We all rushed up the stairs to Ben's room, lured by the promise of mysteries and just something to actually do this summer instead of just laying around and swimming. Eddie and Richie, had been going on about something that I didn't understand and it was starting to get on my nerves.
"I heard he has a rollercoaster, and a pet chimpanzee, and like some old guys fucking bones!" Richie exclaimed as we walked through the doorway.
"That's so cool!" Eddie laughed, and I just rolled my eyes.
The walls were covered in newspaper clippings and old legal documents. I wandered around, glancing at all of the missing posters he had spread out around the room. Some I recognized, some, I didn't. Either way, there were too many to say that these disappearances happened under normal circumstances.
"Woah, woah, woah, wow..." Richie said, glancing at the papers in front of him.
"Cool right?" Ben asked, beaming.
"No, no, nothing cool." Richie shook his head.
"This is cool," Eddie said, pointing something out, "Wait, no it's not."
"What is that?" Stan asked as he finally stopped staring at Ben's globe in the corner.
"That? That's the charter for the Derry township." Ben nodded.
"Nerd alert!" Richie laughed and I nudged him with my elbow.
"Actually, it's pretty interesting. Derry started out as a beaver trapping camp." Ben shook his head, dismissing Richie's taunt.
"Still is, am I right boys?" Richie laughed, holding out his hand for a high five but getting rejected by everyone yet again.
"Ninety one people signed the charter for Derry, but later that winter they all disappeared without a trace." Ben said, an almost ominous feeling sliding over me.
"The entire camp?" Eddie asked, stepping closer to the paper.
"There were rumors of Indians, but no sign of an attack. Everyone thought it was like the plague or something. But it's like one day everyone just woke up and left." Ben seemed absolutely baffled by the story, but it reminded me of the story of Roanoke, the little settlement in Virginia that just went missing and to this day no one knows why.
"This doesn't make any sense." I shook my head.
"The only clue was a trail of bloody clothes leading to the well house." Ben said, pointing to another paper.
"Jesus," Eddie sighed, running his fingers through his hair.
"Where's the well house?" Bill asked, stepping over to where we had gathered around the charter.
"I don't know, somewhere in town I guess. Why?" Ben asked.
Bill had an idea.
We all agreed to meet up at Bill's house tomorrow, we had things to go over.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
I stared up at the ceiling, counting the plastic glow in the dark stars that littered my ceiling as I waited for Bill. He said that he would come by tonight, but so far there's no sign of him.
I laid my glasses on the bedside table, and switched off my lamp. So much for having friends over. I pulled the blanket up to my chin and forced myself to go to sleep. There's no reason to sit up until the wee hours of the morning waiting on someone who isn't going to show.
I heard someone messing with the window and footsteps entering my room. I sat up in bed, squinting around in the dark, my heart slamming against my ribcage. My window was open, the off white curtains blowing slightly in the soft breeze. I could see what looked like a person standing on the other side of the room, just watching me.
"Bill, is that you?" I asked, my voice hoarse with sleep. "Do you know what time it is?"
I know I didn't. I could've only been asleep for a few hours, right? I grabbed the clock off my nightstand and tried to make out the time. I rolled my eyes and sighed, "Shit, Bill, it's three in the fucking morning."
"I-I need help." He mumbled, and he wrapped his arms around himself.
"Bill, did something bad happen?" I asked, sliding on my glasses. "Are you okay?"
"It hurts." He shook his head, leaning against the wall. He tightened his grip on his stomach and let out an odd wheezing sound.
I threw back the covers and made my way over to him. He didn't look too bad off, from what I could see, he was fine. "What hurts Bill?"
I went to turn on the light, but Bill grabbed my wrist. "D-don't."
"Bill, you're scaring me." I tried to pull away from him and I realized his hand was wet. "What is that?"
"What is what, (y/n)?" He asked, pulling my towards him and away from the light switch.
"What the hell is on your hands?" I asked, trying to push him away. His shirt was damp.
"It's nothing r-really." He smiled at me, but it wasn't his smile. There was something horribly off about it. It was a bit too big, and just a bit too wide, almost like one of a clown.
"Bill, please let me go." I begged and I could feel myself about to cry.
What the hell is going on in here?
"Fine!" He let me go and I toppled backwards, slamming my head against the wooden floorboards. I frantically reached for the flashlight that I keep under my bed. Whoever this is, is hiding something from me.
I shined the light in his face and immediately wished I hadn't. He might sound like Bill, but that definitely wasn't him. The Bill I know doesn't have teeth that sharp. The Bill I know isn't that tall and doesn't normally drool all over himself like that. Who the hell is this?
His clothes were torn to shreds, something I noticed isn't the same as if you saw him in the dark. He had long claw-like fingernails stretching from each of his fingers and drool with spilling over his lips and down the front of what was left of his shirt. He shook his head.
"I told you not to turn on the light." He laughed and lunged at me, his unnaturally long limbs flailing about wildly.
The most blood curdling scream clawed its way from my throat as I buried my face in my hands. If I can't see it, it can't see me. It's like the monster in the closet, if you hide under the covers, you're safe.
The thing pretending to be Bill grabbed my wrists and yanked them away from my face. "Peek-a-boo!"
Now crouched in front of my was a clown, the same smile stretched across his white painted face and the smell of dampness and blood wafting into my face and making me gag. "The smell of your fear is so savory. I could just eat you up."
Tears burned down my face as more cries for help fell over my lips like water spilling from an overflowing sink.
"Mommy! Richie!" I screamed through my sobs. "Anybody!"
"Mommy, Richie," the clown mocked me, "No one is going to believe you, so you might as well just stop fighting."
I closed my eyes again and shook my head as a moment of realization washed over me, "You aren't real! I'm dreaming!"
"What about me, (y/n)? Am I real?" I opened my eyes at the sound of a familiar voice.
"You aren't Eddie! Eddie's mom would never let him out this late." I shook my head.
"You're making this so difficult." He rolled his eyes, a loud gunshot making my ears ring.
Blood poured from the gunshot wound in Eddie's forehead as he laughed at me. His hands closed around my throat and he slammed my head against the nightstand behind me. I screwed my eyes shut as pain began to throb behind my eyes.
"(Y/n), are you okay?" The voice changed yet again.
"Stanley?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't it be? Is everything is okay?" He asked.
I looked around and let out a sigh of almost relief. The clown was gone. The fake Bill and Eddie were gone. It was just me and Stan who looked as though he had just come in through the window.
"Stan it was awful! There was this clown and he was pretending to be Bill and Eddie, but they were all messed up!" I cried, throwing my arms around him.
"Messed up how?" He asked, stroking the back of my head.
"Like Bill was all disfigured and he was drooling really bad. I don't understand what's happening." I cried.
"So, he looked a little something like this?" Stan asked as he pushed me away, his eyes rolling back into his head and blood spilling out of his mouth.
I screamed and made a run for the door. I turned the handle and pulled, but the door wouldn't budge. I slammed my fist against the wood and screamed for someone to help me, my hands leaving crimson stains all over the white door.
"(Y/n), what the hell is going on? Open the door!" Richie yelled from the other side, and I could hear him trying to force the door open.
"Richie, I can't get the door open! There's something in here with me!" Tears rushed down my cheeks as the thought that these demented versions of my friends were going to be the last things I saw before I died.
"There's something in there?!" Richie was full on panicing at this point.
"Yes, Richie! Please just get me out of here!" I sobbed.
"I'm trying the door won't budge!" I heard him ramming his shoulder against the door.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?" The thing's voice seemed eerily close, but I refused to turn around. "Your stupid four eyed brother was going to come to your rescue?"
"RICHIE!" I screamed, tugging on the doorknob.
The door flew open, knocking me backwards. I scrambled to my feet and threw my arms around Richie who was now just standing in the doorway. He grabbed me by the shoulders and looked me over.
"What the hell was happening in there?" He asked, slightly out of breath from all of the work he had to put into opening the door.
"I woke up because I heard someone come in the window and I thought that it was Bill-"
"Why would you think it was Bill? Was he supposed to be sneaking into your bedroom at three in the morning?" Richie asked, irritated.
"Richie, that's not important right now! There was something in my room and it looked like Bill and then I shut my eyes and it looked like Eddie, and then it looked like Stan, but there was something wrong with them!" I said, trying to stop crying so that he could understand me.
"You probably just had a nightmare, (y/n). You're crazy if you think that I'd believe something like that actually happened." He rolled his eyes.
"If it was a dream, then how do you explain the blood all over me?" I asked, holding my arms out to him. My arms and tee shirt were soaked with blood, where does he suppose that came from.
"Uh...what blood?" He asked, giving me a weird look.
"Don't 'what blood' me! I'm not joking around, there was someone in my room and now I'm covered in blood!" I snapped at him.
"(Y/n), if I joke about it, then I don't have to face the fact that my sister is for some reason covered in blood at three a.m." He looked concerned.
"Richie, what's going on?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"(Y/n), I think we need to just go back to bed, and we'll feel better in the morning." Richie sighed, trying to lead me back into my room.
"Fine, but will you at least take a look around my room?" It was childish to have my big brother search my room for the things that go bump in the dark, but I didn't really care.
"Okay, but you should probably shower before heading back to bed. I don't know how comfortable it would be to sleep like that." He said as he stepped into my room and flipped on the light. "Also, we aren't finished talking about you expecting Bill to come over tonight."
I hesitantly followed behind Richie. I glanced around the room, and everything seemed fine other than the open window and pool of blood on the floor. Richie knelt down and looked under the bed as I picked my flashlight up off of the floor. I don't remember dropping it.
"Do you want me to check the closet too?" Richie laughed.
I nodded and the smile fell from his face.
"This dream or whatever really has you shaken up, huh?" He asked, throwing open the closet doors and rummaging through my tee shirts and jeans.
"Yeah, some clown was posing as fucked up versions of my best friends and told me that he wanted to eat me, so, yeah, I'm a little shaken." I rolled my eyes at him.
It wasn't a dream. I've had dreams and nightmares of all kinds, and they've never felt that way. I can tell the difference between a dream and reality, and whatever went down in here was definitely real, especially considering Richie could see it too.
"Do you maybe want me to stay in here with you? Or you can always come and stay in my room, like old times, you know?" Richie asked, closing the closet.
It had been five years since the last time I snuck into Richie's room because I had a nightmare. I had kind of thought those days were over for us. Becoming teenagers had made so many things different between us, that I wasn't sure an offer like that was still on the table.
"Can we go to your room? I don't want to be in here right now." I shrugged.
"Sure, but go change first." He nodded as he flipped off the lights and headed to his room which was on the other side of the bathroom.
I grabbed some clean pajamas before leaving the room and pulling the door shut behind me. He opened the door to his room quietly, which I found quite funny considering he thought a door opening would wake up our mother when the terrified screaming of her only daughter didn't. He shut the door behind him and I stepped into the bathroom.
I turned on the water, and took a look at myself in the mirror. My entire front was drenched in blood. It was smeared across my face and dripping down my legs. I have no idea how I'm supposed to explain that to my mom.
I pulled off my pajamas and tossed them into the clothes hamper before stepping into the shower. I ran a washcloth over my arms, attempting to scrub away all of Stan's blood that had somehow already started to dry. I lathered myself in Irish Spring, the strong scent taking the place of the damp iron smell that had previously clung to me.
I inhaled deeply as I rinsed off before stepping out of the shower. I dried off and put on my fresh clothes and made my way into Richie's room.
"Okay, so you can sleep on the floor- are you serious, right now?" He asked as I curled up in his bed.
"I'm a guest here." I laughed as I snuggled under his blankets.
"Whatever, at least I know not to invite you to sleep in my room next time." He rolled his eyes as he laid his blankets out on the floor.
"That's not fair, I'm your little sister." I pouted.
"Yeah yeah, whatever." He rolled his eyes at me.
"Good night, Richie." I smiled as he turned off the lights, leaving the closet light on at my request.
"Goodnight, dweeb."
I laid in bed, not being able to sleep. There was a lump in the mattress which I assumed was from the stack of Playboys I knew Richie was hiding somewhere in his room, and even though the closet light was on I still felt like Richie and I weren't alone.
What exactly went down tonight?
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
I stared down into my glass of milk as the phone rang. Neither I or Richie moved a muscle.
"Not everybody answer the phone all at once." My mom shook her head and laughed, "Did the two of you not sleep well last night?"
She disappeared out of the kitchen to answer the phone. I looked across the table to see Richie asleep in his plate of eggs. I kicked him under the table and he sat up, pieces of egg in his hair.
"Honey, I don't know what you're saying. Calm down." I could hear my mother from out in the living room. "You want to speak with (y/n)?"
"Hey, we need to keep what happened last night between us, okay? I don't want the guys thinking we're going crazy." Richie raised an eyebrow.
"Why would I bring that up to them? I don't even know what IT was." I shook my head.
"(Y/n), honey, there's an upset girl on the phone asking for you...I think." My mom called.
Beverly?
I pushed away from the table and rushed over to the phone. "Hello?"
"(Y/n)? I need you guys to come to my place right now! I was gonna call you last night, but I couldn't force myself off the bathroom floor until this morning." It was definitely Bev, but I could barely understand what she was saying.
"Bev, what happened?" I asked, listening as hard as I could.
"There was so much blood and I was so scared. Can you please just come over?" She asked and I could hear her taking a pull from her cigarette.
"Yeah, we'll all be right there." I nodded, even though she couldn't see me.
"Okay, I've already called the others. I'll see you soon." Then she hung up.
I made my way back into the kitchen to see Richie still trying to keep himself from falling back into his eggs. I rolled my eyes and pulled him up out of his seat.
"We have to go to Beverly's, something happened last night." I told him, heading for the front door.
"Something like what happened to you, or something like she found out that she found out that she has a long lost evil twin?" He asked as we headed down the front steps and hopping on our bikes.
"Something like-wait what? An evil twin, are you serious? I think she saw something too." I rolled my eyes as we started down the street.
"So we're all going to slowly go crazy, like horror movie style?" He asked.
"Richie, do me a favor, and shut the fuck up please?"
(Sorry for not updating these past few days. I've been a little lazy, but here is a new part. I'm going to try and get a second part out today to make up for missing those 2 days, but no promises. Also, hopefully this part is good. I wasn't sure how to go about having (y/n) see pennywise for the first time, so hopefully I did it justice!)