Red Balloons PART ONE

Chapter One: INTRODUCE YOURSELF
~ALEX~
His name is Alexander Moore and he honestly thinks he's all that. He's lived in the small town, South Hill, Canada his whole life and he grew up with his best friends, Anna, Logan, Elissa, Bill and especially Ritchie. Once he turned 14 weird things started to happen. Ritchie was abducted by some weird Mexicans that crossed the border or something and Elissa got really depressed and attempted suicide, Logan became even more of a dick than he already was and somehow, Anna started caring less, if it was even possible. Besides that, today was the first day back after spring vacation. He had just started to walk to school when he thought he heard someone behind him. 'Just the wind' he tells himself. "Frogface..." He heard someone say from behind him. "Who the fuck is there?" he spun around. No one was there. He decided to leave it and continue to walk to the bus stop. "AH!" He shouted as he turned around and there was a clown in front of him. "FUCK. FUCK." He screamed and punched the clown in the face. "You fucking faggot!" The clown yelled. Then, he recognized the voice of Logan. "CRAP." He yelled then ran as fast as he could to get away from him. "YOU BETTER RUN YOU FAG." Logan screamed at him. He just screeched like a dying cat. Then, he saw Anna ahead of him. "ANNA! ANNA!" She was looking down at her book. "ANNA!" He yelled louder as he got closer to her. "What?" She answered but, it was too late. He wasn't paying attention and tripped over the curb. Logan seemed to be stuck on something and tripped also, while lunging for his foot. He jumped forward and landed on Anna. "sorry." He said quietly, getting up then helping her up. He looked back at Logan. His foot was stuck in one of the grates of the sewer drain. He was passed out on the concrete and he still had that stupid clown mask on. "Serves you right." He spat on his mask. "Okay, what the actual fuck just happened?" Anna asked brushing the dust of off her favorite sweatshirt. "Logan." He replied calmly. This happens to him at least once every week. "Again? What was it this time." Anna asked very blandly. "Clown mask." He answered. "Hm. That's a new one." She responded looking back down at her book.
~ELISSA~
She is Elissa Dun and she hates her fucking mother. Not only does she make her do the dishes every day, but she also hated her ex-boyfriend, Ritchie. She doesn't really care about her mom needless to say. ALL she ever cared about was the love of her life, Alexander Michael Moore. Or, at least she would if she actually had the guts to ask him out. Shed known him for six years and loved him for three. But, it never bugged her half as much as he did when he hung out with Anna Pollard. She's an okay friend she guessed, but, when it came to Alex, let's say it would not be her caught with bleach in her wineglass. Uh-oh, did El just think that out loud? Anyways, ever since her boyfriend, Ritchie was abducted, she'd had some problems with herself. And yeah, she liked Alex, but, what would Ritchie say if he was alive? It just makes her feel like shit. It also had almost been a year since he'd been gone. She remembers that day. It was a dark, dark day for her. She'd started the day off by going to school all happy and she sat on the bus with him. After school, he walked her home...
Exactly a year ago...
"Ritchie," She said as the boy led you into the woods behind her house. "What?" He smiled. "What are you doing?" Elissa asked him. "Just come on," He dragged her behind a couple of thick trees. "Look," He pointed out a heart carved into the tree with the letters 'R+E' inside of it. She felt her heart melt. He laced his hand into hers. He pushed her towards the tree. "Ow," She says. He laughed then walked closer to her. "I love you El," He said to Elissa. " I love you too. " She responded. Then, his lips interlocked with hers as he held both of her hands in his. He moved her and his hands in between her back and the tree. He squeezed her hand. She suddenly felt his tongue press against her upper lip and she released your lips from his. "What's wrong, El?" He asked her, looking straight into her eyes and through your soul. "Nothing. I just. um. Nothing. It's fine." She responded. "You sure?" He questioned. She nodded her head. He pressed his soft lips onto hers again, but this time more passionately. She closed her eyes and felt him take control. He let go of her hand and felt his hands drift up to her waist. She opened her eyes and looked into his. He took one hand off her waist and pushed his glasses up. Elissa giggled and put her arms around his neck. He then, lightly kissed her on the cheek. She felt them turn pink. She smiled and closed her eyes again. She felt his hands drift down to her lower back. She just shook your head then leaned into his wonderful embrace. Elissa, again, felt his tongue, this time pushing against her braces. She tightened her arms around his neck, making him scoot closer to her, pushing her against the tree. His lips released from her and his nose touched hers as he looked into her eyes. Elissa never wanted this to end. She put her arms down and he moved his to above her, pinning her against the tree. He laughed his adorable little laugh and ran his fingers through her hair. He then glanced at his watch, it was a quarter to three. "Shit," He said rather loudly. "I'm sorry baby, I have to go, my mom's going to kill me." He said, frowning. "aw. " She says, giving him a pouty lip. "I'm sowwy," he said in a childish tone. He placed his thumb on her cheek and kissed her for the last time. "Bye, El. Catch you later." He said. "Bye Ritchie. " She said. "I love you. " She said as he started walking away. "I love you too," he said turning around.
That night, at exactly 7:01 pm Ritchie was reported missing on the news.

Chapter Two: LOGAN LAME
~LOGAN~
FLASHBACK: Last year.
Today is his fourteenth birthday, November 23, 1987. He felt as if everything's just some foggy dream. The colors, the people, the oxygen tanks surrounding the hospital bed, the smell of dead skin on the linoleum floor. Everyone's voices are muffled when they reach his ears. The sound of ringing and beeping of the EKG cover the sound waves escaping visitor's mouths. The pale curtains, the uncomfortable hospital scrubs, the taste of fresh pain killer capsules on his tongue and the feeling of weightlessness as you felt himself drifting into the light. He is Logan Keen and he was in a coma for a month. He doesn't have much recollection of how but he knew it was something big. He saw his vision clear and he heard less of the ringing in his ears. "Logan?" It was his mother. "Mom. What happened?"
Present Day, March 18, 1990
His name is Logan and he hates losing. He also hates lying on the cold pavement, unconscious, yet, what was he doing? Everything felt sub-conscious and hazy, and... damp, wet and also cold. He gasped and sat up. Where is he? The walls where circular and tinted green of old age, moss, and mold. To his left there's a tunnel full of darkness and another on his right. He turned around. Behind him, he saw what looks like a giant pile of trash consisting of what he made out to be a bunch of animal bones, a bunch of broken bicycles, and on the very top, he saw a bright yellow rain jacket. Below him is a pile of sewage; so much for his brand-new sweatpants. "Bill? Is that you?" he heard a high-pitched voice say. "Hello?" He shouted. The only reply he gets is his own, echoing back to him.
~ANNA~
Her friends need to take some fucking chill pills, or at least, she thinks so. Her name is Anna, and she is concerned. She is very concerned. She, in fact, is so concerned, she hopes Logan goes missing. At least then she would have less to be concerned about. Now that she thought about it, she just wants Logan to choke on all of his ego and go back to hell. Or, if he just became a better human being, he could ship his ego off to Africa and it could feed an entire country. On a different note, Anna also wished Logan would stop starting fights with Alex. That's exactly why she broke up with him last year on February 12th and she hopes he knows it.
Last year, February 12th, 1989.
Anna, Elissa, and Bill all felt extremely awkward watching Logan and Alex fight in front of them. They were waiting for Ritchie and Eddie to return from getting slushies at the 7/11 down the block. "My fault? How is that my fault?" Alex threw his hands up. "Yeah it is! It is completely your fault, asshole!" Logan yelled. "How did I wreck your relationship with a girl that doesn't exist?" Alex replied. "She does too exist!" "Does not!" "Does too!" The argument continued on and on. Anna was dating Logan but this time she was on Alex's side. "Fuck off, you big footed ogre!" Alex yelled. "That's it!" Logan shouted back. He grabbed the collar of Alex's shirt. Alex looked down and noticed his feet were off the ground. "Put me down," Alex gasped for air and weakly swung his fists at Logan's stomach. "Fat chance." Logan replied, pulling his unoccupied arm back getting ready to punch him. "S-stop!" Bill stood up. Logan turned to look at him. "P-put him d-down." Bill stuttered. "Is it cold out here, Denbrough?" Logan let go of Alex and he collapsed on the pavement, gasping. "L-leave Alex a-alone, Logan." Bill clenched his fists. "Bill..." Alex gasped. "Hey!" Someone yelled from behind Logan. It was Ritchie. He was carrying slushies. "Logan, what's going on man?" Ritchie asked him. "Nothing" Logan replied then sat down next to Anna. Bill ran over to Alex. "Are you o-okay?" He kneeled next to him. "Yeah, I'll be ok." Alex sat up and hugged his knees. Bill sat down next to him. Eddie came running down the block carrying more slushies. "What'd I miss?" He panted. Ritchie smiled and shook his head as he handed Elissa, Anna and Logan slushies. He then, sat down next to Elissa and put his arm around her. Logan slurped his slushie. "Seriously, are you 5 years old?" Alex asked. Logan looked down at his slushie then looked up at Alex. Then, He chucked the slushie at Alex. "Logan!" Anna shouted. Logan shrugged in her direction and laughed at Alex, who was now covered in red slush. Anna scoffed. "hem. We need to talk, like over there." She stood up and led him to an alleyway down the street. "What is this about?" Logan asked, looking into her eyes. She looked away from him. "What's wrong, Anna?" Logan was starting to get worried. "Why are you like that to him?" She said quietly, folding her arms. "Huh?" "Alex. Why are you always so damn mean to him?" She raised her voice. "The dude's a prick." Logan explained. "Yeah, well he's my best friend." Anna said. "I'm sorry? I don't know what to say to that. That doesn't change the fact that he's a prick." Logan responded. "Well, Logan Keen, I'm beginning to think that you're the prick." She said back. "Really? Why's that." He folded his arms. "Because, you picked him up off the ground by his shirt when he did absolutely nothing wrong, and, you threw a fucking slushie at him." Anna threw her hands up in exasperation. " Well if you're so worried about him why don't you date him?!" Logan shouted. "Logan, that's not wha-" "No, don't say that's not what you mean. I know it is. You don't care about me. You never did. We're done." He ran off. Anna was concerned. She walked back to her friends, slowly while trying to figure out where he ran off to. He probably just went home. She thought. Or at least, she hoped so.

Chapter Three: THE AFFAIR
~RITCHIE and ANNA~
February 14th, 1989.
"C'mon, it'll be fine." Ritchie said, guiding Anna into the entrance of the sewers as she had her eyes covered by his hands. "Ritchie where are you taking me?" Anna questioned him. "Somewhere..." He replied. "Serious. Rich. Tell me where we're going." She stated. "Fine." He sighed uncovering her eyes. "You wanted to help Bill find Georgie, right?" "Are you fucking crazy?" She pulled away from him. "Yes." He laughed. "Seriously Ritchie, this isn't funny." Anna said, concerned. "Ok, I'm sowwy Anna banana." He said, walking towards her. "Don't call me that." She said quickly. "Look, can we just get out of here, this place is spooky." "Okay, cupcake." Ritchie said. "You're weird, Ritchie Tozier." She playfully pushed him away. "I am god, let's go get a slushie." He joked. "Ok, godly boy." Anna laughed. It suddenly got really quiet between the two. They looked at each other, face to face, about less than a foot away from each other. He pushed up his thick, black glasses. Anna smirked. "You're pretty. "He said. "No, I'm not." She laughed. "Yes, you are." A smiled played on his lips. Anna turned her head to the side. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you were flirting with me, Trash mouth." She smiled. "Wow, so you're a hypocrite now, Cupcake?" He said. "Shut up-" He pushed his lips against hers and interrupted her. She pushed away from him. "Ritchie! You have a girlfriend." Anna half smiled. "Oops." He said. "Oops?" Anna replied. "Slushies?" He reached out for her hand. "Sure." She said, taking it.
-
They walked all the way to the 7/11 downtown. They walked inside. DING! the bell on the door rang, alerting the cashier they'd arrived. Ritchie dragged Anna over to the slushie machine. "Ooh what color?" She asked, sarcastically. "Watch and learn, cupcake." Ritchie said. Anna smiled. He grabbed a large cup and quickly filled it with every single flavor of slushie that the store had. "You are disgusting." Anna said. "You know you like me," He winked. "Sure." Anna said. Ritchie walked over to the front counter and placed a five-dollar bill on it. Then, he walked out of the store and disappeared. Anna quickly sprinted outside. "Ritchie?" She looked around the corner of the store, nope, he wasn't there. "Ritchie!" She yelled. "This isn't funny!" Anna heard something shuffle in the darkness of the alleyway on the side of the 7/11. "Ritchie?" She started walking towards the noise she thought she'd heard. "Ritchie!" She yelled. Anna walked deeper to find the boy. She heard more shuffling from across the alleyway. Then, THUMP! Something tackled her to the ground. Anna kicked and threw punches and screamed her head off. "Anna, it's me! Calm down!" It was Ritchie who'd tackled her. "Oh, you scared the hell out of me." She said, laughing. The two were there on the dirty, cement ground, Ritchie was on top of her; since he'd tackled her. "You're crazy, Ritchie Tozier." Anna smirked. "You're pretty insane yourself, Cupcake." Ritchie laughed at himself. "I know." She smugly replied. Ritchie smiled then leaned in to kiss her. She stopped him and held his face in her hands. "What's wrong?" He asked, with his cheeks squished together. "There's someone coming. I can hear it." "Oh." He replied. "Yeah, and I heard she hooked up with Ritchie!" They heard someone say. "Oh, be quiet Eddie. She wouldn't do that." Another voice said. "What you like her?" "No, I just. Stop being rude." Just then, Ritchie sneezed. "sorry," He whispered. "What was that?" Eddie asked. "Hello?" Bill said. The two boys rounded the corner and saw Ritchie and Anna. "Oh, hey fellas." Ritchie got off Anna. Bill looked stunned and Eddie just started laughing hysterically. "I knew it." Eddie said, still laughing. "Eddie shut up." Bill said, blankly. Anna got up off the ground. "What're you guys doing back here so late?" Ritchie asked, brushing the dust off of himself. "S-slushies. Bill pointed to the 7/11." "W-what are you g-guys doing here?" Bill questioned. "Were also getting slushies, I tripped and fell on her." Ritchie lied, scratching his head. "O-oh." Bill replied. "Well, it sure was nice running into you, but Bill and I have more important things to do, right Bill?" Eddie interrupted. "W-what? O-oh, yeah." Bill answered. "Like what?" Anna folded her arms. "L-like looking for G-Georgie." Bill responded. "Well, we can help." Anna said looking at Ritchie. "O-okay." Bill smiled awkwardly. "What? Bill, do you really want some googly eyed affair lovers helping us look for your little brother?" Eddie replied. "Were not an affair. Ritchie said. We just want to help Bill, you got that Eddie spaghetti?" He explained. "Yeah, I got that." Eddie said, angrily.


CHAPTER FOUR: THE FALLOUT
February 14th, 2017
---
The four friends started walking down the street. "So, where are we going?" Ritchie asked, kicking a rock with his left foot. "T-the s-sewers." Bill answered. "The sewers? Oh, hell no!" Ritchie turned away and began to walk back but he was to slow and Anna grabbed the collar of his shirt. "Ritchie," "Fine." He retorted. "Let's go look for Bill's dead brother in the sewers." Ritchie sighed. "Shut up, Ritchie." The other three replied. "Okay, Okay! Jeez..." Ritchie put his hands up.
---
Bill led them through the woods and behind what looked like a terrifyingly accurate reincarnation of the house from The Goonies. There, they found a circular opening to the town's sewer system. It had coppery rust around the sides of it and was filled with tinted grey water. "What the hell is that?" Ritchie said, pointing to the water. "It's basically...a million tons of Derry's piss and shit." Eddie replied, folding his arms. Bill pulled a flashlight out of the side pocket of his knapsack and switched it on. Then, Ritchie followed Bill into the entrance of the sewage. "Guys! What are you doing? Have you ever heard of a staph infection?!" Eddie's voice echoed through the rusty, hollow tunnels. "I'll show you 'staph infection'!" Ritchie picked up a moldy stick and pointed it at the shorter boy, Anna placed her face in her palm and shook her head. "Well? Are you guys comin' in or not?!" Ritchie said. "Hell no, no way I'm going in there." Eddie replied. "Guys," Bill gasped, no one heard him. "Eddie, you're such a girl! Just get your ass in here!" Ritchie yelled. "Guys! I found something!" Bill said louder. "You shut your mouth, Ritchie!" Eddie continued to bicker with him. "Guys! will you get your heads out of your asses! Bill obviously found something!" Anna pushed through the grey water to get to Bill. He held up a soaked tennis shoe that looked like it had belonged to a very young child. "Holy shit," Ritchie pointed to something that was behind Bill. "Guys! What's going on!" Eddie yelled. Bill turned around. There was a red balloon reading "I Love Derry" right behind him, floating towards them. They watched as it floated past them, out of the sewer. It floated towards Eddie. "This isn't funny!" Eddie yelled. The other three were frozen out of fear. POP! Blood splattered all over Eddie. He screamed as loud as was humanely possible and the other three ran out of the sewer, copying Eddie's example. Eddie ran screaming past the house before the others even exited the sewer. He panted and leaned against the worn picket fence of the house's. Then, his watch beeped. "Time to take your medicine, Eddie." A deep, gravely, unfamiliar voice said from behind Eddie. He turned around slowly. Behind him, he saw what looked like a fleshy, alien with empty eye sockets and long, bleach white hair. It almost looked like a zombie. "AHH!" Eddie screamed and ran but right in front of him was another zombie. Eddie screamed louder and punched the zombie in the stomach. He had some kind of weird, green slime on him. He looked down at his hand quickly then ran for it while the zombie was still distracted.
...
"Man. Where's Edd?" Ritchie panted as they had reached the sidewalk that was just beyond the creepy house. "I think he ran h-home." Bill stuttered. "We should get out of here." Anna said, gasping. "Good idea, let's go t-to my h-house." Bill said. "Okay, but why your house?" Ritchie folded his arms. "To look for more stuff l-like this." Bill held up the soggy shoe. "M-my basement. I have this weird feeling that t-there's something down there." He explained. "Alright, good enough for me." Ritchie replied. Then they started walking across town to Bill's house. "Should we find Eddie and see if he's alright?" Anna asked. "We'll look for him later." Ritchie responded. Then, they walked in silence to Bill's house. "O-okay. Let's g-go." Bill opened the front door. He led them to the door of the basement. "Even the door is creepy." Ritchie whispered. Bill opened the door. "Creek!" The door screeched. "ladies first," Ritchie motioned for Anna to go down the narrow, steep stairs. "No way." Anna said, twirling her red hair between her fingers. "I-I'll go first." Bill said, taking a step forward. Ritchie looked at Anna and she looked back at him then down at the stairs. She followed Bill in descending down into the eerie basement. "CREEK! BOOM!" The door slammed shut after Ritchie stepped down the staircase. The floor of Bill's basement was flooded with the same colored water as the sewers. "Bill...has your basement always been flooded?" Anna questioned. "N-not until n-n-now." Bill replied. "Yo, this is some freaky shit, I am not doing this." Ritchie began walking up the stairs and tried to open the door but it was locked. "Shit, guys this isn't funny." Ritchie nervously smiled. Bill shook his head and shivered. A chill went down Anna's spine. "Bill?" A very high-pitched voice said from behind them. Bill turned around towards the bottom of the stairs. "If you come with me, Bill, you'll float too." The voice said. "Georgie?" Bill's eyes teared up. Ritchie saw something rise up from the water. "Bill! Snap out of it! He isn't the real Georgie!" Then, Anna saw the figure coming out of the water too. "You'll float too." Georgie said, laughing evilly. "Bill!" Ritchie and Anna both yelled. "YOU'LL FLOAT TOO!" Georgie started yelling over and over again. Ritchie ran down the stairs and grabbed Bill's arm. Then, he turned to Anna and said, "Go!" She broke open the door with her foot and the boys ran out of the basement behind her as Georgie was still yelling and violently cackling.
~FLASHBACK~
-February 7th, 1989-
"Bill!" Georgie ran into Bill's room early that morning. "Bill, wake up!" Georgie shouted. "Bill! Bill! Biiiiillll!" Georgie began jumping on his older brother's bed. "What Georgie? It's too early. G-go back to bed." Bill replied groggily to the eccentric little boy. "But, Bill!" Georgie sat down at the edge of the bed. "Alright! Alright! I'm up!" Bill sat up. "Is it ready yet?" Georgie asked, scooting closer to Bill. "Y-yeah, it's ready." He pulled out a small paper Mache boat from the drawer of his bedside table. "Hooray! Hooray!" George snatched the boat from his brother's hands and began to walk out the door. "G-Georgie, it's not d-done yet." Bill interjected. "Oh. Why not?" George frowned. "B-because, it needs the w-wax." Bill explained. "Wax? What wax?" Bill thought for a moment. "Seal-a-wax, so the boat won't sink." Bill explained. "It'll float." Both boys said. "Y-yeah. It's I-in the basement." Bill said, unaware that Georgie had known what he was going to say or that the wax would help the boat to float. "The basement?" Georgie said a bit frightened. "Yeah. Y-you can d-do it." Bill said, sitting up straight. "Okay." Georgie set the boat down on Bill's bed then, ran into the hallway. He gasped in for a deep breath. He briskly walked to the basement door. He sighed. You can do this George. He thought. Then, he pushed the door open, it creaked and groaned as it became ajar very slowly. He pushed it to be open all the way. He stood in the doorway for a minute examining the dark, vivid basement. Then, he spotted the box of Seal-a-Wax on the stair a few feet away from him. He took in another shallow breath then sprinted down the stairs, grabbed the box, and ran back up the stairs. He shut the door quickly behind him. "I got it!" Georgie proclaimed, racing back to Bill's bedroom. "Alright. G-give it here." Bill stuttered taking the wax from him.
---
"S.S. Georgie!" Georgie yelled, chasing the paper boat down the street as it was carried away by the rain water. Georgie's voice carried through the foggy air. He became so focused on the small, white boat he became unaware of his surroundings. BONK! Georgie's head made contact with the road block that had seemed to just pop up right in front of him. "Ow." Georgie said, pulling himself off of the wet, dirty ground. "My boat!" He yelled, noticing his boat floating away towards the sewer drain. "No!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as the boat drifted down the gutter. "NO! Bill's going to kill me..." He got on his hands and knees and looked down into the ominous sewer drain. "No..." His little high voice trailed off. The water continued to flow into the drain and made Georgie's knees damp.