Sorry for the delay, I had a bit of writer's block. I'm not very happy with this chapter, but here it is. It ended up being longer than I expected, though.
At that moment, the sound of heavy pounding echoed against the door—a series of dry, desperate impacts that reverberated through the entire house, carrying anguish in every strike, as if whoever was on the other side feared that every second lost could be fatal.
"I'll open it." Liam's mother said with a tense voice as she quickly stood up from the couch. Worry was written all over her face, and without waiting for a response, she hurried toward the door.
A moment later, Georgie's parents, Zack and Sharon Denbrough, rushed inside. Their faces were pale and strained, eyes wide open and bodies stiff with anxiety. Guided by Liam's mother, they hurried into the living room, where Georgie lay unconscious on the couch.
"No, my baby, who did this to you?" Sharon, Georgie's mother, brought both hands to her mouth and dropped to her knees beside him. Tears immediately streamed down her face, her voice breaking as she looked at him in despair, gently stroking his hair with trembling hands.
His father, Zack, also looked deeply hurt. His jaw was clenched, fists tightly closed, eyes burning with restrained fury. He slowly straightened up and looked directly at Liam. "Who did this to him?" he asked, anger evident on his face as he struggled not to lose control.
"You shouldn't think about that right now. You should take him to a hospital first." That was Liam's neutral response, his tone firm but contained, avoiding the question while holding Zack's gaze without backing down.
Zack stared at Liam for a few seconds that felt eternal, then lowered his eyes to his unconscious son and finally exhaled sharply. In that moment, he realized what his priority had to be. "You'll have to answer my questions tomorrow. Let's go, sweetheart." he said with a tense voice. Carefully, he lifted Georgie into his arms and quickly headed toward the exit.
"Don't take his words too seriously, it's just his way of showing concern for Georgie. Thank you for taking care of him. I don't think whatever did this to him would have called us to let us know what happened to our son." Sharon said as she hurriedly stood up. She gave Liam a look full of apology and sincere gratitude before saying goodbye. Then she ran out alongside her husband toward the car.
"Well, I didn't expect that. I thought they'd blame me right away. Seems like Georgie's mom is the one who actually thinks in that family." Liam said, slowly letting out a breath as he leaned back against the couch.
"Mmm, I hope the kid recovers." Carrie said, crossing her arms and lowering her gaze slightly, still worried about what had happened.
"Tomorrow the police will probably come to question us about what happened." Liam's mother said anxiously, placing a hand on her chest while looking back and forth between Liam and Carrie.
"It doesn't matter, we're leaving whether they like it or not. If necessary, we'll leave by force." Liam looked at Carrie as he said this, his expression serious and determined, making it clear it wasn't an empty threat.
Carrie nodded, understanding Liam's look. Her eyes hardened slightly, ready to use her telekinesis if necessary, prepared so they could both leave the town without any trouble.
"Alright, I'll trust you, Carrie." Liam's mother said, breathing a little easier as she placed her faith in her powers; she had seen what Carrie was capable of during her practice sessions at home.
"Leave it to me, mother-in-law." Carrie said confidently, puffing out her chest with a small, self-assured smile.
At that moment, now that he had some free time, Liam focused on the reward he had obtained from the mission for saving Georgie. His expression turned serious as his attention locked onto the information appearing before him.
[CLAIM YOUR REWARD]
Liam looked at it, hoping for something good, and selected it immediately without hesitation.
[BINDING BREW]
Liam raised an eyebrow at this. It didn't sound like anything connected to the IT movies, but he didn't dwell on it and decided to check the item's information.
[BINDING BREW]: Made with Maturin root, increases the user's connection to the Macroverse.
[BENEFITS]
Enhances the connection to the Macroverse realm, temporarily increasing powers related to the Shine by 500% for one hour.
After use, a residual effect remains, permanently improving powers related to the Shine by 20%.
[NEGATIVE EFFECTS]
Causes a state of intoxication for the duration of the temporary effect.
Upon seeing its effects, Liam hesitated for a moment. He frowned slightly. With this, maybe they could defeat IT, but the next second he shook his head. They were still missing the ritual the Losers used to defeat IT in the movie, and this version of IT seemed different—stronger, unlike anything he remembered.
Besides, it would be arrogant to believe that he and Carrie, normal humans, could win a battle of will against a being like IT, one that probably had billions of years of existence. Compared to that, they were just two naïve children to IT.
Liam had always believed that the Losers only won because IT was playing with them; without that, they never would have had a chance. A dead turtle could only help so much. In the end, divine turtle or not, dead was no match for another divine creature that was still alive.
…
That night, Liam and Carrie were already lying together in bed, ready to sleep. The room was silent, softly lit by moonlight filtering through the window. "Remember, Carrie, don't believe whatever it tries to show you. I'll enter your dream as fast as I can." Liam reminded her, wrapping an arm around her protectively.
"Mmm." Carrie nodded, snuggling closer and closing her eyes with her head resting on Liam's chest, listening to the calm rhythm of his breathing.
A few minutes later, she was asleep.
"Alright, my turn." Liam murmured softly. With that, he closed his eyes, completely relaxing his body and drifting into a deep sleep as well.
The dream did not begin with silence, but with a crash.
Carrie opened her eyes and found herself standing on a wide street, recognizable even amid the chaos: San Francisco. Skyscrapers towered around her, many of them cracked, with shattered windows and columns of black smoke rising toward a gray-green sky charged with electricity.
Then she felt it.
A deep tremor, as if the earth itself were struggling to breathe.
In the distance, between the buildings, something moved.
The MUTO emerged among the towers of steel and glass like a living nightmare. Its black, angular body scraped against the facades, ripping balconies and walls apart just by passing. Its legs slammed into the asphalt with brutal force, each step sending shockwaves that toppled traffic lights, cars, and fleeing people.
A metallic, unnatural screech tore through the air. It wasn't just a sound—it vibrated inside Carrie's chest, as if it wanted to shatter her bones from the inside.
The MUTO stopped for a second and struck an entire building, splitting it in two. The structure gave way with a horrible crack before collapsing in a cloud of dust and fire. The shockwave threw Carrie backward, but she didn't fall. Something inside her kept her steady, anchored.
"This isn't real…" she whispered, even though the fear was real—too real.
The sky lit up with lightning as military helicopters flew past, firing uselessly. Their projectiles bounced off or exploded against the MUTO's armor, doing little more than mildly annoying it.
At that moment, the MUTO seemed to turn its head in another direction. Carrie looked as well, her eyes widening in shock as she saw Liam there, now the full focus of the MUTO's attention.
Liam seemed to be desperately searching his surroundings.
He stood there, in the middle of the ruined street, surrounded by overturned cars and smoking chunks of concrete. He spun around in desperation, as if looking for something he couldn't find.
"Liam?" she said, her voice trembling.
He lifted his head instantly.
"Carrie," he replied. "This dream… something's wrong. I can't fully manipulate it."
Relief crashed over her.
He made it. He really made it.
The MUTO screeched.
The sound was sharper, more violent, and it charged straight at Liam.
"LOOK OUT!" Carrie screamed.
Her body lifted off the ground, floating thanks to her telekinesis, as she rushed toward Liam at full speed, hoping to get him within range so she could lift him too.
Liam had taught her how to use her telekinesis to fly over the past few years.
The MUTO's leg slammed down where Liam had been moments before, but he managed to roll aside just in time, barely avoiding it.
At that moment, Carrie arrived and lifted him into the air with her.
"I've got you!" Carrie said tensely, wrapping Liam in her telekinetic field as they both shot upward.
The asphalt exploded beneath them as the MUTO's leg finished crashing down, leaving behind a smoking crater. Chunks of concrete and metal shot out in every direction, but Carrie instinctively froze them midair before they could reach them.
Liam was gasping, still in shock.
"That was… close," he muttered, looking down.
"Too close," she replied, keeping him at her height as they flew between the destroyed buildings. "Don't leave my side."
The MUTO let out a furious screech and moved again. Its wings partially spread, and it made an impossible leap, landing against a nearby tower and tearing half its facade away with its claws.
Carrie reacted instantly. She closed her eyes for a split second and tore open a fissure in the ground—a massive crack that spread like a scar down the avenue. Cars and debris slid into it as the street collapsed.
The MUTO lost its balance and dropped to one knee.
"Now!" Liam shouted.
He raised his hands, and the dream itself seemed to respond: cables, beams, and chunks of steel lifted from the environment and hurled themselves at the creature like giant spears. Carrie felt something strange watching him… as if his control was real, but incomplete.
Still, it worked.
Carrie focused heat into the metal beams, bringing them to white-hot before impact. The combined strike pierced the MUTO's chest, which let out a sharp, unnatural screech before collapsing to the ground with a crash that shook several blocks.
Silence.
For a moment, only the sound of fires and distant collapsing buildings remained.
Carrie was breathing hard.
"Did we… do it?" she asked incredulously.
The MUTO's body stopped moving.
"Looks like it," Liam replied, though his voice sounded strangely hollow. "But this dream is still wrong. Something doesn't fit."
Carrie felt it then.
Two more presences.
The air vibrated again. In the distance, through the curtain of smoke, two new massive silhouettes advanced slowly, their eyes glowing with unnatural light. Two more MUTOs, answering the echo of the first.
"No…" Carrie whispered. "This never ends."
The new MUTOs suddenly accelerated.
"Carrie," Liam said, staring at her intently. "Listen to me. Don't fight. Just survive."
She nodded, swallowing hard.
Carrie pushed her telekinesis to its limit and flew through the shattered skyscrapers with Liam beside her, dodging claws, screeches, and shockwaves. Her perception caught every movement, every vibration… but there were too many.
One of the MUTOs surged ahead, leaping from the top of a collapsed building.
"Liam!" she screamed, trying to shove him out of the way.
The shadow fell over them.
The leg came down with crushing force.
Carrie felt her control slip for a fraction of a second.
It was enough.
The leg slammed down.
The world shook.
Carrie was hurled into a nearby building, the air knocked out of her as she crashed. When she managed to stabilize herself in midair, trembling, she looked down.
The MUTO's leg slowly lifted.
There was nothing left of Liam.
Carrie screamed—a raw, broken scream that vanished beneath the creatures' roars.
The scream caught in her throat.
The air trembled.
The fire, smoke, and roars began to fade, as if someone were slowly turning the volume of the world down. The MUTOs froze in place, motionless amid the destruction, like black statues against the greenish sky.
Then the dream changed.
The cracked asphalt smoothed itself out. The ruined buildings stretched and warped, losing their edges, becoming blurry and unreal. The sky darkened into a dull red, like raw flesh under sickly light.
Carrie slowly descended without realizing it. Her feet touched the ground.
"No…" she whispered. "No, this isn't…"
She heard footsteps.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
An impossible sound amid the chaos.
Carrie turned her head.
It was coming from her.
Carrie lifted her gaze, still on her knees, her chest burning and her mind shattered.
"Mom…" she repeated, the word now heavy with fear.
The world trembled again.
"I'm…" she continued. "Locked away. Forgotten. In Juniper Hill."
A knot tightened in Carrie's stomach.
"No… you're there because… because you were sick…"
The figure slowly shook her head, stepping closer. Her shoes made no sound against the ground.
"That's what he told you," she whispered. "That's what Liam told you."
Carrie clenched her teeth.
"Don't talk about him."
The smile tightened slightly.
"Why not?" the woman asked. "It was because of him that you left me alone. Because of him that you decided to run. Because of him that you never looked back."
The ground rippled again.
Liam's crushed image was still there.
"Look at him," the woman ordered softly. "I'm not lying to you this time. Look closely."
Carrie shook her head, tears falling uncontrollably.
"No… this isn't real…"
"Of course it is," the figure replied. "As real as Juniper Hill. As real as the padded walls. As real as the nights I screamed your name and you weren't there."
Her mother's face began to slowly distort.
Not suddenly.
Not like a monster.
But like something that could no longer hold a human shape.
The eyes darkened too much. The mouth stretched slightly.
"You chose Liam," the voice said, now doubled. "And look at him now."
Carrie snapped her head up.
"STOP!"
The air around her vibrated violently. Chunks of asphalt lifted, shaking, floating out of control.
IT smiled.
"Do you know what's the most delicious part?" it whispered, still wearing her mother's face. "That part of you knows it."
Carrie struggled to breathe.
"You know that if you hadn't followed him…" it continued. "If you had stayed with me… if you hadn't loved him…"
The figure pointed again at the stain on the ground.
"…this wouldn't have happened."
The sky closed in on them like an open wound.
"Everyone you love will end up like this, Carrie," IT said. "Crushed. Broken."
Carrie trembled.
And IT felt it.
Its smile widened just a little more.
But then, IT felt something.An interference.A presence that should not have been there.
The entire dream began to shatter like glass under pressure. The image of destroyed San Francisco cracked into floating fragments that dissolved into the air, spinning and falling into nothingness. The red sky tore open from top to bottom, and within seconds, the scene changed completely.
The world rebuilt itself elsewhere.
The Black Spot appeared around them—but not as it once was. It no longer held what it used to: fear, fire, death. The shadows were no longer threatening, and the walls no longer whispered ancient screams. The air was different—lighter, almost warm.
Now it felt like a place of comfort, a strange and quiet space where the two standing before it felt safe.
The ground beneath their feet was firm and steady, without tremors. The lights were soft, steady, casting no warped shapes into the corners. Even the smell had changed, leaving smoke behind for something neutral, almost soothing.
Carrie took a small step forward without realizing it, her shoulders finally relaxing after being tense throughout the entire dream.
"Oh, you managed to get in even though I tried so hard to stop you," Pennywise said, sounding slightly surprised.
The creature stood a few meters away, leaning with false calm against one of the columns, tilting its head slightly. Its eyes gleamed with a mix of amusement and irritation, its smile stretching unnaturally wide, showing too much.
At that moment, Liam appeared beside Carrie.
There was no explosion or warning. He was simply there, as if he had always belonged to the dream. His presence was immediate and solid, breaking the lingering sense of loneliness around Carrie.
"Sorry I'm late, it was stopping me," Liam said, placing a hand on Carrie's head and gently stroking her hair.
The touch was real. Warm. Firm.
Without thinking, Carrie threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his chest. Her shoulders shook as tears poured out uncontrollably, all the fear she had held back finally breaking free.
"I thought you were dead, that I was alone," Carrie said.
Liam wrapped both arms around her back, holding her tightly in a protective gesture. He lowered his head slightly, resting it gently against hers, speaking in a low but steady voice.
"Calm down. It was all a dream created by Pennywise. Whatever it showed you won't happen. It's just what it creates to provoke fear." Liam reassured her, then lifted his gaze, glaring with hatred at Pennywise, who watched them with a slow, calculating smile.
"Mmm." Carrie nodded, still trying to process that it had only been a dream—that the crushed Liam hadn't been real. Her fingers clung to Liam's clothes for one more second before slowly letting go.
"Carrie, focus. This isn't over yet," Liam said seriously.
He pulled back slightly to look her in the eyes, holding her face with both hands, gently forcing her to focus. His expression was no longer calm, but alert—ready for battle.
"Yeah, I'm fine now." Carrie slapped her cheeks lightly with her hands to snap herself back, took a deep breath, straightened her posture, and clenched her fists, feeling her telekinesis respond again.
Liam nodded, satisfied.
Together, they slowly turned their gaze toward Pennywise.
They stood side by side, shoulder to shoulder. The air around them began to vibrate almost imperceptibly, as if the dream itself were reacting to their resolve.
Pennywise clapped once, slowly, amused.
The battle was not over yet.