𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮

ii. There's An Echo.

TIMOTHY WATCHED Eddie and Richie hold one another's hand to arm wrestle, "let's take our shirts off and kiss!" Eddie exclaimed and Timothy raised his eyebrows as he sipped his beer, glancing at David who was cheering them on. They continued on eating and messing around until they finished all of their food and a waitress brought over a bowl with fortune cookies in it.

"So, you became a teacher?" Bill asked as he reached over, handing a fortune cookie out for Timothy as he kept one. "Yes..." Timothy smiled and Bill smiled back at him. "You know, I kind of figured you'd become someone great when you're older." He said as he pointed at the older man who just chuckled, glancing away and sighing.

He looked back over at Bill, "and, I mean, you're so creative, I knew you'd become someone as great as a best selling author." He says and Bill just smiled, staring at him. Timothy looked away, biting his bottom lip before he sighed softly. "What's wrong?" Bill nudged him lightly. "The memories... everything. I don't even remember most of the people in them, well all except one..." He sighed as he looked away and Bill knew right away.

Patrick Hockstetter. Timothy has not stopped thinking about him since Eddie brought up Henry Bowers. "I mean, it's weird, right? We're all here, everything just comes back, faster and faster." Ben said and Timothy glanced up. "All of it." He said as he pointed all around the table.

"You know, when Mike called me, I threw up? Isn't that weird? Like I got nervous. Like sick and I threw up." Richie said and then chuckled softly to himself as they all looked at him. "I feel fine now, I feel very relieved to be here with you guys." He looked up and all around at the group. "Why is everybody looking at me like this?" He asked.

"When Mike called me, I crashed my car."

"Seriously?" Bill and Timothy asked at the same time. "Yeah, man, I hear you, my heart was literally pounding right out of my chest." Ben said and David huffs. "I felt the same but I thought it was because of Mike..." He said as he looks at the man to the right side of him. "I thought it was only me." Beverly said and Timothy looked at her.

"I-I started shaking, almost started crying too... my palms were... sweaty." He said and Beverly reached out, putting a hand to his back. "It was like pure..." Bill stuttered to say it making Timothy look at him right away. "Fear." Mike looked at him and Bill looked back at him right away.

"It's fear. What you felt."

"Why do we all feel that way, Mike?" David said and Mike looked at him next. "You remember something we don't... Don't you, Mike?" Bill asked when he saw the man look down at the placemat in front of him. "Something happens to you when you leave this town. Farther away, hazier it all gets. But me, I never left. So, yeah... I remember. I remember all of it." He says and Timothy looks down.

"Pennywise..."

Timothy felt like his heart dropped at the mention, glancing up at David right away who stared at the table. "Oh, the fucking clown." Eddie says and David looked up at Timothy right away. "Oh, shit, Pennywise..." Ben whispered.

"Mike, you said you wanted our help with something. What was that?" Bill asked as he looked at Mike. "There's an echo here in Derry. Bounces back. Every twenty-seven years." He says and Eddie looks at him right away. "What are you talking about?" He asked the man.

"Hold on, listen." Mike says. "No." Eddie says and David looks at him. "Just listen, guys," he whispered and Mike continued, "we thought we stopped it back then. We thought it was done but..." He paused and flipped through the book in front of him. "Mike..." Richie says.

"A week ago, a man, Adrian Mellon, slaughtered. A girl, Lisa Aubrich, the other night, went missing. There have already been others and there will be more." Mike continued despite their protests. They were arguing at this point until Timothy looked up, "guys, stop." He said sternly.

"Just let him explain. Okay?" David said to the others. "That echo... we might have changed it, just like it changed us. But we didn't stop it. Because it just bounced back. We made an oath. That's why I brought you back. That's why you're here. To finish it. For good." Mike explained.

"Well, that shit got dark fast. Thanks Mike."

Eddie opened up his fortune cookie and then held up the paper. "My fortune cookie just says could." He says and Timothy furrowed his brows together. "They don't know how to do fortune cookies here, mine says guess." Richie showed them. "You mind throwing that over here?" Bill said as he stood up and Timothy looks at him.

"What do you got, Mike?" David asked and Bill takes the paper to see It written on the paper. He had their papers, all except Timothy's and David's because they didn't get ones with one word, guess, could, cut, not, it. He put them all in a line and Timothy leaned closer. "It's a message." Mike pointed and Timothy furrowed his brows as the other men try to figure it out, saying multiple sentences and arguing with each other before Timothy realized, looking at Beverly right away. "Bev?" He says and Beverly looks up at him.

"What does yours say?" He asked, holding out his hand and she set the paper into his hand. He looked at it and saw what it said. Stanley. He looked over at the other five, gulping softly before he placed it to where it was suppose to go, moving the It paper to the end of the line they were in.

"What the fuck?" David said right away as Timothy just stared at the papers. "Why does it say Stanley?" Eddie asked in panic. "Will someone else fucking answer me?!" He now shouted and then the table clamoured loudly. Timothy quickly stood up, backing away. The fortune cookies were clattering in the bowl in the middle of the table.

One jumped out suddenly and a creature started breaking through it, like it was hatching. "What the fuck is that, man?" Richie asked and then the creature grew out wings and a face appeared, a baby that started to cry right away. "Jesus fucking Christ." Timothy whispered as he grabbed onto Bill right away, pulling him closer.

Three more fortune cookies jumped out of the bowl and three more creatures hatched out of them, an eyeball first. "Hey! Hey! A fortune cookies' looking at me!" Richie shouted out loud. The third creature was a single bat wing. "I don't wanna be here!" Eddie panicked and Ben grabs his arm.

The bat wing started flying around the room, near Ben and Eddie who both started swatting their arms or either guarding themselves. "Eddie!" Richie called out and then this black liquid started pouring out of the bowl, it looked like lava. Timothy pulled Bill closer, backed up into a corner. The fourth creature was a baby bird, whining out.

Bill looked towards the fish tank and saw a child head floating in it which caused him to jump and get closer to Timothy, his arms both wrapped around the taller man's waist. "It isn't real! It's not real!" Mike called out and Timothy looked at him right away, grabbing the chair David had been sitting on which he lifted and started hitting the top of the table with, shouting it wasn't real.

"Is everything alright?"

Mike stopped hitting the table and Timothy quickly pulled apart from Bill, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. "Yeah. Can we get the check?" Richie asked the woman with a smile.

authors note 🖐🤣 coolio