PRESENTING PENNYWISE THE DANCING CLOWN TO HAWKINS, INDIANA

CHAPTER TWO: DON'T YOU WANNA KISS ME, MIKEY?

"Will!" Mike shouted. "Will, where are you?!"

"Shut up! We might get caught by whoever's hurting Will," Lucas whisper-yelled.

"Will!" Mike yelled again. Lucas and Dustin shushed him.
"Mike?" Questioned a voice. Will's voice.

"Will! Where are you?!"

"Turn around."

The group turned around in unison to see Will. But it wasn't the Will they knew. This Will was terribly pale and had black tentacle-like things wrapped around various body parts. He was bleeding in a few spots.

"Will?" Mike questioned.

"Mike, help me," Will said with a desperate tone.

Mike ran up to Will and put his hand on his shoulders, water splashing where he stepped.

"Will, are you okay? What's going on? Why are you in the sewer? What happened?"

Will stood there, expressionless and silent.

"Will...?" Mike asked, worried.

There was a low growl. Will's mouth opened and expanded to show long, sharp teeth. He nipped at Mike's face, Mike dodged just in time. The boys screamed. Mike backed away from Will, water splashing where he stepped. He heard something crunch under his foot and looked down, shining his flashlight to see his foot in a broken skull. He jumped back, screaming.

"What's wrong, Mike? Don't you wanna kiss me?" The monster Will taunted.

Lucas and Dustin looked at each other, confused.

"What?" Lucas asked.

The monster Will stepped closer to the group, making a biting gesture. They screamed.

"Told you she was crazy!" Lucas yelled.

"NOT THE TIME, LUCAS!" Mike yelled back.

The group ran further into the sewer, away from the monster. Or so they thought. They weren't looking where they were going until Mike, in front, bumped into a chest. He looked up to see a clown. He screamed. His friends stopped and saw the clown as well. They all screamed. The clown was holding a red balloon that read, "I ♥️ DERRY" in bold print. The clown had a maniacal smile plastered on Its face.

"What the fuck is that?!" Dustin screamed.

"Hiya, Mikey," the clown said in an enthusiastic, yet scary tone.

"Ready to float?"

The children backed away, looking back to see if the monster Will was still there. They saw nothing but a dark sewer, so they ran that way. They heard splashing behind them, knowing it was the clown. They ran as fast as they could, screaming. Mike was pulled back by a gloved hand grabbing his jacket collar from the back. He screamed and his friends stopped and looked back to see the clown holding Mike close to It.

"Don't you wanna find your friend? Or is he more than that to you, Mikey? He is, isn't he?" The clown teased.

"Let go!"

Mike struggled, pulling against the clown's grip. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pull away. His friends came up to him and helped pull and finally broke him free. They immediately ran as fast as they could away from the clown, water splashing everywhere. Eventually, they reached the end of the sewer. They jumped out and stopped once they reached land. They looked back to see if the clown had followed them to see that It hadn't. They all sighed, bracing themselves on their knees, panting. Lucas wiped some sweat off his forehead. Eleven trembled slightly.

"It was her! She did this! She wanted that clown to kill us!" Lucas shouted. Eleven flinched, looking terrified.

"Yeah, great judge of character, Mike!" Dustin said.

"It wasn't her! There's something going on here and you know it! You saw that-that fake Will! The real Will is in there, I know it. We have to go bac-" Mike started, but was cut off by Lucas.

"GO BACK?! What is wrong with you?! What is wrong with you?! I'm never going back in there!"
Dustin pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'm with Lucas on this. I mean you saw that-that clown! That was crazy! And so is she!" Dustin said, pointing at Eleven. "I told you, Mike. I told you she was crazy."

"She is not crazy! She's trying to help us!" Mike argued.

"Help us die?!" Lucas shouted.

"Help us find Will! He's in there! I know he is!"

"Yeah, so is the clown. A-and whatever that thing was that looked like Will," Dustin argued.

"Do you even care about Will?!" Mike asked.

"Of course we do. But we care about ourselves, too," Lucas replied.

"I don't wanna die, Mike," Dustin said, starting to walk off, Lucas following him.

"Wh- No! Y-you guys are coming with me tomorrow, right?!" Mike asked.

"No, Mike! We're not!" Lucas replied.

"Please, we have to find Will!"

"Will's dead. That thing got him. I don't like it either but-"

"Will isn't dead! We can save him! And we will! Tomorrow! Come on, guys!"

"No, Mike."

The boys walked away into the woods, leaving Mike and Eleven alone. Mike kicked the ground and murmured angrily. How could they ditch him like this? How could they not help find Will? How could they be so scared that they wouldn't help find their friend? He had to convince them to help him. He had to. It was his only hope to find Will.