it chapter two | reader insert [?]

three | fortune cookies

The room went quiet after his finishing remark. You found yourself staring solemnly at the table, avoiding anyone's eyes.

"Well, that shit got dark fast." You heard Richie murmur, a lame attempt at lightening the mood. "Thanks Mike."

You heard a rustle, and you averted your attention towards Eddie, who was holding a small slip of paper in his hands. "My fortune cookie just says "Could."

At his words, you were inspired to grab your own cookie from the bowl. You found yourself cracking the thing open- with much difficulty, due to your still shaking hands. You heard various sounds around you of voices and people opening their own cookies, attempting to change the subject from the horror Mike had revealed just moments ago. 

You heard your old friends begin chatting tensely about their collectively strange answers. You were able to collect information- Bev had gotten the word I, and Richie had gotten Guess. You already knew Eddie had gotten Could.

You fumbled with your cookie a bit longer, before finally prying it open. You could hear faint arguing as you blocked out all outside noise. 

Your heart stopped when you read your small slip of paper. 

Stanley

You could swear you could hear your blood pumping through your ears as a lump rose in your throat. What the fuck did this mean? Did Mike fuck with the fortune cookies? This wasn't funny. 

You didn't realise tears were pouring down your face until you let out a small breath, and saw a teardrop land on the small slip of paper.

"(Y/n)." Bill suddenly murmured, stepping around the table to arrive at your side. He placed a reassuring hand on your shoulder, mumbling questions that you couldn't find it in you to reply to. 

The whole table was silent as you wordlessly handed the slip of paper to Bill. He placed the slip in front of Richie, who wordlessly rearranged the papers into a sentence that made sense. A sentence that made your heart drop to the bottom of your stomach. 

I Guess Stanley Could Not Cut It

Beverly audibly gasped from the other side of the room, and let out a small sob. You noticed the tears that fell down her cheeks, as well. 

Turns out your suspicions about Stan had been right. There was definitely something wrong here.

Eddie was freaking out. "Why does it say Stanley? Someone fucking answer me!" He yelled, turning his fright to anger. He stood from his chair, as most of the men in the room were doing.

You didn't have time to answer, because before you knew it, the sound of something rattling sounded from the centre of the table. 

You heard everyone let out various gasps, and you slid your chair back as you watched the fortune cookies inside white porcelain bowl begin shaking and moving on it's own- as if something was trapped inside. You began breathing heavily with fright as Bill pulled you into a standing position beside him.

You gasped again when a cookie threw itself from the bowl- before it hatched. It was as if it was an egg. 
A small, spider-like creature popped out. You hid yourself behind Bill's arm. 

"What- What the fuck is that, man?" Richie asked, sounding halfway between exasperated and terrified.

"Whoa, whoa!" One of your friends yelled. You couldn't tell who, because your whole attention was faced with the strange little creature. When you got a better look at it, you audibly gasped again. 

It had a baby's face- a fucking baby. You let out a sob of terror when it began wailing just like one.

It began zooming around the table on it's spider legs, towards Mike. He stood up defensively. 

The whole table was yelling remarks of fear at the creatures, and you watched in fright as more fortune cookies began throwing themselves from the bowl. They began hatching other creatures- you noticed an eyeball emerge from one, all slimy, dragging itself around on octopus-like legs.

You were too overtaken with terror to even speak, let alone register what your friends around you were yelling.

Bill practically dragged you towards a nearby fish tank when the little baby-spider began trailing to your side of the table. You noticed more creatures pop out from the fortune cookies, but you were too wrapped up in the way the baby was crying and looking at you and Bill to really examine them. You yelped, attempting to hide yourself behind Bill's arm again.

You barely noticed the way hot tar had begun leaking from the bowl, spreading around the table. It burnt the slips of paper and a little chicken-creature as it made its way across the whole circular table.

You frightfully looked around, trying to find the exit- but when you turned to look into the fish tank, you came face-to-face with a floating corpse's head. You screamed, your voice cracking, as you leapt away from Bill, who quickly followed you with a gasp of his own when he saw. 

You covered your eyes with your hands, murmuring quietly to yourself, trying to block-out the screams and yells from outside. "This isn't real. This is just a bad dream. Any minute now, I'll wake up, and everything will be okay-"

You heard Mike begin screaming. "It's not real! It's not real! This isn't real!"

You looked up in time to see him pick up the chair he had only just been sitting on, and begin smashing at the little baby-spider, who was crawling wildly around the table. You gripped onto Bill's arm again, shoving your face into his shoulder, doing your best to block out the screams and the bangs of the chair hitting the table over and over.

"It's not real!" Mike was chanting like a prayer as he smashed the chair against the table over and over.

Suddenly, the noise stopped.

You looked up from Bill's shoulder, fearing the worst- but your eyes immediately landed on the familiar employee from before. 

She was staring at you like you were all crazy. Mostly Mike, who had frozen the chair midway in the air, before quickly placing it back down. 

You realised shortly after that everything had disappeared- the baby-spider, the other various creatures, the black tar- it was all gone. So it really hadn't been real.

"Is everything alright?" The waitress asked as politely as she could, despite her horrified expression. 

You couldn't find it in yourself to answer- you simply thanked whatever god up there that it was over. You barely listened to Richie's words, terror still pumping through your veins and in your ears.

"Yeah, yeah. Could we get the check?"

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