Chapter 24
The next morning, Bill and Georgie arrived at the hospital. They went in and as they walked past Ms. K, Bill saw her signing check out papers; they needed to hurry and talk to Eddie. Bill and Georgie walked into Eddie's room and saw that Beverly, Ben, Mike, and Stanley were already there and Eddie had woke up. Everyone looked at Bill and Georgie.
"Hi Eddie. H-H-How a-are you?" Bill asked.
"I'm feeling better, the headache is gone." He said.
"That's good." Bill smiled.
"Can you still walk?" Beverly asked concerned.
"Yeah, but I'm still sore all over." Eddie said.
He got up a bit and flinched when he started to feel pain. The others saw this and were concerned; they wondered if Eddie would be able to help them with figuring out what was going on. If he was, then they'll be able to figure out what the pictures he saw mean, but maybe it was best if Eddie rested for a bit, the group would find a different way, but recovery takes time and Bill wasn't sure if there was time at all. The group looked at each other, than at Eddie.
"Maybe it's best if you rest for a bit Eddie, we'll figure something else out." Ben spoke.
"No, that's not necessary, I'll be fine." Eddie assured him.
"Eddie, are you sure? You can barely move." Beverly said concerned.
"I promise you, I'm fine. I'll be okay." He said assuring.
No you're not, you can barely move and you're sore all over. How are you supposed to help us if you can barely move?!" Stanley asked annoyed.
"Oh guys." A voice spoke.
Everyone looked and saw Ale at the door. She looked…happy and she was holding a newspaper. Ale walked into the room and approached Bill.
"You might want to see this." she said.
Ale gave the newspaper to Bill and he looked at the front page. He read the article and his eyes went wide with horror. The others were alarmed.
"Bill, what's wrong?" Beverly asked worried.
"It's, it's Patrick. He's…he's d-d-dead." Bill said stammering.
"DEAD!" the group said shocked.
"What, let me see." Stanley said.
The group got behind Bill and read the article.
"It s-s-says he was f-found in the s-s-sewers. He was n-n-nothing but a sk-skeleton, but had his clothing and hair still on him. P-P-Police have suspect an a-act of f-f-foul pl-play, the corner suspects that the b-b-body has been d-dead for a few d-d-days." Bill read.
"A few days, but that's impossible, I saw him yesterday." Ben said confused.
"And you saw him chase after Richie." Beverly pointed out.
Suddenly, the group's stomach dropped. They put two and two together and realized that, in some way, Pennywise was involved and that things were going to get worse.
"You don't think…" Georgie said concerned.
"No, no Richie wouldn't do something like that." Stanley said sternly.
"Oh…I forgot to mention. There's a chance that fear demons also eat human flesh…by making their victims kill sinners." Ale said.
"Kill…sinners." Beverly said horrified.
"And you're just telling us this now?!" Stanley said confused.
"It slipped my mind." Ale said uncaring.
"It slipped your mind?! While we thought that Pennywise was a fear demon that could only steal our fears, you forgot to mention that Pennywise could make you kill people too?!" Stanley said enraged.
"Guys, that's enough!" Bill yelled.
Stanley, Ale, and everyone else looked at Bill. He looked at the article again and was confused. Ben had seen Patrick just yesterday, there's no way he could've been dead for a few days. Surely his parents wouldn't have seen him for a few days, right? There was just so many scenarios. Ben looked at the picture and thought he had seen this before.
"The body, that skeleton, do fear demons often do that to their victims?" he asked.
"Yeah, after they are stabbed, shot, or burned to death, fear demons eat their victims just like that." Ale explained.
"Ben what are you getting at?" Beverly asked confused.
"I was doing research last night, I looked at the news articles and history books, and I found a pattern. Every time a child "disappears", a body ends up; nothing but bones, with the hair and clothes still on them." He explained.
"But why? Why kill people?" Beverly asked confused.
"To fear demons, fear is food. Sinners blood is a drink. Fear demons need both of those things to survive." Ale explained.
"But, Pennywise never made me kill anyone and, the only thing he made Eddie do was attack Greta, Beverly, and Richie." Georgie pointed out.
"But, there may be a chance that Pennywise may have killed someone and you guys don't have any memory of it, isn't that possible?" Mike argued.
"I doubt it. If my theory is right, Pennywise possessed Georgie to "research" all of you, and he didn't have time with Eddie, because of the injuries he accidently gave him." Ale said doubtful.
"So, Georgie and Eddie d-d-didn't k-kill anyone then, r-r-right?" Bill asked guessing.
"Exactly, now that he has killed someone, he's going to make the rest of you kill as well." Ale said.
"Unless we stop him." Stanley pointed out.
"Uhh…sure, whatever." Ale said; rolling her eyes
"Hold on, there's more. There were two similar incidents that happened in Maycomb, Alabama. Two bodies were the same way the others were." Ben pointed out.
"Maycomb, Alabama…" Bill said in disbelief.
"Do you know that place?" Beverly asked.
"I never been there, b-b-but I d-do know a g-g-guy. We c-can v-v-visit him tomorrow, alright?" Bill said.
"Good idea, Bill. It's been a rough few days, Eddie needs to recover and we need to gather our thoughts." Beverly spoke.
"We should also talk to Ms. Granger, she's lived in Derry the longest, maybe she'll know about the murders." Mike suggested.
"Why not ask our parents or your grandparents?" Stanley asked confused.
"When I a-a-asked my g-grandma about the di-di-disappearances in 1962, s-she sn-sn-snapped at me and told me she d-d-didn't w-want to talk about it." Bill explained.
"I asked my grandfather once about the "mysteries" of this town, he snapped at me and told me to not ask too many questions." Mike added.
"Okay, they're hiding something." Ale spoke.
"Exactly, and I don't think our parents are going to be much help either." Georgie added.
"Okay, it's settled. We'll go to Ms. Granger's house tomorrow and ask her about the disappearances and go with Bill to meet the guy he was talking about." Beverly spoke.
Everyone else nodded in agreement, then saw the nurse and Ms. K walk in. Ms. K looked irritated to see the loser's club here, but she didn't look at Ale.
"Alright Mr. Kaspbrak, you are free to go home." The nurse said.
Eddie smiled and nodded a thank you to the nurse. She left the room and Ms. K looked at her son.
"I'll be in the car." She said.
Eddie nodded and Ms. K left the room. Eddie was getting up and gritting his teeth in the process. The others were concerned and approached Eddie. Each one got in front or behind him and held his arms or body and lift him up. They placed him down gently and while Eddie could still walk, he was moving slowly and he was still in pain. He wrapped his arms around Beverly and Mike's neck and was walking slowly while using Mike and Beverly for balance.
"Come on Eddie, lets get you to the car." Beverly said.
The group helped Eddie leave the hospital room, than the hospital itself.