Lisp • Richie Tozier (1)

14

August

My mom's in California at the moment and my dad is visiting my sick grandma in Colorado. No one's going to be home for days.

As I bike home, I see Stan, who nods at me. I nod back and we move on.

My house makes me scared. Last time I was alone, I was almost attacked. But it's not real anyway... right?

I sit on the couch and turn on the tv. My favorite show is on so I enjoy it.

I decide to pull another gas station slushee and smoke at the quarry since last time was nice.

When I get to the quarry I sit  and pull out the essentials: my lighter, my cigarettes and of course, my slushee.

I smoke (which isn't as enjoyable as last time) and sip my slushee.

"You shouldn't be smoking." I hear. I immediately recognize the voice and stab the cigarette into the ground.

"What do you want Henry?" I ask calmly. "I wanna know where your punk ass friends are." I turn around and drop my slushee, the blue ice staining my shoes. Henry is covered in blood, his goons nowhere to be found. "Wh- what happened." I ask, still calm. He grabs my arm and drags me to his car. "You're gonna tell me where they are or else." I smirk. "Or else what?" He pulls out a gun. "Or I'll kill you and then find your friends and then kill them." I stop dead in my tracks in front of the car. Vomit rises to my throat but I choke it down. Henry's goons are sitting in the car with their throats slit. The stench is horrible. "Get in the damn car!" He screams. The front seat has blood on it, but I get in, avoiding it as much as possible. "Where are they?" I inhale slowly. "I don't know... I haven't seen them since June." He exhales. "Where are they?" This time, he presses the gun against my head. "Uhh oh god— neibolt? Neibolt!" He steps on the gas pedal, sending me into the dashboard. "I swear to fuck! If they're not there..." he stops the car and smiles. Richie and Bill are throwing they're bikes to the ground and walking into the house. He gets out of the car and grabs me, dragging me inside. I notice he's swapped the gun for the knife and sigh.

He's still an idiot.

I see Mike about to climb down the well. Henry takes the rope and tosses it to the side. The boys are yelling from below. "You didn't listen to what I told you." Henry says to Mike. Tears stream down my face. I'm a coward and they have to pay for it. "I'm sorry Mike." I mutter. "You shoulda stayed out of Derry." Henry tells him. "Your parents didn't— and look what happened to them. I still get sad every time I pass by that pile of ashes." Henry's looking at Mike psychoticly. "Henry please." I plead. "Sad, that I couldn't have done it myself." He says, ignoring me. Mike picks up his bolt gun and tries to shoot Henry. He fails. Just as Henry's about to kill him, I scream and get a running start. "You're dead, Bowers!" And then, with all my might, I shove him down, down, down. With a sickening crunch, his body falls four hundred feet deep. "Holy shit!" Richie. I exhale loudly and help Mike up. We peer down at the boys. "That was badass."

Me and Mike climb down the rope and follow the boys on their quest to find Beverly. "Where's Stan?" Eddie asks.

"Stanley?"

Okay so apparently our quest for Beverly AND Stan.

I hear Stan scream and we take off to find him. Greywater is everywhere. I mean, everywhere.

We keep running until we find this room. Stan's flashlight is in the corner. "His flashlight." Eddie mutters to himself. They pick it up and we turn to find a messed up woman sinking her teeth into his face. "It's her." I mutter. "What the fuck is that thing?" Richie screams. She smiles, then left. The clown peeks its head out at us. The boys scream.

Stan is on the ground, hyperventilating. The teeth marks are very noticeable. "No, no, no!" Stan screams as we all crowd around him. "You left me! You took me into Neibolt! YOU'RE NOT MY FRIENDS! You made me go into Neibolt!" He screams. "Stanley I'm sorry." Eddie says. "You made me go into Neibolt." I hug him but watch as Bill leaves. "It's okay. S'okay." I mutter.

"Bill?!" Eddie yells splashing through the water. "Umm... Juliana. I know we weren't on the best terms. I just-" I smile at him. "I forgive you." He smiles back. "Really?" I nod. "Really." I kiss him on the cheek and I swear I see him blush under the pale lighting.

Eddie falls into the water and the smile fades. "Eddie get up, that's greywater."

Weird people float up from the water, their faces bloody. Eddie screams and we run.

"Beverly?" I hear Ben yell. "How is she in the air?" Richie asks. "Holy shit." I look up and see bodies. "Are those?-"

"The missing kids— floating."