CYNOSURE | RICHIE TOZIER

XVI

Richie only just had time to grab Eliza's hand before she took off down the tunnel, screaming one of her best friend's names. The filthy water splashed her calves, but her mind was too troubled to notice the cold sewage on her bare legs or the potent stench that radiated from it. The tunnels were small, but it was the overwhelming number of troubles and possibilities swirling around her head that were causing her claustrophobia.
"Stan!" she shrieked desperately, "Stanley, please!"
Her other friends echoed her as they crashed just behind. Richie pleaded her to calm down before they lose the others too but she wouldn't listen.
"No! This is my fault, Richard! He didn't want to come and I made him. I told him we'd stick together and I completely forgot he was there!" she sobbed but didn't stop running, "What if he's hurt and it's my fault?! I couldn't live with that!"
She slipped from his grip and began to disappear into the dark.
"Hurry up!" Richie screeched at the flailing boys behind him and they did as they were told.
As soon as El came back into their view, a harrowing scream rang through their ears.
"Oh, God." she wailed, "Stanley, I'm coming!"
She propelled herself through the air until she came across a shut door and forced it open with all her strength. Inside was a circular structure with a discarded flashlight flickering nearby in the ankle-deep water. She froze, frantically searching with her eyes for any other signs of their missing friend.

She heard It before she saw It.

The sound sent shivers down her spine, and she could only think to describe it and the sound of an animal eating. She sensed Bill come to a stop beside her right side and grabbed his wrist to take control of his flashlight, aiming it towards the sound. She gasped and recoiled, clinging to Richie who had placed himself on her left. They had found Stan... and something else too. There was a long, curving woman on top of him, who looked like she'd been painted. Her only features visible were rows of jagged fangs that were clamped to his face. He convulsed underneath her as they tried to come to terms with what they were seeing.
"What the fuck is that thing?!" Richie yelped, instinctively pushing Eliza behind him to protect her.
The woman looked up at them and they were horrified by her features. Her face was bent and distorted, and Eliza realised that it must be the same woman that Stan told them about at the carnival. It slowly released its hold on Stan and slithered into a pipe. It had only been hidden for a second before It appeared again, but this time in the form of the clown. The Losers all took a few more steps back in shock before It finally vanished to another part of the sewers. When they were sure it was safe, they rushed to the boy who lay just in front of them. As they crouched and began to shake him back into reality, he sprung into a sitting position.
"Holy shit. I thought we'd lost you. This is all my fault. I'm so sorry, Stan." El choked through her guilty tears, stretching her arms towards him.
Much to her surprise, he did not except her embrace, pushing away her hands.
"No, no!" Stan screamed, "You left me! You made me go into the evil! You aren't my friends!"
El winced, "I never meant for this to happen."
"But it did! I told you! I never should have listened to you! Get away from me, Bowers. I never want to see you again!"
Eliza now found herself too angry to feel sorry for him, "No. Snap out of it, Stan. I love you but you need to understand the world is bigger than just you! We are doing this for Bev. We're doing this for all of Derry! We can only do it if we work as a team. We're not the Losers' Club without you, Stanley. You're coming with us and I'm not ever leaving your side again, no matter how many times you ask me."
For a while, nobody said anything as both Stan and Eliza regained composure. All that could be heard was heavy breathing until a hand slapped El's shoulder.
"Well said, Baby Doll." Richie grinned, winking at her.
Stan and El rolled their eyes in unison, causing her to giggle, "Good to have you back, Uris."
Unfortunately, Eliza had only just pulled in the two boys for a hug before chaos had struck again.

Bill had wandered further into the sewers and out of sight, causing another wave of panic. Eddie had been the first to notice, stumbling after him and echoing his name. El was quick to her feet, lugging Stan and Richie with her. She may have been on autopilot, but this time she was sure to clench firmly to their shirts, understanding leaving anybody behind could be a catastrophe. Her chest screamed in agony as she forced her heart even faster, but nothing could stop her. Without Bill the club would fall apart: he was their leader, so getting him back was her uppermost priority. Routinely checking over her shoulder to do a headcount, she fell into a painful rhythm, her determination forcing away her fear. She found herself at the head of the group, the boys keeping up the pace just behind her. However, it wasn't long before a shriek from behind her knocked them out of sync. Eliza spiralled to see Eddie crawling around hopelessly in the miasmic water.
"Come on! Get out of there, Ed!" Richie begged.
Eliza squeezed her eyes shut to maintain composure, "Please, Eddie. That's grey-water!"
"Wait!" he gasped, "Where's my fucking flashlight?!"
"Eddie! Leave it!" she cried, bending to try and pull him up.
Just as she did so, a swarm of heads bobbed to the surface.
Eliza screamed and Richie pulled her and Eddie close protectively, "Let's get the fuck out of here."
They hastily nodded and the scared stiff six suddenly sprang into action. The end of the tunnel grew nearer and nearer, and they swiftly found themselves within a large cave, piled with old belongings. El let her eyes adjust to her new surroundings. There was more light here than in the drab tunnels and her pupils began to float upwards to find the source. When her gaze reached the ceiling, she let out a harsh yawp. Hovering just above them, was a shoal of death and missing kids, making Eliza feel sick. Her friends began to notice too, their skin paling.
"Oh, fuck." El squeaked, her hand shooting to cover her mouth.
Richie and Stan were the only ones alerted, and they each put a hand on her shoulders worriedly.
"Are you o-?" Stan started but was cut off when his friend vomited all over the floor.
The rest of the Losers were shocked out of their trances, turning to face her.
Eddie gagged, horrified, "No way. This is the last thing I need right now. Did you know vomiting can be fatal?! You get dehydrated and-"
"-Shut up, Eddie!" Richie demanded, taking off his shirt and wiping Eliza's mouth with it.
El gave Richie a weak smile before standing upright and shakily announcing to the group, "I'm fine."
"Yeah, right." Stan muttered, narrowing his eyes at his still ghostly pale friend.
"I said I'm fi- oh, God."
Ben was the first to see what had caused the girl to interrupt herself, "Beverly!"

The remaining Losers' Club now stood underneath the floating girl, Eliza thankful when Mike wrapped his arm around her waist to support her. They began to try and pull her down, forming an unsettling image in El's mind of trying to pull a helium-filled balloon down from a high ceiling.
When Beverly was finally at floor level, Eliza finally noticed the lack of an iris and pupil in her eyes, "Bevvy?"
When there was no response, Ben began to shake her shoulders, "Bev! Beverly! Why isn't she waking up?! What is wrong with her?! Beverly, please! Come on!"
He pulled her into an embrace but there was still no response. The hurt in his face only multiplied Eliza's own, and the silent tears that fell from her eyes were long overdue. Mike noticed and squeezed her tighter supportively. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. Although she wished more than anything that she had never even gotten involved in this missing kid business, she was grateful that she at least had her friends by her side. All of a sudden, Ben stepped out of the hug and pressed his lips into Beverly's. A series of "woah!"s echoed through the sewers, and there was a moment of suspense after Ben broke the kiss. Much to everyone's surprise, Bev suddenly drew a sharp intake of breath.
There was stunned silence before Beverly spoke, "January embers."
"My heart burns there too."
Eliza grinned, recognising the poem from the postcard Bev had showed her. Beverly had been certain that it had been written by Bill, but it didn't take an expert to see the heart eyes Ben made at her when she wasn't looking.
"Thank, fuck!" El cried in relief, starting a group hug.

The Losers' enjoyed a few seconds of silence, blissfully unaware of what was hiding just around the corner.

___________

Hiya everyone! It's been a while. I had a three hour break in college and no work to do so I thought 'y'know what? I haven't been on Wattpad in a while' and this is the result of that. Even though this book died a long time ago (I went from getting thousands of reads to a couple hundred on the last chapter so god knows what this will get) I still get notifications of comments and people adding this to their reading list which is always nice. If it wasn't for that I'd probably just delete this book so thanks. Do you guys wanna hear my well thought out and acceptable excuse? I procrastinated writing for so long that I just forgot about this book entirely.
Quick life update even though nobody asked/cares!
I did pretty well in my GCSEs. I'm proud of everything accept from English Language (i was predicted an a* and got a b which I guess I should still be happy with but it was supposed to be one of my strongest subjects and I love writing so idk). I got a couple of a*s but I got mostly as with a couple bs. I'm now at college studying fashion, politics, psychology, and maths which I'm really enjoying. I haven't made any new friends yet but I don't mind because I hang out with a pretty epic group that I knew already - shoutout to the pee pee removal club. On the day of posting this, i am going to see Bianca Del Rio which is pretty lit. I'm also starting to sing in public more and I've even had a couple of paid gigs as well which is always good. But yeah. That's it from me. Follow my Instagram @ maiasprofile and see ya later.