WHEEZY // an IT story

t w e n t y t h r e e

JUNE 13th, 1989

"eddie?!" richie shouted at the top of his lungs. a muffled screech could be heard from the other side of the pile.
"give him back you fucker!" beverly yelled, running around the pile to get to eddie. the rest of the losers followed.
when richie saw it, he fell to his knees. it was if the clown had grown three times it's size. in it's left hand was a deathly thin, pale eddie. although he looked frail, he was struggling against it's crushing grip.
"we're coming eds!" bill screamed before running at the clown. stan, who was more precise and prepared, grabbed a sharp, spear-shaped piece of metal off of the ground. bill was flung off of it almost instantly, his body hitting the ground. he shook the dirt off his clothes and got back up. stan jabbed the spear into it's neck. like the last quarrel, black fluid poured out of it's neck. stan screamed.
"it got in my mouth!" he yelled, before his body went limp and he fell to the ground.
"poison blood," ben muttered, before picking up a large rock. it held eddie in front on his face.
"can't hit eddie, fat boy!" it mocked. ben roared and hurled the rock towards it's legs. the large clown collapsed and dropped eddie. eddie screeched and ran to richie.
"eddie!" richie shouted, enveloping his boyfriend in a hug. it growled, before standing back up.
"that's enough!" it roared. everything around richie and eddie froze. it picked up both of the boys, one in each hand.
"let go you bitch!" richie shouted, kicking and flailing. this situation felt all too much like the one in the cafeteria. richie couldn't loose eddie again. eddie, however, had fallen into a trance. he was conscious, and he wasn't hypnotized, but it seemed like no matter how much his brain screamed at him, he couldn't move his limbs. he figured it was the lack of food and sleep. pennywise smiled at richie. it was a big, evil smile that made richie's stomach feel like jelly.
"i could eat you both.." pennywise said, eyeing both boys.
"or.. i could have more fun and only eat one!" pennywise laughed maniacally.
suddenly, eddie snapped out of his trance.
"no, please,no!" he shouted. pennywise grinned even wider.
"i have a great game we can play!" he giggled.
"it's called 'choose'," it said.
"so, eddie spaghetti, i'm gonna let you choose! save your own life, and i'll let you go! you can go see your mommy again, and you can grow up. or, you can save bucky beaver over here, and i'll eat you instead!" pennywise laughed even more.
"me! me! eddie, me! let me die!" richie shouted, waving his arms wildly.
"i can't," he said quietly.
"no, eddie please, come on!" richie cried.
"no."
"eddie, you're a lot smarter than me! you'll grow up, get another boyfriend, and become a super smart doctor, or some shit! you'll have a caring mom! you can hang out with the losers! eat ice cream! do whatever the hell you want, because it's your life! don't waste it on me.."
"..i'm not smart. i'll drop out of highschool. my parents won't care! i'll end up just like them, drunk off my ass. i won't get another boyfriend, i'll become the town lunatic.."
"..because my whole life depends on you! you motivate me to be good! no, not good, better! better than who i thought i could be, because you make me that person! if you choose yourself over me, both of us will die in this room." richie's tears rolled slowly down his face in steady streams. eddie sighed.
"if i choose you, i'll never forgive myself. the one person who loved me, who understood me, slipped through my fingers. at least i'll die knowing i'm protecting you! i want you to live, go out, and have fun. graduate highschool! join a band, i always liked your singing voice. make it big. just.. don't forget about me," eddie said, a single tear rolling down his pale cheek.
"if you choose yourself, i'll hate you! i'll never forgive you!" richie shouted.
"at least you'll be alive. i love you," eddie said. then, he turned to the clown.
"i choose myself to die," he said, staring the clown right in the eyes. pennywise laughed.
"okie dokie!" it cheered. the clown paused.
"better unfreeze your friends first so they can watch," he mocked. suddenly, the frozen bodies of the other losers began to spin into motion. it dropped richie. before any of the losers could touch pennywise, it let out a screech that sent them flying into the pile. it was as if their bodies had magnets in them, and they couldn't move off the pile.
"now children.." pennywise snarled.
"your friend here made a choice. he could save his boyfriend or he could die. and, he chose to die. so now, you get to watch me eat him," the clown laughed. the losers were unable to speak, so they just watched in horror.

the last thing richie saw of eddie's face was a silent scream as his skull was crushed between pennywise's jaw. eddie's skinny body was chewed and crunches to nearly a liquid before pennywise swallowed.
"that's all from me, folks!" pennywise shouted. it grinned to show a bloody smile, before bowing and disappearing.
the loser's bodies unattached from the pile. stan wretched. bill stood in silence, with tears running down his face. ben simply stared at the ground, expressionless. beverly curled up into a ball and rocked back and forth. mike silently said prayers.

and richie, he kneeled on the ground, and just screamed:
"i fucking hate you, eddie kaspbrak!"