~You Are In A Piece Of Everyone's Story~
Everyone is struggling to remember their parts of the story. You however remembered good enough moments from each and everyone's stories.
Remember when the group was split up?
You managed to go to talk with every single Loser all on their own and spend a day or two with every one of them single-handedly. Just them. Not another Loser.
Even though is Bill is the leader. Sometimes you felt like you were, you were the leader. Since the other Losers probably didn't talk to each other. Especially Bill and Rich.
You already have a faint idea of what their tokens could be. But you may not be correct.
Beverly - Ben told you about the letter he wrote to her but Bev showed it to like it was a godlike love letter. You two gossiped about it, wondering who it could be instead of telling her it was Ben.
Richie - He loves video games so much. When you earned the sister-brother friendship, you got close with Richie. Giving you some deviousness to your persona for a while. Including the massive skill of video games almost every day. And to play a video game, you need a coin.
Eddie - It could be his inhaler. He needs it so much. Or at least when he was younger. So under pressure. Or stressed. Or scared. Sometimes, very rarely...if he ran too much and got tired, he would need it then too.
Stanley - It might be a church book? You didn't know his church life that well. You're not too sure, you don't think it'll be the bath cap.
Ben - Ben told you about how Beverly was the only one who signed her yearbook. You felt so bad that you didn't sign it either, but when Ben admitted he was kind of glad you did aka only having Bev's, this was the first discovery of his crush on her.
Mike - Mike got whacked in the face with Rock. Mike is very weird. Mike will pick Rock. Because why the fuck not.
Bill - He's been so attached to Georgie. That was your goal when you were in Summer. You kind of regret not taking part in EVERYONE'S opinion instead of looking to discover of Hope and Georgie. That...probably includes the paper boat. Since half the time he did not shut up about it and how he never should've made it, thus, Georgie would've been safe all along.
The Losers did say they didn't want to split up. And Mike did say that in order for the ritual to work. You need to do it alone. You wanted to go with them. Mike argued with you. Denied it was right.
But yet...you still managed to go with some of them.
Bill.
You're definitely accompanying him.
Richie.
He's like your brother. And you played video games so often. It's actually probably wise you accompany him.
Beverly.
She's your best friend. And being the only other girl that was in the group in summer made your friendship as strong as bedrock.
And Faith.
In order to understand how she's able to fit into the story...you need to be with her to figure out why she could help out if she has a key to beating Pennywise. She may possibly be able to help out without the blood oath and she's your sister, you're gonna have to find out.
Honestly. It's a little bit nervous. Because you have to get your tokens, but it has to be their own memory. The wind, rustling through your hair. You and Beverly stand outside her building complex.
Apartment. Building Complex.
"Are you sure you want to go up there with me, Y/n?" Beverly asks. You look over to see the anxiety on her face. But you smile at her for reassurance.
"It's alright, Beverly. And besides, this makes things a little bit interesting...right?"
"I suppose so." She smiles softly. "I know you have a couple of memories here. When I invited you over to my apartment to try and convince my dad I wasn't friends with only boys. I made it worse for you, you never should've met him."
"Hey. Don't blame yourself, Beverly." You nudge her. She has her eyes shut but she nods her head, before looking over to you.
"We'll remember different memories when we go in there. Okay?" Beverly tells you.
"I know we will. Let's do this."
You both take a breath in, and out. Before Beverly leads you up the apartment stairs.
"At the same, if Pennywise shows his face. He won't expect two of us." You tell her.
"Maybe. We were both caught in the dead-lights. It might be a bit expected." Beverly whispers. The conversation ends there as you continue up the stairs. You walk along the apartment complex before going inside the building, and finally seeing Beverly's old apartment complex.
Room Number Five.
When you and Beverly ring the doorbell. An old woman answers the door. This surprises you, instead of for whatever reason, expecting Mr. Marsh.
"Yes?"
"Sorry...I-I..." Beverly stutters, she grabs my wrist. It's probably best to back up and go. We wouldn't want toooo...
Kersh.
It the name of the side of the wall.
"May I help you?" The old lady asks, her voice slightly low. You and Beverly look to the woman who peeks out the door.
"I thought I rang Marsh. I'm here with my friend."
"Marsh? Friend?"
Why did you suddenly think of a red flag?
"Alvin Marsh?" The woman asks.
"My Father." Beverly responds, letting go of your wrist. "I grew up here."
The woman slowly closes the door, but when you hear a click...you assume she's taking the chain off before the door opens wide to show an elderly small lady with white hair and wrinkles.
"Dear..." She hesitates, as if she has big bad news. You and Beverly exchange worried glances.
"It's, It's not for me to tell you this, but your father passed away."
Wouldn't Beverly have gotten notified, even if he was an ass?
The two of you remain silent, what must be running through Beverly's head right now?
"I'm so sorry. You didn't know?"
"We hadn't spoken in a while." Beverly says softly.
"Well, won't you come in?" Let me offer you two something to drink." Bev smiles at her politeness and you chuckle nervously.
"No, it's fine. We have to go." You say rubbing the back of your neck. "You're really polite but it is fine."
"It's the least I can do." Mrs. Kersh says innocently.
You look over to Beverly and she glances at you. She still has to find her token and you have to find yours. Perhaps, if the old treehouse, your house, and wherever the guitar is gone too in condition, it'd be worth trying it out.
"Sure. Okay."
The woman smiles, before shutting the door behind the two of you. It really does look a lot different now with the style and set up compared to what she had when she was a kid.
Weird or not. When you were invited over sometimes...you would spend time in the bathroom since that seemed to be your safe havens in that apartment.
"Is it like you remember?"
"Cleaner." You say to her, and Beverly giggles.
"Well, you two feel free to look around while I get the water boiling."
"Oh, really, it's fine." Beverly reassures. "You don't need to do that."
"Don't be so polite."
With that, the woman walks off and you're left with Beverly. She glances at you with hope.
You and Beverly walk around the house, remembering the surroundings. Her more importantly.
Bathroom.
Bedroom.
Hallway, before turning to the lounge. That damn...nightmare lounge.
"D-Daddy. I invited the friend you told me to."
Her father turns to you and you wave nervously.
"Oh."
Her father is more creepy than I ever thought so.
"Nice to meet you." He says lowly. He gets up from the chair. Beverly warned you about how he gets in her private life. Sniffs her hair. So when he goes up to you, and gets a good look at you...
It scares you but doesn't surprise you he sniffs your hair slowly.
"Daddy." Bev says furrowing her eyebrows.
"Don't worry, Bevvy." Mr. Marsh says softly. "I'm just trying to smell if she's a good friend."
"As in?"
"As in no alcohol. Clean. No weed, or smokes."
Bold of you to assume I do any of that right now.
Mr. Marsh looks between you, and Beverly.
You, and Beverly.
You, and Beverly.
You, and Beverly.
"Tell me about yourself, Y/n."
"I uh...I play music."
"You make songs? Where's your instrument?"
"She didn't it bring it, Daddy."
"Why not?" He snarls, turning to her slowly. Bev looks over to you. As if asking for help to answer. But even a couple seconds of silence has already given him an answer.
"I see."
He lets go of you and turns to look at the two of you. He smirks.
"Are you going to be little girls forever?"
"What?" You ask.
"Yes, Daddy."
You turn to look at Beverly in disbelief. Does she accept it or is she forced into it!?
"I SAID ARE YOU GOING TO BE LITTLE GIRLS FOREVER?!"
"He didn't want us growing up. Ever."
You stand beside Beverly, giving her a look. She turns to look at you. Sadness in her eyes. You give her a quick hug, she sighs. Accepting it for what it's worth.
Poor Beverly. She didn't deserve half the shit her father insulted her for. You can only imagine that Beverly remembered something personal.
To her only. Of course, that'll happen for you too when you go to your house or anything to do with that at all. You and Beverly slowly go into her room. She reassures you it's fine to come in and you shut the door behind you.
"Your rooms changed a lot."
"It sure is." her voice is soft, and delicate. Like she can't raise it too high from what's she seeing around her. She looks around for a moment, before seeing a chair near a walk with a bunch of books.
She goes to peer down at it, lifting the chair slightly. You raise your eyebrows confused, stepping over to her.
"What is it?"
"I would always hide the possessions I had in a gap in a wall. So my father couldn't find it." She explains.
She passes you the chair and you put it down to the side, both of you crouching down in front of what she's looking for. Indeed, part of the wall looks damaged. But enough to have a gap in the wall to put something inside.
Beverly picks up a pair of scissors and you gladly help her peel back some of the wallboard's. Nobody would be able to find this if they didn't try, but she told you about it when she was younger.
It was smart. Beverly was really smart.
You manage to cut into it and peel it back, some cockroaches crawling out of the gap in the process. Beverly sticks her tongue out in disgust at you which both of you laugh slightly.
You reach your hand in there and sweep out everything that Beverly hid in there. Everything important she believed she should hide. You hid something too. Beverly allowed you to. And she was happy you trusted her enough to do so.
Bev hid the key necklace she would always wear. She also hid a packet of smokes. And the love letter than Ben gave her. She puts the two items in her pocket before picking up her love letter, handing you your item.
She reads the words gently as you analyze this item.
"Your hair is winter fire, January embers...my heart burns there, too."
You wave around the little locket. The golden locket.
You had Hope L/n's fake locket which was crushed under the car bus. Until you found Hope L/n's real locket. And that is safe in your backpack. Always since you didn't want to wear it. You were too emotional and eventually forgot about it.
Faith found her locket in the clubhouse.
Glimmering down at you, the light shines on the golden Y/n L/n locket.
You smile to yourself, before putting it around your neck, as Beverly smiles to herself for reading the note.
You obtained the 'Y/n L/n Locket'.
* * *
"There, I do apologize."
You sit on the couch beside Beverly with a cup of British Tea, after she put on an old record player for some music to be played.
Supposedly...to lighten the mood.
"It gets so very hot here this time of year."
"It's fine." Bev smiles.
"All is good." you reply.
You and Beverly take a sip of the tea. It is hot but damn it tastes good. You haven't had tea in some while now. This tastes lovely.
"Well, you feel like you could just about die."
What?
Shrug it off Y/n. She's an old woman, she's probably talking about old age. You nod, trying to not be word and say anything you don't need to. Beverly also not taking this the lightest but staying silent.
"But you know what they say about Derry."
You both look up to her with a smile, letting her tell her story.
"No one who dies here ever really dies."
The statement sends chills down your spine. For a minute, she is staring you and Beverly frozen...dead in the eyes.
Old lady.exe has stopped working.
You glance over to Beverly with a frown, and she looks at you on edge. The woman, still staring at you with a smile.
That's another red flag.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"But tell me, how is it being back in Derry?"
"It's...good. A little...unique." You respond, starting to get nervous.
"It's good. Strange." Bev whispers.
"Strange? Unique? Oh, my. Strange, how?" The woman tries to flag her shirt to give her chest some air. In the meantime, you see burn barks all down her chest and it looks like those burns could be something to die from.
Something's wrong. You might have to get out of here.
A ding goes off which catches all three of your attention. What in the HELL was that?
"Oh." The woman whispers. "I had some cookies in the oven before you came. You two can share! Stay right there."
"Uh...we really, we really shouldn't impose." Bev says to her. "We're gonna-"
"No, no, no. I insist." The woman narks on. She disappears into the darkness of the kitchen, which you and Beverly peer in to see if you can spot her.
You can't.
"Beverly...I think we should go." You whisper as soft as possible to try and not alarm the woman.
"I know." She tells you. "But...we should hang around a little bit longer. This is my apartment and I don't want to be rude."
She's got a point there.
"Mrs. Kersh, are these your family?"
You and Bev see the picture frames on the wall. All of them fairly normal and nothing to set a thousand red flags on. Looking around, at all the pictures.
This is fine. Nothing to worry about.
"Yes, dears." The old woman replies from a distance. "My Father came to this country with fourteen dollars in his pocket. And he didn't ask for a handout the way that people come in here these days."
"What did your Father do Mrs. Kersh? He sounds like a good man." You say with a smile, looking around. You and Beverly stop at a painting up high.
"My Father joined the circus."
What-
I-
Your eyes quickly dart up to the painting. In an old photo. Stands a man in a suit.
A little girl stands beside him and he gives a thumbs up. But the smile. The hair. The eyes. And the wagon behind him? It says...
Pennywise.
THE DANCING CLOWN.
"B-Beverly." You gasp. "We have to get outta-"
"I was always Daddy's little girl. What about you?"
As the woman says this. her voice slowly starts getting deeper. And demonic in the shadows. A sound of slow stretching accrues in the right of the darkness.
You have to get outta there!
"Are you still his little girl, Beverly? What about you Y/n...a Father that never loved you, do you respect him?" The woman's voice gets lower, as you and Beverly slowly back up.
Shit!
"Are you!?"
There's a pair of loud thudding footsteps and at that moment, a big naked old woman races toward you. Monstrous and inhumane. Quite a traumatizing sight.
You let out a shriek, both you and Beverly back up. She attempts to swipe and attack you, having your only option to dive and barrel roll out the way.
"BEVERLY COME ON!!" You stand on your feet and lower your hand down to Beverly. She grabs your hand as you pull her to her feet.
"Mustn't lie to our Father!" The old woman howls. Her crazy witch-like laugh as you run down the hallway and toward the door in a panic.
You gasp, tugging at the door but no use.
"Help!" Beverly exclaims, banging her barely hand on the door as it's locked, but then everything goes silent and you hear one low croaky voice.
"Run...Run...Run...Run...Run..."
You and Bev exchange very scared looks, your blood running cold with your hearts caught in your fault. All the way, down at the end of the hall.
Is Pennywise...?
He hasn't got his white face. Sitting in a room that doesn't look like it belongs to the apartment. He smirks with his shit-eating grin, slowly turning his head to you.
"You haven't changed anything yet." Pennywise barely musters this in a whiskery croaky, low voice. But you can still hear him. Pennywise's face, skin color, and slightly balding hair except for the sides and slightly on top.
He then lifts his head up to you two completely. You snarl at him, clenching your fist behind your back. He feeds on fear. Stay. Calm. Stay. Calm.
"You haven't changed their futures. Neither of you have."
He begins putting white paint on his face, presumably the paint of his face when his face is white, and lines down his cheeks. He's painting his face right in front of you. "You...You haven't saved any of them."
"Close your eyes, Bev. Say goodnight, N/n."
"Fuck you!" Beverly exclaims.
"If you don't believe..." His eyes were starting to go watery, his face painted white and hair turning a bit orange. He puts his hands over his eyes before scratching his nails down his face. Two bleeding lines comes down the middle of his eyes to the corner of his lips.
"Close them. And see!"
You both stare at him in disbelief. He's a monster! Heartless and soulless! He starts beginning to laugh before doing a weird nose and putting his mouth in the shape of an o.
"COME ON BEVERLY!"
You quickly grab her arm and the two of you whimper in fear. You slam the door behind you before racing down the stairs, bolting out of the building before getting onto the pavement of safety.
You and Beverly are panting, out of breath and tired. You look up to see building you came out of isn't the apartment complex.
"What...what the hell?" You ask panting.
"I don't know." Beverly breathes.
You hold the locket that's around your neck before looking over to Beverly.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine." She says letting out a breath.
"So...who else are you accompanying?" Beverly asks turning to you.
"Rich. Bill. And Faith."
"Go..." She sighs. "Go find one of them. I'll be fine."
"Are you sure, Bev?" You ask her.
"Yeah." She nods her head with a smile. "I'm glad you were with me but go find one of them now. They might need you."
You nod your head, not sure what else to make of it. It is probably best if you go find one of them. Maybe Richie.
* * *
You finally manage to locate Richie. Out of breath, you run over to him.
"RICCHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"
"Jesus, slow down!"
You run over to him...panting before putting your hands on your knees.
"Richie...I...I tried...I tried...to catch up to you."
"Okay, you weenie." Richie says, helping you up. "I still need to find my token."
"Yikes." You say to him, standing up. "You think the arcade will be the place to go?"
"I LOVED the arcade when we were kids!" Richie chuckles. You laugh with him as he smiles gladly down at you.
"Come on. The arcade I believe is down there." Richie says, pointing down the street. You nod your head and thus, you and Richie and walking toward the arcade. Hopefully, whatever you remember, it better be good. Hopefully better than Beverly and Arvin.
When you arrive at the arcade, it appears to be rundown. Or closed. With newspapers on the other side of the window doors.
"Crap. The arcade is pretty much gone." You mutter.
"Yeah, but we should still try to get inside." Richie says thoughtfully. "Who wouldn't?"
You and Richie analyze the doors for a moment, when you see there is a gap. Broken glass, part of the door, enough to stick your hand through to the other side.
Richie sticks his arm through, then lifts up the mental bar handle and pulls the door open.
"Ladies first, as the saying must go!" Richie says in a weird voice. You chuckle before stepping in, Richie following behind.
"What the fuck happened to this place?"
The door shuts behind you. The hallway empty. Machines out of order. Trash, food, paper on the ground. This place has been abandoned. Holy shit.
You and Eddie...slowly step in front of one. Dusty. Old. Arcade machine. You sigh, putting your hand on the side of it despite the cobwebs. Richie goes over, and gets a metal token before looking at the game.
Street Fighter.
"Come on, come on!"
"Suck ass, Tozier!"
"No, yoU! Y/n!"
Richie being the hardcore gamer, beats you at the game. You hiss in frustration but giggle because Richie is now Happy Richie.
"And THAT! Is how you school a girl to video games!"
"Whatever you say, Tozier." You smirk, putting your hand on your side.
"Hey, I beat you."
"I know you did." You smile. He chuckles, before his eyes dart elsewhere.
"Shit."
"What? What is it?" You ask. He shakes his head. "Nothing. Let's go."
"But I figured you would wanna play another game-"
"Tomorrow."
He grabs your hand and you race out of there. You flip your head behind you to see a boy with blonde curly hair, who seems to be the cousin of Henry Bowers.
That's the guy that upset Richie last week. You interfered with a fear that Pennywise would've hunted Richie alone for. Instead, it scared both of you instead of him.
That's probably where your close friendship had begun. Last week.
"Richie..."
He looks over to you, his eyes saddened. He's taking a couple of deep breaths. Could it be what happened before you found him last week?
"You remembered something else, didn't you?" You ask him. Richie doesn't say a word, but he does, however, nodding his head.
"I got my token." Richie chuckles sadly, holding up a game arcade coin. "Let's get out of here."
You nod your head, smiling at him. The two of you exit the arcade place. Secretly taken the game coin yourself because it's precious and a slight little memory to have it.
You obtained the 'Arcade Gamer Coin'.
"Goddammit, Faith."
You struggle to keep your head high.
She's gone missing. You're looking for her everywhere but you can't find her. You just can't. No matter how much you try. You fear she's turned into one of the Missing Kids one a missing poster.
You don't want that! She's mean but she's still your sister! For fuck's sake, she can be a nightmare sometimes.
Your glance shifts when you see Richie.
"Richie?" You whisper.
It's not loud enough for him to hear as he walks over to a green bench and sits down. You silently dash over to him and he looks up at you.
"Richie?"
"What the fuck do you want?" He grumbles, not being able to shout. You sit beside him and he looks over.
"You look like you're gonna cry."
"What's it to you? Why do you care?" Richie asks.
You sigh, looking down. "I'm sorry I've been so blind with Bill to look for Hope and Georgie."
He glances at you, noticing you're apologizing to him. "Didn't take you to be one for apologies."
You chuckle, and he glances at you. "What do you want?"
You don't want to tell him you're looking for Faith. He won't care and think your apology is probably fake. So...
"I got bored. I never wanted this, Rich. I never wanted to be split up from my friends. So when I saw you coming to the bench, looking sad. I had to join you."
"You don't have to do anything! Go find Bill!" Richie snarls.
You shake your head. "Bill doesn't want me around all the time. He's trying to give up. Yes, we've stopped looking for our siblings but if he's trying to give up on the friendship we all used to have, I won't let him."
He huffs, looking down. "There...There was a boy."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. We were playing Street Fighter. He said I was good, so I offered to play another game."
"That doesn't sound bad." You tell him. He shakes his head, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes.
"I had no clue he was Henry's cousin. When Henry came into the room, the boy insulted me. Said I was a fucking fairy for wanting to play another arcade game with him. Henry shouted at me to leave."
He then lifts his head up to you. "So I did."
"I'm...sorry about that Rich."
"Yeah. I guess I'm back to playing arcade games on my own." He mutters. You think for a moment, trying to see how you can cheer your friend up. Richie is precious. Even if he doesn't think so.
"Would you hate it if I came to play?"
"You don't know how to play Street Fighter." He says confused. However, you get offended and lightly shove him. He laughs. "Of course I know how to play Street Fighter! What do you take me for?"
"Girls don't play video games!"
"Yes, I do! I just...I've gotten so much shit for being a gamer in the arcade by other people, and sometimes Henry if he catches me in there."
"Oh. Well, tomorrow!" Richie protests. "Meet me in the Arcade at ten!"
"That is a deal I'm willing to make!" You chuckle. You shake his hand, and he takes a deep breath. You two sit there for a second. This is nice.
"Want a kiss, Richie!?"
You jump to your feet as Richie. You flip your head around for the voice.
"Don't tell me, I'm the only one who heard that?!" Richie asks, throwing his glasses.
"If you were, I wouldn't have jumped to my feet!" You exclaim. That's when you notice it. The lumberjack looking dude. He's gone!
"Holy shit." Richie whispers. Richie runs over to you and you press your back against him to make sure you both can see whatever is about to stir up next. In the meantime, your breathing is slightly heavy. Your breathing and Richie's breathing is loud enough to hear.
"So...we're dealing with this together?" Richie pants.
"I think so."
"So this is what Bill felt. To have someone deal with your fear at the same time as you."
Sort of, Richie.
Instead of coming from in front of either of you, it pops up from your left side, not the side of the bench. The lumberjack, mouth open with the clowns laugh being heard. Bats flying out of his mouth.
Both of you let out a scream, Richie stands there. Almost as if he's too scared to move. Chills running down your spine, goosebumps on your arms. Your voices may scream but the clown lumberjack is louder now.
You scream again as the lumberjack stands up and lifts up tearing up arms sleeves, that hold the weapon in his hands. At the bottom of his weapon, is a sharp needle-like spike.
It dives down at you, which you manage to pull Richie and dive out of the way. You gasp for air before standing onto your feet. You have to run!!
You grab Richie's arm and try to run, Richie automatically runs beside you. You hear it tear up the grass and ground behind you. One foot in front of the other, you and Richie run as fast as you can in order to getaway. It feels like your life is on the line.
Richie slightly tumbles in an attempt to put on his glasses. The massive weapon almost cutting between you both. It raises it's weapon as you run, slamming it down. The pressure of the shock and the ground destroying behind you causes you two to fall down to the ground. As he walks over to you.
Um...Um...Remember what Bill said Remember what Bill said! This isn't real!! Right!? This isn't real! It's Richie's fear and Pennywise's trick. It's not real!
As it's face opens up, staring down and laughing at you. Richie grabs your wrist which you hold his with pressure and you both hide your faces in the ground.
"It's not real! It's not real! It's not real! It's not real!"
"It's not real! It's not real! It's not real! It's not real!"
"It's not real! It's not real! It's not real! It's not real!"
"It's not real! It's not real! It's not real! It's not real!"
When you hear silence, you get confused and lookup. The cars are normal. The grass is not damaged. Your heart is racing. The lumberjack.
He's back to normal. He's just a statue. Your breath, caught in your throat. Richie pants, sighing. It's not real.
"I think I just shit my pants."
With that, he flumps his head down to the ground and sighs. You flump your head down, trying not to laugh.
"I think I just peed myself."
Richie lets out a light little laugh, which you giggle. You both laugh for a couple of moments. But you two are so tired, you stop laughing and eventually just rest there on the ground. Lying on the grass. Resting by each other like that horror is the only thing you no longer need to worry about right now.
You two lie there, eventually falling asleep by each other on the grass too.
___________________________________
5120 Words
HOLY SHIT!! As Richie would say!
It hasn't even been a goddamn week and I've already got two hundred reads!? WHOA.
I didn't believe this would get so high in love. I didn't actually think so many people would want to read this! Thank you guys so much for 200 Hundred reads, I'm so appreciative that you guys love this story!!
I love you guys! Happy readings!!!!
^~^
Luna