.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

xviii. the projector

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A DAY HAD PASSED SINCE THE ROCK WAR, it was the Fourth of July and as always, Derry was having its annual summer street fair. The day was bright, sunny. It was something out of a movie that April would find herself indulging in on all those dreary days she found herself alone. Sounds of the marching band and carnival workers calling out to those who passed by to play their games filled the square.

April had her hair in two messed-up braids on either side of her head, her already curly hair frizzy from the summer heat. She wiped her forehead of the small beads of sweat that were forming as she fiddled around the five bracelets she held in her hand.

"Hey, guys. Wait," She speaks up, puckering her lips & blowing air upwards to move her bangs away from her eyes as she trails after her friends. They were on the main road, people crowded around and skipping happily as they enjoy the summers day.

They look towards her curiously, Stan quirking an eyebrow. "What?" Richie asks, watching as the girl began to approach the group before extending her hand and showing off the five intricate bracelets proudly.

She smiles softly, their eyes trialing to her hand. "I made them. Special for you guys. See, I have one. Bev has," She points to her wrist and gestures to Beverly. "And, Billy does too. Now we're officially friends forever and we're a special club. Like, how you said yesterday, Rich. The Losers Club," She rambles, handing out the bracelets and giggling to herself as her friends all offer thank you's and smiles to her.

"Thanks, April," Ben says, beginning to tie the pale green and blue bracelet around his wrist. "They're beautiful. How'd you learn to make them?

April nods excitedly as she side-steps around, finding herself next to Bill with their arms just brushing against one another as she tucks a piece of feathery hair behind her ear and shrugging. "I'd get bored," She states simply with a shy ghost of a smile — not wanting to think back of the days that weren't so far off of hiding away in her room alone, her only friends being her bracelets and her smile.

♧

In a secluded alleyway, stood the Losers. Or, at least, most of them. Richie found himself on the street, tugging at a man's tuba and blowing incoherent notes into it. He hadn't a clue how to play it and didn't have the motivation to actually try. Eddie was by himself getting ice-cream cones. Leaving the rest of them to staring at the most recent missing poster that has been plastered over the brick walls and wooden posts of Derry. It was Ed Corcoran's poster.

April recognized him from her English class. He sat two seats to the right of hers. He was a quiet kid, small, frail. In a way, in his gentle nature reminded her of how she once perceived Eddie before she began to see his hyperactivity. The thought of their small similarities made her dizzy at the thought of one of her friends going missing. More dizzy than she already felt at the thought of young, quiet boy from her English class going missing. She helped him with an essay at the beginning of the year.

"They say they found part of his hand all chewed up by the Standpipe," Stan starts, his voice shaky as they begin to drown out the excited chatter of the citizens of Derry — pulling their entire attention to Ed.

"He asked to borrow a pencil once," Ben states, a frown on his mouth as he thinks back to one of the only interactions he's ever had with the boy.

April bites her lip, a feeling of dread overcoming her at the thought of more of her peers going missing. It was like Derry was a magnet for bad things. Everything was so much worse here. She couldn't imagine what the families were going through, what Bill was going through. What her best friend was going through. It was unimaginable after a life of no loss.

She was privileged in that way. In friends she may have been poor but in love she was rich. She had parents who adored her and a sister who had her back through everything. Even when they argued. She's never lost a family member. Not one that she's close to anyway. All of them either lived in the city or had not left their homeland, Greece, at all. She was a stranger to loss and watching at the town she grew up in become encompassed in it terrified her. Watching as he got encompassed in it made her sick. She wanted nothing more than to take her happiness and give it to him.

Walking forward, Bill pulls the poster up. Revealing Betty Ripsom's. Untouched as if it were begging for someone to read it. As if to say 'find me, don't give up on me yet,'. They stared her in the face, her shy school-photo smile greeting them like a ghost.

"I-It's like she's been forgotten because Corcoran's missing," Bill looks to the group, one hand in his pocket as he shrugs sadly.

Stan squints, staring at the poster. "Is it ever gonna end?" He asks.

"Well, it's gotta. Right? Nothing... Nothing, nothing like this can last forever? Right?" April speaks up, pulling at the end of her braids nervously, twirling her finger through her hair. Her voice breathless as she stumbles over her words.

Approaching the group, Eddie holds two cones. "What are you guys talking about?" He takes a lick from his vanilla ice-cream.

"What they always talk about," Richie says, rolling his eyes as he adjusts his glasses and takes the other come from Eddie's hand.

Ben ignores them, looking to Stan and April nodding. "I actually think it will end," He nods. "For a little while, at least," He goes on.

The group looks at him. "What do you mean?" Beverly presses, speaking for the groups curiosity.

Ben breathes in, recalling his studies. "So I was going over all my Derry research and I charted out all the big events. The Ironworks explosion in 1908, the Bradley gang in '35, and The Black Spot in '62. And now kids being..." He pauses, making eye-contact with Bill and averting his eyes to the ground. "I realize this stuff seems to happen...".

"Every twenty-seven years," Bill and Ben say at the same time.

At the words, the group falls silent. Staring amongst on another as tension fills the air. It was as if what had been strange became peculiar and they were in a way, desperate to find out.

♧

"Okay, so, let me get this straight, it comes out from wherever, to eat kids, like, a year? And the  what? It just goes into hibernation?" Eddie begins to debrief the theory that had been tossed onto the table.

The club occupied a dark green park bench, surrounded by bustling children and the scent of carnival foods. On any other day, this would've probably been a day of fun and mischief not of aching bellies and worried minds.

"Maybe it's like-what d'you call it? Cicadas?-" Stan starts, his hands on his knees as he exchanged looks with his friends. "You know, the bugs that come out once every seventeen years,".

"My grandfather thinks this town his cursed..." Mike cuts in. "He says that all the bad things that happen in this town is because of one thing, an evil thing that feeds off the people of Derry," He continues, everyone giving him their full attention at the bizarre idea.

Stan shakes his head. "But it can't be one thing. We all saw something different," Stan says, quirking his eyebrow at each of his friends.

"Maybe. Or maybe it knows what scares us most, and that's what we see," Mike replies, not missing a beat as he shrugs his shoulders.

With wide, eyes groaned to the ground, Eddie responds. "I-I saw a leper, it was like a walking infection!" He stutters, eyes going to him.

April breathes out shakily, stood next to Bill as she plays with the bracelet on her wrist. "Cockroaches filled my bedroom," She speaks up, looking up as she begins to recall the experience out loud for the first time since it had happened. "They were spilling out of my laundry bin like when you accidentally overflow the tub except, you know... With bugs. Then, they started crawling all over me and I flipped out. Clawing at myself and then it all disappeared and... And... And..." She sputters out, her breathing thin at the thoughts. She wasn't sure what terrified her so badly about bugs. They just... Did.

Bill places a hand on her shoulder looking down to her as his eyes gloss over at a realization. The Quarry. It wasn't a tree branch. She did it. Well, IT made her do it. Softly, he moves his hand down to hers, interlocking their fingers firmly as if to say, 'you're safe,' and she was, as long as she was with him. She'd always be safe. He'd make sure of it.

April calms down a bit at the contact, grounding herself and shaking her head at the thought. Not bothering to finish the story. Her mind beginning to flash horrific images.

"But, you didn't see anything. Because it isn't real, none of this is real! Not Eddie's leper, April's bugs, or Bill seeing Georgie or the woman I keep seeing!" Stan shakes his head, reasoning with them as he stutters over his words shakily.

Richie smiles, looking to Stan. "She hot?" He asks.

Looking up in disbelief, Stan shakes his head. "No, Richie! She's not hot! Her face - it's all messed up, none of this makes any sense! They're all like bad dreams," He snaps, his voice weak at the end.

"I don't think so, I know the difference between a bad dream and real life, okay?" Mike reasons, looking up to Stan in an attempt to have him understand.

Shocked, Eddie looks to Mime bleakly. "What'd you see? You saw something too?" He asks, voice quick.

"Yes. You guys, know that burnt down house on... Harris Avenue?" Mike begins, staring at the ground, the group nodding in response. "I was inside when it burned down. Before I was rescued, my mom and dad were trapped in the next room over from me. They were pushing and pounding on the door, trying to get to me. But it was too hot. When the firemen finally found them, the skin on their hands had melted down to the bone," Mike explains, taking pauses in between his words as memories begin to flood his mind at the horror he had faced. "We're all afraid of something," He shrugs as the group breathes out shaky breathes.

Sadly, April looks to him. His solemn face and clouded eyes before softly speaking up. "I'm sorry, Mike," She mumbles quietly — barely even audible but by some chance he had caught it and smiled weakly at her attempt to comfort.

"Got that right," Richie agrees with Mike's final statement, the sound of a firecracker going off from behind them causing him to look back at the stage where excited children and a clown stood.

"Why, Rich? What're you afraid of?" Eddie asks, while the club stares at him for an answer.

Looking back to them, Richie shrugs — adjusting his glasses onto the bridge of his nose. "Clowns..." He breathes out shakily as he stares down at the green grass.

♧

Things were full-send in the Denbrough's garage, some of them pinning up something to shield the windows and prevent light from leaking in, others getting situated around the projector in the middle of the room. Bill was setting up a map he had snuck from his father's office onto the far wall. 

The projector clicks on as Mike closes the garage door and Stan finishes covering up the last window. All of them crowding around the probe for now. Ben flips through his backpack, picking up a projector slide and handing it to Bill. He drops it into the projector and instantly it's reflected onto the wall. Fiddling with the top, he lines up the pictures with the map as the group silently watch.

"Okay," He whispers to himself, tapping his finger against his thigh as they all stare at the wall with dull expressions, not exactly understanding what to look at. "Look, that's where Georgie disappeared. There's the iron works. The Black Spot. Everywhere it happens, it's... It's all connected by the sewers and they all meet up at the-" Bill begins, pointing to each area he speaks of, the groups eyes following his movements. He was right. They are connected.

"The well house!" Ben pipes up as realization sets in, staring at the bright images depicted.

Looking to Bill, Stan mumbles. "It's in the house of Neibolt Street,".

"You mean that creepy-ass house where all the junkies and hobos like to sleep?" Richie asks, squinting his eyes in disgust as Eddie pulls out his aspirator.

"I hate that place. It always feels like it's watching me," Beverly adds in, gazing blankly at the wall.

April breathes in deeply, furrowing her eyebrows as she stares at the map. "That's where I saw it, that's where I saw the clown," Eddie chokes out, aspirator still in hand as he breathes heavily, April instantly leaning over and beginning to rub his back softly in an attempt to slower his breathing.

"T-T-That's where IT lives," Bill concludes, Eddie gasping and pulling his inhaler to his mouth again. April's continuing to softly comfort him, whispering that he's okay.

Stan grips his knee, looking to Bill again. "I can't imagine anything wanting to live there," He says before Eddie jumps up in front of the group, April's hand falling off his back.

"Can we stop talking about this? I-I-I can barely breathe, this is summer! We're kids! I can barely breathe! I'm about to have a fucking asthma attack! And I'm not doing this!" Eddie raves at them, his eyes wide, choking for breaths and throwing his hands up in the air in a panic before grabbing the side of the map and yanking it down in a swift motion.

"What the hell! Put the map back," Bill argues, pointing his finger up in disapproval while Eddie shakes his head in retaliation.

Sighing, April looks to Eddie. "Come on, Eddie. Let's just finish this up, okay? Then, then... I don't know, I'll teach you how to make a bracelet or something, alright?Whatever you want," She ponders, hoping that it's be enough to lure him away from the front and put the map back where it was hung up previously.

"Mmm-mmm," He hums, shaking his head again as the projector clicks off before clicking to a different slide.

Then again and again. Before it was fully apparent that it was doing it on its own somehow. The sounds of its clicking being the only sound filling the room, continuously over and over again. A photo of Georgie and his father at a baseball game comes up — smiling, full of glee.

Looking down as it clicks again, Bill mumbles. "What happened?".

A photo of the Denbrough family on a rollercoaster. "What's going on?" Stan asks as Eddie begins straying away and towards April and Stan as he heaved in heavy breathes once again.

Another photo, the Denbrough's smiling in the cart they say in for the rollercoaster — after it finished. Wide smiles on their faces. "I got it. Hold on," Mike mumbles, going to the projector and beginning to inspect it, looking for a way to stop the erratic clicking.

It continues to click, a photo of Georgie and Bill. A photo of the Denbrough's again, this time at Acadia National Park. Another of Georgie and Bill. Then, it stops. A photo outside of the church. It was a presumably windy day as Sharon Denbrough's hair had flew up and covered her face entirely. The projector zooms in towards the youngest Denbrough.

"Georgie," Bill whispers quietly — voice breaking as April tenses up from where she sat next to Stan.

The clicking continues on that same photo. "Bill?" Stan asks again as the image got more zoomed onto Georgie's smiling face.

Nervous energy flooding the garage as they watch the clicking begin to get more rapid, picking up in pace as it slides towards Sharon's half covered face. The slides depicted the image moving before her face is covered entirely. The hair whips in the images, wind blowing at it and suddenly, a clown can be seen. A red grinning smile and paper-white skin.

"What the fuck!" Richie yells as they all begin to clamour — moving around and exchanging glances.

Bill shouts, grabbing the back of April's jean overalls, pulling her backwards towards his chest. "It's it!" He yells, holding her close to him.

"What the fuck is that?! What the fuck is that?!" Richie screams, grabbing Eddie's arm and pulling him towards him as they both screech in terror.

"I don't fucking know!" Eddie screams back, eyes wide as the hair begins whipping faster to reveal the full face.

Beverly stares at the screen before looking to the group. "Turn it off," She starts, getting ignored. "Turn it off!" She screams at them more panicked.

"Yeah. Yeah, turn it off. Turn it off!" Stan agrees, voice cracking as Mike kicks the projector over. It falls to the ground with a thud, the slides scattering across the floor and the garage only filled with the white light projected crookedly on the wall.

Bill holds April, moving her to his side and keeping one hand interlocked with his. "Sunshine, don't move," He mumbles to her, planning to keep her close the entire time. "Stay here,". She nods, her shoulder pressed up against his arm as her heart thuds in her chest and eyes begin to get cloudy with fear.

They were all back into the wall, Stan was stood in front of the light however. Suddenly, the clown appeared back on screen. The sound of clicking and Eddie's wheezing filling the room as the clown disappeared off screen for a moment. Before it pops out of the the screen completely causing April to let out an ear-splitting scream and Stan to retreat to the group as the lights go out completely.

"Run, Stanley!" Richie shouts.

The garages pitch black for a moment, April having let go of Bill's hand on accident and somehow and now stumbling around the room, stepping on the projectors slides and tripping over stools as she reaches out looking for someone to hold onto, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

"Billy!" She cries out, her eyes struggling to adjust to the darkness as she trips over something and onto the ground with a thud, her hands digging into the small rocks that were on the concrete floor.

Screams and shrieks filming the room as the large clown begins crawl out of the screen, its teeth bared at them. "Sunshine, where are you?" Bill shouts back, Eddie falling into him as Beverly stumbled back into a corner alone.

"Get Bev!" Ben shouts out, noticing the clown going for her, her hands over her face as she screams, her body shaking.

Their screams still filling the room, the sounds of shuffling feet and sniffles and wails all around them as they struggle to figure out what to do. Hurriedly, the run to the garage door, opening it up as their shouts continue to echo. The clown disappearing at the light, the only remnant of it being the mess it has created.

It all stops. Their breathing heavy as they all exchange glances, fixing at their ruffled clothes. "Oh, G-God. Sunshine," Bill panics, hurrying towards her tumbled figure and helping her up, wiping at her tear-stricken face and dusting at her overalls softly.

She breathes shakily, her eyes clenched shut. "It's over now? I can open my eyes? It's gone?" She whimpers, her lips quiver as Bill nods furiously, pulling her towards him.

"Y-Yeah, its g-gone," He whispers, hugging her tightly. Her latching onto him instantly and sniffling into his shoulder in horror. "I-It's okay, we're all o-okay. Y-You're okay," He mumbles into her hair, kissing the top of her head over and over before pulling her away from his shoulder for her to look at him.

She sniffles again, Bill rubbing her tears away with the pads of his thumb. "I'm h-here, don't w-worry," He goes on, kissing her forehead before both her cheeks and then her nose softly. "M-Me and y-you, okay? Always," He takes her hand softly as she nod, unable to find words.

"IT saw us! IT saw us and it knows where we are!" Eddie speaks up breathlessly, holding up his inhaler.

Bill looks to him, hand still in April's before he lets go. Running his hand through his hair. "IT always did. S-so, lets go!" He says, pushing past the group, walking out of the garage as they watch him in disbelief, turning to them once he reaches the outside of the garage.

"Go? Go where?" Ben asks, scoffing as Bill looks to them in determination.

Bill looks back at him, breathing out shakily. "Neibolt! That's where G-G-Georgie is," He explains.

"After that?" Stan questions, gesturing to the dark garage in shock

Richie nods. "Yeah.. It's summer. We should be outside," He says, voice emotionless.

Bill snaps looking to his friends. "If you say it's summer one more f-fucking time," He responds before turning away.

April pushing passed the group and rushing towards him. "Billy," She whispers, grabbing his hand before he could bike off. "We can't," She goes on, Bill staring down at her with soft eyes before he shakes his head, his hand leaving one of his handlebars as he tucks a piece of hair behind her ear.

"I h-have to, Sunshine," He responds, pulling his hand from hers and mounting Silver and pushing off towards the house on Neibolt Street.

Leaving the last seven staring at one another before they all huff out in agitation, knowing that they can't leave him alone and beginning to mount their bikes, Beverly gesturing for April to get onto hers and they all set off after Bill.