( TW: brief but graphic description of gore, two character deaths )

DISCLAIMER: here are some additional face claims for this chapter, as steph is not involved in any scene of this chapter!

young jamie snell, eventually palmer (chloë grace moretz)
jonathan palmer, prior to death (joe keery)
young susan snell (mckenna grace)
jeremy williams (dylan arnold)
natalie prescott (emma stone)

From the Derry Radio News Station, August 9th, 1989:

DERRY, MAINE (10:30 P.M.)

THIS IS A DERRY RADIO NEWS STATION NEWSBREAK, REPORTED LIVE FROM JENNIFER MUNDY. A FEW MOMENTS AGO, THE PENOBSCOT COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT INFORMED US THAT THERE HAS BEEN A VICIOUS ATTACK IN A HOUSE ON KANSAS STREET IN THE SMALL TOWN OF DERRY. TWO UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE ARE REPORTED TO BE DEAD ACROSS THE STREET, A FORTY-THREE YEAR OLD WOMAN IDENTIFIED AS JAMIE PALMER HAS BEEN DISCOVERED BARELY ALIVE, AND A YOUNG CHILD AROUND THE AGE OF THIRTEEN IS BELIEVED TO BE MISSING. THE YOUNG FEMALE'S NAME IS NOT BEING GIVEN AT THIS TIME. THE SUSPECT BEHIND THIS ATTACK HAS ALSO NOT BEEN NAMED AS OF THIS MOMENT. WE ARE ASKING FOR ALL CITIZENS OF DERRY TO STAY BEHIND LOCKED DOORS AND ARM YOURSELVES IF NEED BE. THE ATTACKER HAS REPORTEDLY FLED THE SCENE AND IS SAID TO BE ARMED AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. ENDS.

10:32 P.M. August 9th.

_____

Bill's POV

Bill Denbrough was the only member of the Loser's Club that was still awake as the clock on his wall ticked closer to 11:00 P.M. Unfortunately, however, his radio wasn't on so he didn't know anything about what had happened a few miles away.

The police cars and ambulance driving past his house only ten minutes ago, however, gave him the indication that something had happened in Derry. He only prayed that no one else had gone missing; after all, everything had been quiet since the group's first trip to Neibolt on July 5th. And he wanted it to stay that way until this was all over.

But the sirens had alarmed him.

Sitting up in his bed, he grabbed the receiver of the telephone on his nightstand and dialed Steph's number as he had ingrained it into his memory well over two years ago. Placing the phone against his left ear, Bill listened intently as it continued ringing... and ringing... and ringing....

Click.

Hi, you've reached the Palmer residence. If you're listening to this voicemail, neither Steph nor I are here at the moment. We're either asleep or out on the town. Please leave a message and one of us will get back to you as soon as we can.

Bill sighed with slight distress but he tried to calm himself down. She's fine, he thought to himself. She's probably just asleep.

"God, I huh-hope so..." he whispered to himself as he tried to fall asleep for good.

It was 10:35 P.M.

_____

Seven Minutes Later
10:42 P.M.
Jamie's POV

Jamie Palmer's unresponsive body was lifted up by two paramedics and placed onto the stretcher as police officers examined every inch of her home. She only just now realized that Cherokee wasn't in the house anymore; that little shit must have let him outside so he wouldn't intervene. There were even a few detectives snapping pictures of the crime scene and forensic people were dusting objects for fingerprints and placing certain items that she owned into evidence bags. But she was unaware of everything that was going on around her, as everything in her body had been reduced to a numbed humming. All she could do was stare up at the ceiling as the paramedics placed a sheet over her to keep her warm and somewhat comforted.

While her body wasn't functioning at the moment, Jamie's eyes were open and she was only mildly aware of what was happening. She just didn't want to fall asleep under any circumstance, even though the terrible aching in her head was tempting the slumber to arrive sooner than she desired.

She had emotionally shut down a few minutes ago when she had been informed by Chief Borton that Steph was nowhere to be found around the home. He said that they had even looked in the O'Connor home that she was babysitting at; but neither she nor the two kids she was looking after were in there. She couldn't believe that, it wasn't the truth, it wasn't. Steph was always careful whenever she was out with her friends or babysitting Justin and Amber, and there was no way she could have possibly gone missing like the children had this past summer.

But, somehow, she had to believe that the Chief of Police was telling her the truth.

The eyes of the neighbors that had only just now come out of their homes were on Jamie as she was wheeled towards the ambulance with the words 'DERRY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL' printed on the side. She didn't see them but she could feel their gazes on her as she was taken closer to the vehicle, and she felt bitterness towards the ones that did not help her baby girl.

She had been told about Mr. Graham from across the street that had attempted to keep Steph safe until that little shit cut his throat open. She felt eternal gratefulness towards him, as he had always shown kindness towards the two of them.

But the rest of them? She hated them at the moment, utterly despised them. They didn't help her, she thought. You bastards didn't help her because you were too busy being so fucking ignorant. She screamed for you to help her and you didn't listen. She cried and cried and cried and you did nothing. You did nothing.

That was when another thought entered her mind: Now I know what it's like to have a child that's missing in this town. It's happened to me now....

And a single tear trickled down her left cheek, but she hardly noticed that.

"Folks, let's give them some room, please," Chief Borton told the neighbors politely and they split into their own groups to talk while making some space for the stretcher.

Jamie wanted so badly to pry her lips apart and scream at them, "Why didn't you answer her cries for help?! She needed to be protected while I was knocked and you didn't do anything. You just stayed all cozy in your perfect little homes and ignored her screams. You people in this town are nothing but useless sons of bitches! Your children don't deserve to have you as parents!"

But she stayed silent as the stretcher was picked up and loaded into the back of the ambulance.

A male paramedic stepped into the space of the vehicle and sat down next to her, placing a hand on her injured forehead that had a layer of gauze roughly pressed onto it. "Jamie, can you hear me?" came his voice in a worried tone, and she gazed up at him. The kid looked to be around twenty or twenty-one years of age and she thought he looked just like Jonathan when she had met him in her junior year of college. But, after coming to her senses, she realized he looked nothing like him.

She glanced at his gray shirt that had a name tag just below his collarbone. It read: Jeremy.

"Jeremy..." she whispered weakly, reaching towards the kid so she could have someone to talk to. "Where's... Where's my baby...?"

"Sheriff Hawkins is looking for her right now, ma'am," Jeremy assured her as gently as he could so she wouldn't have another freakout like she had when she was told Steph was missing. "We'll find her soon, I promise you."

"My baby..." she mumbled incoherently and repeatedly. "She's gone... my baby."

"Hey, do you know who this lady is?" came another voice from the driver seat; her tone seemed more uncaring than Jeremy's was, although she sounded more curious than anything. Jamie recognized her voice; it was Natalie Prescott. She knew her and her daughter, Eleanor, mainly because the redhead close to Steph's age was so shy and reserved unlike her mother, who was a confident 'don't-take-shit-from-anybody' kind of woman.

"Yeah, her name's Jamie Palmer," Jeremy replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Her daughter, Stephanie, goes to school with my little sister, Samantha."

"I recognize that name," the driver said, more interested now. "Stephanie Palmer... Isn't she the top student in the Derry school district?"

"That's what Sam told me," Jeremy mumbled.

"Alright then," the driver said with a finishing touch to her voice.

That was when Jamie finally recognized the kid's name: Jeremy Williams. She knew that family, as they were regulars at the restaurant she worked at, Jade of the Orient. His little sister, Samantha, was eleven and she knew about Steph because of how intelligent she was. It seemed as if she were one of the only kids in that godforsaken middle school that had shown her daughter any sense of kindness.

"Jeremy..." Jamie spoke up a little more as she started to function her limbs a little easier. "Can you... Can you talk to me, kiddo?"

"What do you want to talk about, Jamie?"

"Anything..." Jamie murmured in a sleepy voice. "How... How's Sam doing? And your parents, how are they doing?"

"Mom and Dad are all right," Jeremy answered with a caring smile, keeping the gauze on Jamie's forehead. "Sam's doing okay. She's probably asleep right now, as it's past her bedtime. I don't know, I can't go home until midnight."

"Your parents are good people, Jeremy..." Jamie muttered as she chuckled humorlessly. "They would actually hear their daughter if she was crying for help and comfort...."

The ambulance's sirens began to wail all throughout the small town, the sound of it almost relaxing Jamie in a sense as she fought the temptation of troubled slumber. She tried to focus on the sound of the excruciatingly loud sirens blaring outside of the vehicle.

_____

The seven remaining Losers all awoke to the piercing siren of the Derry Memorial Hospital ambulance ringing throughout the night. Each one of them jumped out of bed at once and glanced out their windows, expressing confusion as to what could have possibly happened to whoever was being taken to the clinic. Each of them figured that someone had gotten into a terrible accident but, the moment they went to their radios and turned it on – making sure the volume was low enough to not wake their parents – they were all in for a bigger surprise than they expected.

"...REPEATING FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE JUST TUNED IN, A BRUTAL ATTACK HAS PLAGUED A SMALL SECTION OF THE TOWN DERRY, LOCATED IN PENOBSCOT COUNTY. TWO PEOPLE ARE REPORTED TO BE DECEASED, ANOTHER BADLY INJURED, AND THREE ARE MISSING AS OF THIS TIME. REPEATING FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE JUST TUNED IN...."

All of the kids cowered slightly in fear, especially when no names were given away as to who could have been involved in this so-called 'attack.' They just tried to shrug it off as they turned off their radios, just praying that neither of the missing people were each other....

It was 10:50 P.M.

_____

From the Derry Radio News Station, August 9th, 1989:

THIS IS JENNIFER MUNDY REPORTING LIVE ONCE MORE ON THE DERRY RADIO STATION. TWO PEOPLE ON KANSAS STREET ARE REPORTED TO BE DEAD, ONE IS BARELY ALIVE, AND THREE ARE CURRENTLY MISSING. I UNDERSTAND WE'RE GOING TO STAY ON THE AIR NOW. THE PENOBSCOT COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT HAVE PUT OUT AN ALL POINTS BULLETIN WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSAILANT, WHO IS NOW IDENTIFIED TO BE FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD HENRY BOWERS. CHIEF BORTON OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT HAS STATED THAT SAID SUSPECT WILL BE CAPTURED IN A MATTER OF HOURS. THERE IS ONE KNOWN SURVIVOR OF THIS BRUTAL ATTACK: FORTY-THREE YEAR OLD JAMIE PALMER WAS FOUND IN THE HOME WHERE THE CRIME WAS COMMITTED. SHE IS CURRENTLY BEING TAKEN ACROSS TOWN TO THE DERRY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL. ENDS.

10:53 P.M. August 9th.

_____

Two Minutes Later
10:55 P.M.
Rachel's POV

"O'Connor, can I see you in my office, please?!" called Dr. Mixter's voice from down the hall, and Rachel was lucky she had pristine hearing and that the hospital wasn't too packed for tonight. She was just praying for the clock to hit 11:30 so she could go home to her kids, and she knew she would be adamant on having Steph stay the night at the house so she wouldn't have to go out into the night alone.

Rachel sped walked down the hallway towards the end of the hallway by the front desk; the sign above the office door read, 'Richard Mixter.' Rubbing a hand over her face to rid herself of the tiredness from having to work so much lately, she stepped into the room and looked around at the homely feel of it. "Yes, Dr. Mixter?" she said politely, feeling a little more meek than normal.

"You might want to sit down for this one," Dr. Mixter advised rather gently, which was the complete opposite of how he usually spoke to her.

Rachel obliged, sitting up straight.

"I just got a call from Natalie," the older man informed her. "She and Jeremy are on their way in the ambulance with someone that you might know. Rachel... um... they have Jamie with them."

Rachel's heart plummeted into her stomach as her eyes widened. "What?!" she exclaimed rather loudly. "What... What happened to Jamie, can you tell me that much?"

"She was attacked in her home, and I think her daughter was with her when it happened," Dr. Mixter answered her. "Natalie told me that there was... Jesus, there was blood all over the downstairs of the house. It was something sick and disgusting, indeed. Jamie apparently endured a moderate amount of head trauma, if not severe. But, when they and the police showed up, her daughter, Stephanie, wasn't found. They were told that she was looking after your kids during your shift. But... and don't freak out... they weren't found at your house, but a teenage boy was found with his head turned completely around...."

At this point, there were tears trickling down Rachel's face as she placed her hands over her mouth. "Oh, God..." she whimpered dejectedly. "Poor Steph... My kids... My kids. Doctor, you've got to let me go find them, you've just got to! They must be so scared..."

"I can't do that, Rachel," Dr. Mixter said sadly. "The radio station and police department advised that we all stay indoors."

"But they're outdoors!" Rachel wailed as she stood to her feet, just barely hearing the sirens of the ambulance outside of the hospital. "They're my children! I don't give a damn if someone tries to kill me in the process. I've got to find them! I can't lose them like I lost Daniel! And I'd rather die than let another fucking child get taken by whoever the hell is doing this."

"Rachel..." Mixter tried to protest.

"No, you can fire me for all I care," Rachel snapped at him as she walked towards the doorway. "But I'm not letting anything happen to my children. And you don't get to tell me that I can't care about them."

And, with that, she jogged out of the hospital and towards her car, just barely seeing Jamie be wheeled into the building on the stretcher.

It was now 11:01 P.M.

_____

Ten Minutes Later
11:11 P.M.
Justin's POV

Justin was running with Amber down the street, not even caring about how exhausted he was slowly becoming by the second. He wasn't going to give up looking until he found Steph and got the police's attention; he couldn't lose his friend, not now. Not when he finally had a parent figure that needed to help his mother look after him and his sister. He was desperate at this point, although the tears were long gone by now, and he couldn't surrender to the thought that Steph could be dead.

"Justin, slow down!" came Amber's voice from behind him. "She told us to go to the police! Some of Dad's friends have to be there, they can help us!"

"No, I-I've gotta find her!" Justin bawled as he searched all around himself on Costello Avenue, no longer giving a crap if anyone came out to take them to safety. All that mattered was Steph and finding her so she could go to the hospital. "STEPH!" he bellowed as he breathed heavily, trying not to pass out from how tired he was. "STEPHANIE! ANSWER US!"

"STEPH, PLEASE BE OKAY!" Amber cried out with wide eyes as her eyes began to grow heavy. It was way past their bedtime, but she could care less.

"STEPH, ANSWER US! ARE YOU OKAY?" Justin screamed as his legs finally gave up and he went to his knees on the sidewalk. "Oh, it's freaking pointless! We're never gonna find her out here!"

"That's why we need to go to the police, Justin!" Amber pleaded as she grabbed her older brother's arm to try and get him back up.

"The police won't help us, Amber!" Justin retorted, yanking his arm away from her grip. "Remember how we were screaming for help earlier? Nobody helped us, nobody came out of their homes! They didn't answer the screams of children! They're the reason all of those kids have gone missing! The reason our dad–" He then halted that sentence, not sure if he should continue it. He shouldn't have tried to say that, he should not have!

"The reason our dad what?" Amber interrogated. "The reason our dad what, Justin?!"

Justin hesitated for a long moment but he knew he couldn't hide anything from his sister because she could read him like a book better than he could with anyone else. It was something more powerful than his ability, but it was something he couldn't quite name. So, sighing, he continued as he closed his eyes.

"They're the reason our dad died, Amber..." Justin said slowly, his heart wrenching at the pained gasp that left her. "I know he didn't die in that car crash, I just know it. Something killed him beforehand, something I can't even describe. It's sickening... But... as Dad was dying, I could hear his screams in my head. I don't know how, but I could. They were... They weren't human-like screams. And I could faintly see something sticking out..." He then stopped, not wanting to go into graphic detail so Amber wouldn't be more upset. "But nobody else heard him screaming in that car. I think that's been happening with every kid that goes missing. They scream... They just scream and scream and scream. And nobody hears it. And that happened to Steph when that clown took her from us."

Amber had a single tear falling down her right cheek that she quickly wiped away. "What are we going to do...?" she asked in a pleading tone. She believed her brother, she had no choice but to believe him.

Justin was about to answer with, "We don't stop looking for Steph," but he suddenly thought of something to do. Over the past few years, he had sensed that the blonde teenager had the same sort of ability that he had acquired from birth. If he concentrated hard enough, which he was quite good at doing, he could possibly – possibly – communicate with her in some way like he had done as she was running down the street back to their house nearly an hour ago. At least, he hoped so.

"I've got an idea," he only whispered as he fully sat down on the sidewalk and took a deep breath to help calm himself. "It could work..."

"What are you doing?" Amber whispered.

"I'm finding Steph," Justin answered in a straightforward way.

And, with that, he tried his best to concentrate on his memories from very recently; it was the only way he could get this to work because, if he didn't do this now, he would possibly never find Steph on his own. He closed his eyes and reached outward and into thin air, hoping to make contact with something soon.

(you've gotten better about filling up the area between the lines yeah you're doing a very great job that's great you've got a great eye for colors c'mon kiddo yeah i know they just miss us that's all don't worry guys you'll see him again soon besides you both know you favor him more than you favor me it's all right kids victor come with us stay quiet you two it's the only way out now CLIMB BACK ON AMBER YOU WON'T FALL I PROMISE NOT THEM TAKE ME TAKE ME YOU WANT ME NOT THEM SO TAKE ME)

And Justin opened his eyes when all of the voices cleared up.

And he found her.

He actually found her!

Steph was lying in a heap in front of him wherever the heck they were, and her uneven breathing told him that she was still alive, although barely.

(STEPH CAN YOU HEAR ME????)

She seemed to be knocked out cold, since she wasn't moving a muscle and wasn't able to communicate with him. This worried Justin greatly, as he could feel something in his heart that he didn't like: it was more like the sensation of Steph's influence shrinking.

She was dying....

(STEPH HOLD ON I'M GOING TO GET HELP FOR YOU BILL CAN HELP US YOUR FRIENDS CAN HELP US)

And that was when he broke out of his trance, his concentration shattered as he came to a realization. His white eyes transformed right back to the dark brown voids that were originally there as he let out a gasp of horror.

"She's in the sewers!" he shouted out loud as he began trembling.

"What?!" Amber mumbled, extremely surprised.

"Steph... she's in the –"

"What are you kids doing out here?!"

The two children shrieked in terror at the sudden voice as their heads spun in the direction of it, but they immediately relaxed at the sight of the Chief of Police standing in front of them with his flashlight aimed at them. But they shrunk away from him as he stepped over to them to examine who they were.

"Justin? Amber?" he muttered. "Jesus Christ, kids! Where the hell have you two been?! We've been looking all over for you! Get in my car and I'll take you to the station."

"Sir, we can't go!" Justin spoke up bravely as he stood to his feet, a protective grip around Amber as he did so.

"What did you say, son?" Chief Borton replied with a raised eyebrow.

"We've been looking for Steph," Justin answered. "Stephanie Palmer... She was taken from our house a little while ago by someone I can't describe. It could have been that boy that attacked us!"

"Are you saying Henry Bowers attacked you kids as well?"

"Yes, sir..." Amber answered in a timid voice.

"And we think he took Steph from our house to God knows where," Justin said as he took a single step forward. "Chief, you've gotta let us find her. She's our friend, and I can't go with you without her."

"You can," Borton corrected the kid as he shrugged his shoulders. "You two can come with me to the station and the police will find her eventually."

"Like you did with the other kids?" Justin snapped back with a sarcastic attitude. "You didn't try to look for them! Why should you suddenly care about Steph?"

Borton's hands clenched into fists as he opened the right back door of his police car. "Get in, kids," he ordered. "I'll take you to the station. Don't argue with me."

Justin and Amber both let out huffs of annoyance and frustration as they walked towards the car, and they heard Chief Borton say something else.

"Your mother's worried sick about y'all..."

_____

From the Derry News, August 10th, 1989 (page 1):

A NEW MISSING CHILD PLAGUES DERRY WITH NEW FEAR

Stephanie R. Palmer, of 1428 Kansas Street, has officially been reported missing as of 11:30 P.M. last night, August 9th. It is said from a statement made by nine-year-old Justin D. O'Connor that she was babysitting him and his seven-year-old sister, Amber E. O'Connor, when all three of them were attacked by a new suspect in the disappearances and murders that have rocked the peaceful town of Derry.

Stephanie, who is thirteen years old, was most likely chased to her home where the suspect chased after her and brutally attacked her and her mother, forty-three-year-old Jamie R. Palmer. Afterwards, she was last seen being snatched from the O'Connor residence and hasn't been spotted since....

Ends. 8:21 A.M. August 10th.

_____

Thirty Minutes Later
11:33 P.M.
Jamie's POV

Jamie is aware that she's asleep, but she isn't laying in her hospital bed despite the nurses putting her under after she flipped out about them not knowing where Steph was. Instead, she's traveling back over two decades ever so slowly, starting from when she's not forty-three but when she's almost thirty-nine; it's the day that an eight-year-old Steph comes home to excitedly tell her that she's not only made one friend, but four.

"They're all boys but they're really nice, Mama," little Steph mumbles meekly, almost as if she's scared her mother will be angry that her friends aren't girls. She's clutching her backpack straps tightly and in a worried way.

"That's amazing, sweetie," Jamie says back enthusiastically, not really caring that her little girl's new friends were boys and not girls. She's just happy that she has friends now. "Why don't you tell me their names, okay?"

"Well, there's Stan, and then Richie, then Bill, and Eddie..." Steph answers in a much happier voice, relieved that Mama isn't angry with her.

"I'm sure they're very nice boys..."

Now, Jamie is thirty and it's the day following her birthday and is at the front door of her old tiny cottage in New York City. She's eight months pregnant with a baby girl due in late July after seven to eight years of trying to have a family with Jonathan. She's just answered the door to a police officer that her husband was friends with. She remembers when Jonathan kissed her on the cheek before leaving to go to the courthouse for work, since he was one of the most well-known lawyers of the entire city.

"Jamie, I'm sorry that I have to be the one to tell you this, but Jonathan died a little while ago," Chief Thompson tells the woman. He kind of reminds her of John Saxon from that movie released under two years ago named Black Christmas.

"No, he didn't," Jamie whispers as her sea green eyes fill with tears, shaking her head repeatedly. "He's not dead. My Jonathan is not dead! You're lying to me."

"I'm very sorry, Jamie," Thompson says in a depressed tone. "We found him two streets away from here with a bullet in his heart. Someone had driven by and shot him, no motive from what I know."

Jamie falls to her knees and wails, screaming up at the heavens. Why, God, why? Why did you kill my husband? We were supposed to be together until we died, he was supposed to see his little girl be born, and you took that from us. How dare you?!

Now she's twenty-nine, and Jonathan is still alive. They're cuddled on their bed late at night and are talking to one another in the dim light of the bedroom. The due date isn't too far away, only three more months. That means Jamie is in her final trimester with her first baby.

"She's gonna be beautiful just like you," Jonathan whispers to his wife of almost eight years as he holds her, smiling happily. "Just like her mom..."

"I'm not that beautiful," Jamie murmurs shyly, her usual confidence gone for the moment. She still has her platinum blonde hair that Steph would later inherit in a way, although hers would be more yellowish. "She will be beautiful like her father, not me."

"Don't say that, love," Jonathan says as he kisses her on the forehead. "You're beautiful so don't say you're not."

Jamie looks up at her soulmate, her fingers playing with his dark brown locks of hair as she stares into his eyes; they're the most beautiful shade of blue anyone could ever see. They're midnight blue, an exceptionally rare eye color that Steph would inherit when she was born a few months later, although hers would be more vivid. Jonathan Palmer is extremely handsome but that's not why Jamie fell for him, unlike other men she had met in the past.

There was something about him when she met him nearly nine years ago now, something that attracted her to him almost immediately. She was just starting to fix who she once was and it was her junior year of college when she saw him in her English Literature class; right away, his intelligence and kindness piqued her curiosity.

But Jonathan did not like her when they first met; he despised her, actually. He had known all about the shit she did to other students in their university, about how she humiliated people, called them names, and spread disgusting rumors about them like she was still in fucking high school. So he had warned her to stay as far away from him as possible, not wanting to get involved in her bullshit antics. And Jamie had listened to him, understanding his concerns about her since she regretted her past.

But then their professor had stuck them together to be partners on a project. Slowly, Jonathan finally began to see that Jamie was truly improving her ways and he went from thinking she 'wasn't too bad' to falling head over heels for her and loving her for who she became.

They got married just over a year later.

Now Jamie is twenty-two....

Now she's nineteen....

She's eighteen now and is hugging her three-year-old sister, Sue, goodbye before leaving for college. She recalls how adorable and sweet the little toddler is as her yellow-ish blonde hair bounces up and down on her shoulders while running up to embrace her. They're both easy on one another for different reasons and Sue is being strong when it comes to holding back the tears of sadness. She fears she may never see her big sister again.

"You'll come back...?" she asks her in her still baby-like voice, peering up at her through her bangs.

"I'll come back to visit before you know it, honey," Jamie promises in a rare occurrence of being nice to someone. She was aware that she was an absolute bitch in high school, but she still had a heart, even if it was buried deep down into her blackened soul.

Now, she's in a white room that's completely unrecognizable to her. She's back to being her current age, her dark chestnut brown hair down to just beneath her shoulders. It's so brown it's almost black, and she has no problem with that. She steps forward rather nervously, a little concerned as to what she'll see on the other side of the room as her eyes narrow.

There are five people sitting in front of a window and they're facing away from her. She feels as though she recognizes them, but she isn't quite sure yet as she walks towards them. "Hello...?" she whispers.

And then they all face her, and she does recognize them.

The first is sweet Amber, her long brown hair falling to her waist. The second is Justin, his dark eyes staring up at the woman with fear laced in them. The third is Sue, her bright blonde hair from when she was seventeen tied into a ponytail. She looks just as she did that night in 1979, when Carrie White caused the deaths of over four hundred people. The fourth is Jonathan, looking just as he did when Jamie saw him for the final time, in his lawyer's suit and his hair neatly combed back.

The fifth and last person is Steph, looking bruised and battered like she did before Henry Bowers knocked Jamie out again. Her poor baby girl, having to suffer through that kind of pain... But she looks completely calm and not hysterical like she did when she entered the house after her night shift.

All five of them mouth something to her that she cannot hear, but she can read their lips perfectly:

"You have to help your daughter. It's up to you now, Jamie."

Jamie woke up with a slight jump, feeling immensely groggy as her eyes scanned the room she was in. It wasn't a blinding white color, and the lights were out completely. At first, she believed that she was in her bedroom and in the safety of her covers, but she then remembered the events of nearly two hours ago and she knew she was still in the hospital.

She thought that she would go completely hysterical again, but the drugs in her system had completely taken control of her emotions. They were meant to keep her calm and sleepy, and it was certainly working.

Her eyes feeling heavy, Jamie allowed herself to drift back into a messy slumber, her worry for Steph still in the back of her mind as she relaxed.

_____

Ten Minutes Later
11:45 P.M.
Justin's POV

Amber was currently asleep in the interrogation room while the two siblings waited for the questioning that would be inevitable. Justin couldn't sleep for the life of him, however, because awful flashbacks to only a couple of hours ago would plague his subconscious and he didn't want to doze off until he was sure it was safe enough. So, he had gone out into one of the main rooms of the station to get a sip of water from the fountain, which the guard of the room, Deputy Tiffany Brackett, had allowed.

She had assured him when he and Amber first got there that she would guard the room in order to keep them safe, since they were targets of a killer at the moment.

I want to trust you but I don't think your protection will be enough against that thing, he had thought to himself after she said this.

After drinking a sip of water from the fountain, Justin slowly walked over to the large door that led to the interrogation room. But he stopped in his tracks just after passing the Deputy, and he suddenly felt the need to talk to her about something important, not wanting to stay silent like he had in the police car on the way here. And he had been here for fifteen minutes.

"When are we being questioned?" he asked in a rather annoyed tone, crossing his arms to rid himself of the cold of the building's interior.

"The Chief should be coming by in a little while to ask you two questions," Deputy Brackett replied in a gentle voice that did very little to put him at ease.

"I'm getting tired of us waiting," Justin pleaded quietly. "We just want to go home, we're tired."

"I understand, kid," she said, trying not to sound as frustrated as she actually was.

"Have you called my mother?' Justin questioned, trying his best to stay calm now.

"Yeah, we have," the Deputy answered. "She's on her way now. It shouldn't be long. Don't worry."

"I'm trying."

"It won't be long now, I promise," Tiffany assured him.

Sighing more to himself than anything and unaware of a menacing figure lurking in the shadows behind him, Justin opened the door to the room and entered it, making sure it closed behind him. He then walked over to his sleeping sister and sat down in the chair next to her, just relieved that she was no longer a hysterical mess since he couldn't bear to see her like that. She was a child that was even younger than him, after all, and he knew she didn't deserve to go through what she had gone through. It was upsetting for him to witness her tears when that boy had the gun pressed to the little girl's temple; she had looked so scared and it had broken his heart.

He had lost his father already and he would die if he lost his baby sister to whatever the heck was after them. He sensed that it was something that had already been out to get Steph at some point recently, and that it was coming after them because they were close to her. That was the only explanation he had left to describe what was going on.

Justin reached out and delicately grasped Amber's tiny hand in a last ditch effort to help her feel any amount of safety in this place. It was the only thing he could think of in that moment, since he needed to stay as strong as he could for her and protect her as much as a nine-year-old could possibly do. His father would have wanted him to do that, he knew that much. So he would abide by both his and his mother's wishes in order to keep Amber as safe as possible.

He sure was glad she was asleep right now, that way she wouldn't be out of her mind again. Her emotional state earlier reminded him of how Steph was like before that... that thing took her from them when she had tried to shield them from the danger.

But what Justin wasn't aware of, as his ability was on autopilot, was that there were more terrible things to come for him and his sister... and they weren't too far away as something was behind the two-way mirror, gazing at its targets through the glass.

_____

Deputy Tiffany Brackett was getting a little fed up with the town of Derry. She knew that for certain.

As she carried the small tray with two steaming coffee mugs on it to Chief Borton's office, she couldn't help but think there was always something wrong with this town. She couldn't quite pinpoint it but, from the missing children to acts of violence being performed by certain townsfolk, she knew something was definitely odd about Derry. And she was getting pretty sick of it.

The disappearances of those poor kids had begun in late October with little George Denbrough when he had run out into the rain and was never seen again. The Sheriff had told her that officers had found blood by one of the storm drains at the very end of Jackson Street, and that had disturbed her greatly. Then Veronica Grogan, Matthew Clements, Betty Ripsom, Edward Corcoran and... and, now, Stephanie Palmer.

Tiffany recognized Stephanie's name when it was spoken over her radio; everyone knew her mother, Jamie Palmer, who was currently in the hospital with a near severe concussion because of that little shit, Henry Bowers. Jamie was a very kind woman who was a waitress at that Chinese restaurant by the town square.

That poor woman, she thought somberly as she inched towards the office door. And those poor kids.

She didn't appreciate that little boy's attitude but she knew she had to understand the situation he was unwillingly placed into. He would clearly be traumatized and she felt horrible for him.

Softly knocking on the door, she stepped into Chief Borton's office as the steam rose from the coffee mugs rapidly, nearly hitting her in the face. She was glad her black hair hadn't seeped into them while she was making the drinks, as it was up in a bun. She didn't need to add that to her list of terrible things happening tonight; she was already tired, flustered, and paranoid enough. Nothing could possibly get worse.

"I thought you might like some coffee, Chief," she spoke up in a casual, un-business-like voice that she always used around him since they were pretty good friends.

Borton said nothing in reply, just sitting at his desk as he scanned through the files given to him earlier in order to come up with questions to ask the kids later.

Tiffany set the tray of coffee down on a small table across from the desk, the room only lit up by the tiny lamp on Borton's desk. "I wish this would all end, you know?" she mumbled. "Tonight's been pretty creepy with the murders and such."

No response from Borton. He wasn't always a talkative type of person.

"They need to update us on the situation."

Silence. It was like he was ignoring her.

Growing mildly confused, the Deputy stepped over to the light switch and flipped it on, illuminating the office in a blinding light for just a second. She then turned around and froze in place as she stared at the corner of the room.

Chief Borton was crumpled on the floor, his eyes wide with lifeless terror as blood covered his pale white face. Every single one of his limbs were twisted unnaturally, the bones completely snapped and sticking out of his skin, and his esophagus torn from his throat.

Tiffany couldn't even scream in horror and revulsion, as her voice got caught in her throat, and her wide green eyes looked to her left as the figure who no longer looked like the actual Chief Borton stood up from the desk chair and faced her.

Before she could draw her .357 Magnum and shout, "Hands where I can see them!" the clown in front of her had her by the neck as he slammed her against the wall. Then a flaring agony pierced her stomach and spread all the way up to her brain, and she realized that she had been stabbed. She glanced down briefly and saw that the weapon was the Chief's favorite gun in the station: his double-barrel shotgun.

And then the trigger was pulled, blowing out a hole in the Deputy's back and catapulting her skull against the wall, causing her neck to crack instantly as a croak fell from her lips.

She died a few seconds later with one final thought in her head: Someone please protect those kids from whatever the fuck just killed me....

_____

Amber's POV

The little girl awoke to the extremely loud sound coming from down the hallway, and she even let out a yelp of startlement. Her head whipped around as she glimpsed Justin rushing over to the two-side mirror in order to try and see what had happened, only to realize that he could see nothing but their reflections.

"What's going on?!" she murmured in a meek and worried tone, swearing that what she had heard was gunfire from nearby like in a Western movie she had seen when she was six.

"I don't know," Justin replied in a puzzled tone, before Amber saw him trying to focus on something that wasn't in the room with them. The younger sibling had no clue what he could have been doing but she had a feeling that he was trying his best to figure out what was happening outside when she wasn't able to.

The lightbulb above the table flickered, which made her flinch slightly but she tried to keep her calm and not go crazy like she had earlier. She needed to stay tough like she always was until tonight, knowing her mother would be proud of her for keeping her head up at a time like this. She wanted to be different from the other kids at her school, she wanted to be fearless.

But she had a feeling that wouldn't be happening anytime soon, so she curled up in her chair and hugged her knees to her chest.

"It's here..." Justin whispered frantically, broken from his concentration as his eyes bugged out of his skull.

"W-What?" Amber whimpered as she spun around to face him, not believing a word he could possibly be saying right now.

"I said it's here!" Justin said in a louder tone. "We have to get out of here! The Deputy's dead! And It's coming to –"

Just then, the door was kicked off of its hinges and it toppled towards the floor, causing both kids' eyes to peer at the doorway. The silhouette of whatever took Steph from them was blocking their only escape route and they were trapped with nowhere else to go. And they were scared to death, fearing that they would die right here with no adult around to help them.

As Amber let out a bone chilling scream of fright, Justin charged at the clown as it stepped into the interrogation room. He was ready to die for his sister as he reached out to try and punch the thing's stupid face.

(YOU TOOK STEPH FROM US YOU JERK NOW YOU'RE GONNA PAY I'M GONNA KILL YOU)

But, before he made contact with Pennywise's face, he was suddenly flung against the wall on the other side of the room. He shrieked out of shock that he couldn't stop this thing from going after his sister, but all thoughts were halted when his head collided with the wall, and he was knocked out instantly.

"JUSTINNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!" Amber bellowed in a high-pitched wail before glaring up at It as she toppled out of her chair, her heart ricocheting against her ribs at an impossibly rapid rate. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM ME, YOU STUPID CLOWN! YOU HEAR ME? LEAVE US ALONE! GOD, LEAVE US ALONE!"

But Pennywise didn't listen, as it stepped forward and grabbed Amber by the collar of her pink pajama shirt and lifted her up with one hand. She screamed crazily as she tried to punch at her monster, but her strikes had no effect on whoever this could have been.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US?" Amber cried out as she started sobbing.

"Why, little Amber, I need you to hurt your precious little Stephie," It replied in a taunting tone. "If I hurt you, she won't win. If I hurt you both, why she just might die! Then all of her friends will lose against me. I need her to die... But why not gather a few more snacks for the road?"

Amber's bright emerald eyes widened so much they nearly fell out of their sockets, and she was just about to screech again but the clown's free gloved hand was clamped against her mouth before she could do so. Her muffled cries could no longer be heard as she kicked her little legs around, trying her best not to faint at the lack of oxygen in her lungs. She could only stare into the psychopathic monster's golden eyes filled with utter joy and the blood red paint curving from its ruby lips and up to its forehead.

Justin was still unconscious on the other side of the room.

The lightbulb in the room exploded as it finally gave out, plunging the room into darkness.

The clock in the room struck midnight now.

It was August 10th....

_____

From the Derry Radio News Station, August 10th, 1989:

...THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF TWO MURDERS AT THE PENOBSCOT COUNTY POLICE STATION. CHIEF CHARLES BORTON AND DEPUTY TIFFANY BRACKETT WERE BOTH FOUND DEAD IN CHIEF BORTON'S OFFICE. THE TWO CHILDREN FOUND AFTER THE ATTACK BY HENRY BOWERS ARE NOW REPORTED TO BE MISSING. THEY ARE NINE-YEAR-OLD JUSTIN O'CONNOR AND SEVEN-YEAR-OLD AMBER O'CONNOR. RESIDENTS OF DERRY ARE ORDERED TO ABSOLUTELY STAY INSIDE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.... ENDS.

12:15 A.M. August 10th.

A/N: so... that was also a lot, wasn't it? that chapter was just eerie...

ANYWAYS, thoughts on this chapter? what did you think of it? did you like it?

did you like the newspaper clippings and radio broadcasts throughout?

did you like the scene where jamie was taken to the hospital and how she felt rage towards the townsfolk of derry for not helping her daughter?

did you like the small scene with bill towards the beginning? that poor boy. he has no clue what's really happening...😣

did you like the scene with justin finding steph using his shining? did you like how he knew his father was killed by something that wasn't of this world? he's intelligent, just like steph!

what about the major extension of jamie's backstory during the dream sequence? yeah, she was a shitty person when she was younger. but she realized the error of her ways and became a better person, which made jonathan love her. did you like the small moment during the dream where we actually see jonathan alive and well before his death? in the decade they had together, him and jamie were perfect for each other... opposites attract, guys!🥺👉🏻👈🏻

did you like the scene where the deputy and chief die in the police station? it was brutal, wasn't it...?

now amber and justin have been taken... yayyyyy...😐

thoughts on the final scene?

predictions for the next chapter? i will go ahead and say that steph is only in one scene during the next chapter.

be looking forward to the next chapter, but it will be a little sad...

-denbroughswife