winter fire

“So you’ve had it a while then? Still.. It’s gonna deter me from ever coming over.” Louis laughed, although he was serious. Clowns were his worse nightmare. “Whoa whoa whoa…” He frowned, unable to understand her words The Stand. What was he missing out on? “The Stand? Yo.. What the fuck is that?!” Louis asked. “Sounds fucking dope.. Would we all just stand frozen and not move or something? I suppose that would get boring as fuck though.. Just standing there… doing nothing…”

“I have had it a while then. It was a gift from my mother,” she admitted. “You know, the novel? The Stand? Well, there’s no standing, but there’s a super flu and most of the people in the world die.”

“We’re going to have to have a movie night because I am curious. As long as you don’t give me a heart attack” 

“Yes! I promise that you’ll have the most fun and I promise to try to not give you a heart attack.”

“true though I’d never call her that.” He shrugs. “so how’s the new book coming along” 

“It’s a thousand pages. I’m semi terrified of it myself because of the length.”

“It does, though I wonder if she just didn’t like my performance in bed.” He shrugged, “I suppose we will find out what happens in the future since she already passed away.”

“I mean if she kept coming back for more and married you then I guess she might not have had an issue with you. At the most it might mean she was a little curious about exploring her sexuality. It happens. I’m sorry that she passed.”

“My wife used to say she would want to be a slutty lesbian in her next life.” He laughed.

“That would be fun. One of my best childhood friends is a lesbian. She’s of the adorable sort though.”

“Are you fucking serious? Yo! Don’t expect me to come and visit ya, then. Fucking Pennywise.. What even is that freaky shit? Just no, bro.” Shaking his head, Louis laughed. Clowns were probably one of his biggest nightmares. “I tell ya, though, I’m so ready for the zombie apocalypse, my cupboards are always filled with cans of food with long ass dates on them. You think I can be bothered to cook most of the time? Nah.”

“I never said where it was or how large it is. It’s fairly well hidden. Among other pictures, but it’s there,” she said with a nod. Not many people had noticed it yet actually. Only a few keen ones were able to. “What if we don’t get the zombie apocalypse, but we get something like The Stand?”

“Well, yeah, but like i said – a lot, not all. Dolores Claiborne, Misery, Gerald’s Game are all pretty realistically minded, at least compared to novels like Cell, or The Shining, or obviously Carrie. Although there are elements in even the most supernatural novels that make it relatable, which I think makes them especially terrifying.”

“Hot damn. You know your King. That’s amazing.” She smiled. Bev had to admit that she was impressed. “I agree with everything you just said. It makes it unbelievably terrifying.”

“You mean like Pennywise?” Ayden asked, mentioning the name of the clown in the movie it seemed like she was describing. “I’d hope not. That would be horrifying. The movie gave me nightmares as a kid.”

Bevin nodded enthusiastically. “Pennywise! Yes! You should watch the new movie. It’s really, really good.”

To anyone else, the question would probably have seemed strange or out of place. For Savanah, though, questions like these were commonplace. “Why every 27 years,” she asked, indulging the conversation. “Where do they keep it in the interim?” 

“It kinda chills and gains power over those 27 years and then It comes back and then It feeds on those sad poor kids,” Bevin replied. 

“You’re welcome-I always think of weird things when I walk pass something and wonder what or where something or whatever it is is.”

“I do the same exact thing. I also wonder if a person has died in some weird place that I’m at like a grocery store.”

Ethan tried not to look too surprised, but the question had thrown her for a loop. “Well, I… I hope not,” she finally replied, pushing her hands into her pockets. “Though I suppose I wouldn’t know it did.”

“I hope we never find out if it does, but if it happens to then, well, everyone will know.”

“I don’t think so, but some might. In my case, I just hope I reunite with my soulmate.”

“I like the idea of life after death and everyone meeting again. It’s really comforting.”

AJ gave a little laugh. “I don’t think that’s an issue we have to worry about,” he said. “Which luckily is true of a lot of Stephen King’s novels.”

“I’m not sure about that. The Stand had some pretty scary real life stuff with the whole super bug thing.”

“It is, but it is the one we all hate.”

“Would you think I’m weird if I said I don’t?”

“Dude!” Louis answered, his head shaking from side to side. “Don’t ever mention a fucking clown to me again! Do you know how freaky those things are? Bro! I used to constantly have nightmares as a kid, it isn’t even funny.” He frowned. “But you do know what is real, right? The zombie fucking apocalypse. That shit’s gonna happen!”

“Hey, hey. I know they’re creepy, but don’t you disrespect Pennywise. I have a portrait of him in my house,” Bevin said putting her hands on her hips. She wasn’t joking about the portrait either. “I don’t doubt the zombie apocalypse will happen.”

“You mean have I ever wondered if Pennywise exist? Because I can’t say that I have. The remake was pretty good, though.” Andrew smiled. “I don’t think I’d fair too well if I had to worry about killer clowns running around. I’ll save that sort of stuff for the fictional universe. Like, video games.”

“I grew up wanting to be Bev Marsh forever. I loved the remake.” Bev nodded. “I don’t know if we can really rule out if anything is fully fictional or not. I mean I believe that there probably is a Mothman out there.”