The blonde-haired girl timidly stepped inside the house, her nose instantly scrunching up at the horrid smell that filled her nostrils. She could smell decaying furniture that she saw in the living room just to her left, but also what seemed to be a metallic and coppery odor that made her want to puke, but she held it back. She stared all around herself and the three boys that were surrounding her, ready to guard her if anything bad were to happen. Although she was scared for the safety of her friends, she still secretly felt protected by their presence.

Steph was lucky that she was wearing more so attire for the autumn season than the summer at that moment, because it was completely freezing inside of the house, despite how blisteringly hot it was outside. She felt goosebumps rise just underneath the standing hairs on her arms and she hugged herself to rid away the cold developing all around the house's interior.

The entire group of kids had decided to pull straws to see who was going in or staying out and away from the danger. Steph had, ultimately, gone first and pulled a short straw out of the pile, much to her dismay but she wasn't going to complain; Eddie had, as well, pulled a short straw to both Steph's and Richie's horror. Unbeknownst to the whole group, the bespectacled boy had purposely drawn the final short straw so that he could be by his friends' sides. But mostly because he needed to protect a certain someone of the three other kids going inside, and it wasn't Bill or Steph.

So it was Stephanie Palmer, Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier, and Bill Denbrough that were entering Neibolt house alone. The rest would be outside with sharp weapons just in case something were to go wrong.

"I can't believe I pulled the short straw..." Richie groaned in pretend annoyance, sighing to himself a little as he pushed his large glasses further up his nose. "You guys are lucky you're not measuring dicks," he added sarcastically, making Steph scoff a tiny bit.

"You act as though there isn't a girl in the house with you three boys," she replied scornfully, narrowing her eyes at Richie, and he closed his mouth.

"Shut up, Richie," Eddie snapped at his best friend, rolling his eyes and not having the patience to handle him during a serious situation such as this.

Steph then walked into the living room as slowly as possible, almost as if she were dragging the whole thing out into a span of hours rather than seconds. She examined every single inch of the space that she was standing in, detecting the bare furniture that was very rotten or covered in holes that insects had created as homes for themselves. She saw the disgusting and molded wallpaper that used to be pale yellow barely sticking to the walls and peeling second by second; she then looked up and saw the cracked ceiling pillars that were decomposing and creaking as they went along.

This whole house was fucking nasty to even glance at, much less stand in.

"This place is so gross..." she mumbled exasperatedly, sighing a little with disgust.

The fact that the house was almost pitch dark inside didn't help things either. She could barely even notice the sun rays slightly peeking through the wooden planks blocking the outside world from view. It was almost as if there were just street lamps shining into the house instead of the bright sun that she couldn't even see, and it felt as though it were past sunset at this point.

Of course, that wasn't true.

Steph waited for any sign of the clown's existence near her, but she couldn't hear or see anything that gave any hint of alarm to any of them. But it felt so eerie and she just wanted to bolt out of there and run for the hills.

"I can smell it..." Eddie suddenly said, gripping at his fanny pack out of fear; Steph saw this and stepped over to the smaller boy to provide any comfort that she could offer. At that moment, she thought that she was looking at a tiny child instead of a twelve-year-boy that was even younger than she was. She gently reached out and took his small hand into hers and he didn't hesitate to clasp it tightly in response, his whole body shaking along with hers.

"Don't breathe through your mouth," Richie advised out of nowhere, his tone very humorless for once.

"How come?" Eddie asked hesitantly as he and Steph walked hand-in-hand over to where Bill was standing, staring at the place in awe.

"Because then you're eating it," Richie deadpanned with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Nice going, Rich..." Steph whispered to him just as she heard Eddie beginning to gag at the other boy's information; and she felt his hand tear away from hers so he could frantically unzip his fanny pack and bring his inhaler to his mouth, taking a deep puff from it. The girl herself also stopped breathing through her mouth, secretly listening to Richie despite his ridiculousness. Then she turned away for a moment.

She saw the boy with the coke-bottle glasses walking towards the area on the opposite side of the living room that she was standing in, and she put her hands on her hips in curiosity, her heartbeat beginning to pick up speed. She spotted the overgrown vines and cobwebs connected to a filthy couch that she would never even attempt to sit on; not able to fight her interest, she followed her friend, nearly shrieking when she saw a rat scamper by really quickly inches from her left sneaker. She then heard the rustling of what seemed to be paper, and she glanced up in Richie's direction again.

She saw the look in the boy's eyes and that alone made her instantly rush over to him out of panic, and she shook his shoulder a little to get his attention. And that was when she noticed the expression on his face; it matched hers from a mere fifteen minutes ago back when they were all in Bill's garage, and she stared into the eyes of pure petrification and fear. And it scared her to death. She had no clue what he was looking at, since it seemed as though he were hiding it from her.

"Richie...?" she whispered meekly, almost terrified to speak. "What's wrong?"

The only response Steph heard for a split second was panicked breathing. Then Richie finally spoke.

"It... It says I'm missing...." he replied in a trembling voice, finally shoving the piece of browned and wrinkled paper in her face. "I'm missing, Steph!" he added urgently, his voice level rising to the point that he was nearly bursting her eardrums with how loud he was yelling. All she could do, really, was shake her head in protest and reach out her hands to provide some hopeful comfort. She mumbled "No" over and over again in order to reassure him that what he said wasn't true, but he wouldn't believe her.

"Wuh-What's going on?" Bill said in surprise, walking over to the two with wide eyes and a confused expression lining his young face. Steph didn't answer, just staring at the photo of a grinning Richie... the coke bottle glasses framing his face, the formal clothes he had worn to take the school picture the previous September, and the number of the Tozier residence. It looked eerily similar to an actual 'missing' poster, but Steph knew better, even though she felt a surge of fear travel through her.

"Rich... you're not missing..." she murmured, her voice almost sounding like a whimper of terror more than her actual tone of voice. "You're not, you're not. You can't believe what that fucking thing is showing you...!"

"Police Department, City of Derry!" Richie shouted at her, shaking the paper wildly in her face so she could understand what he was saying. "That's my shirt! That's my hair! That's my face!"

"Richie, please fucking listen to me!" Steph cried out in distress, grabbing Richie by the shoulders and shaking him violently to get him to shut up. "You can't listen to what that thing is showing you, do you understand me?! You better because, by God, I'll --"

Steph was then cut off when she felt Bill's arms encircling her waist and he jerked her away from Richie to prevent her from accidentally hurting him. In response, she shoved him away to free herself from his grip, and she glared at him with fury and insanity in her eyes. "Don't you fucking touch me!" she snarled at him, before finally realizing what she had done. She saw him shrink away from her out of surprise and she could tell that he was hurt with how terrible she had just been to him.

She had screamed at him only out of impulse, not on purpose. She had never meant to do that to him and he must hate her now; she shouldn't have done that, because he was now scared of her. After today, he would never talk to her again or ever want to see her again. He hated her now, utterly despised her, and she knew that. And it was all because she was losing her mind and she was trying to knock some sense into one of her friends, and he had tried to calm her down.

Pious little shit, Steph thought to herself. That's all you are, little girl. Just a pious little shit.

"Bill... I-I'm sorry," she stammered out of panic, tears welling up in her eyes as her hands began shaking. She backed away into a dusty corner of the living room, feeling cobwebs brush against the nape of her neck as she slid down the wall and hugged her knees to her chest like a scared toddler. "I shouldn't have screamed at you like that, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Bill was kneeling down to her level in seconds, pulling her in for a comforting hug. He shushed her softly, shaking his head repeatedly as he whispered "It's okay" over and over again. "Yuh-You didn't do anything wrong, I-I-I-I promise. It's a-all okay." Then he was looking up at Richie with a look of concern in his eyes. "Sh-She's right, Rich. Y-Yuh-You're not missing."

Richie still refused to believe that statement, shoving the paper into Bill's face now. "BUT THAT'S MY NAME!" he bellowed. "THAT'S MY AGE! THAT'S THE DATE! IT SAYS IT! WHAT THE FUCK?!?!"

Bill shot upward and gripped the other boy's wrists just as Eddie began to grow more anxious, taking another deep puff from his inhaler. "Calm down, this isn't real!" Bill yelled, trying his best not to stutter. "Calm down. Look at me, Richie. Look at me!" When he saw Richie finally look at him, he had the courage to continue. "That-That isn't real. It's playing tricks on you!"

Steph jumped when she heard a voice calling to her from upstairs and she was frozen in place as she felt a chill go down her spine; she thought that she hadn't heard this voice in her whole life but, now that she thought of it, it sounded terrifyingly familiar to her. She hadn't heard it in many months, but she definitely recognized it even though she hadn't been close to the person who spoke it.

No, it wasn't her... It couldn't have been her, right?!

There was only one way to find out.

"Guys..." Steph mumbled, finally regaining her sanity from the swarm of curiosity that traveled through her soul. "Someone's upstairs..."

All three boys followed her gaze up the stairs and to the second floor of the house, seemingly just as horrified as Steph was, and that made the blonde step forward to investigate by herself. She knew that it was a stupid move on her part but if that voice was one she had heard in the past, maybe she could save whoever it was that was trapped in this godawful dump of a place. This place felt like a prison, something that an evil human created, almost like how Gilead was in the novel, The Handmaid's Tale. But this was a million times more claustrophobic and unnerving and Steph figured that the dystopian future might not sound so bad now.

At least, that's what she believed anyway.

She slowly rested a hand on the railing of the stairway, gently staring upward and examining the many stairs that she and boys would be forced to climb. The only thing she could hear at this point was the thundering heartbeat of hers pounding deafeningly loudly in her ears, and she wasn't able to hear anything else... not even the panicked cries of a girl that sounded as if she were own age. She looked back towards her friends, silently asking them if they were ready to possibly die to this thing.

Bill met her eyes and nodded without hesitation, taking a deep breath before stepping in front of Steph and gripping the railing tightly. He began walking up the stairs ever so slowly, shaking from head to toe as he steadied herself, not wanting to admit that he was petrified of what would possibly happen inside of this house... what would possibly happen to his friends... to Steph. He couldn't imagine her ever getting hurt by that thing again, which was why he had stepped in front of her just now; he wanted to guard her from whatever monsters were lurking in the shadows. He knew that they were all being watched by that clown....

....so they all had to be careful and to not drift further than three feet from each other.

If they did, everything would steep down fucking hill from there.

The girl right beside him glanced over to her left whenever she reached the top of the stairs mere seconds after Bill did; she subconsciously gripped his hand in hers, and he squeezed it in reply, goosebumps rising on his arms as he began to realize just how cold it was inside the house, and he tried to prevent himself from tearing his hand away from Steph's so he could protect himself from the cold. But, instead, both his and her eyes were focused on the thing they saw at the very end of the hallway.

Or rather, the person.

"Oh, my God..." Steph whispered, putting a free hand up to her mouth.

"Betty?" Bill called out in a whimper, beyond terrified now and he wasn't scared to admit that.

"R-Ripsom?" Richie mumbled in a petrified murmur, stepping forward to examine the whole scene laid out before them.

Steph vividly recalled the dark and curly brown hair that dropped to Betty Ripsom's mid-back, the dull green eyes that adorned her face, and the smile she always wore whenever the two sat beside each other in class. But there was no longer a smile on her face, instead a frown filled with pure and underlying fear that Steph couldn't deny; she knew that she was seeing the real person.

Was she?

She was, she had to have been seeing Betty, or else she would've thought that her mind had gone completely mental. She knew that this was all crazy to begin with, but Betty Ripsom wasn't fake, she was a real human being... one that she needed to save. So she kneeled down and crawled closer to the girl in a cautious manner, her trembling hands gathering the dirt off of the floor and letting it cover her clean skin. Her wide eyes were filled with terror but also the tiniest amount of comfort as she slowly extended her right hand, breathing quickly.

"Betty...?" she mumbled, taking a deep breath. "Do you remember me? It's Steph, from school. I've found you, finally... I'm here to help you... We're here to help you." She saw Betty hesitantly beginning to reach out to take her own hand into hers, and the slightest smile touched Steph's lips, so she extended her hand further. "Just take my hand, okay? I'm going to help you. My friends and I will help you, okay? You don't have to be scared anymore."

"Help me, please, Steph..." came the croaky voice of Betty as she coughed repeatedly, gasping for air as though she were about to have an asthma attack.

"I will..." Steph replied in a panicked voice. "I will, I promise. Just stay calm and take my hand, and then all of us will help you." She could feel Betty's fingertips brush against hers and she felt a bit of hope surge through her, making her heart leap up in anticipation of getting this person out of the monstrous place. "That's it! That's it, just take my hand. Everything's going to be --"

Letting out a loud screech of horror and pain, Betty was violently yanked away from Steph's view and into the room she was trying to crawl out of. Steph cried out in shock and leaped backward, trembling harshly as she began sobbing, shaking her head repeatedly; she could still hear the screams of Betty echoing in her mind, and it nearly made her lose her cool, but the comforting arms of her friends helping her off of the floor was just barely enough to bring her back to reality.

That was when she had come to the realization that she was milliseconds away from being snatched away as well, that Betty Ripsom hadn't been real at the moment. It was all fake, a trap to lure her into the spotlight of danger, and Steph had narrowly avoided it, her life still intact but also fragile and vulnerable. She knew that it would only be a matter of time before her mental life shattered to bloodied pieces, so she tried very hard to keep herself together.

Keep your fucking shit together.

That's what Steph always repeated in her head, and she kept on and kept on until she thought she would go crazy, but she never did. She kept her fucking shit together, regardless of how dangerous it was.

Everything suddenly went deathly quiet, and Steph couldn't help but just stand there, staring right at the spot where one of her acquaintances was dragged out of sight forever. All she could feel was pure dread filling her body and it made her legs feel frozen like steel, and she couldn't move... or, rather, she wasn't able to move. She was, however, able to see the hallway slowly becoming darker, almost as if the sun were setting in the horizon a massive distance away.

Has it been that long since we showed up already?! she thought to herself.

But that was the very last thing on her mind, so she put that thought to rest for a little while as she finally started looking all around herself, noticing that Bill and Richie had already started walking towards the room that Betty was just in, and she started following them. However, an instinctive feeling in her gut told her to turn around in the opposite direction; and she was relieved that she obeyed that order because she saw Eddie facing the right side of the hallway. She couldn't see his face but she noticed him shaking like a madman, despite not hearing what he said in the whimper that left his lips.

"Eddie...?" she called out softly, walking over to him and grabbing his hand. "What are you doing over here?"

The shorter boy snapped his head over to her with an expression of sheer terror in his brown eyes, and she was genuinely confused as to why he looked so frightened; but, nevertheless, she was determined to get him to calm down. "Okay, okay..." she mumbled. "Breathe, okay? I'm right here. Did you see something?"

"I..." Eddie began but he glanced back in the direction of which he was looking a mere twenty seconds before, before feeling his shoulders slumping with the slightest ounce of relief. "I thought I heard something..." he added, finally answering Steph as he took a deep breath. "I don't know, it might've been my imagination."

Steph slowly nodded, believing what Eddie said but not the last part. "Okay, well, you're all right," she assured him. "Come on, we need to go catch up with the others, they're back that way." Then she pointed behind herself and turned around, freezing in place. "Wait, what's going on...?"

She could hear a very loud creaking sound that made her step forward, her mouth hanging open in shock as she kept a tight hold on Eddie's hand. She began sprinting for the now half-open doorway, her chest rising up and down frantically from how quickly she was running out of breath; "Guys?!" she shouted, her voice coming out a broken and strangled whimper as she ran faster than ever, Eddie right on her tail. "GUYS!" they both screamed simultaneously, just as Steph finally saw Bill turn to face them.

But it was already too late.

The door slammed shut when Steph and Eddie were millimeters away from it, and the former cried out in fear and anguish, grabbing the doorknob and fiercely tugging at it. But the door was now locked and, despite Bill also attempting to jerk the door open, he failed as well.

"FUCK!" Steph screeched, banging her fists against the wood. She and Eddie were trapped in here now.

"Steph, are yuh-you and E-E-Eddie okay?!" she could hear Bill yelling from the other side of the door.

Right before Steph could answer, however, she began to feel the floor beneath her crumbling and she leaped backwards and into the arms of Eddie. He was able to pull her further back from the hole now forming in the floor to try and prevent her from falling down to the first floor. Both of their hearts were beating a thousand times per second, and they held each other's hands tighter than they ever had and they had been close friends since they were nine.

The blonde girl was staring down at the molded table sitting on the kitchen floor about fifteen feet below her and Eddie. She didn't know what to do, since the two were now stuck up here, fearing that one or the other would slip and fall within seconds; and it even felt as though the hallway were getting smaller.

But she had to keep her fear together.

"It's going to be okay..." she mumbled to herself but, mostly, to Eddie. "We're gonna be okay..."

Then she felt Eddie shift as he turned around to face someone that she wouldn't even be able to see. And she heard his breathing grow quicker and more full of terror and she glanced over to him, her heart full of confusion. She then looked to where Eddie was staring and she saw absolutely nothing, which only made the situation where her best friend was petrified beyond belief even more puzzling. "What is it, Eddie?!" she shouted. "What do you see?!"

And that's when it clicked.

He was staring right at the leper that he had mentioned the previous day. And, while Steph couldn't see the figure physically, she was able to know exactly what it looked like based on Eddie's thoughts. She could see the rotting skin on the leper's face and it nearly made her gag, but she held the puke in her throat for now, and she could see that its hands were covered in lacerations and bandages. And its nose... shit, it didn't even have a nose. It was almost as if this thing was eaten by fish underwater.

And the last thing she could see was a graying hand gripping Eddie's right shoulder tightly; so, Steph took initiative and rested her own hand on the same shoulder, but with more of a delicate and gentle nature this time. And she squeezed her eyes shut.

And that was when the ringing in her brain started up again... and, although the pain was absolutely unbearable, Steph fought through it, keeping a fierce and concentrated expression.

(leave him alone)

Then her eyes snapped open and she could physically see the leper now, and her eyes widened slightly, but she stayed calm. She could feel Eddie trembling from head to toe beside her, but not as badly as before because he could feel her presence that always kept him still. She stared right up at the hideous creature, an expression of pure anger in her fiery eyes.

"Leave him alone..." she repeated coldly. "Please... leave him al--"

At that moment, Steph felt a clawed hand clamp down on her arm and she was snapped out of her personal dimension; she cried out in pain and glanced over to what was grabbing her, briefly noticing that the leper was now gone. She looked down to see a hand in the form of a werewolf's claw gripping her by the upper arm, its sharp fingernails piercing through her flesh. She tried to tug her arm away from her possible attacker, but that was a mistake since the claws started ripping her skin and drawing blood.

She was lucky that the claws weren't deep enough in her skin to tear any muscle or arteries.

"LET ME GO!" she bellowed, but she did not receive any answer. But she couldn't fight whatever had a hold of her, since the grip was too strong and oh so painful. "EDDIE, RUN! PLEASE! GET OUT OF HERE!"

The next thing she heard was the sound of a deafening roar bursting her eardrums...

And, just as Eddie backed away in fear and fell right through the hole in the middle of the floor, Steph was jerked into a random room to her left. She screamed in terror, feeling her head knock into the doorway of the room and she felt a sharp pain shoot through her skull; she groaned out of the agony she briefly felt but the adrenaline fought all sense of weakness away and she gripped at the hand with werewolf claws for fingers, trying to pry it away from her arm. However, it seemed that, with every pull, the claws would sink deeper into her flesh and it made her screech with the fiery aching that affected her limb.

But finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, Steph was finally able to get the hand to let her go, but not without it leaving five slash wounds on her upper arm in the process. She yelled out from the discomfort of how much it was burning, her skin was searing from the injury and she kept the tears away as best as she could, but a few were forced to trickle down her face because of the sting to her eyes from the scalding pain. Blood flowed down her arm, even dripping onto the floor, and it made the blonde girl gag in disgust.

"Ooooooooh, Stephanieeeeeee...."

Steph just closed her eyes and took a deep breath, wiping the very few tears away from her cheekbones and clutching her arm tightly. "You're not real..." she muttered to herself. "You're nothing but a clown... you're a figment of my imagination. Not... real...."

"Then why are you hurting, Stephanie...?" the raspy voice retorted teasingly, giggling a little bit. "Why are you holding your arm... if it isn't real, little girl? Am I not real to you? Then why are you so scared...?"

"Not scared..." Steph murmured almost insanely, chuckling madly as her eyes flew open and she and It were staring into each other's eyes, face to face for the first time in several weeks. The clown made no attempt to lunge at her or to even kill her; Pennywise just stood there, its golden eyes the only thing that the girl was able to see in that moment. It just studied her, tilting its head in the darkness while Steph was backed against the wall, feeling not rage towards her, but more so curiosity and interest. It wanted to kill her badly, but It was also wondering what her next move would be.

"You know..." Steph continued, taking in a trembling breath. "You don't have to kill me... or any of my friends... I mean, why don't you just leave us alone... Bob? I mean, what a stupid name for someone as frightening as you. Really takes away the fear, doesn't it?"

It visibly flinched back at the name it often used to cover up its tracks against the children, in utter disbelief that this... this brat would use it against it. It always went as 'Pennywise the Dancing Clown,' not 'Bob.' Although this thing despised the girl, and Steph knew that, It also had the smallest amount of respect for her, since it knew that she had the courage to stand up against fear.... Maybe that was why it was so difficult to kill her compared to most of the others. Well, besides the power that she held within her, and It needed to get rid of it, to vanquish it from the world.

It could be used as a weapon against the creature and Pennywise wouldn't be having that.

"Well... your friends are filled with delicious fear that needs to be eaten, precious Stephie..." It replied in a taunting manner, chuckling slowly and creepily. "Besides Billy Boy, of course. I mean, that kid doesn't know when to quit, now, does he?! But you are a special case, Stephanie... You may seem all brave and strong up close but, inside, you're just a scared little girl trying to hide something special from me. You just won't stop getting away from me! You keep escaping... but that's not going to happen anymore!"

"What if it does...?" Steph replied jokingly, laughing out loud before covering her mouth. "What if I do get away from you again?! What if I'm able to get out of this place while also keeping my friends safe in the process?! What are you going to do about it, then, huh?!" She didn't hear an answer from the demon standing in front of her, and it made her eyes brighten psychotically as she showed it the repulsing bruise on her arm. "You may have left a physical mark on me, but do you really think that's going to make me any less afraid of you?! Well, you thought wrong! Now let me go back to my friends and let us go!"

"Can't let that happen, little girl!" It snarled back, giggling much louder and more hysterically. "You really think I'm going to let you go?! But you have something special for me... something that I need to DESTROY! It's poison and you won't use it against me!"

Steph visibly lurched backward when It lunged at her, screaming maniacally as she ran for the door, trying to open it. "SOMEONE HELP ME!" she squealed in utter fear, despite just stating that she wasn't scared of It; she was, more so, scared of what would happen.

No, fuck that. She was utterly terrified of this thing. She was just trying to be courageous.

Look how that fucking turned out, Steph furiously thought to herself.

She pried at the door handle, all while she could hear the mocking screams and laughter emanating from behind her and it made her shoulders shake with horror and rage. But she didn't have the guts to turn around and face the creature anymore; she just wanted to get out of here, and to get out now. She just wanted to be at home with her mother, who had left earlier that morning to visit Sue in Connecticut, and Jamie wouldn't be back until two days later.

But she wasn't going to die; Steph wouldn't freaking die. Not today. She had a life to look forward to and she didn't want that to be torn away from her, and she had so many things that she still needed to do, goals she still had to accomplish. She needed to grow up and graduate from high school, to go to college and get a degree in theater so she could become an actress, to stay alive with all of her friends, to take care of her mother, to see so many sights in the world, to finally admit her true feelings for Bill.

And she would only be able to do those things if she were able to get out of this fucking room!

So, she finally did something that she hadn't done before. Instead of using her shine as a tool to detect what was going on in others' minds, Steph used it as a weapon, just as It feared. Just as she saw the thing jump at her once more to grab her, she focused as hard as she could and believed that It would finally go away, and the creature was forcefully pushed back and held away from her by something that seemed to be invisible. It felt like an out-of-body experience that the pre-teen girl had never felt in her life until this moment, and she felt as though she weren't even there.

The girl just stared in amazement at what was happening, hearing It cry out in anguish and pure fury at the realization that it was physically being restrained, preventing it from killing her. She could, ever so slowly, see the crisp and golden eyes on the clown slowly changing to a different and more chilling color that she instantly began to hate. Its eyes were now crimson red, a color that Steph used to absolutely adore, since it represented love, courage, life, and good health; but she now despised the color the second she saw what lay behind those eyes.

All she was able to see that was living behind Pennywise's eyes was utter rage, anger, and evil. And she felt shivers traveling down the length of her spine, but in the worst possible way.

Suddenly, the doorknob that she was madly tugging at finally gave way and she was able to open the door; Steph took that chance to run for her life and, just like that night in her house the month prior, she could hear thundering footsteps behind her. She didn't look behind her, however, as she sprinted down the hallway; but that was not before noticing that the layout of it looked completely different than how it had earlier. But she kept on running, not even caring about how close behind her the clown was; all she was thinking of was getting the fuck out of this place.

Her plan was to get to her friends and help them escape the house as safely as possible before running like hell.

She dashed for the door that had slammed shut on her and Eddie a mere five minutes ago and grabbed the doorknob. "SHIT!" she cried out, banging her palm against the wood and hurting it badly in the process.

The door was locked. Of freaking course...

So, as a result of that, Steph chose her only other option and ran for another door on the opposite end of the upstairs landing and she tried it.

Unlocked!

She pried it open and slammed it behind herself when she entered the room, slumping against it with relief but only for half a second. She had no time to rest or to even breathe; she had to hide, and she had to hide right now or else she would be killed. She had no clue where her friends were and she had lost all hope of finding them, so she had to get behind something so that thing wouldn't be able to see her when it came inside. Steph attempted to open the window but it was bolted shut, most likely after it had been abandoned so many years ago and then she turned her head slowly, breathing quickly and heavily.

There was a door handle of some sort sticking out of the wall to her right and it was connected to a small door.

It's a laundry chute! Steph frantically thought to herself.

The blonde girl dived for it and pulled at it, but it was jammed; so, doing the impossible, she gathered all of the strength she could contain in her body and she tugged at it as hard as she could. The door finally managed to fall open, making a loud creaking sound as it did so, and Steph took that chance to look over the top of the tiny door and glance down the laundry chute.

Her heart sank when she realized that the laundry chute fell three stories down... into the basement, of all places. Because of that, she slowly began to back away out of anxiety, opting not to go for it and take the leap of faith. But then, she heard a loud banging sound from behind her and she jumped, nearly letting out a shriek of terror, but she managed to keep herself deathly quiet out of fear of getting caught and mutilated by the creature.

Well, now she had to climb inside the laundry chute. The closet would be too obvious of a hiding place for her to be in, since the clown would possibly find her there immediately. However, if It were to find her in the chute, she would have a minimal chance to get away, but it would still be a chance and a risky one at that. It was probably a stupid idea but, when Steph noticed that the door was about to be broken off its hinges from how roughly It was banging at it to get it to open, she had no choice and she didn't hesitate.

The girl hoisted herself onto the door of the chute and turned to face the former bedroom door, that way she could watch out for the demon that was extremely close to tearing the thing down with its bare hands. She wiggled her way into the chute backwards so that her legs were hanging off of the edge; her feet attempted to hold themselves to the rusty wall, but her tennis shoes caused her left foot to slip and she gasped with slight panic. She was absolutely terrified of heights, but she dared to never admit it to a single soul, out of fear of being laughed at.

She placed a hand on the very edge of the landing behind the door and then used the other to close the laundry chute, and she was left in ink black darkness. The only light she would be able to see was the ray of white penetrating from a lower level of the house, possibly sunlight from a window on the first floor; but she would only see that if she were looking down, and there was no way she would ever be doing that. She just held on tightly to the edge of the landing with her forearms, holding her breath to keep from making any noise.

Please, God, she silently prayed to herself, the first possible time in her life she ever did so. Please don't let It find me... Please make It go away. Please, God, I beg of you.

Steph then heard the faint breaking sound of the door crashing open, and she froze in place, refusing to even make the smallest movement. She squeezed her eyes shut as the quiet footsteps filled her eardrums and they were all that she was able to hear; she was completely petrified, more scared than she had ever been in her entire life, and she took everything within herself to not give her hiding spot away. It was a twisted version of 'Hide and Seek,' but this wasn't fun at all. Not anymore.

For the first time in her almost thirteen years of living, Stephanie Palmer was completely speechless with fear.

For just a little while, the whole space around her was filled with silence; it was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, and she didn't know whether to be more scared or to be relieved. However, she wouldn't be falling for the trick, since she knew the clown was still in the room with her. She wished that she could scream, but she didn't have the ability to, since not even a word could leave her vocal cords. The ringing in her head was still there but it wasn't as painful now, more so annoying and repetitive, and Steph could handle it just fine.

Just as she placed the palm of her hand against the chute door to push it back open, Steph could feel the wooden object being forcefully pulled away from the gap in the wall and she squirmed in her spot. She came to the immediate realization that the door was being opened and she moved immediately, lowering herself further down the deep and narrow chute; there was nowhere else to go but down, and she had to let go. But why couldn't she do it?

It found me! Steph fearfully thought, finally letting out a whimper of horror, only holding onto the landing with the tips of her fingers now. It found me, I knew it would find me! I have to let go!

The door was finally opened and Steph's vision was obscured by the clown's image coming right for her, standing directly in her line of vision. The girl couldn't help but smirk up at it as she leaned away, her fingers finally beginning to lose their grip on the metal that she held herself to for so long. She saw a gloved hand grab furiously for her and she finally let go.

Steph saw the bottom of the laundry chute rise faster than she thought it would, and she couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise at how fast she was plummeting. Down and down, further and further she fell, and she thought it was never going to end; perhaps, at the last second, the bottom of the chute would disappear and she would drop into oblivion and never stop falling, and she wouldn't die.

But a loud BOOM erupted in her ears as she smashed against the bottom of the chute, the object whining with the ability to hold her weight upward. The last thing Steph was able to register was the feeling of immense pain when her head collided with the silver wall inches from her face.

And everything turned to black.

_____

The girl woke up sometime later, groaning with the pain that reverberated through her head and she clutched her skull for just a moment. Her vivid eyes slowly fluttered open and she had to shield them from the blinding light that hurt them, and she closed them for just a second before opening them back up. She felt as though she weren't able to move and she struggled with the capability to do so, wincing a little bit; she sighed and finally stood up, her legs wobbling slightly, and she stared straight ahead.

No longer was Steph trapped in the laundry chute in the Neibolt house basement, but she was outside instead, finally inhaling fresh air once again, and she was in a completely different place than she was before. She had to take time to process the fact that she wasn't in that house; but that didn't make any sense, since she was in there just moments ago. Now, it seemed as though that disgusting house was hundreds of miles away, and she was in a much more lively place than... whatever that was.

Her now bare feet trucked through the bright green grass as the sunlight shone down on her, and that was when Steph noticed that she was wearing a velvet nightgown that went all the way down to her ankles. It was something she had never worn before, and she thought it was strange; but, then again, dreams were weird and she knew that so she decided to roll with it. She just kept walking forward into the foggy area, just waiting for something to come into view. Everything about this seemed familiar, but she couldn't catch onto why it would look similar to previous dreams she had in the past. But she noted that the fog traveled through the air the same way that it had prior to today, and she just wanted to figure out how it was doing that.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, something came into view, but it seemed very distant. So, doing the only logical thing in her mind, Steph began sprinting towards whatever it was, her blonde hair and the fabric of her nightgown flying behind her as she ran and ran as fast as she could. "Hello?!" she called out, her voice sounding strangely loud and it echoed throughout the space outside. "Is anyone there?!"

No reply.

Steph, funny enough, wasn't that bothered by that.

Everything started to clear up and the fog began to dissipate, finally making a single pathway for Steph that she could run down to reach her destination. And, no matter how much she ran, her lungs never burned with tiredness, much to her relief. She just kept on running until she reached an iron chain-link fence, much to her confusion. That had never been in any of her past dreams, but she had to go with it once again, despite how puzzled she was.

The pre-teen girl shoved the fence doors open, revealing a carnival with hundreds of people having fun and going on rides or even getting cotton candy or popcorn. The sight made her smile just a tiny bit, secretly wishing that the fair in Derry was open at the very moment; but it wouldn't open for a few more weeks, much to her dismay. She was okay with that, if not slightly bummed. But she had to grow up and live with it, since it would only be a few more weeks until it opened.

She saw so many families smiling and laughing amongst themselves, just having fun with what they were doing. It made her feel happy, although she had the sinking feeling that something would come along and ruin it for all of them. And, because of that, her smile slowly started fading to a frown as she raised her small hands to clasp the guardrail sitting in front of her that rose up to her stomach. Her eyes darted everywhere as she sensed the dread and tragedy that was soon to plague every soul here, especially when she saw faces of adults and children that seemed eerily familiar to her.

She attempted to call out to them in particular but, when she spoke, it came out in a voiceless scream.

Not again, the girl thought out of panic, shaking the guardrail in front of her to draw the attention of the citizens of Derry. I can't see this again! I have to do something!

One of the adults, a middle-aged woman with waist-length blonde hair and eyes very similar to Steph's, was playing with one of her children that seemed to be a toddler; she picked up the small boy and swung him around while grinning widely, all while her husband and other two kids were laughing, and they were all completely oblivious to Steph's yells of warning. The girl briefly noticed the woman who looked almost identical to her looking right in her direction, but it was as if she didn't acknowledge her standing right there, almost as if the pre-teen weren't even there. The woman just turned right back around to her husband and shared a kiss with him, admiring his blue-green eyes as their six adult friends came over to tease them about how disgustingly cute they were.

RUN! Steph screamed in her head, attempting to voice that word out loud, but even she couldn't hear it. YOU HAVE TO RUN! GET HELP! GET OUT OF HERE! GET OUT BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!

Nobody could hear her, not even the woman, despite also feeling a bit of paranoia.

Suddenly, a fountain of red shot up into the air, covering the poor girl who had been warning everyone in their blood.

And Steph screamed as she felt an agonizing pain rip through her back.

And Steph then woke up, her head jerking from side to side as she gasped, her eyes wide with terror but she relaxed ever so slightly; her legs were pressed against her chest from how smushed she was at the very bottom of the laundry chute. Every inch of her body ached and burned with utter agony from where she had fallen three stories from the second floor to the basement. She could barely move because the squared area surrounding her was so cramped and small and she didn't know if she could handle it, since she was slightly claustrophobic.

The girl reached out a hand and it met cold metal directly in front of her, as well as behind her and on both sides of her body. She could only see a single ray of light coming through the cracks that led to outside and in the possible basement; that meant that there could be a door, and she tried to grab it, actually finding a handle and pushing and pulling. But nothing happened.

It must be latched shut on the outside, Steph thought, and it actually made sense to her. But this only made her panic more as the seconds traveled by, and she had no clue what to do. She figured that she could try climbing up the chute until she reached the first floor, at least, and it didn't seem to be that far up, much to her delight. She was wounded, although the pain in her arm from the five slash marks felt more dull than searing hot now, the pain in her head where there was now a bump more apparent.

But, just as she went to move, she could hear something that made her freeze in place, her breath hitching and getting stuck in her throat. She peered through one of the cracks that she was able to see through, and she wasn't able to find anything at first, since the room seemed to be empty to her. Before she could sigh with relief, however, she saw a figure enter her line of vision and she clapped a hand over her mouth, refusing to make a single sound. She began praying to herself, closing her eyes and begging the Lord above to guide her out of this situation.

Lord, I beg of you, she thought to herself as she began to cry silently. Our Father, thou art in Heaven, please just get me the fuck out of here!

Her sight was then enveloped in darkness when she opened her eyes and she knew that the clown was standing directly in front of the small door that was centimeters away from her. She dared not move, not wanting to make noise and thinking that, if she were quiet, the thing would go away. But Steph knew that was ridiculous; It feeded off of fear and she was a blaring radar with how much she was trembling, and basically should have said, "I'm right here! Come and get me!" She was absolutely horrified, since she knew what would happen next.

The ringing in her ears was dimmed down at this point, but it still hurt, although not as much as it had before. But she would rather take that over what was about to take place in a matter of seconds. Everything would be miles better than this situation right here, and she knew that she couldn't do anything about it. Steph was trapped down here, her friends were in danger so far away, she was injured, and she was scared to death. She was about to finally accept her fate, since she knew that this was it. She was going to die here, all by herself... in the most brutal of ways imaginable, and she was okay with that, weirdly enough.

She just wished that she had told her mother that she loved her before leaving the house as Jamie left to go out of Maine for a little while. But she would never get the chance to do that again, and she wasn't okay with that.

Steph suddenly felt the whole chute begin to shake and she flinched a little; that was when she made her move. Trying not to cry out in pain from how much it hurt to stand up in the small space, she rose to her feet and tried to climb up, but the muscles in her legs strained too much and wouldn't allow her to even raise her foot up that high. But she had to fight through the pain to get out of here, even if it meant getting herself hurt in the process. For Christ's sake, the clown was attempting to open the door that was inches from her feet and she was mere seconds away from being snatched out of this place! She had to do something!

The chute was shaken more roughly, nearly knocking Steph off of her balance, and she shrieked in shock, raising her feet up to have the bottom of her sneakers cling to the rusty wall. Despite how much the object was moving, the girl gathered enough strength to start climbing, trying not to slip and fall. Her hands slapped against the wall and she managed to get a foot upward from the bottom, and she was laughing with triumph; she felt relief, incredulity, and pure happiness that she was managing to get away again.

"I'm getting away again!" she shouted downward, taunting the creature trying to kill her. "You're never gonna catch me, sucker!"

That was when the girl heard a roar of fury and the dreaded sound of the door snapping off of the chute filled Steph's ears. Her confidence vanished instantly and she let out a terrified scream, the energy she used to do so burning her lungs and throat; she attempted to climb higher, but she was starting to slip, since her arms started to hurt. But she reached the first floor without slipping, however, and she was so overjoyed that she had something to finally hold on to without dropping back down to the bottom of the void she was soon to sink in. With that, she began pulling herself up even further, until she felt something grip her right foot.

She screeched in utter horror when she realized that one of the clown's gloved hands had entered the bottom of the chute and It was trying to grab a hold of her to try and snatch her up. She began using her left foot to kick at the thing, making contact with Its shoulder with the heel of her foot, and she could hear it howling with pain. "LET ME GO, YOU BASTARD!" she bellowed, continuing to kick the clown as harshly as she could, and she was able to feel the grip on her opposite foot beginning to slacken. Steph took this moment to peer down at the thing, and she used her chance to drive the heel of her sneaker into the clown's hand, and she heard it scream.

The gloved hand finally let go of Steph, and she cried out with relaxation, still holding onto the filthy landing as if it were her lifeline.

"Steph!"

Hearing the male voice yelling out to her, she glanced up and saw Bill leaning over the landing of the second floor, where the laundry chute began. She began moving frantically, feeling her foot slip a little but she caught herself as she pulled herself upward after falling a little. She was now hanging from the first floor landing of the chute again, but she was still hanging on for dear life.

"Bill!" she shouted up to the boy, giggling hysterically with relief. "Thank God! Are you okay?!"

"Fuh-Forget about me!" Bill said as he shook his head, extending his hand out to her, and it was only ten feet away. Steph believed that she would be able to reach him. "Just k-k-kuh-keep climbing, and tuh-take my hand!"

A jagged claw suddenly tore through the wall of the laundry chute and it came through right beside Steph, missing her face by a mere millimeter. She screamed at the top of her lungs, louder than she ever had in her life, and she closed her eyes out of sheer fear. She opened them just in time just to see the claw slide out of the hole it had created in the metal, and she began to panic, breathing horribly.

"CLIMB UP TO ME, STEPH!" Bill cried out to her, extending his hand further. "PLEASE CLIMB!"

"I can't..." Steph whimpered. "I can't do it! I'm gonna die..."

The claw came through the wall again but, this time, much lower; the weapon hit Steph's leg, merely cutting the skin below her blue jeans and she shrieked as adrenaline spiked up in her heart. That was what gave her motivation to climb further and further up, pushing herself forward when her feet finally met with the first landing, and she braced her feet on both corners of the chute. She could hear the clown's growls and heavy breathing, as well as repeated stabbings to the wall, but she wasn't focused on that right now.

Bill was able to reach Steph's hand before she could reach his, and he gripped it tightly, beginning to pull her to him and to safety. "DON'T LET GO! JUST HOLD ON!" he yelled without stuttering. "I've got you!"

And he did have her. Bill managed to use all of his minimal strength to pull a pre-teen Steph out of a laundry chute with just one of his hands. And, when he finally had her halfway out of the thing, he put both of his arms around her and hoisted her the rest of the way out and then gently lowered her on the ground. He could hear her overwrought sobs of horror, fear, and relief, and he brought her into a hug, seeing a terrified Richie beside him. He didn't know what the bespectacled boy had seen in the room that he was locked in, but he thought it'd be best not to question him.

"A-Are you o-o-o-okay?" Bill asked Steph softly, pulling away and putting his careful hands on either side of her face, wiping her tears away. "What did I-I-I-It do to you? Did It huh-hurt you?! I swear to God, if that thing hurt you--"

"Forget about me, Bill!" Steph yelled in an attempt to break him out of his state of shock and protectiveness. "Please don't worry about me right now. There will be time for that later. For now, we just need to get the fuck out of here!"

"Yeah, I'm with Steph on this one, Bill!" Richie agreed instantly, still breathing heavily from seeing Pennywise face to face just mere minutes ago. "For once.... This is bad..."

"Wow, and everything was going so well up until now, dumbass!" Steph snapped at him, scoffing and shoving his shoulder a little.

"E-Enough, guys!" Bill shouted, finally fed up with Steph and Richie's constant arguing.

A ripping sound brought all three kids to utter silence and the blonde felt a shiver travel down her spine once again, and she hesitantly swiveled her head around to face what she was seeing. Her eyes widened in utter horror and she backed away a mere inch, gripping Bill's hand in hers, to which he squeezed her hand back in response. But she didn't look at him; all she could do was simply stand and stare down at the filthy mattress convulsing and a head tore itself out of it, the black and beady eyes staring at the three.

"You wanna play loogie?!" 'Eddie' asked in a croaky-like whisper, looking directly into Steph's eyes with a nasty smirk that made her want to close her eyes and turn away. But she didn't allow herself to; she decided to be brave and stare right back at It, since she knew that it wasn't the best friend that felt like her own son. She would've known if it were really Eddie, since his eyes were a soft brown color, not coal black, and he would've had a snarky attitude and would've never acted maniacal and creepy.

The black blood spurting out of 'Eddie's' mouth made Steph audibly gag with repulsion and she had to look down, only to see the gooey substance scalding and burning the dry leaves and debris left behind on the floor. She then glanced back up to see Its head trembling and jolting almost unnaturally fast, and her heart sank in dread as she saw this and she could no longer look at the sight. This was more horrific than anything that clown showed her, even worse than the nightmare she had just suffered through when she was knocked out. Everything was going downhill by each passing millisecond.

The blonde girl then grabbed each boy's hand and they all spun around to face three doors that were in line with all of them, and it made her shudder to the bone. She could read words written on each one of them from right to left.

Very Scary.

Scary.

Not Scary At All.

Steph slowly looked at Bill and could only see his eyes; she noticed that the topaz voids were full of fear, as well as bravery, courage, and determination. And that made her squeeze his hand tighter because of how scared she was, and she silently made her decision.

And so did Bill.

And so did Richie.

Steph saw Bill run for the first door and she didn't hesitate to follow him, still breathing heavily and holding onto him for support since her leg was still hurt and bleeding. She tried to reach for the golden doorknob but the boy to her left grabbed it before she could and he tore it open and the only thing that they and Richie could see was pitch black darkness. The girl was immensely uncomfortable with all of the blackness that she could see, but her iron will to stay brave made her stand still as she stared into the nothingness.

"Where's my shoe?" a female voice whispered, and Steph felt very confused, understandably so. She had no clue what the voice was even talking about, but she chose to ignore it for the time being. She didn't realize that, if she had gone to the Barrens with Richie, Bill, Stan, and Eddie less than a month prior, she would've understood everything about the so-called 'shoe.'

Bill reluctantly reached out in front of the three and grabbed the metal chain attached to a lightbulb that he could see just barely, and his hands were trembling. He really regretted picking this door to open, because the words written on it were probably going to be a big fucking lie. The three should have chosen the door in the middle, since the middle one always meant good luck in games; each other one had nothing behind it or something terrible you didn't want.

Once again, Bill Denbrough was right.

The second he pulled the chain to the lightbulb and illuminated the room with a dim, yellow light, all three of the teenagers cried out in disgust and horror at what they saw in front of them.

The mangled, slashed, and ripped apart torso of Betty Ripsom was attached to chains that were hanging from the ceiling; and she was screaming. Steph turned around and vomited all over the floor where the scalding black blood was slowly seeping towards her and the others. She couldn't help it. Her stomach had simply lurched at the sight of the girl she was nearly friends with torn in half and her soul being tortured. It looked like something straight out of Hellraiser, and Steph thought that she would rather deal with Pinhead himself than whatever this thing was.

"Where the fuck were her legs?!" Richie screamed in terror, covering his face with his quivering hands, finally scared for real.

"I don't know..." Steph whimpered, her legs wobbling as she continued to gag, wiping the saliva from where she had puked off of her mouth. All of the blood had drained from her face at this point, making her look paler than a ghost, and she looked faint and felt as though she were to pass out and hit the floor at any moment. Her voice was nearly gone as well, her throat extremely raw from screaming her lungs out until her vocal cords were ready to explode. She no longer had the strength to be brave, because she wasn't brave at all.

Pennywise had been right after all; Stephanie Palmer was just a scared little girl that didn't give a fuck anymore.

Bill then turned and faced the two with a delirious look in his wild eyes and Steph was tempted to back away from him out of fear, but she didn't. "This isn't real," he told her and Richie, a mad and confident smile on his face. "Remember the 'missing kid' poster? That wasn't real, so this isn't real!" He was calm and collected for the first time in so long and his stutter was really lacking now, which shocked the two kids standing right here with him.

I'm not gonna let it be fucking real, the boy thought to himself, taking a deep breath and moving the other two behind him, ready to protect them against any other threat lurking in the shadows of this house. "C'mon," he added, gripping Steph's sweaty and freezing hand in his own, but not before noting how terrified and pale she and Richie looked. "Ready?"

"No!" Richie cried, shaking his head madly, and Steph was doing the same thing.

"At this point, I'm not ready for anything..." she mumbled almost tiredly, getting very sick of this shit.

Bill nodded to himself and marched forward. He jerked open the door with pure courage in his heart and belief that none of this was real... well, except the grotesque slash marks on Steph's left upper arm. Except for that.

The only thing that Steph, Richie, and Bill saw was the empty hallway that had greeted them about twenty minutes ago and the girl nearly sank to her knees out of relief.

"Oh, thank fuck!" Richie sighed, chuckling to himself with solace.

"Wait... Wuh-Where's Eddie?" Bill pondered, his heart sinking to the bottom of his stomach out of worry.

His answer was in the form of desperate screams and shrieks of petrification, and all three of them realized something at once.

Steph made the first move to run.

Despite her slightly wounded leg, she sprinted quicker than she ever had as she yelled out Eddie's name out of fear of what might happen. Well, more like she limped a little, but she was still faster than the other two. She jumped down the stairs two at a time, risking falling off each step every time, but she managed not to as she reached the kitchen, where the heartbreaking screams were emanating from. Bill and Richie were still a good distance behind her, calling out for her, but she couldn't hear them; she was frozen in place from what she was seeing.

A disheveled and horrified Eddie Kaspbrak was a pathetic mess in front of a broken table that he had broken to bits when he'd fallen through it several minutes ago. When that happened, the mere impact knocked him out incredibly easily; but, when he had woken up, he was utterly bewildered and didn't know where he was at... until he saw the fucking clown's twisted body crawling out of the refrigerator door and It almost killed him right there.

That was, until Steph entered the room.

When the girl saw the poor boy's limp and shattered arm, she had to bite back a sob of defeat; the thing had hurt her surrogate son and she had no clue what to do anymore. She felt like she had failed him, since she promised him years ago that she'd always keep him safe, but she wouldn't be as overbearing as his actual mother was. She promised him that she would protect him, but really care about him; she often had him over at her house because the environment was very loving and laid back, something that he really needed considering what his home life was often like.

But now Eddie was hurt, and Steph was broken inside.

"Let him go..." she cried out weakly, her body feeling deflated now. She thought she would collapse, but her legs forced her to stay upright, to not give up and slump to the ground. "You know you don't want him. I'M THE ONE YOU WANT!"

Her hoarse voice had been building to a crescendo of rage and newly-found bravery that she never thought that she could find; but she had. She was furious, broken, and filled with every single negative emotion you could write down. Once she had realized that this motherfucker had hurt one of her closest friends, something inside her had snapped, and she was now more determined than ever to get It away from him.

"YOU WANNA FUCKING KILL SOMEONE?!" she bellowed. "THEN TAKE ME! YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO! YOU JUST TOLD ME!"

The clown just simply stared at her... very blankly. It was almost as if It hadn't heard a single thing she had spoken, almost as if it had zoned out, as if she wasn't even there. And she was beyond confused at why that look was on the clown's face.

But, before she could open her mouth to speak further, the presence of Bill and Richie filled the room as they ran into the kitchen and froze at the sight that she herself was staring at, tears continuing to fall down her face. She didn't even need to look at the boys to know that each one of them were in shock at what they were looking at, because it was so incredibly obvious. She could sense them trembling with fear.

"Eddie!" Richie shouted, his voice shaking for real now, wanting to sprint over to Eddie and protect him from that disgusting creature that the others referred to as a clown. But the demon in question was blocking him from the others, so he wasn't even able to move.

"This isn't real enough for you, Billy?" It asked the boy with a grin of disbelief, chuckling out of confusion. Then its face dissolved into a deep frown of sadness. "I'm not real enough for you?!"

Steph then remembered what Bill had said just around two minutes ago, when the three were still standing in the upstairs hallway, and he had looked at them with an expression that nearly scared the girl more than Pennywise itself. Remember the 'missing kid' poster? That wasn't real, so this isn't real. And she realized that those words actually had an effect on how much It was allowed to terrify them, and it had halted its progress on the attempt of ending Eddie Kaspbrak's life.

He had really pissed off the clown now. Just great, Steph thought.

"It was real enough for Georgie!" It taunted in return of what Bill had said earlier, laughing maniacally and mockingly.

Steph had heard enough. She lunged across the room and forcefully wrapped her hands around the clown's neck, seething in Its face as she screamed with rage. She held It by the throat and began to strangle it, her eyes filled with fury and red, since that was all she could see. No longer was she looking at the clown's golden eyes or the kitchen surrounding all of them; all she could see was the color she despised most now: red. The color of blood... the color of what was once love, now turned into evil, and anger.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!" she bellowed in Its face, no longer afraid, but now determined to kill the creature, and she could feel the life of the clown slipping into the abyss. "YOU KILLED A BOY THAT WAS LIKE MY SON, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

_____

Scratch that. That's not how it really happened. Instead, Steph just stood there, unable to move, her body shaking all over the place from rage and pure sadness as her vivid eyes widened. More tears fell down her face as a gasp left her lips, the hallucination of her killing Pennywise with her own bare hands still playing out in front of her, since all she could feel was anger in her heart. Had this thing just admitted to being Georgie's murderer?!

She didn't have time to answer that question to herself, since she let out a scream when It stood up and pounced at them, screeching demonically. She briefly saw Bill jumping in front of her and Richie to shield them from the clown, feeling remorseful for ever bringing them here in the first place; his little brother had been enough, and he wasn't about to let his best friend and his crush die because of him.

But, before It reached them, a figure leapt out from the doorway on the opposite side of the kitchen, screaming with determination before lodging a metal pole into the clown's right eye socket. And Steph could hear Pennywise let out a cry of agony, since it echoed around the whole room; that sound would be something that she heard in her worst nightmares for the many years to follow. That was when she saw Beverly letting go of the pole that had come out through Its jaw, a mad smile on her face.

But when Steph saw the blood levitating from Its eye instead of traveling down its face, she gagged again, but she didn't throw up because of the fascination she felt at the strange sight that she was seeing.

"Get Eddie, get Eddie!" Stan yelled at all of them, which snapped Steph out of her daze.

She listened as she ran across the room to Eddie, only now processing that everyone else had piled up in the doorway, staring at Pennywise in horror. She wasn't focusing on that, since the fact that Eddie's life was at risk was the only thing that she was worried about; she kneeled down in front of him and put her hands on his face, crying her eyes out with concern.

"Are you okay...?" she asked him weakly, sobbing now as she rested her forehead against his to provide him some ounce of comfort. Upon seeing his slight nod and his eyes widening a little bit, she cried out with relief, pulling him into a tight and protective hug. "I'm gonna get you out of here, okay, Eddie? Everything's going to be okay. I'm sorry I failed you..."

"Oh, fuck!" Richie screamed as he knelt down beside Eddie, breathing heavily with panic. "We gotta get out of here!" He grabbed both Steph's and Eddie's arms and pulled them closer to himself as Bill and Beverly ran over to them as well.

And that was when It slowly turned around and Steph saw the color of the clown's eyes changing once again, and the bright crimson color was all she could see out of them. Pennywise the Dancing Clown was livid. She felt nausea building up in her chest from the crooked smile that lined Its face and the pole sticking out of both sides of its head. The clown was angry with all of them, especially her.

Steph could hear Beverly whimpering with fear for the very first time as the redhead grabbed a hold of Richie's shirt, attempting to pull him off of the ground. But he stayed frozen in place.

"Get Eddie! Let's go!" Richie barked at all of them, but they were too scared to move.

"Guys, watch out!" Mike warned fearfully as It began stalking towards the group of five huddled in front of the shattered table in the middle of the room, drool dripping from its blood-colored lips as the tears suddenly vanished from Steph's eyes.

"NO, NO, NO, NO!" Eddie shrieked as he squirmed around in Steph's hold and she jumped in front of him, Bill, and Richie. She stretched out both of her arms to shield them, her eyes wide with sudden bravery that had jolted through her soul, and her stare never wavered from the clown, watching its every movement.

"I'm not gonna let it hurt you guys!" she said to them with madness laced in her strong voice.

"Nuh-No, Steph!" Bill screamed, true terror finally filling his heart for the girl's safety.

Steph ignored his and Eddie's cries for her to not give her life for them, since she no longer cared; her sanity had gone so off the rails that she would literally do anything at this point. She would protect them with everything she had left in her, even if that meant that she would die in the process. As long as they got away and lived to tell the tale, she would die a happy woman, even if her own heart had to stop beating for them. She would never stop protecting them, or guiding them to be safe, or looking down at them from above to help them.

Stephanie Palmer was ready to die, no matter what happened. And she further focused on that thought as the clown's gloves ripped, and two werewolf-like hands peeked out from the fabric.

But, before her life could flash before her eyes again, Pennywise loudly stomped its foot at them to startle all of them and make them scream while it roared. Then It laughed hysterically and childishly as Steph heard Beverly let out a cry of terror, but the blonde didn't even flinch. She stayed right where she was, guarding the boys with all of her emotional and mental strength draining by the second.

"I'm not gonna let you hurt them," she snarled at the entity, chuckling insanely as she furiously shook her head. "You either kill me, and only me, or you get the fuck out of here."

It backed away from her at those words, still laughing as it tilted its head to the side, pondering on whether or not It should finish her off right then and there. It would be easy... she was giving herself up for it to murder her brutally. It would be a quick and painless death, just something that would get her out of the way so that it could kill the others that she was guarding. This stupid girl. When will she ever learn? It thought to itself. Pennywise didn't make deals with any human, and it never did that to any of the people that it had dispatched over the millions of years that it had existed. But, as Pennywise examined the young girl and noticed the bravery in those unique eyes, It made its decision.

Instead of diving forward and ripping her guts out like it wanted to, It instead abruptly swung its arm at Ben and created three deep gashes in the boy's stomach with its claws.

"BEN!" Steph screamed at the top of her lungs, her vocal cords finally giving way and malfunctioning briefly, but she could see that everyone else had been surprised by what had just happened. Hell, Ben had been so stunned by the sudden action that he didn't even have time to react to the fact that he had been wounded.

(you got lucky this time, kiddo)

Hearing the sudden voice in her mind, she swerved her head around to face the clown as It groaned and performed a weak bow to all of the Losers. A hardened look of puzzlement was laced in her eyes as Pennywise stared right back at her, and she knew what it was really saying by that statement: You got some guts, Stephie. But this isn't over.

I don't imagine it will be, she thought to herself in reply to the raspy voice in her subconscious.

Respect. That was the emotion she had seen in those sadistic eyes. It had shown respect for her bravery by not killing her right away, but that didn't mean that It still didn't want her to be rid of.

She just didn't know if she would rather die right now than later on in the future.

It finally disappeared then, vanishing into the darkness surrounding the outside of the kitchen, and Steph was brought back to reality. She turned back to Eddie and cupped his face in her hands again to provide more solace; her courage was gone, replaced by a weak and hysterical feeling in her gut. "Everything's gonna be okay, Eddie!" she whimpered as she held him in her arms. "I promise! You're gonna be alright, I swear!"

"Don't let It get away!"

Steph heard the boy's voice and looked over at Bill as he rose from the floor, leaving the others and walking after the clown. She reached out for his hand to pull him back to her and the others, but he shrugged her touch away.

"Bill, where the fuck are you going?!" Steph screeched after him, wanting to follow him, but she decided to be smart and stay in the room where there was more power in numbers. But this sudden action that Bill did pissed her off to no end, and she would be having a talk with him later; however, now was not the time to be doing so.

After a while of attempting and failing to comfort Eddie, she could hear Beverly screaming with urgency. "Bill, we have to help Eddie!" she had cried out, tears falling down her face for what seemed to be the first time in forever and, much to Steph's delight, she saw Bill rushing back into the kitchen from where he had just run off to.

"NO!" Eddie screamed with pain. "NO!" He had just realized what Beverly had meant by 'helping him.' He wasn't going to have any of this shit.

Steph winced at Eddie's painful scream and she just wanted to hold him close and soothe him but, given the situation they had just gotten themselves out of, there would be no comforting the boy for the time being. But she still tried her hardest to do so, holding him by the shoulders as gently as she could.

"Eddie, please calm down..." she mumbled as soothingly as she could muster. "We're going to help you, it's okay!"

"FUCK YOU!" Eddie screeched in her face, shaking his head hysterically. "DON'T DO IT, PLEASE!"

"I'm gonna snap your arm back into place!" Richie said as a swarm of panic rose within him, and he put his tentative hands on Eddie's arm to help him feel a little better about what was about to happen.

Let's just say... that failed miserably.

"RICH, DO NOT FUCKING TOUCH ME!" Eddie squealed in a high-pitched tone, glaring at the boy next to him furiously. "DO NOT TOUCH ME!" Steph recoiled at how fierce and demanding the boy sounded, and she prayed to the angels above that she would never hear a voice like that ever again.

Please God.

Richie, however, was fumbling too much because of how scared he was for his best friend, so he braced himself nonetheless; he was completely ignoring Eddie's desperate protests in the process. "Okay, one, two, three!" he stammered, and he then snapped his broken arm back into place, something he instantly regretted doing the moment he did it.

The sound of that and Eddie's howl of agony and distress made Steph feel lightheaded and she staggered on her knees; she felt faint... the room was beginning to spin... everything was becoming blurry as she swayed from side to side. She was so close to stepping up into the darkness within, to accept sleep for real... to be succumbed into the nightmares in her subconscious. And she toppled over.

But, before her face could meet the ground, she just barely saw Bill move toward her and put his arms around her to prevent her from passing out. "St-Stay awake, Steph," he murmured to her comfortingly, shaking with worry for her and all of the others. "Huh-Hold onto me... I'll cuh-carry you. I've got you. I promise."

Steph obeyed the older boy and weakly held onto him, her arms feeling like rubber hoses being flattened against the ground, and she felt as though she didn't have the strength to hold on. She felt as though she would fall back down any second, that she would welcome the darkness like an old friend, that she would pass out and let her head collide against the ground. She personally wouldn't have minded that. Not at all. In fact, it almost sounded like a comforting thing.

But Bill didn't allow that to happen.

Instead of letting her close her eyes, he slipped an arm under the girl's legs and another under her back as he lifted her up with all of the strength he could gather. Luckily, she was light and she was easy to carry out of the house; he took her all the way to his bike that had been left outside as the others helped Eddie onto Mike's bicycle, and Steph could see him placing the injured boy into the basket that he would use to deliver meat to local stores when he was biking from his home just on the outside of town. She still felt unsteady and she looked up at Bill... almost as if he were her personal hero.

Bill knew that Steph wouldn't have the energy to stand on the back of his bike and hold onto him, so he did something he had never done before. It would be risky, but he was willing to try. He told her to stand as straight as she could without falling while he stepped onto the bike; he then pulled her onto the bike with him, positioning her in his lap so she would be more secure while he pedaled away from Neibolt house.

And, although her heart was going a million miles an hour out of anxiety, Steph still trusted Bill as he rode recklessly through the streets of Derry. "Please be careful..." she whispered to him.

And he obeyed her.

_____

Once Steph had gotten herself together and recovered from her dizziness, she was met with the furious face of Sonia Kaspbrak as the older woman jerked Eddie away from all of them. The girl was now okay enough to stand up on her own, but she still backed away from that intimidating stare in Mrs. K's eyes, cowering a little bit. Of course, that wasn't the scariest thing she had seen today, so she'd rather take this over anything else.

"You... You did this!" Sonia growled at the group, forcefully shoving Eddie towards her car. "You know how delicate he is!"

"Please don't hurt him more than he already is, Mrs. Kaspbrak," Steph begged the older woman, the hysteria still contained in her voice. Her voice was also raspy due to screaming so much today, but she didn't really care about that.

"Don't tell me how to take care of my child!" Sonia snapped at her, making Steph reel back in surprise because of her tone. "I, at least, know how to take care of Eddie... unlike some people."

Steph let out a breath of surprise and she resisted the urge to scream at Sonia, something she had wanted to do for years considering how the mother treated her own son. But she knew that it wouldn't be a good idea, so she kept her lips sealed shut. However, she still felt deeply insulted by the saying, since Sonia was usually nice to the girl... but she guessed that wasn't going to be the case from this day forward.

"We were attacked, Mrs. K," Bill tried to reason with the older woman, and doing his best not to stutter too much.

"No, don't!" Sonia snarled as she pushed Eddie inside of her car, before turning back to face the kids and continuing to yell at them. "Don't try and blame anyone else!" She then closed the passenger door of the car and fumbled with her purse in order to get her keys out but, in her small struggle, she ended up dropping them on the pavement.

Beverly, having the good heart she had, stepped forward to grab the keys for the woman. "Let me help..." she mumbled gently.

"No, get back!" Sonia barked at the redhead, startling Beverly who, in turn, leapt back just a little as the woman snatched the keys off of the ground and got in her face.

"Oh, I've heard of you, Ms. Marsh," Sonia added in a sneer, chuckling nastily. "And I don't want a dirty girl like you touching my son."

Just as Sonia turned around, Steph finally lost it; the blonde girl stepped forward and stared at the back of the woman's head with fury. "You fucking bitch..." she mumbled under her breath.

Sonia slowly turned around with an appalled expression in her dark brown eyes. "What did you just say to me?" she asked the younger girl, rage building up in her body. She couldn't believe that a girl like Stephanie would ever say that to her; she genuinely believed that the blonde girl was the closest to a good friend that Eddie would ever have in his childhood. She was, surprisingly, very protective of the woman's son, she really did care about him, and she would do anything for him. Sonia really did respect the girl... until now.

"I think you heard me... Sonia," Steph retorted, a furious smile on her face now. "Beverly is not a dirty girl! She's one of the sweetest people I know, and everything that you know about her isn't even true! They're just rumors! But, no! Everyone will jump on the rumor-train and believe every lie that someone invents... this world will never freaking change, am I right, Sonia?!"

"You're just like your bitch of a mother, Stephanie," Sonia replied, seething in the pre-teen's face. "Lord knows why your father left her... she deserves to be alone."

"Fucking excuse me?!" Steph screamed, gasping with utter disbelief. "My father died, Sonia! He was fucking killed! He loved my mother and Mom is not a bitch. She's one hell of a better mother than you. And, by God, Sonia... you... you are the dirty one here!"

The girl then felt an agonizing sting of pain as Sonia's hand drove itself across Steph's face, slapping her harshly, and she squeezed her eyes shut with utter pain. She heard everyone else gasp around her and Bill grabbed her to keep her from falling because of the impact, and he was clearly upset with Eddie's mother, ready to yell at her and defend his girl. Steph lightly shrugged the boy away as pure rage unleashed itself from within her, and she did something that nobody would have expected: she smoothly spun around and plowed her hand across Sonia's face as she slapped her right back. The woman stumbled back as she cried out with agony, clutching her face where Steph hit her.

"You really thought you would get away with hitting a child, Sonia?" Steph mumbled, giggling to herself. "I'm gonna tell my mother about what you did... we'll see who's the bitch now."

Sonia began to panic and turned back to walk over to the other side of the car, but Bill still attempted to reason with the woman, despite her smacking the girl he cared for so much across the face. To be honest, the older woman deserved to get hit back, so he was proud of Steph.

"Mrs. K, I..." Bill tried to say something, but his stutter restrained him from doing so, and he soon heard the booming voice of Sonia again.

"No! You are all monsters! All of you!" Sonia screeched at him and the others. "And especially that horrid girl!" As she said this, she jutted a finger right in Steph's direction, but the girl didn't back down, still looking right at the older woman. "And Eddie is done with you... Do you hear? Done!" she snarled. She then circled around the car and reached the driver's seat door, opening it. Steph took that chance to lean against the window beside Eddie, looking at him, her heart breaking when she saw him reach out his uninjured arm to touch her hand through the glass.

"You're going to be okay..." she whispered through the glass, and was relieved when he nodded, meaning that he could hear her. "I'll still be right here for you... I'll always protect you. I'll always keep you safe. I won't let anything else happen to you... I promise."

Eddie nodded again as he began to cry and she wanted to pull him back out of the car and hold him like he was her own child. But, before she even contemplated opening the door, the car took off and made a U-turn before speeding down the street and towards Derry Memorial Hospital. Steph battled the tears this time as a mark formed on her right cheek from where Sonia had slapped her, and she walked into the middle of the road, watching forlornly as the vehicle disappeared around the road; she had no clue that her friends were standing behind her.

"I saw the well."

The blonde swerved around to face Bill, who was standing to her left as he looked at the others; a look of bewilderment filled her midnight blue eyes.

"W-W-Wuh-We know where It is and... next time, we'll be better prepared," he added with a matter-of-fact tone, his eyes burning with determination.

"NO!" Stan bellowed, nearly making Steph jump a foot into the air; suddenly, all eyes were on him, but he didn't care about the insecurity he felt at the moment. "No 'next time,' Bill! You're insane!" The poor boy felt absolutely distressed at this point, a single tear falling down his face for the first time in many years. He hadn't cried this much since Henry Bowers had washed his face with snow until it bled when he was eight; he had cried hysterically from the pain he had endured from the event.

(no please god i don't want there to be a fight please don't let it happen)

"Why?" Beverly pondered, speaking up for real now. "We all know no one else is going to do anything!"

"Eddie was nearly killed!" Richie yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking. "Who knows what could've happened to Steph in that laundry chute, and I know how much you care about her, Bill! We've all seen it! You really think you're gonna risk losing her to that fucking clown?! And look at this motherfucker!" He gestured to Ben's slashed stomach with an exasperated expression. "He's leaking Hamburger Helper!"

Had the situation not been so serious, Steph would have laughed, but she sighed to herself instead, pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Richie, can we please calm down?" she asked him softly, attempting to keep herself calm.

"We can't pretend it's gonna go away!" Beverly shouted before Richie could answer the blonde girl.  "Ben, you said it yourself, It comes back every twenty-seven years!" She was staring at the boy in question with a hopeful look in her blue-green eyes.

"Fine!" Ben retorted bitterly, not in the mood to agree with his crush after being injured in the stomach again. He was done with everything that involved this whole situation now. "I'll be forty and far away from here! I thought you said you wanted to get out of this town, too!" he reminded her.

"Because I wanna run towards something," Beverly replied. "Not away!"

"I'm sorry, who invited Molly Ringwald into the group?!" Richie quipped, although he was only being half-serious.

Beverly simply flipped him off.

"That would be me," Steph replied with a glare in Richie's direction.

"Richie," Stan tried to intervene, seeing one of his best friends beginning to spiral.

"I'm just saying," Richie resumed, shaking his head lightly. "Let's face facts! Real world... Georgie is dead! Stop trying to get us killed, too!"

Richie had really succeeded in his unknown goal: pissing off Bill. The latter stepped in front of the bespectacled boy, a look of irritation on his face now as he blocked Richie from walking away from the others.

"Georgie's not dead!" he blurted angrily, his face contorted with fury as he held Richie away from his path to his bicycle.

"Bill, please don't do anything stupid," Steph muttered gently, putting a hand on his shoulder in an effort to keep him calm and at ease. But, surprisingly, she failed this time.

"Get back!" Bill shouted at her, making her reel back in fear and raising her arms to protect herself; Beverly was able to catch her before she could tumble to the ground out of how much the boy had startled her.

Richie scowled at Bill, partly because of what he had just said, but also because he had scared Steph shitless with his loud tone. "You couldn't save him, but you can still save yourself," he advised the stutterer. And Bill lost his temper for real, putting a hand on his shoulder to physically prevent him from moving away from the group, and the furious expression that barely held his face together, admittedly, caused anxiety to grow within him.

"No, t-t-tuh-take it back!" Bill yelled, his voice shaking and wavering a lot now. "You're scared... and we all are, but take it back!" Emphasizing the last part, the taller boy aggressively shoved Richie backward, causing him to stumble.

Richie wasn't having it anymore, so he shoved Bill back in return, needing to let him know that things weren't going to be the same anymore after what had just happened to all of them. But, before he could even open his mouth to protest, Bill's hand clenched into a fist and he punched Richie across the face, making him crash against the ground with a harsh thud.

"Bill!" both Steph and Beverly shouted, the former rushing to jerk Bill away from the boy with the coke-bottle glasses. And the blonde girl's heart jumped into her throat when she saw Richie lunge at Bill after Stan and Mike had helped him off of the ground, making her back away in terror.

"You're just a bunch of losers!" the boy accused all of them at once, nothing but rage filling his heart. "FUCK OFF!"

Bill advanced towards Richie, his fist raised again, but both Steph and Ben seized him and kept him locked in their hold, the weaker girl presenting some surprising strength that shocked the stuttering boy.

"You're just a bunch of losers and you'll get yourselves killed trying to catch a fucking clown!" Richie screeched, struggling in Stan and Mike's grip, his legs and arms flying in all directions and he yelled out.

Steph let go of Bill and jumped in between the boys, not caring if she got hit in the process. "NO!" she bellowed louder than anybody else, making all of her friends freeze in their spots. "THAT'S ENOUGH! NO!" She looked at all of them, examining their wide eyes and feeling relieved when Bill lowered his fist with guilt written all over his face, since he had come close to accidentally hitting Steph... he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he had punched the girl he cared for just because she had blocked his line of sight.

"Why can't you guys stop thinking about yourselves?!" Steph squealed at them, looking at every single one of her teenage friends. Despite her being the second-youngest of the group, she had quite the courageous attitude. "Maybe start thinking about the other children that could possibly go missing or get killed by It! I just found out that Daniel was killed by It... it was not a car accident. That clown murdered him! And now his kids are in grave danger, and that's all I can think about right now. Not myself! Sometimes, it's better to care about others than about yourselves!"

"It's every man for himself, Steph!" Richie responded in an annoyed tone. "Besides, you probably don't really care about them. You probably just want to impress Rachel and your own mom because you're a selfish bitch!"

Steph's heart sank and her gaze locked onto Richie's, the corners of her eyes brimming with tears as she heard Bill gasping at what the boy had just said to her. How could he say such a thing? Steph loved Justin and Amber dearly, almost as if they were her own children, and she would do literally anything and everything for them; she was always at their house recently after they had lost their father and they were still going through immense grief. She did everything in her right mind to keep them happy and comforted because she always looked out for their well-being and always protected them.

Steph would literally die for them, so she didn't know why Richie said that she didn't care about them at all.

"Wuh-What the fuck, Richie?!" Bill shouted, getting even angrier now. Even he knew how much Steph cared for those little kids, he saw it every single day; she loved them so much and always did everything for them. In fact, that made him care about her even more knowing that she was protective over the ones that she loved and that she would do anything to keep the people in her life happy. Hell, she had been trying to keep him cheerful over the past nine months and it worked... most of the time.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?" Steph questioned the boy in a low tone, her eyes now darker than anyone would have thought.

"You heard me..." Richie replied timidly, kind of regretting those words.

"No.... Say it again, Richie!" Steph yelled. "SAY IT TO MY FACE!"

"STOP!" Beverly exclaimed, making Steph stop her screaming fest as everyone turned to stare at her. Richie shrugged off Mike and Stan's arms and fixed his glasses to look at the redhead with an annoyed expression.

"This is what It wants!" Beverly shouted, her eyes wide with desperation. "It wants to divide us! We were all together when we hurt It! That's why we're still alive!" She was trying to make sure that she was heard, her eyes darting to each and every single one of the other's faces, hoping that they were listening.

"Yeah?!" Richie scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Well, I plan to keep it that way!" He then marched past Bill, slamming his right shoulder into his left as he walked towards his bike. He didn't even bother apologizing to Steph, since he knew she would never forgive him despite feeling guilty about what he had said. Instead, he spared one last solemn look in the blonde's direction before pedaling away.

Stan then followed the boy, getting on his bike and leaving.

Then Ben.

And, lastly, Mike.

"Mike..." Beverly called out weakly, sighing to herself.

"Guys..." Mike replied in a saddened voice, looking at all three of them with an expression of emotional pain and stress. "I can't do this. My granddad was right. I'm an outsider. Gotta stay that way." The boy felt defeated as he walked back to his own bike and hopped on it, pedaling away after the others.

Beverly and Bill just stood there, in utter shock from what had just occurred between all of the members of the Losers Club. After Eddie had been taken from them, four of the others deserted them without a second thought and just left. They simply left without giving them even a chance to plead with them, especially after Bill had punched Richie. The two were devastated and they looked at each other, their eyes filled with utter hopelessness, and they had no idea what to do anymore.

But one thing made their hearts break as they went into a panic.

Steph had become completely silent, her beautiful eyes blank as she stared at the ground. She didn't say a word to them as she just stood there, emotionless.

Bill instantly became worried. "St-Steph... you okay?" he asked her soothingly, walking to her and putting a gentle hand on her uninjured arm.

"I'm fine," Steph replied bluntly in a monotone voice, shrugging his hand away. "Let's just go home."

Both Bill's and Beverly's hearts sank.

A/N: again... that was a lot... so... yeah...

ANYWAYS, thoughts on this chapter? yet again, it was long as fuck, being almost 18,000 words, but i hope you liked it!

did you like all of steph's badass moments in neibolt house? what was your favorite?! let me know!

did you find the nightmare sequence scary and strange?

thoughts on the laundry chute scene?

what about the subtle but somewhat cute moments between steph and bill amidst the chaos? where they good?

did you like how steph slapped sonia back? she's done with everyone's bullshit! can you blame her?

and now the losers have separated... that's really sad...

predictions for the next chapter? let me know!

be looking forward to the next chapter!

-denbroughswife