dusk till dawn ( stan uris ) ✔︎

fourteen!

FOURTEEN!

Levi's first instinct was to run up the stairs, not caring about any of the noise her loud footsteps made; all she was focused on was getting to her best friend. She practically crashed into her room, falling to her knees next to Hannah's mattress and shaking the lump that laid beneath the covers, heaving a sigh of relief once Hannah stirred and her eyes opened, throwing her arms around the sleepy girl and sobbing into her shoulder. 

"Hey, hey, what's wrong? What is it?" Hannah croaked, running her fingers through Levi's hair carefully, a look of confusion and worry plastered on her face. "Come on, Lev. You're scaring me."

"I-I thought you-you were...gone," Levi hiccuped, her vicious grip on Hannah tightening as the words left her mouth. "He was h-here, I-I saw him...The c-clown...A-and then-then it was just-just gone- and the balloon! There was a b-balloon! And I thought IT had taken you and I can't lo-lose you- I can't fucking lose you!"

Hannah's body stiffened then relaxed under Levi's tight grip. The Jameson girl buried her head in Levi's trembling shoulder and whispered comforting words, hoping that she could calm the girl enough so that her sobbing became sniffles. 

"Sh, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, okay? Not again, never again." Hannah pulled away from Levi, grabbing her face in her hands and wiping away her tears, offering a small reassuring smile as Levi nodded to show her understanding. "As long as we're with each other, that clown can't lay a hand on either of us."

"I'd fucking kill him if he tried," Levi rasped, letting out a weak chuckle. She wiped at her sticky cheeks with the back of her hand, swallowing the lump in her throat as she shook her head softly. 

"Yeah. Send him back to whatever hell he came from," Hannah added, ruffling Levi's hair, rolling her eyes playfully as Levi half-heartedly pushed her hand away. "Come on, let's go back to sleep."

Levi nodded once more and gave Hannah one last hug before climbing back into her bed, turning her back to the wall this time. "G'night, Han."

"G'night, Lev."

Levi forced her eyes closed, ignoring the burning sensation behind her lids as she tried to forget about the balloon and IT's malicious smile; she tried not to think about how she'd felt like she was back in Neibolt for a few horrible seconds, tried not to think about how her heart had stopped beating once she'd read the message on the balloon, how she'd felt like she had lost everything. 

She forced herself to focus on her breathing and soon enough, exhaustion washed over her and consciousness slipped from her grip. 

--

She didn't know how long she had slept, but the bright, summer sun shone through the open window, forcing her to open her puffy eyes. She pressed her hands to her face, wiping under her eyes before sitting up to see Hannah leaning against the side of her bed, a copy of The Secret Garden in her hands. 

"Hm, good morning," Levi mused, yawning afterward as she stretched her arms above her head, shooting her best friend a soft, lazy smile. 

"More like good afternoon, Sleeping Beauty," Hannah teased, closing the book and putting it down, poking Levi in the stomach playfully.

"...You look like shit, Han," Levi spoke bluntly, giving Hannah a good once-over before nodding with finality. "Did you sleep last night?"

"Um, no," Hannah answered sheepishly, shrugging slightly. 

"Han," Levi sighed, tilting her head to the side as she gave her best friend a look, "You need to sleep."

"I know, I know...It's just...After what you told me last night, I just...What if he had shown up again and we couldn't defend ourselves? What then?"

Levi dropped her gaze to the floor and slipped down from her bed, joining Hannah on the mattress and wrapping her arm around her shoulder, a conflicted expression on her face.

"What?" Hannah took notice of the look on Levi's face, turning to face her completely. "What is it?"

"The-the balloon..." She trailed off, squeezing her eyes shut as she took a deep breath. "The balloon had something written on it."

Hannah's breathing hitched, her brows pinching together as her mind worked to put the pieces together.

"W-what did it say?"

"'Come get her if you dare'...I-I thought it was talking about you but-" The shrill ringing of the phone cut Levi off, making her press her lips together as she reached over and picked her landline up, answering the call. "Hello?"

"Hi? Levi? " Bill's voice came through the receiver, somewhat shocking Levi before she noticed the anguish and worry laced into his tone. 

"Yeah, hey, Bill," Levi answered, her fingers tapping her knee in uneasiness as Bill launched into a rant, his stutter unnoticeable as the words left his mouth quickly. "Bill! Bill, wait, slow down, I can't understand you!"

"The cluh-clown- IT! IT has her! " Bill spit out, his voice trembling. 

Levi's heart stopped, her breath hitching as her right hand gripped the phone tighter, her fingernails digging into the palm of her left hand. There was only one other 'her' in the Losers' Club apart from her and Hannah, so it was clear who Bill was talking about, but she didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be real. 

"Who, Bill? W-who?" Levi asked, her voice small as her grip on the phone slackened. 

"Bev. IT has her," Bill repeated, confirming Levi's thoughts. 

The world felt as if it gone into slow motion; the phone slipped from her hands and, from her peripherals, she could see Hannah's mouth moving as she reached for the phone and pressed it to her ear, her expression falling as she received the news. Levi then turned her head to look at Hannah, all the sounds rushing back into her ears as Hannah let out a painful scream and shot up from her place on the mattress, bolting out of the room. 

"Hannah! Hannah, wait! " Levi yelled out, taking off after her best friend and trapping her in her arms just before she could reach her bike. 

Hannah thrashed, trying to break out of Levi's arms; she screamed, scratched at her best friend's arms, tried pushing her off, but every time, Levi just wrapped her arms around her tighter, trying to shush her. After several attempts at freeing herself, Hannah sank to her knees, taking Levi with her. 

"Sh, we'll get her, Han," Levi whispered, gently guiding Hannah's head into the crook of her neck as she smoothed her hair down. "We'll get her back, I swear." 

( AUTHOR'S NOTE )

it's about to go down oof