Chapter 10
Georgie was paralyzed; he couldn't move or even speak. His eyes wided as he looked over to see Eddie standing over him. His eyes glowing devilish and his smile was an evil grin. Eddie's hand was on Georgie's throat; not tight enough to choke him, but it did have a firm grip. Georgie could tell that Eddie was enduring the pain from his arm and head; he could see the sewage stains on his cloths, body, and there was dry blood in his hair and on his forehead. Georgie knew this wasn't Eddie; how could he?! Eddie's eyes were glowing like hellfire and there was no way he could still stand there with injuries so severe he would be on the ground right now unconscious or moaning in pain. It was obvious Pennywise was here for something, but what?
"P-P-Pennywise...what... what are you doing here?" Georgie stammered.
"Well, i'm here to congratulate you of course. You see, most kids tell the cops that a demonic clown had possessed them. Of course, they never believe them, but they do believe the clown part. Unfortunately, they can never catch me, but you... you lied to the cops. You're the first one to ever take such a risk, so i'm here to give you a reward." he smiled.
"What is it?" Georgie asked.
"Well, for you to talk to Eddie of course." Pennywise smiled.
"Wait, you would let me?!" Georgie asked surprised.
"Of course, but only for five minutes." Pennywise warned.
He removed the blade. Georgie sat up; wondering if Pennywise was telling the truth. Suddenly, the glowing eyes faded and Eddie collapsed on the floor. Georgie rushed over, held Eddie in his arms and shook him a little to see if he would wake up.
"Eddie! EDDIE!" Georgie screamed.
Soon, Eddie opened his eyes, but was weak from his injuries and his vision was blurry. He sat up slowly and looked around. He was confused; despite having blurry vision, he didn't recognize the room or his surroundings. Eddie moaned and groaned as he felt pain throughout his body. He rubbed the back of his head and could feel the dry blood, but when he looked at his hand, fresh blood was on his fingers. Georgie was surprised to see that Eddie didn't show any fear or disgust, but rather, his expression showed no emotion; like it seemed normal to him. Eddie looked around; wondering why he wasn't in the hospital than in here. Pain struck the back of his head; making him feel a bit dizzy.
"Uhhhh, wh-where am I?" Eddie asked moaning.
"It's okay Eddie, you're in my room." Georgie comforted.
"Ge-Georgie?" he asked surprised.
"Yes, it's me." he reassured.
"Wh-What's going on? Wh-What happened?" Eddie asked.
"Eddie, you were possessed by Pennywise. He made you do terrible things. He...He made you hurt Greta and Beverly." Georgie explained.
For a moment, Georgie didn't see any look of horror or shock from Eddie, but rather, he only saw surprise and... tears; like... he felt horrible over something so bad that it overwhelmed him with guilt. When Eddie realized that all those things he was seeing weren't bad dreams, he covered his face and started crying; shaking and trembling as well. Georgie gave Eddie a big, but not tight hug, but pain stung him all over his body. Eddie flinched and yowled in pain. Georgie let him go and could see the guilt stricken look on his face.
"I thought they were dreams." Eddie cried.
"What do you mean?" Georgie asked confused.
"While I was possessed, there were times when Pennywise wanted to show me something. He would show me flashes of Richie or..." Eddie explained.
"Or what?" Georgie asked.
"There would be a picture of a boy; a really old picture. I didn't recognize him, but for some reason, Pennywise would show me the picture." Eddie explained.
Suddenly, Georgie realized something. He had been seeing pictures like that too! The only thing though was that the picture he was thinking were two boys standing side by side smiling for a photo. The scenery of the photo and the background was really old; perhaps the 1920's, 30's, or 40's? Georgie couldn't recognize the two boys, but whatever Pennywise wanted from him and Eddie, the answer lied within the two photos. Georgie thought about telling Bill about it, since he had forgot to bring it up in the hospital, but not now; not tonight at least. Georgie looked to see Eddie about to cry again.
"But when I saw myself hurting Greta, I...I couldn't control myself. I felt so powerless...so weak. It was like a powerful force was weighting down on me and all I could do was watch and scream for Pennywise to stop." he cried.
"But he didn't, did he?" Georgie guessed.
Eddie shook his head.
"No...No he didn't and when I blacked out and saw myself attacking Beverly...I...I really wanted to stop. I tried so hard; I struggled, I tried breaking free, but nothing worked. It was only then when Beverly hit me with that stone that I knew that she would be fine, but I can't shake that horrible feeling of being so powerless." he finished.
"I know Eddie, I felt that too." Georgie said.
"What do you mean?" he asked confused.
"When I attacked you, I wanted to stop, but I couldn't; Pennywise was too strong." Georgie admitted.
Eddie stopped crying and wiped away his tears. He looked at Georgie and saw the guilt and shame in his eyes as he looked away from Eddie.
"I'm sorry I attacked you Eddie, I didn't mean it, but I couldn't control myself. The more I tried to break free, the more harder it was to stop. " Georgie explained.
"It's okay Georgie, i'm not mad. I'm just glad you're alright, that's all." he accepted.
Then, both boys embraced in a gentle hug; finally forgiving each other for their mistakes. After a few moments, Eddie let go of Georgie and opened his mouth to say something, but then some sort of force was trying to gain control of Eddie's mind. He realized it was Pennywise and begin to scream and moan in pain. Eddie held his head and backed away; hoping that he wouldn't hurt Georgie if Pennywise managed to gain control. He was getting stronger by the minute and Eddie was getting weaker to stop him.
"NO...NO NO NO NO!" he screamed.
"Eddie, what's wrong?!" Georgie asked frantic.
Suddenly, he realized that it had been five minutes and Pennywise wanted his host back. Eddie screamed, moaned, and groaned as he struggled to fight back. He looked at Georgie; his eyes wide.
"Has...Has he never left my body?" Eddie asked.
Georgie shook his head. Eddie felt one last pain and looked away from Georgie. After a few minutes, he stood up and looked back at Georgie. Pennywise had taken control of him; Eddie's eyes glowed like hellfire and his smile was a sinister smirk.
"Well, that's enough of that." he said.
Pennywise brushed the dust off of his clothes and walked towards Georgie. He stood up and backed away towards the side of the bed. Georgie was angry that Pennywise wouldn't just let Eddie go. Why does he still have him? What does he want from him? And why does he need him if Pennywise said he didn't need him anymore? If what Beverly said was true, then there had to be more to Pennywise's plan. It made sense, since he had the choice to possess Beverly when he had the chance, but why? Why didn't he? Was there some sort of moral code Pennywise had to follow? Or was there another intended victim he wanted? Whatever it was, Georgie had questions and he wanted answers; like now. Georgie got on his bed as Pennywise climbed on it and entered the window. He gave one last sinister look at Georgie.
"Nighty night Georgie. Now, if you excuse me, I have some business to take care of." Pennywise said.
"Wait! What...What do you want with Eddie?" he asked.
Pennywise stopped and got back on the bed.
"That is not for me to say, but trust me, you'll know soon enough." he answered.
"That's not an answer, tell me now! What do you want with Eddie and me?! Why are you doing this to us?! And why are you showing us "flashes" of our friends and old pictures of the past?! What do they mean?! Tell me now or else i'll get my big brother in here!" Georgie threatened.
Suddenly, Pennywise attacked Georgie and pinned him on the bed with his hand around his throat tightly. Georgie choked and gasped for air; grabbing Pennywise's hand and was trying to get him off of him. Unfortunately, Pennywise's strength made that very difficult. Georgie looked at Pennywise and saw the anger and rage in his eyes; his teeth barring and Georgie could hear a demonic snarl.
"I'd watch that tone of yours Georgie! Didn't your mother ever tell you not to talk to strangers that way?" Pennywise sneered.
Georgie stared at him eyes wide. He had never seen Pennywise so angry; then again, he shouldn't be surprised by it. Georgie kept gasping for air until Pennywise let go of him and got of the bed; standing a few feet from the door. He glared at Georgie and got the blade out of his pocket.
"Now, I suggest you go back to sleep or i'll go into your brother's room and the next sound you hear will be your brother choking on his own blood. You have five seconds...5...4...3" Pennywise threatened.
Georgie stood there frozen; unable to move. He quickly went underneath his blanket and tried to go back to sleep. Georgie cried; praying and hoping to god that Pennywise wouldn't make good on his threat. As Pennywise finished counting, Georgie somehow manged to drift back to sleep. The next morning, the Denbrough family sat at the kitchen table; eating a silent breakfast. As usual, no one said a word or even made a whisper; it was dead silent. Georgie was eating his cereal while hiding the hand print Pennywise had left on his neck from his family. He was visibly shaken up, but his grandmother and parents didn't seem to notice. Georgie and Bill's parents and grandma were eating pancakes while Bill and Georgie ate cereal. The maple syrup bottle was nearly empty and Bill and Georgie's mother had squirted out the last of it on her pancakes. She threw the bottle away and saw that the syrup hadn't completely covered her pancakes.
"Georgie, can you go to the cellar and get the maple syrup? There should be a bottle down there, please?" his mother asked.
"Sure." he answered.
This made Bill, his grandmother, and dad stop eating and perked up in surprise. Georgie and Bill's dad looked at his wife while Bill and his grandmother stared at Georgie as he headed downstairs into the cellar.
"Honey, you do know Georgie is afraid of the cellar right?" his father asked.
"Really? He doesn't seem afraid." she replied surprised.
After a few seconds, Georgie came out of the cellar and gave his mom the maple syrup.
"Thank you sweetie." she said.
Georgie sat back down and continued eating his cereal. Bill and his dad stared at him shocked and surprised, but Bill and Georgie's grandmother stared at him horrified. It would usually take a few minutes for Georgie to go into the cellar then come out. To see him like that really made Bill and his dad concerned while Bill and Georgie's grandmother was...worried. It was like something had changed in Georgie and whatever it was, it seemed to scare her. After a few moments, the family continued eating however, Bill, his dad, and grandmother kept an eye on Georgie. After a while, everyone was almost done eating. Georgie looked at his grandmother; still hiding the hand print on his neck and was curious.
"Grandma, was there a clown kidnapping kids during your time?" he asked.
She stopped eating and her eyes were wide when Georgie said that. His grandmother swallowed her food and looked at him; almost as if Georgie had confessed to a murder.
"Well...no...not really." she lied.
Bill and Georgie's parents took notice of the lie and stopped eating. They swallowed their pancakes and Bill and Georgie's dad looks at his mother confused while his wife stared at her mother-in-law; almost as if this was the first time she had ever heard her lie to anyone.
"Yes there was; in 1962." Bill and Georgie's dad protested.
"What happened?" Bill asked surprised.
"I was 15, but I remember hearing on the news that a couple of kids were going missing." his father explained.
"Were they all found...alive?" Georgie asked.
"Of course, some were found in ditches, others were found on the streets, and one was found in the forest; your grandmother and grandfather saved her." his father finished.
"Really?!" Georgie asked surprised.
"I-I-I didn't know that. Wh-Wh-What h-h-happened?" Bill asked.
The boys looked at their grandmother and saw her looking away from them; not answering and almost as if she was hiding something. Bill and Georgie were confused; what was their grandmother hiding? Why did she lie to them? And how come she never told them any of this till now? The boys had to know.
"Grandma, what happened?" Georgie asked.
His grandma was getting annoyed. She was tapping her foot, her fork was messing around the syrup and pancakes and she looked really agitated.
"Grandma, wh..." Georgie asked again.
She slammed her fists as she held the silverware; anger boiling over her as she bared her teeth. Bill and Georgie stared at her; shocked and surprised. They had never seen their grandmother so angry in all their life; the last time their grandmother was angry was when Richie accidentally locked Georgie in the cellar (that's sort of how Georgie was afraid of the cellar). She was so angry that she banned Richie from the house until her son and daughter-in-law managed to convince her that this was enough of a punishment. The entire family stare at the grandmother in complete shock.
"I don't want to talk about it, so stop asking me questions!" she snapped.
After a few moments of the entire family being completely shocked, the grandmother realized her mistake, left the table and went upstairs.
"I'll go talk to her." Bill and Georgie's dad promised.
He left the table and headed upstairs. Bill, Georgie and their mother continued finishing their breakfast silently. However, Georgie felt guilty for pressuring his grandmother into sensitive topics, but he had to know what was happening. He needed to know if there was a connection or if there was some other explanation to all this. Georgie ate another spoonful of his cereal, than stopped.
"I'm sorry for pressuring grandma about an incident mom. It's just I was curious and..." he apologized.
"Don't be sorry dear. This is the first time i'm hearing this as well." she comforted.
"W-W-Were you th-th-there wh-wh-when all this h-h-happened?" Bill asked.
"No, I was in Wisconsin at the time. It was only before a few years later that I met your father." his mother explained.
After eating their breakfast, Bill and Georgie's mother headed off for work while Bill gathered the dirty dishes. His father headed downstairs and gathered his things for work.
"Alright, I've talked to your grandmother and she's taking a nap now. Bill, in case you're going out somewhere with your brother, keep a close eye on him, got it?" he said.
"Yes dad." he replied.
"Good, don't wake your grandmother now." he said.
"Bye dad." Georgie said.
But his father left for work before he could hear him. Bill went to gather the rest of the dishes, but then saw the hand print on Georgie's neck. Bill panicked and feared for the worst.
"Georgie, wh-wh-what h-h-happened t-to y-y-your n-n-neck?!" he demanded.
He didn't answer him. Instead, Bill saw tears in Georgie's eyes and was shaking and trembling.
"It...It was Pennywise. He...He did this to me." Georgie spoke.
He started to cry and collapsed on to Bill. He hugged Georgie and was trying to calm him down. Bill was horrified; how could Pennywise do this to Georgie? How did he get inside the house? And what drove him to almost choke Georgie to death?
"H-H-How d-d-did he g-g-get inside th-th-the h-h-house?" Bill asked.
"Through the window. I looked and saw that my bedroom window was open." Georgie explained.
"Okay, so what happened?" Bill asked.
"I woke up suddenly and felt something sharp on my throat. I look and I see Pennywise standing at the side of the bed; smiling and his eyes were glowing. I ask him what he's doing here and he said that this was the first time a kid has lied to the cops and so, he wanted to give me a reward. He said that I could talk to Eddie for five minutes, then he let him go. When Eddie woke up, he was very dizzy and weak. He was moaning in pain and he rubbed his head. When Eddie looked at his hand, I didn't see any shock or horror; just... no emotion." Georgie explained.
"Like th-th-this was n-n-normal to him?" Bill asked.
"Yes, but like he was also expecting it too. Anyway, when Eddie snapped out of it and he was able to see better, I told him what happened, then he started crying. I calmed him down, then Eddie told me that he thought that the things he did were just bad dreams." Georgie continued.
"You mean, he r-r-remembered a-a-all of it?" Bill asked realizing.
"That's when he told me about the flashes of Richie and how he kept seeing an old picture of a boy." Georgie nodded.
"Wh-Wh-What did h-h-he look like?" Bill asked.
"Eddie couldn't describe him; I then apologized and Eddie gave me a hug. Then Pennywise was starting to gain control and...after a while, he managed to regain control. I got angry and I said some things and that's when Pennywise attacked me, he grabbed my throat and almost choked me. Pennywise said that I should watch my tone when I talk to people and then threatened to kill you if I didn't go back to sleep and well...you can guess the rest." Georgie finished.
Bill nodded. He couldn't believe it; Pennywise had just broke into the house with the intent of some sick 'reward' for Georgie and threatened to kill Bill when Georgie spoke up, but for some reason, Pennywise still had Eddie under his grasp, but why? If Pennywise didn't need Eddie anymore, than why does he still have him? Perhaps it was the flashes of Richie; maybe they were warnings of Pennywise's future victim. Whatever it was, Bill would have to ask these questions when they saw Ale, but for now, he needed to comfort Georgie. Bill hugged him as he started crying again. Bill soothed Georgie until he managed to calm down; than he looked at Bill.
"Listen to me G-G-Georgie, none of this is y-your f-f-fault alright?" Bill reassured.
"Okay." he said.
"Good, now lets..." Bill begin.
Suddenly, the bell rang. Bill let go of Georgie and went to the door. He opened it and outside was Beverly, Mike, Richie, Ben, and Stanley standing at the porch with Beverly holding a newspaper; everyone looking equally terrified and shaken.
"Bill, we have a problem." Beverly spoke.
"Wh-Wh-What's wrong?" he asked.
"It's Betty Ripsom, she's missing." Beverly said.
"What?!" Bill said in disbelief.
Beverly gave him the newspaper and started reading it.
"They said it's been three days since she disappeared." Beverly explained.
"That's around the time Eddie disappeared." Stanley pointed out.
"You...You don't think..." Ben suggested.
"No...no absolutely not! There is no way Eddie would do this!" Richie argued.
"But what about Pennywise's accomplice? It is possible." Mike suggested.
"Perhaps, but who is he?" Beverly asked.
"Look! I-I-It d-d-doesn't matter, we g-g-got b-b-bigger problems." Bill spoke.
The group stared at him in shock and disbelief. Bill felt guilty that he said that, but it was true. He looked back at Georgie; sitting at the kitchen table, hiding the hand print on his neck, and looking away from the group uncomfortably. Bill rushed the others inside and pushed them towards the stairs.
"Hey G-G-Georgie, can you g-g-grab the rest of the d-d-dishes please?" he asked.
"Sure Bill." he answered.
"Thanks." he smiled.
The losers club went upstairs, went into Bill's bedroom and shut the door. Georgie grabbed the rest of the dishes and placed them in the sink. Suddenly, the door bell ringed again.
"I'LL GET IT!" Georgie shouted.
He ran to the door and opened it. Outside was a 7 year old girl with light brown wavy hair, white, brown eyes, was wearing a yellow and white spring dress, white tights and black shoes, and she was crying.
"Mia, what...what's wrong?" Georgie asked concerned.
No one knew this, but he had a huge crush on her. Georgie's always had ever since kindergarten. He would walk up to her at the playground and give her a daisy. Mia would smile and would take the daisy; without saying a word. Unbeknownst to Georgie, Mia had a crush on him too, but was too nervous, scared, and shy to say anything. Luckily for her, Georgie shared the same feelings. Mia had a tissue in her hand and crying and bawling her eyes out; unable to answer any of Georgie's questions. Mia wiped away her tears and looked at Georgie; upset.
"Georgie...Betty is missing." she choked.