GHOST - IT [1]

TWENTY FOUR.

Jaime and Richie shared confused glances. The two Denbroughs were conversing, obviously for the first time in months. But something wasn't quite right. Georgie Denbrough seemed to be...lacking an arm. The nub where his arm once was was bloodied and the fabric from his shirt had been torn. Jaime held a hand to her mouth, and Richie placed his hand on her upper back comfortingly.

"I wanna go home." Georgie cried, lips quivering and eyes watered. "I miss you, I wanna be with mom and dad!"

Jaime could barely see Bill's face, but she could tell it wasn't too different from Georgie's. "I want more than anything for you to be home, with mom and dad. I miss you so much." He sobbed, before inching closer to the younger boy. Jaime grabbed Richie's shoulder in nervous anticipation.

"I love you, Billy." Georgie choked out.

"I love you, too." Bill responded. Before the blink of an eye, he pulled out Mike's bolt pistol and aimed it at Georgie's head. "But you're not Georgie."

Jaime's gasp was barely heard over the trigger on the pistol being pulled. She buried her face in the crook of Richie's neck, and Richie, without her knowledge, looked down at her with soft eyes. He placed his arm around her waist and put his other hand in her hair.

Georgie fell to the ground backwards with a loud thump. Everyone jolted, causing Jaime to pull away from the other boy and finally look directly at Georgie's now still body. The area went dead silent other than the occasional dripping and the breathing of the kids. Jaime opened her mouth to speak, before a scream paused her. The scream was coming from Georgie.

The cadaver shook violently on the ground, almost seizure like. Choking noises came out of his mouth as his limbs began to stretch. Grow, almost. The eight kids stared, horrified with wide eyes. Jaime gripped her baseball bat so tightly her hands became sore. Georgie had morphed into the clown. With its shoddy circus outfit and its perfectly intact makeup, it stood, not in any way a human would stand up however. Screams of panic broke out amongst the children.

"Kill it, Bill! Kill it!" Eddie shrieked.

"Shit." Richie cursed, instantly shifting so he stood in front of Jaime. She barely even noticed the gesture, she was too fixated on the clown.

"Kill him, Bill! Kill it now!" Everyone shouted at one point. The clown looked up with its ghoulish yellow eyes and curled its lips in that smile that made Jaime queasy.

"It's not loaded." Mike tried to say as Bill aimed the captive bolt pistol at the clowns head.

"It's not loaded!" Mike said more loudly this time. Unfortunately, he couldn't be heard over the other kids screams.

Bill pulled the trigger, and instead of piercing the clowns head, it formed a hole. The clown roared and trembled harshly before throwing its head forward and making a bee-line toward Bill.

"Bill!" Jaime cried, her heart stopping in her chest. If she were any less strong, she would've fainted.

"Bill, watch out!"

He was pushed to the ground by the clown that bared its teeth and attempted to bite Bill, but its jaw locked around the pistol. Bill held the pistol in front of his face as some sort of blockade. Jaime shot forward, despite Richie's frantic protests and swung her bat at the clown. It barely even flinched, but took that opportunity to focus its attention onto her. She was able to do the same thing Bill did but with her bat. The clown sunk its teeth into her baseball bat, its eyes scanning her hungrily. All she could hear was the pounding in her chest and the growling of the creature.

"Leave her alone!" Beverly shouted as she positioned her metal rod in the air, ready to strike. The clown caught on and grabbed the rod, using its strength to swing Beverly away. She fell back on the ground with a thud. Bill grabbed the metal rod that had landed on the ground and jumped onto the clowns back, holding the rod to its mouth. They spun around dangerously, like a toddler in an office chair.