ECARLATE - S. URIS [1]

xviii.

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"H-HOW IS SHE IN THE AIR?" Richie asked as they all craned their necks to see Beverly floating lifelessly. Eddie shone his flashlight higher and the group flinched at the sight of not one, but forty or more people floating in the air.

"A-Are those...?"

"The missing kids," Stanley finished Eddie's sentence. "Floating."

They looked up in awe for a few seconds before realizing that Beverly was still floating. Ben asked for assistance and Richie, Mike, and Stanley helped Scarlet and Ben up as they held the two on their legs.

Stanley nudged Richie harshly with his elbow, giving him a look to stop averting his eyes to places where he isn't supposed to look at. "What? It's hard not to look." Richie scoffed.

"I'm wearing shorts, Tozier." Scarlet huffs out, reaching a hand to grab onto Beverly's right ankle as Ben took her other ankle. The two dragged her down gently to the ground, but she still wasn't waking up. Her eyes were a dark grey and her pupils were gone.

"Bev?" Ben asked, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Beverly," he asked once again, this time with panic in his voice. "Why isn't she waking up?!" He yelled this time. "What is wrong with her?! Beverly, please!"

Scarlet found her hands intertwined with Stanley's once again, feeling small bumps rise on their skins as they did so. They looked at each other with a solemn look on their faces, wondering what would've happened if Stanley actually died today.

Ben wrapped his arms around Beverly's neck, still trying desperately to wake her up. He then pulled away, waited for a few seconds before pressing his lips to Beverly's. The rest of the group stared with wide eyes and some of their jaws dropped.

"Woah," "Wow," "Um," was exchanged when that happened.

For a moment, Ben thought that didn't work, but Beverly suddenly awoke with a gasp and her eyes went back to normal. Relief washed over everyone as they saw Beverly snap back to reality.

"January Embers -" She whispers softly.

"My heart burns there too," Ben smiled.

Richie broke the silence with a comforting laugh, "Jesus fuck!" He said in relief, wrapping his arms around Ben's and Beverly's neck. They all joined in on the group hug, standing there with their arms around one another in comfort.

They pulled away from the hug once they realized something was missing. Bill was missing. The Losers snapped their heads towards Bill who was standing stiff, looking at something as they walked towards him reluctantly.

"G-Georgie?"

"What took you so long?" A fragile voice said, walking out of the shadows and stopped in front of Bill with a good distance. The rest gasped at the sight of George with his arm cut off and his free hand holding a paper boat.

"I-I-I was looking for you this whole time," Bill said with his voice starting to crack.

"I couldn't find my way out of here," Georgie said. "He said he could have my boat back, Billy."

Bill tried to hold his tears, but he couldn't. He started to breathe heavily at the sight of his little brother in front of him, knowing this will be the last time he'll actually get to see George in his form. "Was sh-sh-she fast?" He asked about the boat in George's hand.

"I couldn't keep up with it."

"She, Georgie," Bill corrected. "You call boats She."

There was a deafening silence between the two siblings.