Chapter 24 Chapter 14 Album

1 Everyone came to the library with wine at the same time.Eddie came in last, a small brown bag in his hand. "What did you bring, Eddie?" Richie asked. Eddie smiled nervously and produced a bottle of gin and a bottle of plum wine. In the ensuing silence, Richie said quietly, "Get the doctor. Eddie's passed out." "Gin and plum wine are wholesome," Eddie retorted.They laughed, and their laughter echoed for a long time in the silent glass hall of the library. "Pour the wine quickly." Ben wiped his eyes and urged. "Pour your drink, Eddie. I promise this thing really works."

Eddie smiled and poured some gin into the paper cup, then carefully added two capped plum wines. "Oh Eddie, I love you so much," Beverly said.Eddie looked up, smiling, a little surprised.She stared at the assortment of fine wines on the table. "I love each of you." Bill said, "I, we love you too, B, Beverly." "Yes," Ben said, "we love you. I think we still love each other... How amazing is that, you say?" The atmosphere was quiet for a moment.Mike was surprised to see Richie put his glasses back on.Richie explained that his eyes hurt so much from wearing contact lenses that he had to take them off. "Maybe we should get to work."

They all looked at Bill.Mike thought: Whenever they needed a leader, they looked to Bill; whenever they needed a guide, they looked to Eddie.What a nice word to start working.Should I tell them that the children who died were not molested or mutilated, but parts of their bodies were eaten by something.Should I tell them I have 7 miners' helmets stored at my house and one of them is for a lad named Stanley?Or just tell them to go back and get a good night's sleep, because tomorrow or tomorrow night it's all going to be over for good - or is it them?But Mike continued to think: maybe nothing needs to be said.

Because no matter how much the past 27 years have changed, the love between us hasn't changed. This is the only hope. "Can you think of anything else?" Mike asked Richie.Richie searched for the memories of the past in his brain, but those memories were always vague and circuitous, which made him unable to figure out a clue. Suddenly he was yelling again in the nigger voice, "Miss Scarlett! Miss Scarlett! It's getting hot in the smoke hole, Miss Scarlett!" Bill couldn't help laughing. "That's Bane's architectural masterpiece again." Beverly nodded. "Mike, when you came to Ban Lun with your father's photo album, we were building an underground club."

"Oh, my God!" Bill suddenly sat up straight. "Those pictures—" Richie nodded solemnly. "Same as what happened in George's room. We've all seen it with our own eyes. " Benth went on to say, "I remembered the other seven coins." All eyes were on him. "Before I came here, I gave the remaining three to a friend. We made little bullets out of silver coins. You, me, and Richie. At first we wanted to make silver bullets—" Richie also It seems to go back to the past and see the scene where they used silver coins to make small bullets together.It's just that Bill still has no memory of what Ben said had saved his life.But, in any case, they were thinking hard, immersed in the remembrance of the old days.

"Excuse me a minute," Mike said, "I still have my wine in the fridge." "You can drink mine," Richie said. But Mike didn't accept his favor. He insisted that black people should not drink wine from white people.In a fit of laughter, Mike got up to get his beer. He turned on the light in the lounge, and in front of him was a freshly painted room that was not yet dry.A few dilapidated chairs, a tabletop in dire need of a wipe down, a sign with an outdated message still on it.He opened the refrigerator, and suddenly felt a shock spread throughout his body.Like the February chill, lingering and feeling like spring will never come - a sea of ​​blue and yellow balloons popping.Mike was overwhelmed with fear.The balloons floated past him, toward the ceiling.He wanted to scream, but he couldn't make a sound. He wanted to know what was behind those balloons, and he wanted to know what it looked like hiding in the refrigerator.

Mike took a step back, covered his face, and blocked the horrific scene from his sight.He staggered over to a chair, nearly fell, and dropped his hands.It's still there.Stanley's head was next to the beer - it wasn't a grown man, it was the head of an 11-year-old boy.The mouth was wide open and stuffed with feathers.He knew exactly what kind of bird those beige, gigantic feathers came from.He had seen the bird in March 1958.Then they all met in early August 1958.Later, when he went to visit his father's grave, he learned that his father had also seen the bird after he escaped from the burning black point bar.Blood dripped down Stanley's jagged neck and pooled on the bottom of the refrigerator.There is a little light in the reflection of the refrigerator light.

"Ah... ah... ah..." Mike's throat seemed to be stuck in something, and he couldn't make a sound.At this time, the head opened its eyes, the bright silver eyes of the clown. The eyes seemed to be searching for a target, and the lips moved.It was about to speak, perhaps to convey some kind of prophecy, like an oracle in Greek mythology. I know what you think.Because without me you wouldn't be successful.do you know?All the 6 of you did was die.So I'm going to stop you.understand?Mike?understand?You bloody, nasty nigger. What you say is not true!he shouted, but there was no sound.He stood there like a TV with the volume turned off.

Of course what I said was true.You know what I'm talking about, Mike.The plans of the 6 of you are pure nonsense.You will never know the answer to this riddle, you will never be able to make me laugh. Remember that bird?It used to scare you when you were a child.Gone are the days when you could just drive it out your door.Believe me, Mike, if you use your head, you'll get out of here, out of Derry, or you'll end up like this.This is a turning point in your life.Fight to grab it before you lose it.After speaking, the head slowly rolled towards Mike, leaving a trail of blood and flying feathers.

Mike was still in extreme fear.Suddenly there was a "bang" - the cork of a bottle of cheap champagne was rushed out.The head disappeared, but the balloon was still floating.On the blue one it says: Derry niggers should be sacked.The orange one reads: A loser is always a loser.But Stanley was ahead.Mike suddenly remembered the day when he first came to Ban Lun. On July 6th, it was two days after he had participated in the July 4th parade...two days after he saw the clown for the first time.Just after that day, he listened to them tell their stories in Ban Lun, and told his own story, and when he got home, he asked his father if he could see his photo album.

Mike looked at the balloons, trying to recall every detail of that day.That's when it all started to work.Before that, they had discussed killing it, but nothing had been done until Mike joined.It was after that day that Bill, Richie, and Ben came to the library together to do an in-depth investigation—work that Bill had started a day, a week, or a month ago. "Mike." Rich's voice came from outside the door. "Did you die there?" Mike looked at the balloons, blood stains and feathers, thinking that it was almost impossible to die."I think you'd better come in," he responded, before hearing chairs banging against each other and chattering voices.He heard Rich yelling, "What happened?" Another ear let him hear what Rich was talking about in his memory, and then he thought about what research he was doing.He even began to understand why the past was so difficult to remember.Thinking of this, the past!Things seemed to become clear, and many things about Bill, Eddie, and Stanley came to mind.Even Richie's unique voice is carried with the memory to the ears. 2 Bildo came to a clearing in the forest, where many steel ropes were nailed to the ground.Stanley looked around and said, "Ben, are you sure this will work?" "Yes." Ben replied confidently. "I think we're going to get stuck, Ben." Eddie said worriedly, looking at the clearing that had been laid out. "I get chills at the thought of being buried alive." "Why?" said Ben. "Even if it's true, you keep going until someone gets you out." Their conversation made Stanley amused.He leaned on his elbow, looked up at the sky, and laughed.Until Eddie kicked him in the shin and told him to shut up. Their plan was to dig a 5-foot-deep hole in the square field.Then you have to build a fence to prevent others from sneaking in.In addition, Ben thought it would be possible to seal up the precinct, open a window, and open a door. "We need some hinges." Bill kept his eyes on the sky. "You can buy it at Renault Hardware Store." "You, y'all have, have zero. Pocket money," Bill went on. "I have five dollars," Beverly said. "I saved it for other people's children." Rich hurried up to Beverly. "I love you, Beverly. Will you marry me?" he said, looking at her beggingly. "Will you marry me?"We'll live in a bungalow surrounded by pine trees—" "What?" Beverly asked loudly. "A bungalow surrounded by pine trees," Richie repeated, "five dollars is enough, honey, you, me, and the child, a total of 3 people—" Beverly laughed, blushing, and avoided him. "We split the bill," Bill said. "We can put some pine needles on top when the top is built. That way Henry won't be able to spot us if he walks on top of us while we're inside," Ben went on. "You figured it out?" Mike marveled. "What an amazing idea." Ben laughed, and this time it was his turn to blush. Bill sat up suddenly and said to Mike, "Would you like, would you like to help, help?" "Oh... of course," Mike said, "That must be interesting." Mike looked at the other people and thought: The seven of us are finally together, and we don't have to worry about it anymore. "When will the work start?" "Very, soon," Bill replied.Mike knew that Bill wasn't just referring to the underground club.Ben knew it too; Richie, Beverly, Eddie knew it. "We're, we're going to start very, very soon." A silence followed.Suddenly Mike noticed two things: They seemed to want to tell him something...and he wasn't sure he wanted to know.Ben picked up a tree root and scribbled on the ground, his face buried in his hair.Richie bit his nails, only Bill was looking directly at him. "What happened?" Mike asked anxiously. Bill said slowly: "We are only, just one, one club. You, you don't have to join if you don't want to. But you, you have to keep, keep our secret, secret, secret." "You mean this place?" Mike was even more disturbed. "Oh, of course—" "We have a secret, man," Richie said, still not looking at him. "Bill said we have more important things to do this summer than building the club." "Yes." Bens continued.Eddie also nodded seriously. "Okay," Mike said finally. "Don't whet my appetite. Come on." Bill looked at the rest of the people and asked, "Yes, no one. Don't you want to let, let, let Mcjia, add people?" No one said anything, and no one raised their hands. "Then who, who will speak, speak?" There was another long silence.Finally Beverly spoke up. "We've investigated who killed those children; no one did it." 3 They told Mike stories about it one by one: the clown on the ice, the leper under the doorway, the blood and sound in the sewer, the dead body in the water tower, and Rich told how he and Bill returned to Nabert Street. What he saw and heard, Bill finally told him about the moving photo album.He also mentioned that his brother George was killed in this way. "Losers' Club" Planning to kill the demon—whatever it was.In a moment of horror, Mike had thought it was just six white people who didn't like blacks for fun, or six interacting, out-and-out lunatics making up nonsense.He almost wanted to turn around and leave them alone.But he didn't run away.Because when Bill had said the last word, he felt a sense of comfort besides terror, and maybe something else, something in a deeper sense—a sense of coming home. "The seven of us are together again," he thought to himself.He wanted to speak but didn't know what to say. "I've seen that clown." "What?" Richie and Stanley asked in unison.Beverly also immediately turned to look at Mike. "I saw him on the 4th," Mike said slowly.Bill's sharp, focused eyes encouraged him to go on. "Yes, July 4th..." He paused for a moment thoughtfully, but he was thinking: But I recognize him.Because that was not the first time I saw him, nor was it the first time I encountered such a strange thing.Then he thought of the bird.For the first time since March, he allowed himself to think about it, other than nightmares. He thought he was crazy.It would indeed be a relief to be able to prove that I wasn't crazy.It was worrisome relief, though.Mike moistened his lips. "Go on." Beverly urged Mike.Mike remembered the parade—Mike was in the procession with the Nebert Mission School band, and he played the saxophone.During that time, he saw a clown handing out balloons to children on the side of the road. He wore a silver coat with orange buttons, and his face was smeared white.It was just as Ben and Bill described it.It's just that he didn't know whether he was wearing lipstick or oil paint, it looked as bright red as blood. "Is the hair orange?" Bill asked Mike.Mike nodded, and continued: "I was terrified looking at him. He looked at me and turned away, waving at me from a distance, as if he could read my mind, my feelings, which made it even more frightening." I am afraid. I don't know why it's like this myself, my hands and feet are stiff, my mouth is dry..." He glanced at Beverly. He remembered suddenly feeling that the sun was so harsh and hot; the music was so harsh; the sky was so blue The clown was holding a bunch of balloons in one hand, raised his white gloved hand and smirked at him with his mouth wide open. In the end, he just said, "I'm terrified "To conclude, because he really didn't know how to describe how he felt that day. But they all nodded as if they had read his mind. Mike felt a great relief. Then, we walked over. Mike continued, "We climbed to the top of Main Street. There I saw him still handing out balloons to the children. Some children didn't want them, and some children were crying. I can't imagine how he would I climbed to the top of the mountain so quickly. I always thought it was two clowns, wearing the same clothes. But when he turned his head and waved at me again, I recognized him. Not two people, but the same." "That's not human," Richie corrected him.Beverly shrugged.Bill put his arms around her, and she looked at Bill happily. "He waved at me...and winked at me. As if there was some secret between us. Or, as if...as if he knew I recognized him." "You recognize, recognize, recognize him?" Bill put down the arm around Beverly. "I think so," Mike replied. "I'll have to look it up all the time to be sure. My father has a lot of pictures...he's got a lot of... Listen, you guys hang out here a lot, don't you?" "That's right," Ben said, "that's why we're building an underground club here." Mike nodded. "Let me check to see if I'm sure. If I'm right, I'll bring the picture." "Old, old, old pictures," Bill asked. "yes." "Also, what else?" Mike opened his mouth but didn't speak.He looked at their faces and said, "I know you're going to say I'm either crazy or a liar." "Then, do you, do you think, do you think we are, are, crazy, crazy, crazy?" Mike shook his head. "You can rest assured of that," Eddie said. "I've done a lot of wrong things, but I'm not crazy." "Of course," Mike said, "I don't think you're crazy." "Then, then I, we, also did not recognize, think you are crazy, crazy." Mike cleared his throat and started again, "Two or three months ago, I saw a bird. It looked like a sparrow, and it looked like a mockingbird, with an orange breast." "What's so special about a bird?" Ben asked. "There are so many birds in Derry." But he clearly felt a sense of uneasiness.He looked at Stanley.He bet Stanley wouldn't forget the scene in the water tower.It was because he called out the names of some birds that he got away. "That bird is bigger than the house," Mike said again.He looked at those pictures in shock.Puzzled faces, waiting for their ridicule.But no one spoke up.Stanley looked pinned to the ground, pale as November sunlight. "I swear it's all true," Mike said. "A huge bird, like the prehistoric giants in horror movies. But not prehistoric, and not like many Greek and Roman myths." The animals, perhaps, are a mixture of a robin and a sparrow. Two of the most common birds." "Where, where, where?" "Say it quickly." Beverly was a little anxious. Mike collected his thoughts.Seeing them getting more and more focused, without showing the slightest distrust, I felt much more relaxed.Like the mummies that Bane met, the lepers that Eddie met, and the drowning children that Stanley met, he himself experienced such an unreasonable, unexplainable, and creepy thing.He has been through it.Life goes on.He has incorporated this experience into his view of the world and life. But everything that happened that day more or less cast a shadow in his mind.After that, he sometimes dreamed that the big bird was flying around above his head, and the huge shadow engulfed him, and he couldn't escape it.Perhaps the best way to forget is to share it.Indeed, after he had finished speaking, he realized that this was the first time he had dared to recall those strange gutters in full. The blood and everything that happened that morning. 4 Mike tells how he escaped the bird by hiding in a pipe.Later that afternoon, Ben, Rich, and Bill went to the public library.Ben and Rich watched Henry's group closely, while Bill was lost in thought.Mike came home an hour after the story and said his father wanted him to go back and gather beans.Beverly was going to the market and had to make dinner for her father.Eddie and Stanley each have their own affairs.But before they part, they both think about their underground club.For Bill (and everyone) it was a sign that the construction of the underground club had begun.In any case, they will act collectively, unite.They have already started. On the way to the library, Bill talks to Richie and Ben about the story Mike told, about the believability of the big bird.The bird was just a monster that Mike had encountered, and no one else had seen or heard of it.But hasn't everyone seen it?Maybe not everyone sees the same.Maybe Bill saw a crow, Richie saw an eagle, and Beverly saw a golden eagle, it didn't matter.The point is that it's all the same bird.If that's true, Bill believed they'd each seen the leper, the mummified body, and the dead children—all from one thing. "That said, we have to act now if we want this to work." Stanley said. "I suppose it doesn't know us any less than we know it. It must be trying to thwart us. We'll be in trouble if we get behind it. Do you remember our conversation yesterday, Bill?" "certainly." "I wish I could go with you." "Ban, Ben, Ben and Ri, Ridge will, will, will be with me. They're smart." At this moment, the plan in Bill's heart finally matured because of Mike's narration.He decides to shoot the monster with a silver bullet, as described in many movies.But they had to make one of those bullets themselves, and that was what they were coming to the library for.With such a bullet, back in Nabert Street they could hit the monster in the head and it would be done.Planning in this way, they had already arrived at the door of the library.They stood there for a while, looking at each other gravely, before finally going in. 5 A week passed.It was mid-July, and the underground club was about to be completed.Richie said loudly, "It's noon, it's the most beautiful time of day—" "As far as I know, noon was two hours ago, Rich," Mike said to him mockingly. The two of them were building a fence, sweating profusely from the hard work and the sweltering heat. The T-shirts were soaked and stuck to me. Five minutes later, Richie jumped out of the hole, and it was time to smoke. "I remember you saying you didn't have any cigars," Ben asked. Ricky vehemently denies this claim.Mike held his father's photo album and called the crowd. "Bill and Eddie went to the junkyard half an hour ago looking for the hardboard," Richie told Mike. "Stanley and Beverly went to the hardware store to buy hinges. By the way, Mike, you have to pay another 23 dollars." points, if you want to stay at the club - to share the Hinge money." Mike counted out 23 cents and handed it to Richie, then walked to the edge of the hole to watch.This is not a cave, the surrounding walls have been smoothed out, and the top of each side has been built.Ben, Bill, and Stanley had smoothed out the rough planks.Ben and Beverly nailed every joint.There is a pile of soil next to it for the final capping. Ben noticed that Mike had been holding a photo album in his hand, so the conversation turned to this photo album.These are old photos Mike's father collected in Derry.He loves this job. Mike had seen that clown before when he was flipping through it—it was in the photo.He thought they should all take a look.So when my father was working in the field and my mother was drying clothes in the backyard, I secretly took it out and brought it here.But Mike insisted on watching it after everyone got together. So at Rich's request, Mike helped him and Ben continue digging. "How's things going with you and Bill?" Mike asked as he worked. "It's going well." Richie gave Ben a wink when he said this. "Ricky, why don't you turn on the radio?" Ben asked. "The battery is dead." Richie casually mentioned the names of a few rock stars, but Mike took the words and said a long list in one breath, which really surprised him.Lihong told the story that his mother would send him to the military training camp when she saw him watching a rock concert on TV, and then she started singing; Ben danced in the cave.Mike laughed until tears flowed.Richie found them inexplicable. "Oh man," Mike said with a choked laugh, "that was hilarious. That was ridiculous." Richie still didn't understand why they couldn't stop laughing.The more he pressed, the harder they laughed.Their laughter rippling in the green jungle.This laugh is so young, healthy, infectious, vivid, free.Almost every living thing within a few miles is responding in its own way.But what came out of a giant cement pipe and washed up the Kentucky River was inanimate.It was just hit by a torrential rain yesterday afternoon.For two or three hours the sewers in Derry town flooded violently.All kinds of garbage rushed together, and the stench was suffocating. Floating in the water was the body of a boy named Jimmy.He is only 9 years old and has changed beyond recognition.Except for the nose, which can be identified, the rest of the parts are festered as if they have been pecked by something.White palms float on the water like dead fish.Hands were pecked, too, but less severely.The shirt on his body bulged and shrank with the flow of water, like a water bag.Bill and Eddie passed by carrying the boards they found.They had heard the laughter in the woods long ago.So he hurried away from Jimmy's body to see what was so interesting about it. 6 Bill and Eddie came back and they were still laughing.They put the planks on the ground.Ben crawled out. "That's great," Ben exclaims. "Wow, that's great." They worked hard to nail the newly picked boards. "Don't get scratched by a rusty nail, or you'll get a tetanus," Eddie reminded Ben. "What?" Richie said. "Sounds like a gynecological disease." "Stupid," Eddie scolded, "it's tetanus. If you cut your hand with a rusty nail, the germs can get inside you and destroy your nerves. Get it? You can't eat then, Can't drink, only starve to death." After listening to his words, everyone was silent and felt tense. "Then why are you still looking for planks with Bill?" Richie asked. Eddie looked around at everyone, saw that Bill was observing the underground club that was about to be built, and said softly, "Even if it's dangerous, someone has to do it. I found that this is the most important thing I didn't find from my mother. A bit." There was a silence. Ben went about his work, and Bill was lost in thought, how strange it all was.It's weird and perfect that they're here together this summer. "There's a door over there." Eddie zipped up as he walked back. "The door is huge. But Bill said we could bring it back if we did it together. " Ben asked what kind of door it was. "Red, red, mahogany, I think, think." "Anyone willing to throw away a mahogany door?" Ben asked in surprise. "People literally throw everything," Mike said. "Wh, what is that, what, what?" Bill noticed Mike's photo album. Bill and Richie exchanged glances. "What's wrong?" Mike asked. "Did anything like that happen in your brother's room, Bill?" "Yes, yes." Bill said only one sentence, and said no more. They keep working, waiting for Beverly and Stanley.The two of them finally came back. Mike started showing his pictures. "Some of the photos are from a hundred years ago. My dad said he bought them from dealers or thrift stores. Others were traded in from other collectibles. Some were three-dimensional—often The two pictures are identical, but when you look at them through binoculars, they become a stereo picture. A lot of things in Derry I think have to do with it—the monster.” He looked at Bill, who looked far and wide, and nodded. "So, since the 4th of July parade, I've been looking. Because I know I've seen that clown. I know. Look." Mike opened the photo album and handed it to Ben. "Don't, don't, don't touch, touch, touch those pictures!" Bill looked nervous.Rich saw Bill squeeze the hand that hurt from touching George's photo album. "Bill's right." Richie's completely different serious tone was the most convincing to everyone. "Be careful! Like Stanley said. If we've seen it happen, you'll have to." So everyone passed the photo album carefully.Everyone just scratches its edges, afraid that some terrible accident will happen any further inside.When the album was back in Mike's hands, he pointed to a frame on the first page and said: "My dad said that this photo can no longer be verified. But at least it is from the middle of the century. It is said that this is worth 40 dollars or more." .” It was a large postcard-like photo.Bill breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw it.Turns out Mike's father had covered each page with a sheet of plastic.But Bill thought he saw it in the picture. The picture shows such a picture: a funny guy jumping up and down in the middle of the dirt-filled street.There are several houses on both sides of the street, and some shop-like buildings.This is the town of Derry.There it was, on either side of the cobbled street.In the upper background of the photo, Bill sees a line of mules pulling a barge.A group of kids surrounded the guy, one of them wearing a straw hat made of twigs that made him think that if he had been born hundreds of years earlier, the kid would be himself.The thing was grinning widely, and there was no extra hair on its head except for two antennae-like strands.Bill recognized the clown immediately. 20 years later, it has appeared again.He stared at the picture closely, he was sure it was going to move.But it didn't happen.He handed the album to Ricky and eventually returned it to Mike.Mike turned over a few pages and said, "This one is from 1856, just four years before Lincoln ran for president." This one is in color—like a kind of cartoon.A group of drunks stood in front of the saloon, and a fat politician with a goatee stood on a wooden board with a bottle of frothy beer.His fat body bent the boards.Not far away, some women in round hats looked at this comical scene with contempt. "My dad said business cards like this were very popular before the Civil War," Mack said. "People often give it to each other. Maybe it's a joke." "Sarcasm. Sarcasm. Sarcasm," Bill said. This is followed by a photo from 1891, a 1933, and a 1945. The photo album is passed in the hands of everyone, and the pictures in it are clearly displayed in front of everyone.And what makes people doubly frightened and tense is that in the background of every photo there is the man in silver. A clown in a coat with orange buttons.When they saw a photo from 1945, the strange thing happened again, and the scene in the photo moved. "What's that?" Mike asked in surprise. "Quick, quick, quick look," Bill struggled to utter a few words, "Big, everyone, quick, quick look." They all gathered around. "Oh my God!" Beverly screamed. "It's it!" Richie exclaimed.In a fit of extreme agitation he smacked Bill on the back.He looked at Eddie and Stanley, one was as pale as paper, and the other was as cold as ice. "That's what we used to see in George's room." There was a dead silence in the air, save for the occasional summer breeze.Everyone's eyes are fixed on everything in the photo: the cheers of the crowd and the sound of the band playing are clearly transmitted to the ears.The parade was walking towards them slowly, but when it was about to reach the edge of the photo, it returned to the way it was 13 years ago—the procession disappeared, as if it had entered an unknown cave.So the picture changed to Derry welcoming the heroes who returned home after World War I, and then the Derry Christmas concert and the veterans of World War II followed by the school band.The clown stood on the sidewalk, gesticulating, performing pantomime. Bill noticed for the first time that people were avoiding it when they passed it—not because they saw it, but as if they felt or smelled a bad smell.Only the children really saw it and ran away. Ben was going to reach for the picture—Bill had done that in George's room. "Don't, don't, don't touch it!" Bill shouted. "I think it's all right, Bill," Ben said. "Look." He put his hand on the plastic protective film on the surface of the photo, and took it away after a while. "But without this plastic wrap—" Before Ben finished speaking, only Beverly let out a scream.As soon as Ben took his hand away, the clown stopped his antics, opened his mouth wide open, and rushed towards them laughing.Bill didn't dare to look any further, hoping that it would disappear before their eyes like the parade just now.But the clown did not disappear into the so-called cave at the boundary between the photo and the real world.Instead, it jumped into the foreground of the photo, about to dash between them - and suddenly, it pressed its face against the plastic sheeting.Beverly let out another scream, and even Eddie couldn't help it.The plastic film was bulged up by it, and the red head was flattened. "I'm going to kill them all!" screamed the Joker, laughing. "Find a way to stop me. I'm going to kill you! Make you crazy, then kill you! You can't stop me! I'm a werewolf!" It really turned into a werewolf.His silver-white face looked at them, showing sharp teeth. “你们无法阻止我！我是麻风病人！”它又变成了麻风病人。凸凹不平的脸上，一双死人一样的眼睛瞪着他们。 “你们无法阻止我！我是干尸！”麻风病人的脸迅速衰老了。陈年腐朽的绷带把它的全身包裹起来，它成了一具木乃伊。班恩转身就逃，他的脸色愈发苍白，一只手不停地搓着脖子和耳朵。 “我是那些死去的孩子！” “不！”斯坦利喊道。他的脸因受到过度的惊吓而扭曲变形，眼珠都凸了出来。他一把抢过相册，啪地合上，用双手紧紧地按住。 他惊慌地看着大家，连声说道：“不、不、不。”突然间比尔发现他更关心的是斯坦利说出的一连串的“不”，而不是那个小丑。他知道那正是小丑希望达到的目的，因为……因为也许它害怕我们…… 在漫长的生命里它第一次害怕了。 于是他抓住斯坦利的肩膀，用力地摇。斯坦利牙关紧咬，手里的相册也掉在了地上。麦克走过去捡起来，又匆忙地放在一边。在发生了这样的事情之后他再也不想多看它一眼。可那毕竟是他父亲的收藏品。而且他知道父亲永远也不会看到他刚才所见的一幕。 “不。”斯坦利轻声说。 “是的。”比尔斩钉截铁地说。 “不。”斯坦利依然重复着这个字。 “是的。我们都、都、都——” "No" “——都、都、都看见了，斯坦利。”比尔说着看了看其他的人。他们都说“是”。 比尔强迫他看着自己。“别、别让它吓、吓、吓坏你、你，伙计。”比尔说。“你、你也、也、也看、看见了。” “我不想！”斯坦利低声哭泣着，额头上渗出密密的汗珠。 “可是你、你、你的、的确看、看见了。” 斯坦利看着每个人，试图摆脱那个令他发疯的印象。 "yes." He said. “是的，好吧。既然你们希望我说是，那就是吧。” 比尔暗想：我们仍然在一起。它杀不了我们。我们能够去杀死它——如果我们有足够的勇气和力量的话。他看到每个人的眼神中都流露出和斯坦利一样的恐惧。“是、是的。”他说着，朝斯坦利笑了笑。过了一会儿，斯坦利也笑了，脸上又恢复了健康的颜色。随后，他们都笑了——虽然还带着些许紧张和恐惧。 “来。”他说，因为总得有人说点什么。“让我、我们完、完成我们的工、工作。你们看如。如何？” 他看到了每个人眼中的满意和喜悦。他也为他们感到高兴。但是他们的喜悦对于他自己的恐惧起不到多大作用。事实上，在他们的喜悦中使他憎恨他们。难道他将永远无法倾诉他的失意吗？是不是连有一点点这样的想法也是不公平的？因为至少在某种意义上他正在利用他们——利用这些朋友，用他们的生命去冒险——为他的弟弟报仇。乔治死了。如果要报仇的话，只有用活着的人的性命去努力。这会怎样？会对他有什么影响？是不是让他变成那个自私的阿瑟王？“哦，上帝啊，”他在心中默默祈祷，“如果真是这样，我宁愿永远都不要长大。”他的决心依然无可撼动。但那真的是个痛苦的决心。 痛苦的。