august 5, 1989. monday.
"STANLEY!" EDDIE CALLED OUT. "stanley!"
the losers sludged through the dirty water, wincing every time their shoes touched something foreign.
cass was extremely glad she wore tennis shoes instead of flip flops.
a loud scream echoed through the tunnels, followed by a louder one. and cass jumped, and felt fear fill hee
stomach.
"stan!" cass called, and took off towards where the sound was coming from. "stanley!" she was running by now, trying not to think of the gross water getting splashed onto her legs. she tripped over her own feet, and fell face first into the murky water. she stood up, ignoring the rancid smell, and took off running blindly again.
she exited the tunnel into a largish circular room, and eyed a large cylinder in the middle that had water running into it from a pipe.
"stanley?" eddie called out, his voice shrill.
"stan!" cass screamed, tears running down her face. she wiped away the tears and the water, cringing.
"stan! wh-where are yuh-you?" the others emerged from the tunnel after her, and took in their surroundings as she did.
she took off towards another tunnel, and rounded the corner. bill came after her and shone his flashlight straight onto stan. cass screamed wen she saw what was happening.
It had attached Its mouth to stanleys face, and was digging its teeth into his cheeks. stan struggled beneath It, yet he was unconscious. It slowly unlatched its mouth from stans face and creeped back into the shadows, screeching. it rounded a corner, but peeked its head out moments after as pennywise. the losers screamed, letting out curses and cries.
cass didn't waste any time in running towards stan and dropping down next to him. she shook his shoulders, screaming his name. he sat up quickly, and immediately started screaming. the others dropped down next to him, all reaching their hands towards the screaming boy. cass reached for him, and he met her eyes, sobbing.
"you left me! you're not my friends!" stan cried, and cass tried to grab him again. "don't touch me!"
"stan, i-"
"no!" he screamed, and she backed away. "you made me come in here! you made me come in here!" stanley sobbed, not tearing his eyes away from cass. she stayed silent and let the tears run down her face as the boys all comforted him.
besides bill. cass watched as bill looked down a tunnel, and saw a small shadow towards the end of it. the shadow ran away, and bill grabbed mikes gun off the floor and took off after it.
"bill!" cass called after him. "bill!" she got up after him and started running the same way he went. "bill! what the fuck are you doing?"
"cass!" she heard eddie call from behind her, but she didn't stop. she just kept following the sound of bills footsteps. she followed him all the way to a large open space, and her eyes widened. she walked up to bill, breathing heavy, and together they stared at the large mound of childrens' toys and belongings and felt her eyes water. she craned her neck backwards, and felt her mouth go dry.
"bill?"
"yuh-yeah?"
"look." cass pointed up and bill followed her gaze.
"are those the m-m-m-"
"the missing kids. i think so." cass tore her eyes away, and looked towards bill. bill didn't meet her gaze, and she followed his eyes to a certain person floating.
cass gasped and ran towards her, shaking. "bev!" she jumped, trying to reach her, but she couldn't. "bill, help me!"
"h-h-hold on!" bill was walking around the mountain of toys, and cass looked towards bev.
"i'll be right back." cass then took off after bill, but quickly stopped when she heard screams emitting from her friends. "fuck, fuck, fuck!" it wasn't long until she heard their voices getting closer, then finally she turned around. she saw five of her friends coming out of the tunnel, and they immediately ran towards bev.
"beverly!" she heard ben call out, and she could hear the worry in his voice.
"holy shit, h-how is she in the air?" eddie muttered, and cass could hear richie muttering shit repeatedly. she started towards them, mike noticing her immediately.
"wheres bill?" he asked her, and cass lowered her brows.
"somewhere over there i think-"
"guys?" eddie cut her off and looked up. "are those the-"
"yeah, eds. they are," cass answered, and his face paled.
"they're floating," stan muttered, utterly confused.
you'll float too.
they all shuddered at the thought.
"mike, help me get her down," cass commanded, and mike nodded. he lifted her up onto his shoulders and grunted softly, to which cass rolled her eyes.
she latched her hand onto bevs foot and pulled her down, richie and ben helping when they could reach her. once she was on the ground mike lowered cass from his shoulders. she
patter his shoulder and watched as ben shook beverlys shoulders, crying.
"go get your girl, cass," mike muttered to her, nudging her shoulder. cass shook her head.
"not my girl anymore. she dumped me." mikes eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. stan watched the exchange sadly, and observed the way cass stared at bev. a look of love and affection, but also heartbreak.
it must be the way he stares at cass.
"why isn't she waking up? whats wrong with her? beverly please!" ben cried, and he wrapped his arms around her. cass stepped forward.
"ben i don't-" cass started, tears streaming down her face. "ben i think shes dead."
"she can't be! she can't!" he exclaimed, and cass let herself cry harder. ben grabbed bevs face in his hands and stared at her.
cass lowered her eyebrows, taking in what was happening. "ben what are you-" cass trailed off when ben pressed a kiss to bevs lips, and cringed.
"ew!" richie groaned, and mike made a face of disgust. ben pulled away, and cass was about to speak again when bev breathed in a large breath of air.
"january embers!" bev gasped out, eyes wide.
"my heart burns there too," ben breathed out, and bev pulled him in for a hug. when she pulled away she looked towards cass and smiled softly.
"jesus fuck!" richie exclaimed, and pulled all of them in for a group hug.
"hey, cassie," bev started, but cass rolled her eyes and pulled away from the hug, causing the others to disband.
"don't. not here." cass walked off towards where bill had gone and bev sighed.
"you fucked up," eddie spoke, and bev glared at him.
"ya think?" ben looked down sadly, and so did stan. then they all started after cass.
BILL SHONE HIS FLASHLIGHT around, finally landing on the small boy he had been chasing.
"georgie?" bill asked.
"what took you so long?" the small boy in front of bill spoke. he walked forwards, clutching a paper boat.
"i was looking for you this whole time," bill explained.
"i couldn't find my way outta here," the young boy whimpered. "he said i could have my boat back, billy."
bill let out a few shaky breaths. "was she fast?"
"i couldn't keep up with it," georgie pouted.
"she, georgie. you call boats she."
"take me home, billy," georgie spoke, and cass and the others slowly walked up, looking at each other confused. mike looked towards bill, then back to georgie. "i wanna go home!" georgie cried.
bills breathing got even shakier as he cried harder, and cass felt tears well in her eyes, too.
"i miss you! i wanna be with mom and dad!" georgie was crying harder now.
"i want more than anything to bring you home," bill forced through his tears. "with mom, and dad. i miss you so much." bill approached georgie, and cass shook her head and brought her hand to her mouth. mike pulled her in for a hug, and bev watched, upset.
"i love you billy," georgie spoke.
"i love you too," bill answered, then paused. he brought the gun up to georgies head and georgie started to sob, whimpering. "but you're not georgie." the little boy squeezed his eyes shut, and bill pulled the trigger. georgies body dropped to the ground.
the losers all stood there, staring at the body, saddened by what they had heard. silence fell upon them, but it was soon broken. georgies body started to shake, and georgie screamed, still shaking. the body made inhumane noises, seizing on the floor now, and georgies outfit changed from a t-shirt and jeans to a clowns outfit.
the legs and arms of pennywise shot out of georgie's small body, and soon his face contorted and changed into the clown. It sat up, gasping, then shot to its feet.
"kill It bill! kill It!" eddie and richie screamed. bill watched in horror as Its eyes landed on him.
"kill It!" stan joined in. soon, everyone was screaming at bill to "kill It". besides mike.
"its not loaded," mike muttered, and cass's head swiveled towards mike. bill held the gun up to Its head and cocked it. "hey! its not loaded!" mike yelled, but bill pulled the trigger anyway. pennywises head started crack, and small pieces raised off of it, but it turned back to normal within seconds.
It leaned backwards, arms dangling, then It started to shake. screams emitted from Its lips, and he straightened himself up before starting towards the losers. it jumped on bill, and he held the gun up to stop It from biting his head.
"bill!" cass screamed. she started towards It but beverly beat her to it.
"leave him alone!" bev screamed, raising up a metal pole with a point on the end of it. It grabbed the pole right before it hit his face and snarled.
"beverly no!" eddie screamed, and mike stepped in before she got hurt. It flung him at the wall, and the losers screamed.
"mike!" stan yelled, and cass tried to find something to fend It off with. as bill fought with It, she grabbed what looked like a metal fence post.
"help him!" stan yelled. cass lunged towards It as richie jumped onto Its back. she stabbed It straight through the stomach, and ben bit Its hand. It had stan by the shirt, and cass backed away as It spun in circles with her friends.
It threw stan across the room, flung richie over his back, and flipped bill over. It grabbed bill by the neck and put him into a chokehold and backed away from the other losers.
"bill!" cass screamed, trying to run towards him. bev grabbed her by the back of the shirt. "let go of me! let me go!"
It sneered at them, holding a shaking bill. mike grabbed cass, holding her back.
"no! let him go!" bev demanded.
"no! i'll take him! i'll take alll of you! and i'll feast on your flesh as i feed on your fear!" It held up its finger, smiling devilishly. "ooor, just leave us be. i'll take him, only him, then i'll have my long rest, and you will all live to grow, and thrive, and lead haaapppyyy lives! until old age takes you back to the weeds."
"leave," bill rasped. "i'm the one who dragged you all into this. i'm s-so sorry!"
"ssss-sorry! haha!" pennywise mocked.
"go!" bill commanded. It laughed, and cass shot It a death glare.
"guys! we can't!" bev spoke.
"she's right, guys. he wouldn't leave us. we can't leave him," cass agreed. richie stepped forward.
"i told you bill. i fuckin told you! i don't wanna die. its your fault," richie spoke. cass watched tears slip down bills face. "you punched me in the face, you made me walk through shitty water! you brought me to a fucking crackhead house!" It smiled menacingly. "and now," richie began, pulling a baseball bat from the mountain of toys. "i'm gonna have to kill this fucking clown."
It dropped bill harshly and stood up, stalking towards richie.
"welcome to the losers club, asshole!" It ran towards richie, screeching, and he swung at It. It pivoted, only to be met by mike with a metal pole. he tried to hit It in the head, but It opened his mouth, and a bunch of burnt hands emerged from the depths of Its throat. stan picked up a metal pole and slammed it into the hands, and It turned Its head towards stan.
the flute lady ran towards stan, and he smacked It with the pole he was holding. cass grabbed the same fence post she had shoved into Its stomach and held it up, ready to attack. mike smacked it with a wooden stick and It
grew large crab legs and began to stab at mike.
cass screamed and ran towards It, shoving the fence post into Its stomach.It flailed its arms and they shrunk back to normal. cass shoved the post deeper, screaming obscenities.
It turned its head around and took on the form of patrick hockstetter.
"miss me, sweetheart?" patrick smirked, and cass pulled the post out of Its stomach, screaming.
"YOU'RE DEAD YOU SON OF A BITCH! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" she brought the post behind her head, ready to stab It. she brought the post down, but It grabbed her and threw her against the wall.
"cass!" stan screamed, and cass watched through blurred vision as both bill and richie began beating It with their weapons. cass raised herself to her feet and stumbled over to bev who caught her quickly.
bill smacked It with a chain, and It began to make retching noises. eddie looked at It in disgust, and the face of pennywise quickly changed into a leper. it then released black bile all over eddies face, and cass winced. eddie spit the liquid out of his mouth.
"i'm gonna kill you!" eddie screamed, and delivered a hard kick to Its face.
It turned around and took on the face of al marsh. he smirked up at bev, who slowly approached It.
"hey bevvie. are you still my-" bev cut It off by shoving a metal pole down Its throat. Its face slowly changed back to the clown. It spit the pole out, and groaned. It stood up slowly, and made Its way over to cass, who seemed to be the only one who was still somewhat scared.
he picked her up by the throat, snarling. the other losers tried to hit It with their poles, and chains, but It didn't stop. cass choked, gasping for breath.
"so much fear, but not of me," It muttered, and cass struggled against Its grip.
"let me go you bastard!" she kicked at It but It didn't drop her. "let me go!"
her lips began to turn purple, and It smiled menacingly.
"i should have killed you a long time ago." then It threw cass against the wall again, way harder than last time, she smacked her head against it, hard, and she felt her vision go blurry.
this time, it didn't come back. bev ran to her side, dropping down quickly.
"cass we have to get you out of here," bev spoke, trying to pick her up.
"no," she rasped. "no. just, just stay here with me." bev turned around and watched the boys back It against the well for a moment before turning back to cass.
"we won! cassie, we won. you can't let go now! we- we won." bev had tears streaming down her face, but cass was smiling softly.
cass watched as It dropped from the wells edge, and saw the triumphant look on the boys faces.
"look at those idiots. i love those idiots." cass stroked bevs cheek, still smiling. she felt her vision blur even more, but didn't say anything. soon, all of the losers had surrounded bev and cass. all of them had tears streaming down their faces, and soon, cass let a few slip from hers. "i love you, bev."
"i love you too," bev sobbed. "please
don't leave me. please, i'm sorry."
"sing to me, bev." cass looked up, not meeting anyones eyes as bev pulled her fully into her lap and began her
song.
"you are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me
happy, when skies are gray." bev stopped for a moment, composing her sobs. "you'll never know dear, how much i love you. please don't take my sunshine away." cass's eyes slipped
fully shut, and she let out one last breath.
bev broke down into sobs, and the others around her cried too. they all pulled bev into a hug, who was still holding cass in her arms.
cass was gone.
•••
i'm so sorry. i'm crying too. i know.