(Richie Tozier x maleoc!) Denial can be a most useful, temporary shield. Unfortunately, such flimsy armor will not last a lifetime. It is best to face your past, and do so quickly, before your past returns to face you.
In which Richie Tozier falls i...
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Terror consumed that entire space. The garage was no longer a safe hide-out for a group of pre-teens...it was now a monster's lair - tainted by an otherworldly creature and his hunger for fear. At the back of this horrible place, Richie's grasp was still tight around Daniel's shoulders. They were like two poor little leaves in a storm which bore nothing but death and annihilation.
"He knows where we are!" Eddie cried, and the sheer volume of his voice seemed like enough to knock Richie back to his senses.
The bespectacled boy shoved Daniel off him with all his might, and jumped back up to his feet. He hoped against logic that no one had seen his instinctive motion to hold Daniel, despite knowing that none of them would think any differently of him for it.
"It always knew." Bill said, this time without any hint of his usual stutter. "So let's go."
Daniel's legs quivered beneath him, but somehow he managed to pull himself from the ground and stagger towards the group. They were all standing in a wonky line, staring at Bill as he grabbed his bike.
"Go where?" Ben was the only one that could reply through the chattering if his own teeth. There was a silence that followed, and any quiet moment shared between a group of eight preteens was always a little eerie.
Finally, Bill swung a leg over his bike and answered, "To The Well House."
"Are you kidding?" Daniel blurred out, shivering from the aftermath of his shock. "When Richie brought me here, I thought we were just gonna figure out what was happening and avoid it...not go charging into a death trap."
"Yeah, man." Richie muttered, slightly less forceful with his words than he usually was. "I mean, it's summer...and we're just a bunch of kids. We should try and-"
"D-Don't tell me what I sh-should be doing!" Bill snapped. "I'm going to find G-G-Georgie, with or without your help."
True to his word, Bill sped down the street and was soon nothing but a blur to them all. Beverly has called out after him, but he didn't stop. Not even for her.
Daniel was overwhelmed with a sense of guilt at his own words. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so quick to judge Bill's actions. After all, he couldn't even imagine the pain of losing a little brother. He had an older sister, but she lived away from home with her husband and son. She was so far away that this horrible town couldn't touch her.
"We have to go after him." Beverly declared, swiftly grabbing her own bicycle and jumping on top. She tucked her lighter into her pant pocket and motioned for them to follow but none would budge.
