Fears, chapter two.

~ 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

A/N: I struggled greatly with this as plans I had made didn't work out, and I was busy celebrating my brithday, then I was sick and then celebrated my twin nephews birthday so it was stressful, apologies! :)

Lydia put her book away and walked over to the group as Mike was on the phone talking to someone, everyone else listening carefully.

"No no no no-" Mike quickly spoke before he was seemingly cut off on the other end

Lydia gave a confused look to Stan, who stood beside her.

"Bill." Stanley mumbled, just as Mike shouted Bills name into the phone

Mike sighed and looked at his phone, putting it back into his pocket and turning to the others, "he's going to fight it alone."

"What-?" Richie mumbled

"Alone." Mike repeated as he turned around to get the Native American artifact that he stole, which was covered in markings that reveal the origins of It and placed it on the table.

Lydia stared at it curiously, it was the first time she had seen the artefact but she recognised it from the books she had just been reading on the rituals.

"It's about the group. The ritual doesn't work without the group. Doing it together is why it worked." He spoke.

Richie slowly lifted up the artefact, turning it in his hands to see all the sides and see the story engraved upon it.

Mike looked at him and snatched the artefact out of his hands, placing it back in the table.

"All right, did he tell you where he was going?" Bill asked

"There's really only one or two places he could go that would actually mean anything." Lydia spoke to them

"Right but.. if he really wanted to kill Pennywise there's only one place he'll go.." Beverly spoke quietly, looking at Mike

"The sewers. The same place the ritual must be performed." Mike realised

"Ohhh, we're not gonna like this are we?" Eddie mumbled

"Nope. Not one bit." Lydia sighed

Ben let out a long sigh, "fuck." He whispered.

Everyone slowly packed up their stuff, dreading leaving the warmth of the library and plunging into the damp, dark and dirty sewers.

As everyone was packing, Lydia began to feel her chest tighten. Slow enough that it didn't cause a massive panic but fast enough that she noticed something was happening.

Her surroundings began to flicker between the sight of the bright library to the sight of the dark, smelly sewers.

Chills ran up her whole body as she slowly put the last thing she was holding from the med kit away and looked up, just as her surroundings changed to the sewers, this time not going back to the library.

She looked around the sewers for a moment, this room seeming so familiar to her.

The room had an eldritch feeling to it- it was a weird, familiar place yet she couldn't remember how she knew it. But the room meant something.

The sound of someone struggling to breathe echoed around the room, causing Lydia to slowly back away into one of the darker sides, to make sure whoever it was wouldn't see her. Just incase.

It wasn't until she caught a glimpse of a red jacket in the direction of where the breathing was that she stepped out of the darkness.

"Eddie..?" She called out

His head turned and he looked at her, barely being able to whisper her name

"Why- why are you here? Alone? Why am I here? I was just at the library.." She asked, hesitantly stepping closer.

Eddie gave her a confused look and tightened the grip on his wound on his stomach, "sometimes, I truly don't understand what you're saying"

Lydia looked down at his hands, seeing the blood making its way through them and almost immediately, her face dropped as she realised what was happening.

"Eds.. you're not- this isn't you-" she began, but Eddie cut her off

"Why did you come back?"

"What?"

"They all left, I can't be saved. This is where I die, in a dirty sewer to a killer clown. Ironic that I'd die in the dirtiest place possible, huh?" He laughed, though he choked on his blood after and he looked at her in pain.

Instead of Lydia doing everything she could possibly do to get out of this nightmare, or whatever it was, she sat down beside her best friend. She knew it would stop soon.

"How did it happen? The.. death and all.. I was stuck somewhere else in the sewers, I didn't see." She lied, she hoped that if she found out what happened, she'd be able to stop it later

Eddie shook his head as tears fell down from his cheeks and hit the floor, the only sound in the sewers being the cough that came from him every so often, or a quiet sniffle from Lydia.

"I hate that I'm not leaving with everyone... I don't even know if you're real, or if I'm just imagining you because I'm almost gone." He sniffled

"I'm real, Eddie." She told him, looking over at him and grabbing his hand to prove to him.

He looked at her and gave her a weak smile, "I'm really thankful for you Lydia. You saved every single one of us when we were young, and I don't think you even realise how much we all needed you, and still do. I feel like you became a sister to everyone. Except Stan of course. I would have loved to meet Connor and Mia, start teaching them about germs and stuff when they're young. But I know you and Stanley taught them well. Oh, and do everyone a favour... stop trying to pretend you're over Stanley and just get back together for everyones sake. You guys were perfect together. At least yous had the bravery to even do anything." He spoke to her, both their tears hitting the floor by the end and his breathing slowing down.

"Wh- what do you mean? The end bit?" She questioned

Eddie took a deep breath and looked at her.

He mumbled his last sentence, before he looked ahead of him again and his eyes slowly shut, his head falling onto her shoulder.

Lydia's breath shuddered as she hugged her friend tightly and shut her eyes, Eddie's last words echoing in her mind as she slowly came back to reality, in the library.

"I love Richie. I have for years and I didn't do anything about it..instead I hid it.."