Thursday June 26, 1997
The week had gone by with Henry spending his time away from school and spending it with Winter. Leaving her to go to school and go on with the clown's orders caused him anxiety and fear. He didn't want to get out of the bubble of comfort, love and safety that he felt when he was with her. He knew he had to go on with the orders, though, to keep her safe.
Henry was sitting in his class and left his jacket in his locker. He looked like his normal self but no one in the class knew the tornado of anxiety that was going on inside of him. He had been conflicted knowing now that the jacket belonged to the biggest psychopath in Derry that Winter feared.
As the class watched a movie that afternoon, the teacher was not in the classroom. Henry felt very anxious in his seat. He was changing his position frequently, putting his hands through his messy hair and biting the tip of his thumb as he worried about Winter being alone, the jacket, and having a few days to kill the losers.
"Henry, you're cutting this close. They have to be dead by the end of the month," said a voice in Henry's head. "Put on the jacket, man!" It sounded like Victor. Him and Belch weren't in class that day, though.
Eddie, Ben, Bev, Stan, Bill and Richie watched Henry as he couldn't concentrate on the movie and continued to fumble around in his seat.
"We need to talk to him, guys..." Bev whispered, "He looks like he's having an anxiety attack. He's obviously trying to keep away from the jacket. The least we can do is talk to him."
"Last time I talked to him, I got a burn underneath my ribcage," Richie frowned, "It still hurts."
"I-I-It's not him th-th-that's doing these th-th-things, Richie..." Bill whispered in Henry's defence.
Ben had explained to them about Ace Merrill. How he was a psychopath ever since he was a kid, and when he was in high school and met his first love, she had disappeared and it made him snap. He tried to kill a group of kids that he hated, and one day he got trapped on the train tracks and ended up getting hit by a train in 1958.
"This Ace shit doesn't make sense, 'cause Winter's not missing anymore. They never found Ace's girlfriend, but Winter's fine," Stan said.
"If it had to do with the clown, It might have decided to change things up so the plan works this time. Ace killed two people, but he didn't kill everyone that he wanted to. Maybe the clown thinks that if It brought Winter back to Henry but put her health on the line, it would cause Henry to finish all the killings It wants him to do... It's blackmailing him," Ben said.
Bev lightly hit Bill on the arm and gave him a'talk-to-him'look.
Bill sighed. As some students didn't bother showing up to school the last couple of days of school, Bill scooted over a few desks to sit next to Henry.
From the other side of the class, Mike Hanlon observed as Bill went over to talk to Henry.
"Hey, Henry..." Bill said without stuttering.
Henry jumped, not realizing that Bill was beside him as he listened to his thoughts anxiously. Henry quickly glanced at him uncomfortably and looked back to the movie.
"W-W-We kn-know you're tr-trying to p-p-protect Winter..." Bill whispered to him as Henry continued to bite down on his thumb, "It's th-the clown who wa-wants you to k-k-kill us, isn't it? The cl-clown gave you the ja-ja-jacket?"
"He's trying to empathize with you, Henry, to keep himself alive. Since when did Bill ever care to sit with you and have a conversation? He's doing this for himself..." Victor said.
Henry continued not to answer. He wanted to, but the force of the jacket was so close as it hung in his locker. It could hear everything.
Bill looked at his friends uncomfortably. They urged him to keep talking.
Bill looked back at Henry, "You kn-know w-w-we can k-k-kill it..."
Henry stopped biting the tip of his thumb and looked at Bill seriously, "You might think you know what's going on, Bill, but you don't. If I told you everything, I leave her in danger. If I fight the clown with you, I leave her in danger. If I don't do what It tells me to do, I leave her in danger. You've known me since I was six. You know I was nothing before her. I read... I hung out with my family... I didn't talk to many people... I was a loner and no one cared to talk to me. She says I'm her world, Bill. No one has ever said that to me before. No one saw me, but she did. I lost her for three days and I will never -never- go through that pain again!"
The bell rang.
Henry didn't hesitate in getting out of his seat with his anxiety on maximum. He needed to leave.
Bill looked at his group of friends who had been listening the whole time. They all looked surprised that Henry opened up to Bill, but they were scared that Henry was still going to try and kill them.
"Fuck!" Richie said as he realized there was no way out of this.
As they were walking out of the classroom, they stopped at the doorway and looked down the hall. Henry had his locker open and he looked like he was having a conversation with people who weren't there.
Henry punched his locker door as he stared at the jacket. It felt like it was telling him to put it on. The force inside of it was hungry.
"Come on, Henry! You're putting Winter in danger by not putting it on," Victor said from behind Henry.
Henry turned around and jumped as Victor and Belch were covered in blood and their clothes were torn up. Belch's nose was broken and blood was washed through his hair. Victor only had one eye and his skin was covered in asphalt and burns like he was caught in a fire.
"Why do you guys look like death?" Henry asked wide-eyed.
"Because we are dead, Henry. We've always been dead..." Vic said to him as he walked closer to Henry. "You don't see things how they are when you're wearing the jacket. You see things how they use to be when it was us and Ace running this town. The clown killed us when Ace couldn't fulfill his duties with the clown."
Henry continued to stare at them with fear in his eyes.
"You don't want Winter to be like us, right, Henry?" Victor said to him, "Don't do this to her. Ace did this to us by not finishing what he started. There's still time, Henry."
Mike walked up to the six of the friends as they stared at Henry talking to the air. "I know you guys kind of know what's happening with Henry, but I've been studying the curse of this town for years, and I know everything that's going on. I didn't think It would choose Henry, but I feel bad for him..."
"You know what's going on?" Eddie asked him.
Mike nodded, "I can explain everything I know about the clown later to you guys. I found a book in the library written by an unknown author who saw the prophecy of the clown and wrote it all in a journal. It was like I was mean't to find it..."
"Mike, you and Henry are friends, right? Maybe you should talk to him. It looks like he's trying to keep away from the jacket, but he can't..." Richie said as he watched Henry talk to himself and punch his locker. "Something invisible is talking to him... like ghosts..."
"Or the clown..." Eddie said nervously.
"Fuck, guys! He hasn't worn the jacket in almost a week! It's probably power hungry right now!" Stan gulped.
Eddie took a puff of his inhaler.
"Please, Mike, go talk to him!" Bev said as she stared sadly at Henry breaking down.
Mike nodded to the group. He slowly and nervously walked down the hall towards Henry as he continued to look at things that weren't there.
"Henry?" Mike said hesitantly.
Henry looked at him. He felt like he hadn't talked to Mike in along time, which was probably for the best as he was on Henry's list as well.
"Oh, look..." Belch laughed, "This could be an easy kill, Henry. You need to put the jacket on and just do it."
"Go away, Mike!" Henry warned him, fearful of what he could do to his only friend.
"I know what's going on, Henry. You don't have to do any of this. Your friends can help you..." Mike said as Bev, Eddie, Ben, Bill, Stan and Richie continued to watch from the door frame down the hallway.
Belch laughed, "Friends..." he repeated.
"They've never been my friends. They're Winter's friends, but they've barely said a sentence to me until today..." Henry said as he continued to have shifty eyes around the hall as he stared at the ghosts in front of him.
Mike remained calm as he tried to tame the beast in Henry as he stood near the jacket, "I know what's going on... The clown wants you to kill Winter's friends so they don't kill It."
"You're on the list too, Mike..." Henry said to him, still hinting for him that he should get away from him.
Mike stared at him surprised. He read the prophecy that was written over a hundred years ago, and it mentioned the lucky seven, but he didn't know he was apart of the seven. He knew it was the six standing at the door frame, and Henry was the chosen one to kill them, but it took him by surprise to find out he was the seventh.
"Henry, I know a lot more than you think I do. I've read about it by someone who had seen it happen hundreds of years ago... It doesn't have to end the way you think it has to end..." Mike said calmly.
"Look at this guy, Henry..." Vic laughed, "He's being all friendly and caring towards you, but has he ever gone out for a coffee with you after basketball practice like you've asked him to? No! No he hasn't! He's trying to get in your head."
Mike continued to talk as Henry remained quiet and listened to the voices that Mike couldn't hear. "Henry, I don't know who or what is talking to you right now, but you can't trust them. They're trying to get into your head."
Vic laughed again, "He said exactly what I did."
"Penis!" Belch said randomly.
Vic looked at him with a confused expression, "What?"
"I wanted to see if he would repeat it," Belch laughed.
"I have to do what the clown wants or It's going to take Winter away from me. I don't care if I die or if I go to prison... I need her to stay alive and be safe..." Henry said, almost looking like he was holding back tears as he continued to look from Mike to the dead guys around him.
Mike shook his head, "No, Henry, listen... Ace Merrill was being controlled by the clown like you are, and they still never found his girlfriend and Ace still ended up dying. It's just manipulating you to do what It wants you to do. It will still kill you the moment It gets a chance to. That's why we need to stop It before this gets even more out of control for you." Mike continued on, "Henry, I know you need the jacket to do what the clown wants because you never took the token of evil the clown gave you as a baby..."
Henry looked up him wide-eyed and thought of the balloon the clown left him to grab as a baby, "How do you know that?"
"Like I said, man... I read it... Someone predicted all this years ago. It didn't say in the book if the last group of seven was going to be killed by the chosen one to kill them or not. Ace took the token of evil when he was a baby, and that's why he was psychotic. You aren't like Ace, Henry, and that's why the clown gave you the jacket."
Henry looked down at the ground, to his dead friends, and back to Mike. A tear ran down his face, "I don't know what to do, Mike."
"Go be with Winter. The clown is an evil force, but if you feel safe when you're with her, then go be with her. Everything has a force, and maybe Winter has a force that makes you feel safe, and maybe your forces together make the both of you safe."
"You might be right about it, but her force is still in a body that can be killed. I need to protect her!" Henry said to him.
"That's right, Henry..." Vic said to him, "Put on the jacket and let's finish this."
Henry pursed his lips and took a second as he blinked out one last tear. He slowly grabbed the jacket out of his locker.
"Run, Mike..." he warned him.
"Henry, we can stop this!" Mike said as he began to back away. "You need to trust what I have to say to you! Winter still has time and we can stop It!"
"Run!" Henry said more seriously. Then Henry turned to the group watching from the classroom door down the hallway and yelled at them, "RUN!"
They jumped at his yelled and felt their breath catch in their lungs.
Mike ran towards them and told them to run with him. They took one last look at Henry as he was putting on the jacket.
"FUCK! FUCKING SHIT!" Richie said scared as they ran down the other hallway.
As Henry stood in the jacket, Belch and Victor appeared normal to him. They weren't standing around in their own blood and guts anymore. The jacket hugged Henry with anger and rage. He slammed his locker door and the three boys laughed loudly and screamed in terrorizing excitement as they went running down the hall that the losers ran down into.
The losers heard them screaming, taunting them from down the other hallway as their screams and shouts became louder and closer.
"WHAT DO WE DO NOW?!" Eddie yelled to his friends as he ran as fast as he could, fear filling up his entire body.
"BARRENS!" Bill yelled back.
They could hear the loud bangs of the guys punching the lockers as they continued to run after them.
"WE CAN'T HURT HIM, GUYS! IT'S NOT HENRY!" Mike yelled to them as the bangs got louder.
"WE STILL HAVE TO DEFEND OURSELVES!" Stan yelled.
They turned into the next hallway and stopped as the clown stood there, staring at them with Its yellow eyes. They all gulped and began backing away slowly.
Eddie took a puff of his inhaler.
"Where are you guys going?" the clown said goofingly. "It's time for a blood bath!"
It began to walk up to them as they continued to back away.
Bev looked around for anyway out as the clown got closer and the three guys behind them were getting closer to them too. She took a chair that was sitting against the wall and smashed the window.
"LET'S GO!" she yelled at them as she jumped up through the window and the guys followed behind her.
"YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER!" the clown laughed at them. "EVERYDAY YOUR FEAR SMELLS SO MUCH TASTIER!"
Henry, Belch and Victor ran to the window and the clown was gone. They noticed the broken window and climbed out of it. They could see the losers running to the Barrens in the distance and they chased after them.
The losers ran as fast as they could to the part of the Barrens that was a dirt pile and was full of dirt hills and peoples garbage.
"Grab your ammo, guys!" Richie said as they all grabbed a pile of rocks and continued to hear Henry, Belch and Victor yelling and hooting as they ran closer to them.
When they arrived and saw them with the rocks in hand, they slowly walked closer to them.
"Henry, we don't want to hurt you!" Ben said to him. "You gotta be still in there, man!"
"Well aren't you just the sweetest, fat kid!" Henry said sarcastically. "Henry's gone! Look at you assholes figuring out everything!"
Belch and Victor laughed.
"W-Would you ra-rather us c-c-call you Ace?" Bill asked him, wanting to figure out the ghost possessing Henry.
"Would you rather me call you a stuttering freak?" Henry asked, slowly walking up towards him. "Go ahead! Throw rocks at me! You're not hurting me any... You're only going to be hurting the kid's body that I'm in..." he said with his arms wide open.
"Shit, guys! This isn't good!" Stan said, "Henry's going to take off the jacket and he's going to be hurt."
"It's better that Henry comes back around hurt than coming back around to us dead!" Eddie said. "We need to think about Winter, too. If he kills us and Henry goes to jail or dies too, Winter's either going to die or be traumatized for the rest of her life."
"Eddie's right! We need to hurt him to save all of us, Henry and Winter!" Bev said.
"Throw them, punks!" Henry said with his arms still open.
"I actually think Henry is still in there and he's wanting us to rock him down..." Mike said curiously.
"M-M-Maybe..." Bill said, curious himself.
Henry was the first one to throw a rock, hitting Bill's hip.
"FUCK!" Bill yelped in pain. He quickly looked at his friends, angry and hurt from the hit, and said quietly so only they could hear him. Even though he was in pain, he still instructed his friends with Henry and Winter in his conscious, "W-W-Whatever you g-g-guys do, try not t-t-to hit h-him in the h-h-head. We can't k-k-kill him."
They nodded at Bill and began throwing rock after rock at Henry.
"MOTHER FUCKER!" Henry yelled as rocks hit him in the stomach, his legs, and a few stones that gained momentum and ended up hitting his head.
Belch and Victor threw rocks at the group too, but the group only aimed for Henry, trying to weaken him.
As Henry began to fall to his knees, the group aimed for Belch and Victor to make them go away. They didn't know if it would work, though, as they were only ghosts. Since the jacket gave Ace power to possess Henry's body, Belch and Victors physical forms were strong, so the rocks were hurting them.
They continued to throw the rocks as hard as they could at Belch and Victor, wanting to hurt them as much as they could. They only threw a couple of rocks at Henry, trying to make him go away and go back to Winter, who would be able to bring him back to the surface and tame the beast that Ace was bringing out.
"THESE FUCKING KIDS!" Victor yelled as him and Belch went running back up the dirt hill, leaving Henry there as he bled.
"Stop throwing, guys!" Bev instructed them.
They watched Henry as he struggled to get back up to his feet. For a moment, Henry looked at them with sorrow in his eyes. That was Henry's eyes.
Before Ace could come back, Bill said to him, "H-Henry, di-di-ditch the jacket and g-g-go to Winter!"
Henry didn't say anything. He turned around and stumbled as he clutched his stomach and the side of his head. He slowly and weakly climbed up the dirt hill. When he got to the top, he looked at the group again. This time it was Ace looking at them. "TOMORROW! TOMORROW I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"
As Henry stumbled back to the school to put his jacket back in the locker and go to Winter's house, the group of friends looked at each other. They all had bruises and cuts on their faces, but the adrenaline rush they were feeling took away the pain.
"What do we do now?" Stan asked.
"Mi-Mike will t-tell us wh-what he kn-knows. Th-Then tomorrow morning, w-w-we wait until Henry leaves Wi-Winter's house and goes to school..." Bill looked at the group all in the eyes, "W-We tell W-Winter everything... And th-then the seven of u-us are going in the s-s-sewers to kill It."