Hush •Stanley Uris•

Sixteen

The Losers Club, and newest member Mike Hanlon walked through the meadow into town.

"Thanks guys but," Mike spoke up. "You shouldn't have done that, he'll be after you guys too, now!"

Tiny Thompson shook her head, a small laugh erupting from her lips at the boys words.

"Ah no, Bowers?" Eddie asked, looking back. "He's always after us."

"When is he not?" The blue-eyed girl rolled her eyes, leaning into Stanley, who had wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Bill leaned back, "I guess that's one th-th-thing we all have in common!"

"Yeah, Homeschool," Richie exclaimed. "Welcome to the Losers Club!"

*

The group stood in an open Alley, staring at yet another, Missing Kid sign. Tiny sighed at the parchment, hoping that it would all end soon.

"They say the found part of his hand all chewed up by the Standpipe." Stanley Uris informed, keeping his grip on Tinys hand firm.

Ben crossed his arms, "he asked to borrow pencil once."

Bill stepped up and pulled the paper up, revealing Betty Ripsom's missing sign. "It's like she's been f-forgotten because Corbins missing..." The Denbrough boy stuttered out.

"Is it ever gonna end?"

Eddie Kaspbrak waltzed to the group, Richie not too far behind as the germaphobe handed him an ice cream cone, and Tiny a milkshake. "What are you guys talking about?"

Richie took a lick of his ice cream, "what they always talk about!"

"Thank you, Eds." Tiny nodded her head toward the milkshake with a small grin, earning one in return.

"I actually think it will end..." Bens words caused the group to look toward him in confusion. "For a little while, at least."

Beverly tilted her head, "what do you mean?"

"I was going over all my Derry research and I charted out all the big events...The iron works explosion in 1908, the Bradley gang in '35, and the black spot in '62, now kids being..." The hanscom fixed his words. "I realized this stuff seems to happen every twenty-seven years."

"Twenty-seven years..." bill spoke in unison with the chubby kid, staring off into space.

"Well, fuck." The brunette whispered, pushing her glasses up.

*

"Ok so," Eddie began, sitting on the bench. "It comes out from wherever to eat kids for like, what? A year? And then what? It goes into Hibernation?"

The group had took spot on the nearby bench next to the Paul Bunyan statue, as They tried to deter what was exactly happening.

"Maybe it's like...What do you call it?" Stanley tilted his head down to look at the girl sat beneath him.

"Cicadas?"

"Yeah, the ones that come out every seventeen years."

Mike looked at the group, "My grandfather thinks this town is cursed. That all the bad things that happen in this town are because of one thing...An evil thing that feeds off the people of Derry."

Tiny shivered at his words, maybe Derry was cursed. She subconsciously reached upward to grab Stan's hand, who gave it a tight squeeze in return.

"But it can't be one thing." The Uris boy announced. "We all saw something different."

"Maybe." Mike agreed. "Or maybe it knows what scares us most and that's what we see."

"I-I saw a leper!" Eddie exclaimed, shaking his head. "He was like a walking infection."

The blue-eyed girl closed her eyes tightly. "I um- Fuck, I saw these cracks...in the ground. Like erosion? It just started to spread apart and I felt like I was gonna just fall!" She let out a shaky breath. The Thompson girl decided to leave out the bit where she saw her friends eyes rolling back into their heads as they slurred insults to her.

"But you didn't." Stanley's words shocked her, so much so that she let her hand go limp in his and fall to her side. "Because it isn't real."

"None of this is! Not Eddies leper or Tiny and the cracks, or Bill seeing Georgie!" His voice was shaky. "O-or the woman I keep seeing!"

"Is she hot?"

Fucking Richie.

Stan glared at the Trashmouth across from him, "No, Richie...Shes not hot! Her face is all messed up!"

Tiny quickly shot up from her spot to sit directly next to her boyfriend. At this, the curly-haired teen intertwined their fingers and held her as tight as he could. Remembering her face.

"None of this makes any sense." Tiny whispered.

"They're all like bad dreams!" Stan tried to clarify.

"I don't think so!" The Hanlon boy said, " I know the difference between a bad dream and real life, okay?"

"It seems to real to be a bad dream, Stan..." The blue-eyed girl spoke softly, pushing her falling glasses up her face.

"What did you see, Mike? You saw something too?"

"Yes...you guys know that burnt down house on Harris Avenue? I was inside inside when it burnt down." Mike sighed. "Before I was rescued, my mom and dad were trapped in the next room over from me...Pushing and pounding on the door, trying to get to me, but it was too hot and when the firemen finally found them...the skin on their hands were burnt to the bone...We're all afraid of something."

Tiny gulped, her head filling with images of burnt bodies and the smell of smoke. Poor Mike. She closed her eyes tightly, and buried her head into Stan's shoulder, trying to rid the thoughts from entering.

"You got that, right!" Richie spoke up, looking to the stage in front of them.

"Why, rich? What are you afraid of?" Eddie asked.

"Clowns."