Chapter 20: Pennywise Started His Show.

When Mike hurriedly entered the back alley of his shop, he noticed the door where, when he was a kid, a fire accident had happened, resulting in the death of his parents and many others.

Whenever Mike noticed the door, he always felt scared due to his traumatic experience.

Suddenly, the door started to give off a creepy feeling, and Mike's instincts screamed at him to run away.

Someone inside the door began banging on it loudly, causing Mike to sweat and swallow in fear.

The banging became even louder, and Mike started hearing the screams of his parents and the others who had died in the fire accident.

Smoke slowly started to come out through the gap whenever the door moved while banging. Mike cautiously moved towards the door.

As it opened, a large amount of smoke billowed out almost immediately.

Before Mike could relax, he noticed someone standing behind the plastic curtain, peering inside the door.

When the person opened its eyes, they emitted a red glow with a menacing intent, causing Mike's fear to intensify for unknown reasons.

He felt tempted to approach it and started walking towards it.

However, his concentration was abruptly broken when a car entered the alley at high speed.

Mike quickly jumped backward, slipping and falling onto his motorcycle.

The car stopped right in front of him. It was none other than the most irritating Henry and his gang, who had noticed Mike.

They made a U-turn in their car and drove back into the alley behind Mike's shop.

"You don't have any right to be here," Henry exclaimed as he threw his half-puffed cigarette and cursed Mike for his skin color.

After the car took off, Mike's grandfather emerged from the same door and saw Mike sitting on the road.

He scolded Mike for being a coward.

"What are you doing down there? Come here; we still have many deliveries," the old man urged Mike.

The old man scolded Mike because he considered himself responsible for him after the demise of Mike's parents.

He took Mike to the farm, grabbed the bolt gun, loaded it, and handed it to Mike to shoot one of the sheep to death.

"Mike, shoot the sheep. We need more meat for delivery," the old man said, speaking to one of the workers.

Mike hesitated to take the shot due to his fear from past trauma.

The old man sighed, took the bolt gun from Mike's hand, and shot the sheep.

Stanley's house...

At his home, Stanley was praying to God while his father corrected his prayer if he recited it wrongly.

After the prayer, Stanley took a book and went to his father's office to return it to where he had taken it from.

As he entered the room, Stanley covered one side of his face with his hand to avoid looking at a painting on the wall of a strange-looking woman.

He noticed that the painting was crooked, so he straightened it.

When he turned back after placing the book in the cupboard, he saw the woman from the painting standing behind him, with a long neck, white eyes, and sharp teeth, smiling creepily at him.

Stanley quickly ran out of the room in fear.

Eddie's house...

Bill and Richie went to Eddie's house to think and plan about Bill's theory for searching for Georgie in the Barrens.

Richie gathered all the necessary items for the search from Eddie's house while Eddie warned them to make sure his mother didn't notice.

As they sneaked out of the house without Eddie's mom noticing, unfortunately, she spotted them.

"Eddie, my boy, where are you going without informing me?" she asked, while painting her nails.

Bill lied, saying they were going to his house. Just as they were about to leave, Eddie's mom said,

"Eddie dear, did you forget something?" Her sweet voice sent shivers down Eddie's spine.

"Yes, Mom, I didn't forget," Eddie replied with a forced smile, went to his mother, and kissed her cheeks, while Richie struggled to contain his laughter, observing his friend's embarrassment.

Derry's library...

A chubby boy named Ben Hanscom was reading and investigating the history of Derry.

The librarian handed him a book about old Derry and advised him to find friends and play with them.

While reading the book, Ben noticed that the same picture was repeating on page after page.

The picture gradually zoomed in on a tree branch, which had a dead boy's head. When Ben looked at it, he closed the book instantly, his face filled with fear.

Suddenly, a red balloon entered the library.

For some reason, Ben felt tempted to follow the red balloon.

He stood up and followed it. As he entered one of the rows in the library, the lights started flickering on and off.

Suddenly, a headless body entered the area and began chasing him.

Ben started to run but slipped and fell. When he got up and turned around, he saw a man dressed as a clown, with a creepy smile and sharp teeth, looking at him.

The clown started running towards Ben in a haunting manner, shouting creepily. Ben turned to run, but he accidentally bumped into the librarian.

Without saying anything, he ran out of the library.

When Ben exited the library, he was blocked by Henry and his gang.

Ben tried to run away, but they captured him and dragged him near the tunnel, where they started beating him.

Henry took out his knife and began carving his name into Ben's belly.

Despite Ben's cries for help, the passing cars didn't intervene.

In the back seat of one of the cars, there was a red balloon.

When Ben managed to kick Henry, he fell backward, slid along the ground, and Ben took the opportunity to escape.

He ran towards the Barrens, trying to put as much distance as possible between himself and Henry's gang.

The Barrens...

Bill, Richie, and Eddie were searching the Barrens thoroughly, but they were about to give up on the search.

Suddenly, Bill discovered one of Georgie's shoes, giving them renewed hope.

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(Author's POV)

Thanks for reading the chapter! please give review for this chapter and power stone!!!