IT [2017] Richie Tozier

f i v e

Delilah woke up bright and early, well, bright and early for her, so 10am. her dad had hit her some more again last night. she went into her bathroom and took a shower. after that, her hair hung down her sides, wet, she failed and gave up with towel drying it. she put on her underwear and left back into her bedroom, making sure to fold and hang her towels back up in the bathroom. she stared at herself in her full length mirror. the bruises, new and old, scattered both her arms, favouring the top of them. the one around her neck was now deeply purple, with some blue parts. there was some intense bruising around her ribs. she remembered the time she had to go to hospital to make sure there was no internal bleeding after she had accidentally fallen down stairs in the middle of the night. what Delilah didn't know was that Richie was watching her, look at her injuries. not in a pervy she's-in-her-underwear kind of way, but in a I-wish-could-help way. the boy sighed and sat down on his bed, his head in his hands. he placed his glasses back on just as the phone began to ring. Delilah put on a long sleeved green and red striped shirt with some blue, short denim overalls. she made sure not to forget her choker and then she braided her hair to the side. the rotary in her bedroom began ringing. she sighed and walked over to answer it.

"Delilah!" bill's voice spoke. he sounded, excited, nervous and afraid all at the same time.

"hey bill, how's it going?" Delilah replied politely. Richie watched her on the phone from his bedroom, he knew she was receiving the same call he had one just previously answered.

"g-g-great! you need to come over, right now. t-t-the rest of the group are, I told R-R-Richie to meet you outside your house in f-f-f-five." he spoke. oh no. this is bad.

"no! I mean, Bill we'll be there, but I gotta go!" she put the phone down without waiting for a reply and raced to her window.

"Richie!" she yelled, opening her window. luckily he was there.

"woah, woah, woah, are you that eager to see me?" he marked. her heart melted a little at him smile.

"shut up, meet me around the corner, my dad's home so I don't want you waiting for me" he nodded and the pair shut their windows. Delilah sighed, she grabbed some money and slowly opened the door. her parents bedroom door was shut, meaning they or at least one was inside, most likely her dad. she tiptoed downstairs and into the kitchen. she grabbed a post it note and a pen.

went out with bev, I'll be back before curfew!

love you guys<3

she quietly and quickly went outside after placing the note on a counter spot where it would be noticed. she grabbed her bike and cycled round the corner. she spotted Richie whose face lit up when he saw her.

"ready?" he smiled, to which she nodded. they made their way to bill's while talking about the randomest of things. everyone else was already there, waiting for them. Bill had his dad's map pinned to the wall and Ben had let them borrow some of his projector slides. Mike and bev pulled the garage door together, while she, Eddie, Richie and Stan covered the windows with blankets and other things. they all sat in front of the map and the projector.

"okay, that's where g-g-Georgie went missing, there's the ironworks, there's the black spot" he pointed and the groups eyes followed. "everywhere it happens, it all connected by-" bill was cut off by Delilah.

"the sewers" she spoke, ear voice wracked with uncertainty.

"then they all meet up at the well house" bill added. Ben was happy that his research had contributed to something for the group. Delilah examined the map and the projections. she saw the one toon, she did, but was it all just a coincidence? she wanted to believe it was. she really did. but deep down, she knew, she felt that it was not, in fat, a coincidence. but that they ha legitimately found a lead on Georgie and many other kids' disappearances. what she didn't know was for sure was whether they'd be alive. if this thing, if IT had simply taken them, or killed them. some of the kid had been missing for months, nearing a year, the kids if they had just been taken will have been there for a very long time.