❝ 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪'𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴
𝘪 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 ❞
or in which verity summers returns to derry after twenty-seven years, and finds that nothing is the same
[it chapt...
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iii. grave news
"THIS IS FINE, I WASN'T PLANNING ON SLEEPING TONIGHT ANYWAY," Verity babbled, following the other Losers into the brightly-lit foyer. "Or the next few nights.."
It had taken a few minutes of shaky excuses, apologies, and quite a large damages fee to placate the restaurant's owner, but Mike had managed to pull through.
Eddie turned to his friends, eyes shifting around nervously as he said, "T-That's what Pennywise does, right? He fucks with us, so Stanley's fine!"
"Yeah, Mike," Beverly nodded, reaching to retrieve her phone from her backpack. "Do you have Stan's number?"
"Yeah," Mike replied, slipping his hand into the pocket of his coat.
At the mention of Stan's name, Verity's heart sped up again, but for an entirely different reason. Earlier, it had been the steady, fluttering beat of a hopeful teen, lovestruck and innocent; but now it pounded in an erratic rhythm, making her chest hurt. He's okay, he's fine, she thought, trying to remain calm. Eddie's right; this is what the clown wants, don't let It fuck with you.
"I don't know about you guys," she said shakily, "but I could really use a drink after this,"
Richie frowned. "Ver, we just had drinks- you tryna give yourself blood poisoning or some shit?"
She did not answer.
"Hey, Richie!" A small voice said behind them. Richie paused, slowly turning to see a small boy, gazing up at him from under a mop of brown curls.
Richie glanced at Verity, his mouth falling open. "How'd you- uh, know my name?"
The boy paused, a wide grin forming on his face. "The fun's just beginning, right?"
The Losers stared at him, faces wearing an almost-identical look of unease.
Verity inched away from the boy, moving to stand behind Eddie. Normal kids didn't act like this, and she had seen enough horror movies featuring possessed children to know which way this would turn.
"W-Wait.. he said-" Eddie stammered, looking back as Ver peered over his shoulder.
