it chapter one | reader insert [✔]

ten | "clowns"

You rode your bikes into the middle of a field that was not too far away from the site of the 'rock war'. You all walked along the track of the field in a line.

This was a short cut into town, and you and the boys used it all the time. Mike spoke up suddenly.

"Thanks, guys, but you shouldn't have done that. They'll be after you guys too, now," he said sincerely.

"Oh, no, no, no. Bowers? He's always after us," Eddie replied from the front of the group, a little laughter in his voice.

"I g-guess that's one th-th-thing we all have in common," Bill stuttered against the wind, and you nodded to no one in particular.

"Yeah, Homeschool. Welcome to the Losers' club," Richie exclaimed from the back of the group.

Eventually, you made it into town in the middle of a festival. Richie walked off to annoy one of the instrument-players in a band, while the rest of the group stood in an alleyway examining a new missing-poster.

"They said they found part of his hand all chewed up near the Standpipe," Stanley said sadly as you examined the photo of Edward Corcoran.

"He asked to borrow a pencil once," Ben gloomily spoke up behind you. Bill stepped forward and lifted the poster, seeing another missing poster beneath it, belonging to Betty Ripsom. You almost gasped.

It's like they just covered her up. Like she was forgotten.

"It's l-like she's been f-forgotten because Corcoran's missing," Bill voiced your thoughts as you examined the poster sadly.

"Will it ever end?" Stanley asked, and you averted your eyes to the ground. You could hear a faint, "What the fuck, dude?" before Richie walked back to the group, and Eddie came back around the corner with two ice-cream cones.

"What are you guys talking about?" He asked while Richie took one of the cones.

"What they always talk about," he complained.

"I actually think it will end," Ben spoke up from behind you, and you turned, "for a little while, at least."

"What do you mean?" Bev asked. She looked as confused as you did.

"So I was going over all my Derry research and I charted out all the big events. The Ironworks explosion in 1908. The Bradley Gang in '35. And the Black Spot in '62. And now kids being..." He didn't finish that sentence, just paused for a moment before continuing, "I realized this stuff seems to happen..."

"Every 27 years," You and Bill finished for him in unison. You all exchanged grave looks.

"Let's go sit down," you suggested quietly, and everyone followed you towards the park

"Okay, so, let me get this straight. It comes out from wherever to eat kids for, like, a year? And then what? It just goes into hibernation?" Eddie asked the group while you sat down on the ground next to Mike's legs, who was sitting on the chair above you.

"Maybe it's like... What do you call it? Cicadas. Y'know, the bugs that come out once every 17 years," Stanley answered.

"My dad used to say this town was cursed," You started explaining, voice going quiet, "He said that all the bad things that happen in this town are because of one thing. An evil thing that feeds off the people of Derry. That's why he wanted us to move..." you trailed off, and the group cast you sincere looks.

"But it can't be one thing," Stanley tried to change the subject, to get your mind off of it, "We all saw something different."

"Maybe," you thought out loud as the group listened in again, "or maybe it knows what scares us most and that's what we see."

"I-I saw a leper," Eddie spoke up, "he was like a walking infection.'

"But you didn't," Stanley turned to him, agreeing with what you had said before, "because it isn't real. None of this is. Not Eddie's leper. Or Y/n seeing her Mom and that fire. Or Bill seeing Georgie. Or the w-woman I keep seeing..."

"She hot?" Richie asked, and you looked up at him in disbelief. Was he capable of being serious for ONE second?

"No, Richie. She's not hot!" Stanley snapped back at him, "her face is all messed up! None of this makes any sense." He sounded like he was about to cry, "they're all like bad dreams."

"I don't think so. I know the difference between a bad dream and real life, okay?" Mike told him, and it caused you to look up at him.

"What'd you see? You saw something, too?" Eddie asked him.

"Yes," Mike took a deep breath before beginning to explain, "Do you guys know that burned-down house on Harris Avenue?" He paused for a minute, "I was inside it when it burned down. Before I was rescued, my mom and dad were trapped in the next room over from me. They survived the fire like me, but the experience was terrible. They were pushing and pounding on the door... Trying to get to me-"

You didn't realize you were crying until a teardrop fell onto your leg, "but it was too hot," you finished for him, wiping your face.

Mike seemed confused for a minute before Eddie spoke up.

"Y/n's parents were killed in a house fire," he explained quietly, and you stood, and sat yourself down in between Beverly and Mike.

"Really?" he asked, turning to you. You just nodded before starting to explain your story. "I was only 10. It was a d-day after my birthday. There were a few teenagers, and they were playing with matches right next to our gas tank. It exploded. It lit our house on fire. I was at Richie's house, I was safe," you paused, wiping another tear that fell on your jumper, "but my parents weren't as lucky. They were k-k-killed."

The group was silent and Beverly wrapped her arms around you, hugging you.

"But now, every time I see fire all I can see are my parent's dead bodies," you shook your head, "We're all afraid of something." Bev let go of you.

"G-Got that right," Richie said quietly, the memory of you collapsing in the middle of his kitchen when you got the news your parents were killed was engraved in his mind. The way you screamed and cried.

He turned and locked eyes with a clown on stage, shuddered, and turned back around.

"Why, Rich? What are you afraid of?" Eddie asked.

"Clowns."