it.c.t
" treat yourself. take a bubble bath, drink tea... defeat a murderous space-clown from hell. it's called self-care ."
the thrilling sequel to the not-so-tragic story of losers, loss and love , or
in which derry's local losers come home for on...
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CHAPTER NINE a gentle reminder.
...
The door slammed in her face, cutting the four of them off from Ben, Beverly and Mike.
"Shit, oh shit!" Nicole yelped, kicking the door. The doorknob didn't budge in either direction.
They had made it inside the house. She had followed Richie, Eddie and Bill into the kitchen and a flood of memories crashed into her once again, a tingle in her hand now ran up her arm. And now the group was split.
"W-wait, wait Nic... back up." Bill caught her shoulder, pulled her back gently. That's when she noticed the fridge... shaking. It rattled back and forth, shaking even the floor at her feet.
Nicole retreated quickly beside the boys.
"What the fuck... is that?" She breathed. Richie shook his head, speechless, and Eddie was panicking like usual Eddie.
Then it stopped.
The door rattled open, Nicole pressed herself against Bill. The door swung open more and more, revealing a clump of... something. When she raised her light to it, soft brown curls shone honeyed from the light.
The head moved, struggled up.
Nicole felt her heart drop to her toes.
The face that screamed at them, contorted with pain, was Stan as they remembered him. The childlike features now greyed like a corpse. Nicole covered her mouth as it began to talk.
"I'd still be alive if it wasn't for you, Bill! This is your fault!" He screamed. The onlookers felt suddenly ill, then the head leapt forward and began rolling towards them.
"Oh, shit!" They scattered, trying to get as far away as possible. "Ugh, that's disgusting."
The head stopped rolling, and, instead, looked between the group. Their faces showed only disgust and horror.
Nicole gagged as legs began splitting through the flesh on his face. "Richie!" Stan's head cried. "What's happening to me?" The legs grew, more broke through the skin, and Nicole cowered against the wall.
"Oh god." Her voice was hollowed and echoed with horror.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Richie sighed as Stan's head got steady on the spider legs. It cracked a maniacal grin, then leapt at them.
Nicole screamed and shoved Bill out of the thing's way as she, too, scrambled to get back. Richie kicked at it, but it had six more legs than them and was way faster. The room was in chaos in seconds.
Nicole stumbled into a chair and the head turned it's attention on her. "Nicky! You let me die!" It cried. Nicole brandished the chair and tightened her jaw.
"No, I did nothing like that. I never would've... if I had only known." She murmured, then the head launched itself at her. Nicole swung out and felt the chair as an extension of her arm. It slammed into the side if the head and sent it tumbling into the dark.
She looked around at Richie and Bill, immediately noticing that someone was missing. It clicked with the other two.
"Eddie!" Richie called, snatching his flashlight up. The light arched through the room, then caught on something in a corner. They scrambled that way and came face-to-face with the man himself. Eddie looked like he'd shit his pants, but was unharmed.
"Where'd the little shit go?" Nicole asked to no one in particular, turning away. She could hear shuffling behind the reach of their lights, but saw nothing. He was a fast little shit.
She spun back to the others as Richie's flashlight pointed up to the roof. A grin answered him. "Oh, there he is."
It launched itself at Richie's face and quickly locked it's legs around his head, trying to pull his face close enough for it to bite him. Bill grabbed it and held it back, struggling, while Richie screamed for them to get it off.
"Here!" Nicole tore her jacket off and threw it over the head, then adjusted her grip to hold on better and yanked it away with Bill. Her jacket seemed to work as a distraction to it as it's legs pulled free and Nicole stumbled backward.
Richie struggled to catch his breath and Bill had stumbled back from the force and fallen into a shelf. The head-creature leapt onto Nicole and grabbed on to her head.
There was yelling beyond, but all she could hear was her owns screams and the terribly inhuman noises emanating from the head. It snapped, inches from her face, but didn't seem to get any closer.
They were holding it back.
"Eddie! Eddie, use that to kill it!" Bill yelled.
Nothing else happened. Bill yelled for Eddie again, and still nothing. Nicole felt her own hand slip from it's grip in holding the thing back and it came dangerously close, grazing the tip of her nose with a tooth.
"Oh, shit!" She panicked and began thrashing to get away.
Then, all of a sudden, it stopped. The thing fell still and was tossed to the side. Nicole made some strange choked sob and flung herself into Richie's arms, as he was the first person she saw and her heart was beating so fast she feared it might run away.
Richie leaned back on his toes and engulfed her in a hug, running his hand over her hair and whispering that it was okay, that she was okay. Nicole picked out Beverly's voice right beside her and felt a wave of relief that they had gotten through the door.
"O-okay, Rich... I think I'm okay. I think..." Her voice was shaking like her hands, but she was able to steady herself as she pulled away from Richie.
"Please don't be mad, Bill. I'm sorry... I just got so scared." It was Eddie's voice that whimpered. Nicole's head snapped to see Bill and Eddie.
Whatever was happening before, Bill seemed to soften. "I know... I know, and that's what It wants. He us to be too scared to fight against him." Nicole coughed and let Richie help her to her feet. She glanced at her coat, saw it shone sleek with the thing's drool, which slipped down the side, and actually felt her stomach churn.
It wasn't that expensive, anyway.
"What was all that?" Ben whispered. Nicole wiped the back of her hand across her mouth and sighed, regarding the lifeless head with a look of disdain.
"That was... a welcome home present, if assume. Someone we loved to make us feel right at home... either that or a gentle reminder of where we are, who we're up against. That we're playing by his rules now." She murmured.
Then everyone knew what was next, and they all spun to the door.
