WHEEZY // an IT story

t w e n t y

JUNE 12th, 1989

"where?" bill asked, feeling his voice waver a little.
"the room down the hall," richie replied, his voice barely audible. from bill's point of view, richie's eyes were hidden in the darkness. for a brief moment, he thought of georgie, how real he felt, how real it was to watch beverly stan him. a heavy tear rolled down his cheek. if it had gotten georgie, who's to say it didn't get richie too? his hands started to shake. that fucking clown. he did the only thing he could think of.
richie's body made a loud thump when it hit the wood floors.
"what the hell?" he asked, trying to get his arms free from bill's body. bill pinned richie's arms abound his head.
"did pennywise get you too?" he asked, hot tears now freely flowing down his face. richie felt that horrible feeling in his heart. here was a shattered boy, a brotherless boy, a boy who has nothing to go home to because family dinners suffocate him. here he was on top of him, not wanting to loose another person in his life.
"you didn't let me finish!" he shouted, trying to clear the ice in bill's stare.
"he wasn't there, he was something else. but then he fought it, it was like magic! and he opened the door for me. oh god, eddie was.. you know, real?" richie explained, feeling little pricks of tears well in his eyes, too. bill let go of richie's arms.
"i can't loose anyone else," he whispered. richie understood.
"as soon as we're out of here, you and i are having a talk!" richie scolded, in his best granny voice. bill gave a small chuckle and wiped his tears.
"we have to find the others," he instructed.

"bill?! richie!?!" a voice called.
"guys!" richie answered. bill and richie ran down the hall as fast as their legs would carry them, to find the room richie had come from.
"he was here," richie said. bill gave a small nod, and continued to jog.
after jogging through the doorway, the teens ended up in the foyer they had started in.
"we didn't even go down the stairs," richie whispered.
"maybe the floors are like a ramp, or something," bill replied.
"guys?" richie called.
"richie!" another voice shouted from up the stairs.
suddenly, beverly appeared, followed by ben, stan, and mike.
"oh my god!" beverly said, before running into richie and bill's arms. the other boys followed her, bounding down the stairs.
"we thought you guys were goners!" stan cheered, throwing his arms up into the air.
"yeah. even me and richie got separated. but let's get out of here before we celebrate," bill stated.

so, the losers exited neibolt, not knowing they'd be back very soon.
as he was getting on his bike, richie could faintly see a pair of glowing, orange eyes watching him from under the porch. he shuddered and began to pedal.