𝗖𝗥𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗥

⁀➷ CHAPTER SIXTEEN

THE GIRL IN THE MIRROR

JUST AS HER REFLECTION had lunged at her, an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her back out. She didn't know who it was, but she had a pretty good guess when they hugged her tightly against their chest.

The copy banged on the mirror, her cries being blocked out by the invisible barrier between them, and slowly slid to the floor. Her knees collapsed beneath her as her hands stopped, but her head softly came into contact with the pain, bringing it back before doing the same thing again.

Elaine couldn't help but feel sorry for the clone as tears ran down her face, realizing they had no control over her anymore, that she had forgiven everything she had done in the past. A weight had lifted off her shoulder, that feeling that encompassed her heart had been released. And the clown hated that.

Since he couldn't be loved, he chose the next best thing. Feared.

And in a way, she got that. But as she slowly slid the metal spiked pole from Bill's grasp, she clenched her eyes shut before she swung, hitting the mirror straight where her form sat at the bottom. Staring at her.

It shattered into pieces, falling to the floor almost perfectly. No small fragments flew off, none pierced her skin, and none made a sound as they clattered to the floor.

She breathed in a shaky sigh, feeling unnerved by everything that had happened from her stepping into the mirror and the tug at her heartstrings when she watched herself cry. Something had made her go in there, and she wasn't sure if they were trying to hurt her or help her heal.

But she couldn't shake the memory of Bill's bloodied form as he lay unconscious on the ground, her black and white reflection throwing punch after punch, watching it from the exact spot she had been standing 4 years ago.

And it wasn't her fault, Elaine saw that now.

"Bill?" she shakily said after being worriedly silent for a few minutes. After he hummed back a reply, slightly shocked after seeing her shatter a mirror that held her runaway reflection "real?"

He nodded, tightening his arm's around her "real."

That made her sigh, twisting around in his body to wrap her arm's over his shoulders. She wanted to cry into his neck, not because of fear but because of all the stress that had just been building up. From not having gotten a good night's sleep in weeks, to worrying about everyone else and herself.

When she felt Bill's head snap up from her shoulder and him pull away, she frowned at the loss of warmth and comfort, going to grab his hand when he brushed past her. He turned back around, an anxious look on his face as she tilted her head "what is it?"

"G-G-Georgie, I saw him." he had wild eyes, looking everywhere except her skeptical gaze. He finally met her eyes and muttered "I've gotta go after him, with or without you."

"Ouch," she rolled her eyes, "I was gonna say yes, but since you want to be a dick about it...you can find him on your own."

She stubbornly crossed her arms as he rubbed his face, looking over his shoulder to where he spotted another flash of yellow "I didn't mean it like that, I just don't want to deal with your judgy look -- you're doing it right now!"

"Fine, go" Elaine huffed, watching as he sent her one last pleading look before taking off running through the flood gate she hadn't noticed was there. He disappeared into the darkness and she uncrossed her arms, a worried look overtaking her furrowed eyebrows.

And then with a roll of her eyes, she took off running after him, quickly splashing through the sewer water in the direction she could hear his own footsteps going in. The pitter-patter she had been following went silent and Elaine couldn't help but pick up her pace.

She went to call out to him when the echo of voices reached her ears and she breathed out a relieved sigh, rounding a corner to where she could see the outlines of her friends. Elaine skidded to a stop beside Bill, the grin on her face never fading once the others realized she wasn't someone trying to kill them.

Elaine scanned the group, smiling widely when she spotted Annabeth among them.

The girl muttered out a curse word before rushing forward, throwing herself into Elaine's arms as she stumbled back. "What the fuck, you bitch! You disappear and-and, we thought we had lost your dumbass!"

"Nice to see you again, too." she laughed, squeezing her waist tightly.

Richie cleared his throat, stepping forward "can I get one too, Ellie?"

"Shut u-up, Richie" Bill glared at him and Elaine would've teased him if the others weren't there. They still didn't know about them except for Annabeth, but they probably had already guessed it.

"Is it attack Richie da-"

Before Richie could finish his sarcastic sentence, Bill had spotted something over his shoulder and took off in a sprint through the dirty water.

Elaine and Annabeth shared a look before they were quick to run after him, calling out his name as they struggled to not fall into the sewer water. But when a large splash was heard from behind, they looked over their shoulders and watched as Eddie stumbled into the murky water.

"Come on Eddie, now is not the time for a swim!" Annabeth yelled, trying to help him up.

The boy pushed her off, his eyes wide in panic "Wait, wait, wait. Oh, my god. Where's my fucking flashlight?!"

They all let out collective screams as mutilated heads started popping up in the water, their eyes pure white and their mouths open. Richie basically threw him to his feet "Eddie! Come on, let's get the fuck out of here! Come on!"

Elaine led the group as they ran down the tunnel, going straight ahead to where she had seen Bill disappear. An open flood gate made her slow to a stop, peeking in to see a large pile of junk and clothes in the middle, stuff that Pennywise had collected over the years.

They had entered death's lair.

authors note!

Next chapter will be the fight scene, so buckle yourselves in and prepare for a shitty take on the movie scene.