[ Location: The Wheelers' Basement ][ Date: April 22nd, 1985 - Monday Night (8:00 PM) ]
The basement was quiet. Not the peaceful kind. The kind of quiet that comes after a bomb goes off but your ears are still ringing.
It felt heavy.
Richie Tozier was sitting on the floor, back against the sofa, drinking a glass of water like it was the last drop on Earth. His hands were shaking so bad the water was splashing onto his shirt, but he didn't seem to notice.
"So," Richie croaked, wiping his mouth with a trembling hand. "I rate that house a solid two out of ten. Needs better lighting. Less... you know, child-eating spiders. And the room service tried to eat my face. Definitely not AAA approved."
Nobody laughed.
Bill was staring at his hands like they belonged to someone else. Beverly was huddled under a blanket next to El, staring at nothing.
Max was pacing, her sneakers squeaking aggressively on the linoleum. Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.
"So we ran," Max snapped, kicking a D&D manual across the room. "We just... ran away."
"We survived, Max," I said from the stairs, where I was cleaning the slime off my Glock with a rag. "There's a difference."
"He's still out there!" Max spun on me, her face flushed with anger and fear. "He moved to the library! We should be hunting him down, not sitting here drinking Kool-Aid!"
"Hunt him? With what?" I asked, not looking up from the gun. "You want to hit a dimensional entity with your skateboard? You can't punch a dimension, Max. You have to outsmart it."
"He took Richie!"
"And we got him back," I said, sliding the magazine back in. Click. "Look. We won the battle. But the war just moved up."
I stood up.
"Go home," I told them, my voice tired. "Stay in pairs. Sleep with the lights on. Lock your windows. Tomorrow, we figure out how to kill it for good."
[ Location: Vivan's Bedroom ][ Time: 2:00 AM ]
I couldn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw orange lights.
I sat at my desk, the Stone of Avarice sitting on a notebook. It was glowing a dull, hungry purple, pulsing in time with my heartbeat.
'Where is he?'
I closed my eyes.
'Remote Viewing. Target: Hawkins Public Library.'
[ Ability Active. ]
The static cleared.
The library was dark. But it wasn't empty. It felt... wrong.
The books... they were bleeding with black ink.
Ink dripped from the shelves, pooling on the carpet in shapes that looked suspiciously like screaming faces. I zoomed in on a history book left open on a table. History of Hawkins: Volume 1.
The text was changing. Letters were rearranging themselves, crawling across the page like ants.
"Hawkins founded 1892" shifted. "Hawkins Devoured 1892."
"Mayor Kline elected" changed to "Mayor Kline Served on a Platter."
'He's rewriting history,' I realized, a chill running down my astral spine. 'He's inserting himself into the town's past. Making himself a local legend so he can't be forgotten.'
In the stacks, the old librarian, Mrs. Halloway, was shelving books. But her movements were wrong. Jerky. Like a marionette with tangled strings.
She was humming.
A circus tune.
"Dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah..."
She turned her head sharply toward my viewpoint. Her eyes were silver.
'Puppet.'
I snapped the connection, gasping.
"Okay," I whispered to my empty room, rubbing my face. "Library is off-limits. Got it."
[ Location: Hawkins High School - AV Room ][ Date: April 23rd, 1985 - Tuesday Morning ]
"I think I figured it out," Robin Buckley slammed a map onto the table, startling Steve, who was trying to nap in a chair.
I blinked, looking up. "Morning to you too, Buckley. You look manic."
"I haven't slept," she said, tapping the paper. "Look. I overlaid the Russian delivery schedule with the town map. And then I added the locations of the... weird stuff. The places you told me about."
She circled three spots with a red marker.
1. The Lab (The Gate).
2. The Steelworks (The Biomass).
3. The Library (Pennywise).
She drew lines connecting them.
It formed a perfect triangle.
"Is that... geometry?" Steve asked, squinting. "I failed geometry."
"It's Ley Lines," I whispered, leaning in.
"Magnetic fault lines," Robin corrected. "Hawkins is built on a massive magnetic anomaly. That's why the radios go fuzzy. That's why compasses spin. See?"
She tapped the center of the triangle.
The Starcourt Mall.
"The Russians aren't just drilling randomly," Robin said, her eyes wide. "They built the machine on the intersection. They're destabilizing the magnetic field to keep the Gate open. But by doing that... they weakened the walls everywhere else."
"That's why Pennywise can exist here easily," I realized. 'And why Silent Hill is leaking in. The Russians turned Hawkins into a porous sponge.'
'This world is more messed up that I thought'
"So," Steve sat up. "If we blow up the machine..."
"The magnetic field stabilizes," I finished. "The walls harden. And the monsters lose their anchor. They get flushed back down the drain."
"We need to blow up that machine," Robin said, a slightly terrifying grin on her face.
"Working on it," I said.
[ Location: High School Parking Lot ][ Time: 4:00 PM ]
I found Billy Hargrove by his car.
He looked... better. Physically.
The potion I gave him latter was working; his skin wasn't grey anymore.
But his eyes were frantic. He was tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. Tap. Tap. Tap. Like a nervous tic he couldn't stop.
"Hargrove," I said, walking up.
He jumped and grabbed my shirt, pulling me close.
He smelled like sweat, cigarettes, and fear.
"I can hear them," Billy whispered, his eyes darting around the parking lot. "They're arguing."
"Who?"
"The Shadow monster and the Clown," Billy hissed. "In my head. It's like... static. But angry. They're fighting over the area."
' WOW He's a living radio now.'
"What are they saying?" I asked, keeping my voice calm.
"The Shadow... it wants to wait," Billy said, licking his dry lips. "Till July . Fireworks. Noise. It wants to build an army. It wants numbers."
'Canon event for sure.'
"And the Clown?"
"The Clown is hungry," Billy shuddered violently. "He says waiting is boring. He wants to feast now. He wants to turn the library into a slaughterhouse tonight."
"Tonight?"
"He's going to open the doors," Billy said, clutching my shirt tighter. "Free book night and then... lock them in."
I pulled away gently.
"Thanks, Billy. Keep fighting and drink hot water."
"Vivan," Billy grabbed my arm again. His eyes were pleading. "Kill me. Please. Just end it. I can't... I can't keep them out."
I looked at him. The bully who terrorized Max. Now just a broken kid.
"Not yet," I said. "We need you and stay strong."
I walked away.
'Pennywise is making a move tonight. I can't let him eat a library full of kids. I have to stop him.'
'But I can't fight him there. Too many civilians.'
I reached into my pocket. The Stone of Avarice hummed against my leg.
'He wants this back. His energy. His Deadlights.'
"I have to lure him out," I muttered.
[ Location: Vivan's Bedroom ][ Time: 8:00 PM ]
I was gearing up. Venom rounds loaded in the Glock. Wand polished.
"I know you're listening, Bozo," I said to the empty air. "You want your batteries back? Come and get them."
I was about to leave.
I was about to go to the Library and start a fight.
SCREEEEECH.
The sound didn't come from outside.
It came from my head.
My Personal System turned Blood Red.
[ URGENT QUEST ALERT ]
My heart stopped.
[ World 7: Naruto (Sasuke Retrieval Arc) ][ Status: CRITICAL FAILURE IMMINENT. ][ Ally: Shikamaru Nara. ]
"Shika?" I breathed.
[ Scenario: The Tayuya Fight. ][ Deviation Detected: The Sand Siblings are delayed. Temari is NOT coming. ]
'No. No, no, no. Without Temari, Tayuya kills him. He's out of chakra. He's done than.'
[ Objective: Save Shikamaru Nara. ][ Threat: Tayuya (Cursed Mark Level 2). ][ Restriction: Must be under age 15 / Chunin Level Equivalent. (To maintain barrier stability). ]
I looked at the window.
The Library was waiting.
Pennywise was waiting.
If I left now, Hawkins would be undefended for... how long?
[ Note: Time Dilation Active. 2 Hour in World 7 = 1 Minute in Hawkins. ]
'I have time.'
I gripped my wand.
"Hold that thought, Clown," I hissed at the empty room. "I have a friend to save."
I pressed [ ACCEPT ].
[ Transporting to The Land of Fire... ]
The bedroom dissolved.
The 80s pop music faded.
Replaced by the sound of a haunting, demonic flute.
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