if it's hiding behind the clothes?" She whispered, taking a few steps into her room.

I moved her clothes around so she could see that nothing was hiding in her closet. "See? Nothing's hiding in here," I closed both doors and patted her bed, pulling back the covers. "Besides, Mommy is armed and that monster would have to go through me before they get to you."

She crawled beneath her covers and smiled, pulling the turtle closer to her. "I love you, Mommy."

I tucked her in and brushed the bangs out of her face. Matthew was Richie's mini-me, but she was mine. And there's was no one else in this world she idolized more than her father. Just like I did when I was younger. "I love you too sweetie, now get some sleep. If you feel scared again, just come on in to my room, okay?"

She nodded and I pressed a kiss to her forehead before standing up and leaving her room. I turned off the bedroom light and closed the door slightly, leaving just a crack. As I made my way down the stairs, I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to send the chills away that I got the moment she called her monster, an IT.  Walking into the kitchen, I grab the wine bottle again and lean over the counter, pouring it into my glass as I reached for a cookie.

"Hey, Mom?"

"Holy shit!" I squealed, pulling the wine bottle towards me and knocking the wine glass over with it. The moment my eyes zoned in on the dark red liquid covering my counter, I felt my heartache in my chest as a scene of staring into the doorway of a dark and bloodied bathroom filled my vision.

"Mom? Mom!"

I shook my head, sending away the scary scene as I looked at Matthew who was standing on the opposite side of the counter holding a bunch of manilla folders in his arms. "Sorry, sorry," I placed the wine bottle down onto the counter before walking towards the sink. "You just...really scared me."

"Sorry, I was just...reading."

I grabbed the roll of paper towels and walked back over to the spilled wine, balling up a few and dabbing the spot. "Are those files for the Collins case? You know how I feel about you going through my things."

"I know, I just..." He sighed and sat on the barstool, placing the folders down onto the upper part of the counter and opening one. "I think you should look into this," he leaned into the paper, "David Fitzgerald, guy. The witness reports said that he was the most messed up of them all. It says he was the only one of them to do acid and according to Coach Flowers, that stuff is really bad. Plus you said Dad had a phase and his memory was skewed, so I bet that he did it and just doesn't remember it because of the acid."

"Well, you're right on one thing my little Detective," I smiled, tossing a soaked wad into the trashcan before making a new one. "His drug test results back then did test positive for acid, but he wasn't the only one. Plus he has an alibi for the time the group said they noticed Jefferey was missing."

"Keyword alert, Mom. When they noticed, that he was missing. For all we know, this David guy went all bad trip, berserk on Jefferey, killed him, freaked out, hid the evidence and then rejoined his friends!"

I smiled as his eyes skimmed along with the file. It took me back to a happier time when he was five, way before he'd sass me with his Richie Tozier like attitude and teenaged mouth. When he used to sit on the couch with me and rest against my side, acting like he could read the files because he saw that I was doing it. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

He shrugged and returned back to the files, chewing on the inside of his cheek as his eyes skimmed along the lines. He closed the file and then moved onto the next one. He paused, staring down at the label as if he was contemplating whether or not he wanted to open it.

Crime Scene Photos.

"Mom?" He asked with the childish like tone hidden in his voice that he had left behind years ago.

I dropped another wad into the trash before crumpling a final one and returning back to the puddle. "Hm?"

"Do you believe in monsters?"

His question stopped me in my tracks and I looked up from the small leftover wine. "What do you mean?"

He nodded down at the closed file, his fingers playing with the edge of it. "Only monsters do this kind of thing, kill another person without caring. It's what we learned in English class, how people can be monsters."

I felt a slight weight being lifted off of my shoulders for a small second before I took in his expression. "Matthew...what is it?"

The flicking noise of his fingertip picking at the folder only grew louder as he scrunched his face in contemplation. "I've been having...nightmares, I guess."

"What kind of nightmares?"

"It's like...I'm in this place I've never been before and there's this creepy...thing that just stands in the doorway of this room and just stares. I never see it because right when I get close to it, everything spins and then I'm in this gross water tunnel and I hear kids laughing and right before I start to walk, I wake up."

He taps the file and puts the first file on top of it, piling them neatly. "It's nothing, just unsettling I guess."

"Your sister might make an appearance in my bed tonight. Says she thinks something's in her closet," I reached out for my glass and poured more wine into it. "I know you're all grown up now, but if the nightmare bothers you, you're more than welcome to join us."

At first he rolls his eyes as if it was an insult that I suggested a nightmare would scare him. But then he hops off of his stool and walks around the counter, leaning on his toes and kissing my cheek. "Goodnight Mom."

"Love you kiddo."

"You too."

As I watched him disappear up the stairs, I looked back down onto the counter where the big puddle of red wine used to be, but where a stained wad of paper towels, now sat. I closed my eyes and focused hard, trying to make that memory from earlier reappear. It was like I was standing in a dark hallway, staring into the bloodied bathroom. With each step that I took, I saw more people beginning to appear in the image. They looked to be the same people from my earlier memory, only this time a little less blurry. And they were cleaning.

But how in the hell did the bathroom get all bloodied like that?

I dropped the last paper towel into the trashcan and looked at my wine glass. I couldn't waste it, that would just be a total shame. And who knows, maybe it'd help me sleep better. I grabbed it and walked into the living room, sinking down into the couch as a Criminal Minds re-run played on the TV. I took a sip and closed my eyes, relishing in the taste of my wine. The bitter taste seemed to numb me a lot easier than any other kind of alcohol could– which at this very moment was something I needed. When I opened my eyes, the manilla envelope from earlier was sitting on the coffee table, unopened.

"Shit," I mumbled, reaching forward and placing the glass onto a coaster. I folded up the metal bars stuck in the middle and then slid my finger beneath the enclosed flap, tearing apart the glue. When it was open, I reached in and grabbed the documents, sighing as I placed them down onto the table.

―

𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪,

          𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵! 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘞𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯!

– 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘢

―

I slid the handwritten note off to the side and stared down at the first page belonging to a thick stack of papers. Reaching for my wine glass, I sighed and took a long sip as my eyes took in the big bolden words.

𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐈𝐑𝐂𝐔𝐈𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐘 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐘, 𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐍𝐒𝐘𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 - 𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐃𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍.

𝐈𝐍 𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅:

𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐙𝐈𝐄𝐑

𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳

𝚊𝚗𝚍

𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐓𝐎𝐙𝐈𝐄𝐑

𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵

𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐆𝐄