sɪʟᴠᴇʀ ᴋɪʟʟs ᴛʜᴇ sᴘɪᴅᴇʀ

// Haven’t done a munday in forever but I pulled a Bev and chopped my hair off so yoooo (old hair under the cut, I liked it but my hair is 2 thick)

The voice caught her off guard, and along with that did her balance go, forcing her to stumble back and almost fall on her behind. Realizes it was a question, and from someone who seemed rather harmless, her heart only calming down after a few seconds. Yet, she was still a little breathless from the sudden shock of company. Shakes her head silently, and continues to stare at him with her widened dark eyes. This was a spot of confusion on her part, for if she should just turn and leave or not. It felt almost surreal being back, after all that happened, and just to enjoy something as simple as watching water running out from a sewer gutter was interesting enough for her. Do I stay, or do I go? Thinks to herself, as she was itching with the idea of running, and her body’s posture probably gave that away real quick.

| @wontfloat​ |

     “Don’t worry, I wu-won’t hurt you.”

He had never seen a girl with a shaved head before (except for on MTV, but they were much older and had a bunch of piercings and stuff). Bill wondered if she was sick, but that was rude to ask, and she looked scared enough as it was. She couldn’t have been much older than him, she might have even been a student at his school (though something told him that was unlikely). Had she been bullied, or worse...?

     “I’m B-Bill,” He always hated to stutter his name more than anything,       but he doubted this girl cared at the moment. “What about you?”

She looked liable to bolt at any time, so he was careful to keep a good distance away from her, letting his bike rest on the kickstand while he waited.

The woods were his destination today (and it was a cool, crisp day outside, perfect for sitting by the river). His wheels were still running over pavement, though, when he saw her. Crouched by the road and staring down into the gutter. His sneaker hit the pavement, and he swung his body from the seat of his bike before approaching her.

     “Hey, are you hu-hurt?”

          EVER CAUTIOUS, ABRA EXAMINED THE CHOCOLATE IN THE BOY’S HANDS before, in a painfully slow manner, she took it from him. her legs spread out in front of her as she leaned back to get in the most comfortable position possible. the schoolyard was not a prime place for comfort but it certainly felt safer than a lot of other locations she could have gone to. besides, abra reasoned with an insane amount of positivity     she wouldn’t have made a new friend anywhere else. 

[ or gotten a milky way ]  

          ❝ thank you. ❞ she’d never met someone with a stutter before. maybe he was born that way; maybe some of the scarier kids at school frightened him so bad it became permanent. ❝ i’m abra && who are YOU? ❞ the most important question now: ❝ why do you have so much candy? ❞  

He was relieved to see her relax, because he understood her wariness all too well and no one wanted to be the cause of such a dreadful feeling. Well, no one except for guys like Henry Bowers. Leaning his back against the uncomfortable mesh of the chain link fence, he wasted no time in digging into his milky way. Her question, however, provoked a chocolate and caramel filled smile that he rushed to cover as he chewed through the mess.

     “I’m B-Bill.” He finally managed, swallowing. “And, uh,       my friend Richie luh-lost a bet, ss-so one is his.” 

Abra. It was a strange name, the kind that Bower’s type would have a ball with. Bill thought it was pretty cool, though, but he decided she had probably heard enough either way about it.

     “Did you ju-just move here?”

      For once, since the attack, a REAL smile crossed her lips and she couldn’t help but tease him ( well, more like teasing herself to make him feel better about the “language” barrier between an Aussie and an American). She purposefully put on a thicker accent, pretending to be an exaggerated stereotype of her home country, ❝ That’s a SALT WATER CROCODILE, mate. They especially love to EAT American tourists. Bunch of bad boogers, they are. ❞

For a moment, Jewel was ready to laugh at herself for how absolutely ridiculous she sounded with that AWFUL accent that the poorer country folk donned.  But the conversation still held a lever of SERIOUSNESS that needed to be maintained. It seemed that she hadn’t been the only one to see something in the small riverside town.

❝ Two weeks or so. Enough time to know there’s not much to do here. ❞ 

He couldn’t hold back laughter as she dove into the exaggerated accent (expertly, if he said so himself). Richie would have to hear this one day...though then they would all have to suffer the loudmouth’s attempts of outdoing it. And of course, he doubted that a girl who looked closer to graduation age wanted to hang with a group of something like younger (annoying) siblings.

Pushing those thoughts aside, the boy refocused as she continued. Bill, too, could sense it beneath both of their smiles. Something that the creature seemed to do (if this was indeed its work). Suck the good out of things, leaving the atmosphere tense and somber.

“Yea, once you’ve ss-seen the theater and the arcade, there’s n-not much else.” He agreed, hesitating before continuing. “My friends and I, w-we all saw...weird things. But it’s all from the s-same...monster.” He concluded with a nervous smile. “S-sounds crazy, huh?”

   “T-They won’t!” IT assures quickly, head lolling to the side like a broken doll. “They will leave when they are old enough and search out new worlds to feed onnnn, all away from eaccch other.” 

    They are territorial things, and having that many living in Derry would be chaotic. It is nature that takes course to prevent violent fights and cannibalism- the children  will find their own hunting grounds and fend for themselves. 

Bills eyes narrowed at that. Not only did he not like that answer, but it was a hard thing for a boy his age (or really anyone) to swallow hearing. Other worlds...What did he even know about this creature, though? He probably wouldn’t have believed the other’s stories about it, if he hadn’t experienced it himself, after all.

“New w-worlds?” He frowned, trying to appraise whether the clown was lying or not. “So where did you co-come from?” It was meant to sound skeptical, but there was an undeniable curiosity in his voice.

A loud creak hushed the ruckus outside into a tense silence. At first its origin was unclear, but if one peeked out at the foot of the bed they would see it. A pale hand, resting atop the bed post. Long, unnaturally long fingers curled and gripped at the wood, squeezing until it collapsed under the pressure like a soda can. Another hand came into view, bringing its deathly grip around the remaining post. A few seconds passed.

Hands gripped harder, pulling the weight of It’s body up to reveal a head unlike anything a little boy would imagine, would ever want to see. Large and bulbous, with skin pale as a corpse. It’s teeth were like so many spires, all pointed in odd directions, pointing at eyes that glowed a bloodthirsty red.

     “GEORGIE.”

It choked out, rasping, pulling itself further up the bed in spastic bouts. It’s hands neared closer and closer to the bumps made by his legs under the covers. It was HUNGRY and the meal was laid out before it, ripe for the taking.

Mike had agreed to follow along with the other’s plans, and tagging with Stan seemed like the more appropriate stance to take. For what harm was there in just asking a few questions to some people? If it’ll get them to snap out of this bizarre unknowingness about this town. Anything to help… When no one really gave enough of a vibrant answer, and he heard the other’s question, it was an instant nod.    “I’d love that. Maybe the folks in there will answer something of ours,     if we ask nicely? Over a drink, of course.” I am so ordering the biggest glass of chocolate milk. This is all a little intense, still… | @wontfloat |

“Maybe,” Stan shrugged, though at this point he wasn’t feeling that hopeful. Of course, maybe that was the hunger speaking for him. He followed Mike into the diner, vaguely realizing how odd it was that he’d never eaten here before. It wasn’t that far from the street with the arcade and the Losers Club’s other favorite haunts.

All worry was forgotten as the two sat down to order. Stan eagerly combed the menu for whatever the wadded up bills in his pocket would buy him. Soon he lowered his menu, flashing a smile across the table.

     “Well, we deserve a chocolate shake, right?       But, I wonder how the others are doing...”

She had seen HIS face every night since waking up in that white walled, bleach washed hospital room, but the way she’d seen him during waking hours was different. It had been as if all her FEARS had come to the forefront. It was Mick, but something more than Mick, something far DARKER than what she had confronted back in the Australian Outback.

❝ I saw someone, ❞ she admitted, being as vague as possible for he was much to young in her mind to know about how EVIL another human being could be,  ❝ A man that I used to know, not a very good guy, really. But this guy, he was…scarier. ❞

Sharp teeth and freaky eyes hadn’t been a trait of the man that had left her out to the dingoes.

❝ This town…it’s a little weird, isn’t it? I thought Perth was weird, but Derry has it beat. At least, you don’t have to worry about the salties when you go swimming here.❞

A man she knew, only scarier...It fit everything they had experienced to a T. Stan’s painting, Beverly’s bathroom; all ordinary things somehow twisted by their fears. And Bill, he had seen someone he knew. Not a bad guy, just his kid brother. Yet it hadn’t been Georgie. He had appeared grotesque, shouting out terrible things. Suppressing a shudder, Bill looked back to her.

“Sss-Salties?” He laughed a little at that, wondering where exactly she had come from. But whatever those were, he couldn’t imagine them being worse than It. “It wasn’t a-always this way, in Derry. It’s been...w-weird, lately.” He agreed. “How long ha-have you been here?”

   For a long, long, long time…IT is silent, unsure of how to respond to such a broken statement. “…Because to me, your kind is equal to animals, insects…I never dreamed that my prey could hurrrt me…In fact, you haven’t done it on your own…The shelled one has aided you but…” IT gurgles softly. 

    “But now I feel fear…And I will leave…when my children hatch, we will leave your world forever.”

Bill was caught between confusion (shelled one?) and plain disgust. That attitude was not one deserving of mercy. So it had underestimated them, so what? That served it right for what it had done to the people of Derry, for centuries. It was only the very last of the creature’s words that gave the boy any sort of pause.

“For...ever?” Shaking his head, as though to clear it, Bill pressed on. “Why sh-should I tru...trust you? What if they just grow a-and, and do what you did. To more people.”

Of course, it wasn’t the quickest of the jobs they had divided among them and soon late morning had become mid afternoon. He felt his stomach growling, just as they came upon a small diner nestled in a street corner.

     “Hey, are you hungry?”

“I’m not sure he would have actually bled to death but it was a little touch and go for a moment,” she laughed a little, shaking her head. There was no way Ben had been in that much danger, perhaps he would have caught some disgusting infection but if the simple supplies of a drug store were enough to save him, she was certain it was never anything that threatening. 

“I wish we were all just having a typical summer. Hanging out in the quarry, making stupid and probably unrealistic plans for the future and just being KIDS while we still can. It would make this summer even better but I’m not going to back down on finding out what this thing is. None of us can let it hurt anyone else, chances are it’s going to come after all of us. One by one, knowing that it doesn’t stand as good of a chance with ALL of us.” Beverly sighed but forced a smile back on her lips, knowing she was making it a little sad. “But as it’s seemingly quiet right now, why don’t you give me a ride on silver. Do something silly for the sake of being silly.”

[ @wontfloat· ]

He grinned in agreement, remembering the incident almost fondly now (no offense to Ben, of course...but he had survived, hadn’t he?). That grin faded as he listened more solemnly to her words. It was true, and the others had said it often enough. They were kids and they were supposed to be trading baseball cards and going to the arcade and getting scrapes and bruises while exploring--not fending off some evil clown. 

Despite that, truthfully Bill felt as though that carefree innocence had died the night he’d lost Georgie. Summer would have never been the same again after that, and somehow he was glad to feel as though he was at least doing something for his little brother. It wasn’t anything he liked to talk about with the others, but he felt that Bev might understand. He wouldn’t bring it up just now though. Lost in that thought, he was a bit startled by her suggestion, meeting her smile with a nervous one of his own as he felt that familiar flutter in his stomach.

     “Um, on Sss-si-silver? I mean, yea, o-of course, let’s go.”

He hopped on said bike, waiting for her to follow suit. From there, he would pedal them off somewhere, probably away from town (he didn’t need any of the boys...or bullies...seeing this).

@wontfloat followed us!

Never did high school students and younger grades associate with each other, but she had saw SOMETHING after the body of Cheryl Lamonica had been found. The brunette Aussie hadn’t known the girl well, just that she was an unwed teenage mother and people had  JUDGED her based on that fact. But she had heard what had been said by the loudmouth of the group of kids as Jewel took note of EVERYTHING around her since surviving Mick Taylor’s game of murderous hide ‘n seek.

❝ You’ve seen something too? ❞

They always told Richie to keep it down, especially when talking about the recent events plaguing them (not that anyone would believe it, but the bullies didn’t need any more fodder). Of course telling Tozier to keep quiet was like telling the sun not to rise in the morning. Utterly futile.

Bill had split ways with the other boys when he noticed the girl talking to him. An older girl, like high school old. He would have been more on the defensive if it wasn’t for the look in her eyes, and what exactly she had said.

“N-nothing...Richie’s just fu-full of it.” He shrugged, but he could already tell that she wasn’t buying it. Maybe it was his own experiences coloring his view, but he thought he saw the all too familiar sense of loss somewhere in that distraught gaze. “Why, what di-did you see?”