Lisp • Richie Tozier (1)

9

When we get to Bill's house, I call my mother to tell her I'm not dead. It's her number one rule that I always call her when I get somewhere. I guess that's why she was so pissed off when I went to the quarry.

When I get into the garage, Bill has a projector set up and everyone is sitting in front of it. I take a seat next to Mike and stare at the screen. The picture is of a map of Derry. "Look. That's where G-Georgie disappeared." Bill says. "There's the ironworks and the black spot. Everywhere it happens, it's all connected to the sewers. And they all meet up at the—"
"Wellhouse." Ben exclaims. "It's in the house on neibolt street." Stan says. "You mean that creepy-ass house where all the junkies and hobos like to sleep?" Eddie pulls out his inhaler and takes a few puffs from it. He looks about ready to pass out. "I hate that place.. it always feels like it's watching me." Beverly says. "I second that." I say. "That's where I saw it... that's where I saw the clown." Eddie says quietly. "Th-that's where it lives." Bill says. "I can't imagine anything wanting to live there." Eddie gets up and stands in front of the screen. "Can we stop talking about this? I can barely breathe. It's summer. We're kids. I can barely breathe. I'm having a fucking asthma attack. I am not doing this!" He rips down the map. "What the hell! Put the map back."
The slide changes a couple times. "Guys..." I say slowly. They're all slowly turning towards the screen. We all stare at it. "What happened? What's going on?" Bill asks. A picture of Bill and his dad comes on the screen. "I don't know, look. Guys...." The pictures change rapidly. They stop on a picture of Bill, his parents, and Georgie. "Georgie..." It starts to zoom into Georgie's face, then Bill's mother's. The hair covering her face slowly flips away until it reveals IT's face. "What the fuck?" Everyone starts panicking and yelling. "It's IT!" Eddie's screaming loudly. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?! What the fuck is that?!" Richie yells. My eyes widen and I back away slowly before stumbling over a chair and hitting the ground. "I don't fucking know!" Eddie shrieks back.

Richie and Eddie are holding each other in their arms and screaming loudly. Bill is staring at the screen. Me? I just want to get the fuck out of here. "Turn it off! Turn it off!"
Someone kicks the projector and it goes flying. The screen flickers pictures of the clown and suddenly... it's gone.

Just when I think its over, the fucking clown jumps out of the screen and starts running around the garage. I scream loudly.

Finally, someone opens the garage door. Beverly is sitting in the corner and everyone else is standing up. I'm lying face down on the garage floor and I can taste blood. I stand up and see Beverly hugging Bill. Something's dripping out of my nose and I immediately know it's blood. I clutch my nose and sigh. "Bill, where's your bathroom?" He points me the direction. "D-don't get blood on the carpet... my m-mom shouldn't h-have to see that of all things right now."

I go into the bathroom and see myself in the mirror. I'm a mess. My nose is getting blood all over my new white shirt. I shove toilet paper up my nose and stare into the mirror. The lights start to flicker and I clutch the sides of the sink. "It's not real." I mutter. "I'm not scared." The lights flicker slightly before going on again. I stay in there for a few more minutes before going outside. "Are you okay?" Richie asks. "Yeah, I guess. I just fell on my face a little too hard."

"Go? Go where?" I hear Beverly ask. "Neibolt. That's where G-Georgie is." Everyone is shocked. "After that?" Stan asks. "Yeah, it's summer, we should be outside." Bill shuts his eyes. "If you say it's summer one more f-fucking time." Bill gets on his bike and starts riding off. "Bill! Wait!" Beverly yells. I'm the first to grab my bike. "C'mon, he can't be alone in there." I call. I hear them get their bikes and we start to ride as fast as we can to Niebolt.