Two Birds [S.Uris]

XXII. It's gone

"Guys, we can't!" Beverly argues, breaking the silence. "I'm s-s-s-sorry Bill repeats as Richie slowly stands up. "I told you, Bill." He begins

"I fucking told you. I don't want to die. It's your fault." Richie sounds angry, yet afraid. "Rich..." Fleur slowly tries to make her way to Richie, but Stanley pulls her arm back, along with her.

"You punched me in the face. You made me walk through shitty water. You brought me to a fucking crackhead house." Richie lists, getting louder every sentence. "And now..." He trails off, grabbing a bat that was beside him.

"I'm gonna have to kill this fucking clown." Pennywise's happy expression drops. It lets go of Bill, then gets up, staring straight at Richie.

"Welcome to the Losers' Club, asshole!" Richie screams, then swings at the clown, causing its upper body to turn back. Mike then joins in, using a large metal pipe and helping Richie.

Suddenly, burning hands appear from out of the clown's mouth, grabbing onto the pipe. "Mike!" Beverly screams. Fleur stands in shock, tears filling her eyes.

Stanley lets go of the girl, then runs over to another pipe on the ground, picking it up and cutting the arms. The limbs retract into the clown's mouth, and as Richie hits it once more in the back, Pennywise transforms into the scary woman from the painting.

"Stan, watch out!" Bills shouts as the woman charges at him. "Stay away from him!" Fleur screams, grabbing a spike and running in front of Stanley. She hits the woman in the face, causing it to screech and return to being Pennywise.

Fleur turns around and looks to Stanley, making sure he was okay. Just then, the ground beneath her began to break. "What's going on?" She asks, looking down at her feet in shock. "Fleur, move!" Stanley shouts. But it was too late.

Fleur fell through the floor, heading right for a huge pit of water. "Stanley!" She screams. Just as she thought she would die, her arm is caught. Fleur looks up, looking straight at the curly headed boy. With all his strength, he pulls her up and the ground returns to normal.

By the time Fleur is back up, the clown is attacking Mike with large crab legs as he rolls away in attempt to reach safety. Ben runs ahead, stabbing the clown right in its back, causing the blood to poor out into the air as it let out a defending roar.

"Kill him!" Fleur cries out. Its head spins around, turning into a mummy and wrapping the straps around Ben's head, pulling him in closer. He was struggling. Ben continues to reach in, still trying to pull out the spike. Bill looks to his side, finding a chain and whacking it right at the mummy straps.

They tear, then fall to the ground. Everyone who had a weapon was now beating the clown. After another hit, the clown transforms into a leper and vomits all over Eddie. This time, he didn't cry or freak out, he was angry.

"I'm gonna kill you!" He screams, then kicks It in the face as hard as he possibly could. Pennywise rolls back, transforming into the infamous Al Marsh. "Hey, Bevvie. Are you still my little g-"

Beverly jams a pipe right down his throat, causing the clown to reappear, choking. Beverly backs away, accidentally banging into Richie. The clown chokes for a moment longer, then spits the rest of the pipe out.

"Oh, shit!" Eddie screams. The clown backs away, quickly followed by the losers. He gasps maniacally, leaning against another pit in the ground.

"That's why you didn't kill Beverly. Cause sh-sh-She wasn't afraid. And we aren't either. Not anymore. Now you're the one who's afraid. Because you're gonna starve." Once Bill finishes, the clown lets out a gurgling noise, then flips back into the pit, holding on by the tip.

"He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts." The clown repeats over and over as the losers pass a pipe over to Bill. Right as he prepares to swing, the clown falls in deeper.

Its skin begins to crack once again, this time floating up into the air until only half of his face was left.

"Fear."

It lets go, finally falling down into the endless pit and gone forever. The losers all look over the pit, watching the white prices of skin float up into the atmosphere. "I know what I'm doing for my summer experience essay." Richie says, exhaling. "That was fun. Except for those six or seven times I thought we were gonna die." Fleur adds.

Fleur turns to Stanley, pulling the boy in for a hug. Beverly and bill do the same, holding onto each other tightly. "Guys. Guys." Eddie says, causing them to break their hug and look up at the floating kids, who were now descending. "The kids are floating down."

As the others look up, Bill looks down towards the pile of belongings, noticing a bright yellow jacket. He slowly makes his way towards it, crouching down and reading the label. Georgie Denbrough.

The others walk over, placing a hand on him to comfort him. Bill sobs, grasping the jacket tightly. "It's okay, Bill." Fleur whispers, wrapping her arms around him.