Disclaimer: I do not own IT or any of the characters. That all belongs to the awesome and talented Stephen King. I only own my OC and other characters I make up along the way.

A/N: Guys, thanks for all the reviews from the last chapter! You guys are so amazing! You guys are the reason why I keep writing.(: I hope this chapter is just as good as the last one...even if it does take a sudden dark turn towards the end. *.* Anyways, have fun reading! Also, my next update might take longer because midterms are actually coming up. So I need time to study. Sorry! :( But I'll see if I can sneak a chapter during this time.

I don't own any of the songs or bands mentioned in this chapter. I do recommend you listen to the song I Only Have Eyes For You by The Flamingos during the end scene. It's a nice song, but I have to admit it does have a creepy factor if playing it in an tense/frightening scene.

"There is only one kind of shock worse than the totally unexpected: the expected for which one has refused to prepare."― Mary Renault, The Charioteer

Chapter 10: Unforgiving encounter

The fun in the water continued for the group of friends.

Even after the water fight they had between them, splashing and joyful laughter filled the air.

At one point, Beverly got on top of Bill's shoulders and Richie did the same with Ben. Gwen acted as referee as Stan and Eddie amusingly watched the chicken fight play out. The three of them laughed as Richie and Beverly tried pushing each other off. Eventually it had been Richie who succeeded in winning the game and pushed Beverly into the water. The redhead popped out of the water next to Bill and gave the bespectacled boy a smile.

Gwen cheered loudly and swam closer to give her brother a high five. Richie eagerly reached to give her such gesture but was surprised when Gwen grabbed his hand and swiftly pulled him into the water.

Everyone laughed at seeing their talkative friend fall into the water. When Richie finally got back up to the surface he gave his sister a fake serious expression. "I'm so gonna get you for that." He told her and then started swimming her way.

Gwen's response was a smile. Although she knew her brother was kidding with his threat, the dark haired girl still swam away from him. She got to where Stan was and hid behind him putting her hands on his shoulders to balance herself out. She was completely unaware of how flustered the curly haired boy was by her touch and her proximity. Stan had to control his breathing so Gwen wouldn't notice how affected he was by her. Just as Richie was about to reach his sister, Gwen jumped and leaned closer towards Stan. Said boy was severely taken back by this action. He turned his body without breaking the hold she had on him.

"What's wrong?" Stan right away asked when he saw her mild nervous expression.

Gwen took a deep breath, calming herself down. "Something touched my foot." She easily explained to him. Having something unknown touch her should have freaked her out, but it hadn't. The touch took her by surprise but after composing herself she realized it hadn't really scared her. If anything the brief soft touch had been soothing… to the point of gentleness. It caused an unknown warmth to radiate through her body. An unconscious feeling told her to reach for her necklace, and Gwen briefly did so. A smile wanting to break out onto her face as she did this.

Richie, however, was freaking out. All the playfulness he had towards his sister went away as worry for her started to consume him. "What the fuck? What do you mean something touched you? Is there something in the water?" He asked chary and bewildered as he looked at the water around him.

Seeing how all they were starting to get freaked out (except Gwen), Bill dived into the water. It didn't take long for him to find out what exactly was underneath them. He swam back up and met all of his friends eyes. "It's just a Turtle." He reassured them. None of them (not even him) had noticed how he hadn't stuttered as he spoke this time. The reassurance of nothing harmful, but something so simple yet warming as a Turtle in the water had them distracted.

"Really?" Gwen asked, her eyes brightening up.

Bill nodded his head in confirmation.

Just as the Tozier girl was about to dive down in the water herself to see, she felt another soft touch. Only this time by one of the hands that was still holding onto Stan's shoulder. The curly haired boy was shocked to see such animal close to them, as did the rest of their friends. None of them (not even him) were the least bit afraid at the sight of such an amazing animal. Before either they were able to even reach out towards it, the Turtle quickly swam away from them.

"Oh my God, it really is a Turtle." Gwen announced happily. The same warmth from before surged through her again. "It's so beautiful." She earnestly said with a smile. Her eyes softened as she saw the shape of the Turtle swim away before it fully went underneath the water.

Stan gave his crush a heartfelt look. "Yeah." Although he agreed, he wasn't talking about the Turtle.

Something in the sound of his voice made Gwen look at him. It was then she finally realized that she was still holding onto him. She mentally rolled her eyes at herself, thinking her touch must have been annoying him (which was the complete opposite, but she didn't know). She quickly let go of the hold she had on him and put some space between them. While she did this she missed the dejected look that passed through Stan's face. Just as she was about to apologize for invading his personal space, a large (and very unexpected) wave of water hit her right in the face.

"What the hell?!" She shouted as she spat water from her mouth.

Richie's laughter entered her ears as it did with everyone else's

"That's what you get for knocking me down!" Now that they had sorted out that there wasn't any sort of danger in the water, Richie went back to his joking like ways. His need to have banter with his sister made him not notice the "moment" Stan was having with her. His curly haired friend was giving him a discreet hard stare, but the Tozier boy wasn't paying attention to him. All his attention was on how shocked his sister was by his sudden water attack.

Gwen's features twisted into faux resolute. She narrowed her eyes at her brother. "I'm gonna give you a three second head start. One…two…"

Once she reached three, Richie (with an amused expression) started swimming the in opposite direction, with Gwen not that far behind.

Bill, Beverly, Eddie, and Ben were laughing at their antics.

Even Stan who'd been annoyed at Richie couldn't help but smile at how frivolous they were being.

It had been Ben who had gotten out of the water first. When he sat down by the rocks, Gwen saw how him eating one of the snacks Beverly had stolen from the pharmacy.

The Tozier girl felt her stomach rumble when she saw this. Wanting a snack made her swim towards the shore. When she got of the water she missed the starry eyed look Stan was throwing her way. Along with Eddie's open gaped mouth. The young boy had to control his breathing the longer he stared at her. The need for his inhaler was strong, but he was able to manage his breathing.

Ben was somewhat startled when sat down next to him. Out of embarrassment he quickly swallowed down the remaining chocolate bar pieces he had in his mouth.

Instead of making a comment about his weight or even dissing his choice of fattening snack, Ben was relieved when Gwen started immediately eating a chocolate bar. Were her eating habits lady like? Eh, not really. Except that didn't bother Ben. He knew now that Gwen was well mannered. He figured that at the moment she comfortable enough to loosen up a bit. Ben felt happy about that because that meant she wasn't putting up a fake persona with him. She was just being herself.

When she finished eating the chocolate bar, Gwen let out a smile. "You gotta love chocolate."

Ben smiled, nodding his head in agreement. "Yeah." He felt silly but it was after saying this that he realized Gwen was sitting next to him. He felt his face warm up out of awkwardness. It wasn't the same blush he would get when staring at Beverly. That blush was out of complete affection. No, the blush he was getting because of Gwen was due to him being unquiet. Sure he liked Gwen, but he didn't like her the same way he liked Beverly. Beverly Marsh was the one who held his heart. Gwen Tozier was a friend―one he was getting closer to. Or now that he thought about it better, he was starting to see her as an older sister.

"Is your stomach feeling better?" Gwen suddenly asked. Her voice had taken a serious and concerned turn with her tone.

Ben blinked at her. "Huh?' He replied coming out of his thoughts.

Gwen pointed to the bandage covered wound, the one Henry Bowers had inflicted on him. "Your stomach. Is the injury on your stomach causing you any issues?"

You mean besides embarrassment every time I stare at it? Ben thought to himself before shaking his head. He put his hands over his stomach, an act he has been doing ever since he could remember. "No, I'm feeling better now." He said trying to sound convincing.

Gwen could not only hear but she could also see the insecurity that Ben had towards himself. The cut on his stomach (which would probably be there for the rest of his life) just made his self-consciousness more obvious. Anger suddenly overshadowed her emotions and it was directed towards Henry Bowers. For Ben's Sake she was able to control her emotions. However, she still made her dislike towards Bowers very well known by her next choice of words.

"Like I said before, Henry Bowers is one giant fuckturd."

There it was again, that curse word. Ben's face lit up with enlightenment. "What does that even mean?' He asked laughing a little.

Gwen's face perked up at such question. "Oh, fuckturd? That's just my lovely way of saying he's a fuckin' asshole, prick, jerk, douche. Of course I could always just say those things, but I like the way fuckturd sounds. Has a certain zing to it."

"That it does." Ben said with a full on smile this time.

Gwen returned the smile. However her eyes soon caught sight of something sticking out of Ben's backpack. This time it wasn't his Walkman that had her attention but piece of paper that looked like a post card.

"What you got there?" She asked, curious.

Ben followed her gaze. He berated himself when he saw what held her attention. He was quick to shove the postcard he had inside his backpack. "Nothing." He replied, feeling slightly panicked.

Normally her attention was a five out of ten (due to her ADHD). However, when something really caught her interest, Gwen was not one to be easily swayed. "Relax, I won't say a word." She said raising a hand. "Scout's honor."

Ben stared at her taking in her facial features. Not a single feature she had held anything that made him not trust her. Feeling a sense of security with the Tozier girl, he reached for the postcard and carefully handed it to her. He grew nervous as she began to silently read it.

Your hair is winter fire,

January embers,

My heart burns there, too.

Gwen felt a sense of serenity go through her after reading the postcard.

Wow.

That was all Gwen could think in her head. Ben actually wrote that? After a few seconds she was able to get a hold of herself. A light bulb went off in her head after re-reading the postcard again. Her gaze on him became soft. "Is this for who I think it is?" She asked him, excited to hear his reply. It had to be for Beverly...it just had to.

Ben shook his head. "No." He lamely said. However, the soft knowing look Gwen was giving him made him give into the truth. Like before he just felt like he could trust her with this. He ended up nodding his head. "Yes." He answered her. Despite trusting her, he still lowered his eyes.

"You like her." Gwen realized with a smile. In the inside she was gushing at Ben's feelings for Beverly. "That's sweet. Now I understand why you had all those poetry books." She handed Ben the postcard back. "It's lovely, Ben. I'm sure Beverly will love it."

Ben blushed as he took hold of the postcard. He hid it inside his backpack and then looked towards her again. A dejected expression was to be seen in his face. "I hope so."

"Why didn't you sign your name on it?" Gwen asked him. At the bottom of the postcard it just said secret admirer. The Tozier girl was confused as to why he didn't want to take credit for his own work. Let alone not want to let Beverly know it had been him who wrote her such a lovely poem.

"Because I don't think she likes me the same way." Ben replied, dispirited.

Gwen could hear the disappointment in his tone. She herself knew how it was to like someone who had no idea of their feelings towards them. Thinking about Chase made Gwen feel sadness. Not wanting to fall into her depression, now of all moments, she fought to move through it. She gave Ben a quick encouraging pat on the shoulder. "Chin up." She said lightening her voice a bit. "Just remember that in the end the underdog always wins." Although she was saying this to him, in a way she was also saying it to herself.

"But that's just in movies." Ben sadly pointed out to her.

Gwen shook her head and laughed. Her laugh was a little bitter but it still made the younger boy feel slightly better. "Ben, if you really think about it life is a movie." She scrunched up her face in thought. "Only more shittier. And the endings aren't always happy, but there's always a silver lining of some sorts." She softened her voice, turning more serious. "There just has to be..." She cleared her throat and got back on track. "So you can still give her the postcard. Where's the harm in that?" She told him, and with that she left Ben alone to dwell with her the thoughtful advice she had given him.

The Tozier girl didn't go so far. Just far enough to get her towel from where she had left it near the shore. As she did this she saw the rest of the group start to come out of the water. When Richie got out he made sure to shake his head right next to her allowing his wet hair to hit her. He reminded her of a shaggy dog drying himself out.

Gwen of course repeated this action. Since her hair was way longer than his the end pieces actually got him pretty good in the face. He made a noise of complaint as he walked over where Ben was next to the rocks to sit down. Bill, Stan, and Eddie followed behind, severely amused at how Gwen had one upped Richie at the whole wet hair flipping game.

Beverly was the only one to have stayed behind. The Tozier had to control how giddy she was feeling due to the discovery of Ben's crush on the redhead. Although she was smiling, Gwen could tell how serious Beverly was becoming due to her eyes.

Beverly looked to where the boys were at. The five of them were now sitting next to the rocks, engaging in whatever sort of conversation with each other with Gwen's boombox was blasting music in the background. Gazing back at the dark haired girl, Beverly finally to ask the question she'd been saving for her. "Gwen, can I ask you something?"

The Tozier girl didn't hesitate at nodding her head. "Yeah, what's up?"

Beverly let out a deep breath.

"Is this what it's like to have friends?"

Gwen furrowed her eyebrows. Beverly saw this and was quick to explain her reasoning for even bringing this question up.

"I'm just asking because I've never had real friends before...not until you guys." Beverly sadly admitted to her. "So...is this how it feels? Like you're up on cloud nine?"

Gwen had to think over what Beverly was asking. Her thoughts were going all over the place. Was the feeling of happiness caused because of her friends? Short answer, yes.

Her self explanation to this was a bit longer.

Now did Gwen herself have a lot of friends to back up this? Not so much...at least not anymore. She did get along with most of her softball teammates, and a few students (even girls) that had been in her classes (well, the ones that didn't partake in the rumors about her), but none of them were close friends with her. Not the kind of friends she would trust with her life or tell her secrets to. There was only one person who she considered to be her best friend and that was Francine. But after Chase's death and Georgie's disappearance, Gwen couldn't one hundred percent be herself around her blonde friend anymore. Still, whenever she was with Francine, Gwen was less on edge and was more upbeat. But right now with Beverly and the rest of them, Gwen was the most happiest she'd ever been. Gwen ended up giving Beverly an earnest expression.

"If I'm being honest, I don't really have that many friends...not until now of course." Gwen sheepishly admitted to her. "Before, Francine was my only friend. Best friend actually, and that's because I've basically known her my whole life. And then there was Chase..." Gwen felt her composure lessen at the mention of him. "But you know what happened to him..."

Beverly looked at her with doleful eyes. The redhead did know what happened to Chase Campbell. How couldn't she? The blue eyed boy's suicide was the most talked about incident in town...well, that was of course before the disappearances started happening. Now the Campbell boy was just another tragedy people talked about every now and again. It saddened Beverly because even if she didn't personally know Chase, she knew even from a far that he was nice. A rare quality to find in people residing in Derry. Her sorrowful feelings grew when they saw how affected Gwen looked at the mention of Chase. The older girl really must have liked him.

Gwen continued talking as if she hadn't just brought up her dead crush. She cleared her throat, fighting away the tears that wanted to run down her face. "The rest of the girls and boys in my grade are just acquaintances. But this feeling we're having is a feeling I've never felt before...not even with Francine." The Tozier girl steadied her voice. "I know it's good because I actually feel happy... and that's because of you guys."

Beverly wanted to comfort Gwen. Even if the older girl was putting on a brave act, her dark eyes were showing her brooding. But Beverly settled down her concern since she herself knew what it was like to not want others to smother her with solace―let alone pity her. Although Gwen showed caring feelings towards her, she did it in a natural way. So Beverly did the same, taking a softer approach. She gave Gwen a comforting smile. "Well, I'm glad for you guys." And she meant that because she felt beyond touched at her confession.

"Me too." Gwen agreed. Before things got more emotional she started walking towards where the boys were at. Her towel in hand as she did so. "Now come on." She said glancing over her shoulder. "Let's go get dry while the sun is still high in the sky."

Feeling as if she was still on cloud nine, Beverly grabbed her own towel and followed behind her friend's steps.

Gwen and Beverly were in absolute tranquility.

They were both lying down on their towels next to each other, sunbathing. The upbeat music song of Bust A Move by Young MC was playing out of Gwen's boombox. Said older teenager had on her sunglasses (as did Beverly), and was mouthing along to the lyrics. As she did that, Gwen she was moving her feet to the rhythm. Overall, the Tozier girl was basking in the music and the suns warmth, enjoying the moment of peace.

From where they were sitting by the rocks, each boy had enamored looks on their faces. Bill, Ben, Eddie, and Stan were looking at both girls, while Richie admired Beverly. However, it soon became apparent to the bespectacled boy that his friends stares were beginning to linger more on his sister due to how more developed she was. This was clearly obvious by how flushed Eddie and (especially) Stan looked as they gazed at Gwen.

Richie shuddered as he threw his friends looks of disbelief. "Seriously guys?" He harshly whispered to them.

Bill and Ben looked away from Gwen in embarrassment but were quick to move their gazes onto Beverly. Eddie mumbled an apology under his breath, somewhat averting his eyes from Gwen, ashamed. Stan, however, didn't stop staring at Gwen. The awestruck look he had on never faltered as he took in her ethereal beauty. He knew he should have stopped looking, but he just couldn't. It was like he was under her spell. The Uris boy was completely allured by the Tozier girl.

Beverly suddenly turning her head their way finally made all of them look away. All the boys tried to look nonchalant and innocent making Beverly raise her eyebrows behind her sunglasses. She turned to look at Gwen and right away saw how she was still very much into the song that was playing. Beverly smiled seeing the older girl in her own world.

Even though they had been almost caught, Stan couldn't help help but glance at Gwen again. Richie saw right away his curly haired friend looking at his sister again. Richie rolled his eyes behind his glasses, having enough of this. He grabbed his towel and threw it at Gwen's direction. The towel landed right on her face as she was still mouthing along to the song's lyrics.

"What the hell, Richie?" Gwen asked grabbing the towel from her face. She came up to a sitting position and took off her sunglasses to stare at her brother.

Richie shrugged his shoulders. "You're gonna get a sun burn." He replied back with a tight smile. He made sure to give Stan a side look making the bird loving boy avert his gaze from Gwen.

The Tozier girl, unaware of this interaction between them, rolled her eyes.

Richie then moved his attention when he saw the papers sticking out of Ben's backpack. He gave the boy a droll smile. "News flash Ben, school's out for Summah!" He told him in a (terrible) British accent. The Tozier boy (without permission of course) started looking through Ben's backpack. He was quick to pull out the postcard he had made for Beverly. Thankfully he had the picture side facing him. Richie was ever curious. He gave Ben an amused expression. "Who sent you this?"

Panicked and embarrassed, Ben grabbed the postcard from him and hid it inside in another compartment the backpack had. "No one." He sheepishly told him.

"Richie, how many times have I told you? Ask before taking." Gwen said coming to Ben's aid. She sat next to Stan, making the curly haired boy flush at how close she was to him now.

"What? You take stuff all the time without asking." Richie retorted back to his older sister.

Gwen smiled. "Yes, but I'm me and you're you. There's a huge difference." She right away saw the comical smile that was starting to break out on her brother's face. She was quick to put a stop to his flippant comment. "I swear if you make a dick joke right now, I'm gonna push you into the water."

All the others had to stifle their laughter at seeing how let down their Trashmouth of a friend looked because Gwen interrupted his brazen comment. Richie huffed but still continued to look through Ben's backpack. He might have not asked permission, but at least this time he was searching more calmly than before. He ended pulling out a binder.

"What's with the history project?" Eddie asked as Richie flipped opened the binder. They were all looking it with curiosity. Richie and Gwen were the first ones to see it. They then passed the binder to Stan and Eddie to have a look. The four of them were quick to see that the articles inside were anything but bright. One of them mentioned the Easter explosion that killed a large group of kids. Gwen felt chills down her back from reading that article.

Ben cleared his throat, sheepish. "Uh, well, when I first moved here I didn't really have anyone to hangout with. So, I started spending my time in the library." He shyly admitted to them.

As the binder was passed down to Bill, Richie made a comment. "Again I have to ask, you went to the library? On purpose?"

Gwen playfully hit one of his arms. "Beep beep, Richie."

In return Richie stuck out his tongue towards her and Gwen was quick to do the same thing to him. They both wanted to break out into smiles but they held them in.

Beverly who had been listening, got up and took off her sunglasses. "Oh, I wanna see." She said as she walked their way. The redhead took a seat next to Bill, making the Denbrough boy tense up.

"What's The Black Spot?" Stan questioned remembering one of the articles he had seen in the binder.

Ben was quick to answer him. "The Black Spot was a nightclub that was burnt down years ago."

Something clicked in Gwen's head. "Wait, wasn't it burnt down by the Maine Legion of White Decency? That racist group?" She could have sworn she had heard about that before.

Ben somberly nodded his head. "Yeah."

Gwen had a feeling of uneasiness go through her. Her thoughts took a more serious route. So much tragedy is such a small town...something wasn't right here. Her thoughts were forgot about when she heard Bill speak.

"Your h-h-hair." Bill said looking at Beverly. He was pointing out the obvious and he felt stupid for doing so. He was looking at her with awe, very much wanting to compliment her, but he just couldn't find the words to express himself.

Beverly anxiously waited to hear what he had to say about her new haircut. Her heartbeat going faster the longer he silently stared at her. And just when the silence was about to head towards awkward territory, someone else payed her a compliment.

"Your hair is beautiful, Beverly." Ben sheepishly added with a heartfelt smile. To him she looked beautiful even with short hair. She'd always be beautiful in his eyes.

Bill lowered his gaze, unhappy with himself for not being able to say what he was thinking.

"Oh..." Beverly said slightly disappointed, running a hand through her short hair. She appreciated Ben's compliment, she really did. She just wished it had been Bill who had said it. Still, she gave Ben a friendly smile. "Right...thanks."

Although their conversation had taken an awkward turn, Gwen decided to keep the conversation going. The Tozier girl was completely unaware how much Ben and Bill were crushing over the redhead. So far she only knew of Ben's crush on Beverly. "See I told you, it's a total badass haircut." She added merrily to her friend.

Beverly smiled at her cheerfulness, but was still disappointed she hadn't heard anything from Bill.

Seeing Gwen smiling, and overall happy, made Stan speak up. "Your hair is nice too, Gwen." He suddenly said, wanting to compliment his crush. His cheeks held a barely noticeable pink taint to them as the Tozier girl moved her gaze onto him.

Gwen noticed now that own his hair was dry his natural curls were back. She found that to be adorable. The sun caused her dark eyes to get a soft gleam as she looked at him. She threw a smile his way. "Aw, thanks, Stan."

"Don't lie to her, Stan." Richie said, once again ruining whatever moment they were having. "You've seen how it is in the morning when she wakes up." He let out a humor filled laugh. "It looks like a fuckin' wild birds nest."

"Shut up, Richie!" Gwen shouted resisting the urge to laugh. She wasn't really embarrassed or mad at him for saying that. Everyone there already (other than Ben and Beverly) knew how messy her hair was in the morning.

Bill, Eddie, and Stan had slept over at their house in the past, so they've seen how tangled her dark roots got after she'd wake up. Gwen, however, didn't care how blah she looked bright and early in the day. The Tozier girl felt comfortable enough around them to not worry about her appearance. Her response to her brother was just a routine thing. This was regular sibling banter between them. Richie would say something facetious to her and then she'd respond with either "Shut up, Richie" or his ever favorite saying from her, which was, "Beep beep, Richie." Right now the first option won.

Although Gwen was seeing his comment in a more lighter way, Stan was not. He narrowed his eyes at Richie. "I don't think it's that wild." He said coming to Gwen's defense. He'd seen his crush's hair in the morning whenever he ended sleeping over at the Tozier residence. And although he hated to agree with Richie, the bespectacled boy was right. Gwen's hair wasn't exactly the greatest in the morning. But then again, whose was? His certainly wasn't. His curls often annoyed him due to how all over the place they would get. However, his feelings for Gwen didn't decrease because of her messy hair. Even if he himself didn't like messes or disorganization, he'd see past his OCD for Gwen.

Only for her.

Richie was quick to twist and throw back his curly haired friend's words. "Ha!" He said pointing a finger at Stan making him jump a little in place. "But you still agree that it's somewhat wild."

"What? No, I..." Stan's eyes widened. He quickly went over what he said in his head. After thoroughly thinking it over, he let out a huff. Damn Richie for twisting his words. Except it was his own fault. He should have thought carefully with what he had to say before speaking. Especially in front of Richie. Stan looked at Gwen, his cheeks feeling hot from embarrassment."Well, uh..." He gulped, nervously.

As much as she wanted to say it was no big deal, Gwen was curious to hear what he would say to her. The longer she waited the more awkward silence began to fill the air. It was the only thing that could be heard (of not heard)...well, other than Richie's low snickering. Unknown to her, Richie's low snickering only caused Stan to throw him a discreet type of glare. Just as she was finally about to say something herself, a soft voice beat her to it.

"I think your natural hair is nice." Eddie said coming to the rescue.

It was a surprise to Gwen that the small boy had been the one to end the awkwardness. She smiled at him nonetheless. "Thanks, Eds."

Eddie blushed hearing her say that nickname she saved for him. A nickname first started by Richie and one Eddie would always complain about whenever he used it. Though some part of him liked hearing him say Eds as much as when Gwen called him that. Not that he'd ever tell Richie that. Eddie wouldn't hear end of it if he did.

The smaller boy ended up nodding his head at Gwen before averting his eyes. From the side, Stan was inwardly berating himself at how lame he was being.

"Ugh, enough with the compliments." Richie whined rolling his eyes halfheartedly.

Gwen playfully pushed Richie. The bespectacled boy made a show of how she had almost pushed him off the rock he was sitting on. Her response to this was a smile and another round of "Beep beep, Richie."

Richie then adjusted his glasses, becoming a tad bit more serious. "Why is it all murders and missing kids?"

"Derry's not like any town I've ever been in before." Ben uneasily explained to them. Everyone looked to be on edge as he continued talking. By now the music playing on the boombox was practically nonexistent to them. "I did a study once, and it turns out people die six times the national average."

Gwen felt her stomach drop from hearing that. She immediately thought about Chase and Georgie.

"You read that?" Beverly asked more worried than fascinated at that morbid information of their town.

Ben looked at her and nodded his head. "And that's just grown ups. Kids are worse, way, way worse."

Kids are worse, way, way worse...

That sentence kept repeating in Gwen's head over and over again. Luckily Ben spoke up, making that endless loop come to a sudden stop.

"I've got more stuff if you wanna see." Ben informed his friends.

The rest of them all looked at each other. Even though Gwen was severely disturbed at her town's history, she couldn't deny the curiosity she now had. In fact, she along with Richie, Bill, Beverly, and Stan, were all so curious that they didn't even see Eddie shaking his head in protest.

Within minutes, all of them had gotten dressed and were cycling to Ben's house.

One by one they each entered Ben's house and bedroom. Said boy was awkwardly standing with his hand pressed against his closet door, trying to look nonchalant.

The rest of them were taken back by all the newspaper clippings and full articles that were all over Ben's bedroom walls. To Gwen this whole area looked like a mini detective's room. Ben had really done his research on Derry.

"Wow." Richie exclaimed with false excitement.

Ben smiled, happy to finally have other people―friends―inside his room. "Cool, huh?"

"No, no, nothing cool." Richie said shaking his head with a smile still on his face.

Gwen rolled her eyes at her brother behavior. She sent Ben an apologetic look causing the boy to smile back in return. "I see you managed to read that book I recommended." She said as her eyes wandered around his room.

Ben nodded his head. "Yeah, that book was helpful." He replied, honestly. Even if the book did cause him to see the headless boy. He shuddered at the memory of the encounter he had with it.

Richie and Gwen walked to the wall that had images of maps and articles. "Well, this is cool." He said before scrunching up his face. "No, wait never mind."

Stan and Eddie approached the siblings and stared at the printings in front of them. "What's this?" Stan asked pointing to said article.

Ben's gaze shifted from Beverly who was looking around his room onto Stan and the others. "Oh, that? That's the Charter for Derry's Township." He answered once he saw what he was pointing at.

Richie let out a scoff as he fixed his glasses. "Nerd alert."

"I wouldn't say anything. Mr. I Collect Comics." Gwen said teasing her brother.

Richie was quick to retort back to her. "Hey! Those are gonna be worth a lot one day. You'll see."

Gwen smiled and rolled her eyes. "Sure."

"Actually it's pretty interesting." Ben said gaining their attention. "Derry started as a beaver training camp."

Richie let out a laugh. "Still is! Am I right, boys?" He said raising his hands towards Stan and Eddie. Eddie didn't even look his way, while Stan just shook his head due to his foolishness. When he realized they weren't going to five high him, Richie turned to look at his sister with now only one of his hands in the air.

Gwen amusingly shook her head. "Put your hand down. I'm not gonna high five you."

Richie huffed, lowering his hand.

"Ninety-one people signed the Charter that made Derry, but later that Winter, they all disappeared without a trace." Ben continued informing them, causing unsettled expressions to cross all of their faces.

"The entire camp?" Eddie questioned in disbelief.

Gwen felt her stomach do twists as she processed this new information.

"There were rumors of Indians but no signs of an attack." Ben explained to his friends. "Everybody just thought it was a plague or something. But it's like one day everybody woke up and left. The only clue was a trail of bloody clothes leading to the well house."

Chills went down Gwen's arms when Ben finished telling the story.

"Jesus..." Richie uttered, slightly losing his lighthearted demeanor. He nudged his sister. "We could get Derry on Unsolved Mysteries!"

"Somehow I doubt that..." Gwen muttered, still feeling on edge.

"W-Where's the well house?" Bill asked finally speaking up. He had been lingering back, silently taking in all the information the bedroom had plastered on the walls. Right now he was staring at some of the projector slides Ben had on his desk with interest.

Ben who'd been distracted due to Beverly finding his New Kids On The Block poster (which thankfully she kept the discovery to herself), hurriedly turned to look at Bill. "I don't know." He replied trying to get over whatever embarrassment he was feeling. "Somewhere in town, I guess." He tilted his head at his friend. "Why?"

Bill's gaze went out Ben's window. As he looked at the blue sky, his thoughts were running around in his head. "No-Nothing..." He stammered out as a reply.

Gwen looked his way. Her dark eyes softened in concern when she saw how crestfallen he appeared to be. She started to make her way towards him, but came to a stop when a very familiar article on one of Ben's desks caught her attention. She stared at with a complete woebegone expression. As she picked up the article and read the title, she started to feel the room get smaller on her. Her hands shook as she kept reading the article title in her head.

Local Town Boy Commits Suicide

There underneath the title was a picture of Chase.

In the picture he looked happy. He was smiling. He was alive.

Gwen felt her heartbreak all over again at the rediscovery of said article. Memories of Chase from when he had been alive flooded her head. She felt like breaking down.

From besides her, it was Stan to have noticed her wretched state. "Gwen, are you okay?" He asked her, concerned. It didn't take him long to realize what the article she had in hand was about. Now he understood why she looked so shook.

All the others were looking at her with worry now. Richie especially, as he came to stand next to her. When he saw the news article with Chase's picture he cursed in his head. "Gwen?" He softly called her name, hoping to bring her out of her grief-stricken daze.

The Tozier girl however didn't look at her brother. She instead turned to look at Ben, her dark eyes already close to tearing up. "Why in the world do you have this?" She choked out.

Ben shifted his weight between his feet due to how desolate she looked. "Well, like I said, I've been researching all the deaths in Derry. I know his was a suicide, but it was still something I looked into. I didn't want to look past it."

With shaky hands, Gwen lowered the article back onto the desk. "I-I should, uh, leave." She said, her voice wavering with emotion. "Yeah, I have to go..." And without saying else and ignoring all of their worried glances, Gwen ran out of the room.

"No wait, Gwen!" Richie tried calling out to his sister. It was too late though. From Ben's bedroom window, he and the others saw the older girl get on her bike and ride away.

"What happened?" Ben asked confused by the older girl's sudden distress.

"She knew the boy from the article." Beverly sadly informed him.

Ben's eyes widened a little. "She did?"

"Yeah, they were friends." Eddie said with a low voice.

"But she liked him..." Richie added somberly. He could still feel his sister's distress run through him. "She liked him a lot."

At the mention of Gwen's crush on the Campbell boy, Stan just nodded his head, feeling dejected.

Ben felt terrible now. "I had no idea. I'm sorry." He sincerely apologized, a guilty expression grew on his face.

"It's alright. Like you s-s-said, you d-d-didn't know." Bill said trying to reassure him.

"Richie?" Ben nervously called out to him.

Said boy shook his head. All he could think about was his older sister's well-being. "I have to go check on her." He said telling his friends. "She's probably on her way to the house. I'll see you guys later." Richie said before making his way out of the Hanscom residence.

With sorrowful faces (Ben's being more guilt-ridden), each of them said goodbye to the bespectacled boy.

Gwen didn't go back home like Richie thought she did.

No, the Tozier girl instead rode her bike to the one place her heart was telling her to go.

Chase's house...well old house.

No longer being able to contain her dismal emotions, Gwen finally released out the tears she had been fighting against at Ben's house. As the tears went down her face, she felt her heart ache again for her deceased crush.

Although she was heavily affected by the news article she found in Ben's house, Gwen wasn't mad at the young boy. Finding the news article just shocked her. Seeing Chase's picture (were he was happy and alive) got to her. It got to her badly. Past memories of her and Chase were once again entering her head. She sniffed her runny nose and wiped at her cheeks.

I miss you, Chase. God, I miss you so much. Why did any of this have to happen? Why? Why? Why?!

Gwen released another despairing sob. She was finding all this to be too much...being here in front of his old house was too much...and yet she couldn't move. This two-story blue house was a constant reminder of Chase. And that was melancholic for Gwen.

The sudden movement from one of the upstairs bedroom windows instantly alerted Gwen. She narrowed her dark eyes in disbelief. Doubts started to enter her head. Did she really just see that? It had to be her eyes playing tricks with her. There was no way―

Her dubious thoughts stopped when she saw swift movement again. It was a shadow of some sorts and this time Gwen knew she hadn't imagined it. Someone was upstairs...but why? And who? Her eyes went to the front door and she was taken back to see how the door was slightly opened. It hadn't been open before...or had it? She honestly couldn't remember.

A part of her wanted to get on her bike and ride away, but another part of her was transfixed in entering the house. Gwen not only wanted to know who was inside, but the Tozier girl wanted to be the one to personally kick them out for entering the house that once belonged to the boy she liked. This person had no right in being in there. No right whatsoever.

Her anger and curiosity won in the end.

Leaving behind her backpack and bike on the ground, Gwen found herself marching towards the front door. With determined steps to get this person out, she made her way inside, making sure to not fully close the door behind her.

"Excuse me?!" She shouted fiercely. "Who ever is in here, you need to get the hell out. This isn't your―" She stopped her command when soft music entered her ears. Gwen couldn't right away comprehend the lyrics, but she knew that the music was coming from upstairs. This bewildered her because there was nothing left from the Campbell's. So just what was causing the music to play? Although on edge, Gwen still found herself slowly going up the stairs. With each step the lyrics started to become more clear to her.

You are here
Sha bop sha bop
And so am I
Sha bop sha bop

The Tozier girl did not know nor recognized the song that was playing. She had a wild guess though that it was a song from the fifties. It sounded like it was. The lyrics however made the song seem more haunting than romantic.

Maybe millions of people go by
But they all disappear from view
And I only have eyes for you

Gwen was now standing in front of the bedroom door where the music was coming from behind. Her heart ached more knowing this was Chase's old bedroom. She knew this because of the times she had come over to work on school assignments. She had trouble turning the knob, but the need to know who was there and what was playing the music gave her the determination to open the door.

Once she opened the door, Gwen was left feeling perplexed.

There was no one and nothing in the bedroom.

It was empty.

What got her to be more freaked out was that the music had stopped playing.

The hell?

Gwen let her gaze wander all over the bedroom. How was that even possible? She heard music. She saw a shadow, she was sure of it. Maybe she was losing her damn mind...

With a unsettled frown, Gwen shut the bedroom door. When she turned around she was met with a gruesome and terrifying sight. That frightening dark icky slime covered zombie, Tarman from The Return of the Living Dead movies was right there in front of her. What the fuck?! No...this wasn't real. This wasn't happening.

All skepticism she had went out the window when she heard it speak.

"Hmm, girly brains...so tasty."

She let out a scream as the thing walked forward, ready to touch her.

Gwen managed to dodge the Tarman's arms and she was quick to run down the stairs. All she was thinking was that she needed to get the hell out of there. She was in such a panic state that she missed the last step on the stairs. This caused her to fall face front to the ground. She let out a groan of pain. The dark haired girl knew she couldn't dwell on the pain. She need to get up and run.

Before she was even able to get herself up, she felt a harsh tug on one of her ankles. Gwen craned her neck, scared to see that the Tarman had caught up with her. Except what she ended up seeing was not the Tarman. No, what she saw was way more disturbing.

There tugging at her ankle was Patrick Hockstetter. His skin was slightly decomposed and his hair was a matted mess but Gwen still recognized him. His sudden appearance made Gwen's heart race in trepidation. She was so scared and shocked that she became frozen in place. A she tried working through her scared state, the Tozier girl saw his dark soulless eyes gleam.

"I can make you feel better, Gwen." Patrick's sickening grin appeared wide on his face. The same grin that made her so much discomfort. He licked his lips as his grime covered hands slid up her legs in a suggestive way. "Let me make you feel better."

Repulsed by the dirty touch, Gwen started to kick her legs. She wasn't about to be taken advantage of by whatever this thing was. Either the Tarman or a decomposed version of Patrick. As she fought against the thing, Gwen didn't at all notice the brief warmth coming from her necklace. With a growl from this thing, the hold that was on her was suddenly gone, and Gwen used this chance to get up and run. She didn't stop nor looked back until she was outside, on the sidewalk.

It was then that she finally saw the clown standing on Chase's front porch.

Dressed in a renaissance type of inspired costume, the clown stood at six feet tall. His face was painted white, along with a red painted nose. The top of his head was huge with orange hair covering around it. The way it just stood there made Gwen's breathing escalate.

"Who...what..." She couldn't finish her sentence. The shock was too much.

Even despite having some distance with the clown, he must have heard her because a sickening grin grew on his face. Said smile only creeped her out more do to the red painted smile the clown had on. Except what really got to her were the eyes.

They were yellow. Like the ones in her dreams (or should she say nightmares).

Only this time this was real, and she was beginning to realize that last time hadn't been a dream (nightmare) either. She jumped in place when laughter filled the air.

"I'm Pennywise the Dancing Clown!" The clown cackled, those yellow eyes of his darkening. "But you my dear can call me Robert Gray."

With wide eyes, Gwen started to back away further into the street. She saw amusement in the clown's features as she did this.

"Where you going, Gwen? Don't you want a balloon?" The clown eerily asked as he brought out a red balloon from behind him. "This one's special...just for you."

Gwen didn't stop her walking, which only caused the clown's eyes to glow more yellow.

"Honk, Honk!" The clown tittered, relished by her fear. His sickening smile expanded due to how scared and timid she looked.

It was then that Gwen heard a car coming her way. Letting out a scream, Gwen managed to move just in time before it ran her over. Whoever was driving didn't even stop to make sure she was okay. They just kept going. Gwen though had other things to focus on. She reluctantly turned towards Chase's house again only to see that the clown was no longer there. The front door was closed and no shadows could be seen from any of the upstairs windows. The only evidence to show her that encounter actually happened was the single red balloon that was floating away into the sky.

With the coast clear, Gwen ran towards her belongings. Keeping her guard up, she grabbed her backpack and hopped onto her bike. Within seconds she was already down the street on her way home. Her trepidation did not falter no matter how far away she got from Chase's house...away from that clown.

If anything Gwen was still on high alert, and the dread she was feeling grew as she made her way home.

Especially when she saw a new missing person's poster with Patrick Hockstetter's picture on it.

That certainly did not lower her uneasiness.