𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐒 ( RICHIE TOZIER. )

013. chapter twelve

THE next day The Loser's Club met up in an alleyway on Queen Street.

It was the Fourth of July parade in Derry and the Losers had told their family (the one's that actually gave a shit, at least) that they were going to watch the parade but really they were going to conspire about the missing kids.  

The group was looking at another poster plastered on the side of a building.

A picture of Edward Corcoran was on it. Another missing kid.

Eleanor stood beside Richie, looking at the ground. Richie glanced over at her seeing that the conversation made her uncomfortable so he slung his arm on her shoulders, pulling her closer to him.

She smiled at his touch. Richie was just like her. When she was with Richie she felt safe.

"They say they found apart of his hand chewed up in the Standpipe" Stan spoke.

"He asked to borrow a pencil once" Ben said hoarsely.

Richie pulled his arm away from Eleanor and walked over to Eddie. They started talking, blocking out the voices from the rest of the group.

Bill peeled up the Corcoran poster to see a familiar face on the poster below it.

It was Betty Ripsom's.

"I-It's like she's b-been forgotten because C-Corcoran's missing" Bill stammered. Then there was a horrible sound.

It sounded like an elephant with a cold.

The Loser's turned around to face the parade to see Richie messing with some kid in the parades instrument.

"Richie stop fucking with that kids instrument and come over here!" Stan hissed.

Richie rolled his eyes as the kid pulled back his instrument, glaring at Richie and storming off. "What the fuck dude!" Richie exclaimed, walking over to Eddie who had two ice cream cones in his hands.

"What are you guys talking about?" Eddie asked as he joined his friends. 

"Oh, what they always talk about" Richie teased, taking one of the ice cream cones from Eddie and taking a lick. 

The group sat in silence, mourning the missing kids.

Eleanor looked down at her feet, ignoring the posters pasted to the side of the building when Ben spoke up.

"I noticed that there's a pattern. The death average goes up every-" Bill cut him off.

"27 years" Everyone looked over at Bill.

There was so many questions swarming in their heads. Why twenty seven years? Did this clown only kill kids?

The group glanced around at each other before wandered through the crowd and the parade to the nearby Memorial Park.

Sitting on the bench, Richie and Eleanor sitting on the same bike, the group started talking about the clown that they all saw.

"Maybe it's like.. what are those bugs called?" Stanley asked. His face lit up a bit. "Cicadas! The ones that only come out every 17 years"

The group hummed in response to his idea.

"My grandfather thinks this town is cursed" Mike added. "He says that all the bad things that have happened in this town is because of one thing. An evil thing that feeds off of the people of Derry"

Eleanor sighed a bit. "But we all saw something different. Or It knows what scares us the most and that's what we see"

"I saw a l-leper. It was like a walking infection" Eddie spoke, shuddering.

"But you didn't. Because it isn't real. None of this is" Stan argued. "Not Eddie's leper, Bill seeing Georgie, Eleanor seeing people dying because of her, o-or the woman I keep seeing"

Richie snorted. "Is she hot?"

Eleanor grinned at his foolishness, making Stan glare at her.

"No Richie! She's not hot!" He exclaimed angrily. "Her face is all messed up!" He took a shaky breath before pausing.

"None of this makes any sense. They're like bad dreams"

"I don't think so. I know a difference between a bad dream and real life, okay?" Mike spoke harshly and sighing.

"You guys know that burnt down house on Harris Avenue?" He asked. The group hummed in response. "I was inside when it burned down. Before I was  rescued.. my mom and dad were trapped in the next room over from me. They were pushing and pounding on the door trying to get to me. But it was too hot. When firefighters found them the skin on their hands were melted down to the bone"

Eleanor saw the tears welling in Mike's eyes, blurring his vision.

"We're all afraid of something" Eleanor spoke softly, making the group look in her direction.

"You've got that right!" Richie told. The groups eyes darted to him.

"Why Rich? What are you afraid of?" Eddie asked curiously. This is the one thing the group didn't know about Richie. His fears.

Richie turned his head to face the Memorial Park Band Shell too see a clown, surrounded by decorations and little girls dancing along to the parade music.

The clown smiled an evil grin and pointed a balloon animal in his direction, sending shivers down his spine.

Richie looked back to the group, worry in his eyes. Eleanor saw the fear in his eyes so she slipped her hand onto his lightly.

Richie didn't even notice her hand on his.

He swallowed hard and sighed, adjusting his glasses.

"Clowns"