𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄, 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄 / 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊 𝐘𝐎𝐔

ᴠᴇɪɴᴛɪꜱɪᴇᴛᴇ

Once Mike and Stan arrive at Bev's, they're all back out the door and in Richie's car.

They go up and down the streets of the surrounding neighborhoods, starting at the library and working their way out. It's a fucking waste of time, Richie keeps trying to tell them, but Stan has made some good points about being thorough in a search.

"If we go to the police they won't even bother looking for him," Stan says, as they turn down another street and head toward Richie's neighborhood. "It hasn't been long enough to say he's missing."

Derry is small, but they get out and go on foot through some of the darker alleyways, parking the car at the parks and looking around, though Richie can tell that each time they climb back in and go again that they're losing hope. It's like they're all clinging to this dwindling idea, some lifeline that maybe Eddie just decided to walk out of the library, for no reason that any of them can come up with.

Around three am they finally go to the Kaspbrak house, at Stan's insistence. Bev and Mike agree that it's best to check there, just in case, because maybe Eddie headed there because of some emergency. Maybe Mrs. K called the library looking for him and lured him back home with some bullshit about needing his help.

It's possible, so Richie climbs the tree under Eddie's old window, and he's not surprised to find the room dark and empty when he peers inside. Disappointment and dread rush through him in equal measures, but he gets back in the car and they keep going.

After another hour, after they leave Stan's side of town, Richie turns around from the passenger side to look at Mike, where he's sitting right behind the driver seat. "You said you know where Sam lives," he says, voice low and urgent. He's been hanging on to that thought all night, almost afraid to bring it up, because he knows that it's crazy. "At the anti-Thanksgiving party. You said he lives near you."

Mike nods, though he seems hesitant to do so. "Yeah, he does. It's a ways down from my house. Down a dirt road."

Bev is driving. She took the keys from Richie after the last stop, and now they are heading out of town, toward Mike's house. "You think it's hard to get in?" She asks, a cigarette between her fingers that she's holding toward the cracked window.

"There's a fence, but it looks easy to climb."

"Can we..." Richie trails off, eyeing Bev's clenched jaw and hard grasp on the steering wheel, and the way she keeps glancing in the rear view mirror at Mike. He already knows Stan will protest, but he doesn't care. "I want to check it out."

A heavy sigh comes from the seat directly behind Richie, and he turns slightly to meet Stan's eyes when he speaks. "We can't just break in-"

"I know, Stan!" Richie cuts him off sharply, glaring at Stan's hard gaze. "I know we can't just break in. But I don't give a shit. If that fucker has Eddie, I don't care about that shit."

Taking calming breaths isn't working, and Richie turns back around in his seat, closing his eyes and seething. He knows it's not their fault, that doing anything drastic can get them all in trouble, but he's just so angry. He wants to yell and scream at all of them- if Eddie were here, and if it was one of them missing, he wouldn't hesitate to go all in until they were found. Just like when Bev was taken by that fucking clown. It's like their bravery has died as they've grown, like their willingness to believe what is right in front of them has been turned completely around, and they're slowly turning into the adults they feared when they were younger. What the hell happened to them, the Losers who would die for each other?

"Okay," Mike says, and Richie turns to glance at him. Mike's eyes are full of sad acceptance. "But we have to be careful. And quiet."

Stan looks like he's ready to argue, but Mike shoots him a sharp look, and Stan snaps his mouth shut.