ANOTHER LOSER || S.Uris

1.1

The ultimate decision had been made. Bill, Richie,
Eddie, and Violet were going inside Neibolt house.

All three of the boys, and Stanley very much
obviously, had initially refused to let Violet go with
them at first, but after debating between that her
panic attack was gone, and that Georgie was her
brother, they had no other choice. The four of them
entered the creepy house, and immediately, Violet got
weird vibes from the place. There was barely any
furniture, parts of the place were either falling apart
or gone, and there were cobwebs all over the place
as well as dust covering nearly every square inch. It
was disgusting.

"I can't believe I pulled the short straw," Richie spoke
up first. Violet, as well as the others, ignored him as
they took more steps into the eerie house, leaving
the others outside to keep watch. "You guys are
lucky you're not measuring dicks," he added, directing the sentence to the only other boys in the entry hall.

"Beep beep, Richie," both Eddie and Violet replied at
once. They took further steps into the living room,
all of them grimacing in disgust at the sight all
around them.

"I can smell that," Eddie said, practically reading her
mind.

"Yeah, I can, too," Violet replied instantly. Holding her
hand in front of her mouth and her nose, trying not
to inhale it.

"Don't breathe through your mouth," Richie warned
them. Violet turned to him out of worry.

"How come?" she said, her eyebrows scrunched together.

"Because then you're eating it," he replied.

Violet exhaled loudly and then glared back at him as
Eddie began gasping for fresh air. "Way to tell us
about diseases, asshole! Now you're scaring Eds to
death!" she whispered loudly to him.

"Don't call me that!" Eddie snapped at her.

"Well, if you quit saying anything than she won't call
you that anymore," Bill spoke up, he knew from a lot
of experience. She gently took Bill's arm and walked
with him further inside of the house. They were
glancing at the photos on the wall that seemed to be
well over a hundred years old. They really interested
her but the dust on the glass prevented her from
getting a closer look at them. The three of them
were about to head down a hallway when Violet heard
a gasp.

She stopped Bill and Eddie and they turned around
to see Richie clutching something in his hands with a
horrified look on his face. Violet started taking small
and cautious steps towards the boy. "What is it,
Rich?" she asked with a gentle voice.

There was a long moment of silence as Richie's
hands started shaking, his breathing becoming short
and shallow. He finally looked at her, terror filling his
eyes. "It... It says I'm missing.." he said in a
trembling voice.

She took faster steps towards him and finally got a
look at what he was holding. It was a 'MISSING'
poster with Richie's name and face on it. Looking at
the piece of paper made Violet's heart drop in
concern and fear for her best friend as she
snatched it from him to get a closer look. There was
indeed a picture of Richie on it, which really made
her worry for him rise to a new level within seconds,
her eyes widening. But despite this, she remained as
brave as she could be.

"You're not missing, Richie," she told him in a calm
voice. This made Richie snatch the poster back from
her, shaking it in front of him. "Then why does it say
it here?" he asked her, his voice getting louder with
each word. "It's my shirt, that's my hair, that's my
face.."

"Calm down, this isn't real," Bill said now, trying to
calm him down along with his sister. They failed
miserably as Richie started panicking even more,
screaming as he spoke this time.

"That's my name, that's my age, that's the date..!" he screamed.

"This isn't real, Richie!" Violet said again, but Richie
now blatantly ignored her.

"What the fuck?!" he screamed at her, shaking the
paper in her face. "It says I'm missing," he repeated.
"Am I missing? Will I disappear?!"

"Take it easy!" Eddie shouted at him, but Richie still
refused to listen. It was only when Violet grabbed the
boy by the shoulders and began shaking him that
finally got his attention.

"Look at me, Richie! Look at me!" she yelled. He did
so, and she continued, knocking some sense into
him. "This isn't real! IT's playing tricks on you! Now,
if you don't stop acting like a little bitch, I will send
you back outside with the others. Be brave and
come with us!"

Richie nodded, still looking scared, but braver than
he was seconds ago. He finally began following the
other three up the stairs after they had heard a
thudding sound. They quietly crept up each step as
they began to hear a small girl's voice.

"Hello? Hello?" Violet and the others looked down the
same hallway as they reach the second floor. The
terrified voice made Violet's insides turn with sadness
and terror for whoever was calling out to them.
"Help me, please!" Violet gasped as she could have
sworn her eyes filled with tears at the voice. She
took a bold and brave step ahead of the boys as she
saw a horrific sight at the end of the hallway.

There was a girl that looked just below her age
trying to crawl her way out of a room, the door open
just enough for the four kids to see her look at
them. She looked as if she were going to be sick as
she coughed and gasped for air. Violet got ever closer
to the door, although Bill had warned her not to get
too close; she reluctantly listened to him.

"Betty Ripsom?" she called out gently, slowly
extending a hand for the poor girl to take. But
before she could reach the younger girl, she was
jerked, by an invisible force, out of Violet's sight,
screaming as she was dragged away from the kids.
Violet lurched backwards, screaming herself, falling
onto her back and shrieking in horror at what she
had just seen. Bill quickly but gently pulled her up
and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Calm down, Vi, you're okay. Now, calm down. Be
strong for us please," he begged without stuttering,
although he sounded scared on his own. The girl
nodded frantically as she hugged Bill for a long
moment before pulling away. They began making
their way towards the exact door, although more
cautious this time.

What they didn't know, however, was that Eddie had
gotten distracted by that raspy voice again. They
finally entered the room, to see that it must have
been an old bedroom. Violet tensed up as she noticed
that right away, there was something wrong The
room was, somehow, completely empty now.

"She was just here," Richie said, sounding panicked,
"Where the fuck did she go?" Violet shook her head
out of horror and confusion.

"I don't know," she replied in a slightly shaky voice.
They heard a creak behind them, Violet whipping her
head around, wondering where it was coming from.
Her question was answered in seconds, as she
turned around to see that the door behind them was
slowly closing. And there was something else that
she saw something that made her let go of Bill's
hand and run for the door.

Eddie was trying to get to them from the other side,
but before they could reach each other, the door
slammed shut. "Guys!" Eddie screamed from the
other side. Violet grabbed the doorknob, but it was
either jammed or locked as she couldn't open the
door at all. She pounded on it, screaming her best
friend's name, worried as to what could happen to
him when he wasn't in her line of vision. Bill even
banged on the door just as she did. Violet eventually
gave up and backed away from it, a single tear
streaming down her cheek as she turned back
around, hastily wiping it away.

She then looked up to see something that she hadn't
seen before in the room. There was another door
directly in front of her, a window on the far side that
emitted sunlight rays into the room it lead to. Violet
idiotically began to slowly make her way to the door.
She knew she was making a stupid move, but her
plan was to take a look around the room and then
immediately leave.

But the second she entered the room, the door
slammed behind her "Fuck."