Two Birds [S.Uris]

IV. Hallucinations

Bill, Mike, and Fleur get out of their cars at Mike's place, which barely even looks like a home. "The library?" Fleur asks as they walk in. It looks familiar to her. "I haven't been in this place forever." She says quietly.

Bill and Fleur examine the artifacts, then look away, noticing that Mike had walked off. "Yo! Mike, where are you going?" Bill calls out, then quickly follows.

They run up the steps, finding a messy type attic. "Mike, you live- live here?" Bill asks. "Yeah. Make yourself at home." The man replies. "Want some water?" He asks.

"Yes please." Fleur says as Bill simply nods. Mike hands them the water, and they both take a sip. It tastes strange, but they assume that it must just be the tap water.

"This memory is the thing. It's the key to everything!" Mike explains, motioning towards a wooden object. "If it really doesn't want us b-b-b-b-back here, don't you think the smartest thing is to get out of Derry?" Bill asks.

"No, no, no! It does want us back! Of course it does! But It doesn't know I know what I know!" Mike begins shouting. "What do you know?" Fleur asks.

"How to kill the shit out of it!" Mike fires. The man is going crazy. "Jeez, Mike, you're scaring Fleur." Bill says, looking to the blonde who was staring at him with widened eyes. "I've read every book! I've talked to every person in this god forsaken town! Everybody that would talk to me, anyway. And that's, not a long list but.. It wasn't- I know! I know how this all started. How It started." Mike takes the wooden vase and holds it up.

"It started here." Mike holds it up to Bill and Fleur's face. "Woah." Bill says, lightly touching the tip of the wood. "What are we looking at, Mike?" He asks.

"It's an artifact. Early 18th century. Shakopee." Mike states. "Shakopee.. H-h-how'd you get it?" Bill asks. "I found it. No, no. They gave it to me. I stole it." Mike admits.

"You stole it?" Fleur asks in confusion. "From native Americans?" Bill adds, squinting his eyes. "It's complicated." Mike says. "Yeah it is."

"They helped me on my journey." Mike says as Bill and Fleur look down at the wooden carvings. "So beautiful." Fleur mutters, beginning to feel dizzy. It's as if the carvings are moving.

"They showed me things. A vision." Mike says as the two look away, feeling sick. "I feel kinda funky." Bill says, clutching his hair. "Yeah, I don't feel so good either." Fleur adds. "Am I sweating?"

"I need you to see what they showed me." Mike says, facing the window as the two look to him with dizziness. "They live outside of Derry beyond It's reach. They moved there a few years ago." Mike begins.

"They're holy men. They're holy of holies. They took me in, fed me their sacred material. I started to react. While I sat there looking out over the valley, I saw It arrive." Mike continues.

Fleur grabs onto Bill's arm, feeling like she could collapse at any moment. Mike turns around. "I knew that one day I would have to make you all see."

"Mike?" Bill asks. "Did you put something in our drinks?" Bill and Fleur look over to the two glasses of water on the old wooden table. "That's a.. It's a root." Mike sighs.

"You drugged us?" Fleur asks in shock. "No! It's a root with properties. It's just a micro dose. It would shock people like me." Mike explains. "Why would you do that?" Bill asks.

"To open my eyes." Mike exhales, once again holding the wooden object. "I don't feel so good." Bill continues. "I need you guys, to look and you'll see." Mike moves it closer to their faces. They try to resist, but they are caught in the hallucinations.

The two fall to the ground, shocked as they see everything. They see where it all began. "They showed me the way It appeared to them!" Mike shouts.

Fleur begins to cry, grabbing onto Bill's arm once again. "Stop it!" Fleur screams. "They showed me their pain. They showed how to stop it!" Mike pulls it away from their eyes, leaving them gasping and crying on the ground.

Their vision finally goes back to normal, and their heartbeats stabilize. "Did you see it, the ritual?" Mike asks. "The ritual of chüd." Fleur whispers out, catching her breath. "I knew you'd see it!" Mike says, smiling.

Bill gets up, grabbing Mike by the collar of his shirt. "We saw whole fucking thing, Mike." He groans out, then leans back against a pile of books. "How are we gonna do it?" He asks again.

"Yeah, everybody already said no."
Fleur adds. "But with you, they'll listen ." Mike says, looking to Bill. "This won't work without all of us." He concludes.

"We should get back to the others. This place is starting to freak me out." Fleur says, shivering. "Alright, come on." Mike reaches his hand out, helping the girl up.