When the old and new life collide

Pennywise The Dancing Clown

"I will. I promise", he said before he closed his station. He looked at Eddie with determination in his eyes. "Let's go"

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"I'm not afraid of you "

"Then why are you shaking?" The Clown was right. He was shaking. He was trapped again. And this time the clown was blocking his exit. IT started to slowly approach with a smile full of teeths and Richie backed away. No. He can't be scared. That's what powers him. Fear. Richie clenched his hold on the gun and he looked at the clown in the eye with a glare, which made him stop. Faster than he expected to be he raised the gun and he shot IT in the head. The clown fell to the ground wth a thud and Richie jumped over him and he ran away from the room. IT opened his eyes and he jumped on his feet and he started to chase Richie, laughing.

As he continued to run through the hallways, Richie feels like it was endless, like it would never end. He knew that he shouldn't watch behind because there was a risk that he would hit something and then IT would catch him. But somehow he still found himself, watching behind to see if the clown was closer to him. Then he hit something. Or someone and they both down with a groan.

"Richie?" he recognized the voice as Stan. So he was the one who hit.

Richie immediately stood up and he hauled his friend up as well. "C'mon. we need to run. Now."

"Richie Wait" This time the voice belonged to Bill.

"We don't have time to wait. We need to run or else it would catch us"

"W-who will? T-There's no one" Richie blinked confused and he looked to see that there was no one beside him, Stan and Bill. He left. Of course, he did. The coward. Or maybe he was not a coward. He was playing with them. Like always. Richie took a deep breath and he collapsed on the ground. He could feel his whole body shaking. "Richie?"Bill asked softly as he kneeled down beside him. "Are y-you a-alright?" he asked and Richie nodded. At least he thinks that he's alright.

"Good," Stan said before he slapped him upside his head. "What the hell is wrong with you? We were supposed to stay together"

"Hey. I was supposed to be the angry one. You were the one who fucked off without bothering to check if I was still following, you fucker", he said angrily. First, he had been left behind by his friends, then cornered by IT, and now accused of not sticking with them. Give him a break.

"Where have you been anyway"

"I saw some movement in a room. I stopped to check-in. I'm so stupid. I should have known better", he said as he gripped his hair with his shaky hands.

"W-why? W-what h-happened?"Bill asked as he pulled Richie's hands from his hair, and squeezed them gently, comforting. "Did y-you see s-something"

"Yeah. Something that I wish I will never see again"

"What?"Both Bill and Stan asked.

"Not what. Who. He's back. The fucking clown is back", he said and his friends looked horrified. 

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It took both Stan and Bill, some time to process the fact that It was back. Not even Richie hadn't processed that yet. He was too busy to not get killed by him. After a few minutes of silence, Stan contacted Steve and Eddie and let them know that they found Richie. Or more like Richie had found them. "Is he alright?"

"He's.."Stan looked at Richie who was still on the floor, Bill still holding his hands in an attempt to comfort him. He could see him shaking slightly. "Fine. Juats a little shaken". He could hear Steve sighing relieved.