( TW: graphic gore and violence, character death, heartbreaking and terrifying moments )

One Hour Later
1:52 P.M.
Steph's POV

Consciousness slowly came back to the blonde girl, but her awareness of her surroundings was at a minimum. She weakly groaned and mumbled unknown words to herself, and she couldn't bring herself to open her good eye enough to look up. She could sense that her heartbeat was just barely going now, which let her know that her life was draining by the second.

The sensation of the revolting muck covering her back as she laid on it didn't bring disgust to her emotions but comfort. She believed that she was still holding little Georgie's body close to her and she knew she was very close to joining him on the other side. That was the only thing that didn't send her into crazed hysteria when she felt a few drops of liquid that she didn't know about hitting her arm and then her face.

Of course, she flinched a little bit at the sudden sensation, especially when the liquid (which she thought was water) felt extremely cold, almost like ice.

She flinched once again when she felt a small hand on her right arm gently trying to shake her awake. A small moan of sleepiness left her lips as she ever so slightly moved her head, and she even sighed from how tired she was, wanting to scold whoever was shaking her from waking her from her undisturbed slumber. But she could hardly find the energy to do so, and she nearly fell asleep.

"Try and wake her up, kid," she could hear a voice speak up a little louder than it was earlier. It was a female voice.

"I'm trying," came another voice. This one belonged to a young boy that nearly sounded like Georgie, but Steph knew it wasn't because Georgie was dead.

"Is she dead...?" said another girl's voice, this one sounding way younger than the other people trying to wake the blonde.

"Huh...?" Steph murmured quietly, her head rolling back and forth in a very awkward way, and she properly started breathing again instead of inhaling in wheezes. "Who's that...?"

"Steph, wake up," said the boy's voice. "Wake up, please, it's us! It's us... Justin, Amber, and Beverly... Please wake up."

Justin... Amber... Beverly... No, that's not possible, Steph thought to herself as consciousness truly came back to her. It slammed through her mind like a semi-truck crashing into a dozen other cars all at once.

Her good eye snapped open and she looked to her right to see what she would inevitably be seeing thanks to the sun barely illuminating all of them, much to her absolute horror. Justin, Beverly, and Amber were huddled around her in a slight panic as they stared down at her, and she examined each of their worried expressions. She was utterly puzzled as to why they could have possibly been down here, so she felt as though she needed to desperately ask all of them why.

Steph tried to sit up as best as she could, but the numbness in her wounds made it more difficult to move so Beverly had to help her rise up.

It was then that she noticed that Georgie was no longer in her arms. He was completely gone....

"What... What are you three doing down here...?" Steph whispered dazedly, her voice almost entirely silent but they were still able to hear her. "Bev... How did you end up down here...?"

"It took me from my apartment," Beverly answered simply, trembling from how cold it was down in the sewers; she also sounded bewildered as hell, as if she had just woken up herself. Steph could tell the redhead was hiding something and grabbed her hand to hold it, making it seem as though she was comforting her but she had briefly looked into her subconscious.

(are you still my girl?)

(those boys that girl do they know that you're my)

Seeing the last memory that Beverly could remember angered Steph as the face of Alvin Marsh filled her mind for a small second. But, as it vanished, she started to focus more on the two confused and scared children as she gripped Justin's shoulder.

"What are you guys doing down here?" she murmured to him. "I told you to stay in the bathroom until the police showed up. What... What happened to you?"

"Amber and I tried to look for you after that clown took you, we couldn't stay there and do nothing," Justin mumbled, a little scared that Steph would lash out at him.

"Yeah, so we ran out into the streets to look for you until the Chief found us wandering around," Amber timidly explained further. "We were taken to the police station but the clown took us from there." She could still vividly remember how that gloved hand had a death grip on the collar of her pajama shirt, and she had seen when she had woken up that there were still creases in the cloth thanks to the demon's fingers.

"Were any of you hurt?" Steph asked gently, demanding an answer from each of them.

Justin was silent. But Amber chose to speak.

"He threw Justin against the wall..." she whispered meekly. "I saw him hit his head on the wall..."

Steph's eyes widened as she peered in the boy's direction, her heart dropping for a second. "Justin..." she mumbled out of pure worry, her eyebrows raised. "Are you okay?"

"I'm alright," Justin answered truthfully, nodding his head so she could see. Steph could tell that he wasn't lying whatsoever. "I mean, it still hurts a little but not as much as it did."

Steph's head slowly bobbed up and down as she carefully stood to her feet, ignoring the slight flare of pain that shot up her right thigh. "Okay..." she breathed out, making sure not to exhaust herself too much. "We need to get out of here, alright? Someone has to be looking for us at this point..."

"I think some people are looking for us," Justin spoke up, his eyes looking misty for half a second. "I can feel them down here... I think it's Bill... Bill and his friends...."

Steph paused what she was doing to make sure that what Justin was saying was actually accurate. When she saw a minor vision of six boys – Eddie, Stan, Mike, Bill, Richie, and Ben – climbing down the well that Bill had described before all of them fought with one another after their first visit to that creepy ass house, she brightened up for the first time since the night before. "Of course..." she mumbled to herself. "Good job, kiddo! Yeah, they're coming down here to help us. Okay... We need to get out of this room and meet them wherever they end up..."

"Guys..." Amber let out in a shocked whimper, making Steph look in her direction and notice that the little girl was staring upward.

The expression in her green eyes was one that Steph would never forget for the rest of her life, even after almost all of her memories of the 1980s had been erased. It was one of pure and unimaginable fear; her pupils had dilated to the point that they were nearly nonexistent, and her mouth was hanging open in a silent scream as she was unable to remove her gaze from what she had seen.

Feeling that gaze send a shiver down her spine, the teenager steadily glanced upward and in the direction that Amber was looking in. She finally processed the sight of the gigantic pile of what seemed to be hundreds – thousands – of children's toys rising so high that it reminded her of a mountain, possibly Mount Everest, as she had seen a picture of that in a Geography textbook one time. All of the toys looked completely rusted, broken, or rotted because of how long they had been down here. That only made her concern rise as her good eye did the same thing.

As her gaze reached the very top of the mountain of toys, all Steph could do was place her hand over her mouth in utter surprise. There were dozens, maybe even hundreds, of children floating ever so slowly in an eerie circle; and she knew they were dead. All of them were dead. Every single one of them. These were the missing children either from the past year or the past centuries Pennywise had been haunting Derry.

(this is where It comes from this is its home where it lives oh dear god we're in its lair jesus please help)

That last thought made her think of Amber and Justin for a brief moment, as they were Christians. They would most likely be praying to God Himself for them to get out of here.

I don't think God is helping us with this one, she thought sarcastically. No, God said, "Fuck this, I'm out."

"We have to go, guys..." she whispered dumbfoundedly, her expression morphing into one of utter dread. "We have to go now."

The others didn't hesitate to listen to Steph as she grabbed them and sprinted for the nearest exit she could find. All she could find was a metallic door that looked like the entrance to a large safe at city banks, like there was in a bunch of crime movies she had watched with Jamie. However, when she tried to pry the handle in order to open the door, it refused to budge in the slightest. She was able to hear the metal groaning with the effort but it never moved.

"Shit..." she mumbled, whimpering from the pain that had started erupting in her dislocated shoulder once again. "Please... for the love of God... fucking open."

The others were also trying to help her but not even they could get the door open.

Seemingly out of nowhere, although Steph and Justin predicted it would happen, a terrifying voice emanated from what seemed to be speakers. All four of them froze in place as they heard it.

"Step right up, Steph and Beverly! Step right up, Amber and Justin! Step right up!"

They could hear the exceptionally creepy music box tone coming from behind them and all of them turned around to face what it was... except for Amber, who was too horrified to look at what was happening. Steph and Beverly spotted a Jack in the Box on one of the smaller piles of toys, while Justin saw it in their minds. The crank was spinning insanely quickly in a clockwise direction, almost impossibly quickly. They were all unnerved at the sight.

"Come change," the clown's voice said cheerily. "Come float. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll cheer. You'll dieeeeeeeee... Introducing Pennywise the Dancing Clown!"

After the crank stopped spinning and the music slowly came to a halt, the clown in the box sprung out of it and stood up straight, although it was delayed. Steph was the only one that didn't flinch one bit from this, as her face was stone cold and emotionless. She had gotten too used to seeing this type of shit. But, when she sensed Amber and Justin jumping out of fright, she instinctively pulled them closer to her to keep them safe in the only way she could.

A wall that seemed to go with a circus trailer suddenly dropped to the filthy ground, making all of them recoil in startlement. A bright orange light suddenly filled the room that reminded Steph of the flames of an extremely large bonfire. It took Steph several seconds to adjust to the sight as her eye squinted just a little bit.

A short span of time later, Steph and Amber and Justin and Beverly could finally see what was in front of them since they were looking at it.

Their biggest enemy was standing twenty feet from them on what looked to be a musical stage as sparks flew in all sorts of directions. Smoke also rose from the bottom of the 'floor' and filled the entire room, nearly causing them to choke on it. And, as Pennywise itself started to dance wildly with its legs swinging about from left to right, the four of them nearly laughed.

Wow, what a way to let yourself go, I guess, Steph thought amusingly.

The sight was so humorous that Steph nearly burst into hysterical giggles, and so did Amber. But the situation was too serious that none of them even cracked a smile, especially when it seemed as though the demon's eyes were locked onto her.

Or so it seemed...

(oh fuck it's looking at them it's looking at the kids at them it wants to kill my babies not today you son of a bitch)

Steph looked ahead and past the clown, her heart rate rising with hope when she spotted an open entryway that could possibly be the only way out of here. She needed to get the others out ahead of her so they could get to the boys and to safety; she didn't care what happened to her after that.

"There," she whispered harshly at them. "Go there, now, please!"

While Justin, Amber, and Beverly sprinted away from the wall, Steph could only limp so the little kids pulled her along so they would never leave her behind. But her strength was dwindling by the millisecond, and her legs buckled halfway to the hatch, making her plummet to the floor and prepare for her eventual demise. She just hoped it would be painless.

She was extremely faint now as Amber and Justin struggled to haul her back to her feet, so she had to murmur, "Go... Go to Bill and the others. They'll protect you... They'll... keep you safe...."

"WE'RE NOT LEAVING YOU!" both of them bellowed at her.

But Pennywise didn't go after the three of them; instead, it targeted the redheaded Beverly instead of its favorite target. The children's screams echoed throughout the room as the clown gripped the girl's neck and shoved her up in the air, giggling maniacally as she fought against its grasp.

"I'm not afraid of you..." Steph could narrowly hear her best friend say.

She didn't know what exactly happened next, but the gasps of Justin and Amber were enough to imply that it wasn't good and that Beverly could be hurt. And she couldn't do anything about it....

(you will be)

Steph remained on the ground as her adrenaline started to fade, and the kids began panicking even more; Justin, especially, feared that his best friend was about to die so he shook her furiously, not even caring if it caused more pain to spread throughout her.

"WAKE UP, STEPHANIE!" Justin screeched at her, all while Amber started sobbing again. "DON'T YOU DIE ON US, PLEASE! GET UP! GET UP RIGHT NOW! LISTEN TO ME!"

"STEPH, YOU'VE GOTTA TELL US WHAT TO DO!" Amber wailed in a scared little voice. "COME ON, TELL US WHAT TO DO! STEPH, PLEASE!"

Out of nowhere, a powerful hand wrapped itself around Steph's throat and lifted her off of the ground, causing the kids to cry out in fear and the blonde to croak in utter agony as the pain came back in full force. She just barely caught a glimpse of Beverly, only she wasn't on the ground anymore. She was floating upward, seemingly caught in a neverending trance...

Steph was hardly able to put up a fight, since all she could do was place her right hand on one of the gloved hands. She stared right into Its golden eyes with the only eye she could possibly function at this point, gasping for precious oxygen. Her eyes were slowly beginning to roll into the back of her head from the lack of air, but she wasn't giving up without a fight.

"Go on... and... kill me..." she choked out, her voice coming out in a weak rasp. "You'll... get what... you want.... I'm not scared of you... anymore. Just don't... hurt them...."

It brought her closer for just a moment, smirking evilly at her despite it not phasing her. "I bet Billy Boy would have loved to hear your last words," It told her, chuckling sadistically. "When I'm finished with you, I'll kill your babies nice and slowwwww..."

(no you won't i won't let you fucking touch neither them or bill or stan or any of the others you motherfucker)

Pennywise's blood red lips parted into a wide and gaping expression as its mouth spread open to the point that Steph could see what seemed to be millions of razor sharp teeth. She knew that what was currently happening to Beverly would happen with her as well, and she was way more scared of being entranced by whatever the hell was coming than she was of dying. She wanted to close her only open eye but she wasn't able to do so, curiosity getting the better of her.

Three excruciatingly bright lights suddenly seeped out of the clown's esophagus, illuminating Steph's bloodied and battered face and offering a sense of slight comfort for a moment. That was until she heard the screams of thousands of children coming from its throat as its mouth widened to the maximum point, and she braced herself.

But, instead of the feathery-light feeling and the unconsciousness that would follow upon staring into the Deadlights, nothing happened...

Nothing happened whatsoever....

All Steph could see was the three bright lights and not the nightmarish visions that would end up plaguing Beverly's mind for the next twenty-seven years.

She wasn't being pulled into their grip.

"They... They don't work..." Steph whispered out of pure shock, and then a mess of relieved chuckles escaped the bottom of her soul, unaware of the kids cowering five feet from her. "They... don't work... on me.... They can't affect me..."

Pennywise's wide open mouth snapped shut at the horrifying realization that it couldn't pull Steph into the trance it would normally put on children that fought back. Suddenly, the delicious fear it had tried so hard to season her with had been completely vanquished from her. It was utterly confused as to how this was possible, as nobody had ever been able to resist the otherworldly grasp of the Deadlights in its millions upon billions of years of existence.

It's that poisonous power of hers! It thought to itself as it grew furious with her. That precious power that needs to be killed slowly and painfully. Her Shining makes her resist the Deadlights!

Steph's quiet chuckles turned into screeching cackles as she threw her head back in utter amusement, her eyes beginning to flicker from midnight blue to gray as she tried to concentrate once more, just praying her power would return in full force.

It did.

Not even registering her dislocated shoulder cracking back into place as she raised her left arm inhumanly fast to place it on the side of the clown's painted face, she grinned as her eyes turned so white you couldn't even see her pupils. "My turn..." she muttered emotionlessly.

(what are you doing to me? what is this sorcery? what are you daring to do to me?!?!)

(i'm teaching you not to mess with kids like us, you dumbass bitch. you've fucked with the wrong person.)

(i suggest you let me go if you know what's good for you, stupid girl! if you do, i'll let the brats go.)

(i don't believe that for a second. nice try, but i'm not stupid.)

(LET ME GO YOU STUPID FUCKING GIRL YOU'RE HURTING ME YOU'RE HURTING ME)

(just what i want. i'm not letting go until you die an agonizing death. it would do you good after killing georgie and daniel.)

(let me go please let me go i'll never come back to harm you or the brats let me go LET ME GO IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURRRRRRRRRRTSSSSS)

_____

Justin's POV

"I HAVE TO HELP HER!" Justin screamed at a delirious Amber, who was whimpering with pure fright at what she was looking at. "YOU NEED TO GO, I'LL HELP STEPH AND BEVERLY!"

"NO, I'M NOT LEAVING YOU HERE, JUSTIN!" Amber cried to him, shaking her head desperately as she grasped her brother's hands. "I CAN'T LET YOU DO THIS ALONE! NOT NOW!"

Justin just stared at his baby sister, his eyes wide with determination as he started shaking. I should have done something to keep her safer! I should have done something! That way she wouldn't be involved! he thought to himself quickly as he felt his head go back and forth.

"You can't be a part of this," he told her, trying to stay calmer. "I'm not joking or messing around. You need to go and get Bill and his friends to get in here. I'm not letting you get hurt!"

"I'm not letting you get hurt!" Amber protested as she stood to her feet, her green eyes now fierce with confidence that she rarely ever had. "Don't tell me what to do! You let me help Steph, you just let me help her! We can fight about this later! Just let me help you help her!"

It was at that moment that Justin knew that there would be no more arguing with Amber; whenever Amber stood up for herself in any situation, she would take on a scary demeanor that always made the boy give in to her demands. He was aware that Steph mattered just as much to his sister as she mattered to him; she was the person they literally grew up with, for God's sake! He remembered her telling him how she had held each of them when they were born in the Derry Memorial Hospital in 1980 and 1981; she had held them when they were babies. That was how long she was involved with their lives. She had known them since the moment they entered the world.

She truly cared that much about them, and she would die for them. But Justin would also die for her and Amber.

He had no choice.

All Justin could do was pull Amber into a tight and crushing hug that she didn't mind, since she hugged back just as fiercely. He could feel tears stinging his eyes as he accepted whatever would happen next, no matter what it was. "I love you, sis..." he mumbled to her.

"I love you," Amber replied instantly, meaning every word of it.

The two pulled out of the hug and marched forward, the fear of this monster dissipating for the time being. For a moment, Justin could sense that Steph had the clown in a trance of its own and that she was hurting it, which made him smile out of satisfaction.

"Okay..." he mumbled. "We need to distract It. Ready?"

"Ready..." Amber whispered almost hesitantly.

"One, two... THREE!" Justin bellowed before jumping as high as he could. He landed on Pennywise's back and wrapped his arms around its neck as Amber gripped the clown's legs to try and trip it. However, it was immensely difficult to overpower their demon. They both knew it wouldn't be easy but they never gave up, trying their hardest to take this son of a bitch down.

"YOU LET HER GO!" Justin screamed in the clown's ear. "YOU LET HER GO RIGHT NOW OR I'LL CHOKE YOU TO DEATH!"

"LET HER GO!" Amber yelled at the top of her lungs, her voice coming out in a squeal. "WE'LL HURT YOU IF YOU DON'T LET STEPH GO!"

Pennywise was slowly beginning to break out of the trance Steph had put it in, its eyes just barely blinking. It was immensely hard to do this, as her power wasn't just unnatural, it was superhuman as well. It tried so hard and was getting ever so closer to snapping out of it and coming back to reality.

"YOU LET HER GO RIGHT NOW, YOU DUMB CLOWN!" Justin screeched at It, his face bared into a mad snarl of rage.

Seconds later, much to their complete surprise, Pennywise broke out of the trance Steph had put it under. Realizing what was happening, It then kicked Amber away from its legs and dropped Steph to the ground. It then grabbed Justin by the shoulders and flung him off of it, sending him flying across the room.

Justin, utterly caught off guard and scared to death, let out a long and drawn out bawl of terror. His legs and arms flailed about as he soared towards the wall, his mouth open in a desperate scream so somebody could save him. He could hear his heart skipping numerous times and feel his stomach flipping over and over while he continued to somersault, the wall inching closer to his face.

The very final thing Justin Daniel O'Connor was able to consciously register was the brief but savage and searing agony that had flared throughout his brain as his skull violently clashed against the metallic wall.

And his lifeless body hit the ground....

_____

Steph's POV

After Steph had succumbed to the force of her power relinquishing its grip on hers and Its mind, the first thing she was able to hear were unhinged and frenzied cries that sounded almost as if they were coming out of a baby that was either hurt or dying. She was in a bewildered state for a few moments, so she wasn't able to properly respond to what she was hearing, which was clearly Amber.

"JUSTINNNNNNN! NO! NO! NO NO NO NO NO! PLEASE GOD NO! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" is what Amber wouldn't stop screaming, her hands gripping her already tangled brown hair and clenching into fists.

The volume and amount of hysteria Steph could hear coming out of each scream made her snap out of her haze as she struggled to her feet. She spotted Amber hugging her knees to her chest and sobbing crazily and more than she ever had since she was a newborn, which made her quickly limp over to her and grab her shoulders. The only pain in her left shoulder was dull thanks to the stab wound, but it was completely back in place now, which was a relief.

"What's wrong, Amber?!" Steph shouted as she tried to get her to look at her. "What's the matter, baby? Where's Justin? What happened?"

"HE'S-HE'S DEAD!" Amber bawled as her eyes squeezed shut, more and more tears falling at a rapid rate. She tried her best to point across the room. "THE CLOWN KILLED HIM! HE KILLED MY BROTHERRRRRRR! NOT HIM! NOT JUSTIN! PLEASE NO!"

Steph's heart completely stopped for what seemed to be an eternity as she tried to look for Justin, not believing Amber at first. But the expression on her face could have been enough to make somebody want to die; her little face was scrunched into a pained look and her mouth kept opening back up to unleash hysterical shrieks. It was clear that the poor girl's sanity had completely snapped in half.

"Wuh-Where is he...?" Steph asked, her voice trembling so badly that she thought she would faint for real this time.

Amber got some sense of control back as she pointed a quivering finger to her brother. "He's over there!" she squealed before crumpling to the disgusting muck below her, her forehead meeting the ground as she continued to sob wildly.

Steph, saying nothing in response, grabbed Amber and pulled her off of the mud and pulled her in the direction she was pointing in. The little girl tried to resist, screaming, "NO!" over and over and over again as she thrashed around in her arms, but the older girl refused to let her go as she mumbled for her to be quiet. She failed miserably, as Amber continued to cry until it seemed as though she would never stop.

Steph knelt down to her knees, not caring how much her ruined right knee was hurting; she got a good look at how badly Justin was possibly hurt. As she glanced at his torso to see if there were any stab wounds, she didn't think she could see anything, but she could detect that he was unconscious for sure.

"His head..." Amber whimpered out of pure revulsion, more and more tears threatening to fall down her dirty cheeks.

Steph looked at what the girl was referring to and winced greatly, her face twisting into an expression of abhorrence and apprehension. "Oh, fuck..." she whispered, pressing her knuckles to her lips and nearly tearing her mouth to pieces.

Pennywise was no longer in the room with them.

The blonde girl turned the little boy onto his back, watching as the blood from the humongous gash in his temple continued to flood out in a silent ordeal. His brown eyes were closed and would likely remain that way forever, and his expression was peaceful, as if he hadn't been brutally knocked out to the point that he was definitely dying. Steph could feel Justin's death arriving and she had to try desperately to wake him up so he could live for just long enough that he would be able to get to a hospital.

"Justin, honey..." Steph murmured in a very comforting tone, holding his limp hand and having her other arm around a crying Amber's shoulders. "Sweetie, if you can hear me... I need you to wake up..." Tears pricked at her midnight blue eyes as she sniffed. "Please... You've got to wake up."

It was an eerie repeat of her trying to wake up a deceased Georgie the night before, only she wasn't going to believe for a moment that Justin was dead. There was no fucking possible way that he was gone; he needed to live and grow up, he needed to watch Amber grow up, he couldn't leave her or Rachel alone. He was too young to die, he wasn't even ten years old yet!

Please don't go, honey, she thought desperately, shaking Justin furiously to try and get him to open his eyes. Please wake up...

The slightest, albeit nearly inaudible mumble slipped past Justin's lips, but he still didn't move or open his eyes. However, Steph could hear something else, something more significant and it made her flinch slightly as the voice entered her subconscious.

(steph, is that you)

Without any effort, Steph communicated back, squeezing Justin's lifeless hand even tighter.

(yes honey it's me i need you to wake up okay)

A memory then seeped into her thoughts; she recalled holding a tiny baby in her arms when she was almost four years old and staring at him out of wonder and curiosity. Little Justin Daniel had been the cutest baby she had ever seen and she knew that they would develop a close bond and become best friends. And that was exactly what had happened. She could picture his very small smile as he had looked up at her with his wide brown eyes.

(i can't wake up i won't be able to you have to take amber and run)

(justin i can't leave you down here to die you know i can't do that)

(you have to you need to find bill and have him and the others help you and amber and beverly you need to get out)

(justin please i don't want to leave you)

Then she could see Justin when he was two years old, when he had taken that family photo with a six-month-old Amber and their parents. She remembered being five years old when she saw them taking that picture, and her heart growing fond of the sight of the two little kids bonding.

(please understand that i did this to save you steph)

(what)

(i did what i did to protect you and amber don't let that be for nothing don't you dare let that be for nothing)

(justin)

(please keep holding my hand for a minute okay i don't want my death to be sad)

So Steph continued to hold Justin's small hand for a moment, remembering the day they had walked to school on their last day. She pictured herself ruffling his tousled hair as they both laughed and her hand was jokingly swatted away. Then she saw themselves watching Halloween III with Bill as he was helping her babysit; the atmosphere then was entirely peaceful and cheerful.

Now, the atmosphere was horrific and dreadful.

(steph please look into my mind see what i see)

Steph let go of Justin's hand and placed hers on the left side of his face, concentrating deeply despite her blood draining by the moment. Searching through the boy's mind reminded her of a library full of textbooks and documents, which was a very unique way to try and read someone's thoughts.

She found a book labeled 'DAD' and opened it as her eyes flickered briefly. She saw an image – almost like a snapshot – of Justin sobbing hysterically after finding out about Daniel's death on June 15th. She recalled having to hold him as he cried extremely hard in her arms. The next was titled 'STEPH' and she threw it open, searching the pages as quickly as she could. She saw little Justin crafting what seemed to be a friendship bracelet for her, which made her heart leap for a second.

Looking... looking... looking...

But the memories were fading away.... Not from Steph's mind, but from Justin's.

(no no no kiddo you stay with me okay baby please stay with me and amber)

(i'm not afraid i'll be with dad it'll be okay)

(justin please no)

(amber will be okay eventually i'll make sure of it i promise)

(JUSTIN PLEASE)

(steph i'm sorry it had to be)

Those were the last words Justin Daniel O'Connor could conjure in his mind as all sense of life began to run away from him.

No, God no... Steph thought as she felt Justin's power vanishing rather quickly while his breathing began to slow. She grasped his hand and even felt for a pulse.

But there wasn't a heartbeat anymore.

Steph dropped his hand and nearly fell back onto the ground as she heard Amber still crying beside her. She didn't want to accept it, and a tear silently fell down her right left cheek, but she knew she had to tell Amber the truth. She couldn't tell her a lie – Oh, Justin's okay. He just went to sleep for a little while, she thought sarcastically – because she knew the girl would hate her if she did.

She locked eyes with a dumbfounded Amber and sadly shook her head, lowering her head.

"No..." Amber whispered, her head swinging back and forth insanely as her eyes widened with pure shock and denial. "Nuh-No, he's not... No! No!"

"Amber, I'm sorry, honey..." Steph mumbled in a mentally drained voice, her lips quivering once again as she pulled the little girl into her arms.

"He's not dead!" Amber cried out, continuing to shake her head incoherently. "Justin isn't dead!"

"It's gonna be okay, sweetheart," Steph could only croak out, resting her bruised head on top of hers.

Amber's soul shattered as she wailed out of pure grief, heartbreak, and utter rage. She clung to Steph desperately as she weeped extremely loudly, her tears staining Steph's clothes. Her eyes were clenched shut as she shook horribly in the older girl's arms, and she honestly wanted to die; she wanted nothing more than to die at the hands of the clown so she could be with her brother and father, but she knew she could not do that.

Steph would be forever broken if she also died.

Speaking of Steph, she had to try her best not to crumble into hysterics and frenzied screams for Amber's sake. She needed to stay strong for her, so she could only cry silently, the tears burning in the cuts on her face and only making her cry more.

She had failed her babies... She had vowed to keep them safe from this son of a bitch, to protect them... But she had failed miserably. She couldn't protect them. Now, one of them was dead.

Justin was dead. The little boy that she had grown up with for almost ten years was gone.

And he wasn't coming back....

All of a sudden, Steph felt a hand on her left shoulder and she practically reeled back in horror, jerking Amber with her as they both screamed. "DON'T TOUCH HER!" she bellowed at their possible attacker.

But it was Bill, standing there with an expression of total misery etched into his young and kind face. "Hey, no..." he muttered, kneeling to their level and staring at them. "Duh-Don't be afraid, girls... It's muh-me. It's actually me."

Amber, who would have normally crashed into Bill's arms for someone to protect her, stayed right with Steph, still too afraid to trust anyone else but her.

"Bill..." Steph mumbled, her voice completely monotone as tears kept coming by the second. Her shoulders were shaking terribly as she held a completely crumpled Amber in her arms. "You... You made it to us..."

"Yeah, I did," Bill said, no stutter. He then glanced at Justin's body and cringed at the sight. "Oh, God... D-D-D-Did It do that to him?"

Steph could only nod her head before spotting the object in his right hand; it was her mother's pistol. She must have given it to Bill when he had found out that she and the kids were missing, which made her tilt her head in curiosity. She had a small idea in mind as she peered up at him using her one good eye.

"Amber... why don't you close your eyes, sweetie...?" she murmured in the little girl's ear, rubbing her back to keep her comforted as the crying slowly ceased. "Don't open them until I tell you."

Amber did as she asked, closing her green eyes tightly.

Steph then grabbed Bill's right hand that was holding the pistol and raised it gently to where the barrel was pointed at her forehead. She then stared directly into his eyes as a deep frown formed on her face.

Bill obviously reacted with pure dread as he tried to pull the gun away (he was thankful the safety was on), shaking his head repeatedly. Steph had truly lost touch with her humanity. "Steph, nuh-no..." he begged, tears beginning to prick his own eyes.

"I failed, Bill..." Steph whispered weakly, chuckling humorlessly as her eye shut. "I failed my baby... I tried to protect him and now he's gone. This is my fault, Bill... I got him killed. I killed him... I got my baby killed... Just end it. Just kill me."

"No, I won't," Bill pleaded with her, yanking the pistol away from her face and putting it on the ground. He then cupped her bruised face in his hands, making sure to be extremely delicate with her. "I'm not going to kill you, Steph, alright? None of this was your fault, none of it. You didn't cause Justin's death, sweet girl. You are not to blame for him dying. So don't say that. You don't deserve to die for this..."

Steph just lowered her head and nodded lightly, her forehead falling to rest on Bill's shoulder as she quietly cried. "I'm sorry..." she murmured. "I made you come down here. If I didn't let Henry attack me, this wouldn't have happened... Justin wouldn't be dead."

Bill just held her and Amber for a few minutes, placing kisses on the top of Steph's head while gripping one of Amber's trembling hands. "It's okay..." he whispered soothingly. "I-I-It-It'll be okay, guh-girls... I promise."

After a few seconds, Bill then glanced up, noticing Beverly levitating in the air above all of them. "Oh, shit..." he mumbled, standing up and jogging over to her lifeless and unconscious form. "Beverly!"

The two grief stricken girls looked up as well and noticed Bill making pathetic attempts to jump up to try and pull Beverly back to the ground. But they were too delirious to even try and help him, which he completely understood. Their heads leaned against each other as they tried to process the great loss they had both endured, but it was damn near impossible to do so.

The guilt in Steph's heart would never leave her for as long as she lived, especially as she kept recalling how she had vowed to protect the O'Connor children. But she had failed to do so and now one of them was dead, much to her pure sadness.

Look how that fucking turned out, she thought as the tears kept arriving.

She wasn't aware that Bill had taken off past Beverly, having seen someone through a small wall of water.

"Steph?! Bev?! Justin?! Amber?!" came a male voice from the cistern that was the way out, which made both girls glance in that direction. While the little girl didn't know who it was yet, Steph figured it out right away based on how the voice sounded.

It was Mike.

"Mike..." Steph called out in a whisper, struggling to get back up, but her determination to protect Amber for the rest of this ordeal gave her the last bit of motivation she could have to stand to her wobbly feet. "In here!"

The other five boys that had tagged along with Bill and reconciled with him entered the room not long after. Neither of them looked too terrible, with the exception of Eddie being soaked with what seemed to be greywater and Stan having over a dozen small wounds around his entire face. Steph didn't even want to know where they had come from. They all spotted her and Amber right away and the first to rush to them was actually Richie, looking more panicked than ever.

"Holy shit," he mumbled to himself as he pulled the hurt Steph and traumatized Amber into a tight hug. "What the hell happened to you two?"

Steph could detect the utter seriousness in Richie's voice, which made her hug back even more tightly, choosing not to entirely break just yet.

"I couldn't tell you..." she mumbled before pulling away from him and facing the rest of the boys. "Justin's dead... It killed him."

All of Steph's friends looked absolutely outraged and upset hearing this news, especially Mike and Richie. They all advanced to her and Amber and surrounded them in a protective and comforting embrace, trying their best to keep them consoled, which they greatly appreciated. Steph hugged all of them back as fiercely as she could, knowing she needed as much of this as possible, since the many years following today would be among the worst to deal with.

"Shit... How-How is she in the air?" Richie mumbled, finally spotting a still unconscious Beverly floating above them.

Amber had become completely silent now, so she could only react with an unsurprised expression; it was clear that she was already beyond done with this shit, as Steph could tell by glancing at her. So she held the girl even closer to herself.

"Guys..." Eddie cried out quietly, now staring way above them, reminding Steph of the sight all of them had seen mere minutes ago. "...are those...?"

"The missing kids..." Stan confirmed in a croaky voice. "...floating."

Moments later, Mike and Richie were lifting Ben up so he could try and pull Beverly down to their level. Due to his weight, however, it had been a great struggle but they successfully managed to get the redhead lowered to the ground. It was only now that Steph could see how glossy her green eyes seemed to be and the presumably eternal trance she was trapped in.

The Deadlights... she briefly thought.

"Bev!" Ben shouted to try and wake his crush up, snapping Steph out of her train of thought. "Beverly! Why isn't she waking up?! What's wrong with her?!" With the force of him shaking her wildly, the girl's head lolled back and forth but nothing happened for her to snap out of whatever she was encaged in. "Beverly, please! Come on!" He lowered his own head as tears finally showed up for him, but they did not fall.

Steph couldn't even muster up an emotional enough reaction because she was still in shock from what had taken place minutes before. But she did feel an even bigger amount of agony in her heart at the possibility that her friend would be a vegetable for the rest of her life, and that she would be forever gone in this abyss known as the Deadlights. But there were no more tears that could leave her, as her eye was completely dried up from already losing it earlier.

But then Ben gathered enough courage to kiss Beverly, and it was quite the passionate kiss if Steph could say so herself. He put all his meaning behind it.

"Damn..." Steph could only mutter, surprisingly letting out a slight chuckle.

"Wow..." Richie said out of surprise, completely agreeing with Steph's tone.

Ben then pulled away from the kiss and stared at Beverly, only praying to any kind of God that it would work. But, for a few seconds, nothing seemed to happen except for the clear grayness of her glossy eyes slowly fading away.

Then Beverly let out a loud gasp as she quickly breathed in precious oxygen – even though the air that surrounded her left a bunch to be desired – and she was relieved to be awake again.

Steph let out an audible sigh of relief, although she thought it was complete bullshit that Ben's true love's kiss was able to work as though Beverly was Sleeping Beauty or Snow White. But, considering all she had been put through over the past three months, this was nothing compared to that.

"Bev...?" Ben muttered, desperately making sure that his attempt had actually worked and that Beverly really was awake.

It was proven when the girl clutched one of his arms and stared back at him, coming to a truly happy realization. "'January embers...'" she murmured, a smile threatening to creep onto her face.

Ben couldn't help but grin back as a few tears finally began to fall; he was just so happy that she was safe and awake. "'My heart burns there, too...'" he replied, chuckling at the silliness of how the situation became.

"Jesus, fuck!" Richie laughed as he threw his arms around the lovebirds, Steph and Amber following suit along with the other boys. They all hugged them tightly, just relieved that most of the people they needed to find were okay. And, although the group had dwindled just a little bit, neither of them were determined to give up.

The blonde could recall the verses of the poem Beverly had told her about a few months prior; apparently, she had received an anonymous postcard with a really heartwarming poem written in sloppy handwriting on the back. Steph knew almost right away that it was from Ben because of how fond he was and still was of her, but she chose not to say anything, letting Beverly figure it out herself.

"Where's Bill?" Beverly questioned after pulling away from the hug. She seemed to barely react to seeing Justin's body, but that was only because she had already seen his death happen in her mind after being pulled into the Deadlights. So it didn't surprise her to find out that he was actually dead. She was mourning his loss, however, since she knew how much Steph had cared for him and she vowed to help her recover from this for as long as she remained in Derry.

Sudden concern for Bill manifested in Steph as she turned to look to where he had suddenly taken off, finally realizing that he wasn't there anymore. She perked up and started walking in that direction, gently pulling Amber alongside her and keeping her near so that nothing would happen to her. She could sense that the small girl had lost all ability to speak, most likely being in such shock and trauma over what had happened, and the teenager couldn't blame her in the slightest.

Holding an arm over her shoulders, the two walked slowly around the toy pile so they could try to find Bill, being ahead of the rest of the group and leaving Justin's body behind for a moment. Steph was more curious as to what was going to happen next, while Amber no longer cared what would take place; her entire life had just been turned upside down and all sense of fear, sadness, and grief had entirely drained to complete exhaustion. She suddenly desired to sleep and to sleep for the rest of her life.

Steph then glanced to what could have possibly been behind the wall of water trickling from a leaking pipe in the ceiling. And, although she had literally seen this person the night before and he was dead, she couldn't prevent the utter puzzlement she felt when she saw a little boy step out from behind it, her jaw nearly dropping.

"Georgie...?" she heard Bill mumble as she finally spotted him a good five feet away.

Steph couldn't quit staring at the sight before her as Georgie walked towards his older brother in a weak little waddle. He was dressed in the exact same clothes he was wearing when the blonde had discovered his corpse the previous night, along with his right arm being missing. But he was clutching the paper boat Bill had told her about that he had made for him. He had described how he had sealed the sketch paper with melted paraffin wax and had given it to him, telling his little brother how boats were referred to as 'she.'

So, completely aware of this despite her awareness diminishing ever so slowly, she decided to stay back and to put Amber behind her. Her alarm bells were going off by the second, since she knew this really wasn't Georgie.

"What took you so long...?" Georgie asked in a whimpering and tired voice, lumbering towards Bill to where he was three feet from him and looking up at him with those sad eyes that both he and Steph knew best.

"I-I was looking for you this whole time," Bill tried to explain, his own voice beginning to tremble from the surprise of seeing his brother again. He had started to think that he was actually dead since he had no avail in finding him for the past ten months. But, now that he was standing directly in front of him, a slight glimmer of hope trickled back into him.

"I couldn't find my way out of here..." Georgie said in a depressed tone, glancing towards the paper boat. "He said I could have my boat back, Billy."

Although Steph couldn't see his face, she could sense that Bill was smiling in response to that. It shattered her heart as she tried to communicate with him.

(that's not actually him bill that isn't georgie it's the clown it's not your brother)

"Was she fast?" Bill dared to ask, also looking towards the paper boat that he had made for Georgie nearly a year ago now.

"I couldn't keep up with it..." Georgie admitted, frowning deeply as he seemed to look ashamed for initially losing the boat in the rain gutter.

(that should be a red flag he didn't call it "she" that isn't him)

That seemed to also be the first thing Bill picked up on as a bad thing, since Steph could see his shoulders tensing up with dread. She wanted more than anything to limp over to him and scream that Georgie wasn't the actual Georgie and that she had seen his dead body last night but she figured it would be best for Bill to find out on his own, not wanting to be an absolute bitch about this.

"'She, Georgie..." Bill corrected his brother, tears welling up in his blue-green eyes as he attempted to battle the pure grief he was feeling. "We call boats 'she.'"

Steph could barely see for a moment that Bill was gripping another gun in his right hand; she soon recognized it to be the bolt gun that Mike often used to execute the sheep on the farm he lived on. She had a feeling that he knew that this wasn't really his brother and she wanted to comfort him due to this, but Georgie's next sentence made her freeze in place as another tear fell down her cheek.

"Take me home, Billy," he mumbled, also beginning to cry a little bit.

Steph could feel the presence of her friends hovering behind her and Amber, all while the little girl hid her face from the sight of little Georgie so she wouldn't deal with any more pain today.

"I wanna go home..." Georgie continued, the tears in his eyes much more evident now.

Steph wished that this was the actual Georgie more than anything because she would have been able to tell if the tears were actually genuine. But she knew that the act this fucking demon was putting on was such horseshit.

But it was clearly working on Bill, as sobs left him that completely broke Steph's heart. As a result, she instinctively stepped forward and placed a delicate hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently in order to provide any amount of comfort she could. They were both grieving now and they knew that they would have to help each other through the process of losing someone they both cared for. But they both knew that they would get through it and eventually move past the tragedies they had endured.

"I want more than anything for you to be home..." Bill mumbled in his own sad little voice, but this one felt more real as he walked closer to his little brother, unknowingly shrugging away from Steph's touch for just a moment. "With Mom... and Dad.... I miss you so much...."

Steph then saw Bill placing a hand on Georgie's shoulder and she flinched a little, suddenly frightened that something would happen to him. But, when nothing of the sort happened, she relaxed only slightly but not that much.

"I love you, Billy," Georgie whispered, a tear or two falling down his youthful face as his lips trembled.

"I love you, too," was all Bill said before taking a step back.

When Bill raised the bolt gun to point it at Georgie's forehead like Jamie's pistol had been pressed against Steph's forehead minutes earlier, the blonde nearly sighed with relief that Bill wasn't buying the act for a moment. Not even the whimpers from the small boy could win her or him over.

Nice try, fucker, she thought.

"But you're not Georgie," Bill said furiously before pulling the trigger.

The bolt impaled the boy through the brain, causing him to topple to the mucky ground. The sound of him hitting the mud would resonate in Steph's mind forever, and she would hear it in her nightmares from time to time. His eyes looked just as lifeless as they were when she had found him at four in the morning before he vanished. The expression on his face, however, was much more haunting.

Steph somberly walked over to Bill and grasped his hand in hers as gently as she could, and he squeezed her hand in response. He didn't glance at her but she knew that he was aware of her being there, so she rested her head on his shoulder and intertwined their fingers together.

Steph then anticipated the following moment, which was It spasming insanely as the form of Georgie screamed, snarled, and foamed at the mouth. She pulled Bill and Amber back from the sight of it, completely unsurprised at what she was seeing; her teeth gritted together as a whole new sense of rage and vengeance blossomed within her, and she was entirely ready for the next moment.

As the boy's torn off arm slithered out of the stump and formed into a whole new arm, Steph came so close to retching from disgust that she felt the vomit in her throat. She covered Amber's eyes and made sure she couldn't see what it was, even though the small girl was barely reacting.

The sounds the figure made as each limb elongated almost as if bones were cracking or breaking made it so much worse. Her shoulders tensed up at what she heard, and she even winced, wishing she was dead already so she wouldn't have to witness this.

(oh i can arrange that for you stephanie)

(fuck you)

The prior form of Georgie suddenly catapulted upwards and onto its feet, and it was suddenly the clown – Pennywise – as its white-painted head lifted up and stared at all of them, a maniacal grin on its face. Steph would have normally shivered from the horrifying gaze it was sending in her direction, but she hardly responded to it, only looking back as her eyes turned from the gorgeous midnight blue color to coal black out of utter fury.

As everyone began bellowing variations of, "KILL IT NOW, BILL! KILL IT! KILL IT, BILL!" Steph couldn't help but smile a little bit. This smile wasn't psychotic as Bill furiously pulled the bolt back and pointed the gun at the clown's face. It was rather lovely and peaceful. And she decided not to scream at him to kill their monster.

"Send the fucker to hell, Bill," she murmured to him, hoping he could hear her.

He did, and he nearly smiled himself.

"It's not loaded..." Mike mumbled to himself, realizing that Bill had fired off the final bolt that was available since he had lost the rest after they slid down the well by accident. "Hey, it's not loaded!"

Pennywise grinned with satisfaction at the fact that it would win this battle, that nothing could affect it. But Steph refused to believe that what Mike was saying was true.

"You killed my boy!" Steph yelled at It, her teeth bared in a mad snarl. "You killed my baby! You killed Amber's brother, you son of a bitch! And now we're going to kill you!"

And that was when Bill pulled the trigger again, even though there wasn't an actual bolt in it.

And it worked!

It actually worked!

A sliver of a wound formed in Pennywise's forehead and it visibly reacted in utter agony, throwing its body back from the pain. It quivered violently as it began to roar at all of them, its sharp teeth very visible to all of the Losers as its eyebrows furrowed into an expression of rage.

Although most of the Losers backed away, Mike instinctively grabbing Amber and yanking her backwards to protect her, it was Steph and Bill that stood their ground. And, while the latter was silent as he stared on in horror at what he was seeing, Steph had her arms spread out as she screamed at It, knowing that it was looking towards her love, "COME ON, YOU FUCKER! TAKE ME, LEAVE HIM BE!"

And Pennywise lunged at Steph, its arms outstretched to grab her.

Steph refused to stand down, also charging at the clown despite her terrible limp as she bellowed a battle cry. She grunted with pain as the demon crashed into her and forced her down on the ground, ready to pin her hands to the muck as she struggled desperately to fight.

"TIME TO DIE, STEPHANIEEEEEE!" It shrieked at her, ready to tear her whole head off in one fell swoop.

"NOT TODAY!" Steph screamed back, attempting to place her hand on the side of its face once again, her eyes flickering.

But It had a hold of her hand in seconds, clenching it so tightly that it could have been crushed had the clown actually put in effort. "Not today, little girl! Nice try!" it shouted ecstatically.

"YOU LEAVE HER ALONE, YOU BASTARD!" Bill's voice thundered out of him as he hopped onto Pennywise's back, wrapping his arms around its neck to try and strangle him, much like Justin not too long ago.

Amber was being held by Mike as she screamed frantically, her eyes wider than saucers as she trembled from head to toe. She had already lost her father and brother, so she couldn't bear to lose Steph and Bill, the two teenagers that always looked out for her and that she saw as a second family. She was a complete mess now and couldn't keep control of how she was reacting to the entire situation.

All of the other Losers then decided to gang up on Pennywise while they had their chance. Richie joined Bill in hopping onto Its back to strangle it while the rest, including Steph, either grabbed onto the clown's torso or arms. Even Amber had decided to join in on the fight despite her hysteria, already lusting for revenge towards the monster that killed two-thirds of her direct bloodline. All of them were yelling with desperation as they wanted to win so badly, that way this motherfucker would never come back out after another twenty-seven years.

But, after some time, It managed to get the upper hand on them, flinging them off of it one by one. Mike and Ben were tossed ten feet across the room, Steph was kicked in the gut and sent flying – only adding to her sheer agony – while Beverly was thrown to the ground. Amber was shoved towards Steph, who caught her just in time before she could break a bone. Stan was whacked in the face and sent crumpling towards the mud, clutching at his already wounded skin. Eddie was merely pushed away as if he didn't matter. And Richie and Bill were flipped over and onto the ground.

But, while Richie was free from Its grasp, Bill wasn't so lucky.

"BILL!" Steph screamed along with the others, quickly getting to her feet as the boy was being furiously dragged away from the group.

The clown's hands were around Bill's head as it threatened to crush him in its grip, making Steph panic unlike she ever had before.

"You let him go right now!" Steph shouted, tears welling up in her good eye again as she stepped closer.

"No..." was all It said, clearly looking afraid itself. "You come any closer, Stephie, and he will be unrecognizable when I'm done with him!"

That got Steph to back down for a moment, especially since It had used Justin's nickname for her against her. That caused a new amount of pain to flare up in her body; only, this time, it was in her heart. Her heart broke more when Amber whimpered with horror at the thought of Bill – a good family friend of hers – dying horribly.

"I'll take him," Pennywise threatened, its face twisted into a rage-filled expression. "I'll take alllllllll of you! And I'll feast on your flesh as I feed on your fear...."

All of the Losers were frozen in place as they tried to figure out what to do next, but they couldn't come up with a plan. They were all too scared to venture closer to the two of them; especially since Bill looked scared for them.

"Oooooorrrrr..." Pennywise mumbled, attempting to make an offer with the children that had actually started to make it frightened for the first time in all of its existence. "You'll just leave us be. I will take him, only him. And then I'll have my long rest, and you will all live to grow and thrive and live haaaaaaaapyyyyyy lives until old age takes you back to the weeds...."

"No..." Steph mumbled, shaking her head over and over. "No, you said you wanted to kill me. You wanted me dead, so why don't you just kill me?"

"Nuh-No, Steph..." Bill croaked out, tears filling his eyes at the thought of his love dying when she was already severely hurt by the looks of it. He did admire her bravery and selflessness, though, which he hoped he could go on and tell her.

"I changed my mind, you spoiled brat..." It whispered to her. "I've decided Billy Boy will be much more... satisfactory instead..." It then let out an evil chuckle after saying this, its eyes locked with hers. And that made Steph realize that It only wanted to murder Bill to get to her, to break her down further and further until she wished she was dead.

"Leave..." Bill said, his voice only coming out in a rasp as one of the clown's gloved hands was squeezing his throat madly.

"No, I'm not leaving you, Bill..." Steph said instantly.

"You cuh-can and you will," Bill demanded, nodding his head at her. "Just th-th-this once, please listen to me, Steph. Take Amber and Justin to their mother, make sure Justin can be pr-properly buried. I'm the one who dragged you all into this... I'm s-s-s-s- I'm s-suh-sorry...."

"S-S-S-S-Sorry...." It mocked before laughing maliciously, making Steph want to hurt it so badly that it wished it was never born wherever it came from.

"Go!" Bill commanded, not wanting his friends, the little girl he cared for and helped look after, and the girl he so badly loved to die horrible deaths. He wouldn't mind being killed as long as they got away and got to live long lives of peace and comfort.

It was at that moment that Steph knew something deep down in her heart, and she knew she could not leave Bill down here to die alone. She wouldn't care if the rest of the Losers got Amber and Justin's body out of here, but she couldn't leave Bill to be by himself and be lonely in his final moments. She loved him too much to let that happen.

She loved him, truly and deeply. And she couldn't leave the boy she loved down here to suffer on his own. She needed to be with him, almost as if it were meant to be that way. She didn't really give a shit what happened to herself anymore.

"Guys, we can't..." Beverly muttered, her own voice beginning to shake, which was an extreme rarity for her. Steph always saw the redhead as a strong and tough girl that was never afraid to stand up for herself; so seeing her now, completely and utterly terrified for her friend's safety made the blonde finally see the vulnerability that she wasn't scared to emanate from time to time.

"I'm s-s-s-s-suh-sorry..." Bill whispered again, his eyes shutting for a moment as he prepared himself for his inevitable death. He just hoped it would be quick and painless; at least he would see Georgie again.

Richie slowly got to his feet, his eyes never moving from the sight in front of him as he stared Bill down, slowly becoming incredibly frustrated. "I told you, Bill," he said blankly, his hands quivering majorly. "I fucking told you. I don't want to die. It's your fault!"

Steph's head snapped in the bespectacled boy's direction, irritation and anger rising within her as her jaw nearly dropped in pure shock that he would say such a thing. "Richie..." she mumbled in a warning tone. "Don't you dare..."

Richie seemed to ignore the girl entirely, beginning to pinpoint all of the things that he had been forced to endure for the entire summer. "You punched me in the face," he mumbled furiously. "You made me walk through shitty water, you brought me to a fucking crackhead house!"

Oh, he fucking did it... Steph thought nastily as she grit her teeth again. You're dead if we get out of this, Tozier.

"And now..." Richie continued, slowly reaching out with his right hand to grab the handle of a baseball bat and pull it out of the toy pile. And that was when Steph realized that he was just stalling for a brief amount of time before the true showdown could begin. "I'm gonna have to kill this fucking clown."

Steph then pushed Amber back a few feet, wanting the seven-year-old to stay out of this as she prepared herself for the expected fight to take place. She was beyond thankful when the clown tossed Bill to the side, aware that there was an even greater threat than just him on the horizon. And she was a part of that threat, which made her grin sadistically.

"WELCOME TO THE LOSERS CLUB, ASSHOLE!" Richie shrieked at It, ready to take it on all by himself as opposed to the month prior when he was beyond terrified of it. He gripped the bat tightly in his hands, prepared to strike when the timing was necessary.

He had his moment when the clown pounced at him, and he swung instantly, making contact with its face as he yelled with determination.

Mike was next, taking a metal spear and attempting to plunge it through the demon's torso as much as he could. But, before he could, blackened and burnt hands spouted out from Its mouth and gripped the pole as tightly as possible. The other hands threatened to grab the boy as eerie and haunting shrieks left the creature, making Mike tremble where he stood. Steph knew right away that this was his fear, remembering how he had described the deaths of his parents.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Amber bellowed, the only time she spoke during this fight as she whacked her brother's and father's killer in the gut with a frying pan she had discovered nearby. Her face no longer showed fear or tiredness, but a desperation to keep her babysitter's friends safe and sound.

As she did this, however, the clown took on a new form; its face rapidly transformed to Justin's face, making Amber back away with a scream as she noticed that the face had Daniel's eyes. Her fear was at its peak but she refused to cower away.

Before Justin could charge at her, however, Stan was at the ready, not allowing the small child to lose her life. Taking a pole of his own, he swung at the figure's neck, letting out a scream of rage. When he did, the face transformed to that of the creepy lady in the painting that resided in his father's office at the synagogue. Unlike the first time he had seen it, though, the boy was not frightened of the sight, instead cocking his head to the side and ready to challenge it. And, when the lady sprinted at him, he just hit it in the face with the pole this time.

Afterwards, the lady in the painting transformed back into Pennywise as crab legs erupted from its arms. It chose to target Mike once again as the boy stumbled to the ground, trying its best to impale him as it cackled cheerily and with hope in its voice.

Ben then let out a war cry as he took the rod that Mike had been using to impale the clown through the torso, his face twisted into an expression of pride and vengeance. As a result, dark black blood spurted from its chest and that made the creature roar in excruciating pain. Then it did something almost impossible: the clown's head quickly spun around one-hundred-eighty degrees and became the face of a mummy, presumably Boris Karloff's version of the character from the thirties. Only this was the real thing, not makeup or prosthetics. Ben's battle cry turned into a struggling and scared scream as the face inched closer to him and bandages wrapped around his head.

Simultaneously, Steph and Bill grasped a metal chain they found on the muck and furiously swung at it. The blonde was grateful that her shoulder was no longer inoperable, since that made hitting the clown much easier on her part. The both of them let out angered cries as they kept striking the demon all over its body, determined to finish it once and for all; they each had different motivations behind each swing – Bill to avenge Georgie's death and Steph to seek vengeance against her best friend's and father figure's killer.

The demon's face then changed once more; this time to the leper of Eddie's nightmares. It was gagging disgustingly and it made Steph wince as it faced the boy that was a second son to her. Then it vomited up what seemed to be acidic liquid, making everyone in the room feel sick at the sight; luckily, the only thing that happened was that Eddie was covered from head to toe in the vomit, making him absolutely furious.

"I'M REALLY GONNA KILL YOU!" Eddie screeched before bringing his right foot upward and kicking the clown to the side.

And now the clown had the face of Beverly's father, making all of them freeze in place. Steph stared at the creature, nearly laughing at the audacity this bitch had.

"Hey, Bevvie..." Alvin said in the creepiest tone any person or demon could possibly use. "Are you still my li –"

Beverly stepped forward, letting out a mad cry as she drove the pole into her father's mouth and making it gag and yell out with agony.

After she let go of the rod, the clown spit it back out as Richie screamed, "Holy shit!"

Then Steph saw something transpire that nearly made her cry. The clown completely vanished and in its place was an older woman on her knees that was staring back at her with sad and scared eyes.

"Stephanie..." Jamie murmured in a trembling voice. "Where have you been, honey? I was worried sick about you!"

Steph timidly stepped closer as her lips quivered, tears welling up in her eyes for a long moment. "Mama...?" she whispered, tilting her head to the side as she examined her mother looking extremely vulnerable for the first time in her whole life.

"Don't go near it, Steph!" Stan yelled at her. "That's not Jamie!"

Steph seemed to not hear Stan shouting at her, since she was now less than a foot from her mother as she began to cry. "Mama, what happened to you...?" she asked gently.

"That boy nearly killed me, but I fought back, sweetheart..." Jamie said quietly, trembling like crazy. "But you're okay, Stephanie..."

In an instant, the tears from Steph's eyes vanished and she took her chance; she gripped both sides of her mother's face and stared down at it furiously. For a moment, her swollen shut eye broke open as she began to squeeze the now clown's head madly. Her eyes turned white once more and they were impossibly wide as she attempted to communicate with It through the mind, but she only found herself speaking out loud.

"My mother calls me Steph, you bitch..." she growled at her monster, beginning to twist its head around in a three-hundred-sixty degree angle, its screams being like sweet soul music to her.

"It feels good, doesn't it?" It taunted her, chuckling at her as drool seeped from its lips. "This power you have... It feels good to use it, right...?"

"It feels good to kill you..." Steph snarled, her swollen eye snapping shut again as she successfully twisted the clown's head around with her brief superhuman strength. She thought she could hear bones cracking, which made her smile in satisfaction and scream victoriously (making the entire room rumble due to her power) but, when the demon yanked itself away from her and back up while staring at all of them in terror, she grinned even more.

It was letting out howls of pain and fear as it shook terribly, absolutely frightened of the unity between all eight members of the Losers Club and the little girl seeking immediate revenge for the deaths of a good portion of her family.

The leaders of the group sauntered up to their monster, completely unafraid of what the fuck this thing was now. Steph just looked completely exhausted but prideful, while Bill looked amused by the patheticness of the creature; they could both see its weakness and it was beyond gratifying to see it act like a scared little child.

Richie was gripping Jamie's pistol that he had found on the ground, not wanting it to get lost.

"That's why you didn't kill Steph or Beverly... and why you couldn't hurt Amber..." Bill said proudly, smirking at the entity. "'Cause th-th-th-thuh-they weren't afraid. And we aren't, either. Not anymore..."

Steph smiled peacefully when she heard It whimpering at the brutal truth that was being delivered to it, and she almost giggled at it.

"Now you're the one that's afraid..." Bill taunted, his face set with triumph and brief happiness. "Because you're gonna starve."

"Good one..." Steph whispered to him, making him chuckle lightly.

It began to choke out of horror, wincing from the additional pain brought upon it from those words, so it backflipped into a sewage drain right behind it. It groaned with the effort to stay upright and at the same level as the Losers, its golden eyes turning more blue than anything.

"He thrusts his fists against the post..." It chanted ever so quietly. "...and still insists he sees the ghosts..."

Steph felt a slight nudge on her left arm and she turned to see Stan with tear-filled eyes handing the same pole he had used to beat the shit out of the clown earlier to her. She carefully took it and then passed it to Bill, trusting him more with it as he was hardly scathed. Their eyes locked for a moment and Steph could feel the utter love he had for her in his expression, which made her heart briefly soften.

"He thrusts his fists against the p-p-p-puh-puh-puh-puh-post!"

Both of the leaders feeling agitation at the clown mocking Bill again, the boy raised the pole upward while Steph's hand subconsciously rose in one final attempt to lock It in a trance. But Pennywise lowered itself into the drain even further, making both of them falter in their movements. All was silent for the next few seconds as every member of the group examined the look on its face. Even Amber stepped forward to get a good look at the abomination that killed Justin and Daniel, more curious than anything now.

And that was when they all saw something peculiar.

Its skull was breaking apart piece by piece, almost evaporating into particles of dust, and its blood red lips were trembling.

Steph squinted her good eye, tilting her head to the side in a Michael Myers manner, eerily like the scene where said killer murdered Lynda's boyfriend, Bob, in the very first film. And, while looking into its defeated eyes, she had the sense that it had essentially won against her; it had successfully shattered her, which was its main goal.

But she had won the fight, damn it. She had beaten it for as long as she could, and she was fucking proud of it.

"Fear..." was the final word It spoke.

And then Pennywise the Dancing Clown completely vanished, dropping down into the sewer drain.

A/N: i'm sorry for the pain you've just had to go through...

thoughts on this chapter, i guess...?

did you like the aspect of the deadlights not being able to affect steph? she's way more powerful than you guys realize. she is literally on danny torrance's level, if not way stronger.

so... justin died... lovely... i know you guys are about to unfollow me, block me, and despise me forever, right?

i will say this, though. justin's death was not for nothing. he willingly gave his life for steph and amber. had it not been for his sacrifice, the losers probably would have lost and all of them would have died. i did tear up when i wrote his death, though, and it broke my heart. writing amber's immediate reaction was even more painful.

justin's presence will not be gone from the story. his spirit will live on with the characters for the rest of the book and its sequel. he will not be forgotten.

did you like the final conversation he and steph had through their minds?

did you like the way the final battle was written? what about when steph literally went "fuck it" and became utterly insane in order to help the losers win? she's almost as scary as pennywise during a few moments. a new version of her has truly been born. do you like this new, deadlier, and chaotic side of steph?

what was your favorite moment of this chapter?

pennywise did get his ass handed to him, but at a cost...

predictions for the next chapter?

i would say be looking forward to the next chapter, but it's equally as sad...

p.s. rest in peace, justin. April 4th, 1980 - August 10th, 1989

-denbroughswife