Buttercup | r. tozier

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A Few Weeks Later

Buildings were adorned with red, blue, and white decorations and flags. Sounds of band marches were being played throughout the road, from the drums to the trumpets. Bright confettis were blasting from everywhere, except at the place the six of us were standing.

We were staring at the posters that were on the wall, and not just any posters. It was the poster of Eddie Corcoran. He was the kid who asked me to borrow one of my pencils before he went missing.

"They said they found part of his hand all chewed up near the standpipe," Stan described what was of Corcoran's fate.

"He asked me for a pencil once," I sighed.

As we talked about what truly happened to Eddie Corcoran, Bill lifted the poster, revealing a poster of Betty Ripsom beneath.

"It's like she's been f-f-f-forgotten because of Corcoran's missing," Bill said.

Jaz eyed at the poster curiously. "If I am not wrong..." she paused before she continued. "She is my partner for a science project last year..."

"Oh, y-you mean last year's Science Fair?" Bill asked Jaz.

"Yes," she answered sadly as she pondered on the memory. "Betty was a nice girl, but I am not sure about her close friends though. I just wonder if this ever gonna end."

"Guys, what are you talking about?" Eddie asked, walking towards us with two cups of ice cream held by his hands.

"What they always talk," Richie chirped in after losing a fight over a flugelhorn with a band marcher.

"I actually think it will end for a little while at least," I concluded, remembering the information of the missing posters I collected so far.

"What do you mean?" Bev asked.

I then said before pausing, "So I was going over all of my data research and I charted out all of the big events. The ironworks explosion in 1908, the Bradley Gang in '35, and The Black Spot in '62. And now the kids being...I realized that this stuff seems to happen every 27 years..."

A moment of silence ensued, not knowing what and how to respond to the news I told before Jaz spoke up quietly.

"No, this could not be happening. At least not like a cycle."

"I wished what you have said is not true," I admitted as I looked at her worried face. "How about if we discuss this more at the park?"

They nodded before we left the alley to go to the park.

Several Minutes Later

We were strolling on the sidewalk for a while, sharing the ice creams that Eddie had bought for us. After our legs got tired from walking, we then sat on the nearby benches. I sat next to Stan and Mike, while Jaz sat next to Bev and Richie on another bench across us with Bill and Eddie standing next to each other.

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Eddie tried to come to a conclusion. "IT comes from wherever to eat kids for like a year and then what? IT just goes into hibernation?"

"Maybe, it's like cicadas," Jaz said. "Auntie Lily once told me that these bugs come out once every 17 years.

"My grandfather thinks this town is cursed." Mike stated. "He says that all the bad things that happened in this town are because of one thing. Something evil that feeds off people living in Derry."

"But it can't be one thing though," Stan said in a skeptical tone. "We all saw something different."

"Maybe," Mike said. "Or maybe IT knows our greatest fears and that's what we have seen."

"I-I saw a leper. He was like a walking infection," Eddie stammered.

"But you didn't," Stan protested. "Because IT isn't real. None of this is, not Eddie's leper, Bill seeing Georgie or the woman I keep on seeing."

"Is she hot?" Richie simpered, adding fuel to the fire.

"No, Richie, she's not hot!" Stan snapped back in frustration. "Her face is all messed up. None of this makes any sense. They're all like bad dreams."

"Like the nightmare I keep on having," Jaz murmured. "I keep on dreaming about Auntie Lily trying to eat me and her bloody hands and teeth."

"I don't think so. I know the difference between a bad dream and real life, okay?" Mike reminded us.

"Then what did you see? You saw something too?" Beverly asked Mike.

"Yes, you guys know that burnt down house on Harris Avenue?" Mike went to tell us about the house. "I was inside when it burned down before I was rescued...my mom and dad were trapped in the next room over from me. They were pushing and pounding on the door trying to get to me, but it was too hot. When firefighters found them, the skin on their hands have melted down to the bone."

We looked at Mike with pity and sympathy for his lost family.

"We're all afraid of something," Mike told us. Our heads nodded in agreement.

"You got that right," Richie chuckled nervously.

"Wait, why Richie?" Jaz's eyebrows furrowed as her eyes were set on Richie's. "I thought you were not afraid of something."

"Clowns," Richie replied, disproving Jaz's latter statement.