Chapter 34 Chapter 22 Demon Elimination Ritual

1 When the huge black spider scrambled down the web with a sickening breeze, it was Bill who brought them together.Stanley screamed like a child, his big brown eyes wide open, and he rubbed his fingers desperately across his cheek.Bane backed away step by step, slamming his butt against the wall.He felt the icy flames creeping up his trousers, slowly fading away again.Everything is like in a dream.Of course none of this really happened; just the world's worst nightmare.Bensi felt that his hands seemed to be tied with a heavy burden, and he couldn't lift them no matter what. Rich's eyes fell on the big spider web.There are many leftovers and rotting corpses hanging on it.

Beverly and Mike hugged each other tightly, dumbfounded, watching everything in front of them. The spider's twisted silhouette was reflected on the wall as it landed on the floor and crawled towards them. Bill's eyes were full of anger.He glanced at them all as if to signal them to back off. Then turn around and face the spider.It was unbelievable that he walked towards it, not running, but walking very fast with his fists clenched. "You, you, you killed, killed, killed my brother, brother!" "No, Bill!" Beverly screamed, broke away from Mike, and ran towards Bill. "Let him go!" she yelled at the spider. "Don't touch him!"

Oops!Beverly!Ben ran forward too, vaguely aware of Eddie to his left, asthma spray in his uninjured hand. At this moment, it jumped at the unarmed Bill, and Bill was completely covered in its shadow, waving its front legs in the air.Ben reached out to grab Beverly's shoulders.She turned sharply. "Help him!" she cried. "How?" Ben asked loudly.Turning around, he heard its low, eager cry, looked into its unfathomable, evil eyes, and saw what it really was behind the shell—a maddening light much scarier than a spider.His courage was gone...but Beverly was begging him.Beverly, he loves her.

"Damn you, leave Bill alone!" he screamed. A hand patted his back so hard that he nearly fell.It's Richie.Although tears were still streaming down his face, he was still laughing like crazy. "Let's get him, Haystack!" Richie yelled. "Chud! Chud!" she?Ben was puzzled.She, did he say that? He yelled, "Okay, but what does that mean? What does Chud mean?" "If only I knew!" Richie yelled, running to Bill, into its shadow. It squatted on its hind legs, waving its front legs over Bill's head.Stanley was forced to step forward too, and saw Bill staring directly at it, his blue eyes fixed on its orange eyes that radiated a terrible death gleam.Stanley stopped, realizing that the exorcism—whatever that was—had begun.

2 —Who are you and why are you bothering me?I'm Bill Dunbon.You know who I am and why I'm here.You killed my brother, I came here to kill you.You killed the wrong man, bitch. - I am eternal.I can eat the whole world. Yeah?really?Then, you have your last meal. —You have no power; power is here; feel it, little boy, and tell me how you came to kill God again.do you think you see meYou can only see what you can imagine.Can you see me?Well, come on!Come on, brat!bring it on! was thrown out—(he) No, not thrown, but fired like a bullet.He was lifted high and thrown across the house.This is just my imagination!he said aloud to himself.My body is still standing there, looking at it, be brave, it's just an illusion, be brave, be real, stand up straight, stand up straight—(smash)

The wind whistled in my ears, and rushed into a section of dark, dripping pipes, passed through intersections, and passed piles of bones, like a dart fueled by a rocket, flying into the boundless darkness. (his fist) The boundless darkness.The floors here are hard and hard, like waxed hard rubber.He is like a straddle on a game wheel, spinning and sliding forward.He was lying on the ballroom floor of eternity, and eternity was darkness. (on the pillar) —Shut up, why do you say those things?That won't help you, silly boy. Still think he saw a ghost! --shut up! He punched the post, still thinking he saw a ghost.

--shut up!shut up!I command you, command you, shut up! Don't like it, do you? Bill thought: If only I could say this out loud without stuttering a word, I'd be free from this hallucination—it's not hallucination, silly boy—it's eternity, my eternity, you're lost here , can never find the way back; doomed to wander in the dark... confronting me face to face is the end. But there is another person here.Bill felt it, smelled it strangely: a huge figure in the darkness ahead.a shell.Instead of fear, he felt a sense of respect; a force that dwarfed its magic, and Bill didn't have time to think: Please, please, whatever you are, remember me It was very small—he rushed along and saw a turtle with all kinds of dazzling colors on its shell.Slowly its head came out of its shell, and Bill felt the secret surprise of the monster that had thrown him into the boundless darkness.The turtle's eyes are kind.Bill thought it must be the oldest in the world, older than the one that claimed to be eternal.

who are you? —I'm a Turtle, boy.I created this universe, but please don't blame me; my stomach hurts. help me!Please help me! —I shouldn't meddle in these matters. My brother—has his place in this infinite universe; energy is eternal, even a child your age knows that. He glides forward quickly.Hearing its scolding, its voice was sharp and full of hatred.But when the turtle spoke, its voice was completely lost.The turtle is talking to Bill's mind.He knew that there was "another", the Terminator living in a void farther than this universe.This terminator may have created this turtle that only watched and it only knew how to kill life.This Terminator is a force outside the universe, a force that transcends all forces, and is the creator of everything in the world.

He suddenly understood: it was going to throw him beyond the wall at the edge of this universe, into another—(called the infinite universe by the turtles) where it lives.There, he could see it for what it really was, an invisible, all-destroying light.There he was either killed, or he became deranged but somewhat conscious, living forever in its boundless, invisible, murderous life. Please help me!For the sake of others -- you have to help yourself. How does the child do it?please tell me!How to do it?How to do it?How to do it? He had slid down to the turtle's thickly scaled hind legs and was awed by its huge toenails—in those rare yellow-blue nails, the Milky Way drifted.

Please, you are kind, I feel it, I believe you are kind.I beg you... won't you help me? —You already know that.Just Chud and your friends. Please, oh please. —Son, you've got to bang your fists on the pillars and believe you've seen ghosts... that's all I can tell you.When you come to a place like this, you should let go of those restrictions—he felt the turtle's voice gradually disappearing.He had passed by it, sliding into deeper darkness.The turtle's voice was drowned out by the voice of the monster that had thrown him into this dark void—the spider's voice, its voice.

—How do you like it here, kid?Like it?Like meeting my friend Mr. Turtle?I thought the old thing died a few years ago, do you think it can help you? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no nonsense!There's no time; let's talk while there's still time, talk about yourself, little friend... Tell me, do you like the cold darkness here?Did you enjoy this journey into nothingness beyond the universe?Wait for you to slide over, kid!Wait until you slide over to where I live!Wait!Waiting for the light of death!You'll go crazy just by looking at it...but you'll live...live...live...in death light...in my body... It laughed wildly.Bill felt its voice disappear and grow again, as if he were being pushed far away and drawn closer at the same time.Yes, he felt so.Because when those voices were still clearly discernible, he ran to another strange voice.That's the sound of the dying light, he thought. —there's no time; let's talk while there's still a chance—he's getting farther and farther away from that which speaks the human language, and this sane communication with it will soon be broken.He understood that it didn't just want to send him to where it really was, but to cut off the spiritual communication between them.If that tacit understanding is cut off, he is completely destroyed.If communication is interrupted, there is no hope of rescue. Leaving it...approaching it again.If it wanted to eat children in this place, or suck them up, or something, why didn't it just throw them all into this boundless nothingness?Why is he alone? Because it had to get rid of the child who was confronting it in the spider's shell.In the spider's shell it is somehow connected to the Lithium known as the Death Ray.While it's here, it's invincible...but it's also on Earth, under Derry, something tangible...anything tangible can be killed. Bill slid into the boundless darkness, and the speed was getting faster and faster.Why do I always feel that so much of what it says is just a bluff?Why?how come? He got it, maybe...just maybe. Turtle said only Chud. Assuming this is it?Suppose they both bit each other's tongues, not physically, but consciously, spiritually?Suppose if it threw Bill into the distant void, into its eternal formless self, then the ritual was over?It could attack him at will, kill him, and win everything at the same time. —You've done a good job, boy, but if you're too late, there's no time—it's dreadful!Scared me!Scared us all! —Slide, slide, he feels it already, there is a wall ahead, a wall at the end of the endless universe, beyond that wall is death ray—don't talk to me, boy, don't talk to yourself—then will break you down.Hold on tight, if you dare, if you're brave enough, if you hold on... Hold on tight, boy! Bill gritted his teeth--not with his teeth, but with the teeth of his mind. He lowered his voice, it was a voice that didn't sound like his own at all, took a deep breath, and shouted loudly: "He punched the pillar with his fist, and still thinks he saw a ghost. Let go of the grip and he felt it scream in his consciousness—the rage of bankruptcy, and fear and pain.It's not used to having its plans ruined; it's never been the case.Until a moment ago it had never occurred to him that such a thing could be possible. Bill felt it hurt because of him, and now it wasn't dragging, it was pushing—trying to get rid of him. "Punch it on the post, I say!" "shut up!" "Send me back! It has to be done! I order you! I order you!" It screamed again, and now the pain was stronger—perhaps in part because it had been creating pain all its life, living on it, without ever experiencing it itself. It was still pushing him back, trying to get rid of him, just as it had always been victorious before, and now it was blindly and obstinately clinging to its victory.It was still pushing...but Bill felt the speed slow, and a strange image came to his mind: its tongue, like a thick rubber strap, was snapping and bleeding.He saw himself clenching the tongue between his teeth, his face soaking in its convulsing blood, breathing in its suffocating stench, but holding on, holding on.Although it is painful. Struggling angrily, he still won't let go, won't let his tongue retract—(Chud, this is Chud, tenacious, brave, loyal, representing your brother, your friend; believe, believe everything you've ever believed Stuff, believe that if you tell the police you are lost, he will escort you safely home; believe that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole and makes toys out of his collection of mischievous children; believe that Mom and Dad will love you all over again ; believe that as long as you have courage, you can speak every word fluently; no longer be a loser, no longer need to hide in that hole called "Losers' Club"; no longer hide in George's room, because you can't save him and cry bitterly; believe in yourself, believe in the intensity of that desire). He suddenly burst out laughing in the dark, not a hysterical laugh, but a laugh of complete amazement and joy. "Oh, I believe in everything!" he exclaimed.He raised his arms high above his head, raised his face, and suddenly felt full of strength all over his body. He heard it scream again... and suddenly he was dragged back, thinking of his jaws clenched, deeply embedded in its tongue.He flew through the darkness, the wind whistling in his ears. He was drawn back, and passed the turtle again, and saw its head retracted into its shell; its voice was hollow and distorted, as if the shell it dwelt in was also unfathomable eternity:—well done, boy, but Now I've done my best; don't let it escape.You know energies wane; what an 11-year-old can do is often impossible to do again and the voice of the turtle is getting further and further away.Only the darkness that was speeding by...the thick pipe entrance...the smell of old, rotting mustiness...the cobwebs hanging on the face...the fork, the darkness, and its scream: Let me go!Let go of me!I will leave and never disturb this place.Let go of me! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts—"Fist out!" Bill cried, feeling ecstasy.He could see the light, but it was getting darker... After a while, he saw himself and other people standing in a line, holding hands.He saw his body slumped, his head raised, and he looked directly at the spider that was writhing its body desperately.Its gnarled, barbed legs beat the floor, spitting venom. It screams in pain. Bill was convinced of it. At this moment, he suddenly returned to his body.With such a big impact, he let go of Eddie and Richie's hands, knelt on the ground, slid far away, and slid to the edge of the spider web.Without thinking about it, he reached out and grabbed a spider silk as thick as a telephone pole, and suddenly lost consciousness in his hand. "Don't touch that thing, Bill!" Ben yelled.Bill jerked his hand back, leaving a deep gash on the palm.He struggled to his feet and stared at the spider. It was running away in a hurry, crawling quickly towards the dark place behind the house.A pool of blood was left behind; the confrontation between their eyes just now had caused it to be seriously injured. "Bill, the spider web!" Mike yelled. "Be careful!" He took a few steps back, looked up and saw the spider webs hitting the ground like fleshy white snakes, fell to the ground, then burrowed into the cracks in the ground and disappeared without a trace.The whole big net collapsed. "Spider!" Bill yelled. "where is it?" He could still hear it in his mind, weeping in pain; aware that it had fled back down the passage he had just passed--but back to where it had thrown Bill out. Are you...or are you hiding?died?Or escaped? "God, light!" Richie called. "The light is going out! What happened, Bill? Where have you been? We thought you were dead!" Bill wasn't sober, but he knew that wasn't true: if they really thought he was dead, they would run away, spread out, and it would be easy for him to bring them back one by one.Perhaps accurately they thought he was dead, but believed he was alive. We have to figure it out!If it's going to die, or flee back to where it came from, where the remaining part of it is, that's fine!But what if it just hurts?What if it can be restored?Like—Stanley's scream interrupted his train of thought.In the dim light, Bill saw a spider's thread hit Stanley's shoulder.Before Bill could catch him, Mike threw himself on the little boy.He pushed Stanley aside, and the web bounced back, scratching Stanley's shirt. "Go back!" Ben yelled at him. "Get out of here, everything will collapse in no time!" He grabbed Beverly and dragged her towards the small door; Stanley also struggled to stand up, looked around blankly, pulled Eddie up, and supported each other Then, ran towards Ben and the others. The cobwebs on the top of the head have all collapsed.When the torn spider silk fell to the ground, it lost its original shape, made a hissing sound, and lost its tears. Mike lowered his head, bent over, dodged left and right, and stood over the spider web with difficulty.Richie followed him.Even though his hair was on his head, Richie couldn't stop laughing.The light dimmed and the phosphorescence on the walls faded. "Bill!" Mike yelled anxiously. "Go! Get out of here!" "What if it's still alive?" Bill asked aloud. "We should go after it, Mike! We should make sure!" A tangle of spider webs fell like a parachute.Mike grabbed Bill by the arm and dragged him out. "It's dead!" Eddie exclaimed. "I hear it, it's dying, it's dying. I'm sure! " In the dark Richie pulled Bill over and hugged him tightly.He patted Bill on the back happily. "I heard that too—it's dying, boss! It's dying...and you're not stuttering! Not at all! What did you do? How the hell—" Bill's head was spinning and he was exhausted.He had never felt so tired...but his consciousness heard again the weary, dying voice of the turtle: I did my best; don't let it get away...Often things that eleven years old can do can't be done again. "But we should make sure—" They held hands, and there was darkness all around.But in the split second before the light faded completely, he saw the suspicion on Beverly's face...and Stanley's eyes.When the last rays of light faded, they could still hear the terrible sound of spider webs tearing. 3 —Ah, here you go again, boy!But what happened to your hair?Totally bald! How pathetic!How miserable and short is human life!Every life is a thin pamphlet written by an idiot!Tsk - tut!All -- I'm still Bill Dunbon.You killed my brother, you killed Stanley, and you tried to kill Mike. Let me tell you: I won't give up until I kill you this time. — Turtles are stupid, too stupid to lie.It's telling you the truth, boy...you only get one chance.You hurt me...you surprised me.There will be no second time.It was I who brought you back.I. Yes, you called us back, but you weren't the only one - your friend, the old turtle... died years ago.The old fool spit out a galaxy or two in its shell and choked to death.you are sad, are you?Also very strange.When you start being a writer, it dies.You must feel it's gone, lad. I do not believe. —Oh, you'll believe it...you'll see it.This time, lad, I'm going to show you everything, including the death ray. He felt its voice grow louder - at last he felt its hysterical rage, and he was afraid.He concentrated his energy and wanted to catch its long tongue of thought, desperately trying to regain his childhood beliefs, and at the same time understood a cruel fact: last time it was unprepared.And this time... even if it hadn't just brought them back, it had undoubtedly been waiting for them. Bill still—felt his anger when he looked into its eyes, felt the old scars on it, felt it was really badly hurt, and it still hurt. When it threw him, when his consciousness left his body, he tried to catch its tongue...but missed. 4 The other 4 people stared dumbfounded at what happened before them.Initially everything is attached to the old days.At first the spider seemed to grab Bill and swallow him in one gulp. Suddenly froze there again.Bill's gaze intertwined with its jewel eyes.There's a touch...a touch that's hard to guess.But they knew it was a contest, a contest of ideas. That's when Richie looked up at the newly woven web and saw the first difference. There are still a lot of half-eaten corpses hanging from it... but there is another corpse hanging in a high corner.Richie was convinced the body was fresh and possibly alive.Beverly didn't look up—her eyes were on Bill and the spider. Even in the horror of it, Richie saw a resemblance between Beverly and the woman on the web.Long auburn hair.Eyes open, motionless, expressionless, saliva trickling down the corners of his mouth and onto his chin.She was hung by the waist from one of the main threads of the spider's web.His body leaned forward slightly, his limbs hanging limply in the air. Richie also saw another body under the spider's web, a man he had never seen before...but his consciousness immediately realized that he was very similar to Henry who had just died.powers. Blood flowed from the stranger's eyes and formed clots at the corners of his mouth and chin.Suddenly Beverly let out a scream: "Something's wrong! Something's wrong, help, for God's sake, can't there be anyone who can—" Richie's eyes jerked back to Bill and Spider... She heard a horrible laugh.Bill had a strange expression, his skin was purple and blue, his eyes were rolled up, revealing the whites of his eyes. oh bill where are you Richie saw a sudden spurt of blood from Bill's nose.His mouth twisted in pain, trying to scream... The spider turned around, bared its venomous jaws, and attacked him again. It was going to kill Bill... physically at least... shutting his soul out forever while his soul was wandering elsewhere.It's about to win... Bill, where are you?For God's sake, where are you? From an unreachable place, faintly came the sharp leaves of Bill's pain... And a nonsense sentence, so clear and full of- (The turtle is dead, oh god, the turtle is really dead) despair. Beverly screamed, covering her ears as if to block out the fading voice. The spider lifted up, and Rich rushed up like lightning, imitating the voice of the Irish police: "Here, here, good girl! Look what you are doing? If you talk nonsense, I will take off your petticoat and tear it off." Break your tongue!" The spider's laughter stopped, and Ricky felt the anger and pain make his headache crack. Right where it hurts!The joy of victory surged in Rich's heart.It hurts, what, it hurts, guess what?I caught its tongue!Bill missed, but I caught it when it wasn't looking—the spider snarled so loudly that Richie felt his head buzzing.His soul was thrown out of his body into endless darkness.Richie knew it was trying to get rid of him, and it did a good job.Fear and the absurdity of the universe welled up in him.He thought of Beverly teaching him how to play jumbo.Now Richie is a "wanderer," swinging around on his long tongue.Isn't that fun? Richie laughed, biting harder. The spider screamed in pain, beat him desperately, and growled angrily because it was frightened again-it always thought that only the writer dared to challenge it.Now this man, laughing like a child, caught it by surprise.Richie felt himself falling downwards. — Hold on for a while, let's go there together, or I won't sell you a lottery ticket.I swear everyone will win. He felt his teeth clenching tighter.He felt a numb pain as its sharp canines dug into his tongue.Gosh, it's still hilarious.Even thrown into this boundless darkness, connected only by the tongue of this terrible monster to his own world; even if the agony of its fangs filled his consciousness, it was still ridiculous as hell.Look, moms and dads, can you believe a DJ can fly? Oh, he's flying. Like a hound beating a mouse, Ricky was spun by the monster and rushed into a darkness that he had never seen before.He sensed something ahead, a huge corpse.Was it the turtle that Bill had just mourned?Definitely is.Only a shell remains, a lifeless shell.He sped past, rushing into the boundless darkness. Bill!Bill, can you hear me? - He has disappeared, disappeared in the death light, let me go!let me go! Ricky? Bill!Bill!I am coming!grab my hand!Do take my hand—he's dead, you're all dead, don't you understand, you're too old?Let me go! Hey bitch, it's never too late to rock! — let go of me! Take me to him, or I'll be— Richie. - is around, he's around, thank God - here I come, Boss!Richie is here to save you!do you remember?I owe you my life after escaping from Nabert Street—let go—me! It hurt to the marrow now, and Richie knew how suddenly he had caught it--he thought it was only Bill to deal with.OK.Fool.Now Richie didn't want to kill it at all; he wasn't sure it could be killed.But Bill will be killed, and Rich senses that Bill's time is running out.Bill was approaching that terrible abyss. Richie, don't!go back!Here is where it all ends!Death light! where are you darlingSmile and I can see where you are! Bill suddenly appeared in front of the eyes, in the—(Left? Right? No direction here) Glide forward at high speed.Richie's laughter stopped suddenly.He saw a barrier behind Bill, a strange, shapeless barrier.Richie thought it was a huge gray wall of fossilized wooden piles.The wooden stakes extend infinitely upwards and downwards, like wooden sticks around the cage.A black light shot through the gap between the sticks, flickering, swimming, smiling, screaming.That light is alive. (dead light) And it doesn't stop there: that light is full of power—magnetism, gravity, maybe something else.Richie felt his body being lifted up, thrown down, twirling, sucking the bow essence.He could feel the light jumping eagerly across his face...the light was thinking. That's it, that's it, the rest of it. — let me go, you promised to let me go—I did, but sometimes, dear, I lie—for that my mother picks me up, but my father doesn't. He felt Bill roll and slide through a gap.Dying Ray stretched out his evil fingers to catch him.With the last of his strength, Richie held out his hand to his friend. Bill!your hands!Pass me your hand!your hands!your hands! Bill reached out, desperately trying to grab Richie.Richie pushed forward and heard its high-pitched cry. (I missed his hand, oh god, I missed it, he's going to slip) Then Bill's fingers took Richie's hand, and Richie clenched his fist.Bill's leg had slipped into a gap between the stakes.At that moment, Rich saw clearly all the bones and tendons in Bill's body.Rich felt his arms stretched like jellybeans, every joint rattling. With all his strength, he ordered loudly: "Pull us back! Pull us back, or I will kill you! I... I will kill you with my voice!" The spider screamed again.Richie suddenly felt a throbbing throbbing pain go through his body.The arm ached burningly.The hand holding Bill slipped slowly. "Hold on, Bill!" "I got it! Richie! I got it!" You better hurry up, Rich thought.Otherwise, you will not be able to find a paid toilet even if you walk thousands of miles here. They flew back roaring, and the terrifying light gradually disappeared, turning into twinkling bright spots.They moved through the darkness like a hurricane, Ricky's tongue clenched between his teeth and one hand gripping Bill's wrist.In the blink of an eye, the dead turtle passed by. Richie felt that they were getting closer and closer to the real world.It'll be safe now, he thought. We're going back.We—another violent attack—threw, bumped, swayed from side to side.It wanted to make one last struggle, to shake them off, to throw them out of their bodies.Ricky's hand was about to lose his grip.He heard it laughing triumphantly.With all his concentration, he persisted...but his hand slipped a little bit.He bit it hard, but its tongue seemed to lose its real shape, as if it had become a spider's web. "Help!" Ricky yelled for help. "I can't catch it anymore! Help! Someone!" 5 Eddie wasn't very clear about what was going on either.He sensed it, saw it, but as if through a veil.At one point, Bill and Rich struggle to get back.Their bodies are here, but the rest—their souls—are far, far away. Bill fell to the ground, his nose and ears were bleeding, his fingers were twitching lightly, his face was pale, and his eyes were closed. The spider was also bleeding in four or five places, badly wounded, but still dangerous.Eddie suddenly woke up: why are we all standing here?When it confronts Ricky, we can kill it!God, why is no one acting? He felt a sense of triumph -- growing clearer, stronger, closer. They are coming back!He wanted to cheer, but his throat was so dry that he couldn't make a sound.They are coming back! Suddenly Rich's head began to shake from side to side, and his body trembled slightly.A moment later, his glasses slipped from the tip of his nose and fell to pieces on the stone floor. The spider was restless, pounding the stone floor into rubble with its thick, barbed legs.Eddie heard its triumphant cry, and then heard Richie's cry for help: (Help! I can't catch it! Someone!) Eddie lunged forward, pulling his asthma spray out of his pocket. "Come on!" Eddie yelled. "Come on, have some of this." He lunged at it and shot the asthma spray at the same time. That moment of unwavering childhood belief in drugs came back. Childhood drugs would fix everything. That was good Potion, powerful medicine. As he bumped into the spider's face, smelling its filth, he felt overwhelmed by its fury and determination to kill them all. He shot asthma spray into one of its evil eyes. He heard it cry -- this time there was no anger, only pain, excruciating pain.He saw a layer of medicine sprinkled on the blood-red eye, eroding in like carbonic acid; the huge eye collapsed like an egg yolk, and a mixture of dirty blood and pus spurted out. "Come home, Bill!" he called with the last of his voice.He punched it hard, felt a dank heat, and suddenly realized his arm had been thrust into the spider's maw. He shot the asthma spray again, right into the spider's throat, into its fetid esophagus.As its jaws closed, Eddie felt a knife come down, tearing its arm. Eddie fell to the ground, blood gushing from what was left of his severed arm.He vaguely felt Bill staggering to his feet and Richie stumbling toward him. "—— Ezz—" Very distant sound.Nothing matters anymore.He felt everything flowing out of him with his life well... all the anger, pain, fear, confusion and hurt.He thought he was going to die but felt... Oh, God, he was so transparent. "—Etz, oh God, Bill, Ben, come on. His arm's broken, his—" He looked up to see Beverly holding him in her arms, crying sadly.Then he looked at Richie and licked his lips.It's getting farther and farther away.It became more and more clear, all the impurities flowed out, and he became more transparent. "Ricky." His voice was very weak. "What?" Richie knelt beside him, looking at him desperately. "Don't call me Ezz." He said with a smile, slowly raised his left hand, and gently stroked Rich's cheek.Richie wept bitterly. "You know I... I..." Eddie rolled his eyes, trying to figure out what to say.While he was still thinking, died. 6 At 7am, winds in Derry had reached mph with gusts of 45mph. At 7:10, the Bangor Central Radio Station issued a disaster weather warning, and there were explosions one after another.有些人毫发末伤躲过了爆炸，但是另外一些人就不那么走运了。如今已经77岁高龄的内尔先生和老伴坐在家里的门廊上，看着这场袭击着德里的风暴。 7点32分他不幸中风死去。 据他的妻子说，当时他把咖啡杯掉在地毯上，身体笔直地坐在椅子上，瞪大眼睛，高声叫道：“这儿呢，这儿呢，好姑娘！看看你到底在干什么？再胡说，我就把你的村裙脱下来——”话没说完就从椅子上摔下去，咖啡杯压在身下，压碎了。7点49分位于原凯辰特纳铁制品厂的德里步行商业街上发生了一连串的爆炸。整个德里一片瘫痪。 The wind was blowing harder and harder. 7 艾迪带着大家在黑暗的地道里走了一个小时，可能一个半小时，最后不得不承认，他长这么大，第一次迷路了。他的语调与其说是恐惧，倒不如说是迷惑。 他们还能听见下水道里的轰隆隆的流水声。但是所有这些管道的声音效果糟糕透顶，根本辨别不出水声是来自前边还是身后，左边还是右边，头顶还是脚下。 比尔感到恐惧在心头升起。他好不容易才战胜了自己的恐惧。 但是恐惧还是挣扎着、扭曲着，悄悄地冒出头来。更糟糕的是，他们是否把它杀死了这个问题一直困扰着他。理奇说杀死了。麦克说杀死了。艾迪也这么说。但是他不喜欢贝弗莉和斯坦利脸上的那种惊恐和怀疑。 “那现在我们怎么办？”斯坦利问。比尔听出这个小男孩的声音有些颤抖，知道是在问他这个问题。 “是的，”班恩说，“怎么办？妈的，我希望我们有一把手电筒……哪怕一根蜡……蜡烛。”比尔听出他的声音有些哽咽。这比任何事情都更使比尔感到害怕。如果班思知道这一点一定会大吃一惊的。比尔一直以为这个胖男孩坚强、智慧，比理奇更执着，出了什么意外也轻易不会屈服。如果连班思都快要哭了，那么他们肯定是遇上大麻烦了。 还有一件事情困扰着他。但是那个概念大宽泛、太模糊，是他的疲倦的孩子的头脑抓不住的。也许正是这个想法的简洁使它更难以捉摸：他们相互之间离得越来越远了。整个夏天把他们紧紧地联系在一起的那条纽带在一点一点地消失。他们一起面对了它，征服了它。也许它伤得很重，会睡上一百年、一千年，甚至几千年。他们一起面对它，卸下所有面具的它。它很可怕——哦，真的！但是只要看它一眼，它的具体有形的外壳就不那么可怕了，它的最有威力的武器就被夺走了。以前他们都见过蜘蛛，可怕的爬行动物。他想他们谁也不可能再看到另外一只——（如果他们能出去的话） 而不感到一阵厌恶的战栗。但是蜘蛛就是蜘蛛。最后，当所有恐怖的面具都被摘掉之后，没有什么是人类的智慧无法战胜的。这个想法振奋人心。任何事情，除了——（死光） 不管那是什么吧。可能蹲伏在通往旷远的宇宙的那条通道上的那道有生命的光也死了或者快要死了。死光，还有通往死光的那次黑暗之旅在他的脑中都变得模糊了，都被忘却了。但是那还不是问题的实质。问题的关键是，他们之间那种默契的伙伴关系就要断裂了……就要断裂了，但是他们还在黑暗中。那“另外一个”，通过他们的友谊，使他们做到普通孩子做不到的事情。但是现在他们又变成了普通的孩子。每个人都感觉到了这一点变化。 “现在怎么办，比尔？”最后理奇直截了当地问他。 “我不、不、不知、知、知道。”比尔又结巴得说不出话来。他们站在黑暗中，品尝着不断增长的恐惧，怀疑不知再过多久就会有人——斯坦利，斯坦利最有可能——撕破黑暗，大声质问他：哦，为什么你不知道？是你使我们卷入这一切！ “碰到亨利怎么办？”麦克不安地问。“他还在这里吗，还是怎么了？” “哦，天啊。”艾迪几乎是在呻吟。“我竟忘了他了。他当然在这里，当然在这里，和我们一样迷了路。我们随时都可能撞见他们……天啊，比尔！你真的没有一点办法吗？” 比尔听着远处轰隆隆的流水声，好像在嘲笑他们，努力让自己接受这样一个事实：艾迪——他们每一个——都有权利质问他。是的，一点没错，是他把他们卷入这一切，他有责任把他们送回去。 可还是没有办法。There is no way. “我有办法。”贝弗莉轻声说。 黑暗中，比尔听到一阵声响。飒飒的低响，但并不令人感到惊恐。他听出了那是什么声响……拉锁。什么——他立刻明白了。她在脱衣服。不知什么原因，贝弗莉在脱衣服。 “你在干什么？”理奇感到十分震惊。 “我知道一样东西。”比尔觉得她的声音听起来很成熟。“我知道因为我爸爸告诉过我。我知道怎么才能使我们重新成为一个整体。如果我们不能团结在一起，那我们永远也走不出去。” “什么？”班恩感到十分困惑，又有些恐惧。 "what are you saying?" “一件可以把我们家永远联结在一起的东西。那件东西会表明” “不、不、不，贝、贝、贝弗莉！”比尔突然明白了一切。 “——那会表明我爱你们每一个人。”贝弗莉平静地说。“表明你们都是我的朋友。” “她在说——”麦克的话还没说完，就被贝弗莉打断了。“谁第一个来？”她问。 8 “我想他快死了。”她哭着说。“他的胳膊，它吃掉了他的胳膊——”贝弗莉伸开双臂，紧紧地搂住比尔。比尔推开了她。 “它又要逃跑了！”他冲着她大声吼道。鲜血已经在嘴唇、下巴上结成了块。“快、快、快追！理奇！班、班、班恩！这次、次我们一定要、要、要干、掉它！” 理奇转向比尔，好像看着一个不可救药的疯子一样看着他。 “比尔，我们得照顾艾迪。我们必须弄一个止血钳来，把他背出去。” 但是贝弗莉坐在那里，让艾迪枕着她的大腿，轻轻地抱着他。 她为他合上双眼。“跟比尔去，”她说，“如果你们让他这样白白死了……如果25年、50年、哪怕是2000年后它又回来了，我发誓……你们变成鬼我也不放过你们。快走！” 理奇犹豫地看了她一会儿。他觉察到她的脸变得模糊了，在弥漫开来的阴影里变成了一片惨白，光线暗淡下来。这使他下了决心。“好的。”他对比尔说。“这一次我们追到底。” 班恩正站在不断塌落的蛛网后面。他已经看到在高处来回摆动的那具活着的尸体，暗暗祈祷比尔不要抬头。 但是当那张大网一束一束塌落下来的时候，比尔抬起了头。 他看见奥德拉好像吊在一部古老的、吱吱嘎嘎的电梯里。她坠落10英尺，停住了，来回摇摆着，突然又坠落15英尺。她的表情没有任何变化，湛蓝的眼睛睁得大大的。一双赤脚像钟摆一样来回摇荡。她的头发散落在肩头。嘴微微张开着。 “奥德拉！”他大叫一声。 “比尔，快走！”班恩高声叫道。 蛛网塌落在他们周围，砸在地板上，发出巨大的声响。理奇一把抱住比尔的腰，用力一推，冲向一个10英尺高的缺口。“走，比尔！走！走！” “那是奥德拉！”比尔绝望地呼喊。“那、那是奥德拉！” “就是红衣主教，我他妈的也不管，”理奇严厉地说，“艾迪死了。如果它还活着，我们要杀死它。这一次我们一定要追到底，老大！不管它是活着，还是死了。好了，快走吧！” 比尔犹豫了一会儿。那些孩子，所有死去的孩子的照片，在他眼前闪过。 “好、好吧。我们快、快走。上、上、上帝原谅我、我吧。” 就在蛛网全部塌落下来之前，他和理奇从蛛网下冲过去，跑到班思身边。奥德拉裹在蚕茧一样的蛛丝里，拴在摇摇欲坠的大网上，悬挂在距地面50英尺高的地方。他们继续追赶它。 9 他们沿着它留下的乌黑血迹向前追赶。但是当地面逐渐升高到地穴尽头的一个半圆形的黑洞洞的出口的时候，班恩有了一点新发现：一行卵。每一个都有鸵鸟蛋那么大，外壳乌黑、粗糙，透出一缕烛光。班恩知道这些卵是半透明的；他能看见里面有黑乎乎的东西不停地在动。 它的孩子，他想。觉得自己的胃在翻腾。它的早产的幼仔。Oh, God!God! 理奇和比尔停住脚步，惊讶地看着那些卵。 “快追！快追！”班恩大声叫道。“我来对付这些！去抓住它！” “接着！”理奇扔给班恩一盒火柴。 班恩接住火柴。比尔和理奇继续往前追。借着微弱的光线，班恩注视着他们的背影。他低头看着第一个蛋壳薄薄的卵，看着里面黑乎乎、小鱼一样的影子，他的决心动摇了。这……嗨，伙计们，这太过分了。too terrifying.不用他动手，它们也会死。 但是它的生命就要结束了……一旦有一颗卵能够活下来……哪怕就一颗……拿出所有的勇气，想着艾迪苍白的脸，班恩一脚踩下去。只听扑味一声，一些羊水溅在他的鞋上。一只老鼠大小的蜘蛛挣扎着爬过去，想要逃跑。班恩的意识里听到了尖锐的叫声。 班恩赶忙跟上去，又踏上一脚。他感觉到那只小蜘蛛在他的脚下被碾得粉碎。班恩忍不住吐了出来。他用力转动鞋跟，直到意识中的叫声消失殆尽。 how many?有多少卵？我不是在什么书上看过蜘蛛可以产下几千个卵……几百万个？我坚持不下去，我会疯的——你必须这样做。你必须。来吧，班恩……拿出勇气来！ 一遍一遍地重复着：啪地一声脆响，羊水四溅，最后致命的一脚。Next.Next.Next.他一步一步向那个黑暗的拱门走去，周围一片彻底的黑暗，身后是贝弗莉和摇摇欲坠的蛛网。他还能听到蛛网塌落的声音。他找到一个卵，就点着一跟火柴，砸碎它。每一次他都能找到一个耀眼的小蜘蛛，在火光熄灭之前把它踩得粉碎。他不知道如果火柴用光了，他还没有把剩下的几颗卵处理掉的话该怎么办。 10 还是追来了。 它感觉到他们还在追赶，越来越近。而它的恐惧也越来越强烈。也许它真的不是永恒的——现在必须考虑这个不能想的问题。 更糟糕的是，它还感觉到它的孩子的死亡。有一个可恨的家伙把它的孩子一个一个踩死了。他恶心得几乎要疯了，但是还是不停地、机械地踩。 No!它嚎啕大哭，疯狂地扭动着肢体，感觉到它生命的力量在一点一点枯竭，从身上许许多多的伤口流出体外。这些伤口没有一处是致命的，但是每一处都撕心裂肺地疼，每一道伤口都使它步履艰难。一条腿只靠一丝皮肉联系着；瞎了一只眼睛。不知那个可恨的家伙往它的喉咙里喷了什么毒药，它感到五脏六腑都要炸开了。 他们还在追，越来越近。How is this possible?当它感觉到他们就在身后的时候，不由得发出一声哀嚎。现在它已经别无选择了：它转过身准备迎战。 11 在最后一缕光线渐渐消失，黑暗彻底降临之前，她看见比尔的妻子又猛地向下坠落20英尺，然后停在那个高度，开始像纺锤一样飞速旋转起来，红褐色的长发在空中飞舞。他的妻子，她想。但是我是他的初恋。如果他认为另外一个女人是他的初恋，那是因为他忘记了……忘记了德里。 她坐在无边的黑暗中，听着蛛网塌落的声音，陪伴着艾迪。她不想松开他，让他的头睡在那肮脏的地板上。于是她让艾迪枕着她的臂弯，轻轻地为他拨开额前的长发。她想起那些鸟儿……她想那是从斯坦利那儿学到的。可怜的斯坦利，他没有勇气面对这一切。 他们每一个……我是他们的初恋。 她努力地回想过去——在这死寂的黑暗中，回想过去是件温柔、美好的事情。过去的回忆使她不再感到孤独。起初零零星星的记忆总是被那些鸟儿打断——乌鸦、走鹃、掠鸟，那些在地上还堆满积雪的时候就回到德里的候鸟。她觉得总是在阴沉沉的天气里注意到这些鸟儿突然又回到德里，空气中到处都是叽叽喳喳的叫声。 它们落在电线上、树枝上，像周末玩宾果游戏的农村妇女一样煤蝶不休。一听到有人来了，轰地都飞上天空，黑压压的一片……然后又落在别的什么地方。 是的，那些鸟儿，我总是想起它们，因为我感到羞愧。是我父亲使我感到羞辱。也许那也是它的指使。Maybe. 记忆慢慢地浮现出来——躲在鸟儿背后的记忆——是还很模糊、断断续续。可能这样的记忆都是如此吧。她——她的思绪中断了，当她意识到艾迪——12艾迪第一个向她走来，因为他最害怕。他向她走过来，不是作为那个夏天的朋友，或者眼前片刻的情人，而是像个孩子，来到母亲身边寻求安慰；他没有避开她那光洁的裸体。假依着她，不住地颤抖。 疼痛消失了，艾迪突然停住了。她知道这种感觉对他很重要，很特殊，像……像在飞。她感到自己浑身充满了力量——能够摧毁一切的力量；感到一种精神上的狂喜；感到他们是如此贴近。“我爱你，贝弗莉。”艾迪的声音很低很低，其他的人都听不到他的表白。 也许她要劝服他们每一个，来认识人类的这种连结世界与无穷之间的纽带，来认识这个血肉之躯与永恒交界的地方。It doesn't matter.重要的是爱与渴望。 麦克向她走过来，然后是理奇、斯坦利、班恩、比尔。 比尔一言不发地离开她。她感到片刻的孤独。在黑暗中拉过衣服，慢慢地穿上。疼痛、疲倦、快乐、解脱、空虚，她无法用言语表达那样的感觉……脑子里只想着冬日惨淡的天空下光秃秃的树干，等待着3月末，积雪融化的时候，鸟儿的回归。 她摸索着，拉起他们的手。好大一会儿，大家都默默无语。当艾迪第一个开口的时候，她一点都不感到惊奇。“我想我们该往回走，转两个弯，再往左拐。天啊，我知道路，但是刚才我吓得昏了头——” “你这辈子总是昏头昏脑的，艾茨。”理奇听起来很轻松，刚才的恐惧早已烟消云散了。 “我们走错了好几个地方，”艾迪没理他接着说，“但是那是最糟糕的了。如果我们能走原来的那个地方，我们就能走出去。” 他们又排成一行，艾迪带路，贝弗莉双手搭在他的肩上，麦克扶着她的肩膀。他们又开始在黑暗中摸索。不过这一次快多了。艾迪一点也不紧张。 我们要回家了，她想，感到一阵轻松、喜悦的颤栗。是的，回家。回家真好。我们已经完成了我们的使命，现在我们可以回去了，做个无忧无虑的孩子。该多好啊。 他们穿过黑暗。她听到流水声越来越近了。