𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮

iv. The Clubhouse.

    

     DAVID PULLED Timothy to the side and all of them explained everything before Mike spoke, "the deadlights." He said and Timothy looked at him. "The deadlights..." Bill says and Timothy furrowed his brows. He remembered... Beverly down in the cistern, floating? Her eyes were white and she didn't wake up. "She was the only one that got caught in the deadlights that day." Timothy said, looking at Beverly who held up her pack of cigarettes up to him. He gladly took one.

"We were all touched by it. Changed. Deep down. Like... an infection. Or a virus." Mike said, turning to Eddie as Beverly took a cigarette to her lips as well, Timothy lighting it up with his lighter. "A virus. You understand." He said as he walked over to Eddie who quickly rushed past him. Ben took a seat at the couch next to Timothy who glanced up. "That virus. It's been growing for twenty-seven years, this whole time... it just got to Stan first."

"Because he was the weakest." Richie said and David sighs. "That's cold, Tozier..." He says. "I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking, man." The bespectacled man said and the blond rolled his eyes. "I mean, Rich, come on." Bill says.

"What Beverly sees will come to pass. It's what will happen to all of us eventually. Unless we stop it." Mike said, trying to convince them. "And how the hell are we suppose to do that, Mikey?" David asked as he crossed his arms. "The Ritual of Chüd." He says and Timothy just inhales a lot from his cig, his eyebrows furrowing together.

"The Shakopee, the first ones who fought It. They have a saying, all living things must abide by the laws through the shape they inhabit." Mike says and Timothy sighs. "A tribal ritual? Are you fucking kidding me, man?" Richie exclaims. "No, there's gotta be another way. This comes back, what? Every twenty-seven years? Let's just kick the can down the road and do it then." He adds.

David rolled his eyes, "dude, Tim and I will be sixty-ni— oh, wait, good! Good, yeah! Sixty-nine, baby!" He raised his hand to Timothy who shakes his head. "Davey, no," he grimaced at him.

"It doesn't work that way." Beverly said and Timothy looks at her right away. David sighed, sitting onto the arm rest of the couch Timothy was sitting on. "None of us make it another twenty years and..." She paused, tears were in her eyes. David put a hand to her shoulder, rubbing it softly, which was... rare for the asshole, never-show-feelings David King. "In the way it happens..."

"So if we don't beat this cycle," Ben spoke. "We die." Bill said and Timothy looked at him right away. Both men had eyes filled with surrow as they stared at one another. "Horribly." Eddie added and Timothy looks down, sighing. "Yeah, I don't need the horribly part." Richie said and Timothy sighs.

"I didn't say it, she said it, not me."

"Alright, guys, look... I've seen w-w-what he's talking about... and i-i-it's all true, it's the only way." Bill says and Timothy looks down, rubbing his hands together. "If we want this ritual to work," Bill spoke, "we have to remember." Mike added.

"Remember what?"

"It's better I show you. We don't have much time. This cycle will end soon. And once it does," "we're fucked." The group took a walk, a nice stroll down the empty streets, a nice walk through a field over looking the train, through a stream, and then they got to the woods. "The Barrens..." Beverly said and Timothy smiled to himself.

"This is where we came." Ben said. "After the rock fight." Timothy looked at David who just stared at Mike. He had that look in his eyes. "The Clubhouse." Richie said and Timothy beamed. "You built that for us!" Beverly points to Ben with a big smile. "Yeah, yeah, the hatch has got to be around here somewhere." Timothy pointed.

They were all ahead as Timothy turned to Bill who tripped over a branch but the taller man caught him. "You okay?" He smiled and Bill stared up at him, his cheeks red as he looked into Timothy's eyes. "Y-Yeah..." Bill stammered softly.

Bill smiled, he remembered one afternoon he and Timothy were running around and they went down into the Clubhouse to mess around for a while, but then Timothy fell and Bill tripped and fell on top of him. Bill didn't even try and get up, he just smiled and leaned down to kiss Timothy.

"You sure?" Timothy squinted his eyes a bit at Bill who nodded, letting him go as he blushed. "You know what? I actually think the door was more like... around—" Ben is cut off from his light stomping when the door hatch gave out and he fell through it. They all just stood there, "uh, Benny, you okay?" Timothy called out to him.

"Found it! I'm okay! Come down!"

Beverly was the first climbing down, Richie after her, "what the dick is this?" The bespectacled boy asked as Timmy climbed down and held out a hand to Bill who grabbed it, climbing down. They all looked around, "how'd you build it?" Bill asked as Stan came down the little step ladder shortly after.

"When did you build it?" Timmy asked as he looked around. "Here and there, I guess..." Ben answered as Eddie climbed down next, then Dave. "It was already dug out for something, so I just had to reinforce the walls." He explained as Mike then joined them, "Get some wood for the, uh, roof door, and that's pretty much it." He carried on as Beverly and Timmy stood side by side, looking around.

"Pretty good for my first time, huh?" He asked as he put his arm up, a hand against a pillar and it caused the roof behind Timmy and Beverly to fall, making them both jump. "Now that's a cool feature! What happens when you put your hand on the other pillar, professor?" Richie then asked.

Timmy went over, standing beside him. "Okay, this is exactly why we have safety codes! Why we have permits." Eddie rambled as he smacked his hand. "This place is a death trap, do you understand that?" He asked and Ben looked down. "Well, it's a work in progress." He looks back up at Eddie.

"Just so you know, I get hurt, you're reliable. Also what is this? The switch from Iron Maiden?" He nudged the hanging fashlight. "That's a flashlight." Ben quickly answered his question. "And what is that? A horse hitch? When do you have horses down— oh, this is cool." Eddie quickly got distracted from his ranting as he picked up the paddle.

"That was like three dollars, so be careful please." Ben said as Eddie examined the ball attached on a string to the paddle. "I have one of these," the small boy said before starting to hit the ball against the paddle, holding it up, "hey Stan, do you see this?" He asked and the other boy was clearly annoyed. "Yeah, can you maybe not...?" He asked him.

"Maybe not what? Hold on, maybe not what? Be awesome and celebrate the magic of the paddle ball!" He said and then he dropped the paddle, the ball rolling away. "Good going, fucknut, you broke his thing!" Eddie scolded Stan.

Timmy looked at Bill who sighed and shrugged. The brunette boy looks back at Eddie and Stan. "I broke it?" Stan asked in disbelief. "Yeah! You broke it with your face." Eddie said aggressively. "What?" Stan looked back to where the ball went. "I'm not putting my fucking hand down there."

authors note i miss baby timmy 🥺