FOLLOW THE SPIDERS

"Hello?" The voice called again, clearer this time.

They stepped out of the room, exchanging nervous looks. Lacy wondered what this nut house could have in store for them now.

"Help me, please," The voice begged.

They looked up the stairs, where the voice sounded like it was coming from.

"Should we go up?" Lacy whispered, really hoping that the others would say no and they could all leave.

Instead of answering, Bill started up the stairs, the wooden floorboards creaking under his shoes. Lacy held back a sigh and followed him, Eddie and Richie close behind.

Lacy eyed the gigantic cobwebs that lined the walls with caution, her heartbeat picking up at that thought of the spiders that could have made such big webs.

They reached the second floor, decades worth of dust muffling their footsteps slightly. Something rustled in the corner and Lacy flinched, half expecting the clown to pop out of the wall again.

They reached a corridor, which seemed to stretch out for miles in front of them. A weak cough echoed down it, small rustling sounds coming from the same direction.

Lacy almost took a step back when her eyes locked onto a figure lying in the door. The girl turned her head to face them. Lacy took in a sharp breath.

"Betty," Bill said, taking a step forward.

"Ripsom?" Richie asked, as if hoping it was any other Betty. It wasn't.

Suddenly, Betty was dragged back from out the their view, a horrific scream escaping her lips.

Despite being scared out of their minds, they began to walk forward. Lacy tripped over a loose floorboard, gripping onto Bill's arm to stable herself. Even when she was sure that she wouldn't fall, she kept her grip on Bill's arm, trying to find any source of comfort in this terrifying place.

They reached the door, Bill pushing it open and peering in. Lacy prepared herself for the scarring sight of Betty Ripsom's body, but the room was empty.

"She was just here," Richie said in confusion, looking around, "Where the fuck did she go?"

The door slammed shut behind them and Eddie began to scream from the other side.

"Guys! Guys!" He shouted, his voice getting closer.

Lacy ran to the door, trying to open it, "It's stuck!" She shouted, jiggling the handle violently.

"What the fuck?" Eddie shouted, a loud crashing sound following straight after.

"Eddie?" Bill asked, "Eddie what's happening?"

There was no reply, which made them all freak out more, "EDDIE?" Bill yelled, moving Lacy out of the way to have a go at the door, "Open the door!"

"Why won't it open?" Lacy exclaimed, her voice strained with panic, scared of being trapped forever.

She glanced around the room, looking for another way out; Richie was heading towards a door on the other side of the room, but Lacy was more interested in the window. She wondered over and looked out, trying to see if it was possible to climb down.

There was something on the wall to the left that could be used as a handhold. Lacy stuck her head further out of the window to get a better look, only to recoil with disgust when she realised that it was a spider - a very, very big spider.

She jolted back, pushing herself away from the creature and letting out a scream as she did so. At the same time, a door slammed behind her and Richie began to yell.

"Richie!"

"Bill, come on, open the door!"

Lacy would go over to help, but she was more preoccupied by the giant leg that was feeling its way inside.

She rushed to try and shut the window, but it was so dilapidated that the task was impossible, she only succeeded in pushing a plank of wood on to the spider, which did nothing to deter it. Seeing that her attempts were useless, she edged quickly away, walking backwards to keep an eye on the huge creature that somehow managed to fit through the small window.

As the spider fully entered the room, she gave up trying to keep an eye on it, turning in a panic and running towards Bill. She hammered her fists against the door, frantically trying to get through, she could feel her hands begin to bleed but she didn't care - too consumed by the need to get away from the monster.

"Lacy, s-stop! What are you doing? You're going to hurt yourself!" Bill exclaimed, trying to grab her hands.

"Get me out of here, I can't be in here, Bill make it go away," she rambled hysterically, glancing over her shoulder and seeing the spider slowly prowl across the room towards the two of them. She screamed again and started to beat the door with a renewed sense of desperation.

Bill turned around in confusion, "What is- oh shit!" He exclaimed when he saw the giant monster crawling towards them.

Suddenly the door burst open and Richie came hurtling through, breathing like Eddie did when he needed his inhaler.

"Come on, lets get out of here," Bill said, pulling Lacy and Richie around the spider and running to the next room.

A loud sound caught their attention, and a head emerged from the old mattress lying on the floor. Lacy groaned, not prepared for whatever was about to happen, she just wanted to leave.

She stepped back when she realised it was Eddie's face stared up at them all, "Wanna play loogie?" He asked, black liquid falling from his mouth.

It started to seep from the mattress, Eddie's body convulsing inside it, before disappearing. They edged away from the steaming liquid, retreating back into the room with the spider, which was lurking beside a door that definitely hadn't been there before.

There were three doors labelled ominously in what looked like blood: 'very scary', 'scary' and 'not scary at all'. Unfortunately, the spider was by the door on the left - the 'not scary at all' one.

Lacy glanced at Bill and Richie, saying something she never thought she would have to, "Follow the spider!"

The three of them sprinted for the door, grappling to reach the handle. Lacy made sure to keep a good amount of space between herself and the spider, but it didn't seem interested anymore, climbing the wall and perching there.

When they got the door open, it was completely dark inside and all of them were reluctant to enter.

"Where's my shoe?" A husky voice whispered.

Bill pulled a cord hanging from the ceiling, making the lights flicker on. The cold glow of the old bulb revealed half of Betty Ripsom hanging from the ceiling, her legs completely torn from her body.

The three of them screamed, scrambling backwards.

"Where the fuck were her legs?" Richie yelled, slamming the door.

"Holy shit! What the fuck is that?" He shouted, looking at the black goo which was still seeping across the floor. Lacy moved so she was on the other side of Richie and Bill, this put her closer to the goo, but at least she wasn't directly by the spider, which followed her every move with its beady eyes. 

"T-This isn't real," Bill said to both of them, trying to calm the panicking Richie down, "Remember the missing kid poster? That wasn't real, so this isn't real."

Richie calmed down a little, allowing Bill to pull him away from the door.  Lacy stayed where she was, looking at Bill with wide eyes.

"Lacy, c-come on," he held a hand out to her, gesturing for her to take it.

She took a deep breath and grabbed it, letting Bill guide her towards him.

"You ready?" He asked, angling himself at the door and preparing to open it.

"No," Richie and Lacy said at the same time, fear evident in both their voices. Lacy wondered how Bill could remain so calm and brave in a situation like this.

Bill stepped forward, not caring that Lacy was clinging on to his hand and Richie had a steel grip on his shoulder, and yanked the door opened. Lacy had her eyes half-closed, still expecting Betty to be there, she was guiltily relieved to see that girl was gone and had been replaced by the same long corridor as before.

"Where did she go?" She asked, not able to get her mind around what she'd seen.

"She wasn't real," Bill repeated, "Where's Eddie?" He asked.

As if in reply to his question, Eddie started screaming at the top of his lungs. The three of them sprinted into action straight away, running down the falling apart stairs and following Eddie's screams into a room.

Eddie was on the floor, backed into a corner with The clown stood over the top of him, It's hand pressed into Eddie's face. It turned to look at them, a glare prominent on its face.

"This isn't real enough for you Billy?" The clown asked teasingly, "I'm not real enough for you?"

"Holy shit," Richie breathed.

"It was real enough for Georgie," It grinned, laughing maniacally.

Quicker than any of them could have expected, It leaped up, still laughing, and charged towards them. Lacy screamed, grabbing Bill and Richie and trying to pull them away, when Beverly appeared out of no where and stabbed a metal rod through the clown's temple.

It should have been dead, but it remained standing, a low growl emitting from it.

Mike, Ben and Stan came in then, skirting around the edge of It while Lacy, Bill and Richie ran to Eddie, taking advantage of the clown's temporary moment of weakness.

"We've got to get out of here," Richie shouted over everyone's screams.

"Eddie are you okay?" Lacy asked the boy, who was cowering on the floor.

Eddie let out another scream and Lacy turned to see the clown stalking slowly towards them, the bar still protruding from his eye.

"Shit," Lacy breathed, trying to haul Eddie to his feet so they could make a run for it. Her actions caused Eddie to scream louder, and she noticed that the arm she was tugging on was bent at an awkward angle, she dropped it immediately.

"Shit, Eddie, I'm so sorry," She rushed out.

"Eddie listen to me!" Richie shouted, taking Eddie's head in his hands and forcing the boy to look at him.

"Don't touch me!" He screamed, "He's gonna get me! NO!!"

The clown suddenly lunged forward, making them all jump back in fright.

It turned its head, the end of the rod slashing Ben in the stomach and sending him sprawling to the ground, taking Mike down with him.

Just when Lacy thought that they were all done for, the clown retreated back into the house, disappearing round a dark corner.

"Don't let him get away!" Bill called, following It down the corridor.

"Bill no!" Lacy shouted, trying to catch up with him.

She found him standing on a staircase and staring at an old well.

"Is that?" She trailed off, thinking back to what Ben had told them all about the well house.

Bill nodded mutely, "That's where It went, that's where Georgie is."

Lacy bit her lip, after seeing what the clown could do, she didn't think it was very likely that Georgie was still alive.

She was saved from having to reply when Beverly shouted, "Bill! Lacy! We have to help Eddie!"

They rushed back, Eddie in the same position as before, cradling his arm and trying to protect it from them all.

"STOP!! OH MY GOD!" He yelled, thrashing away from everyone.

"Okay, I'm gonna- I'm gonna snap your arm," Richie said.

"DO NOT FUCKING TOUCH ME!!" Eddie shouted, glaring at Richie.

"Richie no!" Beverly cried.

"DO NOT FUCKING TOUCH-" Eddie's threat was cut off by a loud scream of pain as Richie snapped his arm back in place, a loud crunch echoing through the room.

The eight of them ran from the house, Richie and Bill dragging Eddie and practically throwing themselves down the stairs.

They sprinted as far as they could before they had to stop, Eddie collapsing onto the ground and shaking his inhaler, Ben in a similar state of pain.

"Now what?" Lacy said through pants of breath.

"Eddie and Ben need help," Bill said, glancing at the two injured boys.

"I'm fine," Ben shook his head reassuringly.

"You just got turned into a kebab for the second time this summer, you're not okay," Lacy pointed out.

"There's a payphone over there, I'll call Eddie's mom," Beverly suggested, wondering over to the phone and putting in some coins.

"Shit, my mom's gonna kill me," Eddie groaned.

"Me too," Lacy agreed, thinking of how her mom would react when she walked through the door covered in mud and blood.

"We're all doomed basically," Richie said offhandedly. 

Tell me what you think, constructive criticism is always appreciated!