possibilities ( it: chapter 2 )

NINE.

☆彡
the car ride back to the lankman home was silent. eileen grew more and more concerned about richie by the second. he hadn't said a single word since eileen told him about their daughter. nonetheless, his head was swimming with what ifs.

jay tozier was the greatest thing to ever happen to richie. of course he loved both of his children, but the love that he had for his first born—it was astronomical. the day that she was born changed his entire world, he cried for that whole day.

jay's presence alone taught richie what it meant to be a parent, how to be a good one, an understanding parent. he never had that, and he wanted to show jade that despite not having role model parents, he could be one.

she was the light of his life, the sunshine on a rainy day. she was every part of him and more.
"is she....is she afraid?" richie voiced.

eileen glanced between richie and the road, wondering what he meant.
"is she—do you mean is she afriad of it?" eileen questioned. richie only nodded in response. everything about the situation had put him in a bad mood and he just wanted to see his children.

"no. at least, i don't think so. she didn't seem afraid, only kind of nervous about us finding out." eileen looked over at richie before focusing back on the dark roads.

"good. as long as she isn't afraid, it won't come for her. right?" richie offered, trying to reassure himself.

eileen parked the car in the lankman driveway and cut the engine. the toziers were now sitting in complete silence.
"i don't know, rich. i guess so. but we need to be ready if it does come for her." eileen spoke, her clear voice filling the silence.

richie sighed before opening his door and leaving eileen in the car alone. seconds later, eileen followed behind her husband as he entered the home.

richie looked back at eileen, motioning for her to lead the way to where the kids were staying. eileen led richie up the staircase and down the hall. both of them stood outside of the room, unsure of how to approach the situation.

richie's eyes glanced up towards the ceiling as he let out a long sigh. he rubbed his hands over his face before reaching for the door knob. the couple opened the door and saw their kids sitting on the full sized bed.

the kids set their sights on the father and their eyes lit up.
"dad!" they both chimed happily, rushing to embrace their father.

a smile replaced richie's frown as he wrapped his arms around his kids.
"i missed you guys!" richie grinned as he felt his son and daughter hug him.

"we missed you more." reese acknowledged. he was the first to let go. he raced over to his mom, giving her a hug as well.

eileen's arms wrapped around her son and she kissed the top of his head. her blue eyes glanced up towards her husband and daughter. jade had taken a shower, her hair was wet and her damp bangs were starting to stick to her forehead. she was wearing one of eileen's old yale shirts and a pair of nike shorts.

eileen's lips curled into a smile as she noticed how much her daughter looked like her.
"we need to talk to you, jay. your mom and i." richie said and looked back at eileen. his look meant for eileen to find a way to get reece out of the room.

they didn't need to worry about him too. eileen's hand touched reece's shoulder as he glanced up towards her with his soft brown eyes.
"reece, sweetie, you should go take your shower so that you can go to bed. your grandma told me that she might take you guys to the square." eileen smiled as she lied right through her teeth.

"okay. i didn't really want to go, but fine, i guess." reece shrugged and left the room.

eileen walked over to the door to close it after her son left out of the room. jay's eyes frantically flickered between her parents as she grew concerned.
"i'm not in trouble, am i?" she inquired.

the thirteen year old sat down on the bed. her parents stood in front of her. richie nor eileen were sure of how to start the conversation.

"are you afraid of it?" richie asked. jay's eyebrows stitched together as she grew confused.
"of what?" jay asked.

eileen shifted on her feet as she folded her arms over her chest. the thirty-nine year old became tense as her husband tried to tell their daughter about the clown.

"it, the clown. the clown from the letters." richie responded. jay's face became neutral again as she shook her head.
"no? i don—" jay paused and she remembered looking up derry, maine.

she remembered the case files of the deceased children, the old lady's confession. her eyes grew wide as she started to put two and two together.

"jay? jade?" eileen leaned forward.

the ocean blue eyes of jade tozier glanced up towards her parents as her lips parted. that's why her parents took this clown thing so seriously. the clown, it, had killed those children. the clown had terrorized derry.

"oh my god," she muttered out. "did...did the clown kill those kids?" jade asked.

richie's eyebrows furrowed as he stepped forward. "how do you know about the kids?" he asked.

jade bit her lip as she realized that she was now in deep shit.
"i—dad, don't get mad, but i may have looked up derry." the eldest tozier child revealed.

richie stepped back and closed his eyes, he needed a minute to process everything.
"you did what? jade! how did you—" eileen stepped towards her daughter.

"...i might have used dad's laptop." jade revealed. the two tozier girls glanced over towards richie, who was pinching the bridge of his nose. there was no way for richie to express the frustration, disappointment, or anger that he had.

"well are you scared now, jade?" richie scoffed, walking back over towards his wife and daughter. jay nodded her head that time.
"imagine finding out that a killer clown might come for you. hell yes i'm scared, dad!" jade raised her voice ever so slightly.

"you had no business searching this town! now you know and you're afraid! he senses your fear and he feeds off of it!" richie's voice got louder by the second.

eileen watched her husband and daughter yell at each other, both of their personalities clashing.
"i don't know if you know this but my curiousity? it comes from you two always keeping shit from us!" jay screamed.

richie was, for a lack of words, pissed.
"we keep shit from you two to keep you safe! we keep it from you so things like this don't happen!" richie yelled back, pointing his finger at jade.

"well you didn't do a good job now, did you?! what kind of parent lies to their kid about shit like this?!" jay snapped back at her father.

richie's eyes widened and so did eileen's.
"jade olivia tozier!" eileen stated firmly.

jade's face was twisted in anger and her father's face was filled with guilt.

he had failed her. the one thing that he never wanted to do in his life.

he failed his children.