Splendor//Bill Denbrough

E l e v e n

Obnoxious beeping wakes up Carn and Bill, who were in a tranquil sleep until then.

"How many times," groans Carn, "Do I have to tell you to change the sound on your phone alarm? It's not very pleasant to wake up to."

"Th-that's the p-p-point. It muh-muh-makes you want to-to get up and t-t-turn it off," Bill defends himself, turning off the alarm.

"Thank God. Silence," she yanks the comforter over her head as her husband draws the curtains. Bill won't stand for this and shakes her.

"W-wake up, sleepyhuh-head."

"Close the curtains first," she begs.

"Never."

"Bill, you fool, we're not wearing anything, and anyone can see us."

"We-we-we're high up. B-besides, no one i-i-is out six a-am on a Sat-Saturday."

Carn ignores him, which makes him even more desperate for attention. So he shakes and kisses her again and again.

"Okay, okay, I'm getting up!" she laughs.

"Th-the train's at eight, so you buh-buh-better be r-ready when I get out of the shower."

Reluctantly, Carn rolls out of bed and digs through her suitcase for a sweater and jeans. After she throws them on, she goes to the mirror to brush her hair and blushes at the love bites blotted all over her neck and collarbones. And she didn't pack any concealer or more high cut tops.

"Damn," she whispers, using her hair to hide them as efficiently as possible.

When Bill gets out of the shower, he lends her a sweatshirt to help a bit. Then they swing by Mike's house to grab the twins, being none the wiser about their little plan.

"You packed the extra cash, right?" Atticus whispers to Jeremy as the pack up only the essentials, stowing the rest of their possessions under the guest room bed.

Jer nods, unzipping a bookbag pocket to prove it. "And the notebook and the manuscript."

"Perfect. We probably won't have enough time to dissect all of it, but it's a start."

Their phones buzz simultaneously, and it's their mom.

'We're outside'

"This is such a waste of all of our time," Atticus rolls his eyes. "But at least they don't know that."

Jeremy shrugs in response, pulling the bookbag over his shoulders. On their way out, they say a goodbye and thank you to Mike.

"Hey mom, hey dad. How come you're so early?" Atticus greets them as he climbs into the Über, giving his mama a kiss on the cheek.

"We w-w-wanted to have br-breakfast with you two," Bill responds. "How are y-you g-g-guys this m-morning?"

"Fine," Jeremy shrugs. "How are you?"

"We're good," Carn replies, absentmindedly adjusting her hair. Atticus, who was shoved next to her in the backseat, spots to bruises all over her neck and gags.

"Mom, that's fucking disgusting," he points at them.

"Hey!" she gives him a light backhand on his arm. "Watch your mouth."

"Looks like dad should be the one to watch his mouth," he remarks.

Carn's jaw drops at that comment.

"Woah! Not n-n-necessary."

"Just saying," the boy defends himself. There's an awkward tension in the air after that comment, but luckily the train station is only a couple minutes away.

The family finds a small booth for the four of them at the station's cafe and orders a light meal.

"So," Carn starts, "What did you boys think of our friends?"

"They're a nice bunch," Atticus says.

"You w-w-would have luh-loved Richie. It's weird he n-never shuh-showed up. W-w-what about you, Jeremy? What did y-you thuh-think?"

Speaking softly, Jeremy turns redder than his strawberry blond head. "Bev was nice."

"She's pretty, isn't she?" Carn asks, stirring her yogurt parfait.

"She's okay," Atticus replies nonchalantly, but his cheeks go rouge as well. Bill and Carn look at each other and burst into laughter, much to the boys' chagrin.

"What?" the twins defend themselves. But their parents reply with a giggling "nothing, nothing."

"Guys... the train leaves in ten minutes," Jeremy informs the table, which is beginning to cause a scene. He shows his lockscreen to them, and the time certainly reads six fifty.

"Thank you Jeremy," Atticus lets out a sigh of relief.

"We'll walk you to the platform," Carn offers, and they don't oppose it. She even holds their hands like they were toddlers again, which is only slightly embarrassing.

The train isn't at the platform yet, so there's time for a heartfelt (and quite unnecessary, though the parents don't know) goodbye. Carnation holds their faces with teary eyes.

"I love you so much, Jeremy. And I love you so much, Atticus. You're our babies."

"Mooooom!"

"I know it sounds humiliating, but it's true. And tell your sister we said hello."

"We will," Jer nods. "Love you."

"Yeah, love you," Atticus looks into his mother's sea green eyes so she knows he means it.

Next is Bill. He hugs and kisses them each. "B-be good. I love you b-both so much."

They tell him they love him too and get on the train, which pulled in a minute ago. Finding seats, they wave and blow kisses to their hugging parents, very well knowing that they'll see them again by the end of the day.

In fact, the second that Carnation and Bill are out of sight, they are already dissecting Mike's history. They familiarize themselves with It's patterns and actions and try to come up with defense mechanisms.

It's a very short ride, only about fifteen minutes, to Bangor, so when they get off the train, they decide to wait an hour to catch the train back to Derry. The time they spend in the station is full of more research. Jeremy is deep in the internet on his phone when he comes across an ancient tradition.

"The Ritual of Chüd."

"Pardon?"

"The Ritual of Chüd," Jer repeats. "The ritual consists on biting down on the taelus' tongue and reciting riddles and jokes until someone laughs first. And if it's the taelus, then it goes back into hiding for a hundred years."

Silence for a couple seconds.

"What the fuck? Are you sure that's real?"

"It's from a citable source," he points to the website, which is the pdf of a book, The Night's Tale.

"But what the hell is a taelus?"

"Some sort of monster that takes the shape of what you fear most."

"That does sound like It," admits Atticus. "The only problem is, we want to kill It, not make It have a pleasurable hundred year nap so It can go eat more poor kids again."

"I know. But it's a start."