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WE'RE ALL AFRAID OF SOMETHING!
The Losers Club made their way downtown, where all of Derry was celebrating the Fourth of July. Red and white balloons were strung to polls and kids were happily licking ice cream cones. The High-School marching band had made there way through Derry. Richie being the little annoying fly he was, went to the band and ripped a baritone out of one of the marchers hands. He then proceeded blow into it, murdering everyone's eardrums with his awful playing.
"Oh. My. Gosh. Richard you suck ass, now stop it," Veronica scolded with the roll of her eyes. Eddie had gone to get her ice cream, it was his treat as he called it. The rest of the losers had been looking at the missing posters that hung on the side of a brick wall.
"They say they found part of his hand all chewed up by the standpipe," The Uris boy gulped.
"He asked to borrow a pencil once," Ben sighed. Richie's music in the background had gotten louder.
"I-Its like shes been f-forgotten because Corcans missing."
"Is it ever going to end?"
"What the fuck dude!" Richie yelled as the boy took his instrument back. Veronica snorted, finally.
"What are you guys talking about?" Eddie asks coming around the corner. Two ice cream cones in his hands.
"What they always talk about," Richie said joining them. He took one of the cones out of Eddies hands and began to lick it.
"Dude, that was mine," Veronica told him with a scowl. Richie just shrugged, continuing to eat the sugary substance.
"I actually think it will end for a little while at least," Ben said all the attention being drawn to him.
"What do you mean?"
"So I was going over all my Derry research and I charted all the big events, the iron works explosion in 1908, the bradly gang in 35',and the black spot of 62' and now kids and now kids being-" Ben paused. "I realised this stuff seems to happen every-"
"27 years" Bill and Ben said together. The Hodges girl gulped looking at the group.
✰ ✰ ✰
"Okay so let me get this straight it comes out from wherever to eat kids for a year and then what it just goes into hibernation?!" Eddie asked. The losers had moved to benches near the stage with a clown and some kids dancing.
"Maybe its like, what do you call it?" Stan struggled to think. "Cicadas, the bug comes out every 17 years."
"My grandfather thinks this town is cursed," the Hanlon boy stated,"That everything bad is caused by one thing an evil thing that feeds off of the people of Derry." An un-welcomed chill blew through the air, making them shiver uncomfortably.
"But it cant be one thing, we all saw something different," Stan argued.
"Maybe, or maybe it knows what scares us most and that's what we see," Mike explained. The missing pieces of the puzzle were startling to come together. The whole situation making more sense.
"I-I saw a leper it was like a walking infection," Eddie shuddered.
"But you didn't, because it isn't real. None of this is. Not Eddies leper, or, or Bill seeing Georgie. Or or the lady I keep seeing-"
"She hot?" Richie asked. Veronica smacked the side of his head.
"No Richie! Shes not hot. Her face is all messed up. None of this makes any sense, they're all like a bad dreams."
"I don't think so. I know the difference between a bad dream and real life okay?" Mike argued.
"What'd you see? You saw something too?"
"Yes you guys know that burnt down house on Harris Avenue? I was inside when it burnt down. Before I was rescued my mom and dad were trapped in the next room over from me. Pushing and pounding on the door, tryin to get to me, but it was to hot. When the fireman finally found them there skin had melted off down to the bone. Were all afraid of something." Veronica felt guilt she would have told Henry to back if she would have known. She should have told him to back down regardless.
"You got that right," Rich said looking behind him at a clown dancing with some little kids.
"Why Rich what are you afraid of?"
"Clowns," he replied adjusting his glasses.
"Im Claustrophobic." Veronica told them. She squinted slightly to look at everyone's faces in the sun. Her brown eyes sparkled as the light reflected off of them.
"Nobody asked you," Richie retorted.
"I was going too," Stan shrugged. Veronica smiled at Stan and then glared at Richie.
"Thank you Stan," she replied. still glaring at Richie.
"Yeah, yeah, hate me all you want," Richie winked. Veronica took one shove, and knocked him off the bench.
