Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I stare up at the school, bored out of my mind and wishing I could be elsewhere. But alas, even during summer the new kid must make a stop by the school. With heavy feet, I slump up the stairs and into the building.

I hear shouting from a classroom not too far down the hall. Despite the dean's office being the opposite direction, I creep to the door of the classroom. Peering in, I see lanky boy in a red, sleeveless t-shirt slumping in a chair with his arms crossed. A horribly cut mullet sits atop his head as a woman stands in front of the board with her arms crossed, a policeman yelling at the boy.

Wonder what he did.. looks like a stereotypical bully, so I can think if a couple things. Unsatisfied with my eavesdropping thanks to the door being too thick for words to be made out, I quickly duck under the window and swiftly make it to the dean's office. This place is surprisingly pretty dirty, seeming like the students were here just yesterday. Maybe they were, maybe they got out of school the day before we arrived.

I push my racing thoughts down as I'm sat infront of the dean's office door. His last name is prominently showing itself off on the golden plaque that seems ready to fall off the door. With a deep breathe, I heave the door open, struggling for just a second at the doors unexpected heaviness.

"Y/N, I was wondering when you'd show up."

"Sorry sir, I got a little lost."

The man hummed, staring up at me from his seat, through his glasses. He gives off a weird vibe. I don't like him. The man motions for me to sit in one of the two plush, olive green chairs that sit in front of his desk. As I do, he reaches into his desk and pulls out a stack of papers.

"Now, Y/N. Looking at your transcript, I see that you were. . . kicked out of your last school. Of course I contacted the school about why, but do pray tell, what happened?"

I shrugged my shoulders, looking to my left to avoid his gaze. It's stupid, that kid had it coming.

"I was being bullied. The girl had bullied me since 9th grade, and it didn't bother me. I really didn't care. But then . . then she started targeting my little brother.."

I pause, my words getting stuck in my throat as tears cause my voice to crack. I sit silent for a moment, fighting the tears pricking the corners of my eyes as I tried to calm myself down enough to continue speaking.

"She did it right after we found out he had that week left to live. And I mean. . sure I can't, or, couldn't stand my brother, but I wasn't going to let her insult him like that."

I take a shaky breath, the terrible things that girl said resurfacing as a tinge of anger started to boil within the depths of my stomach.

"So I shut her up. No one is going to say shit like that about my brother except for me. I lunged at her, beat her to a bloody pulp. The first two or three hits were for my brother. . But after that, rage consumed me. Those years of torment she put me through decided that they did have an affect on me at that moment, and I kept at her until a teacher pulled me off of her."

The dean, unbeknownst to me until now, had been writing something down. I paused, looking at the dean with pleading eyes.

"I-I felt terrible after, I hated that I had caused so much harm to her. I.. I'm sure the transcript reads about my time in a psych ward, I'm sure you can guess I decided to punish myself for it."

The dean holds up his hand, abruptly dropping his pen as he pulled a paper over whatever he was writing on.

"You don't have to go into all that, I'm aware. I'm also aware of the anger management treatments you went through and the taser that you were permitted to have as a safer form of defense."

I nod, pulling the taser from it's knapsack that attached to my belt loop and set it on his desk. He nods at me and turns to more papers.

"Well, all things considered, you were deemed safe and thus you will be allowed at this school. If you have any trouble with our students, let a staff member know before you act of your own free will."

I nod, the discussion cut short as the door to the office slams open behind me. In just a split second, the boy from before is thrown down into the seat beside me. I eye him, and in turn he glares at me. I quickly swipe my taser from the desk before the boy can see it and tuck it back into its rightful place in its knapsack.

"Sorry to interupt Mr. Dìben, but we have hopefully solved the issue of all the missing supplies. My son has admitted to stealing them and would be ecstatic to attend some summer school counseling."

"That won't be necessary Mr. Bowers, and please, knock next time. We needed a reason to implement security cameras, and now we have it. Deal with your son however you like, but do not pull me into this. I'd like to spend my summer with my wife and kids."

The policeman grunts, apologizing before forcing his son up from the chair and out of the room. I questioningly glare at the now closed door before turning back to a bemused dean. He sighs before gathering a small stack of papers and handing them to me, encased in a large, orange envelope.

"Here. Please have your parents fill these out to the best of their abilities and bring them with you when the school year starts."

I nod, taking the envelope with both of my hands before quickly leaving and bee-lining for the school exit. Once outside, I notice a police car speeding off with a squeal of its tires. Ignoring the rather hypocritical scene, I put the envelope into my messenger bag and head for home.

I don't make it very far before the boy from earlier turns the corner, yelling at me. I don't hear what he says, so I opt to just keep walking. Let's see if my assumptions are true.

"Hey cunt!"

In an instant, I'm turned around and shoved into a pillar of the school yard, a statue of the schools mascot dawning it. The abrupt contact caused the air to leave my body and my back starts to ache.

"Don't ignore me you little shit. I run the school around here, and I'll make your life a living-"

The boy suddenly screams out in pain, clutching his left side before falling to the ground and looking up at me, gritting his teeth.

"You must be the infamous Henry Bowers I've heard so many whispers of. I'll cut to the chase for you, 1, Don't fuck with me. Just because I'm the new kid doesn't mean I'm some loser you can bully. 2, Do a little research, I got kicked out of my last school for sending a girl to the hospital. And 3, you should watch your own ass. I promise I can do much more than tasing you if you try to bully me."

I smirk at the revolting boy on the ground, returning my taser to its home before turning on my heel and walking away. I make it a good couple of feet away before turning back to the boy.

"Oh, and one more thing, learn to respect your elders. You're gonna be a junior next year, right? Well, I'll be a senior."

And with that, I left. My first impression on the Indeed bully making me proud of myself. From the corner of my eye, I can see a tall mass of something large. It kind of seems puffy, and is all white.

'It's gone.. wonder what it was...'

Chapter Text

Having gone on a not so leisurely stroll to accompany myself with Derry, I find myself profusely sweating as I wish I were home right now. I frown, fanning myself as I look around the lush environment. If I looked at the map properly, there should be a lake..

"Hey!"

I jolt away from the voice, a girl who was resting on her bike sat beside me. She had short, fiery red hair, accompanied by a simple, yet qaint white dress.

"..Hey?"

"Beverly, nice to meet you."

The girl extends her hand, and I warily shake it before she continues in the fake, nonchalant tone of voice.

"You another new kid? Haven't seen you around before."

I quirk a brow at her, realizing that we both started moving up the hill, towards the top. I nod, being distracted by high pitched, girly sounding voices.

"Middle school boys."

"Huh?"

Eyes widening as my lips tighten in embarrassment, I look over at the no older than 14 girl I had totally forgotten about.

"Sorry, I hear voices, up there. They sound like middle school boys."

"Oh, right! Those are probably the losers I was gonna hang out with! Wanna come?"

Looking at the girl, knowing I had no one else to hang out with and nothing else to do, I agreed. I kept my walking pace as she peddled ahead of me before turning into an opening in the trees that I hadn't seen before.

"I'll go!"

I hear the girl yell out, I turn into the clearing to see the girl, and five other guys, in their underwear. She calls them sissies before running past them and jumping off the cliff.

'This must be where the lake is.' 

I think to myself, deeply disturbed at her lack of hesitance. I glance between the five boys, all noticeably shorter than me, and all in tighty whities. Looking to the side in awkwardness, I question if I should be here.

"Uh, who are you?"

I look back at the boys, specifically to the one boy with glasses. His eyes widen as he extends his arms and shakes his head, waiting for an answer. Suddenly realizing these were middle schoolers, the awkward tension around me dropped as I scoffed a laugh and walked past them to look over the cliff.

The girl, Beverly, yells for the boys to join. Or us? She didn't specify. I look between the boys, all clearly hesitant to jump. Sure I would also be frozen if asked to jump, but I'm older than them, I can tease them either way.

"You kids too scared to jump?"

I say mockingly, the boy with glasses making another insult to who I even was before jumping over, a fat, stubby boy following right after. The rest of the boys jump down into the lake soon thereafter, only one staying. 

"Who are you? I don't recognize you." 

The lanky boy had a terrible stutter, and my mocking demeanor dropped. I put forth my hand for him to shake, introducing myself.

"Names Y/N, new kid here in Derry. Nice to meet you and your lively little friend group."

The boy stares at my hand for a second before shaking it. He turns and asks if I'll swim with them. Thinking to the fact that I am infact sweating bullets right now, I shrug and nod my head. I watch as the boy smiles at me and jumps over the cliffs edge.

Dread instantly sets over me as I realize what I just did. I'm terrified of heights, I'm about to freeze up and embarrass myself in front of a group of middle schoolers. I suck in a breath and look over the edge of the cliff, feeling a little dizzy as the water seems to grow further and further away.

I look down at the F/C flannel jacket that was tied around my waste, my white wife beater stained with sweat and my black Jean shorts feeling sticky. With a sigh, take off my socks, shoes, and jacket before stepping back up to the ledge of the cliff. I'm not swimming in my underwear around a bunch of kids.

With a deep breathe, I took a step back, counted down in my head, and ran. My eyes open to air beneath me, the lake quickly nearing as I realize I actually jumped. Within the split second I had after realizing, I screamed, fixed my form so I wouldn't hurt myself, and landed deep within the water.

I quickly resurfaced, and the kids all cheered. I smile at their welcoming nature and the fact I no longer felt like I was dying from the heat. The kids started swimming to a more shallow part of the lake, I assume, and I follow them.

The afternoon consists of the kids playing an assortment of water games, ranging from marco, polo to chicken fight. I sit to the side, making sure to watch the kids and keep them safe.

The kids eventually get tired of swimming, and opt to lay out in the sun as they dry. I lean against a log, looking at the beautiful sky as music from a radio plays.

"So, who are you?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm Y/N. Nice to meet you lot.. Who are all of you?"

Names are quickly passed around as small chatter starts, the kids going through a folder that Ben, the fat one, had brought. Richie makes fun of him for going to the library willingly, and I ask to see the folder.

"Derry isn't like any other town I've been in. People die or dissappear six times the national average."

Pages of news articles fill the contents of the folder, covering a variety of events. Looking through it, it's easy to see how many people have died here, a very, very large number.

"Seems like that number is even higher for the kids.."

I remark, Ben agreeing before saying he had way more. He asks his friends if they want to see, and they all unanimously agree. I get up, putting my footwear back on before gathering the rest of my things and starting to leave.

"You kids have fun."

"You don't want to go? And why do you keep calling us kids?!"

Richie yells at me, and I turn around to see the group looking at me with expectant eyes. Oh. They want me to stay.

"It's not that I don't want to go, it's just you're a bunch of middle schoolers, and I'm 18. I'll be a senior this next school year."

"So? You're cool, who cares?"

"Yeah, come hang out with us."

Taken aback by the fact the group wanted me there, I agreed to stay and go with them to Ben's house. If I ended up being a part of the friend group, I could serve as a chaperone for things they wanted to do. Even if they were middle schoolers, it'd be nice to have some friends. Some real ones.

I follow the kids to Ben's house, using Eddie's bike to keep up. He sat behind me, holding on for dear life. I feel bad for him, his mother sounds terrible.

Soon we make it to presumably Ben's house. It's later confirmed to be his house after he quickly throws his bike down and rushes inside ahead of all of us. He definitely has something out he doesn't want us seeing.

Once in his room, loads of documents and news articles are hung on his wall, each one filled with the mass amount of tragedies that have struck this small town.

"What's that?"

Stanley points out, at a signed document that hung on the wall. 

"It's the charter for Derry township."

Ben starts droning on about the documents history, something about a beaver camp, 91 people signing it, and said people vanishing that winter. I didn't hear every word of it, too focused on the strange face that seemed to be hidden in the nearby correlating photo. 

On of a man I suppose, with a large forehead and strange dark circles around his eyes. A sinister smile was upon the person's face, staring right at me. As if staring right at the person who made this picture. An uneasy feeling grew in my stomach the longer I looked, something that riled a sort of excitement within me.

'How interesting...'

Chapter Text

The next few days were filled with those same kids. We shared more about ourselves, we got closer to each other. It was a little conflicting, me being so much older, but no one cared. They made it very obvious they enjoyed my company, and that made me have a little hope for the world.

They were definitely better than the highschoolers I have run into. Of course Henry tested me a couple more times before finally taking the hint. Had to give him a couple of my infamous knuckle sandwiches though. The kids really liked that, how I stood up to bullies.

Terrible, terrible things have been done and said to these kids. I’ll make sure the rest of the bullies here get a taste of my medicine too. Glancing over to Bill, I watch him fumble with the $2 that he has. He’s trying to buy a basket full of snacks. I snort and push the boy to the side, pulling my own wallet out and handing the cashier my card.

“You don’t have to do that.”

Bill stutters out, struggling to say ‘you’ and voice cracking when he says ‘that’. Poor kid, wonder what caused his stutter. I glance at the whopping $20 he is missing before chuckling a little.

“Sure I don’t. Come on, grab some bags.”

I dismiss Bill’s protest to me paying, taking my card back before grabbing two of the four bags. The snacks range from sugary drinks and candy to water and kettle cooked chips. Bill follows me outside, waiting for me to prop up my bike before setting his bags into the basket that sat firmly on the front of the bike's handle. 

“You bought a bike?”

Stanley rides up, Ben following in suit. I nod, smiling down at the larger than normal bike in my hands. I picked it because I knew we’d be buying snacks today, and because I loved the F/C accents on the bike.

“Well I figured it would be better than stealing someone else's bike every time we all go somewhere together. I know the way I rode Eddie’s bike gave him a heart attack.”

The trio of kids laugh before pushing off and riding away from the store, me following on my own bike. Beverly soon joined the group, and we met Richie and Eddie at the site of today's hangout; an abandoned building, near the train tracks.

“Y/N why’d you say we should hang out here, this place is boring!”

I roll my eyes at Richie’s complaints before taking the hiking bag off of my back and setting it on a worn down counter. Richie ceased his bitching at the sight of the numerous paint cans I started to pull out of my bag. I tossed the kids each a different color, leaving my favorite color for myself.

“It won’t be for long! Come on losers, let's pretty this place up.” 

The group of kids holler and run off, some splitting into groups of two. Beverly stays with me, walking up and smiling at me.

“You like to spray paint?”

“Yeah, you should see all the walls and train cars I graffitied at my old town. The mayor had an absolute hissy fit every time something new was graffitied. Now that I’m gone, I’m sure they’ve figured out that I’m the one who was doing it.”

Beverly laughed before shaking the can, pointing it at a wall nearby and spray painting a sloppy red heart. I walked over and used my can to add more details, like little devil horns, a devil tail, and a halo. 

“Help!!”

The sound of Ben yelling drew my attention away from the art, his voice faint from another room. A single glance to Beverly led the both of us racing to find Ben, and find we did. The floor in the room had almost totally collapsed, revealing a large pit under the house. And there Ben was, holding on to a splintering floorboard for dear life.

“Oh my god! This place is trying to kill us!”

Stanley yells, Bill running over to grab onto Ben’s arm and try to pull him up. I watch a moment, questioning the common sense of the kids as they all huddle together to try and pull him up. Eddie looks back, cursing at me.

“Don’t just stand there you asshole! Help us!”

I roll my eyes with a scoff and walk over, peering into the pit.

“You guys do know his feet are like four feet off of the ground down there. He’ll be fine even if he falls-”

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t help!”

Beverly shouts at me, cutting me off. Irritated, I pull the kids away from the still hanging boy until he’s holding on for dear life again. The kids yell protestant cusses at me as I reach down and grip Ben’s wrist. Without a sweat, I pull the boy up and set him on the more solid ground of the house.

“There, safe and sound. Guys, please remember that I’m way older and stronger than you.”

The kids stood around awkwardly before beginning to file back to wherever they were, making sure Ben was ok and giving half assed apologies to me. I usher Ben back to the area me and Beverly were, and we continue to vandalize the abandoned building.

The kids each return to the main room, opting to sit down in some sort of circle and start chatting away. I jog outside to my bike, grabbing the haul of snacks I had gotten with Bill. After putting the bags on my arms, I look up and pause.

A single red balloon. Floating in place above the ground, a couple of yards away. I raise a brow at the eeriness of the situation, standing up straight while keeping an eye on the balloon.

“M’kay then.”

I mutter out, ignoring the strange balloon and rushing back to the kids to provide the snacks. I decided to not creep the kids out and don’t mention the balloon outside. I passed around the bags, each kid picking and choosing the snacks they took before the near empty bags made it back to me. Raising a brow at the almost empty bags, I glance up and glare between the group.

“Yeah, okay big backs.”

Snickers rang out from the group, the sounds of wrappers tearing and bottles opening filling the room. I opt to grab a water and pack of oreos for myself, snacking away with everyone else.

“Hey, you said you tased Henry Bowers?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you have the taser with you?”

“If you try to take it I'll tase you.”

I threaten Ben and Richie, each having been the ones to ask about it before pulling it from the knapsack on my hip and holding it up.

“Does it hurt? Did he cry?”

“I mean, yeah it hurts, but no. He just cussed at me and fell to the ground. You know, he kept trying to beat me up, even got his little gang of friends involved.”

The kids are silent, staring at me. I faintly laugh before pushing myself up, throwing my trash into the makeshift trash bag we had made.

“They weren’t successful.”

The kids hollered and laughed, asking me about what happened and how I dealt with it. They followed me all the way out to our bikes, throwing their trash away after having to remind them to. 

“I’ll tell y'all about it some other time.”

The kids boo’d me, all taking their bikes and leaving. We yelled promises of hanging out again tomorrow before only me and Ben remained. I sat there a moment, watching the kids get further away, remembering the strange balloon from earlier that had since vanished. I noticed the tense air that seemed to hang around Ben.

“What’s bothering you?”

Ben jumped at my sudden speech, fumbling over himself before sighing and sitting down. I sat down with him, crossing my legs and extending my arms past my knees. I look at him expectantly, waiting for him to vent. 

“The hole that I fell into. I recognised it. It’s a part of the sewer system.”

I nod my head, urging the nervous boy to go on. What’s so bad about the sewers?

“I . . . I saw something. Something big and white. You guys couldn’t see it but it was terrifying, it felt like it was staring into my soul, waiting for me to fall.”

‘Large and white..?’ 

“It, it got me thinking. Bill, he used to have a younger brother. Or well, to him he still does. His name was Georgie, but he’s missing. The . . the storm swept him into a storm drain, and no one can find him.”

“You think whatever the giant white thing is might be connected?”

Ben nods, taking a deep sigh before standing up and saying he should get home. He was right, I probably should too, it was getting dark out. Sensing his still adamant uneasiness, I put my hand on his shoulder.

“I’ll go home with you, if it’ll make you feel better.”

Ben smiles at my offer, nodding. With the push of a foot, we were both riding our bikes. It’s totally dark out by the time we make it to his house, and he thanks me for accompanying him home. As I’m leaving, it starts to sprinkle.

A sprinkle turns into a drizzle which turns into a downpour. The weather app said it would be sunny all week, what is this bullshit? I grumble, moving to hop back onto my bike while progressively getting more and more drenched by the rain.

“Hey . . .”

. . . what? Where is that coming from? I hear kids laughing and eerie music playing faintly, causing me to get on my bike and start peddling home. The laughing and music seems to get louder, whispers that I can't make out accompanying the numerous sounds around me.

And suddenly, just a block from my house, I start to see red balloons poking out from behind the trees. The air suddenly held an overwhelming metallic smell, the rain starting to feel warm. 

‘Right, this is weird, what’s going on? Little creepy, I must say. Mainly weird . . oh my god.’ 

I had finally snapped out of my tunnel vision, and was standing in front of my house. My house, the road, the grass, the trees, even me, all covered in thick, slimy, revolting blood.

‘I think I’m gonna be sick.’

Chapter Text

Walking out of my home with a popsicle hanging in my mouth, I pause at seeing the group of kids waiting outside. Beverly isn't there, leading me to question if she was ok. We stand there silently for a long moment, just staring.

"Y/N! It's Beverly, she called and said we need to hurry over. Grab your bike."

Bill stuttered, almost every word hard for him to get out. In an instant I'm cornering the back of my house to grab my bike from the shed, dread piling in my stomach.

"Let's go."

And we were off, peddling like bats out of hell to get to Beverly's house. The boys were arguing about what she said, Bill revealing that it wasn't much. She just called and said to hurry over, word for word.

The trip seemed short, and soon we were pulling up to her apartment complex. I'm the first to throw my bike down, running to meet her. She seems shaken, grabbing onto me and taking some deep breathes. 

"You okay?"

She looks up at me, glancing behind me at the rest of the boys.

"You guys came. I . . . I have to show you something."

Richie makes an inappropriate comment, earning him a smack upside his head. Beverly expresses her nervousness about her dad finding out she had the boys over, so Richie is told to keep watch. 

We enter her home and are lead to her bathroom. The door is closed, but I can see a strong glow of red from the light peeking out from under the door. As we get closer, a strong smell slaps me in the face, causing me to gag. It's a familiar smell, the same one that overwhelmed me last night.

"It smells like blood, what's in there?"

Beverly glances at me, her tense posture seeming to slighten just a little. Bill goes to open the door, and she responds right before we see the horror scene that is her bathroom

"You'll see."

"What happened in here."

The whole group pauses, staring in bewilderment at the blood soaked bathroom. The strong smell causes me to continuesly gag, and I turn around so I can't see the bathroom.

It's like last night, every crevice is covered in blood, there's no way to escape it.

"My dad couldn't see it, I thought I might be crazy."

Something is said in response, but I can't hear it. My ears start ringing and the hallway grows dark, seemingly stretching endlessly. The same eerie kids music from last night starts playing, and I cover my ears. It's giving me a headache.

"You okay?"

Eddie is the one to ask it, and I'm the recipient of the question. I glance over at the middle schooler who is now comforting me, taking a deep breathe to calm myself down.

"I'm fine, just get really queasy around blood and injuries, stuff like that."

Eddie sympathizes with me, Billy grabbing our attention.

"We can't leave it like this."

I glance between to other boys, taking a step back from the bathroom.

"Respectfully, I'm gonna throw up if I go in there. Why don't I go grab some supplies to clean it instead?"

The kids all agree, and I hurry out of the building, meeting Richie outside.

"Done already?"

I look at him, keeping my mouth shut thanks to the lump in my throat. I grab my bike and rush off to the nearest store, leaving Richie yelling cusses at me.

I make quick work at the store, already back at the house and handing out cleaning supplies. I stay in Beverly's room, trying to not throw up the entire time.

Every now and then the kids come in with an issue. Where do the put bloody rags and mops? Where do they put the bloody water they've collected in buckets? How do they get this one stain out?

Unfortunately, I've had to go into the bathroom multiple times in order to answer these questions. As I suspected, it did in fact lead to me throwing up a couple times.

After an hour or two, the bathroom is almost totally clean, Bill and Beverly being the only ones left in the bathroom. Ben sneaks into the room, physically jumping at seeing me.

Guess he didn't realize I was in here. I raised a brow at the kid, opting to ignore whatever snooping he was going to do. It's not like I cared about middle school shenanigans anyways.

"Have you seen a card? Like one of those cards you send to someone who's far away?"

Ben whispered, asking me about some card. I look around, spotting a familiar card on the corner of Beverly's bed. I remember Richie pulling it out of Ben's bag, Beverly wasn't looking.

I picked the card up for him to see the front, reading the sappy poem written on the back.

I glance at him, a small smile on his face before he explains he wrote it. Poor boy, Beverly definitely thinks that Bill wrote it. He leaves, a skip to his step.

I set the card down, a solemn frown on my face. That's cute, he likes her enough to write a poem. I wonder when I'll find someone that likes me. It's been so long since my last relationship. I'll never open up like that to a boy ever again.

"Y/N!"

Beverly yelling my name snaps me out of my head, and I look up at her. Bill is peering into the room from behind her.

"The bathroom is clean. We were gonna go hang out somewhere, you coming?"

I nod, apologizing before getting up from the bed and following her. Richie is steady complaining as we come from the stairs of the complex, most everyone ignoring him. The kids discuss where to go before taking off on their bikes.

I sit there a moment, zoned out until I notice some movement out of the corner of my eye. I look over to a generator, a black cat with piercing gold eyes sitting in front of it. I smile and slowly walk over to it, trying to call it to me.

It let's me get closer, and I quickly realize it's right hind leg is bleeding. The cat is calm, eerily calm as the world seems to go silent. It walks over to me after I crouch down, meowing at me.

It's kind of creepy, but the feeling is quickly washed away with pity. I extend my hands and pick the cat up, the cat lets it happen, but my right wrist gets scratched by its claws in the process.

I'll have to visit the doctor to make sure I didn't get anything from the scratch. I look at the cat, holding it extended in the air. It's cute, really cute. I love cats. The light must have been playing tricks, the piercing yellow eyes I thought the cat had actually being a piercing blue color.

I hold the cat close, making sure it's injured leg was facing away from me as I slip my hiking bag off. I rummage through it with my left hand, eventually finding the towel I was looking for. I made a makeshift bed in the basket on my bike with it before setting the cat in it. 

I look ahead of me, the rest of the kids being totally out of sight. I hop on my bike and rush to catch up, following the only road I knew to use to get to our hangout spot for today. I see the kids all stopped, standing in the middle of the road with their bikes.

"How stupid are these kids? Get out of the fucking road if you're just gonna sit there."

I mutter out, once again questioning the IQ of my friends. I get closer, joining the group before stopping with them. Stanley looks at me as I join, eyeing the cat I now had. I was going to lecture them, but something Eddie said had cut me off.

"The clown."

His voice shook and the group went silent, a tense air rising as they all turn to look at him. At the mentionof a clown, the scratch on my wrist begins to tingle. It doesn't hurt and isn't uncomfortable, but it's still concerning.

"Yeah, I saw it too."

Eddie continues, Bill noticing the strange looks falling on Ben and Stanley's face. I look between the kids, the tense air starting to feel suffocating. I could tell they were on edge.

"Can only virgins see this stuff? Is that why I'm not seeing this shit?"

I glare at Richie, my attention quickly wavering as I notice Belch Huggins car parked near a thrown down bike. A bike small enough for a kid.

The bike is quickly made out to be a homeschooled kids bike. His name is Mike. The group argues for a moment before throwing their bikes down and running to help the boy. I sigh aggravatedly before taking my bike and leaning it against a light post in the grass.

I gently cradle the cat in my arms as I move the bikes from the middle of the road, cursing the kids idiocy. After, I rush to catch up to the kids, careful to not hurt the cat further.

'Why won't my wrist stop tingling?'

Chapter Text

Following after the kids, the cat suddenly becomes restless before jumping out of my arms. I pause, watching helplessly for a moment as the cat dissapears from view. I shake my head before continuing after the kids.

It takes a minute, but I catch up. It's there I see one oh Henry's little buddies kicking wo I presume is Mike in the head. I look at the kids, all of which are frozen. 

I sit and watch as the boy is pinned down by Henry, struggling against him. I try to think of something before instinctively grabbing a rock from beneath me.

Henry was about to hit the boy with his own rock. In a swift motion, I throw the rock and it hits Henry in the head, on his right temple. Henry is knocked off the boy, and the rest of the kids rush to pick up rocks. 

Mike rushes across the small stream and I help him up, Henry being helped up by his own friends. I feel something brush up against my ankle, and I see the cat from before. Is it the same one though? It's eyes are yellow.

"You losers are trying too hard. She'll do you. You just gotta ask nicely . . . Like I did."

Henry yells across the stream at us, making vulgar motions. Beverley physically tenses, making me realize he was talking about her.

'I'll kill him.' 

Ben seems to sympathize with my thoughts as he yells and throws a rock, it also hitting Henry in the head. Sensing a rock fight coming on, I pick up the cat and pull Mike back to behind the group with me. Is Henry stupid or did he just not see me?

The kids all start throwing rocks at the bullies after that. Henry and his own friends scrambling to do the same. Richie yells out about some 'rock war' before getting hit in the head by a rock himself. 

The war lasted only a couple minutes, the bullies being severely outnumbered and quickly rushing away. I rush to the front of the group, telling them to not throw anymore rocks. Henry lay on the other side of the stream, glaring up at us. No, not us.

Me. He's glaring up at me. The kids start to leave, ushering an injured Mike with them. Richie yells at Henry before flipping him off.

"Go blow your dad you mullet-wearing asshole!!"

That's right, his dad. The cop. I turn to leave, following the kids whilst Henry's familial situation played in my mind. I look down at the cat, absolutely puzzled at it's now blue eyes. 

I follow the kids, Mike now a part of our little losers club. Mike is in front of me, a terrible limp clinging to him. This is why I keep medical stuff with me at all times.

Before we know it, we're back in town, looking at a missing persons poster while the fourth of July parade went on beside us. I'm sitting against the wall with Mike as the kids talk about all the missing kids.

I luckily had enough stuff in my hiking bag to help Mike with his limp, though I'm a little nervous for the cat. Taking a further look at it's hind leg, it seems like a scrape, but I can't tell. I had put disinfectant on the wound, bandaging the leg after. It'll have to do for now.

"I actually think it will end, for a little while, at least."

I look up at Ben, the comment making the scratch on my wrist tingle. I question him, and he continues.

"I was going through my research, charting the big events, you know? It seems that this stuff seems to happen . . every twenty seven years."

Bill says the twenty seven the same time Ben does, making me curious of research Bill might have been doing. The kids all look between each other, then to me. I lift a brow at their gaze before turning to the injured Mike beside me.

"Let's go. You're gonna be on my bike this time."

And with that, we left the alleyway, heading for the townsquare. Finding a bench in the shade was hard, but luckily there was a free one that was close to the giant statue that resided nearby. The kids all find a place to sit, quickly discussing the strange clown Eddie had mentioned earlier.

"So let me get this straight, IT comes out from wherever to eat kids for ,like, a year? And then what, it goes into hibernation?"

By now, the cat I had picked up was seemingly asleep in my lap. Though, I doubt it, it's ears poke up at certain things the kids say. I pet it absentmindedly, the scratch on my wrist holding a faint tingling feeling.

"My grandfather thinks this town is cursed. He says that all the bad things that happen are because of one thing. An evil thing, one that feeds off the people of Derry."

Stanley interjects, trying to reason against the violent idea.

"But it can't be one thing. We all saw something different."

The group pauses, allowing me to speak up.

"Or, it knows what scares us the most and that's what we see." 

It sounds a little ridiculous. I've definitely encountered this thing that they are talking about, but not once has it shown me anything that genuinely creeps me out. Sure, weird, unexplainable things, but never something creepy. 

The kids all take turns explaining what they saw, what IT showed them. I give my pity to these kids, kids that have experienced traumatizing things. Especially Mike, the poor kid.

The discussion comes to me. It's my turn to talk about what I saw, what I fear.

"I can answer the first question, sure, that's easy. I saw everything covered in blood once, I've seen this giant, white, thing following me around, and balloons. Specificially red ones, I've seen so many of them."

I pause, trying to find the words to answer the second question. The cat woke up, it was staring at me. It's blue eyes held a tint of gold, maybe that's why I keep seeing it with blue or gold eyes. Maybe it's just the light hitting them a certain way.

"I don't know what I'm scared of. Since I was small, the usual things that would scare someone never scared me. I just found the stuff fascinating. And believe me, I've tried to figure it out. I'm a big empath, it's easy for me to understand how others feel . . but not when it comes to fear."

The group stares at me, silent. I shrug my shoulders, continuing to pet the cat. I know what scares me. But it's too dark. I can't tell the kids that. They're kids. 

The conversation quickly shifts to Richie, him confessing that he's afraid of clowns. In my head, I definitely can't understand that one. Clowns are so endearing, how could anyone be afraid of them?

Chapter Text

The next thing I know, I'm sitting in Bill's garage. We had decided to look over Ben's research, and made a quick pit stop at his house. Now, I'm sitting on a rusty, foldable chair while Bill sets up his projector. 

"Look, that's where Georgie dissapeared . ."

Bill explains, stuttering and struggling to say Georgie's name. He continues, noting how all the major incidents that have happened in Derry are all connected by the sewers.

"They all lead to the well house."

Ben points out, causing the cat to stir in my lap. I change my posture, sitting up a little more. If you ignored the overwhelming tingling sense in my wrist, this is actually very interesting. 

"That's where the house on Neibolt street is."

I don't know who said it, too consumed in the fact that Eddie is starting to freak out. Something feels cold on my lap as I move to rub Eddie's back, him using his inhaler as I do.

"That's where I saw the clown."

I notice the cold spot on my lap is the fact that the cat is no longer there. I look around, praying that the tingling of the scratch would go down just a bit. Bill says that the house is where IT lives, and Eddie abruptly gets up.

He yells, complaining that he can't breathe, that's it's summer, and that he's having an asthma attack. In a small fit of rage, he tears the map down, causing the wall behind him to turn pure white. 

I look around for the cat, hoping the commotion hasn't scared it into hiding. Eddie had better hope he didn't mess up the map, I'm pretty sure it's Bill's dad's.

Suddenly, the projector clicks, and look back at Bill with a questioning look. But he's standing a foot or so away, staring at it just as confused. 

"What's going on?"

I ask, the kids all seeming nervous. They struggle to get the thing to stop, and I'm stuck watching the wall. It looks like pictures of Bill's family. All photos that have his little brother, Georgie, in them. Or, I'm assuming it's Georgie.

I stand up and take a couple steps to the right. I haven't backed away from the wall, just more to the right of it. The projector settles on a photo of Bill's family, all holding hands. The mother's hair is in her face.

The projector starts to focus in on Georgie, causing Bill to say his name. Is this what they were talking about? Is IT doing this?

The photo quickly shifts to Bill's mom, her hair still in her face. As the projector clicks, Bill’s mom morphs into a clown. Richie immediately yells, asking what the clown was.

"That's IT!"

Richie doesn't seem to care, still yelling the same question, seemingly in shock. It's a clown, I giant looking one, covered almost totally in white. Is that what was watching me? The day I got here, was that it? The photo was still blurry, and I couldn't properly make out it's appearance in the dark.

"Turn it off. Turn it off!"

Beverly yells, Richie agreeing. The cat. My cat. Where's my cat? Is he okay? Where is he? Mike suddenly kicks the projector, and it falls. Suddenly I'm blinded my the projectors light, and Stanley pulls me towards him and the corner. 

The thing, it's staring at me and him. God, I hope the cat is ok. Where did it go? Please be safe. The projector clicks a couple more times, allowing Stanley to back up towards the group, leaving me in the corner. And suddenly, the clown is gone. Just the background of the photo is on the wall. 

The projector clicks off, leaving us in total darkness for a moment. Then it comes back on, and the clown, it's here. Its huge, it's upper body is crawling out off the photo on the wall.

"Oh what the fuck?!"

I yell out, backing up into the wall. My eyes widen and my heart is beating out of my chest, confusion swallowing my whole being. Is my cat ok?

The thing looks at me, and I freeze, some sort of noise escaping my throat. The kids all fall back on each other, I can see from the corner of my eyes. Just let them get out, that's my priority.

I look up at it, like a deer caught in headlights. I make a quick dash towards the kids, grabbing Beverly a little harsh and throwing her behind me. Right, let's protect the kids.

The thing roars, crawling after me, all whilst the projector clicks on and off in slow intervals. The thing gets close to me, really close to me. Thoughts run through my head as it reaches out to me.

'Make sure the kids are ok. Protect the kids. My cat. Where's my cat? Oh please be ok. Why is this kind of hot? Fuck I think the clown is hot, not good.'

The giant clowns eyes, a piercing yellow, seem to turn blue before the door of the garage is slid up, letting the rays of the sun into the garage. The thing is gone, leaving behind a very messy garage. I have very mixed feelings about what just happened. 

A loud meow causes me to whip around, the cat rounding the corner of the garage from outside. How did it get outside? Oh whatever, at least it's safe. I pick up the cat and give it a semi-tight hug, glad it's ok.

"Is everyone ok?"

The kids all nod, answering me with shaky voices. Bill ushers for us to go, wanting us to go to Neibolt street.

"Are you crazy? That thing saw us! It knows where we are!"

"It's always known where we are."

Eddie yells at Bill, Mike quickly shooting him down. Bill takes off, heading to Neibolt Street by himself. He's going to try and find Georgie. Does he not realize by now that the kid is dead?

The kidsall look at me, and I go and pick up my bike, putting the cat inside the basket on it. I turn to the kids, motioning for them to grab their bikes.

"Well come on, we gotta make sure he doesn't get himself killed."