eddie walked up to us with two ice cream cones in his hands. ''whatcha guys talkin about?''
''what they always talk about.'' richie said while walking up to us and taking an ice cream from one of eddies hands. '' i actually think it will end. for a little while, at least.'' ben said. ''what do you mean?'' bev asked. we all stared at ben for a response.
''so i was going over all my derry research and i charted out all of the big events. The iron works explosion in 1908, the Bradley gang in 35', and the black spot in 62', and now kids being...'' he took a pause. ''i've realized this stuff seems to happen every-
27 years.'' ben and bill said together.
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we rode our bikes down to the park. we parked them around a bench while we talked.
''ok so, let me get this straight. it comes out every 27 years to eat kids for like, a year? and then what? it just goes into hibernation.'' eddie asked. i was sitting next to Stan on the bench while we were being squashed together because of how crowded it was.
''what if they're like... what are they called?'' stan asked. ''cicadas?'' i answered. ''cicadas, the bugs that come out every 17 years?'' he said. looking around.
''my grandfather thinks this town is cursed. he says that, all the bad things that happen in this town are caused by one thing. an evil thing that... feeds off the people of derry.'' mike said. stan took in a deep breath. ''but it cant be one thing, i mean, we all saw something different.''
''maybe, or maybe it knows what scares us most and thats what we see.''
''i-i-i saw a leper. it was like a walking infection'' eddie said. ''but you didn't, because its not real. none of this is. not eddie's leper, o-or bill seeing georgie, or the woman i keep seeing, o-or jenna's animatronic.'' Stan said. he stopped the second he said that. i had told him about the animatronic and the clown yesterday in private.
i didnt want anyone to know because i thought the fear sounded stupid. ''w-what? a ladder?'' eddie asked. suddenly i saw all eyes on me. ''the other day, w-when you said i zoned out, i saw the clown too. there was an animatronic and it was like a was being pulled to it. i felt myself hugging the animatronic and getting eaten.
i saw the clown, i saw it . i felt myself fall. i-i guess that was because i have a fear of them, a-and its not a slight fear. its a genuine, i could pass out even thinking about it...'' i said as i felt myself start to get dizzy.
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i felt myself laying down in someones arms. i opened my eyes and looked up to see stan. i gave him a weak smile as he looked at me with wide eyes. he pulled me into a tight hug. ''jenna.. i thought you w-were gone.'' he said with tears in his eyes.
he let go and i found myself lying on the ground with the Losers surrounding us. they all pulled me in for a group hug.
''what happened?'' i asked. ''you passed out, probably from talking about the-'' Eddie got cut off by Richie slapping him. ''even i didnt know about your fear, jenna'' Richie said. ''you couldve told me.'' he said. being sincere for once.
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Bill had just set up the projector and Ben was closing the garage door. i sat down on a crate and watched as everyone else took their seats. i looked at the map that was displayed along the wall of Bills garage. there were marked locations and lines drawn everywhere on the map.
Bill inserted a thing into the slot of the projector (im sorry idk what its called) and the map had more lines appear on it.
''there. thats where g-g-g-georgie disappeared, there the ironworks, and the blackspot.'' he said while pointing to different places on the map. ''everywhere it happens, i-its all connected by the sewers. and they all meet up at the-''
''the well house!'' me and Ben said. ''its in the house on Neibolt street'' Stan said while looking at us. ''you mean that creepy ass house where all the junkies and hobos like to sleep?'' Richie asked.
''not the time rich.'' i said while Eddie took a puff from his inhaler. ''i hate that place. i always feel like its watching me.'' Bev said. ''yeah.'' i said. ''thats where i saw it. thats where i saw the clown.'' Eddie said while still gasping for air.
''t-t-thats where it lives.'' Bill said. i looked at him with a confused look. Eddie took another puff from his inhaler. ''i cant imagine anyone wanting to live there.'' stan said. ''or anything.'' i whispered. ''can we stop talking about this? i-i-i-i can barely breathe, t-this is summer, we're kids. i c-c-cant breathe! im having a fucking asthma attack!'' Eddie yelled.
(CoOl kiDs WiTh AsThmA)
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(sorry lmao)
''and im not doing this!'' Eddie said while tearing the map down. ''Eddie calm down!'' i said. ''what the hell! put the map back!'' Bill said. Eddie shook his head. then the projecter started fliping through slides, shining light on Eddie's face and then turning black. we all looked at the wall, which Eddie was standing in front of. it started flipping through pictures of Bill, Georgie, and their mom. memories.
''what happened? whats going on?'' Bill asked. Mike came beside Bill and leaned down to try fixing the projecter. the flipping stopped and landed on an image of Bill, Georgie, and their mom smiling in a picture. but the moms hair was covering her face. then it started rapidly flipping but each time the picture would get closer to the ladys face, showing her hair flip different directions eachtime.
at this point everyone was screaming and yelling. me, Stan, Richie, and Eddie were huddled up in the corner. then, the lady's face was revealed, although it wasn't her face. the clown.
Stan walked closer to the screen and i walked with him. we stopped in front of it as the screen went dark. then, just then, the clown popped out. but it was HUGE! i pulled Stan away as we ran for the door. the clown crawled around the garage, trying to attack Bev.
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Ben quickly pulled open the garage door, letting all of the light in. i opened my eyes to find Stan's head curled into my neck and my head on his shoulder. he looked at me and we both hugged eachother.
we were all breathing so hard. ''it saw us. it saw us and it knows where we are!'' Eddie said. ''it always did, so l-lets go.'' Bill said while walking out of the garage. ''go? go where?'' Ben asked. ''to neibolt. thats where g-g-g-georgie is.'' Bill, we cant!'' i said. ''after that?'' stan asked. ''yeah its summer....'' richie said in a low voice.
''if you say its summer one more f-f-f-f-fucking time'' bill said while getting on his bike. ''Bill where are you going?'' i yelled. i groaned and ran to get my bike.
