Buttercup | r. tozier

↠ beverly marsh

An Hour Later

After leaving the quarry and going to Ben's house to talk more about the mysteries of Derry, Jaz and I decided to go back home together. We said that we would be leaving to the boys before we walked to where the bikes were positioned. We then hopped on our bikes and rode back to the city.

While still in the forest path, I listened to the late afternoon winds when an airy voice could be heard.

"Beverly, today was so much fun!"

"Yeah, I know," I answered with a smile.

"Especially when we jumped together, surprising the boys."

My smile turned into a smirk. "See, I told you Jaz. It was going to be fun."

Silence went on as we rode through the city area. There were strangely few cars driving on the roads, as they were usually filled with many of them in the usual summer afternoons. When we saw my apartment nearby, Jaz called me out.

"Um, Beverly." I stopped my bike in a nearby alley before she did the same.

"Yeah."

"So, I actually wonder about this for some time," she asked with a hint of innocence in her voice. "Who do you like the most out of all the boys?"

My face started to redden the moment she said "crush." To be honest, Ben was sweet and smart, but I hesitated as I began to think about Bill.

"I-I-I like Bill," I spluttered. No way, did she actually found out who I like?

"Okay," Jaz said as I thought of a way to make her feel what I felt.

"And I have something to ask you."

"About what?"

"Okay, this is just between us girls, since the rest are just boys," I jokingly smirked, "Out of all of them, who do you have a crush on?"

"Uh, Beverly, what is a crush?" Jaz stared at me with curiosity.

"Jaz, a crush is someone who you really like," I responded as her cheeks started to tinge in pink.

"I-I-I like n-no one...," Jaz stuttered in denial.

"In case if you don't know, Richie definitely got the hots of you," I told her. "And you are responding to him well."

"R-Richie? No way," she madly refuted as her face and ears increasingly grew red.

"You wanna have proof? I saw the way that he stared at and flirted with you at the quarry."

"But w-w-we are just close friends. Th-there's no way that we like each other."

"You may deny, but your cheeks will never lie," I snickered, knowing that Jaz didn't have any more good comebacks to use. Even then, Jaz made more useless attempts to justify that she only liked Richie as a friend.

"Aw, c'mon, accept it," I teased. "You like Richie, and he likes you."

Jaz sighed, clearly embarrassed.

I laughed at the sight of her flushed face. "Admit defeat, Jaz."

"No," Jaz rebutted once more before pausing to calm herself down.

"By the way, can we talk about other stuff?"

So we talked to each other for several more minutes, but to be real, Jaz's reactions and words were pure gold. I could bet myself a buck that she and Richie would be kissing each other someday. Or maybe even married, so I thought. After quite a while, I could see Jaz repositioned herself on her seat.

"Beverly, I'll be going back to my home now."

"Alright, Jaz. meet me at my apartment tomorrow," I waved at her as she cycled back to the streets. I got off my bike and carried it up to my apartment. After propping it over by the other bikes, I made my way up the stairs to my floor.

Without peering left and right, I went to my bedroom straight away. I sat down on my bed to open my bag. A postcard slipped from the bag and fell on the rug as I continued to unpack. I grabbed it, wondering what it could be. Taking a glimpse of it, I briskly walked to the bathroom.

After locking the door, I went over to the bathtub and began reading what was written on the postcard. It said the following:

Your hair is winter fire,
January embers,
my heart burns there too

- secret admirer

I smiled at the poem, warming my heart. I then wondered who wrote this, as I held the postcard closer to my chest. I twinkled from looking at the words that perfectly intertwined with each other like a piece of art.

Not long, a strange voice of a girl could be heard from the sink. It was calling my name. The hot, tingling feelings inside me turned cold from that.

"Help me."

I stood up and went to the sink to investigate what was going on.

"Help me, please."

I walked closer to the sink.

"We all want to eat you," the voice once again said before being replaced by a deep voice of someone familiar, "Beverly."

Curious, I peered right through the drain hole, but only darkness within.

"Hello? Who are you?" I asked.

The voice echoed back before the others followed, "I'm Veronica."

"Betty Ripsom."

"Patrick Hocksetter."

It said a few more things that were not clear, but scary regardless. I went to the living room to take a measuring tape before returning. I lowered down the tape, only for the hole to suck it deep like a paper straw. I pulled it back up after I couldn't let it down anymore. The ends of the tape was covered with strands of long, bloody hair. I grimaced by the looks of it before tendrils of hair cuffed my wrists.

I tried to break off with all my might, but more strings of hair continued to sprout up from the green drain, not hearing my pleas. They bound my legs and my waist and tried to strangle my neck. It pulled me even closer to the hole as I screamed in terror.

"Daddy! Help!"

Blood began to flood the sink before it squirted, dousing everything in the bathroom with the crimson liquid. I moved back to where the bathtub was, crouching in before I cried. Not long, daddy opened the door.

"Bevvie, what's going on."

I shook uncontrollably. "I think...it's blood."

Daddy looked confused, seemingly to not see what had gone wrong.

"There's blood..."