The others were all pursuing Pennywise and he was somehow shrinking. It was slow and he was trying to fight back, but he was definitely smaller than he was a few minutes ago.
"Where the hell have you been?" Bill shouted, "help us!"
I didn't need telling twice, I'd seen Bill's bad side and I had no intention of being on it!
Eddie and I joined in with the others and I realised that they were taunting the clown. They were calling him names and belittling him and I let myself smile for a fraction of a second. This is where Richie Tozier excels!
"You stupid fucking clown! You stupid fucking son of a bitch, you're nothing! You piece of shit! You're nothing!"
I was trying not to let the threat of looming death put me off having a great time and I continued to shout. Eddie did the same and I grabbed hold of his hand. Bill saw and took hold of my other hand, and soon we we in a semi-circle around him, our hands joined together, as we threw insults at the melting monster.
As he shrunk into the ground and his expression became one of fear, Mike reached out slowly towards him.
In one last attempt to regain control, he lurched forward and we all flinched away, but Mike was persistent and put his arm out again.
I heard Eddie stifle a gag as Mike's fingers crawled into Pennywise's chest and tore out his heart.
We all looked at it, beating away in Mike's palm, and he held it out to us all.
"This is fucking disgusting," I followed his lead and put my hand against the slimy flesh of the heart, and soon the others were doing the same. We all worked together squashing it into mulch and Pennywise gurgled and groaned as he slowly died.
We looked around at each other for a few seconds, unable to believe that we just did it, and the walls began to shake.
"We need to leave!" Mike shouted and ran for the way we came in. We all trailed behind him and ducked out of the large cave where Pennywise was turning to dust.
We sprinted back thought the tunnels until we got to the sewers that were filled with water, and Eddie fell with a splash. I stopped and hoisted him up, ignoring his complains about the grey water, and ran with him until we reached a familiar spot where the light poured in from the entrance of the well.
We clambered up and out, ran through the trembling building, and outside to freedom just before the old house crashed in on itself.
We stood in front of it and panted heavily.
"Fuck," I felt my legs give out and I let myself drop to the floor. Eddie sat down next to me and put his arm over my shoulders.
We all tried to catch our breath while the house fell down and all grew quiet.
"Well fuck that," I exhaled heavily and everyone started to laugh. None of us could quite believe we'd survived and we were soon hugging each one another and giggling hysterically. Eddie, still sat by my side, wrapped his arms around my shoulders and I grinned against his shoulder.
"I fucking told you you could do it!" I smiled.
"Thanks, Richie, thanks for everything."
"No problem," we let go of each other and grinned around at the others.
"Okay..." Mike sighed with a smile, "Lets go have a drink back at the inn."
Eddie got up and helped me to my feet.
We were about to start walking when Bev suddenly pulled Ben into a deep kiss and my mouth fell open.
Eddie laughed, "go on Ben!"
"Jeez guys why don't you get a room?" I teased and they looked round at us with a sheepish smile.
I saw Bill smile thinly at them. He looked a little hurt and I didn't blame him, they'd liked each other for so long, but Bill had his wife to think about now. Ben did not.
When we got back to the inn, I went straight up for a shower while the others started on the drinks. I felt disgusting and needed time to think about what I was going to say to Eddie about what happened in the sewers.
I undressed and took my glasses of, placing them on the sink as I stepped into the hot water. It wasn't until the water hit my skin that I realised how many cuts and bruises I actually had and I winced. Fucking Pennywise.
The longer I stayed in the shower, the less I wanted to get out. I had no idea what I was going to say to Eddie and I was starting to get anxious about seeing him. There was suddenly a knock on my door and I slicked my sodden hair back and away from my eyes.
"Yeah?"
"Rich, it's me!" Eddie called from outside my room, "You okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine. Just getting sewer water out of my crack."
There was silence for a moment before he added, "you've been up here a while."
"Maybe I wanted some time to myself," I joked but he didn't sound convinced.
"Come on, Rich, enough with the bullshit."
I sighed and turned off the water, stepping out of the shower and wrapping a towel around my waist. I opened the door and could just about make out Eddie's concerned expression.
"I'm fine, why are you so worried?"
"Because I know you, Richie. I know there's something wrong."
"We just battled a giant clown with spider legs, am I not allowed ten minutes alone to process that?"
"You've been up here for nearly two hours," he tilted his head and smirked, "the Richie I know would never spend that long bathing himself."
I suppressed a chuckle, "I just... it's a lot to take it, alright? And I just need a little time. We could have died down there and it's... it's not a good thought."
"Then come downstairs and be with your friends who have been through the same thing, don't hide up here on your own, okay? We're all worried about you."
"Worried about me?" I frowned, "why are they worried about me?"
"You've been up here a long time, that's all, and usually you'd be the first one to making some shitty joke about it all and pouring us all a whiskey."
"I'm just tired."
"Look, if it's about what happened earlier-"
I shook my head, "it's not-"
"But if it is then don't feel bad. We were under a lot of stress, freaky shit was happening all around us, and everyone was shitting themselves. I'm not going to be awkward about it, I just want to hang out with everyone tonight... after everything that's happened we could sure use a comedian."
I felt my heart sink a little at his words but nodded, "okay, I'll be down in a bit."
"Hurry up," he raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, unless you want me downstairs with just a towel on then let me get dressed!"
He chuckled, "see ya downstairs."
I shut the door and rested my head against the wood. He didn't understand me at all. No one did. I guess that's what happens when you hide yourself in a layer of swearing and jokes instead of facing your problems.
I trudged back into the bathroom to dry myself and get ready to try and cheer everyone up.
