The Dark Of You: Sequel to What Lies Beneath

Chapter 6

"Eduardo! Andale, let's go!"

Richie was calling for Eddie to come downstairs to meet with the rest of the Losers who had gathered in the parlor of the empty inn. It was time to talk about their options. Not long after, Eddie trudged down the stairs holding two giant suitcases. "I just gotta grab my toiletry bag and then I'm all set." He stopped short at the sight of everyone eyeing him with confusion. "What?" he asked.

"Eddie, we agreed to talk this through first," Beverly answered, tilting her head with a sympathetic gaze.

"We can't just run from this," Mike chastised, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Well, what the fuck," Eddie groaned with a sigh, dropping his heavy suitcases with a loud thud on the stairs. "What's there to talk about? We're in the same place as an evil, murdering clown and his monster bride. The only logical thing to do would be to run, are you crazy?"

Bill looked tired, resting his head in his hands while he sat on a decorative floral ottoman in the corner of the room. "Even if we could run, there's n-no point," he murmured. "Look at what happened to S-Stanley. It was able to make us forget, r-r-regardless of w-where we were. It's like we've been... inf-fected by him."

Fierce concern echoed across their faces as they tried to comprehend what Bill was getting at. "Infected us, how? Ben asked, leaning against the bar in the back of the parlor and crossing his arms.

"The first time we ever came in contact with him. Together... in that house," Mike interjected. "We got away, but we never truly escaped. We're connected to him, and It has the power to destroy us from wherever It is, and wherever we are."

"Well, what about my cousin?" Eddie pressed. "She doesn't want us dead, right? At least, it didn't seem that way back at the restaurant. Can't she help?"

"We can't count on her," Mike answered, ignoring the heated glare he received from Richie. "We don't know how much control It has over her. For all we know, she could be doing his bidding."

"Bullshit," Richie snapped, annoyance fracturing his attempt at indifference. "She's not a fucking puppet. You saw how upset she got when she found out about our family."

"Exactly," Mike countered. "She's unpredictable, and we have no idea where her loyalties lie."

Beverly stood up and placed a hand on Richie's shoulder. "I know you love her, Richie, but we have to be careful. We have no idea what she's been through or how dangerous she is."

Ben sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Okay, so we're on our own. How can we defeat this thing?"

"The Ritual of Chud," Mike answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

"The ritual of chew?" Richie asked, skeptically. " What the fuck is that?"

"Ritual of Chud," Mike emphasized, his stern gaze meeting Richie's confused one. "It's the only way to kill It for good."

"That's not possible."

Everyone's heads whipped around to the sound of your voice coming from the doorway. Bill leapt to his feet and scrambled back while everyone took several steps away to bring as much distance between you and them as they could.

Richie was the only one to dare come close to you as he eyed you sadly before timidly calling out your name. 

"Jesus Christ," Eddie murmured, pressing himself up against the wall furthest from you. "Richie, don't."

As much as you wanted to reach out and hug Richie, you couldn't help but focus all of your attention on trying to muffle their fears that were projecting loudly and obnoxiously in your mind. Images of you tearing into their throats or slashing their insides to ribbons with your talons flashed across your vision as you read their thoughts, making you wince at the ruthlessness of it all.