DISCLAIMER: IT IS OWNED BY NEW LINE CINEMA AND WARNER BROS. STUDIOS! I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR MY OC!
A/N: Well, we're here with another chapter! Yay! It actually took me a while to finish this one, only getting it done YESTERDAY! Whew! That's a relief! But I know ou guys will enjoy it nonetheless, since this is when the horror begins! :)
SuperSentai199: I know, right?! Bill Hader stole the show in It: Chapter Two and was my favorite part!
KatietheEggie: Thank you so much! The reunion scene is my favorite scene and the funniest scene of the the film and this story! And yes, Bill and Steph are 100% goals!
Connie Hooper: You are very welcome! The third chapter was so fun to write and this one is slightly long, mostly because of the author's note lol And yes, things get really serious in this chapter :(
robinmuffins: Thank you, I did too! The Losers are the best squad goals in the history of squad goals! And you get the next chapter here! :D
.2019: Thank you! And I know... I miss Stan the Man :(
Guest: Yup, that's pretty much the plot lol
Special thanks to B Row 19, SuperSentai199, KatietheEggie, Connie Hooper, robinmuffins, .2019, and Guest for either leaving a review or favoriting/following the last chapter!
P.S. In the author's note at the end, I have something I want to ask you. Read it after you read this chapter.
Now, without further ado, here is the fourth chapter!
Chapter Four
"So, wait… Beverly Fashions? That's you?!" Steph exclaimed, her eyes wide in surprise.
Beverly nodded, a small beam rested on her face, a twinkle in her blue-green eyes as she opened her mouth to speak again. "Yeah, that's me," she replied, taking another sip of her drink and putting it down seconds later.
"I can't believe I didn't put two and two together and realize you own the company!" Steph said, mentally scolding herself for not finding out much sooner.
"Yeah, I run the company… Well, me and my husband, Tom…" Beverly added, reaching out for another bite of an appetizer. Steph noticed the hesitant look in the woman's eyes as she mentioned her husband, and was so close to asking if she was okay. But for some reason, she fell silent for just a second, staring at Beverly as she did so.
"How long have you two been married?" she asked instead.
Beverly reached for another appetizer. "Hey, Bill!" she said, getting his attention. "We saw y'all's movie," she added, changing the subject right away. "It was really good!"
"You think so?" Steph questioned, smiling, secretly relieved that she didn't have to go over the last subject just yet.
"Yeah, I loved it. You were amazing in the movie, as well," Bev continued, complimenting the other woman.
"Thanks so much!" Steph said in response, slightly embarrassed by the courtesy, but grinning nonetheless.
"And the ending sucked?" Bill asked, smirking, causing the blonde-haired woman to roll her eyes a little. Her husband was infamous for writing endings that people reacted negatively to. She herself actually liked his endings because they were different, and it always made her mad whenever Bill would get hate for how either a book or a movie concluded.
She could see the uncertainty on Beverly's face as she froze for a moment, before reluctantly nodding. "It did, yeah. I'm so sorry," she said apologetically. "I liked a part of it, but it wasn't very good."
Bill waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine, really. I thought it wasn't the best, either," he replied, accepting her apology easily as a friendly gesture. Steph zoned out after this, not paying attention to the rest of their conversation as she started thinking. Thinking for so long that both Bill and Beverly noticed.
"Steph, what is it?" the latter asked her. The woman flinched a little in surprise, but turned to her anyway.
"It's just… I can't believe I'm only now remembering…" she explained. "You know what I'm talking about, right?" At Beverly's nod, she continued. "It's just crazy…"
There was a lengthy silence that followed this revelation, the only thing Steph focused on being Bill's hand holding hers again as she looked down. She didn't know what else to say following this, the strange feeling she had earlier slowly returning.
"It's weird, right?" Ben spoke up, and Steph looked at him along with the others, paying attention now. "Now that we're all here, everything's coming back… faster and faster. I mean, all of it." Steph nodded in agreement with what he was saying, feeling the chipper mood around the table slowly begin to die down, her heartbeat starting to go faster again, although she didn't notice it at the moment.
"Yeah, you know, when Mike called me, I threw up…" Richie admitted. Steph could still hear the smile in his voice, but he also sounded somewhat somber. But a bit of surprise flowed through her at the same time.
"Me too," she added. "I felt disgusted, and I'm starting to think I really remember why…" She cast her eyes downward again, unknowingly letting go of Bill's hand after she said this, all the while shuddering as she did so.
"Isn't that weird?" Richie continued. "Like, I got nervous… I got sick and threw up. I mean, I feel fine now, I'm relieved to be here with you guys…" Everyone, except for Steph, stared at him as if he had said something crazy, and he blinked once in confusion. "Why is everybody looking at me like this?" he asked, his voice a little quieter.
The entire time he was explaining this, Steph endured the feeling of her stomach twisting into a knot; a knot that would never leave until all of this was over. She suddenly felt cold, as if someone had blasted an air conditioner into the room, chills speeding down her spine.
"When Mike called me, I crashed my car," Eddie said, his voice a little low. Steph looked at him with wide eyes and a worried look.
"You're okay, right, Eds?" she asked him in a concerned voice, albeit gentle. He nodded.
"Yeah, I hear ya. You know, my heart was beating out of my chest," Ben explained, his voice now hoarse.
"I thought it was only me," Beverly whispered from where she was sitting beside Steph. She nodded in agreement.
Bill also nodded. "It was like it was pure f-f-f-f…" Steph's heart plummeted at the fact that her husband was stuttering again, and she knew that he was trying to say it; but she also knew that he was furious that he couldn't get the word out.
"Fear," Mike finished for him. "It was fear, what you felt.
Bill silently confirmed it. "Like we all f-f-feel it that way," he commented. He then turned to Mike, a slightly troubled look in his eyes. "You remember something we don't, don't you, Mike?"
There was a short silence as Steph cast her eyes over to the man Bill had directed the question to, her own look full of distress. But she was paying attention when Mike began to explain, absorbed in what he said next.
"Something happens to you when you leave this town," he commenced. "The farther away, the hazier it all gets… But me? I never left… So, yeah… I remember… I remember all of it…"
Steph couldn't move… She was frozen in place as he concluded what he was saying; her hands clenched into fists, her nails digging deep into her skin, her eyes wider than they had ever been in her life. She didn't know what to say, she didn't know what she even wanted to say, but she knew that one word kept echoing
(screaming)
in her mind. But her lips wouldn't let her repeat the word.
"Pennywise," Beverly said for her.
A surge of adrenaline raced through Steph's blood, almost as if it were desperately wanting to escape. Her heart was beating so fast that she thought it would tear out of her chest. As much as she wanted to run or collapse, she remained rooted in her chair. Her eyes were wide in fear just as she felt the urge to vomit; she could feel the slightest hint of bile building up in her throat and her fists began to sweat. Throughout all of the deadly silence, she was somehow able to breathe, but it came in and out as more wheezing than really breathing.
"Oh, the freaking clown," Eddie realized, gasping and feeling for his inhaler.
"Oh crap," Ben murmured, leaning back in his chair.
"Pennywise," Richie repeated, his eyes wider than Steph had ever seen them.
"It," she whispered ever so quietly; she still had the inkling that everyone else could hear her, as Bill gripped her hand to calm her down. She finally swallowed the puke, leaving a bitter feeling in the back of her throat.
"Mike, you said you wanted our help with something, what was that?" Bill asked, his voice trembling now.
"There's an echo here in Derry that bounces back," he answered. "Every 27 years—"
"What are you talking about?" Eddie said, his tone negative towards Mike as the words ejected from his mouth.
"Hold on, listen," Mike told him.
"No, I don't—" Eddie began, but was cut short.
"Let him finish," Steph ordered with a glare, and he went quiet.
"We thought we stopped It back then… All right? We thought It was done, but…" Mike suddenly stopped, opening his journal that he had brought with him to the restaurant.
"Mike…" Richie sighed, not wanting to hear the rest. Mike wasn't having it, ignoring him as he continued.
"A week ago, a man, Adrian Mellon, slaughtered…"
That was when the whole table broke out into protests, but mostly from Eddie and Richie. Steph tried to shut them up as they kept voicing their reluctance to listen.
"A girl, Lisa Albrecht, the other night, went missing. There've already been others, and there will be more!"
Steph started to get irritated, but it didn't clean the sense of terror that resonated with her and wouldn't go away. She face palmed at the amount of speaking that was going on and, although she truly didn't want to hear what else Mike had to say, she knew that she had to.
"Shut up, you two!" she berated Eddie and Richie.
"Calm down, man," Ben told Mike.
"Let's just get another drink," Bill suggested, but the misery never left his tone.
"Just let him explain," Ben said, "let him explain…"
"Explain the rest to us, Mike," Steph spoke in a reserved voice. Mike thanked her speechlessly.
"That echo?" he continued. "We might have changed it… Just like It changed us, but we didn't stop It… Because It just bounced back."
Steph's fists tightened even more, her lips pressing into a thin line as she refused to voice her fear about what he said.
"We made an oath… All right? That's why I brought you back, that's why you're here… To finish It… for good…" Mike finished, leaving a disturbing stillness around the table. Steph finally let out a shaky but hushed breath, closing her eyes for a small moment.
"Well, that crap got dark fast," Richie deadpanned. "Thanks, Mike."
"Beep beep, Richie," Steph uttered in annoyance.
Eddie stretched his arm across the table and plucked one of the dozens of fortune cookies from the wooden bowl that sat in the middle. The others followed suit, grabbing one for each of themselves, Steph taking one and stashing it away in her jacket pocket; she could open it later. She watched as the others opened theirs, no longer smiling, since the sickening feeling wouldn't leave her subconscious. She had bad thoughts about what was in their hands, so that may have really been why she didn't open hers.
A sense of peace washed through her when they broke a portion of their cookies off, seeing that there weren't horrifying things hidden inside; only slips of paper sat in them.
"My fortune cookie just says 'Could,'" Eddie spoke up, his voice just the tiniest bit unstable. Steph scowled in confusion, looking over at Bill's slip of paper, which read 'Not.' Two conclusions flooded her mind: either something fishy was going on, or the fortunes were fake ones. Either way, she was starting to feel unnerved.
"They don't know how to do fortune cookies here, mine just says 'Guess,'" Richie added, holding up his slip of paper for everyone to see. Steph confirmed the word printed onto it, puzzled about either what was going on or what was going to happen next.
"You wanna throw that over here?" Bill requested, standing up, putting his own flimsy piece of paper onto the table. Ben passed his to him, and Steph read the word as 'Cut.' This one in particular sent a mild chill through her as she looked at it, suddenly grateful that she didn't open her cookie at all. But she was still worried about what hers would've said. She watched as Bill sorted the slips out, reading Mike's, labeled 'It.' She stood up next to him, just as the others did.
"What the…?" Eddie muttered quietly, no longer scared, but just as puzzled as she was. Everyone else was also confused, trying to order the words correctly.
"'Guess… Cut… Not… Could… It…'" Richie guessed, causing Steph to give him a bewildered look of disbelief.
"How the heck does that make any sense?" she asked him sharply, and he raised his hands in defense.
"I'm just guessing," he said, and she rolled her eyes a little.
"It's a message," Mike warned him, and Steph quietly told him to calm down.
"No…" Richie said thoughtfully to himself. "'Guess… It Could Not Cut…'"
Eddie scoffed. "Why would it guess it could not cut?" he questioned, but Richie ignored him, confirming what he theorized to be what the words read.
After that, the whole table broke out into a debate over what the words said. The entire time, Steph was trying to calm them down, surprised that Richie was the most collected of all of them. Eddie was the most hysterical, and she demanded that he sit down and get himself under control while she switched the papers around to where one was in another place. She was so perplexed because she knew that none of the words could make a coherent sentence in the slightest.
Richie started accusing Mike of messing with their fortune cookies, to which he replied with, "This isn't me, this is what… It does…"
"I need my freaking inhaler!" Eddie yelled, and there was more and more bickering. But Steph was drawn out of all this when she noticed that one person still had not spoken.
"Beverly, are you okay?" she asked, feeling as if she had taken complete responsibility over the whole situation. Her facial expression switched from one of irritation to one of uneasiness as she saw tears streaming down Beverly's face.
The red-haired woman was holding her own piece of paper in rattling hands as she leaned forward to set it on the table. Steph kept looking at her best friend's anguished expression, not trusting herself to look down just yet, hearing the trembling breathing entering and leaving Beverly.
That was when she finally looked down and gasped. "Oh no," she sighed, her voice sounding distressed as she conveyed the word. Bill looked just as scared as she did, staring down at the word that Steph's best friend had laid on the table. With a quivering hand, she took the exact slip of paper and slid it between the words 'Guess' and 'Could.' Bill followed her movements, taking the other word and putting it at the end of the now formed sentence. It suddenly clicked for Steph, for the words spelled out:
'Guess Stanley Could Not Cut It.'
She put a hand on her forehead, her eyes shimmering with tears as she stared down at the table. Pure horror rushed through her veins, and hit her like a falling brick, just like the feeling of an icy dagger to the heart. She could feel her fear crawling up her ribs, settling in her chest in an uncomfortable manner. Every time she took a breath, she was reminded that the situation she was going through was so very real.
"Wuh-Why does it say 'Stanley?' Eddie demanded in a voice that sounded like it didn't belong to him. Steph shook her head, almost as if she knew the real answer, and didn't want to tell him. But Eddie could see this, and finally snapped.
"Someone else freaking answer me!" he screamed.
At that moment, a giant THUD! made the table shake and thump back against the floor. Steph reeled back, Bill holding a hand on her arm to help keep her away. She couldn't see what had caused the sudden noise for a second, but after looking at the table again, she could see the dozens of fortune cookies squirming around in the bowl. She grimaced a little, backing away further as one of them jumped onto the table.
"What the heck is that, man?" Richie asked, trying to lighten the mood, but Steph glared at him.
"Not the time, Trashmouth!" she warned him just as the cookie cracked and a slimy leg poked out, making her gag in disgust.
"Oh, my God!" Richie exclaimed as the cookie completely broke off of the baby figure. Steph could see a baby head attached to a spider body, Beverly screaming at the same time she acknowledged this. The creature screamed and ran at Mike, and he jumped out of his chair, backing towards the fish tanks.
She bravely stepped forward and pulled Beverly out of her own chair just as Eddie and Ben backed into a corner.
"Woah, woah, woah!" Bill shouted. "Steph, stay back!"
She chose to listen to him, and stayed pressed against the wall while another cookie flew out of the bowl, right in front of Richie. "Shoot," he whispered. But what he saw next made him cower slightly in terror.
"Hey, hey! THAT FORTUNE COOKIE'S LOOKING AT ME!" he cried out as a revolting eyeball slithered its way across the table towards Richie.
Another fortune cookie. This time, a bat wing tore itself out of it, but the rest of whatever was in there stayed inside. Eddie looked like he was about to cry, his hands covering his face. "I don't want to be here, I wanna go home," he sobbed.
"Dang it!" Richie shouted, now sounding more dumbfounded than scared.
Suddenly, the bat wing floated towards Eddie, attacking him. Steph screamed in horror, wanting to help her best friend, but Bill's hand on her arm forbid her to move.
"EDDIE!" Richie yelled, now terrified for his best friend.
Just as he said this, a black, hissing liquid oozed out of the bowl, covering the entire table in the substance. Steph looked away, repulsed at what she was looking at. She could hear a chanting chorus to her right and looked to see what it was.
God, she wished she didn't.
There were grotesque and bloody skulls floating around in the fish tanks, and she shrieked, dragging Beverly backwards, blocking her with her arms. She would realize much later that this was out of pure instinct, just like in the past.
"IT'S NOT REAL!" Mike screeched, picking up a chair and whacking at the table. "IT'S NOT REAL!"
Steph hugged Beverly to her as Bill came over and blocked both of them. All three of them barely avoided random objects that flew across the room as a result of Mike slamming the chair against the table.
"Is everything all right?"
Everyone fell silent. Steph looked up to see the waitress from earlier staring into the room with a look of utter disbelief. She herself felt a little embarrassed but relieved that nothing was at their table anymore. No black fluid, no demonic fortune cookies. Just a regular table, although some of the plates and glasses were shattered. For a split second, Steph locked eyes with the waitress and nodded, silently saying that everything was all right.
"Yeah," said Richie in a confident voice. "Yeah, could we get the check?" He then made a writing gesture with his hand. The waitress nodded once and walked out of the room as quickly as she entered. Richie dropped his fake smile the second she left.
Bill turned to Steph and Beverly, concern written all over his face. "Are you two hurt?" he asked. She shook her head, looking at Bev, who did the same.
"We're fine, honey," she assured him, and he nodded, hugging her close for a second. "Let's get out of here," she told the others.
Everyone else seemed to agree with her order, since they all simultaneously grabbed their things and left the room. Steph grabbed her purse and walked out behind them, denying Bill's offer to comfort her. He didn't look as upset as she knew he felt, but she knew that she needed to comfort the others. She would have time for him to comfort her later.
"That's what Pennywise does," Eddie stated, "he just messes with us, so Stan's probably fine…" Steph nodded, hoping that this was true as they inched closer to the main doors.
"Mike, do you have Stan's number?" Beverly asked, digging in her purse for her cell phone. He nodded, replying with, "Yeah."
"Hey, Richie!"
Everyone froze, turning around to glimpse at the source of the voice.
A boy who looked to be around eight or nine stood about six feet away from them, and he seemed to have a smug look on his face. Steph noted the curly, dirty blonde hair that rested atop his head, and she was eerily reminded of Stan when they were teenagers; the only difference was that he was dressed in a regular t-shirt, jeans, and a blue jean jacket, a far cry from what Stan would normally wear.
"How… How'd you know my name?" Richie asked in a shaken voice. Steph didn't speak at all, her eyes locked onto the boy.
"The fun's just beginning… Right?" the boy said, and his voice screamed out a thought to Steph. It sounded beyond
(sinister)
strange and
(demented)
weird. She herself didn't know what to do as she stood there, frozen in a sort of terror that didn't seem to resonate with her physical being.
Eddie mumbled something that she couldn't quite understand and went to hide behind Richie, and although Steph wasn't able to see the latter's face, she knew that he was trembling.
"You-You think this is funny?" he asked in a low voice, directing a finger right at the boy, and Steph sensed immediately that the man was angry. "You think this is some sort of game?" he sneered. Then he lost control and literally gripped the boy's arm forcefully. "Well, frick you! All right?!" When Steph saw that the child looked a little frightened, she panicked a little.
"Rich, let him go!" she demanded, but he seemed to not have heard her.
"Frick you! I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!" bellowed Richie as he shook the poor boy, an expression of fury layered onto his face.
The boy gave Richie a weird look as he shrugged his arm out of his hand. "'The fun's just beginning…'" he repeated, now quoting it. "The line from your act, dude. I'm a fan!"
The middle-aged man seemed to realize his mistake, looking up and pointing ahead. "Are those your parents?" he asked cautiously, seeing them coming to collect the young boy.
"Yeah," he replied in an exasperated voice.
Steph covered her mouth to quiet her giggles, and then cleared her throat as quickly as possible when she and the boy's mother locked eyes for half a second. But she couldn't hide her laughter when she heard what Richie said next.
"You want a picture?" he asked, a sign of wanting forgiveness for what he had just done.
The boy did not want to forgive him so easily, as he shook his head, that expression of surprise never leaving his face. "I think I'm good." Then his parents took him and walked away. Steph felt bad for them and wanted to apologize, but opted to not make the situation more awkward than it already was.
"Jesus, Richie, you don't remember the line from your own show?" Ben asked him, sounding more irritated than Steph had ever heard him.
"I don't write my own material," replied Richie as they walked out the main doors.
"I freaking knew it! I freaking knew it!" Eddie yelled, sounding proud of himself, making Steph laugh again.
They walked into the parking lot, Steph wringing her hands together so tightly that they would've come off if Bill hadn't given her a look of worry. It made her stop looking so tense, although her heart didn't stop racking against her ribs as Beverly dialed Stan's number on her cell phone. She shook her hands out in front of herself, a nervous habit that often happened.
When the woman on the other end of the line said, "Hello?" Steph felt her heart stop for some strange reason, and she was certain she was about to find out why.
"Hello, um, Mrs. Uris… My name's Beverly Marsh. I apologize for calling, but I'm an old friend of your husband's…"
No response. But Steph could faintly hear a gasp emanate from the cell phone. But she was robbed of knowing the reason why, since she could hear Eddie and Richie talking to Mike completely out loud.
"You lied to us," Eddie said, "that's not okay!"
"Yeah," Richie agreed, "the first words out of your mouth should have been like, 'Hey, man! You wanna come to Derry and get murdered?' 'Cause then I would've said no!"
Steph glared at him, gritting her teeth. "Shut up, Richard," she muttered just loud enough for him to hear her. For a moment, as their eyes locked, Richie could feel a small sense of fear inside of him. Not of It, but of Steph herself, and he remembered one thing. Steph's temper was a slowly filling glass. Normally, he didn't have a problem with her; that was until the liquid reached the top or even spilled over, then all bets were off. He was smart, because whenever this happened, he knew he shouldn't mess with her.
"Oh…" Steph turned back to Beverly when she heard the voice of Patricia Uris, and her heartbeat slowed in the worst possible way when she heard the tone of it. And then her heart sank when she heard the next two words:
"He passed."
Steph felt an emptiness in her heart, a shear of nothingness that somehow took over and held her soul. She suddenly sensed the whole weight of the world resting on her shoulders and there was nothing she could do about it. She physically and emotionally felt a hole in her heart forming, not wanting to come to the unstoppable realization. One of her best friends were dead, and she knew she couldn't do anything.
"When did it happen?" Beverly asked her, and Steph's heart sunk even lower when Patricia replied with, "Yesterday."
She buried her face in her hands, a single tear slowly coursing its way down her left cheek, which she wiped away instantaneously as her body shook for a moment. She felt Bill's hand on her back, and she wanted nothing more than to hug him, but she knew that now was not the time to feel sorry for herself; it was time for her to gain focus on the situation and figure out what to do.
"It was so horrible, the way he died," Patricia continued, fully crying now. "His wrists…"
"In the bathtub…"
Steph snapped her head to Beverly when she heard her voice these three words, and was even more disturbed when Stan's wife repeated them exactly. It was at that moment that she realized her best friend was hiding something from her, and she knew that she wasn't alone in thinking this, as she saw Ben perk up at the same time she had.
"I'm sorry, I-I have to go," Patricia finished, letting out yet another sob. Steph wiped a second tear away, sniffing as she put a hand over Bill's, which was now on her shoulder.
"W-We're all very sorry, Patty," Beverly murmured, sounding sorrowful as she said it. Patricia voiced her thanks before hanging up.
The feeling of grief hung in the air, enveloping all seven adults as they took this news very hardly; Steph had since sat down on one of the many sidewalks in the parking lot, not crying anymore, but staring at the pavement. She should've known that something had happened… Something bad, something awful… but she was too stupid to notice what it was. She wanted to throw things, and if it weren't for Beverly sitting down beside her after lighting a cigarette, she would've screamed right then and there.
"Stanley!" Eddie exclaimed. "Pennywise knew! He knew before we did!"
"Look… we have to stop It," Mike started. "I have a plan!"
"I have a plan," Richie cut him off furiously, "getting the heck out of dodge before this ends worse than one of Bill's books! Who's with me?" He raised his hand, as did Eddie.
Steph looked at Richie again, and this time, Eddie looked at her without her knowing. He saw the sadness evaporating from her eyes. Her customary sorrow gone faster than summer rain on a sunny day; she seemed to not acknowledge him, and he knew that Richie had crossed a line, he felt it. Steph normally had this look whenever she was irritated or annoyed or just flat out angry with someone, but Eddie could see, could sense that she was glaring at Richie with full anger, pure rage, and it terrified him for just a split second.
"Richard Tozier," she said to get his attention, "can you just shut the heck up for one fucking second?! Mike said he has a plan and you better listen to him just as much as I am!"
Mike nodded along with what she was saying, now looking desperate. "We made a promise to each other," he pleaded.
"Let's unmake the promise!" Richie snapped.
"Shut your dang mouth, Richie! People are gonna die if we don't do anything!" Steph screamed at him, but he refused to back down this time, like he normally would when they were teenagers.
"Well, other people die everyday, Steph!" he screamed back. "We don't own this town anything! And plus, I just remembered I grew up here, like, two hours ago… so, I'm freaking leaving! Screw this!" He then turned around and stomped over to his car that sat in front of the building. Eddie shook his head, backing off as well. "Sorry, Mike… Steph… I'm with Richie…"
That was when Steph got up and followed Mike over to him. "Eds, please don't go…" she pleaded, her tone much softer as she spoke to him. "Don't back down from this. Do you remember how brave you were back then? I helped you with that, and I always will… You need to stay, it's important that you do."
Eddie shook his head again, turning to walk away. "Eds, please," Mike begged. This made the man turn around with his arms raised in the air.
"Listen, what? We stay, we die, that's it?" he asked skeptically. He then put his hands on Mike's shoulders, a defeated look on his face. "I'm gonna go back to the Inn, I'm gonna pack up my stuff, and then I'm gonna drive to my home. I'm sorry, man. Good luck!"
Steph ran after him and grabbed his right arm. "Please stay, Eds. Don't do this, you need to stay, you have to stay! If you leave, I'm almost positive that something bad will happen!"
Eddie pulled his arm out of her hand, but pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry, Steph," he murmured as he held his best friend. "But I can't do this. You've been a great friend, and I'll always remember that, but I have to go. I'm leaving." He then pulled away, giving her a platonic kiss on the cheek. "See you around, Stephanie Denbrough."
"Eddie, no!" Steph cried out, and he jogged to his car.
"Eddie, wait!" Mike yelled, but he refused to listen, getting into his car, and both he and Richie sped away. Steph stood there for a long moment, frozen to the spot, a sob threatening to escape her throat, but she choked it down as Ben tapped her on the shoulder. She whipped her head around to face him, and he had a concerned look on his face. "You all right?" he asked.
She stared at the man that had been her best friend as a teenager, and she suddenly felt grateful for him. All those years without seeing him, and he didn't change once. This made her nod in response. "Yeah, I will be. Thanks," she replied, not smiling, but Ben could see the appreciativeness in her eyes, and he nodded to himself.
Steph then watched as he walked over to Beverly, kneeling down next to her. "You okay?" he inquired softly, and it made the woman feel gratitude because of how much he cared. But at the same time, she grew even more suspicious when Beverly ignored his question, getting up and pulling her purse onto her shoulder.
"I'm going back to the townhouse, too," Beverly informed him. "You coming?"
"Yeah," replied Ben, getting up himself. Steph instantly perked up, walking after them. "I'll go with you," she told Beverly, making her turn and glance at her for a moment.
"Okay," she said, "come on, then."
"Steph!"
She turned around and saw Bill giving her a questioning look. "You guh-gonna be alright?" he questioned, and she nodded almost instantly.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go with Beverly to the townhouse. I'll meet you there, okay?" she replied, once again sensing the tension and emotional distance between her and her husband.
Bill nodded, and she turned back around, following Beverly to her car.
The entire car ride to the townhouse was dead silent, and Steph felt a little uncomfortable. She wanted so badly to ask Beverly the question that had been printed into her mind for the past ten minutes, but she didn't want to upset her more than she already was.
It was the most tense she and Bev had ever been around one another in their entire friendship, so she was suddenly relieved when they pulled up the sidewalk in front of the building. Her best friend didn't say a single word to her as they got out of the car, Ben stopping his car seconds later. All three of them walked up to the front doors, barely hearing Eddie and Richie inside as they walked in. Steph saw them barreling up the stairs, presumably to get their bags and leave, and she rolled her eyes.
Beverly dashed for the bar and grabbed a bottle of whiskey and a shot glass. She poured the alcohol into it, and Steph scrunched her eyebrows together in worry as the red-haired woman chugged it down in one gulp. She and Ben shared a glance and they both walked into the room, sitting on the stools.
"Tell us," Steph demanded gently. Beverly gave her a confused look. "Tell you what?" she asked, feigning puzzlement. But both Steph and Ben saw through her act.
"Whatever it is you're afraid to tell us right now," Ben pleaded.
Beverly stared at both of them for about three seconds, before shaking her head. Steph wasn't letting her getting away easily, as she got up and blocked her path. "Back at the Jade, when you were on the phone with Stanley's wife, she told you that she found him in the bathtub, but… Bev... Ben and I saw you. We heard it, you said it first…"
A sudden deep sigh cut through their conversation, and Steph turned around to glare at him. "Whatever you guys are talking about," he said, "let's make it happen fast, all right? We gotta go." He then turned and looked up the stairs. "Eduardo! Andele! Let's go!"
"Richie, will you shut up for one second, please?!" Steph snapped at him. She then turned back to Beverly, fixing her with a commanding look. "There's something you're not telling us. You knew how Stanley died, you knew!"
A long moment of dead silence… broken by Richie just seconds later.
"Wait, what?!" he exclaimed incredulously.
"I can't do this," Beverly whispered, pushing past Steph and walking up to the front desk. She herself let Ben walk after her, as she felt it was his place to continue.
"She knew how Stanley was gonna die, is that what she just said?!" Richie pressed further, now even more surprised.
"You can't just walk away from this!" Ben yelled, but Bev ignored him, tapping the bell several times. "How did you know where he killed himself?"
No answer from Beverly, and Steph started getting more desperate for an answer. "Bev, tell us!" she pleaded. "We need to know!"
"Just talk to us, like we used to!" Ben continued for her. "Come on, how did you know?!"
Beverly finally looked at Steph and Ben, her breath trembling as she mustered up the tiny amount of courage left in her to tell them. "Because I saw it," she finally said.
Steph froze, her face turning as white as chalk, knowing what she meant by that. Her eyes and mouth were wide open as she stared at her best friend, gripping the edge of the front desk.
"I've seen all of us die," Beverly whispered in conclusion.
Words left Steph. She stared downward, thinking about the five words Bev had just dropped on her, and her heart fell silent. She couldn't will her lips to move. As if stuck underwater, everything was slow and muffled as she heard Eddie thundering down the stairs, large suitcases in both hands.
"Okay, I just gotta get my toiletry bag, and we're good to go," he announced, dropping both bags on the bottom of the staircase. He then stared at Ben and Beverly, realizing that something had just went down, and he didn't know about it. But he was curious.
"What'd I miss?" he asked.
A/N: Like I said in my author's note at the beginning, PLEASE READ THIS!
Well, that took a turn! Beverly had visions of them dying! :O I wasn't expecting that when I first saw the movie in theaters four months ago!
So, looks like Beverly's got some explaining to do lol But we'll see that in four days! MWAHAHAHAH!
Thoughts on this chapter? Was it great? Scary? Let me know!
Now, for the question! Have you guys ever heard of this movie called "The Ring?" If not, it's about this videotape where, if you watch it, you die in seven days. Well, I was thinking about writing a novelization of the 2002 film and posting it on FanFiction after this story finishes. Do you guys want me to do that? Let me know in your review!
Now you have to wait until Wednesday for the fifth chapter! Heheheh lol
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, which I'm sure you did! Be looking forward to the next one! As always, have a great day, and until next time!
- Hermione Romanoff