THE GHOST IN YOU - IT [2]

chapter eleven

"You are a legend, Tozier." Victor pulls back, patting Richie's shoulder. "Hey, man, it's been awhile, how are you?"

Richie falls into relaxed laughter. "I've definitely had better days. It's great to see you."

Victor turns, meeting the weary stares of Jaime's best friends. "Mike, Ben, sorry I don't remember your name, Eddie..."

"I-I'm Beverly." She introduces herself with a forced smile. He nods knowingly.

"Should've known." He frowns. "Where's the other two?"

"We don't know where Bill is." Mike says. "And Stan..."

"Stan the Man! Where's that rascal?" Victor asks fondly. Jaime clears her throat as everyone looks away awkwardly.

"He... uh... he didn't make it here. It got him." She explains, fighting past the lump in her throat. Her older brother's face softens with pity.

"Fuck, Jay... shit, I'm sorry." He wraps an arm comfortingly around her shoulder. "Hey, well, look, guys, I don't know if you want me here or not. But as long as I'm in Derry, I'm staying with my sister." He clears his throat. "And I think, I think I'm as much a part of this as you guys. I uh... I saw something. That summer. Before... Jaime even told me what was happening."

"What? What the fuck did you see?" Richie asks.

Jaime weasels out from under his arm and frowns at him. "You didn't ever tell me that-- why? What happened?"

Victor recalls, like yesterday, the incident on the Bowers farm. "I was at Henry's, helping him finish his chores. He always had us help him, so he could sit back and smoke and bark at us. It was well after dark one night, I think it was before school let out. I don't know if you guys remember, but Bowers had these two horses. Old fellas, they were. They were former racing horses, but they'd withered with age. I went into the barn one night to make sure they had been fed. It was so dark in there, all I had was a flashlight. I just remember the jingle of bells and feeling something dart past me. Then the clown in one of the horse pens, popping up from behind the stall door. He had this stupid fucking voice and he reeked of circus food. I was alarmed because I wondered if this was some psycho druggie with a gun or knife. I wasn't scared of him that much, which is probably why I slipped away unscathed. Honestly, I didn't even correlate that with what Jaime told me until the summer ended, and by then, she walked around that topic like eggshells. So I kept it to myself until this very moment."

"You should've told me." Jaime says the moment he closes his mouth.

"Oh, like you should've told me you were coming back to this stupid fucking town?" He shoots back.

"Well, you can certainly stay." Mike says before Jaime can begin bickering with her older sibling.

"Unless Pennywise possesses you and you try to kill us too." Eddie jokes, though beyond his joking tone is seriousness. Victor laughs him off.

"Pennywise doesn't have the balls."

Jaime suddenly notices the cut on Mike's arm. "Shit, Mike, did Bowers do that?"

"Yeah, man, let's get that cleaned up." Ben says, motioning him over. They take a seat at one of the tables as Ben examines the wound. Eddie makes a beeline for Richie, the two falling into a loquacious conversation. Beverly simmers with quiet anxiety, offering reassuring smiles at Jaime when she looks at her worriedly. Victor stays glued to Jaime's side. She'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the protection, but after what Pennywise said to her earlier, she enjoys the protection with a hint of guilt. Am I really this co-dependent? Everyone is always here for me, but am I ever here for them...