Two Weeks Later
July 4th, 1989

Steph stared ahead as she sat on the metal bench, the wind blowing through her hair as all sounds of trumpets, cheers, and drums went unheard by her. Her fingers twiddled with each other as she inhaled deeply through her nose, feeling rather lonely as she sat all by herself in the middle of the town square. She was waiting for the others to show up so she could hang out with them; anything could pull her out of her trance, but it wasn't working at the moment. She was too far gone in her own imagination as she stared at the gray pavement, a silent and humorless chuckle slipping from her lips before she could stop it.

She felt a little shaken sitting there alone, more paranoid than ever as she sighed, glancing all around her rather frantically. A logical person would have assumed that she was just impatiently waiting for someone to show up but, although that was true, it was also not that true. After everything that Steph had gone through over the last month, she had every right to be fearful of her surroundings as her shoulders trembled, not from crying or sobs, but from pure, uninterrupted fear.

Steph glanced down at her right wrist; the hand-shaped bruise was still there. It never went away, it still remained there, but it looked much worse. It now looked as though she had scalded her arm on a stove for over five minutes straight and that there was now a black, third-degree burn there instead of a bruise. She covered it with the slim fingers of her hand, shuddering at the memory of that night, wanting terribly to forget about it. She wanted to repress it so desperately, but no matter what she had tried to do, it simply wouldn't work.

"Just try not to think about it for as long as you can," Danny Torrance had told her when he had come to visit with his mother, Wendy, the week prior. He had noticed that his younger cousin looked a little worse for wear lately, and he felt guilty that he couldn't do anything about it. He had seen that there were now bags under her beautiful eyes and that her hair looked a lot frizzier, almost as if she hadn't had a wink of sleep in years. "I know you think I wouldn't believe you, but I do. But I know for sure that my mother or your mother would never believe us. Mom believed me about what happened to me all those years ago, but she won't believe you about a supernatural clown."

"I know this, Danny!" Steph had replied fiercely, her face red with frustration and confusion. "You think I don't fucking know that?!"

"Okay, okay!" the older boy had exclaimed, raising his hands up in surrender. "But just try to forget that it even happened. I know that it's difficult to do and it was the same for me, but at least try for me, okay? You look terrible, Steph."

"Gee, thanks, Sherlock!" the girl replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she tried to suppress a giggle from leaving her mouth. "I totally haven't noticed!"

But it wasn't just that demon that she was worried about; she was worried about the three boys that had been terrorizing her and her friends since they were little. She was afraid that they would come from around any corner of the town square and snatch her out of sight. She was damn lucky that she had her father's pocket knife with her inside of her purse today, or she would have had a strong heart attack had she not had it. She took a deep breath and looked around her again, her hands quivering lightly; she had to dig her fingernails into her palms to prevent them from trembling so badly that she thought they would have melted off.

After the rock fight that had occurred in the Barrens just over two weeks ago, Steph had made sure that when she and her friends were out in public, they were always together and that they never wandered off. The others had listened to her, and they were always by each other's sides, much to her relaxation and relief. In fact, they often went to fun places in the town together: for example, the Aladdin theater; one day, after they had all seen a horror movie that they probably weren't allowed to see, they went into the photo booth and took several pictures together. All eight of them were just making memories as time went by, and it was amazing.

She had to assure herself that all of her friends were, in fact, alright and that they would be at the town square with her soon. They had all made a plan to meet up and hang out while they watched the parade go by, maybe even buy themselves some ice cream while they were at it. The thought of it made Steph smile internally, just wanting to have a happy day for once lately; even if something small happened that made her happy, then so be it. That would be enough, just one tiny thing.

Have I ever seen anything truly evil? Steph thought to herself grimly as she glanced at the marching band, examining their red, white, and blue suits and sailor hats as they tapped away at their drums. Except for the Bowers Gang, Steph really couldn't think of a thing.

Except that just wasn't true.

Stephanie Palmer was lying to herself.

Something genuinely sadistic had happened to her a few weeks ago that she had tried to forget about but had failed to do so. And it had been in her own home, for crying out loud. There was no other way to describe the horror of a literal demon breaking into her house and attempting to end her own life without any hesitation. She could still picture that wicked claw diving for her heart as those demented yellow eyes stared down at her with pure hatred and glee that it was about to kill her. And, for a small moment, Steph had wished that it had finished the job.

That was evil. There wasn't any other way Steph was able to describe it.

God, she wished that all of the events occurring around her were all a part of some horrific scary movie, which would end with the villain being defeated by either the final girl or the true hero. She could just picture the clown coming towards her with those gloved hands, about to strangle her until the point that her blood vessels would burst. And then a heroic someone, maybe someone like Dr. Loomis from Halloween, would show up and truly take the murderer down.

But that couldn't happen, even if she wished it were real.

But she knew one thing.

Even though she would have never pictured it to be this way when she was much younger, she knew that the town of Derry, Maine had a death curse.

With a shudder, she closed her eyes.

"Hey, Steph!"

Steph jumped about two feet off of the bench at the sudden voice calling out to her, and she put her hand over her heart in fright. She swung around in a fluid motion, her other hand thrusting into her purse to grab her pocket knife to threaten her possible attacker. But when she saw the kind and gentle face of Ben Hanscom, she audibly sighed with relief as she dropped her face into her hands.

"Hey, calm down, Steph! It's me, just me!" Ben cried out in worry, holding his hands up in alarm.

"Dear God, Ben, don't fucking scare me like that!" Steph exclaimed more harshly than intended, glancing up at him just as she noticed him shrink away from her a little. "Wait, no! I'm sorry, kid. I didn't mean to yell at you and sound mean, I promise. It's just... Christ, you could've given me a heart attack."

"Sorry..." Ben responded a little timidly.

"Don't be," Steph replied firmly. "I should be sorry. Anyways, what's up?!"

"I was just coming to let you know that the others are here, and myself, of course," Ben said, a little more cheerful now. "They're all over at the alley across the street from here. Well, Eddie actually went to go get himself and Richie some ice cream, but everyone else is over there."

Steph grinned at the idea of that, giggling a little bit. "Well, thanks for letting me know, Ben," she spoke up happily, standing up a little bit and tucking strands of her temporarily straightened blonde hair behind both of her ears. "Let's go on over there, then!"

As the two walked across the street and talked a little bit about how each other's days were going, Steph couldn't help but feel a tiny bit insecure about how she looked. She had never straightened her hair before, so it was all new to her; Jamie had to help her earlier that morning with the whole process, and she was particularly talented at that. She wore a sky blue, short-sleeved shirt as well as a long but beautiful scarlet red skirt that reached just past her knees. The rest was casual: cream-colored socks and plain white tennis shoes. She was wearing the mother-daughter necklace that Jamie had given to her many years ago, the piece of jewelry adorning her neckline and finishing the truly gorgeous look that she was taking control of today.

Besides, the fact that she had finally gotten her braces off just two days prior had something to do with her improved looks as well.

She just hoped that she looked okay for her friends, not too ugly and not too pretty (at least, in her mind).

She caught a glimpse of Beverly immediately, and she saw the redhead grin over in her direction; she smiled back as she eventually reached her and pulled her into a friendly hug. "Hey!" she greeted her as she giggled, her eyes bright with joy for once after all this time. She personally deserved a tiny bit of happiness at that moment, and she felt consoled at the fact that she was finally getting to feel that emotion.

"Hey, yourself!" Beverly replied with a chuckle. "Come here and let me see those straight pearlies!"

Steph grinned shyly and shook her head a little bit, feeling a little embarrassed at the moment, but she knew that Beverly was feeling happy for her.

"Now, aren't you happy that those braces are off now?" Beverly added in a sarcastic question, still smirking and smiling to no end, her red hair bouncing a little from the laughter the two girls were sharing.

"Oh, yes, I am!" Steph said in response, grinning even more as she shrugged a little. "Time to say bye-bye to all of those years of being called 'brace-face!' I just wished that she never called me that in the first place, that's all." Her smile then fell into a frown, which made Beverly shake her head repeatedly.

"Hey, look at me," the redhead said sternly, making Steph glance into her blue-green eyes as she comfortingly took her hands. "Fuck Greta, okay? She's a cold-hearted bitch, anyway. You don't listen to anything she tells you, because it's not true. You're beautiful, remember? I'll keep reminding you that you are until you get it through your head! You hear me?"

Steph reluctantly nodded, her thin lips curling upward again as she sighed. "Okay," she replied. "Thank you, Beverly. You're beautiful, too, alright? I'll keep reminding you of the same thing and we can be gorgeous together!"

Beverly chuckled wholeheartedly, grinning widely, the corners of her eyes crinkling with cheerfulness. "You've got a deal," she said, nodding a little. "Now, come on! Let's go join the others!"

The blonde girl's head bobbed up and down as she walked over to the rest of the group (minus Eddie, who was still at the ice cream shop) rather briskly. She grinned at the boys as she approached them, feeling her heart warm when she saw them look at her and smile back. She hugged each one of them individually, feeling a tiny grain of overwhelming joy at the fact that they were all here together. She never wanted the group to be separated from each other, since she knew that it would mean that all hell would break loose if they did.

As she hugged each boy, she treated them with care and kindness, almost as if a mother would treat her own children. She had promised all of the Losers that she would always look after them and take care of them if anything went wrong; they all truly appreciated her caring for them and making sure that they were all right every single day, always calling them to check up on them. She had more than enough care than half of their mothers had towards them, but she refused to admit that, afraid that it sounded cheesy.

But it would make the events of the following day far more painful, unbeknownst to Steph.

She finally reached Bill and smiled even more at the fact that she saw him, but she kind of hesitated to hug him at first, mostly because of the look on his face, but also because of her fluttering heart that was racing in her chest.

Bill Denbrough was staring intently at Steph in complete and utter admiration, feeling his heart skip dozens to hundreds of beats in his ribcage at how truly fabulous she looked. He took in her entire appearance, noticing the now straight blonde hair that naturally fell quite a bit past her slumped shoulders, the bright blue t-shirt that added a spice of casualness to her figure, as well as the scarlet skirt that adorned her legs and made her look absolutely beautiful to him. Her physical appearance screamed innocence but also confidence and the fact that Steph had dressed up for the holiday known as the 4th of July made Bill smile timidly.

That was when he noticed something that he had never seen in years. And it made his eyes widen slightly in shock.

"S-Steph... yuh-your braces... They're g-g-gone...." he spoke up in amazement, and it caught the attention of all of the other boys, who looked in Steph's direction. She saw the surprised looks on their faces as they smiled in appreciation, which made her feel a little bashful. She smiled up at Bill, shrugging a little bit as a tiny wave of the color red swarmed her face.

"Yeah, I got them off the other day after we all went to the quarry," she replied shyly, her fingers on both hands intertwining together. "I should have brought it up, I'm sorry. But yeah, I no longer have braces. I'm no longer a stupid-looking dork!" She felt Beverly elbow her ribs gently, and she faced the redhead for a moment, seeing a playfully warning look in her eyes.

"Wuh-Well, I never thought you looked stupid," Bill said, frowning a little bit with sympathy. "I always said that you were pr-pruh-pretty with braces. But I-I-I-I think you look more b-buh-beautiful without them," he said breathlessly. "A-Actually, I think you look stunning today...."

Steph ducked her head down out of how timid she felt at that moment, the champagne blush on her rosy cheeks growing even worse as she smiled. "Thank you, Bill..." she whispered shyly in reply, glancing back up at him. "That's very sweet of you to say."

Bill grinned in her direction, blushing a little bit himself as he continued to admire the angel in front of him. "You're welcome," he replied without stuttering, very quiet and meek around her, his heart fluttering just from the sound of Stephanie Palmer's voice. He closed his eyes and mentally facepalmed, but a bright smile and furious blush was still on his face. How would he ever be with this girl if he could barely string together a sentence?! He didn't even realize the complete effect that she had on him, even if she glanced at him. She could walk into a room and ignore him the whole time and he'd still be starstruck.

He hated looking like a freak in front of her, but he couldn't deny that he felt lovestruck just at the sight of her being there. Was it possible to feel genuine feelings for another girl at his age? Was it even remotely possible to feel so much for one person when he had never, and most likely, would never feel that way towards anyone else? She was only a few feet away from him, but he felt closer to her than ever; he wanted to lovingly pull her to him and kiss her until their lips fell off. She was so gorgeous, but he never exactly focused on her looks too much. Her personality mattered to him much more.

He stared into her eyes... those eyes... they would be the death of him. They were beautiful, the shade of blue that was secretly everyone's favorite color, midnight blue, but they couldn't ever describe it. His face grew very warm as his hands shook lightly, wanting to hold Steph's gentle-looking hands in his own. All he desired was her presence alone; even if all he could do was stand there and look at her, then that would be enough. It was always enough, even if he felt as though he could never have her.

"Y'all done with your staring contest?" Stan asked the two jokingly, chuckling a little when they sprung away from their locked gazes. He truly thought that they were adorable and may even make a great couple, but he chose not to say it, wanting them to wait until the time was right. But he predicted that they would be together someday, no matter how long it would be until then. For now, he would just appreciate what Bill and Steph had between themselves, and he could see their longing to be with one another more obviously than anything he had ever seen before.

Even the lady in the painting...

He squeezed his eyes shut, attempting to forget about it, but failing.

Steph suddenly heard an instrument playing loudly, and she whipped her head around and stared out into the downtown street. She had to cover her mouth with the palm of her hand to stifle her laughter when she saw Richie with a trombone in his hands, attempting to perform for his friends, but he was doing a very poor job at it. It seemed as though the bespectacled boy had snatched the instrument from a member of the marching band on purpose without asking. She shook her head in bemusement, ignoring the sudden gust of wind slicing through her hair like scissors, except that it didn't cut it, just blew it around a little bit.

Wouldn't be the worst thing that happened to me... she thought silently, sighing softly to herself.

"They said they found a part of his hand all chewed up near the standpipe."

The blonde pre-teen swung her head around in response to the sudden voice that had spoken up, noticing Stan had a disturbed look in his brown eyes. She briefly questioned why he had looked so frightened in the first place, since nothing scary could have possibly happened; then she looked a little bit to her left and saw something that made her blood run freezing cold, almost as if her body had turned into a block of solid ice. It was something she had never felt before, and she was suddenly rigid in fear.

It was a poster that she could see. A 'MISSING' poster. What she read made her heart sink to the never ending pit of her intestines:

POLICE DEPARTMENT
CITY OF DERRY
MISSING
EDWARD CORCORAN
13 YEARS OLD
LAST SEEN JULY 1

Description: Born March 29, 1976; Male; 13 yrs; Height: 65 inches; Weight: 110 lbs; Brown hair, green eyes; Wearing a blue polo shirt, khakis, red and white sneakers.

If you find this person, please contact the Derry Police Department.

Steph finally lowered her gaze from the white piece of paper, unwilling to look at the black and white photo of that boy anymore. She ran her hands over her eyelids very roughly to rid herself of the tears that threatened to escape.

Not again, she thought. Do not fucking cry again, Steph! You're a big girl now, you don't need to cry like a newborn baby! You've done enough of that. Keep a straight face, little girl... Straight face....

Instead of crying, Steph's face remained as cold as stone, refusing to let out any sense of sad emotion. She needed to be strong, and she didn't have another choice anymore, and she was fine with that. This was her life now and, despite wanting to mourn the possible loss of a boy that she sat beside in her Social Studies class all throughout eighth grade, she couldn't bring herself to do that. Her eyes remained on the pavement, frozen in place, refusing to even glance up at the others for a moment.

"He asked to borrow a pencil once," Ben added, making Steph want to cry more. The tears did not arrive.

But she looked up just in time to see Bill step over to the thin little poster, lifting it up, but revealing yet another 'MISSING' poster.

Well, there went any chance of Steph's day getting better from there. It was now down the gutter.

But the face that she saw on the poster was not the face of Eddie Corcoran or Georgie Denbrough or Veronica Grogan or Patrick Hockstetter, but Betty Ripsom. She was a girl that Steph had come the closest to having a friendship with anyone besides the Losers; she wished that she had spoken to her a lot more and grown closer to her. Then she might have protected Betty from the horrors that awaited her in her own house the night she vanished into thin air. She had heard about it when it happened during Christmas break that December, only a mere five hours after she herself had seen those eyes in the storm drain. She had a feeling that something terrible would happen following that incident and, sure enough, it had happened, much to her dismay.

She saw Bill now looking in her direction, but that wasn't her biggest concern at the moment. The names of only two people swam through her mind and she felt her heart stop in fear.

What if she saw their names on a 'MISSING' poster someday?

She could only imagine it.

Justin Daniel O'Connor, she dreadfully thought. Born April 4th, 1980. A young male, nine years old. 4 foot, 5 inches tall. 80 pounds. Tousled brown hair, dark brown eyes. Wearing a jacket with Darth Vader posing on the back, as well as a plain red t-shirt, and black sneakers. Amber Elizabeth O'Connor. Born December 20th, 1981. A young female, seven years old. 4 foot, 1 inch tall. 66 pounds. Long, straight brown hair to her waist, bright green eyes. Her mother's eyes. Wearing a yellow summer dress her mother gave her, and white flip-flops.

She couldn't let it happen, she fucking couldn't! She had to do something to prevent it from taking place. But how would she be able to warn the two children and even convince them that this was all real and not just horror movies intended to frighten little kids? How would she be able to assure them that it was true?

By the way, guys, she played it out in her head, a demon dressed up as a clown wants to take you and kill you!

Yeah, that made total sense.

"It's like she's been f-fuh-forgotten because Cor-Corcoran's missing," Bill said in a concerned voice, making Steph look up and into his eyes. His expression matched hers: pure worry for the future days to come. She nodded silently, before glancing away from him and back at the scary-looking poster mounted up on the wall next to an advertisement for Derry's 4th of July parade.

"Is it ever gonna end?" asked Stan in a hopeful tone, making Steph also look at him, and she shrugged a little bit.

"I don't know," she whispered softly. "I hope so, though." She truly didn't know the answer to that question, however.

"What the fuck, dude?!" Richie shouted as the band member finally snatched the trombone away from him and went back to join the marching people. Steph gave the boy a weak smile as he walked back over to the group, pushing his glasses further up on his nose to prevent them from falling off of his face. She patted him on the shoulder in a quiet greeting that they often shared if something serious was going on, and he returned the gesture kindly.

"What are you guys talking about?" Eddie inquired as he reached the other seven, two vanilla ice cream cones in both hands. He handed one to Richie, which he took instantly and began eating before it could melt. Steph noticed that no words were being exchanged between herself and the others and, although she felt a little awkward because of it, she chose not to say anything.

"What they always talk about," complained Richie in response.

Steph rolled her eyes. "Well, maybe if you paid attention and believed us, maybe you wouldn't be whining like a toddler, now would you?" she snapped at him, narrowing her eyes.

"Touche, Steph," Richie replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"I actually think it will end... for a little while, at least," Ben spoke up, a thoughtful look etched into his curious eyes.

"What do you mean?" Beverly responded, really intrigued now, as was Steph.

The blonde stepped further up to Ben, her head tilted in puzzlement. "What do you mean, 'it will end?'" she asked him, her eyebrows knit together as she tried her hardest to come up with an answer to her own question.

"I'm not saying that it will end for sure," Ben said in reply. "I just said that it might end for a good while, but not for good. So, I was going over all of my data research and I charted out all of the big events. The Ironworks explosion in 1908, the Bradley Gang in '35, and The Black Spot in '62... and now the kids being..." Steph leaned back just a tiny bit as she finally realized what he was attempting to say, and her eyes widened in confirmation.

Dear God, she thought, hearing it being spoken to her in a whisper.

"I realized..." Ben continued, his voice now sounding dreadful. "...that this stuff seems to happen--"

"Every twenty-seven years..." Bill, Steph, and Ben said out loud simultaneously, which made the realization dawning on the girl look even worse.

No turning back now, Steph. You can't run away anymore, no matter how much you try.

Steph then suggested to the others that they should go to Bassey Park to talk about all of this, since she was nervous that random people in the town would eavesdrop on them. Her friends agreed after a tiny bit of debating, and they were now sitting in a circle on benches or on their bikes. Since Steph didn't bring her bike, she decided to sit on the bench next to Beverly, staring at the grass; she was lost in what Ben had been telling them. It didn't make any damn sense to her.

Every twenty-seven years?! That wasn't possible!

Then Steph froze a little, thinking of something that could be connected to all of this... something that happened a mere two weeks ago....

No, Steph thought. You're just getting too paranoid. That's not even possible!

But could it be...?

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Eddie mumbled in a confused manner, snapping Steph out of her thoughts before she could come to the inevitable conclusion to her puzzling thoughts. "It comes out from wherever to eat kids for, like, a year, and then what? It just goes into hibernation?"

"I guess so," Steph murmured in reply, shaking her head lightly. This was all so ridiculous to her!

Then why did she have such a difficult time trying to negate the fact that it was real?

"Maybe it's like... what do you call it...? Cicadas," Stan speculated. "You know, the bugs that come out every seventeen years?" Steph turned her head to look up at him, since he was sitting on the back of the bench casually. But she noticed his slightly trembling hands, and she instinctively reached out to grab one of them to provide a small amount of comfort. The boy glanced back at her, appreciating the solace.

"My grandfather thinks this town is cursed," Mike said out of nowhere.

Steph snapped her attention over to the colored boy, wondering why he had chosen this very moment to mention this. Why hadn't he brought it up before? Well, it might have been because the group had never brought up the topic of 'It' to him prior to today. She was a little irritated that she couldn't figure out what he was thinking deep down inside, but she decided to suppress her frustration and let him continue, although her eyes were still wide.

"He says that all the bad things that happen in this town are because of one thing... an evil thing that feeds on the people of Derry," he added as an afterthought.

Steph nodded in reply, but she grew worried when she felt Stan's hand grow rigid in hers, and she glanced at him with eyes filled with sympathy. "You alright?" she asked.

She saw Stan nod in response, but she couldn't bring herself to believe him.

"But it can't be one thing," Stan replied in a tone filled with skepticism, and she sighed a little in annoyance. Sure, the whole situation sounded like something from a story that your parents would tell you in the shadows of the night just before you fell asleep, but she needed him to get a real grip on reality. But she could sense the fear in his voice, and she locked her gaze with him in order to silently tell him that it was okay.

"We all saw something else," Stan added, his voice quivering.

Now, Steph could agree with that. She and the others had all seen something different, far beyond what their imaginations could possibly tell them. She herself had seen just a clown when it physically attacked her and, as far as she knew, the only one who had actually been hurt by the demon. Beverly had seen tons of blood shoot up from her sink and cover the walls, ceiling, and floor of her bathroom almost like it was The Evil Dead all over again. And Bill had seen Georgie... as well as the clown. So she had to agree with Stan on this one. He was right.

"Maybe," Mike said in agreement, nodding a little. "Or maybe It knows what scares us most, and that's what we see."

"I-I-I saw a leper," Eddie admitted quieter than he had ever said anything before, and Steph could visibly see him shiver. She noted that his tone of voice was quite uneasy, and a wash of trepidation went over her. "He was like a walking infection..." This made Steph grimace in disgust, hugging her arms to herself as she sighed just a tiny bit. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like to see something like that, but she saw something much worse in her own house that very same night. But she still felt sympathy for Eddie, so she sent him a look of commiseration, hoping that he would be okay.

"All I saw was the clown," Steph spoke up after taking a deep breath to prepare herself, her hands shaking just a tiny bit. "But the difference here is, like I said a few weeks ago, from what y'all have told me, it seems as though you just saw it and maybe it scared you or something. I'm telling you, that thing literally tried to kill me. He held me down and tried to stab me with some wicked claw of some sort... I hid in my bedroom and blocked my door, and It tried to bust it down... It was like something out of a horror movie. But it was real..."

For just a brief second, all that followed was silence, and it was the longest second of Steph's life. She examined everyone's expressions, noting Beverly's uneasiness, Eddie's pure fear, Bill's worry, Ben's curiosity, Mike's sympathy... and Stan's skepticism.

"But you didn't," said the boy in question, and Steph immediately scoffed at him.

"Oh, really?!" she replied sarcastically. "Where were you when I was almost murdered, smart guy? That's right, you weren't there! I saw a clown!"

"No, you didn't," Stan responded desperately. "B-Because it isn't real. None of this is. Not Eddie's leper, or-or Bill seeing Georgie, or Steph seeing a clown supposedly trying to butcher her, or the woman I-I keep seeing..." He then froze, immediately regretting saying those words, especially when he saw the blonde girl beside him shoot him a look of concern.

But, just as Steph was about to speak up again, someone cut her off.

"Is she hot?" Richie wondered out loud suddenly, a huge grin planted on his face. Steph snapped her eyes to him and sighed loudly, giving him a look of pure annoyance; she wanted so badly to smack him upside the head and knock some literal sense into him. Not to her surprise, Stan had the same expression she had.

"No, Richie!" he shouted furiously. "She's not hot!"

Steph noticed Richie's smile slowly drop out of guilt.

"Her face is all messed up..." Stan added, shivering to his core at the thought of what had happened at the synagogue about three weeks ago. He hated to relive that memory, but he had to in order for his friends to get the fucking point! "None of this makes any sense! They're all like bad dreams..." Steph wanted so badly to correct Stan, to tell him that he had the wrong idea but she knew that no matter what she did, he wouldn't be convinced.

"I don't think so," Mike replied in a slightly annoyed voice. "I know the difference between a bad dream and real life, okay?"

Steph noticed the familiarity in Mike's dark eyes and she perked up out of interest, tilting her head to the side. "Well, then, what did you see?" she asked him cautiously, feeling as though she were touching a triggering subject for the boy. She had the indication that whatever he was about to tell her and the rest of the group wouldn't be pleasant so she prepared herself for the inevitable and gave him permission to speak.

"Um... do you guys know that burnt down house on Harris Avenue?" he asked them hesitantly, his eyes darting around to each one of them for confirmation. When everyone else nodded, he decided to continue. "I was inside when it burned down. Before I was rescued... my mom and dad were trapped in the next room over from me. They were pushing and pounding on the door... trying to get to me.... But it was too hot. When the firefighters found them... the skin on their hands... were melted down to the bone...."

Steph's heart stopped beating as time stopped for a long moment, and she tried to process what Mike had just said to her. She couldn't imagine what it must've been like to go through something like that, watching your own parents die right before your eyes simultaneously, and at such a young age, too. Sure, she had lost her father, but that was before she was born but she didn't outright witness it happen to him. So, although she wasn't exactly suffering through the same type of grief that Mike was, she still felt empathy towards him, because she knew what it was like.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you, Mike," she whispered faintly, her voice cracking as she glanced down.

"It's okay, Steph," he replied, smiling sadly at her. He then sighed and closed his eyes for a moment to regain the emotional strength that he needed to speak again. "We're all afraid of something."

"Got that right," Richie replied before turning away, glancing at the stage.

"Why, Rich? What are you afraid of?" Eddie questioned him out of curiosity.

The boy stared fearfully at the stage for just a few seconds before turning around and facing the rest of the group, straightening his coke bottle glasses nervously. "Clowns," he muttered anxiously.

Steph chuckled humorlessly, shaking her head a little bit. "How fucking ironic," she replied with a sour smirk.

_____

The Next Day
July 5th, 1989

Steph sat in Bill's garage as she watched him set a projector on a small table that stood right above her head if she weren't standing. She was almost blinded by the light that shined out of the small piece of the machine, and she had to briefly shield her eyes from it. Then it almost turned completely dark in the cold and damp garage when Beverly, Mike, and Stan covered up the windows with heavy blankets. She then felt as though she were being useless, so she stood up, her silhouette being outlined on the bright white wall where the projector was facing.

"Bill, can I help out... or do something useful?" she asked him timidly, a blush not on her face, much to her shock.

The boy faced her for a moment and offered her a small smile, nodding a little bit. "Yeah, juh-just go grab that poster over in the cor-corner," he said to her. "Th-That's all."

Steph nodded and did exactly what he told her to do, even though she felt a slight sting of paranoia... almost as if something was about to go terribly wrong.

After everyone's conversation at the park the afternoon before, Bill had suggested that they all meet at his house (more like his garage) to dig deeper into the research, since he had found out more interesting ties to everything that was going on around them. Steph had agreed almost immediately, wanting to help someone that she cared deeply for, but she also wanted to solve the mystery of all of the missing children and what it truly was that was causing it in the first place.

But, although the others hadn't realized it yet, Steph had a bad feeling about all of this.

Now that complete darkness had filled the room, the girl went to go stand between Bill and Beverly just as Ben held out a small slide for the former to take, and he did. The boy placed it into the projector just as Mike closed the garage door, and Steph squinted her eyes a little to examine the poster that she had gotten for Bill. There was a poster of Derry on the wall, illuminated by the projector light and then she saw the slide switch to another, now seeing the most recent map of the town.

And... were those the sewer systems outlined in the color of red?

"Okay," Bill started, "look." He was pointing towards the map and Steph followed his gaze. She could glimpse a circle hand drawn on the poster and she took a tiny step forward to get a better look at it; she saw the words written under the circle that said, 'Storm Drain.' She shuddered a little, not only because she was reliving the memory of what had happened to her there the previous winter, but because of something else.

"Th-That's where G-G-Georgie disappeared," Bill answered her thoughts, now beginning to point at everything else. "There's the Ironworks and The Black Spot..."

Steph froze in place, thinking about what Bill had just said, a memory suddenly coming back to her. Everything was now falling into place for real, and it was happening so fast that she couldn't even process it occurring. She, all of a sudden, wasn't looking at the poster of Derry anymore...

She was, instead, looking in the direction of her aunt, Wendy Torrance. She was sitting with her on the front porch as the middle-aged woman held a cigarette between her lips and lit it up with a match. Meanwhile, Steph was sitting in a rocking chair and looking out into the distance, admiring the neighborhood for the first time in months; it was all so peaceful, which was a feeling she hadn't experienced in a long time, but she was relieved to be doing so.

Despite this, something was eating away at her and she had to ask the woman about it before she and Danny left to go back to Florida the next day.

"Aunt Wendy?" she spoke up timidly.

"Yes, dear?"

Steph hesitated for a good long while, glancing back down at her hands and fiddling with her fingers. She didn't know how she would be able to bring this topic up in a casual conversation, since she knew that it would be a strange occurrence. But she knew that it was now or never, and she had to do it now. But what if she couldn't? What if she was too scared to open her mouth to ask her own aunt anything? She knew that she trusted Wendy far more than her aunt Sue, so why was she so terrified to ask her a simple question?

"Um... do you know anything about The Black Spot up here in Derry? I know you mentioned something about Dick Hallorann helping a few people escape when it was burnt down..." she mumbled quietly.

She remembered that she was asking this question a mere hour after Danny had finally come through and told her the story about the Overlook Hotel and what had happened to his father. Apparently, there were ghosts haunting the place down in Colorado, and they fed on people with the shine, which was what they were doing to the poor boy. But they had affected his father, Jack, the most and had made him go insane. The man had tried to murder his own wife and son with an axe despite the fact that they had done absolutely nothing to him; in fact, the two loved him more than anything in the world. And yet, he had snapped and tried to end their lives.

Dick Hallorann was the cook at the Overlook and he had vacationed to Florida for the winter holiday while the Torrance family took care of the hotel. But he had the feeling that he needed to return two months later to make sure that everything was alright; he had flown all the way back to Colorado and taken a snowmobile all the way to the place that he had sensed danger coming from. It had taken the elderly man a day and a half to reach the place because of the plane and all of the snow blocking his way from the hotel, but he had made it.

But it was all for nothing, since Jack had murdered the poor man with his weapon, and then the killer had disappeared without a trace, presumed dead... according to Danny and Wendy, that is.

Steph could sense that her aunt was really uncomfortable from the fact that an old acquaintance of hers had been brought up for the first time in quite a few years. She knew that Wendy was quite shaken up from what had happened at the hotel almost a decade ago, since she noticed her trembling right hand holding the cigarette; she wanted more than anything to comfort the woman, but she was scared that the Torrance woman would push her away. Or that she wouldn't even bother to answer her question.

But Steph wouldn't pry her any further if Wendy refused to answer her because she knew that, even though the older woman was someone you could always go to for emotional support, she wasn't quite the same person after the Overlook.

"Actually..." Wendy began, finally finishing her cigarette and putting it out in the ashtray before looking at her only niece with a weak smile. "I do know one thing. Well, actually, Danny knows more than I do but he told me this since he was researching all about this town for some weird reason. But you know him, he's the curious type."

She doesn't know that I had told Danny to research deeper into the town's history, Steph thought deviously to herself, trying to hide a smile. She, instead, kept her face neutral as she stared into the haunted but motherly eyes of Wendy.

"He researched all about The Black Spot since I had brought it up in the past, might have been because Dick Hallorann had brought it up to me in the past before he died..." Wendy spoke up again, sitting down in the chair next to Steph's. "But Dick helped some people escape from that place when it was burnt down to the ground. And, according to Danny, there were names listed in the article about it back in the 60's."

This made the blonde girl perk up more as she sat up straighter in her chair, leaning forward to listen better. "Yeah?" she mumbled. "Who was rescued from there?"

"Well..." Wendy pondered, thinking long and hard about what she could remember out of the information Danny had given her. "Some of the names are difficult to recall, but only two stood out... One of them was a man named William something... Harrisburg? Hanlon? Yeah, Hanlon! William Hanlon. Isn't he the father of one of your friends?"

"Yeah, he is!" Steph said before Wendy could even utter the last word, feeling very surprised that Mike's deceased father had been brought up. "I didn't even know that... God, I don't even think Mike knew that..."

Wendy shrugged a little before lighting up another cigarette, humming momentarily. "Maybe he did, maybe he didn't," she murmured in reply. "Who knows? Either nobody bothered to mention it to him or they forgot about it... But Danny brought up a name that I thought might interest you a little more. It's someone you know... or, I'm sorry, knew. Someone by the name of Daniel O'Connor...?"

Steph felt nauseous at the remembrance of the father figure that she had lost in a horrible 'accident,' but she finally realized that it wasn't an accident. Hell, it was never a damn accident to begin with! It all made sense now, and the girl felt as though she were about to vomit all over the place. But, just as she felt the bile rising in her throat, she forcefully swallowed it back down, not wanting to humiliate herself during a serious discussion. Despite this, during the five seconds after Bill had paused after mentioning The Black Spot, she had enough time to think over everything that had come down upon her so suddenly.

Everything had finally come together for Steph, and she felt as though she wanted to die instead of having to accept the truth....

She suddenly remembered that she had made a quick dash to the library after what Wendy had told her to look up more about the incident at The Black Spot. She then found an exclusive article about Daniel that her cousin hadn't managed to find after all, and she stared at it intently, trying her best to find as many answers as possible as she read over the words over and over again. The article had dated back to July 5th, 1962.

Twenty-seven years ago to the fucking day, Steph heard the words being muttered in her mind.

"...Derry seems to be suffering through a never ending cycle of mayhem from the news we received not long ago from Deputy Scott Fitzsimmons about what occurred just last night. At around 9:33 p.m, a group of racist townsfolk terrorized many people by burning down The Black Spot nightclub, killing an unknown number of people and injuring a dozen. Only three names of the survivors have been revealed, and the rest are being withheld as of now. The survivors' names are known to be Richard Hallorann, William Hanlon, and Daniel O'Connor; the three escaped unscathed but O'Connor is supposedly suffering from severe PTSD following the incident.

The seventeen-year-old boy reported seeing much more disturbing images rather than the nightclub being burnt to the ground and is being sent to a local psychiatric clinic. Sources have informed us that the criminals responsible for this heinous act, whose names have not been identified as of right now, have been taken to the local Derry Police Station."

Daniel saw It, didn't he? Steph asked herself in a voice that didn't sound like her own. He saw that thing and it made him go crazy. But they didn't believe him and they strapped him in a straightjacket and put him in a padded cell for two years. Just his damn luck, I suppose. Then he recovered and was released, only to die a quarter of a century later...

Daniel O'Connor hadn't just died in that car crash. He was fucking murdered!

By that horrid creature....

"Everywhere It happens, it's-it's all connected by the sewers..." Bill continued, breaking Steph away from her thoughts temporarily as she wiped the single tear falling down her left cheek. She was lucky that nobody had noticed her silent weeping. "...and they all meet up at the-"

"The Well House!" Ben exclaimed, his head shooting up from where it had been slumped over to examine the poster in front of them, seeing that the red lines had led up to the very house that he had talked to his friends about. But he didn't quite know what street it was actually on... until he noticed that each street was actually named on the map.

"It's in the house on Neibolt Street..." Stan mumbled in a hoarse voice, his whole body shaking from fear now. Steph noticed this, but didn't dare make a move to comfort him, fearing that he would push her away.

Neibolt Street? Sounds suitably creepy, Steph thought to herself sarcastically, chuckling softly to herself but never smiling. It was a street of Derry that she had, surprisingly, never heard of in her entire life, and she had been living in this town ever since she was a month old. She practically knew every street and road and avenue of Derry like the back of her hand, literally memorizing them: Witcham Street, Kansas Street, Elm Street, Lampkin Lane, Orange Grove Avenue.... And yet, she didn't know about Neibolt Street for some reason.

It may have either been because she had never heard any mentionings of this so-called 'street,' or she just didn't look deeper into the mappings of Derry.

Nevertheless, Steph was more curious than ever now, even though the unstoppable paranoia continued to eat away at her and she had the sudden urge to grab the projector and smash it to hundreds of pieces.

"You mean that creepy ass house where all the junkies and hobos like to sleep?" Richie asked out loud, making Steph sigh loudly.

"No, they're talking about a nice, large mansion with elegant bedrooms and swimming pools inside," Steph said in a sarcastic manner. "Of course they mean a creepy house, dumbass! Beep beep, Richie!" She was saying that out of annoyance, finally angry with Richie for the first time since their friendship had begun... even though she had no clue what the house that her friends were talking about looked like at all.

Steph then noticed Eddie bringing his inhaler to his mouth and breathing in a lot of air from it frantically; so, being the good friend that she was, she stepped over to him and rested a comforting hand on his back. "You okay...?" she mumbled to him tentatively, her eyes filled with concern for the shorter boy. When she saw him nod in reply, she felt assured, but she didn't quite believe him despite this.

"I hate that place," Beverly muttered in a tone filled with uneasiness, shuddering a little as Eddie gasped for air. "Always feels like it's watching me...."

"That's where I saw It," Eddie said suddenly, looking up at the poster with terror embedded in his brown eyes as he took a shaky breath. "That's where I saw the clown..." Steph stared at him in utter surprise, since he had never brought up the fact that he had seen the leper at that house. And the fact that he also saw the clown?! Boy, were things just going horribly wrong for all of them today, huh?

"Tha-Tha-Tha-That's where It lives," Bill confirmed.

Steph closed her eyes briefly before opening them again to stare dreadfully at the poster hung up on the wall before her.

"I can't imagine anything ever wanting to live there," Stan said out of disgust, and Steph nodded in agreement.

"Me neither..." she whispered out loud for the first time since they had started their discussion.

Steph then jumped about several feet in the air when she felt Eddie jerk away from her consoling touch and march up to where he was in front of all of them. She saw the projector light illuminating his small figure and casting the shadow on the wall behind him as he began raising his voice. "Can we stop talking about this?" he demanded, his voice trembling horribly as his hands quivered incredibly obviously. "I-I-I can barely breathe... this is summer... we're kids! I can barely breathe and I'm about to have a fucking asthma attack! And I'm not doing this!" He then turned around to tear the map violently away from the wall.

"Eddie, please!" Steph pleaded with him desperately.

"What the hell?!" Bill shouted, cutting Steph off. "Put the map back!"

Eddie gave Bill a defiant look, his brown eyes wider than Steph had ever seen them as he shook his head furiously in response.

The room suddenly slammed to pitch black darkness and the blonde girl let out a faint yelp of startlement, putting a hand over her heart. Nobody else seemed to react, however, as the projector light turned back on half a second later. Steph glanced back at the poster for Derry, only to realize that it wasn't even there anymore, and her eyes grew wide in alarm as she saw something else come into view.

"What happened?" Bill pondered, glancing at the projector out of pure confusion.

Steph stared at the wall in a trance-like state, unable to break her unblinking gaze away from the pictures of Bill and his family being displayed on the wall. Her eyes were solely focused on the small boy standing in between her best friend and their mother, a huge and gleeful grin on his face as he looked at the camera. She truly thought that the sight was adorable, but that only made her heart break even more now that she was looking at the boy from what seemed to be face-to-face. But still, she couldn't look away, almost as if she had a spell casted on her.

Out of her line of sight, Mike quickly stepped in to see what the problem was. "I got it, hold on," he mumbled to the others, although his voice sounded muffled to Steph. She knew that the situation wasn't solved, since the slides started to transition much quicker, and the boy started to grow very worried. "Guys...?" he added as a warning.

Steph was in a whole other world where all she could see was the picture still on that wall, but she did notice the quality growing more pristine as it zoomed in even more. It focused on the smallest boy the most and the girl was unable to feel the tears slipping soundlessly down her face as her pupils dilated, silently sobbing.

"Georgie..."

The name being spoken by Bill in a sad tone finally freed Steph of her trance and she glanced at him, still crying hysterically now, right before noticing the slides switching faster and faster until it reached the woman of the group. A woman with red hair much like Beverly did... Bill's mother, Sharon Denbrough. The projector lamp began to flicker too quickly for Steph's liking as the photo kept on changing angles and getting much closer, so she backed away slowly, her hand subconsciously taking a hold of Bill's while she did so.

"Bill?!" Stan cried out nervously, having no idea what to do.

But all eight of them could only watch as the projector zoomed and changed faster by the second and, eventually and to their horror, the blown hair on Sharon's face began to cover her eyes, nose and mouth as if a strong gust of wind was passing by in real time. The projector was going so fast-paced that the picture felt more like a movie being played out in front of the Losers.

But then Steph saw something that made her sanity break so harshly that it was now hanging by a single thread, ready to be cut in half someday.

"What the fuck?!" Eddie screamed in terror.

"It's It..." Bill mumbled almost to himself, but everyone else heard him as if he were yelling it to them... just as the face of Sharon transformed to that of the horrid-looking clown.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" Richie screeched louder than anyone had ever heard him in their lives. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" He then grabbed Eddie's arm and brought him closer to him in a protective act as he witnessed the clown's form for the first time that whole summer. He was truly horrified for a very damn good reason, and he had every right to be scared.

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW!" Eddie bellowed in response as he held onto Richie fearfully, trying to be strong in his moment of paralyzing terror.

Steph was now bawling like a dying baby as she stared at the projector screen, her entire body quaking from head to toe; she saw the clown smiling sinisterly at all of them, but she seemed to notice that Its eyes were locked with hers, and that made her tear-filled eyes widen to the size of saucers as she felt the room suddenly grow colder and more dangerous. She heard a voice screaming in her mind that sounded somewhat like her own, but it seemed more uncontrollable and frenzied than her normal thoughts.

Dear God please let it be a nightmare please please please I don't want it to be real I want to go home fuck you you stupid clown please don't hurt my friends I don't want to be here anymore I want it to be a bad dream let me wake up turn it off TURN OFF THE FUCKING PROJECTOR!

"Bill..." she mumbled weakly as she lurched forward, tapping his shoulder to break him out of the trance that he was now stuck in. "Puh-Please... Bill...? BILL!"

"Turn it off!" Beverly yelled urgently. "TURN IT OFF!"

"BILL, LISTEN TO ME AND TURN OFF THE DAMN PROJECTOR, YOU SON OF A BITCH! WAKE THE FUCK UP!" Steph wailed in Bill's face, gripping him by the shoulders and shaking him violently to rattle him out of his transfixed mind.

It finally worked, as Bill's topaz eyes finally returned to normal and he shook himself out of his subconscious state just as Mike rushed forward. He started slamming each button he could find and, when that didn't work, he kicked it over in frustration.

Steph heard the loud racket and looked over in its direction just as she saw the projector tumble to the floor of the garage; the light was, unfortunately, still on but it was now pointing at the wall in a crooked way. She finally felt the tears begin to subside as she trembled wildly, still crying uncontrollably as she felt Bill pull her into a comforting hug, shushing her gently and trying his best to get her to calm down. But it didn't work, as she still felt the presence of It in the room, despite not seeing the creature. Then she heard the slide switching again, and she saw a distorted photo of the clown... it looked furious.

As each slide went by, Steph stared as the lamp started turning on and off.

The lamp turned on.

The clown was still there, in the same place as before.

The lamp turned off.

The lamp turned on.

The clown was now slightly closer, but still frozen in place.

The lamp turned off.

The lamp turned on.

The clown was now completely frozen, but Steph could see its eyes now, staring right into her soul.

The lamp turned off.

The lamp turned on.

It was finally gone.

The blonde girl didn't sigh with relief like the rest of the others, and she gradually felt a searing pain in her head and she gripped at her hair, whimpering madly to try to get it to go away. All she could hear now, besides the rapid beating of her heart, was an excessive and obnoxious ringing in her brain that never seemed to go away; Steph wanted to scream until her vocal cords bursted and rid her of her voice entirely, but all that could come out were faint cries of agony. She squeezed her eyes shut as she dug her fingernails into her temples, hearing the ringing grow louder and louder and louder, replacing all sound completely.

She fell to her knees and pulled at her hair painfully to try to get it to end, but it didn't work. Her head was hurting so badly, she couldn't stop it, she didn't know how.

What's going on what it this why is my head hurting all of a sudden why can't I hear anything what the hell is going on?!

Stephanie Palmer wasn't able to hear the petrified screams of her friends.

But she then felt a firm grip on her arm tugging her away from the middle of the room and she looked all around her, only to see Bill and his look of fear as he attempted to drag Steph away from what he saw, screaming for her to get up. She was confused as she finally began to stagger to her feet, the ringing slowly fading away and she could hear the shrieks and the thundering sounds of what seemed to be footsteps.

But, when Steph finally glanced behind her, she realized that they weren't footsteps at all.

She saw the clown's face inches away from her and she yelled out in terror as she regained her balance and jerked Bill away from It. She saw the gigantic creature crawling on all fours, roaring at them and baring its insanely sharp and jagged teeth at them; she noticed the drool dripping the corners of Its blood red lips as it looked at them hungrily, seasoning them with fear. She bravely stepped in front of Bill and the others, willing to sacrifice herself in order to keep them safe, but she realized that someone was missing out of her seven friends.

"BEVERLY!" The screaming of her best friend's name tore out of her esophagus like it was the last thing she would ever say. She attempted to dive for the cowering redhead ten feet away, but she felt Bill's strong hands clamp over her arms and haul her back to him and the others, and she tried to desperately fight back but she was weaker than he was, so she had to give up. She sobbed crazily as her life began to flash before her eyes repeatedly in two second flashes of whiteness.

She was going to die knowing that she couldn't protect Beverly Marsh, she was going to die knowing that she hadn't said "I love you" to her mother while walking out the front door after eating breakfast with her that she had cooked herself, she was going to die knowing that Justin and Amber O'Connor were now in terrible danger now that their father had been a victim of It, she was going to die knowing that it was her fault that her friends would die immediately after, she was going to die knowing that she would be the reason that she lost the ones she loved and cared for the most, she was going to die knowing that she was a useless and worthless and pious little shit, she was going to die knowing that she hadn't admitted her feelings for Bill Denbrough.

Then Steph saw a blinding white light behind her eyelids and all went silent.

She didn't dare open her eyes.

Was she dead?

Was she in Heaven with her father and Daniel?

Was her death painless?

Were her friends still alive to tell the tale twenty-seven years in the future?

Was her funeral lovely?

She hoped that her cold and lifeless hands were holding white and beautiful daisies as her grave was being lowered six feet into the ground....

And Steph finally opened her eyes.

And she saw Bill, looking into her eyes with a relieved expression in his own.

She was alive. Bill was alive. Everyone else was fucking alive!

She suddenly realized that her face was centimeters away from Bill's, but she fought the temptation to kiss him until the end of time, not having the courage to suddenly. Instead, she pulled him into a tight and protective hug, her arms draped over his shoulders carefully as she sobbed into his chest. And he held her, comforting her soothingly and whispering words of solace in her ear as she shook desperately in his arms.

"I-It's all right now..." he murmured to her. "Yuh-Yuh-You're okay, Steph. It's okay, it's-it's over, okay?"

Steph nodded a little bit as she sniffed quietly, her shoulders quivering out of the pure shock she was feeling after all that had just happened in a mere five minutes. Honestly, Bill couldn't blame her for looking beyond terrified, as he himself had been scared for her and had wanted her to live; but she looked as though she had seen all of her friends being brutally murdered right in front of her. She looked like something right out of a traumatic experience, if this even counted as one, which it now did. He was just glad that she was okay and in his arms, completely safe and sound and okay, although very shaken up.

"Are... Are you okay...?" Steph mumbled in a frightened little voice that a small child would normally use, and Bill's heart broke at how horrified she was. But, like the amazing girl she was, she always looked out for him no matter how hurt or scared she was, and that was the main reason he liked her so much.

"I-I'm okay now..." he whispered back to her, taking a deep breath and pulling her into another embrace, rubbing her back gently to soothe her and help her feel just the slightest bit at ease.

"It saw us..." Eddie muttered in a trembling voice as its decibels raised dramatically until the point he was nearly screaming. "It saw us, and It knows where we are!"

Steph could hear Bill sigh as he finally tore away from the intimate hug that they were sharing and she glanced all around at her friends, seeing that they were shaking from head to toe just like she was. "It always knew," Bill mumbled irritatedly, making Steph's eyes travel to his face out of puzzlement. "S-S-So let's go." The blonde felt his hand slip out of hers as he walked towards where everyone's bikes were strewn on the ground, minus Steph's since she had walked here from her house, and turned to look at them.

"Go?" Ben repeated numbly. "Go where?"

"Neibolt," Bill replied, a look of determination laced in his bright blue-green eyes. "That's where G-G-G-G-G-Georgie is."

"After that?!" Stan exclaimed, absolutely astonished and dumbfounded that his best friend had even suggested that.

"Listen to me, Bill," Steph finally spoke up loudly, her voice returning to its stable tone. "Do you really think that we're going to go to that house after we were almost murdered?! I think the wisest choice is going home and staying the fuck out of this!"

"Steph's right, Bill," Richie added to her statement. "It's summer, we should be outside..."

And then Bill completely snapped.

"If you say 'it's summer' one more f-f-f-fucking time...!" he shouted at Richie, his tone harsher and more stern than Steph had ever heard. He then stomped over to 'Silver' and jumped onto the bike, beginning to pedal away from them.

"Bill!"

He suddenly screeched to a halt at the sudden voice calling out to him, and he whipped his head around to see Steph jogging towards him and putting a hand on his arm. And, although he felt his stomach flip at the tentative touch, his face remained stone cold since he didn't want to give in to her pleas for him to stay. But he still looked at her with awe and care and he secretly wanted to pull her to him and hold her close and protect her until their dying breaths.

"Wuh-What?" he replied quietly, frowning a little bit.

"Let me go with you..." Steph whispered instantly, her face set with pure bravery, but Bill was able to notice the hidden fear in those eyes.

And he shook his head.

"Nuh-Nuh-No, Steph!" he said desperately, not wanting to put her in any more danger than he had already put her in. "I don't w-w-wuh-want you to get hurt, I can't let that huh-happen again!"

"You don't have a choice!" Steph responded fiercely. "I'm going whether you like it or not! I can't let you get hurt either, okay? Just let me go with you, please! I'm sorry, Bill... I care about you, I really do, but you don't get to make my decisions for me, alright?! I'm saying this as someone who cares about you more than you'll ever know, listen to me for one, please... This is my choice. Please let me go with you."

Bill thought about it for a very long time, tears welling up in his eyes as he stared at Steph. He really didn't want her to tag along out of fear of her getting hurt, and he didn't want to lose her before he even got the chance to tell her how he felt; he cared for her very deeply and he would never live with himself if she ever got hurt or killed, he wanted to protect her for all eternity, at least until the day that they would both meet their inevitable deaths. He secretly wished that he would, some day, die with her by his side; then he would be a very happy man knowing that she had been safe for all of those years.

But, at the same time, he knew that she could help him out when it came to finding this thing and finishing it once and for all. And, if his other friends wouldn't go with him, he could, at least, use some assistance; despite this, his fear and logic fought against each other in his mind and he tried to forget about it and just let her go with him to that damn house.

So why was it so difficult to allow her to go?!

"Okay... O-Okay, fine!" Bill reluctantly mumbled, sighing harshly to himself. "Hop on the back of m-muh-my bike..."

God, were the two really going to fucking regret this.

_____

Steph kept her arms around Bill's torso and held on tightly as he sped down Lampkin Lane on 'Silver,' her heart racing out of its mind. She had never stood on the back of someone's bicycle before and it utterly terrified her, but she would take it over seeing a killer clown inches away from her face. She had temporarily ignored her crush on the boy that she was clutching onto, since she knew that they both had a mission that they needed to succeed.

She could tell that Bill was being reckless with the way that he directed the bike around the town, but he was making sure that she didn't accidentally topple off of it; this made her rest her head on his back and close her eyes, sighing a little bit as she thought to herself, once again being lost in her worries. She knew that she was walking right into a death trap, and she was being mortified to even go to that house, but she cared too much about Bill. God, she cared too much and she would live to regret it.

But she didn't care.

As the wind blew her hair all over the place and even into her face at points, Steph couldn't help but think that she would rather be away from this whole situation completely than going with Bill to this house. But she had to hold back the temptation to fling herself off of his bike and run for the hills, since that would make her a scared little wimp who only looked out for herself and nobody else. And that was just not true. Sure, she was really frightened, but she fought against the fear, choosing not to show any so that it would make her seem brave.

Steph didn't have any time to see the street sign before she realized that she and Bill were now on Neibolt Street, and she shuddered at just the thought of them being on this horrific street where their own best friend was attacked. It was almost like they were about to walk into a crime scene instead of a 'haunted house.' Maybe that was why Steph was too nervous to be with the boy right now, because she feared that multiple corpses would meet her eyes the moment she entered, and she would probably faint at the sight.

She could feel Bill slowing down the bike and she carefully stepped off and slowly glanced up at the huge house in front of them. Her heart dropped all the way to the bottom of her stomach as she stared at it, having a horrible feeling about even being behind the front gate. She instantly wanted to get the fuck out of here and she even tried to walk away, but the boy next to her grabbed her hand and gave her a warning look that said "You already came here with me, so you can't turn away now."

She nodded slightly, but still felt a terrible shiver run down the length of her spine as she examined the surroundings around and in front of her.

Twenty-nine Neibolt Street had seemed to have once been a trim red Cape Cod house. But the red paint that had previously covered the home beautifully was now peeling away in hideous patches, the windows were blind eyes that were boarded up, and most of the shingles were gone. Steph could see weeds growing down both sides of the house and strewn across the lawn were some old dandelions in a nice little crop. A high board fence far over to her left lurched haphazardly in and out of the dark green shrubbery; then Steph could detect sunflowers in a giant grove.

She quivered at the bloated, disgusting look to the sunflowers. She hated that detail.

"Yuh-You okay...?" Bill asked Steph gently, glancing over at her.

"Yeah," Steph replied instantly, looking back at him. "Just a little scared."

She could feel Bill squeeze her hand and intertwine their fingers to comfort her, and she blushed lightly as she clasped his hand in return, smiling over at him.

"Me too," Bill said, no stutter.

That was when Steph had to say it.

"It killed Daniel..." she mumbled under her breath.

"What d-d-do you muh-mean?"

"It, Bill," Steph responded harshly. "It killed Daniel. I just realized. His death wasn't a fucking accident. He was involved in the Black Spot in '62. I think he saw It because something sent him insane and he was in a hospital for two years; and I believe that the clown got revenge for him escaping twenty-seven years ago.... He was seventeen, almost eighteen. He was just a kid, and he survived Its wrath, only to die when he was married and had two children!"

Bill frowned with sympathy towards Steph and he stepped a little bit closer to her to offer her comfort but she shied away from his gaze. He respected her boundaries and backed away slightly, offering her a consoling smile instead. "Wuh-We'll avenge him, Steph," he assured her, squeezing her hand again. "I promise."

"Then I promise that we'll find Georgie..." Steph murmured in response, smiling a little towards him as well.

The slightly taller boy nodded as he turned to inspect the house further again, taking in a shaky breath. "Yuh-You ready to go inside?" he asked her hesitantly, feeling guilty for bringing her here.

Steph merely nodded in reply.

The two began to walk towards the decrepit Neibolt house, hand in hand, trembling from head to toe at this point. Steph could faintly hear Bill stuttering to himself, and she could just barely make out what he was saying because he was speaking so so quietly....

He thrust his fists against the post, and still insists he sees the ghosts....

"Bill! Steph!"

The blonde girl swerved around to see Beverly jumping off of her bike and dropping it to the ground, speed-walking towards her and Bill. She didn't feel embarrassed in the slightest, but she still let go of his hand regardless to avoid the blush threatening to creep onto her face. But she also felt ashamed of even going with her best friend to this creepy ass house in the first place, since she knew that her other friends would judge her, but who was she to care?! This was her choice, after all, not theirs!

"Guys, you two can't go in there!" Beverly shouted in a panicked voice. "This is crazy!"

"Look, you don't have to come in with me..."

Steph slowly turned to face Bill, who was already standing on the front porch steps of the house, a bold and determined look on his face. An expression that broke the girl's heart.

"But what happens when another Georgie goes missing..." Bill continued in a sad little voice that made the rest of the group freeze in place. "...or another Betty or another Ed Corcoran or... one of us? Are you just going to pretend it didn't happen like everyone else in this town? Because... I can't.... I go home and all I see is that Georgie isn't there... his clothes, his toys, his stupid stuffed animals... but he isn't...."

The blonde, twelve-year-old girl just stood there, dumbfounded at the fact that Bill was finally taking on the leadership role; she felt so proud of him but, at the same time, she felt so bad for him because he was having to go through this suffering like she was. But she knew that his sadness was far greater than hers ever would be because he actually lost a family member, she didn't. All she wanted was for George Denbrough to be alive again, mainly so that he could be reunited with his older brother and have the remainder of the family be happy once more; but she knew that was never going to happen, no matter how much she kept promising Bill.

All she could do was stare at Bill with a depressed look in her vivid eyes with no clue what to say. She felt as though it would be rude to interrupt a moment like this, especially when Bill didn't stutter at all.

"So, walking into this house... for me... it's easier than walking into my own..." Bill concluded, sniffing as he turned back around to wipe the falling tears from his eyes, approaching the door a few seconds afterward.

"Wow," Richie mumbled in awe.

"What?" Beverly asked, glancing over at Richie as Steph began to take a single step after Bill.

"He didn't stutter once."

Steph reached the stairs, but she felt as though she were walking in slow motion, knowing that she could possibly be walking into her own demise right here. She was mentally preparing herself for the inevitable moment as she reached the top step, only mere feet behind Bill as he gripped the front doorknob in his left hand. She cautiously reached out and took his right hand and he accepted the touch immediately, interlocking their fingers once more as he turned to look at her, a relieved smile on his face. Her lips pressed into a thin smile in return, but it felt fake because of how terrified she was to go inside this house.

Lord, she hoped that this would all end up being a horrific nightmare.

"Wait!" Stan shouted, making the other seven teens turn to look at him, noticing that he looked very pale and very anxious. The only blonde of the group was staring right into his soul from the front porch, and she could easily read the extreme nervousness that was causing his heart to almost explode from how scared he was. "Uhhh, shouldn't we have someone keep watch... you know, just in case something bad happens?"

Steph sighed a little bit, tapping her free fingers against the rotted stair railing, thinking about it for a very long time. For once, she was actually stuck in a true dilemma. One point was that she was scared for the lives of her friends, and she didn't want to see anything terrible to happen to them, especially by that stupid clown. But, at the same time, she knew that it would, logically, be a better idea if they all stuck together, since splitting up was never a good idea in horror movies, and this was a real life horror film all on its own.

Rule number one in this situation was that you never mess with any shit like this.

Rule number two was to never enter a creepy, abandoned house, especially if you knew that something demonic resided in it.

Rule number three was to never fucking split up! Plain and simple.

"Wh-Wh-Who wants to stay out here?" Bill asked, suppressing his ever so slight annoyance.

All of the other boys in the group instantly raised their hands, leaving only Steph and Beverly to be the seemingly fearless ones of the kids. The pre-teen looked all around at the boys, shrugging her shoulders. "Okay, your choice..." she mumbled under her breath, sighing a little as she shook her head. Her heart sank further down her stomach, knowing that she would completely lose her appetite for the whole rest of the day.

The ultimate decision was about to be made.

"Fuck," Richie cursed under his breath.

A/N: that was a lot to go through lol

ANYWAYS, thoughts on this chapter? it was REALLY fucking long, but i hope you guys liked it!

what did you think of steph's thoughts during the beginning of the fourth of july scene?

what about the absolutely adorable moment between steph and bill? they're too precious and pure!🥺👉🏻👈🏻

did you like how steph figured out how daniel actually died?

was the twist about daniel actually being one of the survivors of the black spot fire interesting? was it executed well?

what about the projector scene? did you like the turn it took with how i wrote it?

steph was brave for willingly going with bill, wasn't she?

is there any questions you have about the book so far?

predictions for the next chapter?

be looking forward to the next chapter!

-denbroughswife