Present Day

"GODDAMNIT!" Both Richie and I busted out of the doors of the synagogue back into the already setting sun, a wave of darkness coming over the area as we were now in the middle of the street. We both were in a whirlwind of fear, just hearing that Mike was back at the library and Henry Bowers, our old childhood bully and nemesis other than Pennywise, was heading over to Mike and kill him. And after he almost did the same with Eddie, though Eddie was spared and made it out okay, we didn't know if it was going to be the same with Mike.

"WHY THE FUCK IS HE EVEN BACK?! HE STABBED EDDIE IN THE FACE?!" Richie was yelling in frustration an in fear, in which I glared at him and grabbed his arm.

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, standing right in front of him and getting his attention. He was immediately quiet, looking at me with wide owl eyes as I gave him a determined look, "Get back to the Inn and get to the others, make sure they're fine and then come meet me at the library,"

"What?" he asked me as I nodded at him, seeing that he was not getting what I was saying.

"You need to get to the others and make sure they're okay. I can get to Mike," I told him again, but now he was shaking his head in knowing what I was telling him to do.

"I'm not letting you go there by yourself, are you insane?!" He asked me as I was starting to walk away from him and look down the street, seeing that there wasn't anyone around or any cars nearby. I knew the route over to the library from here, it would take me a few minutes tog et there if I ran as I was trained to do, but time was not on my side so far if I was going to talk to Richie.

"No, but I can get there in time to get Mike out of there and away from Henry. The library's not too far away from here, it's closer than the Inn and we need the others. If I run I can get there fast," I reminded him, though he was looking at the street first and then behind him at the other end fo the street. I squeezed his arm in my hand to get him to look back at me. He was torn, and he wasn't willing to let me go head to head with Henry. Then again, I was only thinking of Mike and what was going to happen to him if we didn't get there in time.

"Richie, get the others…please," I urged him, almost in a pleading manner. I could tell he was trying to think of something else to tell me so that I wouldn't go there on my own. But he was running out of options, and he then almost gave out a small burst of frustration before he looked at me dead in the eye.

"Don't you dare be fucking stupid over there," He warned me, having me nod my head as I released his arm. Once he did and we gave each other one more look, I whirled around and broke into a run, trying to get back into the mode of running like I was trained for so many years. Richie was getting his car started in the distance as I was picking up speed. I was only thinking of Mike, on how he was there all alone and there with a psychopath who made our lives a living hell.

I turned a corner to another street, seeing the familiar house and trees lining up on both sides. This kind of running made me a bit more frantic, but none the less I was pushing through my legs and through my lungs. There wasn't any track that would take me round and round or my running shoes that would make me feel like I could fly. But I was still flying, it was just under different circumstances.

Mike was my objective.

July 1989

Niebolt House was a sight to see, and everyone who would see it would try tog et away as fast as they could. So it was ironic to see a group of kids riding towards the house and not away from it.

But it was because of Bill.

By the time reached him, he already unloaded his bike in the front near the crooked fence and was about to open the front door on the porch, his hand on the handle as we all stopped and dumped our bikes near his as well. He turned and looked at us, seeing that he was instantly frightened for us being there with him.

"Bill you can't go in there! This is crazy!" Beverly said to him in concern as we were waling through the front path to the front porch.

"Look, you don't have to come in with me, but what happened when another Georgie goes missing? Or another Berry, or another Ed Corcoran or one of us? Are you just going to pretend it didn't happen, like everyone else in this town?" Bill asked us, his voice bold and steady as he looked at each of us, "Because I can't. I got to go home and all I see is Georgie isn't there, his clothes, his toys, his stupid animals. But he isn't. So walking into this house for me…it's easier than walking into my own,"

None of us said a word for a moment, feeling a bit bad that he brought up his younger brother and how much grief and pain he was going through. But we then knew, we saw it in his eyes and we heard it in his voice.

"Wow," Richie gasped.

"What?" I asked,

"He didn't stutter once," Richie replied as he stared at his friend. We all looked too, realizing that he was right: Bill never once stuttered throughout his speech to us. Bill was true with all that he said, and Richie was the first to climb the steps up to the porch after Bill. Beverly and I followed behind and we were all about to go up with him until we heard Stanley finally speak up from his spot in the back of the group.

"Wait! Umm…shouldn't we have someone keep watch? You know…just in case something and happens?" He asked almost sheepishly as he was next to myself and Mike, looking a bit desperate to not go inside the house. The group all looked at each other, wondering who would be the one who was going to volunteer tasty out here and keep watch.

"W-W-W-Who wants to stay out here?" Bill asked, no longer sounding stern and bold, but back to his good-natured self. Everyone, including myself if I was going to be honest, raised her hand. All but Beverly, who looked around at us with a slight look of shock as we weren't willing to go inside. Richie was just as shocked, then looking up at Bill in defeat.

"Fuck," He muttered. I then felt a bit bad, seeing that no one really wanted to go into the house. I looked up briefly, seeing how mangled it looked on the outside and the decay within the wood. Even the energy that was seeping through the crooked floorboards of the porch was enough to steer anyone else away. But just seeing the look on BIll's face, how he felt as though he needed to go in there alone, he still needed someone in there.

"I'll go," I said, not in reluctance, but with a soft sigh as I decided to climb up the steps. Before I could get close enough to the first step, Stanley grabbed my hand quickly, having me looked over at his face in how he looked panicked with the thought of me going in there.

"You can't be serious," He said in almost a hiss as I saw Richie and Eddie walking up the steps too.

"It'll be fine," I reasoned, but he was very unwilling to let me go up there. I gave him a sure smile, even on the inside I felt like I was making a stupid choice now. Stanley, after another moment or two, decided to let go of my arm. I squeezed his arm gently before I moved to follow the three boys up to t front porch.

Bill was the first one to look at me with a bit of uneasiness. I didn't know if it was because I was a female since Beverly decided to stay out with the others at that point. But maybe he could read it on my face, though I was trying to seem more confident than I was letting on.

"Y-Y-Y-You don't have to if you don't want to," he said in a low tone to me, almost in worry. But I shook my head, seeing Richie and Eddie watch me too as Bill had his hand on the doorknob.

"I'm not gonna leave you out to dry, Bill," I said to him calmly. I was taught not to back down from anything that I commit to, and I felt like this was one of those moments. I told Bill I was going to come, and I was going to. With one last gaze at the three of us behind him, Bill then pushed the door open and we all walked inside Neibolt House.

The inside of the house had massive amounts of spiderwebs, broken wood pieces and ancient pieces of furniture. Leaves were all over the floor, having me eager every crunch beneath our sneakers as we went further and further inside. It looked like a haunted house with the cobwebs and smell fo death and decay as we carefully walked into the front entryway. Something about this already made me stand on the edge and feel uneasy.

"I can't believe I pulled the short straw. You guys are lucky you're not measuring dicks," Richie grumbled as we walked in together.

"Shut up, Richie," I said to him as we were all looking around the first floor of the house. On one side of the first floor there looked like a parlor or sitting room, the fireplace was dark and drenched in spiderwebs and bugs. There looked to be a rug that was caked in dust and some water damage when we walked over it with our sneakers. Something about this old place did seem dangerous, and yet we were in the house poking around to find something, anything, that would resemble the clown.

"I can smell it…" Eddie said in a hoarse whisper. I knew what he was talking about, but I was trying so hard not to breathe it in myself.

"Don't breathe through your mouth," Richie advised.

"How come?" Eddie asked.

"Cause then you're eating it," Richie answered in a snort. I was walking down the main walkway, hearing Eddie behind me gag as he took a few big breaths from his inhaler. Even one wall was covered head to toe in cobwebs, Richie gravitating to the room as I was looking at the staircase that was leading to the second floor. Each step looked like the floorboards were rotted, crocked, and almost molding. I was so close to itching my way to the top step when I heard something behind me back in the parlor area.

I looked back, having me notice Eddie and Bill already moving over to Richie.

"What?" Bill asked him. Richie was holding it with two hands right in front of his own face, seeing the picture that was plastered on the front and his face starting to look crumbled and scared. I walked over too, seeing through the paper and knowing what he was talking about.

"It…it says I'm missing," He explained, Bill standing next to him to see the picture, Bill tried to take the picture away from Richie calmly.

"You're not missing, Richie," He started, but Richie shook his head.

"That's my shirt, that's my hair, that's my face! It says my name, IT SAYS MY NAME!" Richie at this point was yelling and Bill grabbed his shoulder to try and calm him down. He was hunched her a piece of paper, looking beyond distressed about something and clutching the crumpled paper in a death grip, sounding hysterical as Bill finally got through to him.

"Calm down! Look at me, Richie! Look at me…t-t-t-that isn't real," Bill reminded him, Richie looking at both Eddie and myself who were shocked in silence. Eddie looked heartbroken from what he saw and I could feel his anxiety on my own skin, "I-I-It's playing tricks on you."

"Help…."

All four of us looked up at the staircase, hearing the fainting sound from the second floor. We were frozen, only for a moment as the sound came again. It sounded, to me, like a woman who was in another room right above us, and as we got closer to the edge of the staircase, we heard it clearly.

"Help me please…"

Bill then lead the way, walking up the steps, one by one, and we followed carefully and slowly. With every creak that was heard beneath our feet, my heart was going a bit faster and faster. I could hear Eddie right behind me sounding like he was about to break out into another panic attack. But when we reached the second-floor landing, we heard a distinct sound of scratching and movement down the hall on our lefthand side. Richie and Bill were in the front, leaving me in the middle and Eddie at the end. We looked around the corner and straight down the hall, seeing a door at the very end with its door wide open.

And a young girl on the floor.

She was weakly trying to crawl away from something, looking beyond distressed. She looked right at us, and I knew instantly who she was. We saw her face before, but only on papers around town.

"Betty Ripsom," I whispered in fear. She then was instantly pulled away, out of sight, and screaming as she went. It happened so fast, and none of us moved since it felt like our minds were tricked into seeing that. Maybe it was a trick, but Bill and Richie started to walk towards the room anyhow. Eddie and were reluctant to follow, staying a few steps back.

But when I was about to cross over to the first room on the left-hand side, I heard a distinct whisper that sounded almost like scratches on the wall.

"Robin…..Robin…."

I froze, looking over at the open door that was leading onto a dark room. There almost seemed to be a forest in the room, the outlines of what seemed to be vines and leaves. Something inside of me was compelling me to look in the room, almost like a pull within my gut that made me want to go into the room and see what was in there. Maybe the was a bad idea, but I was moving before I was even thinking about it.

Once I was inside the room, seeing how dark it was with only a snippet of light coming into the room from what looked a stained glass window on the other side, I looked around a bit to see where I exactly was. It was humid, which explained the leaves that were everywhere in the vines that were scratching out along the wall and on the ceiling. Something was rustling in the leaves, having em freeze when I was in the middle of the room. Ultimately it felt like I was in the jungle, or deep in the forest somewhere out near the Barrens. But in the Barrens it was somewhat safe, and in here, it felt like something was off.

The mood in the room, though sticky and almost humid to the point of me being drenched, was slowly shifting and changing. The rustling that I heard before was getting a bit louder, almost near my feet. Maybe this was a bad idea after all, having me then look over to where Eddie was in the hallway. He was standing right at the entryway, looking into my room quickly before I started walking over there.

But the door slammed shut.

"Robin? ROBIN!" Eddie said in a panic on the other side of the door, banging on it with his fists. I was trying to get the door open by juggling the door handle. But ti was stuck tightly shut, not moving for me or for Eddie on the other side.

"Eddie, GET ME OUT OF HERE!" I yelled through the door, but as soon as I said that, I heard a constant sound of rustling on the ground of leaves and the vines. I was still trying to jiggle the door open, but the more I was doing it the more frantic I was getting. The sound behind me was getting louder and louder, making me stop and look behind me. Something was moving around at the other end of the room, looking like some kind of bundle of vines and leaves coming together to make a growing ball that was sounding like a lion's growl.

On the other side of the door, I heard a crash through the floorboard, having me panic and look back at the door. I even heard a yelp too, it sounded like Eddie.

"Eddie?! Can you hear me?!" I called, then hearing nothing on the other end. But the sounds behind me stopped, having me freeze as I finally head the distinct voice that I heard back at the pool.

"Robin."

His voice was low, almost vicious as I looked behind me, hand still on the doorknob as I saw Pennywise right in the middle of the room. He was looking at me dead in the eyes, his head almost tilted to the side as his smile was making me cringe. I could have sworn I saw some drool coming from his crimson lips.

"You ready to float?"

Suddenly, my hand was glued to the doorknob, having me cringe and look back. It looked like the doorknob and my hand melted together and I was stuck against the door, not being able to move away from the door. No matter how hard I yanked, I was stuck, even with the vines that were coming up from the ground covering my molded hand to the door. I was now pulling hard for dear life, almost popping my shoulder blade out of its socket with how hard I was trying to get out of whatever was happening to me.

I had the stupid decision to turn back around to see if the clown was still there, now feeling the clown's hands wrapped around my throat and shoving me hard against the door. I screamed out from the impact, hitting the wood and vines behind me almost made me vibrate from the impact as the clown was so close to my face and looking at me up and down like I was a savory snack to It.

"It can only take one bite and I can devour you whole," He growled to me, having me cringe and try to look away from him. I peered down, shaking in panic as I saw his fingers were wrapped around my wrist of the hand that was morphed to the door, but his fingers there thinning out and almost looking like branches and vines, snaking their way up along my skin and digging into the skin hard. The same was happening to the fingers around my throat: small vines and leaves were sprouting from the fingertips to get onto my skin and around my throat, up to my jawline and almost along my cheeks.

I knew what it was doing: It was suffocating me before it killed me.

I could feel the dents and scratches that were going into my skin, even some blood coming through while the vines from Its fingers were getting higher and higher up my arm. Now my whole arm was paralyzed, not being able to move from whatever the clown was going to me as It then was looking at my arm he had trapped in. My breathing was getting smaller and weaker from the impact on my throat, the feeling of being lightheaded was coming into reality for me as it spoke to me again,

"If you want," He paused, licking his lips and inching a bit closer now as he was talking in a venomous tone, "I'll take this arm too, since you're not all whole. You'll be just as juicy as the others,"

I looked at him square in the eye, something clicking in the back of my head as I was staring this clown down in the face. Something inside turned and snapped, as soon as it brought up my arm. I was proud of having one arm, though at the time I was younger it felt different.

But now I wasn't going to let that one slide. it felt like a wave of bravery came through me, and although my one arm was stuck and not mobile, I wasn't going to let that one slide. It woke something up in me, something that seemed fierce and almost animalistic that I never felt before. All because whatever this clown was, thought it could scare me and taunt me for having one hand.

Something caught my eye, right the big red nose on its face. I remembered then the one moment down below the water in the pool, when the clowns trying to kill me before. Something was off on its nose, almost like a dent was found. My eyes went big slightly, realizing that the dent on the nose was from me.

It remembered.

"FUCK YOU!" I growled, almost digging my heels in and squaring right into its yellow eyes, "FUCK YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT OF A CLOWN!"

Something behind its eyes dimmed, almost as if it slipped slightly from what I said. Was it hurt from what I said to it? Once I felt the hold on my throat loosen slightly, the vines not as constricted as it once was, I leaned back against the wooden door and rammed my head hard against its head. It roared, having me feel the blunt impact, which of course hit my previous injury and made me grunt. It reared back from the blow, giving me enough time to rear my foot up to kick it square in the chest.

Once my foot slammed on its chest, the clown roared in madness and maybe in pain. I felt myself flying back against the door and the door finally giving way. I was falling backward, against the door, onto the floor and out of the room where I was in. Within a split second, I was flat on my back, my hand free from the confined spot on the doorknob, looking up in the hallway while I was sprawling out on the door I was attached to. I breathed out shakily, moving my hand away from the doorknob as I slowly coughed and looked ahead at the room where I was at.

The clown was gone.

Nothing was heard for a moment, my eyes were going back to my good arm that was stuck and trapped now covered in scratches and stabs from the vines. It made me shiver and look in horror as I brought up my hand to the light to see it. The scratches that were along the skin almost looked like vines themselves, having me cringe thinking that they were now souvenirs on me. I was hyperventilating at this point, going through some kind of shock that I just experienced. Not only that I barely made it past the clown for a second time, but that I also went up against the clown.

Holy shit, I kicked the clown hard.

"Robin!" I looked over to my right, seeing both Bill and Richie running over to me in a frantic manner. Both of them looked out of it, kneeling to see what happened to me as I was sitting up shakily on top fo the broken door that was on the ground.

"What h-h-happened?" Bill asked in concern as I felt Richie dusting me off on my backside.

"It was the clown," I said, the both of them looking at me in shock, "The clown was going to bite my hand off back there and I-"

"The clown?" Bill asked in a low tone, both Richie and myself looking at him now. He looked beyond haunted from what I said, what we all saw there in the house. He gulped, then having me look at the both of them confused. I felt as though we were missing something…or someone.

"Where's Eddie?"

As soon as I asked, there was a cry out on the first floor. All of us got up from where we were, Bill and Richie, helping me up before we all made our way down the stairs frantically. Once we were on the ground floor, we turned down the main hallway and into what seemed to be the kitchen.

The room was a bit small, but there was a massive dent in the ceiling, the remains were on top of the crumbled table right in the middle of the room. Eddie was pushed all the way to the end of the room against the wall, cradling his forearm to his chest. His arm looked broken, really broken as we rushed into the room and over to him. He was in a frantic state on the ground as we knelt in front of him to get his attention. Eddie was looking dead ahead, his eyes huge in pure fear as we were looking at him in concern.

"Eddie! Eddie!" both Richie and myself were trying to get his attention and to help him in any way that we could. But he wasn't listening to us, he was too emotional and was just trying to breathe when we were talking to him.

He pointed with his one good hand right behind us, all of us turning to see none other than the clown.

"This isn't real enough for you, Billy? I'm not real enough for you?" It mocked at Bill, Richie trying to get Eddie's attention on him now and not on Pennywise.

"Holy Shit," Richie said in a gasp at the clown as Pennywise was now glaring dead on with Bill. I grabbed Bill's shirt in fear that something bad was going to happen to him.

"It was real enough for Georgie!" He said in a mocked pathetic tone to Bill, then shrieking in laughter as Bill looked beyond angry and fearful at the same time. Before Pennywise could take a step though, someone was rammed through his head and a shriek was heard in the room.

We all looked, seeing that it came from Beverly, her hands wrapped around an iron fence post that was lodged into the clown's head. The others were coming through the side door, pouring into the kitchen to see what Beverly did as she released the fence post. Pennywise was somewhat in a comatose state from what happened to it, almost falling to its knees as the others rushed over to a fragile and wounded Eddie.

He was still in hysterics, his arm that was clearly broken was cradle to his chest as we were trying to get him to stand up and get out of the kitchen. I was still close to Bill, all of us now looking to see how the clown was slowly standing back up as if the rod through its head wasn't slowing down.

Now, this was scary.

"We need to get out of here!" Some of us were trying to get Eddie up from the ground though he was paralyzed, and others were getting Bill's attention to move as he was engrossed in looking at the clown. The clown now was puling the rod out, slowly and almost painfully, making the whole situation worse as we were all now in hysterics. The rod fell to the ground and the clown was once again stalking its way towards us, slowly and in a menacing walk.

Out of Its hand grew out sharp and curved claws through the gloves in its hands. Beverly was covering her mouth in fear while screaming as she was now near all of us and clutching onto my shirt while I was on the verge of screaming and crying. It was so close to getting to all of us, and yet none of us weren't moving and not doing anything. We were too paralyzed in fear, but the clown did something none of us saw coming.

Within an instant, the clown whirled around, its claws starched out and slashed at Ben in the process. Ben screamed out in pain as the clown flew out of the room. It was gone, all of us in shock and trying to figure out what to do next as Bill moved away from us, his shirts slipping from my fingers and he ran over to the door in a rush.

"Don't let it get away!" He cried as he went to the open and out fo the room. Eddie was still crying and yelling at the same time as we were trying to calm him, but I was shaking all over from what happened. Finally, I looked over to see Stanley looking at me with big eyes and he was petrified on what just happened. I slammed my eyes shut and tried to breathe.

All I wanted to do was breathe.

Present Day

My hands were pumping at my sides, trying to get faster down the street. Even in this time, I felt like I was back to being little, racing Bill on his bike Silver, and seeing who was faster. If only it was a simpler time for us, nothing trying to kill us, nothing trying to bring us down to our knees or making us feel small. That was the thing about this town: the memories were trying to hold us back from moving forward. And although the memories were in fact sweet enough to remember, we had to let them go every once in a while.

Especially at this time.

Finally, after another minute or so when I was cutting across a lane here and there and turning another corner, I saw the library insight. I sped up my sprint, seeing how clam it looked on the outside, and yet it couldn't have been chaos inside. Streets lights were no lit and a chill was coming into the air as I got onto the front lawn of the library. I got right up to the front doors, placing my hand on the handle before something caught my eye on the right side, parking in the opening of the alleyway that would lead to the back. I squinted, then looking with shock on my face.

Belch's old car.

I shoved the door open and ran inside, skidding to a halt in the entryway of the library. At first, there wasn't anything to be heard, which made me panic as I then looked pat the second floor. I then started to run over to the stairs, trying to hope up every other step since the silence was not a good thing at this moment.

"Mike? Mike, you here?" I called out as I got to the second floor and over to the opening. I poked my head in, seeing that the lights were dimmed from the lights on the desks and the street lights outside. Mike then was in one of the aisle poking his head out and seeing me there. I sighed in relief, watching him as he was walking over with a book in his head, looking also relieved to see me

"Robin, everything okay?" He asked me, having me see him take a few more steps over to me. I was about to answer when I heard a rushing of feet right behind me. Whirling around, I saw someone rushing to me in a roar, slamming into me and ramming the both of us into one of the displays that were in the middle of the room. I felt the glass hit me hard in the back as we fell to the ground, the blow of both glass and wood hitting my body made me gasp out as I saw who it was that was now perched over me and holding a knife very close to my face.

Henry.