Chapter 2
As the rest of the Losers Club trudged through the sewers, Bill couldn't help but feeling that something was indeed amiss. When they had reached a point at which he knew that he was safe from the rushing currents of the sewer, he stopped and turned.
"What's going on?" the voice of Richie blurted. Everyone jumped a little, the mere noise of something louder than the rushing sewer waters surprising them, and glared in whatever direction they thought that the voice had come from. Bill shined the flashlight around, illuminating the faces of his friends.
He frowned as he mentally checked off the names and faces; Richie; check. Mike; check. Ben; check. Bevvie; check. Eddie; check. Stanley...Stanley?!
"Wh-Wh-Where is Stan?" he asked suddenly. Again everyone jumped slightly, startled at the abruptness in his voice.
Bevvie looked around, her eyes full of fear. "Oh no! Have we lost him?"
Ben frowned and looked back. He squinted his eyes and tried to peer back into the darkness of the tunnel. "Oh no! I can't see him!"
Richie gasped and pushed past Ben. "Move out the way, Haystack. Let the the professionals handle it." then he turned towards the darkness that lay behind them, cupped his hands to his mouth and called as loudly as he could, "STTTTANNNNLEEEEEEEY! Where are you?!" his only answer was a loud, echoing repeat of the question.
Bill's eyes grew wide with fear as he lunged forward and pressed a hand over Richie's mouth. "W-W-what are you t-t-t-thinking, Tozier?"
Richie ripped his friend's had away from his mouth and adjusted his glasses on his nose. "I was thinking that standing here won't get Stan the Man back!" he snapped. "We have to find him, Bill, we have to!"
"Oh, man!" Mike howled as panic overtook him, "What are we gonna do?"
Bill stepped back and with a look of grave seriousness and shined his flashlight down the dark tunnel. He gasped a little as he felt Bevvie's hand brush his own and heard her gentle voice whisper, "Bill, we can't leave him there, we just can't. We have to go and find him. Please, Bill, please."
Through the incredibly dull and almost nonexistent light of the sewer, he could just make out Beverly's face, especially her teary eyes, which were full of admiration and fear. He swallowed and felt a lump forming in his throat. The gentleness of her voice was just what he needed to get him thinking clearly, to get his mind out of the fog that had slowly been closing in around it, holding it hostage, for the past few hours. It was welcome and warm. It was something that he loved.
Just for one fleeting second Bill ignored his the survival instinct that had taken center stage in his mind and followed the whispering voice of his heart, the voice that told him to get his friend back. He nodded firmly, turned to the rest of his friends, and said with an oddly level voice, "Okay, w-we're going to have to sp-sp-split up if we want to find him in t-t-t-time."
"You mean before It gets him?" Eddie asked. He was panting heavily now, gasping for air. Instinctively he reached into his pants pocket and brought out his asthma inhaler. He pressed it to his lips, inhaled the medicated mist, then returned it to his pocket.
Bill nodded. "Y-Yeah. W-w-w-w-we..." his voice trailed off as the words caught in his throat and stubbornly refused to pass his lips. His stutter was getting worse now, and he knew that it was not only due to fear, but the overwhelming knowledge that his brother, Georgie, was probably down here somewhere waiting for him.
"We know what you mean." Beverly said kindly.
Just the sound of her voice was enough to snap Bill out of his thoughts and return him to the matter at hand. He nodded once more and motioned to Richie. "Y-you and E-E-Eddie c-can go to-together. B-Ben and Muh-Mike, you'll t-take care of B-B-B--"
Ben nodded firmly. "Yeah, okay, Bill. We'll watch her."
Mike gave him a reassuring smile and said, "Don't worry, Bill. We're gonna look after each other."
"G-G-Good. I-I'll go by myself. I th-think that I can handle It if I ha-had to."
Beverly's face filled with worry at this and she reached for his hand. Bill felt his face grow hot as she asked, "Oh, Bill, are you positive? Maybe you should come with me, Ben, and Mike."
He shook his head and pulled his hand from her grasp. "N-No, Bevvie, I'm sure. Ju-ju-just go with B-Ben, and Muh-Muh-Mike, okay?"
"Well okay, if that's really what you want." Beverly said as she took a step back and went over to Ben.
The Losers all just stood there in silence for a second staring at each other, and just as the silence threatened to oppress them, to make Bill take it back, make him tell everyone to forget about it, that Stan would be fine, Eddie spoke. "I guess this is it."
"No," Richie said, "this isn't it. We'll meet right back here in an hour, right Bill?"
He nodded. "R-Right Richie."
"And we'll all stay together, and when we find Stan we'll go finish and off It." Ben said with an odd assertion that Bill had never imagined that he could have. Despite his surprise, he nodded.
"R-Right."
Before another long moment of silence could pass, Bill took a step back and clicked his flashlight, making the light pulse before returning to normal. "D-Does everyone ha-ha-have a flashlight?"
Simultaneously everyone answered, "Yeah, enough to go around" and clicked theirs as well. In an instant, a number of other lights blinked then focused on Bill. Good, he thought, everyone group has one... This provided him little comfort.
Mike, sensing his discomfort, smiled uneasily. "Well, I guess that we're all set."
Richie nodded and chuckled nervously. "Y-Yep. All set."
And with those last few words of parting, Richie, Eddie, Mike, Beverly, Ben, and Bill all gathered together in a circle and embraced each other tightly.
"Cuh-Cuh-Come on guys, let's g-go save S-S-Stan." Bill said with some difficulty. Everyone nodded and broke apart. Without another word, they backed away and disappeared into the darkness.
Just before Bill himself set off in search of Stanley, he turned and watched Beverly turn and walk off into the darkness with a pained look on his face. Just before her face was completely engulfed by the darkness, she turned and gave him one last strained smile. Her face, from what little Bill could gather in those last few and precious seconds, was tear-stained and, perhaps above all, worried.
And with Beverly's face firmly etched into his inner eye, Bill turned down a separate path, shined his flashlight in front of him, and began to walk. It was then that a sudden and oddly disturbing realization hit him; She's not worried about herself, she's worried about me! But why?
And the answer was quite obvious as he sloshed through the sewers of Derry—there were more things to fear in the sewers than just It and the ghost of Georgie Denbrough.
