Oh No! [IT 2017 Reader Insert]

09 | Broken Promises

𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝟷𝟹𝚝𝚑, 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟿.

─

You couldn't help but cringe as Bill rode over to what you were now referring to as 'Hell itself'. Then again; that wasn't exactly what you had on your mind- or, not what preoccupied it. your dad- his death in a car accident? A lie. Your brain raced- Jesus Christ, maybe the clown wanted to wipe out your bloodline? That was reasonable enough. You, then your mom...

     Your train of thought was thoroughly interrupted when Beverly authoritatively spoke up with a 'let's go.' You, resigned to your own fate at this point, hopped on your bike, riding along with the rest of your group. You didn't really feel like dying, but...

     You getting taken out was better than Bill suffering a horrible fate. No matter how much he'd dragged you into.

     •••

     You heard faint muttering as all of you clashed your bikes to the grassy floor. Beverly spoke up towards Bill first. "Bill! Bill...you can't go in there! This is crazy!" Beverly sounded nervous; you took in a pool of saliva to disperse the lump in your throat. Beverly had never sounded this thoroughly afraid, besides that brief time on the phone call a few days earlier.

     Bill immediately struck back. "Look, you don't have to come in with me... but...what happens when another Georgie goes missing? Or another Betty, or another Ed Corcoran? Or...one of us?" Your breath hitched in your throat that. 'One of us.' The sentence rung in your ears like a mantra; you wanted to interrupt, tell him to 'shut the fuck up, you're scaring us', but you couldn't bring yourself to do it. "Are you just gonna pretend it isn't happening like everyone else in this town!? Because...I can't. I go home and...all I see is Georgie isn't there. His clothes, his toys, his...stupid stuffed animals, but...he isn't. So walking into this house...well...it's easier than walking into my own."

     Silence rang out around the land beyond you. You looked down shamefully as Bill went to enter the house you dreaded so.

     "Wow." For once, Richie was almost speechless.

     "What?" Eddie inquired, softly.

     Richie promptly answered. Serious- he was serious. "He didn't stutter once."

     That seemed to be all you needed because you all went up rickety steps, your breath almost shaking as hard as the oak trembling beneath you.

     But, some stayed behind. "Wait!" Stan said, voice hitching. "Shouldn't we have...someone keep watch?" He stopped talking for a moment as Bill fiddled with the doorknob. "Just...just in case something bad happens?"

     Bill took Stan's advice. "Who...who wants to stay out here?"

     Everyone but Beverly raised their hand.  If you had a chance to avoid whatever horrors awaited you inside, God knows you'd take it. You all looked at each other and solemnly put your hands down.