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 TEN ritual gone awry.
...
Nicole winced as her feet slipped into the murky sewer water, squelching a mystery semi-solid mass beneath her shoes.
"Ah, yes... remember all this?" She sighed. In front of them, the water eventually ended at the edge of a heap in the dark. From where she had been standing, Nicole could pick out a trap door in the top. "Because I... don't. Did he change it?"
"Things are different here, that's for sure. Come on and watch your step... never know what you could step on." Bill led the way forward, wading through the water. It gradually got deeper, until Nicole was holding her arms at the height of her chest.
The ground suddenly sloped upwards, then Bill pulled himself up onto the platform above the water. He helped Nicole up, then they helped the others.
"Come on, Bev." Nicole called, waving the red-head over. Instead of joining the others, Beverly stopped and hesitated.
"Wait guys... there's... there's something here--" She barely finished the sentence before something seemed to pull her under the surface. Nicole leapt to her feet, muscles tense.
There was half a second of hesitation before Nicole jumped back in, grabbing for Beverly and swinging at whatever it was that was holding her down. The water splashed around and it took Nicole a moment to realize that it was the boys helping her.
The water stilled and they broke the surface, gasping for air.
Beverly promptly climbed out and didn't look back.
"I see he's readied this place with all sorts of gifts, too. How considerate." Nicole grumbled as she climbed onto the platform.
"I-i-i'm so sorry guys, I just... I froze up again... I got scared again and I... I could've let Beverly die... I'm so sorry-- I can't do this. I'll just get you guys killed, I can't do it." Eddie was talking about a mile a minute and left Nicole's head spinning. It was Richie who stepped closer to their friend and placed his hand gently on Eddie's shoulder.
Nicole swiped her hair out of her eyes. "Hey, Eds. Don't sweat it... treat yourself. Take a bubble bath, drink tea... defeat a murderous space-clown from hell. It's called self-care." Nicole grinned and he nodded his thanks, then turned back to Richie. She opted to give them their moment, so she ducked down to the trap door that Bill had pulled open.
"You okay?" He glanced up at her, worried. Nicole sighed, paused, then shook her head.
"Not really. But I mean... are any of us? This is inarguably fucked up... I just hope it works." She mumbled, then tried to smile in an attempt to lighten the mood. From the sad smile Bill returned, Nicole could only imagine how tortured hers looked.
