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The rain fell softly over Derry’s empty streets.
Bill Denbrough walked with his hands in his pockets, his heart pounding with every step.
He didn’t know why he had come back. Maybe guilt.
Maybe madness.
Maybe… Georgie.
When he turned the corner of Witcham Street, he froze.
The storm drain.
Where it all began.
Then, a voice.
—“Bill…”
A child’s voice. Wet. Broken.
—“Bill, why did you leave me?”
His chest clenched. Bill stepped closer, then knelt by the grate.
—Georgie… is that you?
—“Come with me, Bill… it’s cold down here. It hurts.”
A tear slipped down his cheek. His reflection trembled in the murky water.
—This can’t be real… you’re dead…
Two small pale hands appeared from the darkness, dripping.
—“Help me…”
Bill leaned closer, trembling.
—Georgie… little brother…
In a blink, something grabbed him. A huge hand, cold as metal, slick as mud, clamped around his arm and yanked him down.
He screamed, but a damp rag jammed into his mouth cut him off. A gag. Darkness.
—“Shhhh…”
The voice—low, guttural, mocking.
—“Screaming scares the paper boats.”
He was dragged through the wet tunnels, concrete scraping his knees.
The air reeked of rust and decay. Ropes tightened around his wrists, biting his skin.
Then he saw him.
Georgie.
Standing there. Yellow raincoat. Crooked smile.
But his eyes… yellow. Hollow. Not human.
—“Hi, Bill.”
His lips didn’t move. The voice was inside his head.
—“You came for me… but you were too late. He found me first.”
From the shadows, Pennywise emerged, his grin split wide, too wide. Eyes blazing, laughter bubbling like rot.
—“Brother lost… brother found.”
The words slithered between giggles.
Bill tried to speak, muffled against the gag, tears mixing with the rain dripping from the ceiling.
Georgie stepped closer, his shadow stretching.
—“Don’t cry, Bill. Down here… we all float.”
A red balloon rose slowly beside him. Pennywise tied it to Georgie’s wrist.
The light flickered. The world turned red.
⸻
⛓ Ending
Cut to silence.
Outside, in the rain, only a paper boat drifts along the curb.
Soaked.
Bloody.
Floating.
Always floating.