The Road to Maine is Bloody Part 15

Stephen reached down and picked up the pad and set it on the black metal glass table next to her and sat beside her once again. “There’s something I should tell you. Just before your mother died and that crazy fan of mine hung himself, he’d claimed he saw Pennywise in his dreams too. I found a letter from him in the mailbox when I went to get the mail and even though I was worried what it would contain, something told me to read it. He said Pennywise used to come to him in his dreams, asking him if he wanted to float. He said in one dream, Pennywise ripped out his throat with his teeth and he woke up screaming. He also said that one time when he woke up, he saw a red balloon floating down the hall and then would vanish.”

Ashley covered her mouth with her hand, her heart beating hard in her chest, feeling as if it would explode. She looked up at him, her trembling fingers against her lips. “This can’t be possible can it? I mean maybe these are premonitions of what is really happening here. People are dying in the same way and every one of them saw Pennywise before they died.”

“Of course these are impossible. I made Pennywise up, there has to be some other explanation for all this. Look at the facts, things are happening that are similar to my books. My guess is that someone is killing people based on the dreams, imitating them and referencing my books. Pennywise never ripped people’s throats out. I never described in great detail how anyone died because of him.” Stephen said, standing and ran his slender fingers through his greying hair and then sighed.

“Fictional characters don’t leave bloody footprints on the bedroom floor or DNA. Perhaps it is some animal since there is hair on the bodies when they’re found. Our minds are very powerful. The fears we have can sometimes get the best of us when in certain situations or encounter something that represents our fears like fear of flying. If we watch a movie that shows a plane crash, our imaginations become overwhelming and we’re afraid of that happening to us.” Stephen wanted to believe this himself but he wasn’t sure he could.

Ashley nodded, feeling a little calmer. “You’re right of course. My Mom never knew it, at least I don’t think she did but I used to sneak down at night to read your books. She didn’t want me to because she was afraid I’d have bad dreams.”