Shine *Richie X OC*

C.22

I was caught in the ice-blue eyes of my dad, which I had thankfully not inherited. He had one hand on my arm and one on my cheek.

"You look so much like your mother." He said in that rough voice of his, matured from all the smoking and yelling he did.

"I'm glad I don't look like you," I said and he looked hurt for a moment. "I think I'd have to kill myself if I looked in the mirror every morning and saw you in me," I said and realized the place was eerily quiet.

I looked over and saw It had taken Bill and was positioned to snap his neck, almost tempting the others to try and get close.

I tried to take a step and help him, but dad gripped my arm much tighter, keeping me in place, and I could feel my blood boiling in my veins.

"Let him go," Bev said.

"No." It shook its head with a grin. "I'll take him. I'll take all of you."

"No, you won't," I spoke up and it froze and looked sideways at me as I lifted my hand and removed the bandage that I used to cover the mark on my chest. It had healed, but I still liked to cover it.

"I said I would see to it that you starve." I hissed and dad's grip on my arm just got tighter.

"And what are you going to do about it, baby girl Briar?" It teased. "So long as daddy's got you, you can't do a thing."

At that, I laughed. "You chose the wrong thing to torment me with. It's hard to be afraid when you've already faced your worst fear." I said and looked at dad. "And watched it die," I said and watched as he went up in ashes.

"I'm not scared of him, and I'm definitely not scared of you. So you can go fuck off to whatever dimension you came from, okay?" I stepped closer again, and it readied its hands at Bill's head.

"I could feast on all of you... just kill you since you're worthless to me. Or... you'll just leave us be. I'll take him, only him, and I will have my long rest, and you will all live to grow and thrive and lead happy lives until old age takes you back to the weeds..." It said.

"Leave," Bill said, tears in his eyes. "I'm the one who dragged you all into this. I'm s-s-so sorry."

"Sss...sorry." It laughed.

"Go!" Bill urged and It laughed again.

"Guys... we can't..." Bev tried, and the only person who moved was Richie.

"Told you, Bill. I fucking told you." He said and began to walk around. "I don't wanna die. It's your fault." At this, Bill was ready to cry, and I went over to stand by Richie and the group.

"You punched me in the face, you made me walk through shitty water, you brought me to a fucking crackhead house, and now..." he said and grabbed a bat. "Now I'm gonna have to kill this fucking clown."

It pushed Bill down and went for Richie, and I grabbed a sort of firepoker thing from the rubbish pile.

"WELCOME TO THE LOSER'S CLUB, ASSHOLE!" Richie yelled and hit it around the face.

We all took turns beating it to shit, and I imagined this as some fucked up group trust-building activity.

We soon had its back pressed up against the well, and dropped down into the well, leaving us be.

"I know what I'm doing for my summer experience essay," Richie said, and I just groaned, rolling my eyes, then pulled him into a hug.

"Guys, the kids are floating down," Eddie said, but I didn't care.

Bill found Georgie's coat and broke down, and we all had a group hug there. Bill cried the most, and I let a few tears drip from my eyes. Richie, while still in the hug, lifted one hand to wipe them away.

"Bri, what's wrong?" He whispered as we stood up, him pulling me by my hands.

"I just... am I ever going to not deal with something my dad did? Is he gonna be a permanent fixture in my life? I don't wanna deal with him anymore!" I said and started crying again, and he just pulled me into a hug, shushing me and rubbing my back.

I quieted down and went a little slump against him, just holding onto his shirt now, and the last question came to my mind.

"Why didn't he love me?" I whispered, and Richie just shook his head.

"I don't know why your father was so fucked up, I can't answer that. But look, you've still got your mom, and she loves you more than any mom in the world could ever love their kid." He said and lifted my face to look at him and wipe my tears.

"And you've also got me. I love you, Bri. Okay? I'm never leaving you, love. You can believe me on that." He said and I nodded.

"Love you, too," I mumbled and tucked myself under his arm as we made out way out of the sewer and back to normality.