serendipity {sequel to pop} || reddie

dix-huit

Notes: there's a part in the middle that's kinda confusing. It's going through Richie and Eddie's thought process side-by-side. It's laid out like this:
*Richie's thoughts* | *Eddie's thoughts*
tbh I think this chapter is dumb but I kind of wrote myself into a corner in pop

The sewers are louder than they remembered. Well, not the sewers themselves; the sewers are just a channel for amplification. It would be quiet if no one was there; but since there's a party of seven walking through the tunnels, it's loud. Water splashing, footsteps echoing. It's kind of anxiety-provoking- of course, the Losers know that It knows they're coming, but there's still an irrational want to keep their presence concealed.

Mike has drawn up an accurate map of he sewers, including the lair, unlike the one they'd had as kids. The Losers follow the path, finding that they rarely need to look at the map; this place is familiar.

"I think we turn right up here." Mike says as the group nears another crossroads.

"No, it's left." Eddie pipes up without thinking.

"How do you know?" Beverly asks. She quickly backpedals. "Not to seem rude or anything, of course, but... Mike's been studying this map, you know?"

"No, he's right." Mike is looking at the map he's drawn. He looks back up towards the group. "It's left."

"How'd you know that?" Ben stares in mild amazement.

Eddie shrugs. "I don't know, I just felt it."

Richie puts a hand on Eddie's back as the group keeps walking, making a left. Instinct, probably. Whatever it is, it's calming for both parties.

Richie feels a vague sense of pride in Eddie's newly-discovered abilities, but he also feels his heart sink. Eddie has just brought them one step closer to the mist, and part of Richie hopes they'll get lost in the sewers and never make it there.

After what seems like forever, the Losers enter Its lair for the second time. It looks just the same as it had when they were kids, except a little more deteriorated, a little older, just like them. Jagged rocks and stochastic, miniature cliffs protrude from the seemingly limitless walls as if frozen mid-eruption from them. The stone ground is weathered in some places, chipped in others. Some spots, however, gleam in the dim light as if polished. The source of that light comes from within the tall, morbid lampshade of children's corpses and long-abandoned toys, from the heart they'd seen as kids. It seems as if the children are floating up towards some strange void in the ceiling of the cavern. The arrangement of the children is different from the last time the Losers had seen it; they're spread wider out, almost teasingly, almost beckoning. And almost boastful, almost as if It was saying-

"I've got more now." The mist's voice cuts through the air like a gust of winter wind. Richie shivers, feeling that same prickling on the back of his neck. "Want to join them?"

It goes silent after that. The mist is nowhere to be seen. The prickling on Richie's neck does not go away. Cautiously, the Losers move forward. They've all got their slips of paper with them.

It had been like a really strange therapy session, writing those slips. Because, of course, they can't be just slips. The point is for each Loser to actually overcome something, clear up space in their mind like Mike had said. It isn't an easy thing to do by any means. But Mike had made a pretty convincing speech, and the circumstances are certainly out of the ordinary. Under the threat of death, things slow down; it becomes easier to let go.

Richie, however, is extremely nervous about it. He isn't over his issue one bit. Hell, he's been trying for years, and he hasn't made progress. Could he fuck this whole thing up because he's too fucking blocked up to face his problems head-on?