Lisp • Richie Tozier (1)

15 • The Final Battle

"Just let me grab her." Mike's lifting Ben up so he can get Beverly. "Why isn't she waking up?!" I hear Ben yell again. He hugs her. Nothing.

Then, he kisses her. I feel very touched to have witnessed it. But the others don't feel the same. "Woah—" Richie. "Gross." Eddie. "Okay then—" Stan.

Beverly wakes up. "January embers." She mutters. "The hell?" I wonder aloud. "My heart burns there too." Ben finishes. "Jesus fuck." Richie laughs. We all share a group hug.

I zone out for five minutes and suddenly Georgie's turning into Pennywise. It's hideous.

"KILL IT BILL! KILL IT. JUST KILL IT!" Eddie shrieks. "Shit." Richie mutters.

"It's not loaded." Mike mutters. "It's not loaded!" Bill shoots anyway. The clown starts shaking as if it's having a seizure. Bev tries to hit it and fails. Then Mike tries and he gets thrown across the room. We all jump on it and get flung off. It has Bill in a headlock. "Let him go." Bev pleads. "No! I'll take him! I'll take all of you. I'll feast on your flesh and feed off your fear." I stare at Bill with my mouth open. "Or, You'll just leave us be. I'll take him, only him. And then I'll have my long rest. You all will live to grow and thrive and lead happy lives. Until old age takes you back to the weeds." I stare at the ground. "Leave. I'm the one who dragged you into this. I'm so sorry." Bill says. I exhale. "Go!" Bill yells. "Guys, we can't." Bev says. Richie gets up. "Rich, what are you doing?"

"I told you Bill. I fucking told you. I don't wanna die. You punched me in the face, you made me walk through shitty water, you brought me to a fucking crackhead house! And now... I'm gonna kill this fucking clown." He grabs a bat and the clown drops Bill. "Welcome to the losers club, asshole!" He says, hitting it.

I try to smack it with a golf club but it grabs the club and pulls my arm, flinging me to the ground. "Fuck." I mutter. It hurts like a bitch. "DON'T TOUCH MY WOMAN!" Richie screams, smacking it across the face three times in a row. We all took turns facing our fears. Mike's burning hands, Stan's weird flute woman, Eddie gets covered in black goo, Ben's mummy, Bev's dad, and for me, creepy insects crawl up me... they're everywhere. I smack it with the club and it goes away.

"That's why you didn't kill Beverly... cause she wasn't afraid. And we aren't either— not anymore." Bill gets ready to hit it with a pipe. "You are. Because you're going to starve."

I watch as the clown starts to dissipate into nothing.

"Fear." It says before falling to hopefully it's death.

Sooner or later Bill finds Georgie's coat. We sob with him rather than for him.

That summer was one I'd never forget.