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Darkness surrounds them, obscuring their already horrible vision, and as he breathes, his breath clouds like it would on a cold winter day. They stand from the water that now pools their ankles. Raising a hand to his face, he feels the absence of the large glasses that usually occupy his face. Weird.
Another strange thing that occurs to them then, and they look down at their completely dry clothing.
Further down, the water ripples as his feet move, wading through the liquid. Looking back up, he sees a girl standing on the horizon.
"El!" is what comes out of their mouth.
Richie frowns, or he tries to at least. Their face doesn't move, but the girl does, looking at them.
"Mike?" Her voice sounds muffled, and it shakes horribly. He gets close enough to see the single tear falling from her eye. Her hands are raising to her mouth, and Richie suddenly wants to yell for her, tell her he's not who she thinks she is, tell her he doesn't belong here, but the body he inhabits won't let him lift a finger.
"El!" The body yells again. She yells back, and then she's gone, and They're sitting up, staring at a mirror, both metaphorically and literally. He's too surprised at seeing his own face to judge the fact that this kid has a full-body mirror next to his bed.
A shaky hand grabs the covers and flips it over their legs, their hard breathing easily heard in the dead of night. His body shifts, and now he's facing the mirror fully.
The girl had called them Mike, so they assume that's whose body he's caged in.
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Mike closes his eyes for a moment and just breathes.
He had been so close.