The rest of the week went well for the Losers - until the weekend hit.
That was when It returned…in the form of…
'That…was not what I was expecting…at all.'
Bev woke up covered in sweat, breathing profusely, pondering on what she just dreamt.
As she turned towards her alarm clock that read a few minutes after three, she groaned – she couldn't wait until morning to tell the others.
But alas, it had to be done.
"Hey, guys, can you please meet where we had our last discussion during the summertime? I have something important to tell you all."
As soon as she spoke that message to every Loser's answering machine, she raced towards her bedroom and exited her window, down the fire escape, and hopped onto her bike, racing to the spot.
She was the first to arrive, and within a half hours' time, the rest of the group came.
"Okay, so what's up?" Stan asked as they were all sitting in a circle, staring at Bev, waiting for her to answer.
"You all may not believe this, but I saw It last night. He came in my dreams…and we were all there, like full-fledged adults."
"Do I look good?" Richie asked, putting his hands underneath his chin and giving an eerie smile.
The group all chuckled.
"I…don't honestly know; all I know is how we felt during the encounter…and we felt scared."
"Why?" Mike asked, "We defeated It the first time, who's to say we couldn't do it again?"
"That…I can't answer; all I can tell you is how we felt during that situation."
At that, Bill picked up a piece of glass left over from a broken bottle and looked around the crew.
"Promise…promise that if It were to return…n-no matter where we are in l-l-life…we come back to Derry to defeat It."
Once those words were spoken, he took the glass in his right hand and inserted the sharp piece into his left palm, leaving a gash.
"Everyone?"
The teens were taken back…were they willing to do a blood oath at this time? Who knows what the future may hold for them?
Richie was the first to stand, extending his left hand out.
"This is going to hurt, huh?"
"…Yeah, what did y-you expect."
Richie shut his eyes, "Just…get it over with."
As Bill made the insertion, Richie flinched just a bit.
Eddie gulped, but stood up, extending his left arm out to Bill.
'Okay, what you wished for on Sunday…here we go, inserting something unsanitary into your body.'
As the cut was made, Richie gave a comforting pat with his right hand on the shoulder of his friend as he recoiled, letting out a small whimper.
"It's okay," Richie whispered to Eddie, "this is for the best."
The rest of the group went on with their insertions, each afraid before, but felt relieved after.
With each of their hands bloodied, they stood around in a circle, interlinking hands with one another. Silence filled the air until Stan broke it.
"I can't believe I agreed to this shit."
The rest of the teens started to laugh, each cannot believe that they too agreed to fight It if and when he did return.
The rest of the weekend came and went, and the Losers found themselves at lunch on Monday.
"So, how much trouble did anyone get into when your parents discovered your bloody hand? Only me?"
"What kind of trouble?"
"Well," Stan answered Richie, "my parents think I'm off the deep end."
"Ooh…sorry to hear that," Eddie said, giving a consoling hand.
"It's fine…they think a young man like myself shouldn't be going off, and that I can come to them with whatever, but it's…hard."
"E-exactly," Bill said, "how do y-you…start to tell t-them about this past summer?"
"You don't," Bev said, "you keep it inside and…only let each of us know if we're hurting."
Ben nodded, "Agreed…everyone doing okay so far?"
The rest of the crew solemnly nodded as they continued on with their lunches.
"Do you…do you guys want to get together again?"
"And do…what?" Eddie asked Stan.
"Sleepover – something simple that doesn't involve anymore scare tactics."
The rest of the group mulled over before all agreeing.
"Perfect; I'll talk to Mike tonight…let's aim for the end of the month."
"Aww, but why that late?" Richie whined.
"It'll give us something to look forward to," Bev answered, to which the teen nodded, not wanting to argue with her logic.
The end of the month…ooh, that's when your parents will be gone.
'Yeah, and? Your point?'
Richie's conscience stayed silent, possibly to prove a small point – it took some time, but it finally hit.
'Ooh, yeah…I can always ask him if he'd be up to it.'
Good, good…let the final step commence.