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- 16 | INSTANT REPLAY

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"I'm going to go ahead and assume that you all know already," Eddie murmured, frowning slightly. His friends gathered around him with wide eyes, each leaning back against something or other. Eddie had told his mother that morning, with some help from Richie, that he was going to be staying after for help at school. Now he was sitting in a circle at Bill's house, a good mile away from the school he had said he was going to be at.

A week had gone by since Eddie's return to society. The alcohol remained untouched beneath his bed, and so far Sonia had not noticed the missing drinks. After a brutal hangover that Richie nursed him through, Eddie vowed never to drink alcohol again. He had made some progress cleaning up the house, and Sonia had begun to leave grocery money for him again so he could use the mostly untouched car in their driveway to get food. He usually called someone to join him, only because this was the rare occasion he was let out of the house unsupervised.

"Go ahead, Eddie. We're listening." Bev placed her hand atop of his, and Eddie forced a smile, nodding once. He took a deep breath, meeting the gaze of every person before he continued.

"When I was about ten, I started having this dream," he said softly, trying to remain confident. "It was a continuous dream, every night, all night. It took place in 1958. You are all there, every single one of you. Think of it as a parallel world." There were a few nods, and everyone looked confused, but Eddie just pressed on nervously. "We call ourselves The Losers' Club. Do you guys remember the time that Georgie ran away a few years ago during the big storm, and he lost his boat down the drain?" There were a few confused mumbles, and Ben's brow furrowed as he thought about it, frowning slightly.

"That was a long time ago," Bev finally said. "What, seven years now? Almost eight. We were ten when that happened." Now Mike and Ben started to nod, recognition flashing in their eyes.

"I remember that!" Ben piped up. "He was upset because Bill saved up all summer to buy him that boat."

"Oh yeah!" Mike agreed. "It was almost $20. Took Big Bill months to save enough. A lot of lawns got mowed that summer." A few people giggled, but Richie was just staring at Eddie. He had done that a lot lately. Eddie knew he had fucked up by talking to him while under the influence, and now Richie was upset with him. All he got anymore were short one-worded answers in a stiff and pain-filled voice. He looked even worse, too. Bev was worried, but she kept telling Eddie that she had it under control, which he found hard to believe considering the fact that she herself was on her way to looking just as bad.

"Well, in my dream, they didn't find him in time," Eddie said suddenly, startling himself out of his own thoughts. "Something killed him. Tore his arm right off." Everyone went pale, but nobody went as pale as Bill, who's easygoing smile had faded and who's expression was now that of a person who's seen a ghost.

"Bill is obsessed with figuring out what did it. It's all he does anymore, is look for this thing, this It. Then, one day.. We got too close." Eddie swallowed thickly, averting his eyes. "The Losers' Club likes to hang out in the woods, they're called the Barrens. We made a clubhouse there, and it's actually a really cool thing we did. It's disguised so nobody can find it under the forest floor, with leaves on top of the trap door and stuff like that. We hang out at the Quarry too, but that's usually only during the summer." Eddie knew he was stalling, trying to avoid the real point.

"But there's a nightmare aspect to all of this. The thing that killed Georgie is watching us or something, because It knew we were getting close to figuring out what it was. So it lashed out." He launched into the stories of what each Loser saw, voice growing weaker and weaker with each story until he had told all but one. Everyone had either a disgusted expression, terrified expression, or both.