The Devil Within

Reunion

"Rachel? Sweetie, wake up. It's time for school."

I was startled awake by my dad, I looked around and noticed I was in my room. I must have looked very confused because my dad was staring at me, looking concerned.

"You ok, Rachel?" he asked, snapping me back to reality.

"I-I'm fine dad, just a little disorientated from my sleep is all," I said, frowning.

"Be down in 10, Susan's gonna have breakfast ready for you," said Dad. He walked out of the room and left me to gather my thoughts on what the hell was going on here.

I sat up, clutching my head, trying to remember what happened yesterday. We were down in the sewers...Richie, Stan and I. I set fire to that pile of garbage and threw my lighter down into the hole, we got out and then I got this really sharp pain in my head. After that, I must have passed out because it's all a blur from there on.

But then, how did I get back in my room? I needed to find out if Richie and Stan experienced the same thing. It can't just be me losing my mind here. I jumped out of bed and quickly stripped out of my PJ's, taking a quick shower before pulling on my outfit for the day: my black leather jacket, KISS tank top, black shorts, and my Doc Martens. I qucikly applied some makeup so I didn't look as much of a zombie, combed my hair, and made my way down the stairs into the kitchen where Susan was cooking breakfast. She placed a plate of eggs and bacon down in front of me once I sat down at the table. I felt ill looking at it, which was strange because I normally loved eggs and bacon.

"Mm, this looks really great, thanks Susan - but I'm actually feeling a bit sick, I'll just stick to coffee," I said, forcing a smile and taking a sip from my mug.

"Are you sure? You need to eat something, Rachel. You look really pale," said Susan, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I'm always really pale. I'm just not in the mood for food, I think I'm just nervous about school," I lied quickly, hoping she'd buy it.

Susan looked at me sympathetically. "Oh Rachel, you're gonna be fine! Your friends will be there, Stan seemed pleased to have you back yesterday anyway," she said.

"Mmm, I suppose. Anyway, I better get going, I don't wanna be late on my first day," I said hurriedly, draining the last few drops of my coffee and grabbing my bag before heading out the door.

I couldn't relax, everything felt so surreal, almost like this was all a dream. Maybe yesterday was a dream, some crazy nightmare and I'll see Stan and Richie today and we'll laugh about it. Crazy old Rachel and her stories, they'd say. I remembered the rest of the Losers, and for a moment I stopped worrying about what happened and started looking forward to seeing them all again, it was comforting and that was something I needed right now. Maybe school will be the perfect distraction from all this crazy shit.

I saw the familiar building of Derry High come into view, and it felt strange. It hadn't changed a bit, just like a lot of things in this town. I pulled my car into the nearest parking space and switched it off. I sat in the car for a moment, peering out of the window and the many students running up and down the place, I wondered if I could spot any of the Losers or would they be inside already? I took a deep breath and stepped out of the car, looking around at the familiar environment around me. Some kids stared as I walked passed them, obviously clocking that I was the new (but not so new) kid.

Great, so much for wanting to slip in unnoticed.

I quickly marched inside and headed to the office, according to Dad they should have my class roster all ready for me to pick up. There was a young-ish secretary at the office when I opened the door, she smiled sweetly at me, I didn't recognize her so she must have started here sometime during my absence.