In my dream I was lying on the floor of the sewer, unable to move. I stared up at the bodies of all the missing people of Derry, floating around and around and around a huge dark mound of popcorn.

I could see Georgie Denbrough up there, flying around in his yellow raincoat. Betty Ripsom and Ed Corcoran too, floating on their backs as if relaxing in a pool. A taller body trailed behind them and I wanted to let out a sob as I saw Patrick's face attached to it. One of his hands were in his pants while the other gripped something furry. Behind him, seven others followed.

Bill was clutching a paper boat, his eyes trained on the small boy several bodies in front of him. Beverly's hair covered her face and Ben was close at her tail, his arm outstretched as if to grab her hand. Eddie and Richie flew side by side peacefully with no sign of their usual bickering, their faces both frozen in placid indifference.

Stan came next, his toes pointed and arms stretched behind him as if truly in flight. He looked like one of those birds he loved so much. Mike was last, the gun clutched in his hand as a belt of ammunition floated in front of him, just out of reach.

I couldn't scream, I couldn't look away, I couldn't even blink. There was nothing I could do to escape the sight of my friends in their never ending flight.

To my horror, I felt my body start to lift. Slowly but surely, I flew closer and closer to my friends. Was I going to end up like them?

Floating forever?

Suddenly, every body turned their head to look at me. I watched in terror as their blank expressions turned into malicious grins. A red stripe from either end of their bloody mouths appeared and grew upwards until they ended just above their eyebrows. I screamed at whatever was pulling me to stop as I got closer and closer to what were no longer my friends.

In unison, they opened their mouths. "Beep beep Lara."

I was three metres away from them now. I felt something land on my face and that's when I saw It flying above everyone else, It's red mouth splattering everyone with bloody liquid.

"Beep beep Lara." It said. blood filled my throat.

"Beep beep"

"Beep beep"

"Beep beep"

I felt myself slowly slipping away.

***

Beep beep.

Beep beep.

Beep beep.

The high-pitched sound of a machine invaded my ears and I opened my eyes with a gasp. I sat up, the whiteness of the room blinding me. As my eyes adjusted, I realised I was in a hospital room. I looked down to see tiny red dots all over my arms and a needle in the back of my hand. I was about to pull it out when a voice cut me off.

"Lara?" they said and I looked up in surprise to see her sitting in a seat in the corner of the room.

"Mum?" I asked in surprise, my voice slightly scratchy.

I almost didn't recognise her. Her face was clear of makeup, revealing the dark circles beneath her eyes. Her hair was straight and unkept and she was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants, clothes that I had never seen her wear in my life.

"Oh my god." she cried and leapt out of her chair towards me. A moment later, I was enveloped in a hug.

I sat their, not knowing what to do. Was I dreaming? I pinched myself to make sure,and she pulled away at my movement, looking me up and down.

"You're awake." she breathed.

"Yeah..." I said slowly, still confused. "Why am I here?"

"Don't you remember? You were in the barrens and you slipped, falling down a hill and onto rocks and a wasps nest. You were stung over a hundred times!" she said, tears glistening in her eyes. I frowned at her words. That didn't sound right. Suddenly, the memories of what had happened in the sewers came flooding back in and my eyes widened. Where were the Losers? Were they safe?

"They said you weren't going to make it!" she cried, enveloping me in a hug. "I'm so sorry I've been such a terrible parent. I... I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Mum..." I said softly, but she shook her head.

"Your heart stopped, Lara. You died!" she sobbed, and I patted her back hesitantly. "I'm going to be better. I'm so sorry."

"Mum, it's okay." I said quietly, tears springing in my eyes. "It's okay."

But it wasn't okay, and we both it. Seeing her like this made my heart soften, but I couldn't help but wonder how long it would last. I couldn't just forget about everything that had happened in the past and no matter how much she apologised, nothing could excuse how she'd acted.

After a couple of minutes of silence she pulled away, wiping her eyes. "I should go home and start packing our stuff. Your friends would want to see you now that you're awake, anyway."

I let out a breath of relief. They had gotten out, they were okay.

"Packing our stuff? Are we still moving?" I asked suddenly, my demeanour hardening instantly.

"We've already bought the house, Lara. The landlord wants us out by the end of the week." she said hesitantly as she watched my expression. "I... I could try and extend it to two weeks? I guess we don't know when you'll be out of the hospital anyway."

I nodded glumly. As much as I didn't like Derry and the darkness within it, I didn't want to leave my friends.

I watched as she left the room and after a moment, I heard shouts in the distance. Heavy footsteps approached my door and a smile lit up my face as I took in the faces of the Losers.

"Lara!" they cried and struggled to get in the room as they tried to push in before each other. Beverly reached me first, enveloping me in a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay." she whispered as the rest of the boys joined the hug. I closed my eyes and let the tears spill down my cheeks.

"No, I'm so glad you're all okay." I laughed and they pulled away, smiling. "What happened?" I asked, my tone turning serious. Their smiles disappeared.

"We k-killed It, Lara. It's dead." Bill said and I grinned.

"I knew you guys could do it." I said happily, but I noticed their still grim expressions. "What's wrong?"

They looked at each other briefly before Richie spoke. "We thought you were dead. You weren't breathing and Eddie had to do CPR on you which actually kind of worked. But when we got you to the hospital your heart stopped. Nobody thought you were going to make it."

Everybody was silent as I let it process. "Wow, that's... Wait, Eddie, does that mean I was your first kiss?"

Eddie's face flooded with colour as everyone burst out laughing. "Shut up, Lara." he murmured as Mike gave him a slap on the back.

"Wait, did you guys tell the police about what had happened? About all of the bodies of the missing kids?" I asked suddenly. Once again, they exchanged hesitant glances.

"No, we didn't." Ben said and I frowned.

"Why not?"

"Because they... They weren't there. I c-came back briefly with Eddie and everything was gone." Bill said.

"What do you mean everything was gone?" I asked, my heart beating fast.

"Everything was gone, Lara. The bodies, the huge stack of their stuff. It was like it was never there." Eddie said.

I shook my head. "How is that possible? I thought you said you killed It."

"I think maybe..." Stan started before clearing his throat. "I think that maybe once we killed It everything else died too, like all of the bodies and stuff." I could tell that he sounded slightly unsure of his reasoning, but the others seemed to nod in agreement.

"Yeah, so we couldn't call the police. Without evidence, they wouldn't believe us." Richie said and I nodded.

"Thanks, guys. Thank you for everything." I said, wiping old tears from under my eyes. "I'm so happy that you're all alright, that Derry's alright." I looked each and every one of them in the eye, trying to communicate my love and gratitude for them.

Suddenly, the door opened and a man wearing a white lab coat and holding a clipboard walked in. "Sorry kids, you'll have to leave. I need to talk to Miss Lewis about her diagnostics." he said and everybody groaned.

"C'mon, doc. We just got here!" Richie exclaimed.

The doctor shook his head. "Out, before I have to call your parents."

Everyone said their goodbyes before they piled out of the room one by one. As Eddie, who was the last to leave, was about to disappear through the doorway, I stopped him.

"Eddie." I said, and he turned to look at me. "Did you get Patrick? Is he okay?"

He gave me a small smile. "Yeah, he's okay."

I fell backwards onto my pillow with a sigh of relief.

We were okay.

We were all okay.