"…Down, down to Goblin-town
You go, my lad!
Ho, ho! My lad!…
Below, my lad!
Ho, ho! My lad!…"
—Down, Down to Goblin Town, John Stephenson
Their torchlights did little to pierce the inky black darkness of the basement; not even the dusty light hanging over their heads did much to help as it barely cast the stairs into a sickly green light. Creeping down the rickety staircase that croaked and groaned with every step, the Losers soon found themselves huddled around a crumbling stone well in the dark room; their only source of natural light from a small hole in the wall that barely graced the old stone tops.
"H-How are we s'posed to get down?" Katherine peered over the ridge of stone well, her fingers gripping tight to the edge in fear. Even with their torches pointing straight down, the bottom had yet to be seen; it reminded her of stories the Sisters used to tell about tunnels to Hell.
"We'll use the rope, like last time" Mike replied as he gave the old rope tied to the pulley above the well, a good tug.
"Well, how am I s'posed to know?" Katherine rocked back on her feet, "I was already in the sewers by the time you guys turned up"
"Yeah, now that you mention it, how did you end up in the sewers?" Richie asked as he helped haul the long rope closer to them.
"No clue, just woke up there" Katherine shrugged, "One minute there's the fucking clown with glowing disco balls in my ce—room, the next I'm wandering 'round the sewers with all these bad dreams"
"Disco balls?"
"Yeah, there were three of them, I think"
"You don't mean—" Mike perked up.
"—The Deadlights" Beverley ended. At those words, flashes of memories appeared before her eyes. Lights. Teeth. Clown. Fear.
"…What d'you see?" Richie pursued.
"Hm?" Katherine hummed absentmindedly as Voice began to sing in her ear.
Don't see nothing, don't hear nothing.
Only us in the dark, in the deep dark nothing.
Are you coming down?
Down, down, down to the deep dark nothing?
Love, won't you come down to lie with me?
Won't you bring me something?
In this deep dark nothing?
"…t!…at!…KAT!" Mike clicked his fingers in front of her face.
"Yeah! Yeah? What?" Katherine blinked out of her head and turned to find the others looking at her with various looks of concern—or at least as far as she could see in the dark.
"We're just asking what you saw you looked at the Deadlights"
"N-nothing" She shook her head with a gulp, "It's nothing. Right, evil clown: let's go!"
Heaving a deep breath—of both bravery & fresh air—Katherine descended the frail rope into the depths of the deep well after the others. Mike took the lead with Ben & Bill following after; next went Richie & Ed with Beverly and Katherine bringing up the rear. Sloshing through the dank sewerage water, she did her best not to think about what was really floating passed her leg.
Eventually they made it through the twisting pipes to the main cavern where the tower of junk and floating kids once resided, back to where their first final battle against IT occurred. Now all that remained was an island of junk and a stink that made your eyes water. "Shit, this is it. This is where it happened" Ben announced, though he didn't really need to. Katherine fought the shudder that ran through her bones at the memories of this place—of the bad dreams that Pennywise gave to her.
Squeezing her eyes shut, Katherine slid into the deep water on the other side, doggy-paddling after Beverly as the others easily waded through the murky waters to the island in the middle of the cavern. "Eurgh! No! No, no, no!" Ed muttered as he squeamishly skirted a floating dolly & Beverly pushed it aside with the iron pike she had picked up along the way. Mike & Bill were the first to pull themselves from the water, with Richie & Ed close behind. Katherine had paddled passed Ben & Beverly who still remained in the water.
Gripping tight to an outcropping pale hand—which she hoped against hope, wasn't real—Katherine hauled herself up the heap of rubbish. After much fumbling she was able to make it onto a little red wagon that had begun to rust and wobbled slightly under her feet.
"Bev, what is it?" Ben whispered, catching the attention of the others as he spared a glance over his shoulder at the strawberry-blonde who appeared to be searching for something back up the pipe they had just emerged from. The Losers paused in their motions as they turned to face the woman, all of them tense & full of fear.
"I thought I heard somethi—" Beverly turned back to the rest of the Losers, "AHHHHHHH!" Only to be cut off by the sudden appearance of a large and monstrous creature. It almost looked like someone had taken an old balding pegdoll, added some nightmarish features & made it life size.
"BEV!" Katherine cried as the creature jerked to them with the woman still in its grasp.
"TIME TO SINK!" It laughed before yanking Beverly beneath the murky waters.
Katherine wasted no time in snatching the angel blade from its holster and shoving it between her teeth as she dove head first from the old wagon she stood on, sinking seamlessly into the murky waters below. Ignoring the splashes around her as her friends joined in the hunt for Beverly, Katherine was forever thankful that she had copied Ed and strapped her torch to her head like a miner, as it allowed her at least a little bit of visibility beneath the water.
A glimpse of leather & a flash of strawberry-blonde hair in front of her was all that Katherine could see in the dark waters, but she pushed on even as her blood rushed in her ears & the muck in the water bled into her eyes, making her narrow them even though she wanted nothing more than to wipe it away. Whatever this monstrosity that Pennywise had cooked up, it could move like a fucking beast through the water, easily slotting itself through the small gaps and holes created by the discarded toys left here to rot. At some point Katherine noticed that none of the men were by her side, having either been stopped by the small passageways created by junk or having run out of air, either way she was alone down there. Just her, IT & Beverly.
When the need for air became too apparent, Katherine latched herself onto a rusted ladder that jutted out from the bottom of the berg and grit her teeth in determination. Voice banged in her head, thrashed its metaphorical fists telling her to leave. It begged and whined, it shouted and cried, seemingly the only one who cared that they were about to die. There! A flash of strawberry-blonde fluttered across her vision followed by whispy white locks and spindly gnarled fingers as the creature circled around the berg, seemingly taunting the woman.
Pulling the angel blade from her teeth, she waited until it had come back around again, this time with Beverly who was far less lively than before. A single beady eye locked itself onto her small frame and she moved. Kicking off of the berg, Katherine rocketed towards the creature with angel blade glinting in the dark depths. A vengefulness she had never truly known spread through her and warmed her bones as she shoved the silver blade deep into the creature's eye, only just missing Beverly by the skin of her teeth.
Black dots danced on the edges of her vision and dark blood bled from the wound as she yanked Beverly out of its hold, barrel-rolling the three of them until it let go. Far above them, faint shouts and cries could only just be heard over the screeching wails of the monster, as the boys dove again & again, trying in vain to reach them. In a last ditch attempt, Katherine thread her fingers around Beverly's bra straps and—using the creature's face as a spring board—pushed the two back towards the surface.
Just as darkness descended over her vision, hands grabbed at the two women, hauling them to the surface where they basked in the dim light of the sewers. Clinging tight to people who held her, Katherine hacked and retched, coughing up what water had slipped through her lips; instead trading it for sweet, sweet lungfuls of musty air. "Mike?" Richie asked from above her as she collapsed against his chest, panting. Across from them, Beverly sat in Bill's arms, spluttering through tears and big breaths. "Where do we go from here?"
Once both of the girls had reclaimed their breaths and reassured everyone that they were fine—multiple times—the Losers found themselves standing around a circular trapdoor atop the berg of junk. Katherine furrowed her brows in thought as she tried to trace where the partial engraving might come from or if it could tell them anything else. When they all stood together, Mike began to chant.
"In the depths is where IT crept, in the beneath the foundling. In the depths is where IT crept, in the beneath the foundling" Mike mumbled, staring down at the door at their feet.
"Is he okay?" Ben nodded to Mike.
"I think at this point, that's a relative question" Richie nodded.
"What's on the other side?" Beverly asked.
"I dunno. No one does" Mike admitted before reaching down and opening the trapdoor.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Ben protested as the door squeaked on its hinges. "Mike!"
Just as looking into the well had revealed no end in sight, looking down into the tunnel beyond the trapdoor revealed nothing but cold, empty darkness. Katherine felt her heart grow still & her skin blistered with goosebumps as she stared down into the deep dark nothingness beyond. Mike, however, held no such qualms and quickly sat down, swinging his feet inside the hole. "Hey! Wait!" Ben protested.
"Mike!" Bill tried.
"All right" Mike leant over to grab his bag and torch, "See ya down there!"
"MIKE!"