It was another sleepless night for me. I had the nightmare again, except something was different. At one point, there was this creepy and random balloon just kind of floating off into the sky. That's never been a part of my dream before, but needless to say– I didn't go back to sleep like I normally do. Nope, I was wide awake. And I've been wide awake and staring at my ceiling since about 5:30 this morning. I could hear my mom get up and get ready for work and I waited for her to pop her head in and tell me good morning like she did every morning, but she never came. I guess since it's Friday she just kind of decided to let me sleep in a bit. Ha, oh the irony. Because even after she left, I wasn't able to go back to sleep. I tried and I tried, but to no avail, I did not succeed.

It's funny how quiet the world can get. How you're able to hear your breathing pattern more clearly when you pay attention to it without distraction. Or how sometimes your heartbeat will go from three beats to two, then back to three as it pounds against your chest. And though it isn't funny sometimes– your thoughts can manage to ruin silence. It's like your brain is going into overdrive replaying every memory that you didn't want it to. As if it's doing everything to make up for the silence that succumbs the room. 

A happy memory from the third-grade science fair or trick-or-treating with Benny as Wendy and Peter Pan. A sad memory like when Benny's hamster, Scooter, died. A memory that can't help but make you smile like when Richie tried to share a milkshake with me. A memory you could never forget, no matter how hard you tried because it hurt so bad...like July 23rd, 1988. A date, that will forever be engraved into my mind. An event that in a little over three weeks...will have happened a year ago.

I could feel just how tired I was– my brain was practically screaming for me to go to sleep, but the moment I close my eyes and try, I'd just basically end up lying there with my thoughts going a hundred miles a minute. I guess I could just lay here all day and try to force myself to sleep, I'm sure mom wouldn't mind if I stayed in for one day. Especially since I've been hanging out with my friends every day without a fail. I looked over at my alarm clock to see that it was already 12:30. Maybe I could just try to sleep for 30 minutes, and if I couldn't– well then my life officially sucks. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, slowly exhaling through my nose...when the phone rang. I opened my eyes and stared back at the ceiling. This had to be a cruel joke. Why was our phone even that loud to where I could hear it from the kitchen...DOWNSTAIRS?!

I threw off my covers and got out of bed, leaving my room and jogging down the stairs. Normally people would just hang up after three or four rings– but we're going on ring six and the damn thing was still making noise. It must be my mom checking up on me or something. I leaned across the kitchen counter and picked up the phone from its receiver, bringing it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Dani?" It wasn't my mom...it was Bev, and she sounded a little off.

"Hey, Bev, what's up?" I asked, walking over to the fridge to grab some eggos.

"Can you um...can you come over?" Suddenly that same bad feeling I had after leaving Richie alone last night was back. I was tired and I really didn't want to leave the house. "Please Dani, I...I need to show you something."

I put the eggos into the toaster and pushed the lever down. "Okay, I'll be there soon. Is everything okay?"

There was a long pause and then the shut of a door. "Yeah...no...I'm not sure. I just– come over when you can."

"Okay, I will. Bye Bev." She hung up the phone and I placed the phone back onto the receiver.

The entire phone call, even for as short as it was– I couldn't notice but see just how spooked she sounded...like something was bothering her. My eggos popped up a few minutes later and I grabbed them and wrapped them up in a paper towel. I jogged back upstairs and into my room, not really caring what I was going to wear today since I was probably just going to go over to her place and then come right back home and try to fall asleep. When I was dressed, I went back downstairs and grabbed my breakfast, peeling back the paper towel and taking a bite as I walked out of the door. I locked the door behind me and grabbed my bike, heading towards the sidewalk. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I started eating.

❏❏❏❏

When I pulled up to Bev's apartment building, I leaned my bike up against the front of the building and walked up the steps. I looked on the list of residents that was beside the door to press the button that led up to her complex. "Marsh....14." I pressed the button beside her name and waited for a buzzer in reply to signal I was allowed into the building...but nothing happened. I pressed it again and got the same result: nothing. I walked down the steps and grabbed my bike, maybe I could try the backside of the building. I walked to the backside of the building, where metal stairs leading up to the backdoors of the apartments. "Bev!"

I saw her lean her head over the railing but she disappeared soon after. Her footsteps banged against the metal steps as she practically ran down the stairs in a hurry. "You need to follow me."

I laid my bike down against the side of the building and gave her a confused look. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just saying, I think you're completely wrong about that! There's no way that Superman could beat Batman. It's just stupid." Bev and I looked behind us to see the boys rounding the corner on their bikes.

"Well as per usual Eddie, you're fucking wrong," Richie replied.

Bill looked in our direction and stopped, obviously seeing how upset Bev looked. The rest of the boys followed suit, looking over at us. I looked at Richie, but he looked away. Guess I should have expected that. "I-I need to show you guys something...all of you." Bev gulped.

"What is it?" Ben asked, instantly peeking an interest. I was starting to think that he too had feelings for Beverly, it was cute.

"More than we saw at the quarry?" Richie replied, starting to laugh.

"Shut up, just shut up Richie!" Eddie said, giving Richie a look before looking back at Bev and me.

"My dad will kill me if he finds out I had boys in the apartment..." Bev said, trailing off as she looked over at Bill.

"We-We'll leave a lookout," Bill replied, looking at Richie. "Richie sus-sus-stay here."

Richie looked at him in disbelief as the rest of the boys got off of their bikes and walked towards Beverly and I. "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! What if her dad comes back?!" He asked, throwing his arms up into the air.

"Do what you always do, start talking." Stan sassed back, rolling his eyes as he turned to me.

"I knew I liked you." I smiled, jogging up the stairs behind Eddie.

"It is a gift!" Richie called out, sounding defeated as we left him behind.

When we walked into her apartment, there was something off about it. I know it was just her and her dad, but even then you'd think it would look...homey. I mean, it's just my mom and I and we've got the place looking straight out of one of those home catalogs. Maybe it's because her dad isn't a woman...I don't know. It gave me a creepy feeling just being inside like something wasn't right. I felt bad that Bev had to live here. We followed Bev down the hallway where she came to a stop as soon as the corner came up. "It's in there..."

"What is it?" Bill asked, stepping a little bit ahead of the rest of us as we stared at the door directly down the hall.

"You'll see..."

"Are you gonna take us to your bathroom?" Eddie asked, sounding a bit nervous. "89% of the world's bathrooms are home to many bacteria and-and-"

I turned to Eddie and placed my hand over his mouth. "Eddie, please stop...please."

His eyes went wide and he nodded. I took my hand off of his mouth and he quickly wiped it with his shirt. "No offense, but hands house–"

"Eddie!"

"Okay, okay sorry." He mumbled as we continued walking to the door.

As it stood there in front of us, Bill leaned towards it and pushed it open slowly, a red light shining on us. Only it wasn't a lightbulb being used....it was the sun reflecting off of what looked to be red dye all over her bathroom. Everything was covered. The shower/tub, the window, the floor, the walls– absolutely everything. "Is that?" I asked, squinting my eyes as if I wasn't seeing it clearly. 

It had to be dye...right?

"Blood," Bev replied coldly.

"I knew it," Eddie said as he started to gag.

"Do you see it?" Bev asked, looking at all of us.

"Yes," Bill replied, looking around.

"What happened in here?" Stan asked, sounding how all of us did...afraid.

"My dad couldn't see it, I thought I might be crazy..." Bev huffed, laughing nervously.

"Well if you're crazy, then we're all crazy," Ben replied.

"We can't leave it like this," Bill said, turning towards us.

"I agree, we need to clean this up." I nodded.

"I think we have some supplies...but we don't have a lot. Just a few pairs of gloves, some rags and a bottle of bleach." Bev replied, rubbing her arm.

"I'll go to the store, grab a few more things," I turned to her and smiled. "We'll clean this up Bev, promise."

"Um, can I go to the store too?" Eddie asked, raising his hand. "I know a thing or two about disinfectants..." He looked around the room nervously.

"Just grab what you have and we'll be right back, it's right across the street." I turned to Eddie and nodded my head. "Come on let's go."

As we started walking back to the living room of Bev's apartment, I could notice how fidgety Eddie was being and I suddenly had a doubt in my mind that he was actually going to go to the store. "Eddie, can you actually stay behind? We might get a bit more done if we have the five of us working while Dani goes to get some more stuff." Stan said.

"That's a great idea, Stan," I looked at Eddie who looked at me with the biggest puppy dog eyes. "don't worry, I know what to get."

I walked out of the front door of Bev's apartment, jogging down the stairs until I came to the main entrance on the first floor. Bev lived right across the street from Keene's pharmacy, kind of. It was across the street, but it was just a few blocks down. I ran across the street while there was a gap in traffic and walked down to the store. When I got to the front door, I opened it and the bell above rang. The man, who wasn't Mr. Keene, at the checkout counter was occupied with a customer, but he still looked in my direction and smiled.

I walked down to the third aisle, turning into it to see cleaning supplies standing on the shelves. I grabbed a big bottle of bargain brand bleach, an extra packet of rubber gloves and a package of rags. I stepped back and tried to think if there was anything else we could use to help her clean up her bathroom.

The bell above the door rang, signaling someone else had walked either in or out of the store. It was probably that customer from earlier. So I really paid no mind to it.

"Half of my life's in books written pages, lived and learned from fools and from sages. You know it's true...all the things, come back to you!"

I looked up at the speaker in the ceiling above me. I could have sworn this song wasn't playing when I walked into the store. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, I haven't listened to this song in so long. I needed to leave the store before it continued to play. I couldn't listen to this song, no way. I could hear conversation come from the counter as I walked out of the aisle the way I came in. When I rounded the last aisle, I saw a man with his back to me, leaning over the counter holding the guy by his shirt collar angrily. I jumped back behind the aisle, putting myself out of sight.

"Sing with me, sing for the year, sing for the laughter, sing for the tear. Sing with me, if it's just for today, maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away...."

I felt frozen in fear as if I couldn't move. He was shouting in the man's face. I couldn't hear what, but it was obvious he was angry. He dropped the man's shirt collar and reached towards his jacket pocket, bringing out a black object. My stomach dropped when I realized what it was...it was a gun. He pointed it at the clerk and yelled. I looked towards the door and back at the clerk. He wasn't paying any attention to the man as if he couldn't even see him. I began to walk towards the door quietly, hoping I could sneak out. As the man with the gun started to turn towards my direction, I pushed the door open and ran out...cleaning supplies in hand.

I didn't stop running until I reached the front step of Beverly's apartment complex. I was completely out of breath, my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest...but at least I had the cleaning supplies. I rang the buzzer to her apartment, only this time to hear one back and I was able to open the door. I walked up the stairs, still trying to catch my breath and walked into her apartment, closing– and locking– the door behind me. I carried the stuff down the hall and to the bathroom where my friends were already making a little bit of progress on the bloody mess. I set the materials down on the one clean spot of the bathroom floor and looked at them all. "Are you okay Dani?" Ben asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Oh, yeah," I lied, brushing him off. "I'm just really out of shape, those stairs are killer."

Eddie reached down and grabbed the bottle of bleach. "Oh thank god, we really need this...like really need it."

Bill walked over with gloves on his hands and holding a mop. "How muh-much?"

I widened my eyes and looked back down at the supplies at my feet before looking back at him. "Don't worry about it."

He nodded and went back to cleaning the floor. I opened the package of rubber gloves, grabbing myself a pair and putting them on my hands. I looked around to see what I could clean. Bev was cleaning the mirror above the sink, Bill the floor, Stan the window by the tub, while Ben and Eddie were working on the walls across from one another. I sighed at the solo wall and grabbed myself a rag before walking over to it. "Can I dip my rag into this?" I asked Eddie, nodding my head at the bowl by his feet.

"Sure, you're gonna need it." He replied, putting his shirt collar back over his nose as he went back to vigorously scrubbing the wall...only for his shirt to fall back down.

I dipped the rag into the bowl of bleach, letting it soak for a few seconds before taking it out and turning towards the wall. Bleach was dripping off of the rag and onto the floor, but at this point, it really didn't matter. Her entire bathroom looked like the elevator scene from The Shining. No exaggeration. But nonetheless, we were her friends and we were going to help her. It's what friends do.