Chapter 2.11:
"And How The Hell Did You Manage To Get That?"
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

The sewer water splashed under Maya's feet as walked, her hand covering her nose.

"Eesh, doesn't smell any better." Richie said, grunting.

"Well, what'd you expect? It's been twenty seven years. People have been shitting for twenty seven years, dude. Lots of shit. Just.. all shit. And piss.. Shiss.." Maya rambled, shining her flashlight around the walls.

"Maya, are you using humor as a coping mechanism again?" Beverly asked.

"Pft.. of course not." Maya scoffed, "But, no, the answer is yes.. I'm having, like, a fucking panic attack.."

"Do you need my inhaler?" Eddie spoke, "Because I have it! I mean, it's like.. twenty-seven years.. old.. but, uh.. if you need it, have at it!"

"I'd rather her have at me." Richie teased, nudging Maya.

"And she'd rather have at Beverly." 

"Mike!" Maya gasped, shaking her head at him. "You-You can't just.. don't say things like that!"

Mike chuckled, trying to calm himself down, as she shined her flashlight around the room they fought Pennywise all those years ago.

"Shit, this is it.. This where it all happened.." Ben shook his head as he looked around the room.

"Ah, shit. All the kids stuff is gone.. That's, um, good right?"

"No, Maya."

"That's fair."

"No! No! No! No!" Eddie muttered as the group walked, or rather, swam, over to the center of the room.

Instead of an immense pile of child toys, there now stood what looked like a claw in the middle.

Maya let out a shaky breath as her feet hit the wooden flooring. "Here we go again.."

Maya whipped around at the sound of Beverly's screaming, "Beverly!"

The sight of an old demonic looking woman, her clutches tight on Beverly.

"Holy shit! Be-"

"Time to sink!" The creature pulled Beverly under water with it.

Maya let out a distressed scream as she jumped forward into the dark and murky water without a second thought.

She could hear the faint sound of Eddie's voice, thought it was muffled, as she searched the water for her beloved.

Maya took in a gasp of air as Bill pulled Beverly up, asking her if she was okay.

"Bev? Beverly, hey, are you okay?" Maya asked, taking Beverly into her arms. "Look at me."

She stammered out incoherent sentences, clutching to Maya.

After minutes of cradling the taller woman, Beverly finally calmed down.

"Hey, Mike.." Richie asked, "Where do we go from here?"

He pointed to the wooden deck where Maya had previously stood.

"Great." Richie clapped his hands together and bowed sarcastically, "After the lesbians."

"We aren't-" Maya turned to look at him as the rest of the group walkrd

"You are."

"Well.. okay.." Maya said slowly as she stepped onto the wooden deck.

Mike began explaining the ritual, though it sounded like another language to Maya.

"Is he okay?" Ben asked after the man began chanting.

"Are any of us?" Maya countered, raising an eyebrow.

Eddie shook his head no.

"I think at this point that's a relative question."

"What's on the other side?" Beverly asked.

"I don't know.. no one does." Mike shrugged, leaning down and opening it despite the protests from the surrounding adults.

"Oh, what the fuck is that shit?" Maya groaned, looking down at the dark tunnel.

Mike sat down, putting his legs down.

"Uh, Mike, bad ide-"

"Right. See you down there." Mike said, pushing off with his hands and dropping himself into the tunnel.

"Oh, my fuckin'.. he fuckin' dead." Mike's head popped out of the entrance, "Oh."

"St-Stay together." Bill said, following Mike into the tunnel.

"You guys, I can't do it." Eddie spoke shakily. "I-I'm sorry. I can't! Yo-You saw what happened up there.. I-I was gonna let him! I just fuckin' froze up! You let me go down there with you, I'm gonna get us all kille-"

"Eddie." Maya interrupted, "Yes, you can. You are a badass motherfucker. You don't need that inhaler. Right?"

"Right." Richie confirmed, reaching forward and taking the inhaler from his hands.

"Let go!"

"You little turd."

"I just-"

"Give him the inhaler, Eds."

"Listen to me. You had a moment, fine! But who killed a pychotic clown before he was fourteen."

"You did." Maya poked Eddie on the chest.

"I did."

"Who stabbed Bowers with a knife he pulled out of his own face?"

"You did."

"I did that too.."

"Who married a woman ten times his own body mass?"

"Richie!"

"It's true!"

"I did."

"Yeah.. You're braver than you think."

"Thanks, Rich."

Richie nodded, smacking the man harshly.

"Ow!"

"Sorry."

Maya walked over and peered into the bottomless pit, "I better get some good fucking wine after this."

~~

"It can only be attacked in It's true form." Mike explained as he put the box in the center of the group. "The ritual will show us that."

"What is It's true form?" Ben asked, worry in his tone.

"Hope it's a puppy." Richie pouted.

"I don't!" Maya scoffed, shaking her head.

"Why not? Puppies are cute!"

"I don't wanna kill a puppy!"

At the looks of the group surrounding them, Maya side stepped closer to Richie. "We'll shut up now."

"It's light." Mike whispered ominously, "Light that must be snuffed out by darkness."

He squeezed gasoline into the wooden box before standing up and dropping in a match.

"Your artifacts.. place them in the fire. The past must burn with the present."

Maya pulled out the wet Polaroid from her back pocket, "A.. memory with an amazing friend."

She tossed it in before speaking again, "It couldn't be the locket, sorry Bev."

Beverly blushed and looked away.

"Uh.. This is- This is the boat that I built with G-Geo-Georgie.." Bill said, dropping it into the fire.

"This is my inhaler." He brought it to his lips and inhaled one last time before dropping it into the fire.

"Come on, dude."

"Something I wish I would've held on to." Beverly spoke next, raising the post card and dropping it in.

"Uh, this is a page from my yearbook.. Only one person signed it. And I probably should've forgotten it.. but.. I couldn't.. because I kept it in my wallet for twenty seven years." Ben explained, not taking his eyes off of Beverly.

Maya couldn't help but feel jealous as she crossed her arms and looked away.

"Uh, this is a token.. from the capital theater."

"Wait, bro, an actual token?"

"Yeah, man, that's what we were supposed to do asshole."

"Do you have any idea how long that'll take to burn?"

"Yeah, but so is your inhaler dude.. and the toxic fumes and the plastic and shit.. so."

"Look closely, Bev.." Mike spoke, raising a rock towards her. "You see it? That's where you hit Bowers."

"The rock fight.."

"And how and the hell did you get that?" Maya asked, disbelief in her tone, "Did you like... go on a rock hunt? Or did you keep it?"

"The day these bonds were forged.." Mike ignored her questions.

"That's not gonna burn either.."

"Oh, wait!" Eddie pulled Stan's shower cap out of his pocket. "Couldn't forget about Stan.. again.."

"Okay, now join hands." After following Mike's orders, he began speaking again. "The ritual of chud.. it's a battle of wills. The first step was our reunion.. The second was the gathering of our artifacts.. this is the final step."

Suddenly the fire went out completely as the large balls of light appeared at the top of the tunnel.

Maya squinted up, her jaw dropping at the thousands, maybe even millions, of rows of teeth.

"Don't look at it!" Mike shouted, "Don't look at it!"

"O-Okay.."

"Turn light into dark, turn light into dark, tur- Say it!"

"Turn light into dark! Turn light into dark! Turn light into dark!" Maya chanted, her eyes squeezed shut as she gripped Richie's hand tightly.

"What the fuck is going on?"

"Keep chanting!"

"Turn light into dark!"

Everything went dark as Mike slammed the lid over the wooden box.

"Did we do it?" Maya asked, her heart dropping when she realized they didn't.

A red balloon began pushing itself out of the box. "Keep chanting!"

The balloon popped the lid off and began growing at an exponentially fast rate.

Maya backed up, falling onto her back through the cracks of the crater the stood in as the ballon pressed against the walls.

A loud popping sound, almost like an explosion, echoed off the walls.

Maya hit the ground again as the ringing in her ears increased to a deafening level.

"Richie!" She called out, unable to hear her own voice over the ringing. "Beverly?"

A hand gripped her wrist and she nearly had a heart attack.

"Are you okay?" He asked, Maya being faintly able to hear him.

"Yes, Richie. You?"

He nodded as their hearing returned seconds later.

"Mike? Mike was that supposed to happen? Mike!"

"Did we do it?"

"We put the tokens in the thing! We did it right?"

Maya let out a loud scream as Beverly raised her flashlight to reveal Pennywise, now ten times his previous size.

"Oh, ho, ho! Did it work, Mikey? Did it work? Hahahaha! Tell them why your silly little ritual didn't work! Tell them it's all just a... what's the word, Eds? A gazebo!"

"Mike? What.."

"What's he talking about?" Eddie asked, his flashlight shining on the clown's face.

"M-M-Mikey?"

"Oh.. Mikey, you never showed them the forth side did you? Hahahaha! Didn't want them to know what actually happened to the poor Shakapeawa? Omnomnom!"

"Fuck! Mikey, you lied to us again?"

"I-I... They-They-They didn't.. They didn't believe! They didn't believe they could kill him! That's why it didn't work!"

"I'm getting real sick and tired of this shit, Mike!" Maya snapped.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Mike?"

"I-I-"

"Fuck you!"

"I-I needed something! Anything to get us to believe!"

"Mike, I don't wanna do this again!" Maya cried, "I can't do this again!"

But Maya knew.. she knew that she would have to.

And she hated that. She hated that with every fiber of her being.

She just wanted to be done.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

{ Word Count: 1723 }

{ A/n: we only have less than 30 minutes left }

{ Edtied: No }