Bill felt uneasy, almost as if something tragic was going to occur.
'Don't y-you think about it, mi-mister. What if som-something were to happen to you?'
He shook his head, letting the thoughts fall to the wayside.
'May-maybe its best to t-talk to someone…'
At that, he went into the kitchen and dialed the one number he knew by heart.
"Hello?"
"Bev, it's Bill – want to meet up?"
"Yes, please! It's been too long…"
Bill chuckled. "It's o-only been one w-week and a few da-days."
He heard laughter coming from the other end, making him blush.
"I guess you're right – I'll meet you at the park within ten minutes."
"Sounds g-good."
As he hung up and bolted towards the living room, announcing his intentions of going out, his parents were fine with it.
"As long as you're back by—"
"I know, Mom…suppertime."
Bill went right outside and hopped onto his bike, pedaling towards the park.
'This will be good.'
As Bev got dressed, she felt a bit giddy.
'Okay, keep calm. It's just a hangout with Bill – nothing more than that.'
She slipped into her black polka-dotted summer dress and packed up her bookbag. Once done, she made her way towards the front door.
She started to hyperventilate when she saw the locks on the door, knowing that her father was up to no good.
"Where do you think you're going?" Alvin asked, sitting in his recliner.
"I was…going nowhere, Daddy."
"Perfect…you looking mighty fine, though, for not going anywhere."
Bev felt a sickness within her stomach; she tried her best to shake it off.
"Dad, I've been…wearing these dresses throughout the whole summer."
Alvin didn't pay her any attention as he rose from his recliner.
"You know," he said as he approached Bev, "I worry about you so, so much."
Bev gulped and shook her head. "You don't need to, Daddy. I'm in good—"
"Are you sure? Being around teenage boys that would do anything short of having their way with you."
At that, Alvin lunged at her, grabbing her shoulders and rubbing them through his hands.
"You're still my little girl, don't you forget that."
His hands made his way lower, down her arms and then around her midsection. As he crouched down, Bev's stomach started to churn again.
"Daddy…I'm always going to—"
"Shh…don't talk."
As he crept closer to her bare legs, Bev had an epiphany – this man wasn't going to abuse her any longer.
"Get off."
Alvin looked up, "What did you say?"
"I said…get off of me, please."
Alvin chuckled, his hands still on her. "I want to make sure you're fully—"
"I am – you have no right to check!"
Alvin finally stood up, towering over his daughter.
"You're still my little girl, right?"
"…No, I'm not," Bev said in a whisper, shaking her head.
Alvin asked again in a much firmer manner, "You're still my little—"
"I said no!"
At that, Bev pushed Alvin towards his recliner and bolted, trying to escape the apartment.
Heading into her bedroom, she shut the door and locked it behind her, knowing Alvin can break it down.
Lo and behold, Alvin was able to break down the door with a couple of rams, and as he saw Bev climbing out the window onto the fire escape, all he saw was red.
"You get your sweet ass back here, Bev!"
As Bev retreated towards her bike near the runoff river, she turned back towards her father, who stood at the top of the fire escape, looking a bit…
Petrified.
'Good, maybe that'll teach him to—'
Her thought was cut off as she felt something strong grabbing her legs.
She tried her best to kick, but she couldn't get out of the death grip she was in.
As she was plunged into the water, the last image she saw was that of It putting his hand over her face, laughing maniacally.
Bill was growing worried as it plunged close to an hour of him waiting in the park for Bev.
'Som-something doesn't seem ri-right.'
He knew what he was risking if he were to show up at her apartment and her father was still there, but it was a risk he was willing to take – anything for a dear friend.
As he hopped onto Silver, he pedaled towards her apartment, a few minutes away from the park.
Upon arriving at the front, Bill's fear began to increase as he spotted police cars outside her complex.
'Oh no!'
Parking his bike, he raced around to see two cops conversing with Alvin, who looked panic-stricken. He was pointing at the exact spot where It drowned Bev.
'W-walk beside the wall and h-hear what's g-g-going on.'
Bill nonchalantly walked alongside the wall, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation that was occurring.
What he heard sounded all too familiar.
"…this, clown thing, snatched my Beverly…"
It struck again.
And Bill was pissed.
He bolted towards his bike and hopped on, kicking the park stand from underneath.
"Wh-where are you going?"
Bill turned towards Alvin, who asked the question as he and the cops stared at the leader.
"I'm…saving your daughter!"
And with that, he pedaled fast and furiously towards the first place he can think of.
'Damn, wh-what a g-g-great first impression.'
Richie was so close, only a few more kicks and punches left in him to go.
"C'mon…almost there…"
He felt victorious as he won yet again on Street Fighter, reaching the final boss of the game.
Before he could pull out his last quarter to start the game, Bill rushed through the front doors.
"Richie!"
The teen sighed, turned towards the leader.
"What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?"
Bill shook his head. "It's Bev…she got kidnapped by It."
As soon as Richie heard that, he paid no attention as he stuck his hand down his pocket to retrieve his last quarter.
"Again, I'm busy."
"Fuck your…g-game, this is about Bev."
As Bill grabbed a hold of Richie, the teen tried to push him away.
"Dude, get off of me!"
No matter how much Richie pushed, Bill wasn't going anywhere.
"Okay, you want to actually street fight? I will beat your ass!" Richie said, pushing his glasses from the brim of his nose upward.
Bill shook his head. "Listen to me—"
A sudden beep went off from the Street Fighter machine, signaling ten seconds left of continued play.
Richie hesitantly pulled his quarter out, but before he could put it into the slot, Bill snatched it out of his hand.
"I need to d-do this, Richie."
The teen felt defeated, on the verge of tears. He shook his head and made a beeline towards the door with Bill on his heels.
"Leave me alone!" Richie yelled, turning around to face Bill once they were outside.
"No, n-not until you—"
"I'm not going, how many times do I need to tell you?"
As he unlocked his bike, Bill went to grab Silver, and as both boys started to pedal up the street, none of them spoke for a good minute.
'Okay, this is now or never.'
As they were about to turn right, Bill picked up speed, getting in front of Richie. As they turned, Bill stopped vertically which caused Richie to almost crash into Silver.
"Dude, what the fuck!"
Bill shook his head at Richie's outburst. "This is my friend that y-you're not willing to sa-save."
"She's your good friend, not mine."
At that, Bill's eyes lit up as he thought of the one comeback that may get Richie to pay attention.
"If this was Eddie, you would be all over us."
Richie scoffed. "No, no I wouldn't."
"So, y-you'd let your be-best friend die…that's wh-what you're telling me?"
Richie took a bit of a pause before answering, "I didn't know that—"
"What Eddie means to you is what Bev means to me!"
"You love her that much that you're willing to risk your own life to save her?"
Bill slowly nodded, "Ye-yeah…yes, she does."
Richie lifted his leg to reach the top pedal of his bike.
"I'm going to call Eddie…you call the others…we'll all meet at Neibolt."
Bill smiled, "Thanks."
As the two departed, Richie shook his head.
'I can't believe I said that.'
Me neither – I'm so proud of you.
Ignoring what his conscience was saying at the time, Richie pedaled home.
The phone was ringing off the hook, and now knowing his mother wasn't going to answer it, Eddie mumbled under his breath as he picked it up.
"Kaspbrak residence, how can—"
"Eddie, it's Richie. Listen, Bev got abducted by It…we need to meet at Neibolt."
He hasn't seen his mother all day today, but it wasn't like he was actively searching for her.
"Okay, I'll see you all soon."
As he hung up, he turned and found Sonia standing over him.
"And where do you think you're off to?"
"I…I need to get some fresh air."
"You have all the air in the world inside. You don't need to go out there and risk permanent damage."
Eddie looked at his mother in a grave manner, "Wh…what damage can I do that I haven't possibly done yet?"
"Oh, break your other arm…break your legs…break your neck. Anything could happen out there, as you proved it, so I need to be—"
"You don't need to be anything other than my mother," Eddie barked back.
"Watch your tone with me, mister."
"Oh, you have a problem with it? Good, because I'm just getting started."
He unzipped his fanny pack and pulled out his bottle of pills.
"You know what I found out today? These pills…they're all nothing but bullshit!"
Sonia shook her head. "That's not true…they help you, as they helped me."
"I'm sorry, were you forcibly taking these twice a day every day since before you could fully talk?"
Again, Sonia shook her head, "No…but it brought comfort. You came into this world too early, and we had to—"
"I developed asthma because of you. Why did you rob me of my childhood?"
"I never did such a thing! You grew up in a loving household. If anything, I didn't protect you better…who knows what else could have happened have I not intervene?"
Eddie shook his head, "You know, Dad wasn't like this at all."
"He's gone, Eddie – why can't you accept that?"
Still clutching the pills in his hand, he threw them at the far kitchen wall.
"I have! I accepted it long ago!"
"You poor thing, you need to go pick up all those—"
"Stop babying me! I'm going to be a teenager soon; are you that fucking paranoid that I'm going to grow up right in front of you?"
Sonia pointed a stern finger towards her son. "Don't you use that language with me, ever!"
Eddie saw a small crease between the wall and his mother, and if he were to make his move now, he could escape.
Shaking his head, he said, "Sorry, but I have to go."
He bolted towards the crease, successfully making it to the front door.
"Edward Kaspbrak, you go out those doors, there will be hell to pay!"
Eddie turned back towards Sonia, who looked distressed.
"I'm saving my friend – give me hell when I return."
With that, he marched out the doors and went onto his bike.
'Okay, riding this with a broken arm…shouldn't be too hard, right?'
Thankfully for Eddie, it wasn't as climatic as he originally thought.
As he departed, Sonia looked on, and as he faded away, she wept.
'Please be okay…'