"I've realized that..." he started, then took a shaky breath. "Earlier today, when Stanley pulled you aside... seeing you two so close and secretive, I hated it." The words tumbled out in a rush. "I don't like how others make you smile..." He traile...
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°•°Vanessa's POV°•°
The stench of the sewers was a physical assault, a thick, gagging miasma of decay and stagnant water. I feared it would permanently sear my nostrils shut. God, I'm starting to sound like Eddie, I thought grimly.
"Oh, man," Eddie groaned, his face pale as he stepped into the murky, grey water. He immediately turned, his hand finding mine, guiding me down with a firm, protective grip. I'm going to have to burn these clothes, I decided. Nothing from this night could be kept. No souvenirs from hell.
"Blech. Gray water," Richie muttered, echoing all our thoughts.
We followed Mike single-file, our trust placed entirely in his memory of this haunted place. He led us toward a specific, terrible destination-the spot for a ritual I still deeply questioned. The water grew deeper, lapping at our thighs as we pushed through another narrow tunnel.
Then we saw it. The cavern opened up ahead, a vast, domed space that hit me with a wave of visceral, childhood dread.
It was the place. Where we had fought It. Where we thought we'd won.
"Shit. This is it," Ben breathed, his voice hollow. The recognition was a shared, sickening blow. "This is where it happened."
The water was unnaturally high, submerging relics of our past battles. Things had changed in twenty-seven years, festering and filling with rot. Mike waded deeper into the center of the cavern, my every nerve screaming in warning.
"No, no, no. No, ugh," Eddie shuddered, recoiling as something unidentifiable brushed past his leg. He held his arms aloft, a portrait of pure disgust.
Mike climbed onto a large pile of debris, atop which sat a single, ominous door-a threshold to somewhere worse.
"Bev, what is it?" Ben asked, his voice sharp.
We all turned. Beverly was staring into the impenetrable darkness, her body rigid. "I thought I heard something."
A figure, impossibly tall and skeletal, erupted from the water behind her with a shriek of laughter. It was a thing of nightmare angles, a walking bridge. It seized her.
"Bev!"
"Time to sink!" it cackled, and yanked her beneath the surface.
Chaos. Ben, Bill, Richie, and Mike plunged after her without a second thought, leaving Eddie and me alone in the swirling, choppy water.
"Guys!" Eddie's call echoed uselessly in the vast space. I took an instinctive step forward, but his hand shot out and locked around my wrist, pulling me back to the relative safety of the pile. "Okay, guys. Come on." His voice was tight with a fear that mirrored my own. He was holding me back, and a part of me hated him for it, even as I understood.
