𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋 | 𝐌𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐋𝐎𝐍

[12] facing demons

"Kill it Bill!"

"Come on, kill it!"

"Fucking kill it!"

The terrified screams of the Losers bounced off of the walls as Pennywise stared at the group.

"It's not loaded," Mike mutters to himself, before realizing he's the only one that knows it.

"Wait, it's not loaded," he shouts, but he is too late. Bill had already pulled the trigger.

Nothing happens and the Losers watch as Pennywise is stunned for only a moment before running at the group. Arizona's hand disconnects from Mike's as she struggles to get away from the demon. It ends up on top of Bill and attempts to rip the gun out of his hand. Arizona couldn't move, so she watched as Bill struggled to free himself of the clown. Beverly took it upon herself to do something and hit It over the head yelling, "Leave him alone!"

It rips Beverly's weapon out of her arm and she steps back in terror. Mike makes an attempt to attack it, but he is thrown across the room.

"Mike!" Arizona screamed, rushing to his side, but not before Pennywise jumps into her path and grabs her by the throat.

"Say hi to Daddy for me," It sneered and starts choking her, but Bill places a bar behind It's head and frees Arizona. The girl falls to the ground, gasping for air.

"You alright Ari," Mike asked, pulling her into a hug. She nods and stands back up, ready to give the clown the fight of It's life.

Arizona looks at the current fight and sees Bill and Richie are on It's back and Ben has It by the arm. Stan joins the fight and the clown spends in circles, trying to get the boys off of It. Finally, he flings Stan and Ben across the room and flips Richie and Bill off of It's back. Richie is thrown on the ground, but the clown has Bill in It's grip. Arizona helps the boys to safety and looks back at the clown.

"No, don't. Let him go," Beverly pleaded.

"No. I'll take him, I'll take all of you! And I'll feast on your flesh as I feed on your fear," It taunted. After a pause, It raises a gloved finger in the air.

"Or...You'll just leave us be. I'll take him, only him, and then I will have my long rest. And you will all live to grow and thrive and lead happy lives. Until old age take you back to the weeds," It bargained. Arizona shook her head, not wanting to leave Bill. But their leader had other plans.

"L-leave! I'm the one who dragged you all into this. I-I'm s-s-sorry," Bill said, his voice breaking. The clown mocked the boy, fueling Arizona's anger.

"Fuck that, we aren't leaving you," Arizona replied, the others nodding in agreement.

"Go!" Bill reiterated, wishing for his friends to leave and never look back.

"Guys, we can't!" Beverly cried, looking at her friend's desperately.

"I told you, Bill. I fucking told you!" Richie muttered.

"What the fuck are you doing Richard," Arizona whispered, but Richie wasn't listening.

"I don't wanna die! It's your fault. You punched me in the face, you made me walk through shitty water, you brought me to a fucking crackhead house," Richie ranted, and Arizona thought the trashmouth was going to turn and walk out.

"And now I have to kill this fucking clown," Richie finished and grabbed a bat.

"Welcome to the Losers Club asshole," he yelled and ran at the clown, chaos igniting once he hit It directly in the face.

Mike dropped Arizona's hand, and slammed the pole into Pennywise's head, but it was stopped by burnt hands reach out of It's mouth. Mike fought against them, until Stanley hit them away. Pennywise immediately turned Its attention to the curly haired boy.

Stan stood frozen in fear once It turned into the woman the Losers saw attacking Stan not even an hour ago. That's when Arizona realized what It was doing.

"Guys! It's trying to scare us, It's using our greatest fears. Be brave guys," she yelled, grabbing the attention of the clown. In a blink, her mother stood in front of her, no doubt the clown was behind this.

"You're a disgrace! Running around with someone of his color...I'm glad I kicked you out," Adeline spat, but Arizona only shook her head and laughed.

The clown groaned out of anger and attempted to grab her again, but Arizona ducked out of the way causing It to crash into the rock wall behind her.

It was about to take another swing at her, but Mike attacked the clown once again. It laughed maniacally and pushed him away, and It's hands turned into spikes. Mike had to roll away to avoid being impaled. Before Arizona could say anything, Ben let out a cry of anger and stabbed the clown, who roared in agony. It's head turned around to meet the boys eyes and turned into a mummy. The wrapping tied itself around Ben's head, and the boy screamed in terror.

Once Ben freed himself, the Losers took turns trying to hurt the clown. It barely had time to stand up before one of the boys knocked It back down. It turned into their fears, trying to get them to back off, but the adrenaline was coursing through their veins. Everything inside of them was tell them to kill It and end the cycle of missing kids.

Arizona never knew Eddie had the guts to scream "I'm gonna kill you!" and kick Pennywise over, but that's something she discovered during the battle. When it faced the group once again, It's head was in the form of Beverly's dad. Arizona quietly gasped and glanced at the redheaded girl who's eyes widened in terror. Beverly stepped towards her dad, who was giving looking at her in a way father's shouldn't look at their kids.

"Hey Bevvy, are you still my-" It started to taunt her, but Beverly screamed out of frustration and shoved the iron pole down Its throat. The figure of terror's eyes went wide as It's face transformed back into the clown makeup.

The Losers watched as It fell backwards and pushed Itself away from the group. It moved backwards until It ran into the well, and It cried as the Losers approached It. Pennywise's body shook as It laughed, but the Losers weren't afraid of this force of evil anymore.

"That's why you didn't kill Beverly, because s-s-she wasn't afraid. And we aren't either. Not anymore. Now you're the one who's afraid because you're going to starve."

Bill's words resonated throughout the group, giving them the final inch of courage they needed to look It in the face and watch as It gave up in defeat. The clown recited Bill's speech exercise and slowly sunk into the well. Arizona took the iron post out of Beverly's hands and gave it to Bill. The stuttering boy raised the weapon, ready to strike the clown with it. However, the clown spoke one word before disappearing into the darkness. "Fear."

The group watched for a moment, before cheers of success echoed in the cistern. Mike and Arizona looked at each other for a moment, and Mike went in to hug her. Right before he reached her, It jumped out of the well and grabbed the first person It could hold onto.

The Losers watched as a scream escaped Arizona's mouth as the clown dragged her down with It.

They ran to the well in an attempt to rescue her, but it was too late, all they saw as darkness. Mike collapsed onto the ground sobbing, and the Losers engulfed him into a hug as they cried together. Arizona was a vital part of their team, and she was gone just like that. Nothing could replace the hole they all felt in their hearts when they realized she was gone.

The saddest part is, Mike never said goodbye to the love of his life. His first friend. His best friend. His girlfriend. He never got that chance, and it tore him apart.

-

word count: 1353

wow i am not okay i am so sorry. so sorry.

stream i love you by billie eilish for all the feels during this chapter