Two Birds [S.Uris]

XIV. Drowning

After much convincing, everyone follows behind Bill, pedaling the fastest they've ever pedaled before. By the time they made it, Bill was just on the porch steps. "Bill! Bill, you can't go in there. This is crazy."

They all drop their bikes, making their way in through the gate. "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? Are you just gonna pretend it isn't happening like everyone else in this town?" Bill pauses, on the verge of tears.

"Because I can't. I go home, and all I see is that Georgie isn't there. His clothes, his toys, his stupid stuffed animals but.. He isn't." Bill takes in a deep breath. "So walking into this house, for me, it's easier than walking into my own." He turns around, beginning to make his way inside.

"Wow." Richie breathes out. "What?" Ben turns to the boy, scrunching up his face. "He didn't stutter once." He replies, slowly following behind Bill. Everyone follows Richie's actions, hesitantly, but surely. That is, except Stanley.  "Wait!"

They all turn around, averting their eyes to the curly headed boy. "Um.. shouldn't we have some people keep watch? You know, jut in case something bad happens?"

"Who w-w-wants to stay out here?" Bill asks, his hand on the door knob of the house. Everyone except Beverly raised their hand, looking around disappointedly as they realize some of them would have to enter. "Fuck."

•••••

The four chosen were Eddie, Bill, Richie, and Fleur. As they enter, the door creaks, letting in a beam of light, shining through the dusty atmosphere. "I can't believe I pulled the short straw. You guys are lucky we're not measuring dicks." Richie says, looking in shock. Neither of the kids have ever been in this house, they've only seen it from the outside.

"All you make is dick jokes." Fleur says, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, So?" He sasses. "So, can you stop dicking around? It's not a time to fucking joke."

"You just made a dick joke." Richie smirks. "Shut up, Richie." Eddie cuts in. "I can smell it."

"Don't breathe through your mouth." The four eyed boy says, although he was breathing from his mouth without realization. "How come?" Eddie asks, walking into another room. Neither of them knew exactly where they were going or what they were looking for.

"Because then you're eating it." Eddie unzips his fanny pack, gagging. "Rich, quit freaking him out." Fleur argues, walking closer to Eddie and placing a hand on his shoulder.

Richie looks over, noticing a paper stuck in between a ton of cobwebs. The three others, turn over, noticing him grasping the paper, wider eyes than usual.  "What is it, Rich?" Fleur asks, slowly approaching.

"It.... it says I'm missing." Richie chokes out, looking down at the paper. "Y-Y-You're not missing, Richie." Bill assures. "Police department, City of Derry. That's my shirt. That's my hair. That's my face." Richie begins to panic, causing Bill to try and rip the paper out of his hands. "Calm down, this isn't real."

The two fight over the paper. "That's my name. That's my age! That's the date!" Fleur joins in on pulling the paper. "It cant be real, Richie!" She screams. "No, it says it! What the fuck?"

Bill gets the paper out of his hands, throwing it across the room, hitting Fleur right in the face, giving her a slight paper cut on her cheek. She holds her hand up to her cheek, sighing. "Am I missing? Am I gonna go missing?!"

"Look at me, Richie. Look at me." Bill says, grabbing the boy's hands. "That.. That isn't real. It's playing tricks on you." He finishes, finally calming the boy.

"Hello?" A voice of a girl emanates from the top floor, sending chills down their spines. "There's someone else..." Fleur whispers. "Hello? Help me, please!" She cries out. A few scratching sounds are heard right after. The teenagers hesitantly make their way up the stairs, hearing the creak at every step.

When they reach the end of a seemingly endless hallway, they stare ahead. The girl looked familiar, yet she had a zombified look. "Betty?" Bill asks.

"Ripsom?" The four eyed boy adds, his breath hitching. Betty stares ahead at the others for a moment, before she is snatched away, never to be seen. The four of them slowly begin making their way to the far room.

Eddie pauses for a moment, looking the opposite way, wide eyes. "Guys, can you hear that?" He trembles, looking back at the others who haven't noticed. Fleur turns around, though, slowly making her way towards Eddie. "Come on, Eds. We have to stick together." She places a hand on his shoulder.

Eddie doesn't budge, still staring at the yellow window ahead. He reaches for his inhaler, then takes a sharp inhale. "Eddie, hurry up." Fleur glares at him, waiting for him to start walking. Suddenly, the door in front of the two begins creaking open, as the one behind them begins to close. Fleur quickly spins around, noticing the closing door.

"Eddie! Run!" She shouts, grabbing his arm and pulling him at full speed towards the far door. The two nearly stumbled every few seconds, and by the time they made it close, it was too late. Nevertheless, they still run to try and open the door.

Right before they make it, the floor in front of the two breaks apart, leaving a huge hole in between them and the door. Unfortunately for the blonde, she wasn't looking and ran directly into the gaping hole. As she fell through, the fall seemed completely endless. "Fleur!"

She screams the most she has every screamed before, and before she knew it, she landed right in the middle of a huge sea of water. To make matters worse, the waves were deadly. Fleur finds herself calling for help, only to have her voice echo through as if she had never yelled anything. She tries to scream, but her head is under water.

Breathing begins getting hard for the girl. After inhaling more water, Fleur nearly passes out. And as she is about to, she spots the clown, standing ahead of her, sticking his arm out to her. "Oh, silly Fleur. It seems you have never learned how to swim! To survive, you must float. Floating is the key. Come, Fleur. Float with me." He laughs maniacally as the girl tries to find something to grab onto, yet there was nothing. The entire area was covered in water, and the rest was empty blackness.

"This isn't real!" She chokes out, coughing out more water. "What was that?" Pennywise asks, placing a hand on his ear. "THIS ISN'T FUCKING REAL..." The blonde's voice trails off as black spots cloud her vision and she's finally unconscious.