IMPULSE {Richie Tozier}

7

The next day, the losers are gathered inside of Ben's dorky looking room.

Ivy stares in awe at the amount of new articles that Ben had gathered. It was impressive, but still made her a little uneasy. Eddie, noticing her uneasiness, gently wraps his hand in hers. Ivy smiles appreciatively at the boy.

Since her last attack, and a bit of a heart to heart moment, her and Eddie seemed to become best pals.

Richie doesn't like it.

Not at all.

Not one bit.

Novocane walks calmly beside Ivy. The frail girl gulps loudly as she reads the news titles. All of them were filled with despair and tragedy.

"Cool, right?" Ben smiles, genuinely enthusiastic to have friends in his room.

"No, no, nothing cool. Nothing cool," Richie hums, causing Stan to nudge him. "Oh look! This is cool– oh wait, never mind."

Ben ignores his comments, watching as Beverly scans his room with curiosity.

"What's that?" Stan questions, pointing at a long document on the wall.

Parts of it were highlighted and underlined.

"That? That's the charter for Derry township."

Richie laughs and fixes his glasses.

"Nerd alert!"

"No, actually it's really interesting. Derry started as a beaver packing town—"

"Still is am I right, boys?" Richie cuts in, holding his hand up for a high five.

The others ignore him, but Ivy can't help but giggle at the joke. Richie sends a small smile and wink in her direction. She blushes in response, and he does too, not realizing his actions till it was too late.

"91 people signed it, but later that winter they all disappeared without a trace," Ben continues, drawing everyone's attention back to the topic.

Eddie's hand begins to shake in Ivy's.

"The entire camp?" He questions in shock.

"Kind of like Roanoke!" Ivy chimes, earning a smile and nod from Ben.

"Roa what?" Richie asks.

He wasn't actually curious about what she had said, but he's beginning to feel desperate for her attention and so he'll ask whatever it takes.

"It's a lost colony," Ben answers, not giving Richie a chance to keep questioning. "There were rumors of Indians, but no sign of an attack. Everyone just thought it was a plague or something. But it's like, one day everybody just woke up and left."

The teens stand in silence, chills running down their spines.

"The only clue was a trail of bloody clothes leading to the well house," Ben finishes.

"Jesus," Richie blurts. "We could get Derry on Unsolved Mysteries!"

Everyone goes back to searching through the news clippings. Richie is slowly becoming more and more annoyed at the sight of Eddie's hand in Ivy's. He didn't even know why, he just knew it bothered him a lot.

Finally, much to Richie's relief, Eddie's hand slips away from Ivy's and they go their separate ways across the room.

"W-Where's the well house?" Bill asks, going through Ben's projector slides.

Ben looks up with a raised eyebrow, "I don't know. Somewhere in town maybe. Why?"

"Nothing."

Ivy curiously eyes Bill, tilting her head the same way Novocane does.

"Got the hots for Bill now?" A voice asks, causing Ivy to jump and gasp a little.

When she turns around, she's faced with thick-rimmed glasses and freckled cheeks.

"Jeez Richie, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" She huffs, "And no, I do not have the hots for Bill."

"Why're you blushing then?" He frowns.

"Why do you care?"

"I don't! Just a question..." he insists.

Ivy shakes her head, smiling lightly. Richie smiles back at her smile. Why? He had no idea.

"Janice Baylor works at the pharmacy by the way, if you ever want to stop by and visit her," she states suddenly, causing a rush of excitement to flow through Richie's veins.

"Will do. Thanks Okonma."

Ivy only smiles sadly, turning away from him.

Novocane rolls her little doggy eyes.

"I've gotta go guys, I'll meet you guys at the park later." Ivy hums, tugging Novocane towards the exit.

The losers smile and wave at the girl, realizing their new fondness over her. She was too sweet for her own good.

When Ivy arrives home, she's gladly met with silence.

Her parents were probably out gambling. Excitedly, she dances to her room and rushes to her bathroom. She turns to knobs on her bath wall, warm water erupts. Finally, she could take a relaxing bath.

Novocane heads straight to her doggy bed, deciding on a nap.

Humming the tune to Gypsy, the girl begins to peel off her clothes. Now unclothed, she reaches towards the record player on her sink and puts on her Fleetwood Mac vinyl. This time, Gypsy really does echo through the bathroom.

Once the bath is full, she stops the water and steps a single foot in. A sigh of relief leaves her lips, and she emerges her body completely into the bath of bliss.

Her eyes close, and she lays there for a good few minutes.

Everything is calm.

Until, she is pulled under the water by hands that seemingly came from no where. A scream erupts from her before she's pulled completely under the water, bubbles floating up as she struggles against her attacker.

Novocane jumps into action, but before the dog can reach the bathroom, the door is slammed shut.

The sound of water splashing and her dog barking wildly is the only thing that echoes in the house. Her vision slowly becomes blurry as her breath runs low. Her struggling begins to slowly stop, and as the water clears above her, she sees what looks to be a clown.

Maybe it was the lack of oxygen, but she saw him.

He waves his fingers at her in a creepy manner, before stepping back and disappearing. The force holding her down disappears, and she submerges from the water gasping for air. The sound of Gypsy finishing, and Novocane barking and scratching at the door is all that she hears.

A few minutes pass of her trying to catch her breath, and calm down her sobbing.

Finally, she climbs weakly out of the bath and dries herself off. Her body is trembling as she pulls on undergarments and one of her dads old button ups. The large shirt hangs loosely from her shoulders. Fear and confusion run through mind as she desperately tries to find an explanation from what just happened.

A knock at her window causes her to jump.

Who could be at her window?