dead in the water ( IT CH:2 ) DISCONTINUED

vii. back to the sewers

( WARNING:
this is a very long chapter, so buckle up. this chapter will contain mentions of a dead body, gore, blood, a knife, swearing, and other such things. please do not read on if any of these things might trigger you. your health is more important than the story. )

SEVEN

"I know I've said this before," Hannah panted, legs burning from the long distance the group had ran; they had bolted out of the library as soon as they had realized where Bill was headed, all of them determined to stop their friend from doing something rash and irrational. "But I hate this fucking town."

"Bill!" Beverly called once Neibolt came into view; the house stood just as they remembered it. Rotting and unoccupied. It creaked with every gust of wind, almost like it was taunting them. Mocking them; it took every ounce of willpower Levi had to not turn on her heels and run all the way back to the townhouse.

"No! No, you guys!" Bill cried, abruptly turning to face them. "I stuh-stuh-started all of this. It's my fault that yuh-you're all here. This curse—this fucking thing that's inside you all— it started growing the day that I muh-made you go down to the Barrens because all I cared about was finding Guh-Georgie." A tense quiet fell over the group as they all exchanged hesitant glances. The scene felt all-too familiar, which just further reminder them of their missing piece. "I'm gonna go in there...I don't know what's gonna happen, but I can't ask you to do this. It—"

Quietly, Beverly stepped forward, leaning down to grab a discarded piece of metal that had rotted off of the fence. "Well," she sighed, looking at Bill with resolved glint in her eyes. "We're not asking you either."

"We didn't do it alone then, Bill," Mike added. "So we're not gonna do this alone now."

"Yeah. I know you have a severe case of hero complex, but you aren't dying alone, buddy." Levi's lips turned up in a smirk, moving to pick up a piece of broken glass; to her right, Eddie winced as he watched, to which he only received a half-hearted eye roll. "Losers stick together." The seconds after those words were filled with awkward silence, none of them knowing how to move forward from the motivational pep-talks that had been given. It was all starting to feel like they were stalling—revving each other up for the inevitable moment when they had to walk into that house and face the source of their childhood trauma head-on.

Eddie was the first one to pipe up, "So, does somebody wanna say something?" He looked around, only for his question to be answered by more silence. From behind him, Hannah reached out to pat his shoulder, gently shaking her head when Eddie opened his mouth to say something else.

"Richie said it best when we were here last," Bill said lowly. Richie's eyebrows pulled together in confusion as he answered with a quick "I did?" before turning questioningly toward Levi, who shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. Richie thought for a few moments before speaking once again, "I don't wanna die?" Bill shook his head, only causing Richie's confusion to grow as he tried again. "You're lucky we're not measuring dicks?"

"No, not that either." Bill pursed his lips.

"Let's kill this fucking clown?" Richie tried once again, the tension in his shoulder dissipating slightly when Bill's face broke into a grin. A determined look settled on Richie's face as he repeated, his voice full of confidence, "Let's kill this fucking clown."

The inside of Neibolt smelt like mold and something else that Hannah couldn't quite put her finger on. A little voice in the back of her mind told her it was most likely the decomposing bodies of the clown's victims, but she willed that thought away with a deep breath as she gripped tightly onto her flashlight. The floors creaked with every step she took and she kept her elbows close to her sides, careful not to brush up against any overgrown greenery.