douze

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The group is gathered at the library. Mike had gotten a job there and had quickly worked his way up to the top of the ladder, even being granted his own office, which his friends promptly took over.

Bill is recounting a story he had made up in his head, a short horror tale about a haunted scarecrow. The group is sat on the ground around him, listening closely to every word. The story ends, and the group all smiles and stretches after being sat there for so long.

"That's good, Bill. That one's my favorite." Beverly sighs. "You should write it down. Be a writer."

"Maybe." Bill shrugs, smiling at the compliment.

"I don't know if you should take career advice from a bunch of losers." Richie speaks, and Eddie laughs.

"Look who's talking, loser." The small boy pushes Richie's shoulder playfully.

"Eds." Richie feigns hurt, placing his hand over his heart dramatically. He sniffs, fake-crying. "You wound me. You wound me right here in my heart."

Eddie's launched into a fit of giggles, and it makes Richie's chest swell with pride to know that he had caused that beautiful sound.

"Beep, beep, Richie." Stan grins at the two. It's a phrase that the group had invented to shut Richie up. It was like what the roadrunner cartoon said, and the logic behind it was that Richie was always running his mouth. "We're all losers. Once a loser, always a loser, right?"

"The Losers Club." Bill says, and the name resonates with each member of the group.

"Damn straight." Richie nods, and everyone chimes in with their agreement. Eddie has calmed down now, his face pink from laughter. Richie thinks he's impossibly pretty.

A hush falls over them. There's something they need to talk about. They don't want to, but they know they should.

"So, uh..." Ben is the one to bring it up. "The mist."

"Right. The mist." Richie sighs, not wanting to breach the subject.

"We've g-got to do something about It. It's... It's chosen us." Bill says, shrugging. "I wish It hadn't, but you guys can feel it, right? This is our b-battle."

"How the fuck are we supposed to kill a bunch of mist?" Richie asks, blunt as always. "We can't, like, stab that shit. It's mist."

"Well, the mist is probably a just product of the real evil." Mike replies, and the group looks over to listen to him. "We've established that there's something wrong with Derry. I feel like an all-powerful mist isn't it, you know? Maybe there's a control center of sorts, some force behind It."

"That's a good idea." Beverly comments. "Something deploying the mist. If we have to fight that mist, Richie's right, we can't actually do anything to It. So maybe there's something else to fight."

"Like a... like a heart of the operation?" Richie swallows, remembering his nightmare.

"Sure, like a heart." Mike nods.

Richie opens his mouth to tell the group about his dreams, but Eddie speaks up before he can.

"I've seen It." He says. "In my dreams. We're all standing under It. It's literally a heart."

"I dreamed it, too." Richie adds, and they look at each other curiously for a moment. What crazy connection do they have? Richie notices Eddie's eyes flicker down to his lips for just a second.

"Are you guys secretly some sort of psychic twins or something?" Ben jokes, and Richie scrunches his face up in distaste.

"We are not related." He says firmly. Ben puts his hands up in surrender, smiling a little nervously. God, that would be unfortunate, wouldn't it? Richie doesn't want to think about that.

"Do we even look alike?" Eddie asks, and the pair looks over to their friends at the exact fucking same time with the exact fucking same expression. It's comical.

The Losers all start laughing, with the exception of Richie and Eddie, who look back at each other a little confusedly.

"You don't look alike, no, but you sure do act alike." Beverly answers through her laughter.

"Do we really?" Richie and Eddie both say in surprise, simultaneously, of course, and the group is lost in hopeless laughter. The pair join in with their giggling at the ridiculousness of the situation. It's nice to take a break from thinking about the looming evil above them.

"Not all the time, but yes, you clearly do." Bill grins once the group calms down.

"Alright, alright." Richie smiles. "So we're psychic. But we aren't twins."

"It is weird, though. Your dreams." Beverly says thoughtfully. "You keep having these same visions that, like, fit with each other."

"I know. He just loves me so much that he broke into my brain." Richie jokes, ruffling Eddie's hair and earning a slap on the hand from the small boy. "I had the dreams first, he copied me."

"Seriously, I think these dreams could mean something." Ben speaks up. "Like, could we form a coherent story out of these little clips you two are getting?"

"That's a good idea." Mike agrees. "Tell us more about the dreams."

"Well, as far as we know, Eddie's dream comes first." Richie explains. "It's us two going into the sewers and getting separated. My dream comes right after, where Eddie gets covered in greywater and blood and shit." Eddie sticks his tongue out at the memory. "My dreams have been changing, though. I've gotten a few more things out of 'em."

"Mine, too." Eddie nods. "I saw us all meet up, coming out of all these pipes and whatever in the sewers. We came together in this big room, with the heart, and then I heard a weird whispering thing? And then I woke up."

"Did you dream about the orange lights?" Richie asks. "The Deadlights?"

"The what?" Eddie replies, and Richie shakes his head.

"It was... I saw orange lights. Down in that big room, I think the one you were talking about. I was in there alone, but I was yelling for you guys, and Beverly sounded like she was in a different room or something." Richie explains, furrowing his brow as he tries to recall the nightmare. "Eddie, I saw your sneakers. Like, moving by themselves. And then they filled with blood, it was kind of weird."

"Kind of?" Eddie scoffs. "That's really weird. My sneakers?" He looks down at his aforementioned shoes.

"Yeah, clean as always." Richie confirms. "Until, you know, they filled with blood."

"Gross." Stan comments, and Eddie nods in agreement.

"I did see you floating, Richie." Eddie confesses, frowning. It's one of his least favorite dreams. Richie trapped, floating with all the other dead bodies, face slack and blank. It's terrifying. "Up in Its lair. With all the other... kids. But you were breathing."

"We've got to find that lair." Mike speaks up. The newly named Losers Club members all show their agreement. "We cut out the heart, and the whole thing goes down."

"Cut out the heart." Bill repeats, nodding with determination.

Cut out the heart, and the whole thing goes down.

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