The Sea and the Sun ━━━━ Beverly Marsh︱✓

𝙭𝙫𝙞𝙞𝙞. the girl with ghost eyes

Are you ready to float? Jill repeated in her head like a mantra. She understood it now. She wished she didn't.

Richie glanced at the side of Jill's hardened face then glanced back at Beverly. "Shit," he swore as he approached Jill and put a hand on her shoulder. Jill wanted to shrug him off, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. "How—How is she in the air?"

Eddie glanced up at the mountain of toys and swallowed, hard. "Guys . . . are those . . . ?" he trailed off, his voice weak and airy.

Stan inhaled sharply. "The missing kids . . . floating."

A muscle in Jill's jaw twitched as she stared up at her friend. She had no idea if she was breathing or if that thing had taken her last breath. Maybe Bev still had time before she burned out and became one of the carcasses shining in the sky. Jill didn't care if that were true, she just wanted to have Beverly back in her arms again, then she could scream until her throat bled.

She inhaled sharply then dropped the spear before she walked just under where Beverly floated and jumped to grab her feet. She missed the first time, and the rest of the group raced over to help. Slowly, Beverly's body began to float to the ground which gave Jill enough leverage to jump and grasp her feet. Jill yanked her down and put her hands on Beverly's shoulder just in case she floated out of her grasp.

Tears welled in Jill's eyes as she stared into the lifeless eyes of the only person she had ever loved. "Beverly?" she murmured, weakly. She placed her hands on the sides of Beverly's face and rubbed her jaw with her thumbs. Beverly's skin felt warm against Jill's palms. Maybe she was alive. Jill took that as a sign and pressed her fingers against Beverly's neck, checking for a pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief when she felt a pulse.

"Is she alive?" Ben asked, his voice soft and weak as his eyes welled with tears.

Jill nodded and smiled slightly before she turned back to look at the girl with ghost eyes. "Bev, wake up," she whispered. But Beverly didn't stir, and Jill's heart plummeted in her chest. She furrowed her brows and breathed rapidly. "Please . . . please wake up! Wake up! Please! I need you! I need you! Please don't leave me!"

Richie put a hand on Jill's shoulder and squeezed. "Jill . . . " he trailed off.

Jill shook her head and shoved him away. "No, she's not gone!" she cried out, her voice hoarse. Her grip on Beverly's shoulders tightened as she searched her blank eyes for any sign of life. She combed back Beverly's red hair, curling the strands behind her ears. This was shit. Jill felt like shit. A sob wracked through her body as the thought of living in a world without Beverly Marsh flickered in her brain. She couldn't live in that world. She wouldn't survive it. "I can still save her. I can . . . "

It was then an idea popped into her head. It was a stupid one, but it was an idea nonetheless. You see, Jill liked to think of her life as if it were a poem or a fairytale or whatever. She was the sun, and this was her moon. Only when they eclipsed did unexplainable things happen. Many people reported good fortune happening to them after an eclipse . . . so maybe if Jill kissed Beverly then she could save her; maybe that would give her life.

Jill didn't care to dwell on the details, she just caressed Beverly's cheeks and pressed her lips against hers. An eclipse. This could work. It would. Jill had to believe it would.

Time seemed to stop as Jill pulled back and stared at the girl in front of her, expecting her to spring back to life. For a second, it looked as if the girl with ghost eyes had become a ghost herself, but then her eyes flickered back to life and the white faded away, revealing Beverly's blue eyes. Beverly inhaled sharply and searched Jill's face before a smile broke out on her face and she gripped onto Jill's arms for support.