CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE BEGINNING OF THE END

Jess's stomach churned violently as she stared at a house tucked away from the gravel road and nestled in a meadow. It had a long driveway with a mailbox painted with Driscoll on the side of it.

In her hands, she grasped a rat. A squirming, furry rat. Without any control of her body, she bent down and let the rat run towards the house and watched it squeeze through a hole at the base of the house.

Good, It praised.

It terrified her. She didn't want to listen to It, but what else could she do? She wondered what Billy was doing now. Couldn't have been better than what she was doing.

With a heavy sigh, Jess trudged back down the path and headed for the pool.

-

Jess made it to work a bit late, but she was able to be behind the counter when Cory came in. She was sweating heavily, squinting at the bright sun whenever it hit the lobby. This is why she opted to wear a red swimsuit with workout shorts instead of the pool jacket.

"Woah," Cory gawked at Jess' appearance. "You sure you're alright? I don't want to force you to work after what happened."

"I'm fine," Jess had to control the urge to hyperventilate when the temperature started to rise.

"Seriously, Jess, you don't look well— "

"I'm fine!" Jess's voice cracked and she started to slip off of the stool she was sitting on. She finally stood up and started to limp to the locker rooms. Maybe a cold shower will cool her down.

Jess got halfway, having to stop near the storage where they kept the lifeguard training equipment. She had a strange urge to drink some of the chlorine that was in there but she stopped herself by grasping the wired door and hanging on for dear life.

Her legs gave out and the only thing holding her up were her fingers that grasped the wire. Jess gasped, swallowing as much oxygen as she could into her lungs.

"Jess? Do I need to call an ambulance?" Cory stepped closer to her hesitantly. At least no one is around, he thought. This would be difficult to explain.

The sweating brunette couldn't answer. Her head was filled with intrusive thoughts from It.

Bring him to me.

Visions of her turning around and knocking him out with her fist flashed through her mind. Jess felt It push through, showing her the sweet feelings It would have if she did go through with it.

"Go... away," Jess managed to sputter out. Cory knelt beside her and placed a shaky hand on her shoulder.

"Whatever this is, you'll get through it," Cory tried to soothe the shaking girl by rubbing her back.

Jess's hand started to ball into a fist. She couldn't keep It away any longer, Cory had to get out of her sight.

"I said go away!" Jess screamed at him, her red face contorted into anger and pain. Her jaw was widened so large by her scream that it started to ache.

Cory fell back from surprise and fear. Pain flashed across his and he limped away from her. He stood up and ran the other direction and Jess started to crawl away from the chlorine and down to the women's locker room.

A nauseating feeling settled in her stomach as she tried to stand up. Jess was nearing people now, so she couldn't crawl the rest of the way.

Holding her stomach, Jess passed a group of girls coming out of the locker room and they all gave her an odd look. She paid no attention as she struggled to go to the showers.

Once she was there, she turned on the water and then collapsed on the floor, letting the cold water wash away the sweat that accumulated on her skin. It tried to talk to her, to push through the mental barrier that surrounded her, but Jess tried her best to keep It away.

She didn't hold up for long.

The monster finally took her over now that she was weak and tired. Her face was pressed against the cool tile on the floor, half of it was submerged in water. Her hair floated around her head like a dark halo. Jess's breathing became normal and her eyes became darker and less lively.

"Jess?" a familiar voice followed her to the women's locker room. The sound of flip flops shuffled away and women murmuring as they left the locker room. "Jesus, Jess, what's wrong?"

In front of her face, Jess could see the red flip flops that belonged to Cory Walichs. He bent down and looked into her eyes with a concerned face. Jess started to hyperventilate when she felt her hand clenching.

"Do I need to call the ambulance? You don't look well, Jess."

Jess wanted to cry. She wanted to let the tears run down her face and she wanted to scream. She wanted to scream at Cory to go away. He hasn't done anything to deserve what she was about to do to him.

Her barrier finally broke. She was now in It's control completely.

-

It was too bad that Jess couldn't resist the monster, if she were herself she would've felt bad for what she had done. Instead, she had to watch through the eyes of her controlled shell the frightened eyes of Cory Walichs. He was pleading with her while he was gagged with a piece of fabric.

Next to him was Heather Holloway, Billy's victim. They both squirmed in their place in an effort to free themselves.

Billy bent down close to Heather's ear and whispered, "Don't be afraid, it'll all be over soon." He then removed the duct tape from her mouth and her lips trembled. The chitter of the monster could be heard from the other side of the room.

The two victims stopped squirming and timidly looked to the shadowy part of the warehouse basement. Cory started to scream and get up, but Jess was quick to pin him down, straddling his waist and yanking his gag down.

"Jess! Jess, you don't have to do this. Please, let us go!" Cory pleaded with the girl for the hundredth time.

Jess cocked her head to the side and gave him a blank stare. In a voice that wasn't her own, she said, "Who's Jess?"

A moment of realization washed over Cory as Jess slid off his body and returned standing next to her boyfriend.

"No! What did you do to her?" Cory shouted at the shadow. "What did you do?!"

Heather was the first to go. One of the Mind Flayer's tentacles suctioned to her mouth, pumping its essence into her. Cory screamed so loud that the Mind Flayer had to send a second one just to shut him up and possess him in the process.

Jess watched the horror play out in front of her. She couldn't do anything about it. Every inch of her was frozen.

"Let me go..." Jess pleaded with It for death. "Please..."

Then she heard that one soul-crushing word.

"No."

-

Jess gasped for air. Her lungs expanded as if they'd been deflated for hours. The morning light hurt her caramel eyes and she blinked a few times to try and get used to the daylight.

"What the..." Jess murmured to herself. She was standing in the middle of her bedroom back home. The confused girl touched her stomach, torso, arms and face to make sure she was real and that she had full autonomy again.

"Mom? Dad?" She swung the door to her room open and peered down the hallway. "Mom! Dad!"

Nothing.

A realization struck her at that moment. It made her face pallor and she took off down the stairs. Billy!

Sprinting across the foyer, Jess came to her big, oak front door. Without hesitation, she unlocked it and yanked it open.

Standing there right in front of her was Billy Hargrove. His eyes were full of worry and confusion and his chest heaved with every breath he sucked in.

The couple looked at each other. They stared at one another, memorizing the details of the other's faces. They were here. They were there, standing right in front of each other.

Jess was the first to slam her body against Billy's and wrap her short arms around his wide torso. She squeezed him hard, until he groaned, but he didn't move. Instead, he hugged back immediately, caressing her head and smoothing her hair. He handled her as if she was going to break apart in his arms, but also as if she'd dissolve from his grasp.

Jess noticed that Billy had parked his precious, beat up camaro on her lawn and it was still running with the passenger door left hanging open. Billy must've woken up like her too and rushed over. Jess felt her heart glow from this and squeezed her boyfriend tighter.

"Billy?" Jess whispered, not moving from their embrace.

"Shut up," Billy mumbled as she nestled his face into her hair.

"Billy..." Jess sighed and reluctantly pulled away from him. She looked up at his face again and her heart broke seeing such a beautiful thing scratched up and bloodied.

"Jess, don't say anything right now," Billy squeezed her waist. "I know what you're going to say, and I'd rather not think about it."

"But we need do," Jess told him. "We might not have much time. We have to..."

The brunette swallowed a lump in her throat.

"We have to get our affairs in order."

"Don't talk like that."

"Like what, Billy? I'm not trying to be cinematic right now. I don't have a will. I doubt you do. If something happens, we need to make sure the ones we love aren't left to pick up the pieces for years after."

"You don't know what's going to happen," Billy shook his head. "Stop acting like we're going to die."

"Do you know what's inside of us?!" Jess started to yell hysterically. She flailed her arms about, making large gestures to convey her anxiety. "Can you explain what happened the last few weeks?! No, the last few years?"

"Be quiet," Billy grabbed her shoulders when he saw a couple walking down the street towards them with their golden retriever on a leash.

"No, I won't! We are going to die, Billy! And you aren't taking this as seriously as you should be."

"Go inside," Billy pushed his girlfriend back into the house. "I'll meet you there in a second."

He turned back to shut his engine off and lock his door. Jess grumbled and stomped back inside. Her boyfriend followed her and shut the front door.

Jess' back was turned towards Billy. She held her arms close to her, as if she was holding herself together. Billy approached her hesitantly. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder gently.

She immediately shrugged him off. "Stop."

"Jess," Billy started.

"No. You don't get it. You just started this whole thing," Jess turned around to face Billy and that's when he saw the tears streaming down her face. She pointed to her head. "I've had It inside me for over a year!"

Billy didn't say anything. He stood in the living room of Jess' home and listened to her.

"I've spent every single day wondering if it would be my last. Every seizure, every whisper, every vision! All of it consumed me! I tried my best to keep it away from you. I have done everything!"

Jess fell to the floor as sobs took over her whole body.

"And It still got you," Jess managed to whisper out between every gasp of air. Billy sat beside her and pulled her onto his lap. He held her against his body, looking at the droplets of tears on the hardwood floor.

"I can feel it..." she barely spoke above a whisper at this point, but Bill hadn't even dared to breathe so he heard every word.

"I can feel the end coming near..."

a/n yeesh doesn't look good for Jess. anyways,  here's a chapter... see y'all next year lol