"What are you smiling about?" Stanley stared at him. "She called you a dumbass."
Eddie's smile only grew bigger. "I know. Ali Sumner called me a dumbass."
***
in which ali sumner befriends a group of outcasts and finds herself harassed by ronald mcd...
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TWENTY-THREE: Missing
Words: 893 (including non-story related words such as these)
Author's Note: this scene was actually kinda sad ***
"I can't believe I drew the short straw." Richie grumbled as he, Ali, Bill and Eddie cautiously stepped into the house.
The dusty, old floorboards creaked and groaned underneath them with every step they took.
After an intense drawing of straws, it was decided. Bill, Eddie, Richie and Ali were to be the ones who would enter the house.
And of course, Richie was not in the slightest happy about this.
"You're lucky we weren't measuring dicks." He continued, sticking behind Bill as they continued on into the room.
"Beep beep, Richard." Ali rolled her eyes, behind Eddie, a few feet away from the inside of the house. "And besides, even if we were, you'd still lose."
Richie did a double-take. "But you're a girl."
Ali smirked. "Exactly."
Richie gasped and was about to think of a clapback to Ali's insult, when the dirty joke he had come up with died in his throat. Ali froze too.
They stared mystified at the sight of the inside of the house.
It was almost completely dark inside except for the few shattered windows letting in some light. Cobwebs gathered around almost every corner on the ceiling, walls, and floor. There was a winding staircase by the far-right and it was missing a few steps and looked so old it was as if it would crumble in a minute. Mold or some kind of goo was growing on the walls, garbage and some kinds of ruins scattered the floor, and there was this horrid stench that hung in the air.
"Shit." Ali gasped.
She regretted gasping instantly because she winded up inhaling a mouthful of the awful air in the house.
"Don't breathe through your mouth." Richie smirked, trying to keep things light-hearted despite the situation they were in.
Eddie looked at him curiously, also trying to keep things as un-stressful as the situation allowed him to. "How come?"
"Because then you'll be eating it." Richie answered matter-of-factly.
Eddie gagged at the thought and gasped into his inhaler.
"For fuck's sake, Rich." Ali rolled her eyes, patting Eddie on the back for assurance. "He's only fucking with you."
Eddie continued to gag and gasp into his inhaler though and Ali shot Richie a dirty look.
"If he throws up, you're cleaning it up."
Richie shrugged it off and went to explore around the room like Bill was.
He spotted some kind of poster sinking in a bundle of cobwebs by the corner of his eye and he walked over to it.
He picked it up gingerly and stared at it. His heart dropped and for a few seconds he couldn't breathe.
Bill noticed the haunted look on his face and walked over to him. "What is it, Richie?"
He didn't answer.
"Rich?" Eddie added.
Still no answer.
Eddie, Ali and Bill exchanged worrying glances and walked over to him. They glanced at the poster and felt themselves freeze.
"It...it says I'm missing." Richie said slowly as if he couldn't believe what he had just said.
"Richie, you're not m-missing." Bill assured him, though he was a little confused too.
Upon closer inspection, Ali realized the paper in Richie's hands was a missing poster. But it wasn't any missing poster.
It was a missing poster for Richie.
A black and white photo of him smiling was pasted on it with a big black label at the top that read, no scratch that, screamed: MISSING
There was some info at the bottom but Ali couldn't get a closer look before Richie started shaking and panicking.
"The City of Derry!" Richie read out loud, his voice growing higher and panicked with each second. "That's my shirt, my face, my name my age, and that's the date!"
"Richie..." Ali began to say but then realized she didn't know what to say.
She just stood there beside Eddie exchanging pleading looks for Richie to calm down as he continued to panic.
Bill tried to wrestle the poster out of his hands but Richie wouldn't let go of it.
"Richie, please calm down." Ali begged. "There's gotta be an explanation."
"Yes, there is!" Bill triumphed over the poster and managed to wriggle it out of Richie's grasp but Richie snatched it back. "I-it's not real!"
"No, but it says, it says!" Richie insisted, so panicked and terrified he was close to tears but couldn't actually cry. He was that stunned. "What the fuck, am I gonna go missing?!"
He thought about all the kids who had gone missing in Derry. Betty Ripsom. Ed Corcoran. Patrick Hockstetter, who he had just recently found out went missing due to the new multiple missing posters for him outside his house. And then George Denbrough who's body was never even found but he knew was dead.
All those missing kids. Those dead kids.
Was he gonna end up like them?
The more he thought about it, the more he freaked out.
Georgie was six years old, Ed was merely a year younger than he was while Patrick was only a year older. While Betty was his exact same age.
It could happen to anyone. Anyone.
"Hey, look at me." Bill said sternly, forcing Richie to stop squirming. "Tha-that isn't real. It's playing tricks on you."
This seemed to have gotten Richie a little under control. He was still panting like an animal, scared out of his mind but at least he wasn't screaming anymore.
Ali put an assuring hand on his shoulder. "You'll be okay." She turned to everyone and rested her other hand on Eddie's shoulder who was pale-faced and looked close to being sick. She exchanged determined looks with Bill. "We'll all be okay."
"Hello?"
They all froze.
They looked towards the staircase where the voice had just come from. The voice was of a little girl's. A scared little girl.
Ali clutched the bottle weapon in her hand even tighter. "Ah, fuck's sake. What is it now?"
