Chapter 9

"Just now, the sound..." Carrie was puzzled, thinking it was the sound of a balloon popping.

"Don't worry about it, just keep riding your bike. If we delay any longer, you'll be late," Randy said, noticing the increasing black aura around Carrie.

He glanced ahead at the long, old stone bridge covered in greenery. No sign of a clown blocking the way.

"What's wrong?"

"That bridge... There's a tunnel beneath it. That's where the clown supposedly lives according to the rumors," Carrie said nervously, turning her head.

Randy saw the deep fear in her eyes, and the black aura around her intensified. He even heard a faint sniffing sound, as if something was sniffing the fear emanating from her.

Randy understood that this black aura was Carrie's fear and realized that something seemed to sense it.

"You're afraid of this? You're a devout believer; you can just keep your eyes closed and pray," Randy suggested.

Carrie took a deep breath and then clasped her hands together, closing her eyes. "God bless, Holy Spirit bless…"

She prayed more earnestly, but it didn't help; her fear continued to overflow. Her faith didn't provide the comfort she needed.

Randy noticed that the red balloon on the side of the bridge had suddenly appeared, just like the one that followed them earlier.

"Enough, stop," Randy said sternly.

Carrie, startled, opened her eyes and looked confused. "What's wrong, Randy?"

Randy's gaze was fixed on the distant bridge where the balloon floated. A pale hand gradually emerged, holding the balloon's string.

Randy needed to replace Carrie's fear with a different emotion.

He wrapped his arms around Carrie's waist.

Carrie tensed up suddenly, her fear momentarily stopping.

Randy noticed that the red balloon, though still present, seemed to be flickering like a stuttering image. Carrie's aura of fear ceased to flow out.

The effect was immediate; the embarrassment from being hugged took over Carrie's mind.

Carrie, a bit timid, asked, "How did you..."

Randy didn't see anything wrong with his actions. He hadn't touched any sensitive areas; his purpose was to shift her fear.

"We're friends, right? It's normal for friends to hug. In some European regions, friends even greet each other with cheek kisses or hand kisses," Randy explained calmly, then released her.

With the fear gone, the balloon withered quickly. A pale hand retracted the string and pulled the balloon back under the bridge.

The monster, however, never revealed its true form. It was a clown that only appeared every twenty years to feed on fear.

Randy looked at the now bewildered Carrie and cautiously asked, "Carrie, do you know what a menstrual period is?"

Carrie, slightly coming back to her senses, showed a puzzled expression. "Menstrual period?"

At seventeen or eighteen, not understanding basic biological concepts was typical for Carrie.

"Never mind. Keep going; you'll be late if we don't hurry," Randy said, ending the topic. He was now certain of the world's reality.

Carrie, it seemed, was the Carrie from Carrie—a character who hadn't faced her first major dilemma yet, and her powers had not awakened.

The clown rumors she mentioned were likely referencing Pennywise from Stephen King's It, a monster that feeds on fear and preys on children.

When fear is absent, it doesn't appear.

Randy realized he was in a Stephen King novel or movie world. He adjusted his assessment of his own abilities, knowing that he could potentially gain more power.

With the right followers, not only could he gain their faith and power but also their abilities. Previous followers were mostly ordinary, making their powers seem trivial. But Carrie was a formidable force.

In the movie, Carrie's rage could cause earthquakes, stop speeding cars with a wave, and incinerate everything in her path. Plus, her transformation from a normal girl to a powerful figure was quite straightforward.

Randy's view of Carrie softened, and he looked at her more kindly.

Carrie, still confused, kept her questions to herself as she continued riding. The fear was replaced by various scattered thoughts.

As they crossed the stone bridge, no further incidents occurred. Randy took a quick look at the bridge's dark, deep tunnel. This tunnel led to the town's underground sewage system.

If he remembered correctly, this tunnel wasn't the clown's lair but rather a place where the clown, Pennywise, had been known to appear frequently because it was once the base of the "Losers' Club" in the movie. Pennywise's true lair was under a dry well in the Western Town.

Randy needed to confirm the current timeline. Since Carrie's story hadn't yet begun, and It was likely transitioning into its second part, the timeline would match.

The second part of It covered the Losers' reunion and their battle with Pennywise after twenty-seven years.

After confirming that Pennywise wasn't following them, Randy spoke up again.

"How long ago was the last major disappearance?"

Carrie seemed to have been waiting for this question. As soon as Randy finished speaking, she eagerly answered, "I'm willing!"

Randy was confused. "Willing?"

Carrie suddenly realized she had misunderstood and slammed the brakes. "What? Oh, I meant—"

After some stammering, she finally managed to say, "Sorry, Randy, I didn't quite catch what you said earlier."