𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 ↱ 𝐈𝐓 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕 (hiatus)

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 || 𝟒

"WHEN YOU SAID TO MEET YOU AT THE LIBRARY I DIDN'T THINK YOU ACTUALLY MEANT THE LIBRARY."

Taylor groaned as she met the site of her two best friends, each clad in denim overalls and a bottle of sunscreen. She signaled them over, patting the small couch she sat on before turning back to the newspaper she had recently found.

"I called over an hour ago to both of your houses. What took you guys so long?"

Amelia sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck, nudging Patty as the latter whipped out her backpack. Her hand disappeared inside and returned with what looked like a stack of candy bars, Taylor's jaw falling slightly before she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the two girls.

"And how do you reckon you two got those?" Taylor's shrill voice sounded, the other two nervously shrugging.

"I suppose I may 've found a box of them hiding out in the pharmacy. Luckily some group of kids were distracting the guy at the counter so we were able to sneak away with a few."

Taylor flatly looked at her before rolling her eyes and returning back to the magazine. The two blondes that still were standing shared a look before questioning the short girl.

"What do you have there, Wood. Looks pretty boring to me."

Patricia and Amelia watched as Taylor's eyes lit up, gesturing towards the two girls to take a look at the newspaper she was holding. Amelia stared with utter confusion while Patricia let out an aggravated huff. The newspaper held an article about a missing kid, once again feeding into Taylor's growing obsession.

"Am I missing something? It seems the two of you know what's going on." Amelia questioned, eyeing the two curiously.

"My dear Amelia you are, in fact, missing something of vital importance. After you left a few weeks back I showed Patty here my board of missing kids."

Amelia looked at Taylor expectantly, eyebrows raised.

"Basically all of these kids go missing, like too many for our little old Derry. It wouldn't be worrying if it didn't happen every twenty-seven years exactly. The police have no leads and I've made it my mission to try and find out what happened to them." Taylor said matter-of-factly.

Amelia pondered this for a moment before piping in with her own thoughts.

"So, kids go missing every twenty-seven years, the police have no leads, and you're thinking Kate's disappearance has something to do with all of this."

Taylor's eyes looked panicked as she tried to watch Patricia's facial features, taking in the way her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes darkened.

"Well I don't know about Kate. But yeah basically. Another kid disappeared a few weeks back as-well, some little boy named George Denbrough. Apparently he disappeared during the storm that happened and nobody ever found him."

Amelia and Patricia shuddered, each with fear wrenched deep in their gut. The thought of something more sinister was utterly terrifying, but Taylor was determined to figure out what was happening. She wouldn't stop unless she was dead.

"So what's the plan then, Tay?"

Taylor's eyes immediately brightened before she frantically rifled through her backpack in search of the many notebooks full of notes she had. An 'aha' came from her as she brought out many red notebooks, each more battered than the last. On each of the covers her name and the date was scrawled with her chicken-scratch hand writing.

Amelia took it upon herself to pick up a notebook and flip through the pages, soaking up all the information as the gears in her head worked on overdrive. Patricia on the other hand hesitantly read over one of the notebooks, eyes tearing up as she realized one of the many articles in the book was that of Kate.

Determination struck Patty like lightning and before she knew it she was stood in front of her two friends, each eyeing her curiously.

"Listen up girls, we're not going to stop this madness until we find the source. But, to begin this we need a step one. Any ideas?" Patricia said, mind whirling.

Amelia quickly gasped, a thought suddenly coming to her head.

"Remember when we had that history project? I overheard the new kid mumbling to himself about a fire and some missing kids. Maybe he knows something?"

Taylor squealed, jumping onto Amelia and twirling the frail girl in circles. Patricia just giggled watching the two as Amelia screamed in surprise.

"Looks like we've got our first lead ladies. Derry isn't ready for the havoc we're about to create."

The three girls shared equally cunning smirks as they devised a plan to finally learn the secrets that lie deep in the wells of Derry, Maine.

"Get ready to rumble, girls."

———

THE RUSTLING OF THE WIND CARRIED WHISPERS INTO TAYLOR'S EARS, SILENT SECRETS SLITHERING THROUGH HER EARS.

Taylor shivered, hands stuffed in her pants pockets as she walked home later than usual. It wasn't particularly cold but the vacant streets around her made the girl a bundle of nerves. Street lights began to flicker and Taylor paused, a distant figure on the street standing out. She squinted her eyes before rummaging through her pockets, pulling the broken lenses and wiping away the lint before resting them on her nose. What she saw made her give out a startled screech.

A clown stood with a balloon in his right hand and his left waving slowly, almost mockingly at the scared girl. Taylor's breaths came out shaky as she started backing up quickly, stumbling over her own feet before face-planting onto the ground below. She scrambled up and glanced back to where the clown had stood, finding only the red balloon in its place.

Taylor sighed in relief and rubbed her tired eyes before she froze in fear as quiet breathing could be heard behind her. Her figure turned, blue eyes meeting red as she took in the site before her. She had always been afraid of the dead and right in front of her stood one, decaying flesh and all.

She screamed hysterically before booting down the street and cutting across people's yards to make it to her house. With a mighty slam, her front door burst open and closed in a short matter of time and she stood there for a few seconds attempting to regulate her erratic breathing. Only when she knew that she was okay did she look out the window.

The red balloon was eerily creeping down the street and away from Taylor's house.

She had never thought that balloons could be the center of her fears.

———

a/n

hello welcome back. sorry for the late update i'm kinda sick atm which sucks. anyways vote and commentttt

by lovelies💞