Chapter 20

"Missing?! But, how?!" Eddie asked concerned.

"You see. When we were in the sewers, Richie slipped away from us, without our knowledge. While we were figuring out which tunnel to go into, Richie came out of a tunnel and told us he found you, but when we got there, Richie had slipped away from us again, without us knowing. We think Pennywise must've possessed him when he found you." Beverly explained.

"P-Possessed…" Eddie said surprised.

"It's a classic demon trick. A demon possesses a body and they make their eyes look like their victims and their voice sound like theirs. With the right amount of acting, they can make others think they're their victims and get away with it." Ale said.

"So, how would we tell?" Beverly asked.

"Well, you wouldn't. I mean, if the demon didn't do much research on its victim, than yeah, there's a chance someone will notice, but if you did more research like Pennywise, than you wouldn't see or hear any difference." Ale explained.

"And now that we know that Richie is possessed by Pennywise, we know what to expect." Georgie added.

"And that would explain w-w-why Georgie was g-gone f-f-for the past f-f-few w-weeks. Pennywise was d-d-doing r-research on all of us." Bill pointed out.

"Not me. He has no idea who I am." Ale said.

"Now he does, you were in there with us, he must've saw you too." Georgie pointed out.

"Maybe, but he won't have time doing research on me, he's after you guys, remember?" Ale said.

"If that's the c-case, than w-w-we need t-to figure out wh-wh-what we did to him." Bill said.

"But we never met the guy, what could we have done to him?" Eddie asked.

"No, but the last time Pennywise came to Derry was in 1962. Those photos Eddie and Georgie saw are clues." Ale pointed out.

"Ale's r-r-right. There's an o-o-old photo book in o-our g-g-garage. When Eddie gets out, w-w-we'll look a-at it and see if we r-r-recognize a-a-anyone." Bill agreed.

There were other thoughts in Bill's mind, but he wasn't sure on how to explain it. Bill looked down, feeling troubled and confused, and Beverly caught on.

"What's on your mind, Bill?" she asked.

"It's just…I know t-t-this isn't Pennywise's f-first t-t-time doing this, but if w-w-we want to know wh-what to e-e-expect, than w-we need to know more of his t-t-tactics." Bill explained.

"I can head to the library if you like." Ben offered.

"No, I don't th-think i'm c-c-comfortable with the idea of sp-splitting up. I mean for all we know, y-y-you could be his n-next v-v-victim." Bill said concerned.

"Don't worry, I brought a walkie talkie with me. I'll bring it with me while I'm in the library and I'll make sure to respond if you want to talk. Here, take the extra." Ben said reassuring.

He took a walkie talkie out of his backpack and gave one to Bill. Bill looked at it and wondered if it was worth the risk. Knowing Ben all his life, he knew it was worth the risk. After all, Ben would be in a public place and as long as he was in a room with people, Pennywise wouldn't get to him. However, to avoid suspicion from police, Ben was going to have to be the one to be questioned. Speaking of which, where were they?

"Y-Y-You'll have t-to go after the police come and q-q-question u-us." Bill pointed out.

"Did they not come yesterday?" Eddie asked.

"No, I guess because M-M-Ms. K has r-reported you missing so m-m-many times for the s-smallest of things, they th-th-think it's no b-big deal and will come by t-t-tomorrow." Bill guessed.

"But, why didn't they do the same to Georgie? Your parents never reported him missing before he did, so what took them so long?" Mike asked.

"I guess there wasn't enough officers in the force. I mean did you hear about the murder?" Beverly said.

"Wait what, what murder?" Bill asked confused.

"Didn't you hear? A body was found in the park, a few yards from the barrens and the river. The body was nothing but bones, licked clean, and looked like there were no injuries that could've caused its death. The medical examiner is going to have a hard time identifying the body." Stanley explained.

"When did th-th-they find the b-body?" Bill asked.

"It was around the time we found…Georgie." Beverly realized horrified.

Everyone looked at him, horrified, concerned, and wondering if Georgie could ever do such a thing. Bill shook the thought off. Pennywise was watching them for a few weeks, there's no way Georgie could've killed anyone and even if he did, he would've had blood on his clothes and probably would've remembered it. Bill looked at Georgie; he was concerned and he wondered if he'd really did killed someone.

"You don't think…you don't think I did it, do you?" Georgie asked concerned.

"No, of course not. You p-p-probably would r-remember it if you did." Bill comforted.

"And besides, Pennywise was spying on you guys for weeks. He wouldn't have time to go murder someone and then come back to keep an eye on you." Ale added.

"Okay…okay good." Georgie said reassured.

Suddenly, a nurse walked in. She had a syringe and two bottles of medicine.

"Hello nurse." Bill greeted.

"Why hello there children." The nurse greeted back.

"What's with the syringe?" Georgie asked.

"Well, the sewers is full of diseases and because you found Eddie in there, the doctor wants me to inject him with these vaccines, he doesn't want to take any risks." The nurse explained.

"But Eddie isn't…" Georgie protested.

"It's alright Georgie. Give me the shots, nurse." Eddie spoke.

She nodded a thank you to him and begin the injection. As she started rubbing the disinfection on his arm and started injecting him with the medicine, Eddie never once flinched, winced, or was afraid. Bill looked at him solemnly, and wondered if this would be his life now, No longer afraid of anything, never feeling anxious or fear, and always feeling brave wherever you went, even in scary places. It troubled Bill as fear was a part of human nature and sometimes, fear was a good thing. To lose that could either lead to good or bad consequences. When this was over, Bill would make sure to help Georgie, Richie, and Eddie in anyway he could.

Meanwhile

At a diner, Audra walked in with her cane and looked around. It had been years since she last came here, this diner was a classic. Audra remembered the days she and Billy would come here and have dinner. She missed those days as she hasn't come here since Billy died. Audra looked around and saw Michael at a table, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. Audra walked up to him and took a seat.

"Hello Michael." She greeted.

"Hello Audra, what do you need to talk about?" he asked.

Michael put down the cup and newspaper and looked at Audra with a look that says "What is it this time?".

"It's…it's him, he's back." She whispered.

"Are you sure?" Michael asked; raising an eyebrow.

"I'm positive, I heard Georgie talk about him. He described the same scenario it used on the other children." Audra insisted.

"It? You mean the clown?" Michael asked.

"Who else do you think I'm talking about?" Audra asked in disbelief.

"Okay, look, look, look, are you sure it's him? I mean, we beat him the last time he came here. Are you sure it's not just some guy with clown hair and makeup abducting kids and keeping them somewhere hidden?" Michael asked presuming.

"Look, Michael. I was there when we beat it to death, but I saw his son. I'm not surprised he came back for revenge." Audra argued.

"His son? You mean that "tiny clown" you saw when no one else did?" Michael asked.

"You weren't there, Michael. I saw it, it was…hiding in a tree, like a scared child. And may I remind you that would do the same thing, especially after what It made you do to the guy that hurted your father?" Audra said confronting.

Michael's expression changed to alarm and quickly got up to shush Audra before she draws attention.

"Keep your voice down, you know people can't know about that!" he hissed, whispering.

Audra realized her mistake and looked around. Besides getting few glances, no one seemed to pay any attention to their conversation. When Audra kept her mouth shut, Michael sat down.

"I'll admit, these events from the past few weeks do sound familiar, but I'm not convinced it's him. Trust me Audra, I think you're overreacting." Michael said.

"I'm not asking for much, Michael. I'm just…warning you to be careful. If It is back, than there's no doubt that he'll come for both of us. After what he did to Georgie and Eddie, I'm not surprised he would use our grandchildren. In fact, now Richie is missing." Audra said.

"Richie? I haven't heard any reports of him disappearing, how do you know?" Michael asked.

"Trust me Michael, I know when Bill is lying. He stutters more than he usually does." Audra answered.

"Just like his grandfather." Michael commented.

He took a big sip of coffee, than put it down. Audra remained silent.

"Well, if It is back, than we're gonna have to put him down. Whether he has Richie or not." Michael spoke.

"But you can't, he's Richard's grandson!" Audra said horrified.

"I didn't say I was going to kill him, but…I will have to shoot him if necessary. If It doesn't have him, than I'll make sure that this monster never returns to Derry." Michael assured her.

"Beating him didn't work. What's the likely chance your shotgun will kill it?" Audra asked.

"If I shoot that basterd in the heart, it will." Michael answered.

"I...I guess so." Audra said uncomfortable.

For the rest of the lunch, the two just avoided eye contact and were eating their lunch.