lost and found | it chapter one | 2017

Chapter 8 | Puzzle

C H A P T E R 8

   "How do you even know who she is?" Eddie asked me.

  "I found her in a phone book. I over heard you guys mentioning a girl named Beverly, so..." I said, shrugging it off as if it wasn't creepy. They all seemed really pleased that I had brought her thought, and that made me happy.

   "I'm surprised" Beverly suddenly said, making everyone's heads turn,
  
  "I'm surprised that we aren't in the woods right now. Or near the sewers. Or maybe back in that burnt house." She said with a kick of determination in her voice.

    "Well, we w-were g-going too..." Bill said.
 
  I couldn't help but roll my eyes, "Really? Because whenever I mentioned going to try and find three of your closest friends, you seem to push the idea away. And it hurts." I furrowed my eyebrows, "And I'm sorry, I shouldn't put so much pressure on you. I mean, it isn't your fault." I said, feeling bad for possibly making him feel guilt he didn't need to feel.

    "I-It's okay... y-you're right." Bill said, standing up, "We tried to save Georgie. Stanley, Mike and Ben are no different."
  
   "We'll be together, that's all that matters. Remember what we could do when we all stuck together?" Beverly smiled. Everyone looked like they collected their wits again as they gathered themselves up and prepared to adventure.

-

    "We should get Thomas" Eddie suggested.

    "Yeah, I'd like to meet him." Beverly said.

    From the corner of my eye I could see  Bill's head snap towards Beverly. It made me chuckle.
  
   "Maybe we s-shouldn't." Bill stuttered, picking up his bike.

   "Why not?" Eddie asked, furrowing his eyebrows in question.

    "I don't k-know. He doesn't really know the w-whole s-story." Bill finished.
 
  "He's seen the clown. Heck, he's seen two boys that can only be described as Ben and Mike." Eddie exclaimed.
  
   Bill rolled his eyes and jumped on his bike, waiting for the rest of us. I kept an eye on the way his face changed. His bottom lip was tucked under his teeth and his eyes squinted at the ground.
  
   He was jealous.

   But in his defense,  I guess it was scary for him. He definitely liked Beverly, and Beverly definitely liked Bill. I'd understand the fear that he would get knowing there was a small chance that he would lose Beverly.
 
   We all grabbed our bikes and quickly headed off towards Thomas's house.

   We reached a large brick house at the end of a very windy road. There were so many odd neighborhoods in this town that it was impressive.
   Bushes surrounded the door and the steps, it looked really old. But honestly, what wasn't old in Derry.
 
   We all dropped our bikes and walked towards the front. Richie was the one to knock on the door. Even the door was very creepy looking as well. It was taller than all of us, black and glistening in the moon.
 
   The door slowly creaked open to reveal Thomas hiding within the door frame. He still had all of the cuts and bruises across his arms along with the big slash on his forehead. But despite the discoloration and tears in his skin, ge smiled brightly and opened the door with welcome in his hands.

   "Hey guys." He said, slowly walking outside, "I feel like I didn't thank you guys enough, for ya' know, helping me out there." He finished.

   "Its n-no big d-deal." Bill stuttered, eyes still frozen to the ground.

  Thomas nodded happily, "So, what are you all doing here? It's really dark outside." He asked.

   "We weren't just gonna leave you here alone" Richie said.

   "What you saw back there... with the clown," Eddie said quietly. Thomas's face instantly died down, his once eye-to-eye smile flew to a frown.
 
   "Oh, yeah. Just thinking about that gives me the heebie-jeebies." He awkwardly laughed, "Who's she?" He then asked, pointing to Beverly.
  
   She let out a welcoming smile, "I'm Beverly. Nice to meet you." She said, shaking hands with him.

   "So, if we're really gonna go through with this, where do we start?" Richie asked.

   "Start?" Thomas asked.

"Well, Ben and Mike are missing. We need to find them soon, because from past experiences-"
 
 

  "One year is too long." Bill said, cutting Richie off.
 
   "Yeah, one year is too long. We need to start searching for them now. The sooner the better." Richie said.

   "The two went missing at that large sewer entrance. I'm assuming you guys know how to get there." I said, "and Stanley, he...-"
   
   I was at a loss. I didn't know what to say. Stanley went missing, but he was right with us. It didn't make any sense. I couldn't explain it.

  "We'll figure it out tomorrow. I think for tonight it's best if we just figure out a plan. The sky is already really dark, and you all know what happens when it gets dark." Eddie said, glancing around nervously.

  "T-That's a good idea. W-We can go to my house to m-make a p-plan." Bill said.

    "Ok good, thank God. I do not want to go clown-hunting in the dark." Eddie laughed, letting out a sigh of relief.

 
 

  "Oh yeah, don't worry bud, that's saved for tomorrow." Richie said, slapping Eddie's back as the friend angrily slapped his arm off of him.

   Laughter filled the terror skies. Nothing could cover the fact that our fears were slowly taking over us all. The dark brown leaves that swung above us told stories, the moon shined between them like small pieces of a puzzle that hadn't yet been solved.
 
   We were going to find them,
We were going to complete that puzzle, and that made everyone very happy.