𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜, richie tozier

xi. ( dead girl )

MISSING!

"I ACTUALLY THINK it will end," ben spoke as the three reunited with the group. "for a little while, at least."

melissa sat next to richie, their shoulders brushing agaisnt one another. she shot a confused look. of course it would stop, but she wasn't sure when.

"what do you mean?" beverly asks, deeply engaged into the topic. on the other hand, her brunette bestfriend was not at all interested but still listened. she didn't want them to think of her as a bad person. "i was going over all of my derry research and charted out the big events," ben unraveled.

"the ironworks explosion in 1908, the bradley gang in '35, the black spot in '62, and kids being..." ben didn't finish his sentence. instead he started a new one for the sake of bill. "i realized this stuff seems to happen every⎯"

"27 years." the denbrough boy finished, interrupting ben. melissa looked down. it was all making sense to her now. the clown has been doing this for a long time. "well good, now we know that it disappears."

"and what do you think you're onto?" stan inquired. melissa let out a huff, figuring that she'd have to explain what should've been self-explanatory.

"well, stanley. what i'm onto is that we go on about our summer and wait for this dumb shit to be over." she manifests. "there's no way we'll have even the slightest chance of defeating this⎯ i mean whatever is going on. you just have to let it all blow over."

the group all eyed melissa suspiciously. she nervously glanced back at them, silently praying they wouldn't ask any questions.

"defeating this what?" bill pressed. mel sat in silence. she refused to tell them anything, it'll just make them want to go after it even more.

taking her silence as an answer, he decides to try and guilt trip her into revealing her knowledge. "i'm not stupid, melissa. you know m-more than what you're t-t-telling us."

"it's for your own good. all of you. i want no part this." she shook her head, flashbacks flooding in. bill kept a determined look. he was never one to give up anyway.

"then tell us w-what it is so we can go on without you." he ordered. she shook her head. "no, i refuse to. i'm not keeping it from you just for no reason. if i did, it'll only put us all in danger."

"you don't know that⎯" he argued. mel stopped his sentence. "except i do! bill, i'm only trying to protect you."

"no you aren't. you're just lying to us! you don't want me to find georgie. you don't want us to figure out who you really are." bill accused.

she froze before continuing. "i'm trying helping you, you just won't let me!" melissa's voice rose, anger speeding throughout her veins.

"georgie is dead, bill! every single one of them. all of the children, dead. get over it already, he isn't coming back!" silence fell over them. they were speechless, unable to do or say anything.

bill shook his head in disappointment. "well sorry nobody wants help from a dead girl." bill spat. melissa's eyes widen.

he knew.

melissa looked around at the rest of their faces. they seemed terrified, making it almost unbearable for mel to stay.

so she left. she got up and ran. it was the only thing she could really do anyway. "melissa!" richie tried calling after her. mel kept going, not even bothering to look back.

to where? they had no idea.

AT THIS POINT, melissa felt like she had been walking forever. having to go all the way over to the other side of town on foot wasn't as easy as it seemed. but alas, she made it to her destination.

on a large sign it read, YOU ARE LEAVING DERRY! the one thing she's always wanted to do. to escape, get away. derry was an absolute shithole, and if you asked around many would agree.

melissa was only steps away from final freedom. with no doubts or sudden thoughts, melissa flores made a movement toward her greatest desire. next came another... then another, and another.

until she was stopped.

confusion overtook her expression. dhe couldn't move any further. an invisible forcefield prevented the brunette from her only wish.

a car zoomed past the girl, nearly hitting her, being able to leave. it was almost like rubbing it in her face that she was the only one not being able to leave.

melissa's breathing became heavy as tears threatend to fall from her eyes. she craved so deeply to escape from her fate, to escape from this hell she's gone through. to leave all of the memories here and create new ones.

her hands ball up into a fist as she punched it with everything she had. she attempted pounding on it, kicking it, pushing it. all to no avail. she was stuck forever.

that was the last straw. there was no more holding it in. tears stream out of her eyes, a layer of gloss being slathered onto them. soon they covered her entire face as she broke down in the middle of the street.

she's lived a painful and tragic life. what point is there to put a cherry on top of it all?