IT DOESN'T END HERE.

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DEAD BOY (book one).
°•        CHAPTER FIFTEEN        •°

"        YOU'RE BRAVE.
BELIEVE IT.       "

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SOME GO INSANE WHEN THEY'RE FACED WITH FEELING REAL, TRUE, UNAVOIDABLE FEAR. It's a miracle they haven't. Daxton thought he was, but then again, that made nine of them. That's what It must have fed off of. He wondered how an emotion could satisfy a taste, but then again, it was powerful. It could take control of one until they feel nothing else except that mind numbing fear. And here the lucky nine were, taking their bikes down the route to the Well house, afraid, badly scared, more than they have ever been in their short lives.  But they were going to do the right thing anyway. The hybrid wolf that gave Daxton a strike of terror was nothing like what he felt now. Neither was what he endured when he first entered the house. He could feel it coursing through his spine until it tingled, but he didn't ask Bill to turn his bike around because he knew It was waiting for them. That's why It took Beverly. It would never stop, and It was waiting for them. So, they had to make It stop.

This had become a game. A violent one, one that could have been pulled straight from a horror film. It was the monster they were waiting in the shadows for, the monster you were terrified to see pop on the screen. No one dared fight the house on Neibolt street because they knew it would a suicide mission. The Losers Club knew that, too, and each of them were afraid to die. But banded together was what made them courageous enough with the shared heart of a lion to do what no one else could. Daxton believed that was enough alone because if they could save one member of their club so they wouldn't be pumped down to number eight, they would take the chance, make the sacrifice, for a town they owed nothing to.

The house is as dead as they day they ran out of it, screaming until their throat's were ripped and sore. Daxton didn't let the fear overpower him from entering this time. He clenched his jaw, squared his shoulders, and glared straight at the monster with a curl of his lower lip. The game wasn't over yet. Not if he had anything to say about it.

Daxton will never let his bum ankle slow him down so the rest of them would die trying to save him. He will never be a dead weight or let himself feel like a burden on them again. He shifts his weight to his other ankle as he slides off the back of Bill's bike and lands in the dry yard. It cracks under his sneakers, so he digs the toe into the ground, and stands his ground like a soldier about to run straight into battle.

Two long sticks were sticking out of the ground that Bill draws closer to. "Guys," he speaks up in a mumble. "Spikes." He pulls them out of the land that belonged to the Neibolt house and stuck them together to make one, long weapon so they'd be his now. Daxton knew it wasn't what Bill planned to kill It with, but maybe it'd slow It down. He didn't even believe the nail gun Mike had brought from his grandfather's farm would be enough, but at least it was a plan.

Meanwhile, Richie had plucked a beer bottle from a pile of hay. They turned to look at him, confused, when they hear an awful shattering sound. He had tried to make a weapon out of the bottle in hopes the glass would be sharp enough to stab or cut, only for it to completely smash into little pieces. Daxton rubbed his temples. Why was it this idiot that made his stomach fill with butterflies? Richie's shoulder slump in defeat as he shook his head and threw what little glass was left.

But then Daxton knew it was time. The monster was waiting, and they were going to give It what they wanted. He didn't hang back to be the last to enter, not like last time. He was near the front with Charlie as Bill led them up the stairs after attaching the pointed pole to his backpack. Daxton looked to Charlie the second he felt a spark of uncertainty, but then he sees his brother's face, and believes he's ready for war.

They make it pass the doorway as a team, one by one, until Bill suddenly stops. They all pause and turn when he does, and Daxton understands why when he sees Stan had frozen right in the frame. He wasn't moving. His face was paler than any ghost like his senses had failed him and his fright took over. Daxton knew exactly what he was feeling, but he was one of the many who wouldn't let it stop him. And he knew Stan had that in him somewhere, too.

"Stan?" Bill whispers. He gives him a chance to answer, but Stan doesn't. He didn't look like he did when he yelled at Daxton, demanding answers. He looked as if he was about to burst into tears at any given moment. That's how he knew Stan could do this because there was something brave in him. He just had to find it. "St-St-Stan, we all have to g-go," Bill insists calmly. "Beverly was right. If we all sp-sp-split up like last time, that cl... Cl-Clown will k-kill us one by one. But if we stick together, all of us, we'll win." He gives Stan the most sincere look he can that only a leader could muster. "I pro-pro-promise."

It's the vow that finds what's truly inside Stan because Bill was right. They wounded It when there was only half of them, and now they have the chance to kill It before It picked them off and fed off their fears. Stan finally took the step, and joins his friends to face the monster because without him, they knew he couldn't do it. There was nine of them. There wasn't eight, there wasn't seven, and they refused to leave anyone behind.

Nothing had changed since Daxton was inside last. The walls were decaying, there was a horrible rotten smell in the air, and every step he makes he fears the floorboards will crumble beneath him. He cringes as they pass the kitchen and remembers what's on his neck. No one dared to point it out - other than Richie, who complimented the ugly bruise in his own, strange way - but it was there, painting Daxton's pale skin. This was the room where it happened. The clown pinned him down like a hunter does before they stick a weapon into their prey with a hand that resembled a claw wrapped around his throat. It left a bruise that was still there, and he swore he could feel it again.

Daxton tries to distract himself by shifting the fake pain to the one in his ankle. He hurt it there, too, when he fell through the ceiling. He ignores the way Charlie glances to him with a look holding concern when he notices Daxton's limp. He can't wait to get out of this fucking kitchen when Bill opens the door to what he presumed used to be the basement. That's where he declared the well was, where he saw It crawl away to after Beverly stabbed It through the head. Daxton couldn't wait to cause it as much pain as it caused them.

The putrid smell grows stronger as they walk down an ancient staircase and see a well sticking out of the ground through the darkness. They slowly circle around it. Daxton glances over the edge and peers into what looked darker than the night. He can't see a thing down there. They wouldn't be able to tell if It was waiting to devour them.

"Hey, Eddie, you got a quarter?" Richie asked, breaking the silence and lighting the air with a joke.

Eddie made a face of aversion, nose wrinkling, and shook his head. "I wouldn't want to make a wish in that fucking thing," he says with disgust.

It's Ben who ignores both of them and stands on his tiptoes so he can take a better look in the empty hole. "Beverly?" He called hopefully, a pitched echo of his voice bouncing off the well's walls. Daxton isn't shocked when no one answers, but Ben's features fall in disappointment.

"How are we supposed to get down there?" Mike wondered out loud. Bill, who must have thought ahead, answered his question by pulling a rope out of his bag.

Suddenly, Daxton's gut clenches. "Shit," he mumbles sickly, feeling bile creep up his throat and dance across his tastebuds. Now would be the time for his fear of heights to kick in. He wouldn't have jumped off the Quarry if Richie didn't push him off because he thought it'd be funny.

He goes to take a step back, but Charlie grabs his wrist before he can get further away. "Daxton, don't let this fear stop you. You've brave - believe it," he pleads as Bill ties the rope securely to the pulley. Daxton feels as if his words fade in his ears when he sees Richie throw the open end down the well. He knows he'll have to climb down it if he ever wants to be the soldier in war. "Dax, hey, listen - I'll be right there with you, brother," Charlie promises after he draws Daxton's attention back to him.

When Daxton met Charlie, his world changed forever. He let himself be open and vulnerable simply because he loved him as strongly as a brother despite there being no blood connection between them. He didn't need that to love Charlie because DNA didn't make a family. Love did. And Daxton, who had unknowingly searched for a family his entire life, didn't realize they were here, right now, as well as the members of the Griffith's foster home, and if he lets his fear of heights stop him, they'll die. He can't let that happen. Maybe if he's as brave as Charlie tells him so, he'll believe it, too.

"W-Wait here, Dax. We'll g-g-go first," Bill offers as he steps onto the ledge and grabs ahold of the rope. Daxton wasn't so bad at rope climbing in gym class - it was only his fear that slowed him down. At least he had that going for him.

Daxton watches silently as Bill descends into the opening. He lets out a quiet grunt as he relies on holding his weight to keep from plummeting into darkness. Charlie makes a noise as if he remembered something before digging into the pockets of his shorts, revealing he had two small flashlights in his hands. Daxton recognized them as he accepted one being the tools Miles used when he was working on his or Lia's car.

As Daxton presses the button, beams the light down next to his brother, he sees Bill sliding his shoes against the wall before one falls through. He looks confused until he swings himself further in to what seemed to be a hole in the wall. "Hey, there's a ho-hole down here. Maybe it can lead us t-t-to the bot-tu-tom!" Bill ponders in a call that reverberates back to them.

They wait as a beat of silence passes. Then, surprisingly, it's Eddie who grabs the rope next. They watch in silence as he uses the arm that wasn't in his cast, the large, bold word LOSER seen through the dark with a red V over the S, to wrap around the rope, his fingers poking out of the cast following. Eddie notices Daxton staring at the cast and offers a smile before referencing their joke from the beginning of the summer, "Don't be a baby," then starts to sink inch by inch further down.

Don't be a baby, repeats in Daxton's mind like a mantra, so many times it brings an ache that he can only relieve when he jerks forward before anyone else can and grabs the rope, keeping the flashlight balanced between two fingers like a bobbing cigarette.

"Daxton?" Richie speaks up.

"I'm alright," Daxton utters even though it feels like a lie. He doesn't care, he only had to prove it.

Daxton pulls himself onto the stony edge and makes sure his hands are wrapped around the rope tight enough before he takes the jump. His eyes squeeze shut one their own once he no longer has his footing as he lowers himself, letting his palms slide until they burn. Once Daxton's legs have been eaten by the dark, his legs swung to let the soles of his sneakers scrape against the molding well's wall. It's what keeps him balanced as he carries himself where Bill and Eddie, and possibly It, were waiting.

He soon feels the hands of his friends grasping his ankles, then his legs when he was close enough, so they can guide him in. Daxton doesn't let go of the rope until he's in the hole, his knees close to his chest, and can finally release the breath he thought was stuck in his lungs. He doesn't know how long he sits there, processing the major step he took, until it's Charlie who appears.

Charlie's smiling, not so wide that his dark skin beams, but his eyes glitter with pride that isn't in the smile. Daxton snaps out of the daze and reaches to grab his brother's wrist to pull him in the hole. "Shit, Dax, you did it," he says, so softly, proudly, that Daxton catches it, holds onto it, and the others pretend they don't to spare him.

The next few follow in the same fashion, although Richie's attempt is a little more clumsier, but Daxton grabs his forearm before he can slip. His fingers dig into the skin until he's there, crouched on his knees beside him, deemed steady. Daxton's grateful for the flashlight Charlie gifted him because he doesn't miss the stupidly wide, toothy smile Richie flashes his way.

The only one left is Mike. He waited for them to crawl down despite his back being exposed. Daxton can see the rope shake as his friend fumbles to grab a secure clutch, but then he hears a violent scream that sounds like, "Die!" Before Mike shouts in surprise and they overhear a loud crash.

"Mike!" The group of boys all began shouting out at once. Daxton scrambles across the wall in hopes he could catch a glimpse of him, alive, but his heart catches in his throat when he looks up and only sees one face - and it's certainly not Mike's.

His vision clears through the blackness and Daxton heart surely must have fell down the well because Henry Bowers is staring back at them. He's seen that sociopath crazy before, but now he looked downright fucking sadistic. Daxton can't believe he's thinking this, but Bowers looked worse than the clown there. His grin was enough to cause needles to prick across Daxton's skin out of fear, but the blood dripping from the smears across his skin doesn't help. He didn't know whose blood it belonged to and out of fear believed it to be Mike's.

"Bowers!" Daxton suddenly screamed through clenched teeth, the love he had for his friend, Mike, and how much he cared about him becoming stronger with each passing word, "I swear to God, I will climb up there and kick your fucking teeth in if you touch him!"

They all know the threat becomes empty when Bowers lets out a low, deadly laugh, and grabs the rope. "Get the rope, get the rope!" Eddie screeched. They were stupid enough to forget it and try to make up for it by attempting to snatch it away by piling on top of each other. It dangles like a toy taunting a child before disappearing completely as Bowers rips it away and makes it his.

"You motherfucker, Bowers!" Charlie seethes after him when Bowers's face leaves them alone, with no hope they'll ever make it out of the well alive.

Bill's anxious thoughts grow over the noise of them crying out Mike's name in terror. "I sh-sh-should get up there," he panics and desperately searches in their small space for a way out. "I-I - "

"Are you insane?! With what?!" Eddie shrieks.

Daxton doesn't think there was ever a time where he honestly believed he wanted to kill someone more than right now. Had he been there, he'd imagine grabbing Mike's gun and pull the trigger with the barrel pointed at Bowers's forehead. His blood was positively pumping with rage, adrenaline, and the undeniable need to do so. Henry Bowers was merely a vessel for his sanity now, and Daxton wanted nothing more than to make him pay for the hell he was putting the Losers through -

An awful, wrenching scream fills his ears a split second before he saw the blur of Bowers's limp vessel hurtling down the well, limbs bouncing off the walls in what had to be painful, awkward angles, heard Richie's startled, "Shit!" before nothing. Silence. He was gone. And Daxton didn't feel pity. He was relieved. Glad, actually, that the world was fortunately ridden of such scum. Maybe they had a chance at living with peace once It was gone too.

"Mike?!" Eddie calls to the top hopefully.

Mike's head popped into their view under the command. His eyes were wide with terror, pants falling from his lips, but for the most part, he seemed alright. "I'm okay," Mike reassures them breathlessly. Daxton exhaled, thank God for that. Mike must have decided he was done fighting for his life on his own above the well because he reaches for the rope, pulling himself up, but mistakenly kicking the extra ammo tucked securely in a leather pouch. The ammo to his nail gun slipped, falling through Mike's fingers when he desperately grabbed at it, to follow Bowers into the empty depths of nothing. Mike curses under his breath.

Daxton felt a spark of disappointment. He bites his lower lip before he can cuss too. He doesn't want to make Mike feel any worse as he watches his friend climb down the rope even though they were now a weapon short. Mike quite literally just saved them from being slaughtered by Bowers. They all knew they would have been next. He'd have to thank him for that someday. For now, however, Daxton and Bill are there when Mike appears at the hole to assist him inside too.

"Guys?" Eddie suddenly speaks up. He has his back to them and is shining his flashlight down the tunnel. "Where's Stan?"

The question brought Daxton to sudden alert. His eyes glaze over each head of his friends and brother before he reaches the conclusion Eddie's right - Stan was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he was lost after drifting from the group, but they vowed to never leave one of their own behind, despite any monster waiting in the shadows. They're screaming Stan's name as they shuffle down the tunnel until it widens in a slope so they can stand. Daxton's head starts to brush the top due to his tall height, but he races to keep up with the rest as their sneakers slosh through murky water.

"Oh, shit, gray water," Eddie groaned after a gag. But he plugs his nose and bears it anyway.

They finally make it out of the tunnel that seemed to stretch on endlessly. Daxton started to worry It was messing with them, but he soon breaks free and they take off across the open corridor. He used the flashlight still being clenched, allowing the light to bounce off the walls so he wouldn't trip or stumble. All Daxton could think of was Stan, Stan, Stan...

A terrified, curdling scream comes from the end they were racing to. They grow closer and closer to the noise, shouting Stan's name all at once, until they come to a dead stop as a group when they nearly slam into a shut door. Eddie scrambles to mess with the doorknob but it doesn't budge. Bill pounds on the wood with his fist, hollering, "We're coming, man!"

It takes Daxton, Bill, Ben, and Mike, to use their strength, being the tallest, built boys of their group. They kick, punch, push, do everything in their power until the wooden door finally bursts open so fast that Daxton almost falls on his face from the final kick he delivered. They slip inside to the new room where they believed their friend to be because his frightful scream continued to linger in the very same air.

"Stanley? Stan!" Eddie hollered with a strain in his voice. The others follow him around the corner, watching as he shone his flashlight around the area, until it beams on the ground, revealing a disfigured creature gnawing on the face of poor Stan who laid on his back, unable to do anything but squirm.

The Losers scream in horror, even Daxton, whose throat rips at the same time his heart does. The clown had many faces, but this was one of the worst. It was an awful, terrible thing, with creepy thin hair that drapes over It's distorted, long face. It's eyes were black and dead when they flicker up after Richie screams, "What the fuck is that thing?!" And then, "Oh shit!" When It's head snaps up.

It's lips suck off of Stan's head with a sick squelch. Stan's movements cease to nothing, his limbs seemingly pinned against the ground. It then retreats, creeping away slowly across the gravel ground until It hides behind a large tank. It's head appears again for only a second, this time as the clown, a terrifying grin on It's lips as they scream back again. But It doesn't attack. Daxton knows It's waiting for the grand finale.

They were left alone so they could at last run to Stan. He's still paralyzed, eyes squeezed shut, tears streaming through beads of blood left behind the tooth marks of the creature. Daxton's stomach twists, his eyes burning. Charlie doesn't hold back his tears, the clear drops dripping from his chin as he reaches out to brush his fingers against the wounded one's cheek, only for Stan to scream and suddenly shoot up.

"No! No! No!" He cried out through his hysteric screams with a rapid shake of his head. Stan's knees curl up as he tries to scoot away from the group. "You left me! You took me into Neibolt!" He shrieked at the boys who desperately tried to shush and comfort him. "You're not my friends! You made me go into Neibolt!"

"Stanley, I'm sorry," Eddie whispers. Richie nods before his head drops, eyes fluttering shut, but a tear escapes anyway.

Stan doesn't stop sobbing. "You made me go into Neibolt! This is your fault!"

The words made Daxton's heart clench. He recalls Sonia's words, "You, you did this... Don't you try to blame anyone but yourselves." And Daxton did. He blamed himself, guilt consuming him, as he watched Stan break.

Charlie's knees hit the floor next to him. A second later, he has his arms locked around Stan's, cheek pressed against his shoulder. This time, Stan doesn't jerk away from the touch. "I know, I know it was scary, and awful, but you're here," Charlie says, soft, soothing. Stan's broken, dry sobs drop into quiet cries. "You're gonna be okay. We're here for you, always."

"We would never let anything happen to you," Eddie promises.

Suddenly, it isn't only Charlie with his arms wrapped around Stanley. Mike, Richie, and Ben curl together on his side so he doesn't feel alone before Daxton joins Charlie and Eddie. He presses his forehead on his brother's back, one hand reaching out to clasp against Stan's. Daxton feels Eddie's presence afterward as he curls near Stan's stomach, his cast on his chest. He's never hugged so many people in such a short period of time before. Hell, Daxton's never loved this many people and seeing Stan so broken had hurt him too.

"Bill?" Eddie speaks up over Stan's quieter whimpers, his voice growing more anxious, "Bill?!"

Daxton's head lifts, hoping his gaze would connect with Bill's, but it doesn't. Their leader was gone, and took his flashlight with him. He detaches himself from Stan's side and goes to stand as Charlie and Mike helped Stan rise until he felt steady enough to do so on his own.

Minutes prior, they were calling for Stan, now, shouts for Bill fill the passage. The dirty water splashes the deeper they get until Daxton can feel the denim of his pants stick to him like a second skin when it laps against his knees. They're getting closer, Daxton can feel it practically rattle at his bones that It wanted to lick his meat off of. And they were heading right for the trap.

Eddie whips around a corner to the left so fast that he stumbles, hitting the ground, hard. The shitty water pools around him and he coughs, repulsed, as it drenches his clothing. "Come on, get out of there dude," Richie urged, tugging Eddie's upper arm. "That's graywater."

"Wait, wait, wait. Oh my God, where's my fucking flashlight?" Eddie panicked. Richie released his limb so he could splash through the water and locate the light.

Instead, they only find the horrible sight of mutilated heads bobbing like trash across the surface. Eddie screeches at the sight, slipping against the mud below as he tried to jump to his feet. Daxton gags and thinks surely he's going to vomit. They were standing in a lake of mangled limbs that once belonged to innocent children like them before they were butchered and served to the clown, leading everyone to forget about them.

"Let's get the fuck out of here! Come on!" Richie cries in horror.

The Losers knit together, sticking by one another as they maneuver through the disgusting sloshing water and dive deeper into the light at the end of the tunnel that they knew would only hold more darkness no one else could handle.

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author's note:

did i happen to write the final scenes plus the last chapter in the span of like two days?

mayhaps.

i have to proofread the next chapter before i publish it because i didn't think it through like ,,, at all. but i still love it and y'all are gonna be so proud of daxton shields.

we'll have what i call an "epilogue part one" after the last chapter where they make the blood oath + a little sumthin else 😉 before jumping into act two! i have spent MONTHS planning daxton's future with charlie and it's gonna be CRAZY and i can't WAIT for you all to see it!!

thank you so much for reading, i hope you loved it as much as i loved writing it ❤️

- koda

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