The next day, Richie and I bike to the Denbrough household where Bill stands in his garage, fiddling with a projector and some old maps of Derry. Beverly and Ben are already in the garage which was most likely awkward whilst Stan, Eddie and Mike are still to show up. I shout over to Bill who turns around holding two reels of pictures, "Bill? Need any help?"
"Can you hang that up?" he asks pointing to a map that lies on the dusty couch.
I lift up the map, "Is this Ben's?"
Ben looks over, "Yeah, brought it with me, not sure why though."
I simply nod whilst Richie looks over confused, trying to figure out what we're doing in Bill's garage with a bunch of old maps. Shrugging, I grab some thumbtacks and attach the map to the wall. Mike, Stan and Eddie throw down their bikes outside of the garage and enter looking just as confused as Richie.
"Hey guys," Mike smiles, "Y/N, do you need some help?"
I glance over my shoulder, noticing Eddie and Richie glare at Mike slightly before looking at the map that's folding in half whilst I try to hold it up. I sigh, "Yes, please."
Mike walks over, taking a thumbtack out of my hand, he grabs the other side of the map and flattens it against the wall before pushing the thumbtack in. I look at the map, "Is it straight?"
Mike laughs, "Nope."
He walks over to my side and pulls the thumbtack out of the wall before moving it down a little. I smirk, "You've made it even worse."
"Have not!"
"Have to," I smile before lifting the map up and inserting the thumbtack.
Richie's POV
"He totally likes her," Eddie scoffs watching Mike take the map from Y/N. She laughs as she complains about the map looking even worse.
"She doesn't like him though," I comment, "Should've seen her last night, smiling and everything."
Eddie simply shrugs sadly as he watches Y/N get down from the stool she was standing on. He doesn't take his eyes off of Y/N while she goes to talk to Beverly, "What if she starts to like him, what is he steals her away?"
"Then my sister is an idiot," I reply in an attempt to cheer him up, "Honestly Ed's, she'd be stupid to go for Mike over you."
Y/N POV
I step down from the stool I was standing on and look over to Beverly who was talking to Bill. They're so cute. My eyes glance over to Eddie and Richie who are sitting on Bill's couch, their eyes flick away from mines causing me to sigh slightly.
I walk over to Beverly and Bill, "So is this a popcorn situation or not?"
"Not," Bill smiles before telling everyone to sit in front of the projector. We all sit in front of the white sheet that is hung from the wall whilst Bill shuts the garage door flooding the room with darkness. I sit on the ground beside Eddie, with Richie on the couch behind us. We are sitting so close, our hands are almost touching causing my cheeks to tint pink.
"Y/N, is the floor comfy?" Mike asks, "You can come and sit beside me."
"No thanks, I'm okay here," I sigh, watching Eddie become tense and move away from me slightly. His face contorts with uneasiness whilst his jaw clenches as he turns his attention to the projector. The white sheet eventually lights up with an old map of derry. Bill aligns it with the map Mike and I hung.
"Look, that's where G-Georgie disappeared and there's the black spot. Everywhere it happens, i-i-it's all connected by the sewers," Bill explains.
"All the sewer pipes meet at the well house," I comment studying the pictures in front of me.
"Isn't that the house on Neibolt?" Stan asks and Bill nods.
"You mean that creepy ass house where all the junkies and hobos like to sleep?" Richie replies disgusted.
"I hate that place, it feels like it's watching me." Bev adds.
"That's where IT lives," Bill finally concludes and Eddie takes a few puffs from his inhaler. I look over to him worried, "Ed's are you okay?"
He shakes his head so I reach over for his hand. To my surprise, he pulls away before standing up. We all watch as he begins to hyperventilate, Richie tries to talk him down, "Eddie calm down."
"No! I can barely breathe. It's summer! We're kids!" he yells, "i'm having a fucking asthma attack!"
Eddie turns around and pulls the map off of the wall in one quick motion. "Put it back!" Bill shouts as Eddie takes another puff of his inhaler before admitting, "This is fucking crazy!"
All of a sudden, the screen turns black before the projector begins to flick through old pictures of the Denbrough family. After a few pictures, the projector stops on a photo of Bill and his family outside the town church. The picture comes to life as it zooms in on the younger sibling, Georgie. I hear Bill gasp in surprise as he stares at the happy boy however, the photo doesn't stop on Georgie. The photo begins to move towards Mrs. Denbrough's who's red hair is swept across her face. The picture comes to life, the wind in the picture picks up and her hair slowly moves away from her face. "What the fuck," I exclaim as her face morphs into a vicious looking clown.
"That's not possible," Bev gasps before pleading for the projector to be turned off. Mike kicks over the table causing the projector to tumble onto the floor. The screen and garage go dark. We all take deep breaths as we take in what just happened. Was that just a terrible nightmare? Suddenly, the light snaps back on to reveal a plain white screen before shutting off again. I don't think this nightmare has ended. I grab Eddie's hand shakily and become incredibly thankful when he squeezes me hand.
The light flicker on once again and a enormous clown emerges from the screen. It has piercing yellow eyes, a foul smirk and two sets of razor sharp teeth that send a wave of fear throughout my body. The garage is filled with screams of terror as its large hand swipes out to try and grab someone. We all stumble back, my hand disconnects from Eddie's as I retreat back behind the couch with Beverly. She looks just as terrified as me as we watch the clown and his gaze settle on us. It lets out a wicked cackle before launching itself at us. We both fall back against the garage door, my head falls into my lap as tears fall down my face. This is it, this is the end.
Light floods into the garage and the clown disappears into thin air. I remain on the ground beside Beverly with shock coursing through our veins. Ben runs over to Beverly and helps her up from the ground whilst Mike runs over to me.
"Y/N!" Mike gasps. I stare at my shaking hands, too scared to get up from the ground. I feel numb. I feel worried. Someone clasps their hands around mines to step them from shaking, I look up and find myself staring into Eddie's chocolate eyes.
"You're okay," he whispers pulling me up from the ground and into a hug.
"You're okay," he repeats before kissing the top of my head. I nestle my head into his neck trying to calm my breathing, he smells like peppermint and his warm presence makes me feel safe.
"Okay we get it..." Mike mutters. I feel Eddie move his hand away from my back, most likely to flip him off. Eddie suddenly pulls away with realisation, "It saw us! It knows where we live!"
"It's always known," Bill replies, "so let's go!"
"Go? Go where?" Ben says looking at everyone worriedly.
"Neibolt, that's where G-Georgie is," Bill admits.
"After that?" I laugh dumbfounded.
"Yeah it's summer, we should be outside," Eddie furthers my point.
"If you s-say summer one more f-fucking time!" Bill says angrily before leaving the garage to get his bike. Beverly looks around at all of us before going after him. I groan and then begin walking towards my bike. Eddie freaks, "You can't be serious!"
"If it was Richie, I wouldn't rest until I knew what happened to him and neither would you Ed's," I argue whilst picking up my bike. He nods slightly, knowing I'm right.
"Aw I feel loved," Richie laughs as we leave the garage and cycle down the street after Bill.
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