𝘜𝘴 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 • 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘭𝘰𝘯²

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑵𝒊𝒏𝒆

The Losers crawled toward one another in the dusty darkness, breaths uneven, limbs trembling, eyes scanning the ruin around them.

"Everyone here? You guys okay?!" Richie shouted, his voice echoing in the hollow chamber.

One by one, voices rang out in response confused, frantic, but alive. They climbed to their feet as Beverly swept her flashlight in wide arcs across the walls.

"What the fuck was that? Did we do it...?" Carla muttered, disoriented as her ears rang from the deafening collapse.

"I can't hear shit!" Bill yelled.

"Where's Mike?" Richie called, spinning in place.

"Here! Here! I'm here, guys!" Mike's voice echoed as he appeared from behind a pile of debris, jogging toward them, clearly winded.

"Did we do it? Did we do it?!" Carla repeated, desperate for a real answer, but her voice was drowned in the uncertainty swirling in the room.

"We put the tokens in the thing!"

"That's good, right?!" Bev added, tapping her flashlight nervously..its beam landing on a massive, looming form above them.

IT.

Only now, it was twice the size it had been. Its limbs twisted, grotesque, insectoid.

"Oh, did it work, Mikey? Did it work?" IT taunted, voice thick with mockery. "Tell them why your silly little ritual didn't work. Tell them it's all just a... what's the word, Eds? Gazebo?"

Carla blinked, her mouth slightly open. She turned to Mike, trying to make sense of what IT was saying. Her heart dropped.

Had he lied? No. He wouldn't—

"Mike, what's he talking about?" Eddie asked, turning to him with an accusing look.

"Oh Mikey, you never showed them the fourth side, did you?" IT purred. "Didn't want them to know... what actually happened to the poor Shokopiwah?"

"Fuck, Mikey, you lied to us again!" Bill shouted.

Carla turned slowly to face Mike, her expression unreadable but her heart thudding painfully. He caught her gaze, shaking his head, eyes pleading.

"No! But they didn't want to believe, they didn't believe they could kill it! That's why it didn't work back then!" he shouted, desperate.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Mike!?" Richie bellowed. "Fuck!"

"I needed something! Anything—for us to remember, to believe!"

Suddenly, three white orbs rose above them, hissing with smoke and light, illuminating the space in a haunting glow "The deadlights!" Bev gasped. "Don't look at them!"

Carla turned her head away, shielding her eyes with her arm, but she could still see IT in the corners of her vision.

"For twenty-seven years, I dreamt of you... I craved you... Oh, I've missed you!" IT howled, voice echoing like thunder in a canyon. It was monstrous now crab-like legs, eyes burning, claws the size of bodies.

Panic bloomed in Carla's chest. They all started backing away except for Mike "Move back, Mike!" Bill called "Mike, get back now!" Carla screamed, panic cracking her voice.

Mike didn't move.

"I'm sorry, Carla. I'm sorry, guys," he said, a broken softness in his voice that caught her off guard.

"Time to float..." IT hissed, lunging forward with a claw. Bill rushed in, tackling Mike to the ground just as the limb crashed into the earth.

"Mike!" Carla shrieked, running with Richie and Bill toward them. She grabbed Mike's arm while the others took the rest, dragging him out of danger.