Alicia sat cross-legged on her bed, busily scratching away with her pencil in her beloved sketchbook. She was drawing a picture of a raincoat lying in a rainy street, the name "Georgie Denbrough" printed on the inside of the collar.

For some reason, it had become easier to think about little Georgie now. There was no longer fear surrounding the thought of his death, only a deep sadness and...guilt.

She could have saved him. But she didn't. She left him to die. She ignored a six-year-old child's plea for help and allowed him to be eaten alive.

Her knuckles whitened as she gripped her pencil tighter. In a sudden fit of rage, she flung the book across the room. It hit the wall with a dull thud before landing on the floor, its pages flapping wildly as it fell. Alicia gripped her long hair in both hands, taking several deep breaths to calm herself.

Was she really a murderer? Or was she just another victim?

A soft sound caught her attention. She held her breath for a second, listening carefully for it. Knocking. Someone was at the front door. She jumped up off the bed and strode out into the hall. The living room was across from her bedroom and she could see her mother dozing on the couch, her feet propped up on the armrest, her tangled mess of dark hair concealing her face. Alicia couldn't help feeling a touch of regret every time she looked at her mother, regret that she had never known her before her father had died. She must have been a happy, normal person, just like any other mother. But she wasn't anything like that now. She was depressed, hardly able to take care of herself let alone her daughter. Alicia knew her mother had tried, but somehow she was just never there when she really needed her. At best, she could only manage a part-time job and during the rest of the time she would just sit at home and smoke, and when she wasn't doing that she would sleep. Hygiene was not one of her mother's priorities. The house was nearly always a mess. Alicia had tried to help her mother, but nothing she ever did seemed to change anything.

With a heavy sigh, Alicia stepped into the living room, picked up a blanket lying on the floor and draped it over her mother.

"Sleep well," she murmured, giving her sleeping mother a kiss on the cheek.

The knocking at the front door sounded again, a little more urgent this time, and Alicia raced to answer it.

Bill Denbrough was standing on her front porch with four other members of the Loser's Club waiting behind him with their bikes.

"Hi," Bill said, "B-Beverly called us. She wants us to come to her ap-p-partment. We think—something might be wrong."

"Oh," Alicia said, doing her best to mask her surprise, "Well, I don't have a bike. Can I just catch up with you guys?"

Bill nodded.

Richie yelled impatiently from behind him, "Well, is she coming or not? We don't have all day!"

Bill turned to answer him and Alicia closed the door, sprinting to her room to change into something a little more suitable. She was back at the door in a flash. Bill and the others had already left but she knew the way to Beverly's apartment just fine on her own. She set off at a brisk walk. She hoped it wasn't anything serious.

She arrived at the destination very out of breath. Richie was waiting outside with the bikes.

"Well, it's about time you got here, slowpoke. The show's probably over," he said.

Alicia took a minute to regain her breath before replying, "Maybe you'll be willing to volunteer your bike next time. Any idea what's going on?"

"Unfortunately, I have been assigned lookout duty...again," Richie muttered resentfully, "So I couldn't tell you."

"Who exactly are you watching for?"

"Bev's dad," Richie responded, "She said he was going to kill us all if he found out we were here."

"Oh." Alicia straightened up before heading up the stairs to the apartment.

She swung open the door, peering cautiously inside.

"Hello?" she called.

Almost immediately she heard the sound of rapid footsteps approaching her. Bev appeared, an expression of immense relief coming over her face when she spotted Alicia.

"So glad you made it," Bev said, taking her hand, "Come on."

She led her down a hall to a bathroom, hers by the look of it, where the rest of the Loser's Club was dispersed about the room, all armed with cleaning equipment. But much more alarming was the red liquid dispersed throughout the room. It was everywhere: on the ceiling, the walls, the floor, the tub, and the curtains. Alicia sucked in her breath in alarm.

"What happened?" she demanded, casting Beverly a worried glance.

"Good, we can all see it," Bev said.

"What do you mean "we can all see it"? Why wouldn't we? There's blood all over your bathroom, Beverly!"

"My dad couldn't see it," Beverly explained, "I thought I was crazy. But then these guys came and they said they could see it too. And now so can you."

Abruptly Bev put her arms around Alicia, giving her a tight hug before pulling away.

"Thanks for coming," Bev said seriously, "It means a lot."

"Can I help?" Alicia asked quickly.

"Yes!" the boys clamoured at once.

Alicia couldn't help it. She smiled.

"What can I do?"

They had her busy in no time, scrubbing away at the walls and mirrors. Soon enough, the room was beginning to look as good as new. Many hands made light work and they were finishing up in no time. Everyone except Ben, Bill, and Bev went straight outdoors and Alicia listened as Eddie and Stan explained to Richie what had happened, then as Richie began to point out how stupid the whole thing sounded and that he was obviously the only sane one in the group. The other three members arrived shortly and started off down the street, walking alongside their bikes so that Alicia would be able to keep up. Richie managed to keep up his one-sided argument for several minutes, accusing the lot of them to have completely hallucinated the whole thing.

"Beverly's not the only one who's sssseen things," Bill interjected, "I saw something t-too."

"You saw blood too?" Richie asked quickly.

"No, not blood," Bill replied, a look of dead seriousness on his face, "G-G-Georgie."

Alicia felt a cold panic instantly creep over her. Bill had seen his dead brother? It wasn't even remotely possible.

"I saw something too," Eddie spoke up, "It was a clown."

Alicia's heart skipped a beat. A claw of terror suddenly tightened inside her chest. She wanted to reach up and cover her ears, but she knew that would only draw attention, which she could definitely do without at that point.

"Wait, look. It's Bowers' car."

Alicia looked up. Sure enough, there it was, parked on the side of the street.

"Hold on, isn't that the homeschooler kid's bike?" Beverly pointed out.

The bike was lying on its side on a path that led to the creek. Alicia knew well enough that that meant bad news.

"We have to help him!" Beverly insisted.

"Should we?" Richie asked uneasily.

"Yes!" Bev snapped, dropping her bike and taking off at a run.

She was closely followed by the boys, all except for Stan, who was sure to put up his bike's kickstand before pursuing the others.

He turned back for a second to call to her, "You coming?"

Alicia hesitated. She didn't see what they could possibly accomplish, but if the Loser's Club was intent on facing off with Bowers' gang, she wasn't about to abandon them. She nodded quickly and broke into a sprint to catch up. She overtook Stan and arrived before him. The rest of the club was gathered at the creekside; on the opposite bank stood Henry and his goons, or what remained of them. Alicia wondered if Patrick's disappearance even bothered them. Stumbling across the creek toward the Losers was homeschooler Mike. Alicia saw with relief that he bore no visible wounds, but she was quickly startled by a sudden angry yell from Ben. Henry had said something to set him off but Alicia had missed it. Ben hurled a stone at Henry and the bully hastily stepped back, a look of alarm on his face.

"Rock war!" Richie abruptly screamed, right before he was struck in the face and knocked backward.

In an instant, both sides were hurling stones. Alicia hovered uncertainly where she was. She did sort of consider herself a pacifist; she'd never liked fighting and there had been only a few moments in her life where she had almost been pushed to the point that she had considered striking someone. At the same time, she felt as though it was her fight that the Loser's Club was fighting. They had all been traumatized by Henry and his stupid friends, and they were choosing to do something about it.

Before she could change her mind, Alicia jumped forward and began throwing stones alongside everyone else. She managed to knock Belch's hat right off his head and deal Henry a nasty blow to the stomach before the fight ended, leaving Bowers alone in a pitiful position of defeat. He stared at the Losers with an odd look on his face; Alicia assumed it was something along the lines of shock. The Loser's Club began to file off one by one, Mike trailing along after them. Alicia took one last look at Henry before following; she almost felt sorry at the sight of him. She wondered what it was like for him to finally get a taste of his own medicine.

Once they were well away from the creek, Mike spoke up, "You guys shouldn't have done that. Bowers will be after you too now."

"He's always after us," Richie answered, "It's one thing we all have in common. Speaking of which, welcome to the Loser's Club, homeschooler!"

The Club made their way back to the main streets of Derry where a merry parade was forging a path through town. They stopped to have some ice cream and cool off, at which point they picked up their conversation from when they had visited Ben's house and his preoccupation with Derry's history. Billy noticed a new missing poster for Eddie Corcoran, who had been reportedly found already with his fingers mostly chewed off. It had been carelessly pasted overtop of Betty Ripsom's picture, almost as though the town had completely forgotten about her.

From there, their little group moved the conversation to a park bench. Ben had picked up from his research that something bad seemed to happen in Derry every 27 years, cueing a slew of disappearances.

"So you think something hibernating in Derry wakes up every 27 years and just feeds on people for a year?" Richie asked incredulously.

"Wait, so it's like cicadas? You know, those bugs that come out every seventeen years after hibernation?" Stanley suggested.

"My grandfather says that the town is cursed; this is all happening because of one thing," Mike interjected.

"It can't be just one thing," Eddie protested, "We've all seen different things."

"Maybe," Mike replied, "But maybe this thing knows what we're afraid of. When the black spot...that huge fire happened, I was inside the building. My parents were in the next room over, banging and pounding on the door. But it was too hot. When the firemen found them, their hands were melted down to the bone. We're all afraid of something."

"You've got that right. Come on, Richie, what are you afraid of?" Eddie demanded.

Richie hesitated, adjusting his glasses as a nervous action.

"Clowns," he answered with a shudder.

"What about you?" Billy said suddenly, turning to Alicia, "Have you ssssseen anything?"

Alicia stared at him, feeling panic abruptly seize her. They had all seen Pennywise. He was after every single one of them. They were doomed, for certain. Just as she was. Was there any point in telling them the truth at that point? It wouldn't make a difference in the end, except to lose her the only friends she had. After all, if she told them she had seen Pennywise, she would have to tell them just what it was she saw. If Bill found out she had let his brother's life slip through her fingers, there was no telling what he'd do.

Alicia shook her head, "No, sorry, I haven't seen anything weird. But just so you know, I don't think any of you guys are crazy."

Bill smiled gently.

"You know, I've got an idea," he said, getting up, "Would you guys mind c-c-coming to my house? My Dad has sssssome maps and—"

Beverly jumped up, "I think I know where you're going with this. Come on, guys," she urged the others, retrieving her bike and mounting up.

Richie looked over at Alicia with a wry smile, "Well, looks like you'll be getting another workout trying to keep up with us."

Alicia smiled, "I don't mind."

"Seriously, you need to get with the times," he continued, "Get a bike!"

Alicia actually managed to reach Bill's house without getting too out of breath. Once there, Bill retrieved one of his Dad's previously mentioned maps depicting the town. He brought it to their garage and pinned it up on the wall while the others milled around anxiously. He then brought in a projector, closed the garage door so they would be in darkness, then turned it on and slid a card into it. The projector lit up the map, showing a string of numerous red lines symbolizing the town's sewer system. The map showed the areas where Derry's disasters had happened; the black spot, the ironworks explosion, and even the storm drain where Georgie was lost forever were shown in black marker.

Bill pointed an unsteady finger at the map, "They're all connected by the sewers, and the sewer tunnels all meet up at—"

"The Neibolt house!" Ben exclaimed.

"That's where I saw the clown!" Eddie hissed, sounding out of breath.

"That's where it lives," Bill concluded.

Eddie suddenly jumped to his feet, stepping in front of the map with a look of severe agitation on his face. His right hand grasped an inhaler tightly.

"Can we not talk about this?" he snapped, "We're kids! This is summer! I can't breathe; I'm having an asthma attack!"

Without warning, he abruptly tore the map down and flung it to the floor.

"Hey! Put the map back!" Bill said angrily.

Eddie simply shook his head.

It was then that an odd clicking noise caught Alicia's attention. Her eyes fell on the projector, the source of the noise. It was operating on its own, jumping from card to card. Pictures of Bill's past camping trips with his family sprang up on the wall. Alicia felt the blood drain from her face as she saw little Georgie smiling up at her with each of his small hands grasped by one of his parents.

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"What's going on?" one of the boys demanded, "Is it broken?"

Eddie stared at the picture, edging steadily away from it as it closed in on Georgie's face. Alicia could feel her heart rate suddenly pick up, pumping the fear faster through her veins until she could almost feel her skin crawl. The picture abruptly began to shift again, centering on the face of Bill's mother, even though it was mostly obscured by her long red hair. In that instant, the picture came alive. Alicia could see Mrs. Denbrough's hair shifting in the wind. Then her hair started to pull itself back, revealing the face underneath.

Only, the face was not Mrs. Denbrough's.

Alicia immediately recognized the sheer white face, blood-stained lips, and piercing eyes. She opened her mouth to scream like the others but the sound dried up in her throat. All she could do was stare, every nerve in her body on fire.

"Turn it off!" Bev shouted.

Mike responded by kicking the projector to the ground, incidentally flipping it around so the image hit the opposite wall. The kids instantly scattered, all except Stan and Alicia. They stood side by side, paralyzed. The projector made an angry whirring noise, shutting off for a split second before coming back on and illuminating a distorted close-up of Pennywise's face. It repeated this action a second time, then a third. When it came back on for the third time, however, there was nothing to be seen except an empty background image.

Then it went black again. Alicia could almost feel the darkness pressing in on her, choking her. And yet she still could not move.

The projector's light snapped back on, and in that second, Alicia saw gleaming white teeth. Pennywise thrust his body into the room, his enormous yellow eyes shining with a chilling radiance. He turned those horrific eyes on Alicia and Stan, causing Stanley to bolt to the other side of the garage. But Alicia stayed where she was, feeling hot tears spurred by terror spilling over her cheeks. Pennywise gazed down on her, his already impossible grin widening. Suddenly he turned away, forcing himself further into the small space. One of his gloved hands lifted off the floor, hovering like a claw over a whimpering Beverly.

Light suddenly spilled into the garage and Alicia snapped out of her state of immobility, gazing around wildly. There was no trace of a clown there, nothing at all. The Loser's Club were all huddled by the door, breathing heavily. Bev muttered a "thank you" to Ben before giving Bill a tight hug. Alicia forced her legs to carry her over to them, feeling like she just wanted to curl up and disappear.

"It saw us! It knows us!" Eddie cried.

"It already did." Bill spoke with surprising calm, letting go of Beverly and making his way over to his bike.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Bev protested.

"We have to go to Neibolt. We have to confront it," Bill said, turning back to face the group with a look of dead seriousness.

Alicia suddenly found her tongue, her voice coming out in a hoarse shriek that she hardly recognized as her own, "Are you crazy? It's going to kill us all! What do you think you're going to do? Battle it to the death? You don't stand a chance. This thing is not normal!"

The group stood in silence, staring at her in obvious discomfort.

"She's right," Eddie spoke up hesitantly, "Besides, it's summer..."

"If you say it's sssssummer one more time!" Bill snapped, sounding as though he were on the verge of tears.

He spun on his heel and grabbed his bike roughly, mounting up and pedalling away at a furious pace.

"No, you can't!" Bev shouted in vain.

Alicia hardly knew what possessed her, but she suddenly broke into a run, pushing past the others and racing after Bill, desperately calling his name. He couldn't go to the Neibolt house by himself. He was clearly not in his right mind. No doubt, he was thinking about little Georgie. If he was still stubbornly clinging to the thought that Georgie was not dead, it would lead him to one conclusion: Pennywise had him. Bill had no idea what he was dealing with! Challenging Pennywise would be like spitting in the face of death; it would only succeed in ending him sooner.

Alicia could feel her lungs starting to ache but she just pushed herself harder, her feet skimming across the pavement faster than she could have believed possible. It must have been the adrenaline still pumping through her veins that was carrying her forward.

She reached the house, her chest heaving wildly. She spotted Bill's bike immediately, looking up quickly at the eerie, run-down house. Bill stood there on the porch, his eyes fixed on the doorway.

Alicia opened her mouth to call to him but was startled at the sound of Bev's voice yelling, "Stop!"

Bill whipped around just as she and the boys pulled up to the house on their bikes.

"You can't go in there!" she said authoritatively.

Alicia caught her breath and took her first step onto the property. She had never gotten too close to the house before; in fact, she had hardly ever seen it except for a few odd times when she had passed by. The long yellow grass was dry and brittle and made a strange noise when she walked on it. She wondered when anyone had last invested time in that place.

"Look," Bill said, his voice communicating his determination, "You don't have to come in with me if you don't want to. But what are you going to do when another Betty or Georgie or one of us goes missing? Are you just going to pretend it's not happening just like everyone else in this town? Well, I can't! I have to do something about it, because every time I walk into my house, all I can see is how Georgie isn't there. So walking into this house, for me, is easier than walking into my own."

There was an awed silence from the group, broken when Richie murmured, "Wow."

"What?" Bev asked.

"He didn't stutter once," Richie answered.

As Bill turned once again to enter the house, the group moved forward as if to follow.

"Wait!" Stanley said, halting everyone in their tracks, "Shouldn't someone stay out here and keep watch in case something bad happens?"

Everyone looked at each other.

"W-which of you wants to stay out here?" Bill asked.

Hands shot up all around Alicia, all except Bev's. Alicia felt a surge of dismay. They were going to have to settle this a different way.

In the end, they drew straws to determine who would go in and who would keep watch. Richie, Eddie, and Bill were elected to go in while the rest stayed outside. Bev insisted that she wanted to go in but agreed to remain with the others. Alicia couldn't help staring at the house as it loomed over them. The others were either distracting themselves, talking quietly amongst themselves, or else gazing up and down the road. A sudden gust of wind made the front door rock back and forth on its hinges. Alicia couldn't see much of what was inside the house.

She took a step toward it.

Something seemed to be pulling her forward. Was it curiosity, fear for the safety of her friends, or something else? Nobody was paying any attention to her. She took another step. She blinked once, and could have sworn she saw something inside the house move. Was it the boys? Another stride brought her closer to the door. The porch was right at her feet, her eyes were staring fixedly ahead. She stepped onto the porch and put out her hand so that her fingertips grazed the wood of the door. She heard no voices calling her back; the lookout had failed to notice her. She took one long stride that brought her inside the house. She drew a deep breath, then immediately broke into a fit of coughing. The air was full of dust and the smell of decay. She looked around; it appeared to be an ordinary house enough. No doubt, someone had once lived there and cared for the place. She half wondered what it looked like back then; the thought of it made her sad.

The sound of a door slamming somewhere in the house made her nearly jump out of her skin. She peered around.

"Hello?" she called, "Guys, is that you?"

She headed off into the direction that she had heard the noise, her arms wrapping around herself in an attempt to calm her.

"It's fine," she told herself, "I'm fine."

She stepped into an empty room with unpainted walls and a wooden floor. It appeared relatively clean and in order except for a few holes in the drywall and some cords hanging down one wall. A white door faced Alicia, so she crossed the room and opened it, entering what looked like the kitchen. It was in a similar condition to the previous room, if a little more cluttered. A rusty refrigerator sat against the left wall and some cupboards opposite it. In the middle of the room was a splintered wooden table and on top of it...

"Eddie?" Alicia said.

Eddie looked up, his face contorted in pain. Then Alicia saw his right arm and the blood drained from her face. It was bent at an unnatural angle. She looked up and saw an enormous hole in the ceiling.

"Don't tell me you fell!" Alicia said in utter disbelief.

Eddie simply whimpered in response and Alicia rushed to his side, helping him steady his arm.

"It's...it's fine," she said, not entirely believing what she was saying, "We'll get you out of here."

A sudden tapping noise made them both look up. The refrigerator door stood slightly ajar, a gloved hand poking out from inside it. Suddenly the door swung open, and Alicia's heart skipped a beat. Pennywise grinned at them, his head resting at the bottom of the fridge, his body twisted into some ungodly position like a contortionist's. He chuckled, placing one of his hands against the floor and allowing the rest of himself to unfold from the small space. He gave himself a shake, his eyes coming to settle on Alicia.

"Alicia," he addressed her. Suddenly his eyes snapped to Eddie, and he leaned forward. "Time to float," he said.

He took a step forward, his massive shape towering over them. Eddie started wheezing, his feet wildly kicking in order to push him away from the oncoming threat.

"Alicia!" he choked in alarm.

Alicia's hands fell away from Eddie, her heart hammering in her chest. Pennywise wasn't focused on her; he wanted Eddie, and she knew it. She could leave, she could listen to her brain's urgent command to run, and she would be safe for a little while longer. She got up slowly, edging back toward the exit.

"Alic—!" Eddie couldn't even finish her name; he was struggling to breath.

Pennywise pulled a face at him, mimicking his wheezing noises.

"She's not going to help you," he said suddenly, grinning again, "She's going to stand there and watch you die." He stopped, turning his head to fix his eyes on Alicia and adding, "Just like she always does."

Alicia could feel her breath quicken under his gaze. The door was right behind her; she was one step away from freedom.

But she couldn't do it. Thoughts of Georgie screaming for help were flooding through her mind. She couldn't let it happen again. She couldn't let another family fall apart because she was too much of a coward to do anything about it. She took a step forward, every muscle in her body screaming in protest. She took another step, almost tripping because she was shaking so badly. The smile vanished from Pennywise's face as he watched her force herself in-between him and Eddie. Alicia met his gaze, feeling like she was going to faint right then and there.

"You can't have him," she said hoarsely.

Pennywise considered her for a second, then suddenly leapt forward, bringing his face mere inches from Alicia's. She winced visibly and he giggled.

"Tell me, Alicia," he whispered, winding his fingers around her neck, "What are you afraid of?"

Alicia could feel tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She kept her center of vision trained on the floor so she wouldn't have to see those horrible eyes so close to her own.

She took a shuddering breath before replying, "You already know."

"But I want to hear you say it," Pennywise said, his breath wafting over her and nearly causing her to gag, "Go on. What are you afraid of?"

Alicia's tears were falling freely, her lips tightly closed. Admitting it would only give him further power over her. She had to stay silent.

"Alicia..."

Alicia tried to focus on the sound of Eddie's raucous breathing but her concentration was slipping. Whimpering sounds were beginning to rise up her esophagus. She bit the inside of her cheek, tasting blood.

"I want to scream," she thought, "I want to scream. I want to scream. I want to scream."

She felt Pennywise's face brush against her own and that scream threatened to break out.

"You!" she blurted, half-choking on a sob, "I'm afraid of you!"

"Yes, me," Pennywise hissed, "Only me. That's why you're special. I can feel that fear running through your veins. I can taste it."

Alicia felt something warm and wet spread across her cheek. He was drooling all over her face. She gave an inward shudder of disgust. Pennywise's fingers began to uncurl themselves from around her throat and she immediately drew in a deep breath of untainted air as he moved away. Something clicked in her brain then. Why was he moving away? He was going for Eddie again. He was ignoring her! She wasn't a threat to him. None of the kids were; they were only annoyances at best. She'd known it all along; they didn't stand a chance. The opportunity of running presented itself again and she considered taking it this time.

"Alicia, help!" Eddie cried in alarm as Pennywise advanced on him, muttering "Tasty, tasty fear" under his foul breath.

Alicia stayed where she was, struggling with herself. Eddie screamed, jolting her out of her thoughts. Suddenly Alicia heard the sound of pounding feet racing toward them. A door on her far right flung open, admitting Richie and Bill from a dark hallway. Pennywise whipped around to face them, his teeth transformed into vicious fangs.

"Alicia, what the—" Richie began, stopping dead when he saw the clown behind her.

The two boys' eyes widened with fear and Richie cursed loudly.

"This isn't real enough for you, Billy?" Pennywise demanded, almost sounding hurt, "I'm not real enough for you?" He chuckled cruelly, screwing up his face. "It was real enough for Georgie!"

He leapt up, tearing across the room at them. As he moved past Alicia, her mind seemed to go blank, and as though acting of its own accord, her right hand shot out and grabbed the back of that stupid frilly collar and yanked back for all she was worth. It was in the same instant that she caught sight of the other Losers emerging through the same door she had come in by. Beverly jumped forward, something long and pointed in her hands. It coursed through the air, headed straight for an unsuspecting Pennywise. It missed him by a fraction of an inch, hitting the floor at the opposite end of the room with a clatter. Everyone seemed to freeze for a split second. Alicia stared at her hand, still clutching that frilly collar. The wheels in her head seemed to be turning impossibly fast as they tried to discern what had just happened. She had pulled Pennywise back just as Beverly had attacked him. She had inadvertently pulled him out of harm's way.

She had helped him.

Pennywise turned his head slowly to face Beverly, a fierce glow in his yellow burning eyes. He was angry. Alicia slowly let go of his collar and stepped back to where Eddie was still cowering in terror. Richie and Bill seemed to be edging toward him as well. Beverly was looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Pennywise's hand shot out and seized her by the throat, tossing her across the room like a rag doll. She screamed, hitting the wall and landing next to Eddie in an unconscious heap.

"Beverly!" Bill shouted, darting across the room to her side with Richie in hot pursuit.

Pennywise rounded on them, knocking Alicia to the floor with the sudden movement. She hurriedly crawled away, joining Bill and Richie by Bev's unmoving form. Pennywise opened his mouth impossibly wide like a snake's, sprouting several extra rows of ferocious teeth. Everyone in the room started to scream. Pennywise joined in the ruckus, shrieking with laughter. He took a menacing step forward, causing Richie and Bill to shrink back and causing Eddie to turn his face away. Suddenly his eyes met Alicia's, holding her terrified gaze for a second. Then he began to back away slowly, his laughter gradually dying away. The kids continued screaming, right up until the moment that Pennywise backed into the darkened hallway and disappeared from view. Bill abruptly jumped to his feet.

"We can't let it escape!" he said bravely, taking off after It.

"Bill!" Alicia wailed, but he was already gone.

She offered a silent prayer for his safety. It was all she could do; her legs refused to budge. She'd had enough trauma that day to last her a lifetime.

A sudden stirring from Bev caught her attention and she moved closer to her, giving her a gentle nudge to help arouse her. Bev lifted her head, a dazed expression on her face.

"What happened?" she asked, placing one hand on her temple.

"That clown just threw you across the room like a stack of papers!" Richie explained excitedly.

A shriek from Eddie turned everyone's heads. Richie moved over to him, gazing down at his twisted arm in shock. Bill re-entered the kitchen then, causing Alicia to utter a sigh of relief. Eddie was screaming at the top of his lungs now, forcing Richie to speak up in order to be heard.

"Look, Eddie, I'm going to snap your arm back into place! Got it?"

"Don't touch me!" Eddie howled, "Don't you dare touch me!"

"Are you ready?" Richie demanded, his hands affixed on Eddie's bad arm.

"No!"

A sickening crunch sounded in Alicia's ears as the bone was forced back into its proper place. She clamped a hand over her mouth as she felt the sudden urge to hurl. Eddie was still screaming.

"Come on, guys, help me!" Richie shouted, trying to usher Eddie to his feet.

The other boys immediately jumped forward at the command but when Bev tried to stand, she nearly fell over. Alicia caught her and steadied her.

"Maybe you should take it easy," she suggested.

Bev nodded dumbly.

"We have to get Eddie home," Bill said.

Richie nodded in agreement and the group hoisted Eddie off the floor and out of that wretched house.

"Alicia!" Bill said urgently, "T-t-take mine and Richie's b-bikes."

Alicia did as she was told. Richie and Bill placed Eddie on the seat of his bike and stood on either side to support him. Both boys placed a hand on the handlebars and started to propel Eddie forward. The others mounted up and pedalled slowly alongside them while Alicia pushed Bill's and Richie's bikes down the street in their wake. After a while, Bill and Richie began to tire and Mike and Stan had to take their places. They made it to Eddie's home eventually, but they did not receive a warm welcome. When Mrs. Kaspbrak answered their knocking, her eyes widened like saucers when she saw her son.

"Eddie!" she wailed, desperately taking her son into her arms. She turned on the others with an expression as fierce as a lion's. "What did you do to him?" she shouted.

"Mrs. K, we were attacked!" Richie defended.

"Save it!" she hissed back, rushing Eddie into the house and returning shortly with her car keys in hand.

"Mrs. K, we w-would never do this to Eddie!" Bill insisted, following her to the vehicle where she was helping Eddie into the passenger seat.

"No!" she yelled, rounding on him, "You're all monsters! And Eddie will have nothing to do with you from now on."

She closed the passenger door and transferred her keys to her other hand, dropping them on the paved road in the process.

"I'll get it," Bev volunteered.

"Get back!" Mrs. Kaspbrak snarled, snatching up the keys herself and getting up in Beverly's face.

"Oh, I've heard of you, Miss Marsh," she said coolly, "I don't want a dirty girl like you touching my son."

With that, she got into her car and sped off with a very uncomfortable-looking Eddie riding next to her. There was a short silence.

"That's it," Richie spat, storming off to his bike.

"Wait, R-R-Richie!" Bill called, "This isn't over! I saw where the clown went: down the well. We know where to find it. I pr-promise, next time w-we'll be more prepared—"

"No!" Stan shouted, startling everyone, "No next time, Bill! You're insane!"

"He's right," Richie said, turning back from his bike, "Eddie almost died! And you intend for the rest of us to be killed."

"It'll come back for us either way," Bev stepped in, "We have to fight it. We have to stick together. Right, Ben?"

Ben hesitated, "I...I agree with Richie and Stan. We can't do this anymore. I don't want to die. I want to grow up. As soon as I get the chance, I'll move far away from here."

"I want to run toward something, not away!" Bev protested, "Wouldn't you want the same?"

"We need to start being realistic," Richie said, "Georgie is dead, Bill. I refuse to end up like him."

Fury leapt into Bill's eyes. He stepped forward, digging an accusing finger into Richie's chest.

"T-t-take it back!" he said fiercely, "You're scared and we all are, b-but take it back!"

He gave Richie a shove to emphasize his words, but Richie shoved right back. Bill stepped it up a notch and punched him in the nose. Richie fell back and was caught by Stan and Mike but he was soon upright again and ready to fight. He and Bill had to be pulled apart by the other boys while Bev yelled at them to stop it and Alicia watched anxiously.

"You're all a bunch of losers and you're going to get yourselves killed!" Richie shouted, mounting his bike and pedalling away furiously, closely followed by Stan and Ben.

Mike lingered a second longer before making for his bike as well.

"You too, Mike?" Bev asked in disbelief.

"Look, guys, I'm an outsider. It has to stay that way," was the only answer Mike offered.

Bev and Bill turned to Alicia with questioning looks.

"Are-are you going to leave too?" Bill asked.

Alicia couldn't help feeling a pang of sympathy for him at the look of dismay in his eyes. But she was inclined to agree with the others. Bill had a death wish, and Bev's loyalty was going to land her the same fate as him.

"I warned you, Bill," she said quietly, "We don't stand a chance. I'm not going to go chasing after the thing that wants me dead. I wish we could still be friends, Bill. But you can't ask this of me...or anyone else."

She turned to Bev, but Bev remained silent. With nothing left to be said, Alicia walked away.