Behind the Clouds ✔️

017

"This isn't real," Bill stated, trying to calm Richie down, "Remember the missing kid poster. That wasn't real, so this isn't real." A scream echoed in the house somewhere, scaring the two boys.

"Ripsom's really coming back from the dead!" Richie exclaimed, tired of all this. Bill stood in front of Richie, ready to call It out on it's faults.

"Come on. Ready?" He asked. It's not real. It's not real. It's not real.

"No!" Richie yelled out, holding onto Bill's arm. He was done with this house. Everything It had done to the three boys, since they'd entered, was scary and deceptive. In a matter of ten minutes, the boys had been separated and alone.

Bill opened the door to reveal the way they had entered. A sigh of relief ran through him. They were going to find Eddie and get the hell out of here.

"Oh, thank fuck," Richie let out the breath he was holding. More screaming was heard throughout the house. Neither of the boys knew if that was It playing with Ripsom, or worse, Eddie.

"Where's Eddie?" Bill asked, frozen.

"Help!" Eddie's voice called out, strangled. He was downstairs. Bill and Richie ran to find their friend. "Help!" They checked in every room possible, until the only room left was the kitchen. Bill and Richie burst through the door, stopping at the sight in front of them.

"Eddie!" Richie called, before seeing It before them. "Holy fuck."

"This isn't real enough for you, Billy? I'm not real enough for you?" It asked, toying with him. "It was real enough for Georgie. And his little friend, Ashton." Bill's gaze hardened on It, his heart yanked on. Georgie had been the first, of many disappearances that Bill could now explain led to a demented clown's house.

It leapt off of Eddie, roaring towards Bill and Richie. Before It could get to them, a pole was shot through it's head, Beverly behind the attack. Mike slowly crept inside the disgusting kitchen, with Ben and Stanley on his tail. It began to wail in front of them, hurt that they wanted to play mean. Beverly joined Bill and Richie, as Mike held the other two boys back.

"Get Eddie! Get Eddie!" Bill called out, seeing their friend on his lonesome behind It. Bill, Beverly, and Richie ran to Eddie's side, as It was busy. It growled in front of them, standing up almost taller than It already was.

"Oh, fuck! We gotta get out of here!" Richie exclaimed, as Beverly tried to hide in a corner. Bill stared straight at It, in shock that it was so unaffected by Beverly's attack.

It turned around, looking positively creepier with the pole in it's head. Mike pulled Ben and Stanley back, almost out of the kitchen, in fear for their lives.

"Get Eddie and let's go!" Stanley called out to them, Eddie crying from his broken arm.

"Guys, watch out!" Richie exclaimed, hovering over Eddie. "Eddie, look at me!"

"He's gonna get us! Guys!" Eddie cried. It's hands had now extended, creating some sort of claws. It jumped at the four on the floor, making them all scream. It began to laugh, as though this were a game. It turned to the three boys and swung his claw across Ben's gut. Blood began to trickle out, as Ben landed on top of Mike.

"Ben!" They all called out, as It bowed for it's grand exit. It disappeared from sight down a set of stairs. Bill was too heart strung for his brother, to just let it leave. He got up and started following It.

"Don't let him get away!" He called behind him. Everyone else screamed for him to come back. Bill went down the stairs, to see It lower itself down a well in the basement, with a gleeful look on it's face.

"Bill, we have to help Eddie!" Beverly called, getting up out of his angered reaction. Bill made it back up, to Eddie's screams of pain.

"I'm gonna snap your arm into place," Richie exclaimed, getting Eddie fired up.

"Rich, do not fucking touch me!" Eddie kept yelling, as Richie counted to three.

"Three," Richie brought Eddie's arm into place, making everyone squirm at the sound of the bones cracking. Eddie screamed again, and soon began to calm down, subtle tears falling down his face. Everyone sighed in silence, until Bill got to his feet.

"W-what are you guys doing in here? Y-you were s-supposed to stand watch!" Stanley looked up from Ben's wound to lock eyes with Bill.

"Newsflash, Bill!" He yelled, "One of us isn't here!" Richie, Eddie, and Bill's eyes widened, as it dawned on them.

"Where the hell is she?" Richie exclaimed, getting himself and Eddie to their feet. Beverly was sobbing, as she got out of her corner.

"She wanted to be alone for a while, but we didn't know she had ran off. We thought It had taken her, so we tried to find you guys," she explained.

"I-if she's not with us, then w-where did It take her?" Their unanswered question got it's response from screaming coming from upstairs. They bolted. They were led by the screams that slowly turned into soft hiccups and cries.

"Oh, my God," Mike said, each word really separated, as he stepped into the room he had found. Everyone clambered in behind him, spotting Violet curled up in a corner on the floor. Eddie sighed in relief that there wasn't any blood on her this time, but he too could see the way her emotional state was. It had used all the emotional fear that had built up inside Violet over the years against her.

It's laugh rang through the house one final time, as Mike picked up Violet and held her close to him. They all left the house in terror, Bill and Richie basically carrying Eddie. The gang stopped short looking from Eddie's arm to Violet's state.

"Shit, how are we supposed to take the both of them with us?" Richie exclaimed, as Mike carefully placed Violet into the basket on his bike. She mumbled something no one else could hear and pulled her arms tightly around her legs.

"R-richie, walk Eddie," Bill gave the order, as Richie nodded. He and Eddie could come back for their bikes another day, when they weren't scared shitless. They all got on their bikes, with the exception of Eddie and Richie, and pedaled slowly to the Kaspbrak household.