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! I finally updated! I am sorry for the huge gap, but I finished my finales for school and I was stressing a lot. Honestly, I had so much school work to do. Ugh. Anyways, I am now on my winter break and I will be using this time to continue writing this story. We're nearly reaching the end and as much as I am excited to finish, I am also sad. This story has left a impact on me and I am happy that you guys are still interested in the story. You guys are what motivate me to write! Anyways, this chapter is going to be like a roller-coaster. The next chapter is going to be more of a heart-breaker. More so because of Gwen and Richie. So be prepared. Anyways, have fun (or not really) reading this chapter.
The first chapter which is the prologue for the Stranger Things/IT crossover is up. The story is called Dimensions Of The Heart. Go check it out if you haven't yet. Also, sorry for any spelling errors in this chapter. It's two in the morning. I'll try to correct them later.
"If you don't know learn how to be scared, you'll never really learn how to be brave." ― Simon Holt, The Devouring
Chapter 18: The first downfall
As Gwen Tozier took a harsh unexpected fall back to the first floor of the Neibolt House, Richie and Bill (who were completely unaware of her and Eddie's passed out state) were still persistent with trying to get their door to open. Bill was swiftly turning the door knob while Richie kept hitting and pushing on the door. The youngest Tozier did this action as he desperately called out for his best friend and older sister.
"Eddie! Gwen! Open the door! Are you guys okay?!"
No answer. Not from Eddie or Gwen.
Their lack of a response made Richie and Bill even more anxious. The two boys gave each other quick distressed looks before their battle to open the door increased. However, since the door knob wasn't functioning for whatever reason, Bill moved onto calling out to his friends as he began to loudly pounded on the door. The Denbrough boy had been too focused on calling out his friends name (hoping to hear from them) that he completely missed how Richie caught sight of another opened door leading into a whole different room.
One second Richie had been vehemently calling out for Gwen and Eddie and then the next second his attention switched over to the room that was across from Bill and him. The room was dark but from where he was standing Richie could still see what he assumed was old furniture covered by sheets. Seeing how it was something as ordinary and unhelpful as furniture, Richie was ready to focus on the important task of getting to Gwen and Eddie. However, just as he about to call out to his friends again, a familiar voice filled his ears.
"Hey, Richie!"
Recognizing that voice to be Eddie's, Richie was quick to turn back around. His eyes behind his glasses narrowed as he walked closer to the room. "Eddie?" He questioned, bemused. He almost expected there to be no answer, but then in the dark further into the room he saw Gwen and Eddie peek from behind one of the sheets.
"We're over here!"
Hearing his sister's voice along with Eddie's made Richie forget about the dangers of splitting up from Bill. All he could think about now was getting to his friend and his older sister. He needed to know that they were okay. Unfortunately for him he could no longer see them. "Gwen? Eddie? What the fuck are you guys doing in here?" Richie asked as he finally stepped into the dark room. When they didn't show themselves to him again, Richie started to get a bad feeling in his stomach. He made his next response more sharp than nerve-wracking. "Just come out. Now is not the time to play hide and seek."
It was at that moment that Bill finally realized that Richie was no longer standing next to him. With a confused expression, Bill stopped his actions to walk near the entrance of the other room. When he saw that Richie was inside the room, Bill got a awful feeling in his stomach.
"R-R-Richie?" He nervously called out his name.
When Richie heard Bill call out his name it felt like cold water had been splashed onto his face. Richie now knew. He knew that neither Gwen or Eddie where in that damn room. It had been a trap. Not wanting to stay another second in that room, Richie began making his way out. Except just as he was about to reach the entrance and Bill, the door slammed shut between them.
Once again just like before, Richie and Bill both began trying their best to open the door. Richie was on the verge of a panic attack and he wasn't calming down like last time. Gwen wasn't there to help ease his distress. In fact, he now had no fuckin' idea where his sister or Eddie were at. That had him panicking even more. He needed to get out. He needed to get the fuck out right about now.
"Bill, open the door!" Richie frighteningly shouted.
From the other side of the shut door, Bill was trying his hardest to get it open. Much like the other door, it wouldn't even open a crack. Bill then out of nowhere got the logical thought that maybe the door was locked from the inside or something. The door had shut on its own, but maybe, just maybe, only Richie was the only one able to get the door open. That is if he was able to get a hold of himself. Going with this thought, Bill steadied his voice. "Richie, calm down! Try opening the door again." He informed his friend. Bill had been too focused on calming down his bespectacled friend that he didn't even notice his stutter was gone for the moment.
Not at all understanding Bill's sudden logic, Richie hadn't calmed down in the slightest. "I can't get it open!" After he said this the lights in the room turned on. The lights did nothing to brighten up the room. The lighting was dim and the lights kept flickering on and off. Suddenly, Richie stopped his actions and slowly looked over his shoulder. As he did this the sheets that surrounded the room fell off from what they were covering. Richie's eyes were then filled with absolute fear by what he saw.
It wasn't furniture that was behind those sheets. No, there were clowns statues. And there was a whole shit load of them. "Oh, shit." He breathed as his gaze anxiously went from clown statue to clown statue. When he looked back to where the door was at he saw a short clown statue standing in front of him. Unable to hold in his composure anymore, Richie let out a loud scream. He could practically feel his heart hammering against his chest as he backed away from that ugly short clown statue.
As he backed away, Richie soon came face to face with another clown statue. This was one was much taller than the one by the door. He stomach was in knots as he looked at it. He wanted nothing more than to run away, but something within him told him not to. Richie instead out of bravery or maybe even foolishness, raised one of his hands towards the tall clown statue. He tapped the clown statue. The youngest Tozier waited a few seconds to see what would happen and was left pleasantly surprised at the lack of a reaction from the statue. A sigh of relief escaped him. "Stupid clowns."
That relief feeling he was experiencing soon came to an end when he heard another sheet falling. As Richie turned around he saw that the sheet had uncovered a coffin. Richie was unnerved to notice that the coffin was right around his size. His heartbeat picked up pace again when the top of the coffin lifted open. "Oh, fuck." He uttered in dread. What got to him even more was how on the inside of the coffin there was the missing poster with his photo and big letters the word FOUND was spelled out.
As Richie warily walked towards the coffin he failed to notice how one of the clown statues had slowly turned to look at him. When he finally reached the coffin he looked inside. There was a sheet covering something else inside the coffin. Ever curious (and frightened), Richie, without giving it a second thought, pulled the sheet. Once the sheet was gone he saw that there was a small ventriloquist doll version of himself lying there. The doll face was cracked and there was maggots inside.
Now instead of being scared, Richie was just grossed out. He scrunched up his face in disgust. "Ugh." Not wanting to look at the doll version of himself, he closed the coffin again. Just as he closed the coffin, Richie was severely startled when the coffin opened again. Richie let out a scream when he saw IT jump out of the coffin.
Richie's eyes were wide and he felt goosebumps all over his arms as he took in the clown form IT was taking.
Pennywise.
The youngest Tozier's mouth was wide open but no words were able to come on out. He grew even more scared when ITs smile expanded. That smile on the clown's face was anything but friendly and then there were those eyes. Those yellow eyes Gwen told him she hated were looking right into his dark brown ones. It felt like a eternity of Richie just staring at the clown before anything was said. By the looks of it, the evil entity was clearly enjoying Richie's fear and discomfort.
"What's the matter, bucko?" IT asked in a disdainful way. "Have nothing to say? That's a first!" A round of ominous laughter filled the room before IT grew dead serious. ITs yellow eyes glowed menacingly, making Richie's blood run cold. His thoughts immediately went to Gwen (hoping to God she was alright) and as soon as he thought about her he saw ITs eyes glow again.
"I'm gonna get your sister, Richie!" The clown chortled. ITs smile now was wicked with horrid promises and Richie was beyond terrified. "She'll soon be with me and she'll float!" Sharp teeth could be seen by Richie as the clown bellowed for a second there. "Oh you bet your bottom dollar she will! Just like the rest of you will too!"
Hearing IT say that about Gwen, finally made Richie find his voice. "No!" The youngest Tozier shouted frantically. No, not my sister! Please, God not Gwen!
"Beep beep, Richie!" The clown ruthlessly laughed before flashing ITs sharp teeth and leaping towards him.
Even though he knew the door was locked, Richie told himself that it would be unlocked this time. The youngest Tozier basically hoped it would be. And to his surprise (and relief) this time the door did open. Bill was quick to pull Richie out of the room before shutting the door right on ITs terrorizing face.
Now that he was with Bill again, Richie took deep breaths. The bespectacled boy was trying his hardest to get himself in check. As he was finding out though that was proving to be quite a challenge. IT had shamelessly used the affectionate saying that Gwen would say to him "Beep beep, Richie" and that bothered him. Only Gwen was able to say that to Richie. Richie would even let his other friends say that to him, but certainly not some evil entity that can take a creepy clown form. No...Richie did not want to hear that demented looking clown say that to him. Not ever again.
Richie jumped in place when he felt Bill put a hand on his shoulder. Despite wanting to shake off his uneasiness, Richie was clearly still heavily disturbed by what he had just experienced with IT, and by what IT had said to him regarding Gwen. At that moment, Richie shook his head making an inward decision.
I can't let that clown get my sister. I won't let that happen.
"We've got to get out of h-h-here." Bill told him as he let go of his shoulder.
That pulled Richie out of his protective thoughts. Just as he was about to bring up finding Gwen and Eddie to Bill, their attention was caught by another room that was across from them. This room had no door and there in the middle was an old mattress. What had both boys looking at said mattress with trepidation was they saw what looked like something was trying to force their way through the middle of it.
Adding more to their shock something or better yet someone did burst through the mattress.
Eddie.
Despite Eddie's head popping out from the mattress, Bill and Richie knew that wasn't the real Eddie. No this thing looked like a demonic version of their small friend. Honestly it reminded Richie of one of the demons from the movie The Evil Dead. Eddie's skin was a grayish color and his eyes were hooded. Although they told themselves that this wasn't really Eddie, Bill and Richie were still left speechless.
"You wanna play, loogie?" Eddie asked them before he started vomiting what looked like to be dark oil. As the the liquid left his mouth it started to go all over the floor. Bill and Richie looked at the scene with such fear and disgust as Eddie let out a maniacal laugh. As the laughing got louder his head started to shake but before Bill and Richie could gain a coherent thought, Eddie sunk back into the mattress.
Although this demonic version of Eddie was gone, the black oil gunk he had vomited out was still there...and the gunk was making its way towards Bill and Richie.
...Meanwhile...
Back on the first floor, with a sharp intake of breath, Eddie's eyes flashed wide open. He felt something was off with his whole body but it wasn't until he sat up that he noticed the injury he had. His right arm was broken. He let out a small whimper of pain when he touched it. The pain should have reminded him of the Leper and how IT had touched him...but no. Eddie's first thoughts were of his mother and they weren't necessarily good.
God, his mother was going to freak out when she saw him in the disorderly condition he was in. He could kiss his freedom for the rest of the summer goodbye, as well as being around his friends. Eddie could already imagine himself spending the rest of the summer in the emergency room. This was not good. Not at all. He was so worried about his own mother's reaction that he failed to notice Gwen passed out a few feet away from him. That is until he heard a low groan. Breaking away from his mother's future worry, Eddie's turned his head towards where he heard that noise.
The small boy was at first afraid because reality had finally set in. He was inside Neibolt, separated from his friend and he had a broken arm. He was utterly defenseless but by the sounds of it he wasn't alone. He hoped to God the Leper wasn't there with him. Eddie was immediately relieved when he saw it was Gwen. His relief was forgotten when he saw the awful condition she was in. She was lying on the ground (semi-passed out―he assumed) and her face was facing the dirty dusty floors of the Neibolt House. Besides the fact that she was covered in heavy amounts of dust, what had him even more panicked was the head injury he was able to see. Gwen was bleeding from her head.
Eddie immediately went into his worried medical nonsense mode. Yes, he himself was injured, but so was Gwen. His broken arm injury was thrown to the side as he gazed at the older girl with soft concern. He tried to move but his damn arm made him stop. That wasn't going to stop him from checking on her well-being. He needed to make sure she was alright.
"Gwen! Can you hear me?" Eddie yelled out. In response all he heard was another muffled groan. That was better than nothing he supposed. His voice shook a bit when he continued his mission to get a response out of her. "Gwen you have to fully wake up. I think you might have a concussion. Please, wake up!" This time he heard her say something to what he believed was his name.
Delirious, Gwen picked up her face from the floor to look his way. "Eddie?" She questioned, puzzled. Where the hell was she? The last thing she remembered was being upstairs and...IT. Her eyes widened at that and she sprung up into a sitting position. That proved to be a bad move because the back of her head hurt like a son of a bitch. She saw a few black dots in her vision before she was able to get a clear sight. Despite having somewhat better vision she was still in pain. She let out a painful yelp as the pain from her head increased and she went to touch where the pain was coming from.
"Don't touch the back of your head!" Eddie was quick to tell her. "You're bleeding pretty badly. I think you might have a concussion."
Shit. She probably did have a concussion. Fuckin' great. Gwen huffed as she tried to stand up but the fall from upstairs to downstairs got her good. She didn't even last five seconds before knelt down on the floor again. Her breathing was coming out in short pants as her vision once again got black dots. Her eyes wanted to close again and she was almost giving into doing that, but Eddie's voice rang in her ears.
"Gwen, stay awake!"
The Tozier girl turned her head to look at him. "I'm trying to it's just―Oh my God!" Gwen blurted out once she saw the horrible condition the young boy was in. How could he be fretting over her when he himself was just as injured. "Eddie your arm!" She looked at his broken arm in concern.
Eddie dismissed any concern she was throwing his way and instead informed her more about her own injury. "Gwen, a concussion is a serious traumatic brain injury! It can affect your brain function." He nervously rambled to her. "I mean, the effects are usually temporary but they can include headaches, balance and coordination."
Gwen gave the small boy a look of disbelief. Was he really rambling at a time like this?! "Eddie..." She softly called out his name but he just kept talking. She let out a huff of air. "I can't believe me of all people is about to say this..." She said to herself before raising her voice at him. "Eddie! You really need to stop rambling!"
That got Eddie to stop with the medical talk. The small boy felt his face heat up. "Sorry." He mumbled, lowering his eyes sheepishly.
Gwen suddenly began to feel bad for raising her voice. "No, don't apologize. Look..." She said letting out a sigh. "We're both hurt. You more than me. Don't you dare argue about that." She swiftly added when she saw him ready to retort something back to her. "So we need to get to Richie and Bill and get the hell out of here."
Eddie was about to ask her how exactly they were going to do that (considering how badly they were both injured), when the eerie sound of something cracking open caught their attention. Their conversation on how to get to the others came to an end as soon as their eyes landed onto the refrigerator that was in front of them. Eddie let out a gasp and Gwen suppressed a scream from leaving her when they saw a white gloved hand come out from the refrigerator. They knew who exactly that white gloved hand belonged to. And as much as they wanted to hide they knew it was too late to do so.
The refrigerator door was forcefully pushed open, revealing none other than IT taking on the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. As if the clown form wasn't enough frightening for Eddie and Gwen, what had them even more disturbed was how ITs arms and legs were folded inside the fridge. There was no way a human being would be able to do that, but that was just it...they weren't dealing with a human being. No, they were dealing with a malicious entity. A dark laugh filled their ears as the clown started to make ITs way out of the fridge.
Pennywise unfolded ITs body in such an unnatural way that it just filled Eddie and Gwen with even more fear. The both of them were frozen in place as the clown looked into their eyes. ITs tall body at full length now. Seeing them look so helpless made the smile grow on ITs white painted face.
"Time to float!" IT loudly boasted as yellow eyes zeroed in on Gwen.
Eddie suddenly began to hyperventilate causing IT to look at him. Pennywise saw the state the boy was in and used that to ITs advantage. Pennywise started to take dramatic intakes of air as he openly mocked Eddie's asthma. This of course just made Eddie even more scared and his breathing kept getting worse and worse. Before IT turned his mocking to an attack, a force of some sorts hit Pennywise's shoulder. With annoyance rising in the entity, IT turned around.
"Leave him alone!" Gwen Tozier yelled. On closer inspection one would see how the young teen was missing a shoe. That was because she'd thrown one of her shoes at IT in an attempt to get the clown to leave Eddie alone. Gwen did this out of protectiveness and bravery, but any ounce of bravery she had faltered when IT turned to look at her with those piercing yellow eyes she hated so much. Yellow eyes that scared her shitless.
IT could smell how scared she was and she smelled so delicious. The smell was so strong that Pennywise was already drooling from ITs mouth. Gwen saw the drool and she grimaced. Half from the pain she was feeling from her head and the other half because of how disturbing it was to see IT with what she would describe as a hungry filled look.
IT took playful and thoughtful steps towards her. The bells on the silver suit ringed out loud the more IT followed her. Gwen of course kept backing away from the clown, but as she did this her vision began to get hazy. There was no way she could get up and run...not that she would do that. She wouldn't just leave without Eddie. All of her sudden her vision started to get clear again and once she could see better, Gwen let out a scream. IT was standing way closer to her now, and the clown was pretending to ready ITs body to jump on her.
Breathing heavily a few feet away, Eddie anxiously watched as Gwen (the girl he cared for so much) was now being tormented by IT. He couldn't let the entity get to her. No...he needed to do something. He had to do something.
He could have been like Gwen and thrown one of his shoes at the clown, but alas that wasn't the choice of item he went for. Eddie instead open his fanny pack and grabbed his inhaler. By now his breathing had steadied (not that he really noticed), and with a firm expression the small boy threw the inhaler right at Pennywise's head.
"Get away from her!"
With a growl, IT looked at Eddie with a glare. Those yellow eyes were glowing with a tint of red in them now. Like with Gwen, any ounce of momentary bravery left Eddie the second IT faced him. Pennywise gaze then kept going back and forth from Eddie and Gwen. The glare IT had on was replaced with a thoughtful like expression.
"Who to pick. Decisions, decisions."
Gwen and Eddie exchanged looks of absolute fear with each other. Gwen was afraid that IT was going to attack Eddie and Eddie in return was afraid that IT was going to attack Gwen. Neither wanted themselves to get hurt, but their concern for one another was more overpowering. And that was something IT could sense.
Pennywise's smile was cruel as IT decided on a way to increase their trepidation. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe." IT started to sing hauntingly as the white covered gloved hand pointed to Gwen and Eddie. "Catch a tiger by the toe." ITs hand landed on Gwen making Eddie's breathing escalate once more. A laugh escaped the entity seeing how concerned Eddie looked before continuing on. "If he hollers let him go." This time the white gloved hand landed on Eddie. Gwen's heart raced and her expression turned to panic. "My mother told me to pick the very best one." There was silence as IT pointed one last time between Gwen and Eddie. "And you are...it."
Gwen didn't have time to protest and wretchedly watched as Pennywise launched ITs form towards Eddie. IT was now only a few inches away from the small boy's face. Eddie let out a hysterical cry as IT without any remorse laughed in front of his face. Despite having a head injury and her vision not being one hundred percent reliable, Gwen wasn't about to let Eddie get hurt or suffer through worse. Picking herself from the ground, Gwen with such determination to save her friend ran towards the entity.
Before Gwen was even able to lay one hit or push the entity away, IT moved with such speed and took a hold of her neck. IT then dragged her down next to where Eddie was bundled up against the wall. Gwen let out a painful scream when the back of her head hit the wall. Eddie threw his older friend a teary eyed look. He too was being held down by IT.
Through her pain the Tozier girl saw how shaken up Eddie was. More tears were running down his face. Not only that, but he was being forcibly held down by IT. Gwen was about to say something to him, but Pennywise tightened the hold IT had on her neck. The hold wasn't to the point were she couldn't breathe, but she still felt discomfort. When she lifted her eyes, Gwen saw how bright those yellow eyes were. IT had on a pleased wide smile that made Gwen want to hide, especially when she saw how sharp ITs teeth were. She then heard IT inhale a deep breath and when this happened a growl of content filled the air.
Her eyes widened with fear when Pennywise brought down ITs nose to the back of her head. Not long after the entity did this she felt something rough licking the wound she had. This right away had her fidgeting and she started to put up a fight. However, a sting from her head made her stop. Not only that but the hold on her neck tighten. This time she did feel her air-way stop momentarily before she was able to breathe again. When she stayed still again, ITs actions continued, freaking out not only Gwen, but Eddie as well.
When IT finally did pull back both Eddie and Gwen saw blood stains on the clown's face and lips. Blood that belonged to Gwen. The Tozier girl felt like throwing up knowing (and seeing) that IT had licked from her bleeding wound. From beside her she heard Eddie gag. What happened next though had both of them feeling beyond grossed out.
IT licked the side of Gwen's face leaving a trail of saliva and blood. Not being able to move (thanks to the hold IT had on her), all Gwen could do was look at the entity with disgust and uneasiness. IT took her submission as a win and once again a sickening smile appeared. IT lowered closer to her ear and whispered a dispiriting sentence to her.
"The Turtle can't save you now."
Gwen had to idea what the hell that meant. She was too scared to even gather a single functioning thought in her head. She was traumatized. This time it was her turn to feel tears in her eyes. IT saw this and moved closer to her again. Before IT was able to lick her wound again, let alone get a chance to bite her, Eddie got the upper hand. Well he tried to anyway. The courage that had left before came back again. Eddie knew it wouldn't last long, but he was going to use the feeling while he still had it.
Using his good arm, Eddie began hitting the side of ITs face. His hitting was not at all strong as he wished it to be, but it at least it had been enough to stop ITs advances on Gwen. Except now the clown was looking at him with those yellow eyes with flashes of red in them. And just like that, Eddie's bravery left him and he became just as traumatized as Gwen was.
Sensing their lack of courage and increase of fear made IT get a very pleased look.
"Tasty, tasty, beautiful fear."
Back upstairs the black liquid was still making its way towards Bill and Richie. Luckily the two boys managed to get a hold of themselves. Knowing they needed to get the hell out of there and find Eddie and Gwen, they turned sharply back to the main door they came through. To their shock instead of seeing just one door, there was now three doors. Each of the three doors had different things written on them.
Not Scary At All, Scary, Very Scary
Bill and Richie hurriedly looked at one another before they wordlessly agreed on which door to open. The two of them raced for the door that said Not Scary At All. Just as Richie was about to open the door, Bill got there faster and pulled the door open with no difficulty. Once the door was open there was nothing but darkness in there.
"Where's my shoe?" Came a ghostly girl's voice.
Bill nervously reached for the light switch. Once the light was turned on they were both shocked to see none other than Betty Ripsom. The young girl's arms were chained to either side of the room walls, but what made their eyes widen was that the lower half of her body was gone. Betty let out a bone chilling scream causing Richie to close the door.
"Where the fuck were her legs?!" Richie shouted, distressed. He jumped in place once he noticed the black gunk was a lot closer to them now. "Holy shit! What the fuck is that?!"
Bill got a hold of his panicked friend's shoulders. He needed to calm down Richie...and he knew exactly how. "This isn't real! Remember what Gwen said?" He earnestly reminded him. "About the missing poster? None of that was real, so this isn't real."
Richie remembered Gwen's words. The missing kid poster with his picture wasn't real. So like Bill mentioned this right now wasn't real either. It's not real. The bespectacled boy kept repeating that sentence over and over again in his head.
Bill looked at the door that said Very Scary. He pulled Richie alongside him as he walked towards the door. "Ready?"
Despite mentally telling himself this wasn't real, Richie was not at all ready to face whatever tricks IT had planned out for them. "No!" He cried out.
Not at all taking his answer, Bill with all his courage opened the middle door. To his relief they saw that the door was once again connected back to the main hallway in which they came in. From beside him, Bill heard Richie let out a huff of air.
"Oh, thank fuck!"
Bill looked around the hallway and his stomach dropped. "Where are they?" He questioned when he didn't see either Gwen or Eddie. Richie's relief soon went away as he too didn't see either his friend or his older sister. Immediately he began thinking the worst and those awful thoughts worsened when they heard screaming from downstairs. Screams that both boys recognized to be Eddie's and Gwen's. Eddie's being the loudest at the moment.
"Help! Help us!"
Bill and Richie without saying anything to each other rook off running to the downstairs portion of the house. After they raced down the stairs they went through the first door they saw. Richie was the first to go through, his worry for both his sister and friend beat Bill in the process. "Gwen! Eddie!" He called out once in the room. His face fell once he saw Pennywise before him. The clown was covering Eddie's face with one gloved hand, while the other was wrapped around Gwen's throat. What unnerved Richie (other than seeing Eddie's broken arm) was the blood he saw on Pennywise's lips. And from where he was standing, Richie could see the remains of blood stains on the side of Gwen's face.
"Eddie...Gwen." Richie breathed out. Had the clown bitten Gwen? God he hoped not. Next to him, from side view, Richie saw how equally frightened and shocked Bill looked.
Pennywise zeroed in ITs gaze on the leader of the group of kids. Yellow eyes gleamed as they took in his shaken form. "This isn't real enough for you, Billy?" IT asked in a condescending way. "I'm not real enough for you?"
"Holy shit." Richie uttered as he was anxiously watched the scene before him.
"It was real enough for Georgie!" Pennywise taunted showing the sharp row of teeth IT had.
Bill's eyes glistened at the mention of his dear beloved little brother. Before he was able to retort anything back to the entity, IT laughed and sprung up towards Bill and Richie's direction. That action had Gwen and Eddie screaming for their friend's safety. Gwen thought they were done for, but out of the blue Beverly Marsh came to the rescue.
The red haired girl interrupted ITs attack by impaling a metal spike in the entity's right eye.
"Shit balls." Gwen commented in shocked awe. If it weren't for her traumatized state, the amazement she felt for Beverly would have definitely been more obvious. Since what Beverly did was badass. However, her and the other Losers were too busy looking at the now impaled entity. As IT stood frozen in the middle of the room, the blood that was came out of the injured eye was floating in the air.
The unusual scene had Beverly losing her courage and she was quick to back away to stand next to Bill and Richie. As she did this the rest of the Losers, Mike, Ben, and Stan entered the Neibolt House. The three of them huddled by the entrance they came in and were in complete shock from what they were seeing. Stan's attention was on Gwen. The curly haired boy saw the distressed state she was in. The girl he cared immensely for was on the ground next to Eddie (who was also hurt), with what looked to be a head injury, and he saw blood on the side of her face. Stan wanted nothing more than to make his way over to her but the fear of being anywhere near that clown got the best of him. He felt ashamed that he wasn't able to be there for Gwen, but the fear he was feeling at the moment was too much.
Beverly's proximity, along with the rest of his friend's arrival, allowed Bill to get out of the shocked daze he was in. "Get Eddie and Gwen!" He shouted with urgency before he ran passed IT to get to Eddie and Gwen. The two of them were still huddled by where IT had trapped them. Richie once again passed Bill and Beverly this time as he finally reached his sister.
As Beverly and Bill tried to get through to both Eddie and Gwen, Richie knelt down to his sister's level. He gently but firmly put a hand on her shoulder. Now that he was closer he got a better look at the state she was in. The injury on the back of her head made his worry increase. Just what had she gone through? What did IT do to her? Although he had a protective brotherly demand to know, Richie knew now wasn't the time to ask her this. They needed to leave, and he made that clear with what he said next. "We gotta get the fuck out of here!" He exclaimed as he tried getting Gwen up.
The Tozier girl wouldn't budge. Not even Bill and Beverly were able to get Eddie to stand up. No, both Gwen and Eddie were to busy staring at IT to pay attention to anything Bill, Richie, or Beverly were saying to them. It wasn't until a growl was heard that they followed Gwen's and Eddie's gazes. All the Losers saw how Pennywise was standing taller now. ITs head and other limbs were less stiff and when IT turned to look at them the kids were left with an unnerving site.
The metal spike was still in ITs eye. Except they were able to see that the entity's eyes were no longer yellow but a dark red instead. An angry dark red. The clown's mouth was also tilted to the side revealing sharp rows of teeth. The orange hair was more unruly and the face appeared more menacing. All in all, Pennywise looked way more wild and frightening than a few moments ago.
This had Richie more desperate to get Gwen out of her wretched state. He took hold of her face and looked at her with wide eyes. "Gwen, look at me!" But Gwen wasn't able to let her brother through to her. Seeing IT had her frozen with fear. Eddie too. The small boy was too entranced with ITs horrific form that he did not at all notice how Bill kept calling out to him.
"Eddie, Gwen! Please get up!" Beverly begged urgently. But once again neither of the injured Losers did so.
Mike who had been lingering back with Ben and Stan, saw one of ITs hands start to transform. "Guys, watch out!" He shouted to his friends.
All of them now saw how ITs hand was transforming to what looked like claws. Just as Beverly was about to reach for Richie and Gwen, IT saw what she was planning and growled at her. The red haired girl let out a scream and jumped back to lean against the wall. IT laughed at her lack of valor before swiftly turning around. As IT did this the metal spike in ITs eye slashed Ben's stomach, leaving a massive bleeding wound.
That was what did it. That got Gwen to finally break out of her traumatized state. "Ben!" The Tozier girl yelled. She looked at Ben before glancing towards Eddie. She felt her heart clench from fear. How many more of her friends were going to get hurt? Suddenly that fear she was feeling began to turn into anger. Her dark eyes hardened at IT, and as this happened the entity got a troublesome look. Within a few seconds though that look vanished. A forced smile soon appeared on Pennywise's horrifying face as IT did a dramatic bow before backing away.
"Don't let IT get away." Bill firmly announced walking towards where Pennywise had gone.
That right away made the anger Gwen was feeling disappear, and concern flowed through her. As the other Losers called for Bill to not go, Gwen too joined with the protesting against his leaving. "Bill! Don't go!"
Eddie was in the same hysterical condition. "Bill! Come back! Bill!"
"Bill, we have to help Eddie!" Beverly shouted for his attention.
To Gwen and Eddie's relief (as well as the rest of the Losers), the Denbrough boy did come back not long after he went to follow wherever IT had gone to. Gwen at the moment was too focused on calming down Eddie to care to ask where IT had disappeared to. Richie had moved to face Eddie and he grimaced at how badly broken his arm was. His small friend was in pain but perhaps he would be able to help him.
"I'm gonna snap your arm into place!" Richie frantically informed him.
Eddie's face twisted in sheer panic. "Do not fuckin' touch me!" He yelled at him with wide eyes. The small boy quickly looked at Gwen who was still next to him for help. "Gwen, don't let him touch me!"
Gwen, along with Beverly and Bill, were yelling things at the same time for Richie to not do it. However, it was such a verbal mess that Richie ignored whatever they were saying. The bespectacled boy took a hold of Eddie's arm and just as quick as ripping off a band-aid, Richie snapped his arm back into place.
"What the fuck!" Gwen exclaimed in shock as Eddie let out a noise of pain at the feel of having his arm snapped into place.
After snapping Eddie's arm back, all the Losers raced out of the Neibolt House. Bill and Beverly supported Eddie out of the house, while Richie helped his sister. Gwen's head was still hurting and her vision was getting hazy again. When they reached their bikes, Gwen was able to manage to stand on her own. Richie, however, (despite wanting to already leave this crackhead house) kept a close eye on his sister in case she fainted.
"You guys we have to figure out how to help Eddie. He can't ride his bike." Gwen rapidly informed her friends as they were each hurriedly reaching for their bikes. After she finished saying this, through her bad vision she managed to see Mike easily lift Eddie, putting him inside the front basket he had on his bike.
"Hold on." Mike quickly told Eddie. The small boy (although embarrassed that his exit had to come down to this) nodded and held on tight as Mike got on his bike and took off. By now Bill and Beverly were next to leave the premises. Followed by Ben. Gwen was just about to reach for her bike and ride away like the others but Richie's firm voice stopped her from doing so.
"You're not riding your fuckin' bike!" Richie yelled at his older sister. "The back of your head is bleeding! And you can barely keep your damn eyes open!"
Gwen knew he had a point there. Just as she was about to suggest riding with him, Stan who was on his bike came to a halt next to her. The Tozier girl was surprised to see the curly haired boy. She hadn't seen him when they exited Neibolt. She figured he had been the first to take off. Had he left and then returned?
"Hop on!" Stan hurriedly urged her.
Any questions Gwen had were long forgotten and she quickly got on Stan's bike. They made sure Richie got on his own before taking off. Gwen held onto Stan's waist as they rode away from Neibolt. The curly haired boy kept talking to her as he pedaled as fast as he could. The injury on the back of her head had him worried, and the last thing he wanted was for Gwen to pass out.
Stan hadn't been there for her inside Neibolt (something he will forever have guilt and be ashamed of), but the least he could do was get her the hell away from there.
He needed to make sure the girl he held absolute love for would be okay.
A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter. As I said at the beginning, next chapter will be a emotional one since it's going to involve the Losers' disbandment as well as Richie's and Bill's argument. Harsh words will be said between Richie and Gwen. *Don't hate me* So be ready for that!