it chapter two | reader insert [?]

three | fortune cookies

"Something happens to you when you leave this town. The farther away, the hazier it gets. But me... I never left. So, yeah. I remember." He hesitated. "I remember all of it."

You were still confused by what he was saying, and you didn't dare take a breath as the whole table went silent. Despite not fully understanding his words, you still felt ice cold- so, so cold. 

"Pennywise."

The moment Bev's soft voice broke through the air, everything snapped. 

Your chest began constricting as bucket-load of memories came pouring down on you- memories of fire, fear, and the clown. The fucking clown. The clown that gave you nightmares every night from when you were as young as 12 years old. The clown that, you now realized, was the one who cursed you with the big burn scar across your stomach. The clown that you had somehow, miraculously slipped from your memory the moment you'd left town. 

"Oh, the fucking clown." Eddie breathed, and you felt your fingertips prickle over with anxiety. "Oh shit."

"Pennywise." Richie's frightened voice spoke. The name drained the colour from your cheeks, and sent shock-waves of fear all the way to your core.

"S-stop saying it." you stuttered softly, and you felt Ben's shaky fingers reach over to rub your back comfortingly. 

"Mike, you said you wanted our help with something." Bill stuttered, and when you looked up, he had his eyes trained on where Ben was holding you. He quickly turned when he saw you watching him with frightened eyes. "What was that?"

"You see, there's an echo here in Derry, that bounces back every 27 years." He explained, and Eddie cut him off. 

"What the fuck are you talking about?" His voice was almost a warning.

"Hold on, hold on. Listen to me. We thought we stopped It back then. We thought It was done, but..."

You audibly whimpered in fear as your voice got caught up in your throat. You barely had time to register the way Mike began flipping through an open journal that he'd pulled from nowhere- you didn't remember him even having it in the first place.

When Bill noticed your state, he looked at Mike warningly, saying his name. The man ignored him, and continued talking. 

"A week ago, a man, Adrian Mellon, slaughtered." He shoved the book gently towards Bill, who began examining at the handwritten scrawl. "A girl, Lisa Albrecht, the other night, went missing."

There were various sounds of terrified voices around the room, and you examined the way each of your old friend's faces were etched with anxiety and terror. Mike continued.

"There have already been others, and there will be more-"

"I don't want to hear about this shit." Richie suddenly snapped from the other side of you. Ben was still shakily rubbing a hand across your back.

Despite Richie's protests, Mike was still on a roll. "-more death, more pain-" Bill patted his shoulder, urging him to calm down.

"Let's get him another drink," Bill suggested, but Ben sent him a look, removing his hand from your back. 

"Let him explain. Let him explain." He tried to convince you all. "Explain it to us, Mike."

Mike nodded appreciatively, before continuing. "That echo. We might have changed It, just like It changed us- but we didn't stop It. Because It just bounced back."

You let out a breath you didn't realise you had been holding.

"We made an oath. That's why I brought you back. That's why you're here. To finish It. For good."