▌Chapter 15 ─ The Deadlights ▌

      ━━━━━ HOLLY STEPPED OUT of her car and walked up the steps with Prudence right behind her, Beverly, Richie, Eddie, and Ben were behind them. Holly pushed through the door, and eventually came to a stop. The other's walked in one by one.

"Let's get our shit and get the fuck out of here." Richie said.

"Did you leave your stuff here?" Eddie asked, looking at Holly and Prudence and then back at Ben who walked through the door.

"No, my stuff's still in the car." Ben answered.

"So is ours." Prudence said, placing her eyes on Eddie.

Ben came to a stop next to Holly and Prudence as Eddie and Richie walked up the steps and to their rooms. Ben tapped Holly's shoulder, she looked back at him and then followed his eyes seeing him staring at Beverly who was getting herself a drink. Ben was the first to walk into the room as Beverly drowned a shot.

Holly and Prudence followed behind him, the three stared at the redhead as she placed the glass back on the counter. Prudence sat on one of the other chairs while Holly placed her arms on the counter and waited for someone to start talking.

"Tell us." Ben said, still looking at her.

"Tell you what?" Beverly asked in return.

"Whatever it is you're afraid to tell us right now."

Holly watched as she placed the drink back from where she got it from. Then she moved around leaving the three behind but Ben stopped in front of her. Holly moved around and grabbed the same drink pouring herself a shot as well as one for Prudence.

"Bev. Bev. Back at the Jade when you were on the phone with Stanley's..."

"Stop." Beverly called out.

"I heard it." Ben told her.

"I heard it too." Holly added.

"Heard what?" Prudence asked, looking at Holly.

"You said it first."

"Whatever you guys are talking about, let's make it happen faster, all right? We gotta go." Richie said, jumping into the conversation. Ben lifted his hand up at the man, while he walked away. "Eduardo, andale! Let's go!"

"There's something you're not telling us. You knew how Stanley died. You know."

"Wait, what?" Prudence and Richie questioned at the same time.

"I can't do this." Beverly said, walking past Ben and Richie.

Richie looked at Ben. "She knew how Stanley was going to die, is that what you just said?" Richie asked, as Ben followed after Beverly. Holly and Prudence followed after them with Richie right by them as well.

"You can't just walk away from this." Beverly made it to the counter and started to ring the bell. "How did you know where he killed himself?" She ignored him. "Bev." Holly watched as she moved around grabbing a key to a room. "Talk to me. Just talk to me. Like we used to. Come on, how did you know?" He asked, getting in her way as she came back around.

Beverly looked up at him. Holly could see the fear resting in her face. "Because I saw it. I've seen all of us die."

Shock found its way onto Holly's face, as well as Prudence's and Richie's as they stared at Beverly. Eddie started to come down the steps dragging his bags behind him.

"Okay, I just got to grab my toiletry bag, and then we can go." Eddie said, as he placed his bags down on the steps. He then looked at everyone as they looked at him. "What I'd miss?"

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Holly sat on the floor as they caught Eddie up on the things that he had missed. He paced around until he eventually walked over to Beverly.

"Okay. So, what do you mean that you've seen us all die?" Eddie asked her.

"Yeah, cause I gotta be honest. That's a fucked-up thing to just drop on somebody." Richie remarked.

Beverly wiped a tear from her face. "Every night since Derry, I've been having these nightmares. People in pain. People dying. People..."

"So, you have nightmares. I have nightmares. People, they have nightmares. But that doesn't mean your visions are true."

"I've watched every single one of us..."

"You've seen every single one of us what?" Bill asked, walking into the room with Mike and Violet. Ben moved over to her, sitting on the edge of the chair.

"At the place that Stanley wound up. That's how we end."

"Okay, how come the rest of us aren't seeing that shit?" Richie asked. "I mean, what makes her so different?"

"The Deadlights." Mike breathed out.

"The Deadlights." Bill repeated.

Holly suddenly remembered what had happened, Beverly was in the air. It hadn't been possible but it was. Holly lowered her head, at the memory that had returned.

"She was the only one of us that got caught in the Deadlights that day." Bill told them.

"We were all touched by It. Changed. Deep down, Like an infection. Or a virus. A virus. You understand. Slowly growing. That virus, it's been growing for 27 years. This whole time, metastasizing. It just got to Stan first, because..."

"He was the weakest." Richie said, cutting Mike off.

"Jesus Christ, Rich." Bill said, as everyone looked at him.

"Just saying what everyone else is thinking, man."

"I mean, Rich, come on."

"What Beverly sees, it will come to pass. It's what'll happen to all of us, eventually, unless we stop It."

"How the hell are we supposed to do that?" Eddie asked him.

"The Ritual of Chud." Violet said, looking at Mike.

"The Shokopiwah. The first ones who fought It, they have a saying. 'All living things must abide by the laws of the shape they inhabit.'"

"A tribal ritual?" Richie asked, looking at the married couple. "Are you fucking kidding me, man? All right, there's gotta be another way. Okay? This thing comes back, what, every 27 years? Let's just kick the can down the road and do it then."

"Wait, we'll be 70 yeards old, asshole." Eddie said, looking over at Richie.

"It doesn't work that way." Beverly said, while Bill came back over to Beverly and sat down next to her. "None of us make it another 20 years, and the way it happens..." Richie proceeded to take a shot.

"So, if we don't beat It this cycle, then..." Ben breathed out.

"We die." Bill said.

"Horribly." Eddie added.

"Yeah, I don't need the 'horribly' part." Richie told him.

Eddie turned to look back at Richie. "I didn't say it. She said it. Not me." Ben and Holly looked over at Eddie.

"All right, guys. Look. I've seen w-what they're talking about, and it's all true. It's the only way. If we want this ritual to work..."

"We have to remember."

"Remember what?"