.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

SHE'S TALKING AGAIN

CHAPTER NINE

ix. the fair

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AFTER THE ROCK WAR, the group of eight find themselves walking in a line down a clearing as a train passes above them. The order went Richie, Veronica, Stan, Ben, Beverly, Mike, Bill, and Eddie. The Lucky Eight, finally complete.

"Thanks, guys. But you didn't have to do that. he'll be after you now," Mike speaks up while slinging his hands back and forth.

"Bowers hates us! Nasty little fucker, hey?" Veronica laughs, slapping Stan's back and jumping up.

"Guess that's one t-t-thing we all have in common," Bill adds, speaking for the group, glancing back at Mike.

"Yeah, Homeschool! Welcome to the Losers Club" Richie yells out, squinting his eyes.

"Hey! That has a nice ring to it! Welcome home, Mikey Boy!" Veronica pipes up, excitedly with a smile.

♧

The club stood in an alleyway at the Fourth of July fair, it was a day after the incident with Bowers and also a day after the club became complete. Bill stood in front of a missing poster, frowning solemnly. The rest were chatting while other's did the same as Bill. Veronica Mills leaned against a wall, staring off at her best friend who stood quite a bit away, blowing air into a tuba. She lets out a snicker before shouting out to him.

"Nice one, Rich! Giving the tuba a blowie, I see!" She doesn't notice the solemness in the air around her as she giggles while he scoffs and continues to puff his cheeks out. Soon, the man who owns it snatches it away.

"Hey! What the fuck, dude?" Richie yells, throwing his arms up. Veronica laughs out before deciding to turn her attention to the others. They stared at the newly pinned up photo of Ed Corcoran. Then, Bill pulled it up to reveal a smiling photo of Betty Ripsom.

"I can't believe they just forgot about her," Veronica quickly shifts her mood while walking over to Mike and shaking her head, sadly.

"Me too, V," Mike adds while looking down at his shoes. Ben and Bill continue to discuss the happenings, saying that something bad happens every twenty-seven years. Soon after, Richie saunters back into the group after getting an ice-cream cone from Eddie and slides beside Veronica who clung onto each word Ben and Bill said.

Noticing the ice-cream, Veronica smiles mischievously. Quickly, grabbing his hand and guiding the cone to her mouth and licking the ice-cream with a smile. Richie quickly nudges her.

"That's mine!" He groans. Only for Veronica to stick her tongue out at him and Richie reacting quickly and flicking it.

"Ugh!" She rolls her eyes, punching his shoulder and then, soon, they're left standing close together with one of his arms resting on my shoulder.

"Gosh! Do you two ever stop flirting! We're trying to discuss something serious!" Stan shouts at the two, cutting Bill and Ben's conversation short.

"We don't flirt! Ronnie's just annoying!" Richie fires back at Stan, raising his arms up as if he's innocent.

"Ugh! As if! You tell lies, Tozier!" Veronica groans, scooting away from him and closer to the wall. Then, quickly deciding to go back due to the odd emptiness and cold sensation that was left on her skin without the familiar feeling of Richie's arm on her shoulder. The others scoff and laugh at the action. Beverly sending them a smirk and winking at Veronica and Mike sending a finger gun both their ways.

♧

Sat on a park bench, some sitting on the top while some were sat on their bikes. They discussed the whole conversation of the 'bad things happen every twenty-seven years'.

"Okay! Let me get this straight, it comes out from wherever, to eat kids, for what? A year? Then what? It goes into hibernation?" Eddie asks, attempting to make sense of the odd theory. Veronica scrunches up her nose.

"That's stupid," She concludes, snapping her scrunchie on her wrist.

"Yeah, well, it's not stupid when it takes kids from their families, V," Mike frowns at the thought of all the missing children. Veronica bobs her head in agreement before leaning into Richie.

"Maybe it's like-what d'you call it? Cicadas?-" Stan starts only for Mike to cut him off, quickly.

"My grandfather thinks this town his cursed..." Mike butts in causing everyone's interest to spark up. Veronica tensing into Richie, who notices and wraps his arms around her.

"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.

"So, there's a monster that feeds off of our fear? Like the boogeyman?" Veronica asks, trying to get this straight point straight now.

"Exactly," Mike nods.

"But, it can't be one thing! We all saw something different," Stan exclaims, in a bit of a panic.

"Maybe. Or maybe it knows what scares us most, and that's what we see," Mike replies, shrugging his shoulders. Eddie takes in a deep breath, uneasily while Veronica reaches from Richie's hand which was wrapped around her.

"I-I saw a leper, it was like a walking infection!" Eddie cringes while grabbing onto his inhaler.

"But, you didn't. Because it isn't real, none of this is real! Not Eddie's leper, or Bill seeing Georgie or the woman I keep seeing!" Stan utters out, shaking his head in an attempt to reason with the rest of them.

"She hot?" Richie asks with a dazed smile.

"No, Richie! She's not hot! Her face - it's all messed up, none of this makes any sense! It's all like a bad dream!" Stan snaps at the glasses wearing boy while blinking profusely.

"I don't think so, I know the difference between a bad dream and real life, okay?" Mike tries to explain to Stan who was in denial.

"What'd you see? You saw something too?" Eddie asks, curiously.

"Y-Yes. You guys, know that burnt down house on... Harris Avenue?" Mike squints at the sun while everyone gulps and nods, nervous to hear the rest of the tale.

"I was inside when it burned down before I was rescued, my parents were trapped in the room next to me, they were trying to get to me, but it was too hot. When the firemen finally found them, their skin was burnt to the bone" Mike finishes looking down at the ground before adding in, "we're all afraid of something,".

"Got that right," Richie agrees while Veronica gets out of his grasp and mounts her bike, snapping her scrunchie on her wrist in the process.

"What about you, Rich? What're you afraid of?" Eddie asks again, while the club stares at him

"And, on that n-note, Nic, w-what did you see?" Bill adds, quickly before Richie looks behind us at the stage where dozens of clowns stood.

"Clowns..." He breathes out and then the attention turns to the small blonde who stared into space, remembering the feeling of breath on her ear and her hair tie being pulled out by seemingly nothing. She breathes shakily.

"F-Funny. Don't you deal with us everyday?" She teases softly, trying to lighten the mood but her shaking voice and hands didn't do her much justice. The group didn't bother laughing before she simply sighed. "I didn't see anything. It was more like a feeling -- like... Everyone was gone and I was just left alone. All alone. It's all a blur, really, I was in the basement because there was this loud thumping that just lured me down... And, the next thing I knew my hair tie was being pulled out by something and something was breathing in my ear," She thought back to the horror which she felt and the tears she cried while looking down.