The car pulled up to the side of the road just as Hopper walked out of his small cabin. It was a nice Subaru, that fit all of the Losers. They didn't fit comfortably, but they still fit.

Lian was nervous. She hadn't seen her brother in a long time, the kids didn't know anyone there (besides Richie), she had anxiety about someone getting lost or eaten by a bear, and she constantly felt like something was wrong. Perhaps she had forgotten something, or maybe one of the kids did… who knows.

What had worried Lillian the most was how Eddie kept describing what could go wrong in the woods like these.

"The Barrens aren't perfectly safe," He said in the car, "But at least we know them like the back of our hands. With these woods… well… if one of us gets lost, then we're most likely to die.

"We could get eaten by a bear, get eaten by a monster, we could fall into a river and drown, we could starve, we could get kidnapped, we could get murdered, we could get kidnapped and murdered, we could get stung by a bee and have an allergic reaction, we could get stung by a nest of bees and have an allergic reaction, we could get raped by a mad man, and we—"

"Oh my god! Shut up, Eddie!" Stan yelled. Eddie paused mid-sentence and looked at Stan.

"I'm just letting you know! Okay? So many things could happen! We could get covered in mosquito bites and itch for months, leaving scars, we could—"

"No, shut up."

"Guys, you better be good. No fighting, and Eddie, don't worry. We'll be fine." Lian said as she squinted and tried to shield her eyes from the sun while driving. She was worried. For no reason whatsoever.

"Hi, Chief!" Lillian yelled; Hopper raised his hand to wave. In the doorway to the cabin behind the police chief was Dustin.

How long had it been? Almost seven years? Yeah… about that…

Dustin looked shy but interested. His hands were tucked into his pockets, his hair a mess of curls, a slight smile wiped across his face.

She looks exactly like the picture! Dustin thought. And it was true. She may not have been wearing a green t-shirt, but her face looked no different. Brown hair a mess of spikes, small freckles scattered across her cheeks and nose, her big playful eyes even bigger because of mascara… she was even prettier in person. Dustin realized that he had missed her. Missed doing crazy science experiments at the dining room table, he missed the moments where she would come home with small surprises in her bookbag, he missed her.

"Hi, Dusty!" She called and waved. Two of the kids with her almost knocked her over as they chased each other around, one was Mike Wheeler's cousin who's named Dustin didn't remember, and the other was Stan. Richie was waving around what looked to be a small cloth frisbee. Within seconds Lian was running after them and yelling "RICHIE! GIVE IT BACK!" Dustin laughed. Whatever they were doing looked like it happened very often.

As they ran around the road and front yard another boy yelled "Watch out for the water! It's probably freezing!" The boy was thin chested and was also clutching an aspirator in one hand, this was… Andy…? Dustin didn't remember.

Richie dropped the small piece of cloth and ran over to the boy, sweeping him towards him, and then picking him up like a small child. He protested and tried to get away for a minute, but then settled into Richie's arms, burying his face into the taller boy's neck who was hushing him. Dustin stared curiously and then turned his attention to his sister and Stan. They were close enough that Dustin could hear what they were saying.

"Thanks," Stan said as Lian handed him the cloth thing.

Lian said something in a different language –which Dustin identified as Hebrew—and Stan smiled. He put the thing on the back of his head and Dusty realized he was Jewish; it was a kippah. This shocked him for a second, and then he looked around. The girl with the red hair that kind of looked like Max was sitting on the hood of the car next to the chubby boy and they were both watching a video on someone's iPad. The boy in glasses and the small boy were cuddling while leaning against the car, clearly in love. The only black kid was already talking to Lucas. Stanley was Jewish…they were called the Losers for a reason, weren't they?

Then there was Bill. He was pretty skinny, but not too tall for his age. Dustin felt a wave of jealousy wash over him, but the reason why was unclear. He simply was. He didn't look extraordinarily handsome, he looked pretty awkward and lonely, he wasn't in any way sexy to Dustin. Maybe it was something that his subconscious mind noticed that his conscience didn't.

Lillian walked over to Bill and put a hand on his shoulder while whispering something in his ear. He nodded and looked over at Dustin, who quickly looked the other way. Bill began to approach Dustin and he thought 'Oh, here we go. Don't show them how awkward you are Dusty.'

"You wanted to make what, El?" Beverly asked laughing. El's face turned a little red and she smiled, embarrassed.

"S'more Eggos." She said softly.

Max came to her defense and asked, "What is it to you?"

Bev's smile faltered and she stared at Max. Was this girl gonna be a bitch this whole trip?

"I just thought it was a good idea, mostly because I love Eggos."

El smiled wider and said, "Me too!"

"I'm gonna make some too when we get there. Plus, I want to use my new telescope to look for constellations, planets, and stuff. It's gonna be so dark out there that the stars will be easier to see." Bev continued to glare at Max as if she were going to yell about that too. Max looked away, embarrassed, but also livid.

She didn't like Beverly.

At all.

"So…" Mike started then paused. Richie didn't seem uncomfortable at all. That's how Richie always was, and Mike knew that… he knew that Rich just… didn't care. But he also knew that El liked those kinds of boys…

"You and that one girl, huh?" Richie asked nonchalantly, Mike nodded.

The two cousins were sitting in the back of Jonathan's new car, it was pretty big and fit seven people: Two in the front, three in the second row, and two in the trunk area, Mike and Richie were the trunk children. Jonathan was driving, Nancy as the passenger, and then Stan, Will, and Eddie in the second row already having a lively conversation.

"Yeah, her names Eleven." Mike turned to look out the window thus a cue to end the conversation.

"She's pretty."

Mike turned sharply to look a Richie who was on his phone and looked him over.

Mike saw that Richie looked just like him, only with glasses and slightly better hair. El would barely be able to tell the difference in the dark… a sudden idea washed over Mike and he was filled with a loathing hatred.

What if Richie likes Eleven? Mike thought. What if El breaks up with me for him?

Richie glanced up at Mike and then did a double-take as he saw the expression on his cousin's face. Knowing exactly what Mike was thinking, he decided to stretch it out a little further.

"Woah there Mikey! I just was complimenting your gf and secretly thinking about her in bed! No need to freak!" Richie smirked and Mike leaned over and hissed in his face.

"You better watch it, Trashmouth. I will beat you up, I'm not afraid." Then Mike turned away.

Richie mumbled an agreement and turned to look out the window. This was going to be a long wee—

POP!

Someone screamed from the front of the car. It was blood-curdling, like a scream of pain mixed with terror. Richie was instantly reminded of when Eddie broke his arm. The memory flashed through his head and he felt terrified.

Eddie. Where is Eddie?

Both of the airbags had exploded in Jonathan and Nancy's faces and Nancy was screaming. Jonathan slammed on the breaks and Richie's head hit the seat in front of him. He lost his sense of hearing for a moment and a light buzzing filled his ears, then he realized that he actually could hear… he could hear screams.

'Do not fucking touch me! Do not!' They yelled.

It was Eddie… but that happened over a year ago… how was Richie hearing this now?

Those screams were replaced by Stan's.

When he was attacked by the woman from the painting… how this was Bill's fault… how he didn't want this to happen… but then the whisper which came afterwards… the one about how he loved Bill…

How he was sorry.

Then it was just silence, all except for the airbags slowly deflating.

"Is everyone okay?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah," Eddie said shakily.

"Were fine," Mike said, wide-eyed as he looked up front. Nancy, however, didn't answer the question. She was bleeding and had friction burns from the airbags, but she was too busy looking around out the window.

"Did you see that!?" She asked frantically, "Did you see the person on the road? The clown?"

Eddie screamed and then let out a small sob, like that of a tiny hapless animal.

"What clown!? Where is it!?" He began to panic, and Richie felt that same sense of dread fill his gut, but Eddie came first.

Did Eddie really scream those things? Or was it all in Richie's head?

Richie unbuckled his seatbelt (thank goodness he's been wearing it), stood up, and leaned forward towards where Eddie was sitting. As he touched his hand to Eddie's soft, brown hair, he whispered:

"Hey, shhh… it could have been anything." He plants a soft kiss on his head and then told Mike to switch seats with Eddie. Mike got out and they switched.

Eddie looked at Richie as he settled into his arms and then looked back at Nancy who was talking again.

"It had a balloon and was wearing a silver suit with pom-poms on it as buttons…" Nancy trailed off.

"Red balloon?" Stan kept his voice low and even for Eddie. Nancy nodded. "Orange hair?" Nancy turned to look at the boy, eyes still as huge as saucers, and then she nodded again.

"How would you know? Did you see it?" Jonathan asked.

"No…" Stanley paused. "Just a lucky guess."

"Lucky guess, my ass," Richie mumbled and then buried his head into Eddie's neck.