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skepticalcatfrog · 4 years

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Stay Ahead and Stay Alive Chapter 1

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Summary: When Bill Denbrough starts his third summer at Camp Half Blood, everything seems perfect. He's finally getting used to his cabin, he gets to see his friends again, and he's even getting the hang of fighting with a sword. But that perfection is quickly turned on its head when his little brother goes missing. Bill is determined to do whatever it takes to find him, even if that means he and his friends need to go to the Underworld.

Pairings: (Eventual) Reddie, Stenbrough, and Benverly

Word count: 3,254

Author's Notes: New series! This one isn't Sanders Sides, because I've recently gotten very into the It fandom, and I figured I'd try something new. For those of you who are currently reading Among The Stars, don't worry, that will still be continuing. Chapters might just be coming out a little slower than usual. Now, on to the important information! As some of you may have noticed, there's a new category under these notes. That's because this fic will be switching perspectives between the main characters from chapter to chapter. Enjoy!

POV: Bill Denbrough

I held my brother's hand tightly as we ran up Half Blood hill towards the camp boundaries. We weren't running from anything, just wanting to get to camp as fast as possible. I smiled when I saw the pine tree at the top of the hill, using my free hand to point towards it.

"N-not much further!" I glanced at my brother. "Think y-you can m-ma-make it?"

"Yup! You've got nothing to worry about!" Georgie said confidently, speeding up a little bit to prove his point. I just smiled a little wider.

We ran all the way up the hill and stopped only once we were sure we were past the boundaries, sitting down to try and catch our breath. We looked at each other then started laughing, for no reason in particular. I leaned back into the grass to get a better view of the sky. Georgie did the same. Everything was quiet for a moment, aside from the chatter from the other campers in the background. I just watched the clouds pass by. Then something (or someone, rather) blocked my view.

I smiled up at one of my best friends, Stanley Uris. He was the head counselor of the Athena cabin, and had been going to Camp Half Blood the longest out of all of us. Six years as of this summer, nearly twice as long as how many years I've been here. His eyes were a dark silver, like a sky full of storm clouds. He had brown hair, which was almost untamable due to how curly it was. If you got close enough, you'd notice freckles across his cheeks. Not that I'd ever gotten that close. He dressed like that kid in class who got straight A's every year, all button down shirts and khaki shorts. He offered me his hand and when I took it, he helped me stand up again.

"Hey, Bill. When did you get here?" He asked me, letting go of my hand quickly as soon as I was standing.

"Just now." I told him. Georgie stood up and was next to me again. "W-w-what about Richie and Eddie? Have y-you heard anything from th-them yet?"

"I have, yeah. Richie's only been here for four hours and he's already been to the infirmary twice. Eddie's taking care of him." Stan said. He gestured towards the infirmary. "It's nothing serious though, so he should be out again soon."

"Figures." I laughed. "S-s-sometimes it's li-like he does it on p-p-p-purpose."

As if on cue, Richie Tozier sauntered out of the infirmary, followed closely by a clearly frustrated Eddie Kaspbrak. Richie was a Hermes kid, which meant he was prone to getting into trouble. And more often than not, he would end up getting hurt. Then he would go to the infirmary, where he would be patched up and then scolded by Eddie. Eddie was an Apollo kid. He was probably one of the most qualified people in the infirmary, because he knew an unhealthy amount about diseases. He was like a tiny ball of anger and medical supplies. As they got closer to us, I could hear their conversation a little more clearly. But they didn't stop walking, so we just had to walk right alongside them.

"Arts and crafts? Are you kidding me? How do you get hurt in arts and crafts?" Eddie's nose scrunched up as he spoke.

"It's the beads, Eds. Their sharp edges will get you when you least expect it." Richie shrugged.

"The beads?! The beads are round, Richie. They have no sharp edges." Eddie's mouth was running a mile a minute, like a fast-forwarded recording. "The box says three and up. Are you over three? Because last time I checked, you were. But sometimes I can't tell based on how often you do stupid things. First it was the rock wall accident, now this. You do know that we don't have contests at the infirmary, right? You won't get a prize for being our most frequent customer."

"It was an accident!" Richie held his hands up in an 'I surrender' motion. Then he finally noticed me, Georgie and Stanley. "Hey, Stan the Man, answer me a question. Is it possible to cut yourself on a bead?"

"Maybe if it broke in half, then it might have a sharper edge. Otherwise, no, not possible. Especially not by accident." Stan shook his head.

"Aha! I was right." Eddie poked Richie on the shoulder. He suddenly remembered that there were other people there, and turned towards me and Georgie. "Oh, hi, by the way."

"Hey." I waved at him.

"Hi!" Georgie waved even more enthusiastically. He looked up to my friends for some reason, which was probably a mistake. Really the only good role model in our group was Stan.

"Speaking of our good friend Bill, what are your plans for this summer Mr. Son of Aphrodite?" Richie nudged me with his elbow. "Maybe finally asking Beverly out?"

Oh, right. Beverly Marsh. Beverly was the current Oracle of Delphi, plus the girl who I'd had a confusing relationship with since I first got to camp. Everyone thought we liked each other, and I guess it was kind of true, but there wasn't really anything there anymore.

"Since when do you like Beverly?" Stan asked, looking around at everything except for me.

"I-I-It's complicated." I sighed. "Long story sh-short, I'm p-p-probably not going to ask her out."

"Did you know that they kissed two years ago? There weren't many witnesses, but there were a few, so you can ask them if you don't believe me." Richie said, his voice just a little too loud for my liking.

"Oh m-my gods Richie c-c-could you please just be quiet?" I hissed, my charmspeak kicking in near the end. Some children of Aphrodite, including me, can use charmspeak. To put it simply, it's kind of like hypnosis. For example, when I said that, Richie finally decided to shut up.

"Speaking of Beverly…" Stan muttered.

There she was, waving at us from the mess hall. Her curly red hair had grown a bit since she'd cut it near the end of last summer, but her icy blue eyes were still the same. She also had freckles, and when I say freckles I mean a lot of them. She walked up to us, hands in her pockets.

"Hey, guys! I haven't seen you yet, when did you get here?" She asked.

"I've been here the whole time." Stan crossed his arms. He stayed at camp year-round, instead of leaving at the end of the summer like the rest of us. I never really knew why, but he always said it was because he knew he'd be safer there.

"Well obviously I know that, you do that every year. But I haven't seen any of them yet." Beverly gestured to the rest of us. "What have you guys been up to?"

"Me and Billie just got here. We ran from the car all the way up the hill, and it was so fun!" Georgie told her, practically jumping up and down from excitement. A small smile grew on my face and I nodded, confirming the story.

"Richie got here a few hours ago, but he's been too busy in the infirmary to do anything." Eddie scowled "He's already been there twice in the four hours he's been here, and I've had to take care of him. I thought that maybe this year he wouldn't get hurt as much, but I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. Like seriously, how hard is it to just-"

"That's nice, Eddie." Beverly cut him off. The rest of us let out a sigh of relief, because we knew that if she hadn't done that, then Eddie could've gone on for hours. "I've got to get going, but hopefully I'll see you guys later!"

"Y-yeah, hopefully!" I waved as she walked away. Richie started clapping quietly.

"Bravo, encore!" He teased. "You're a true poet Bill, you really do have a way with words."

"Leave him alone, Rich. At least he tried." Stan's sharp gray eyes glared at Richie.

"Yeah, a-at least I t-tri-tried." I echoed. Sometimes I just didn't know what to say, but for some reason Stanley always seemed to be able to think of something. "Georgie and I still need to g-get settled in, so we'll b-b-be in our cabin if you n-need us."

"Okay. I actually have to go too, they'll probably need counselors to deal with new campers." Stan nodded.

"I'll go too then." Richie went to follow Stan.

"Richie, you're not a counselor. The whole camp would be in flames if you were a counselor. You can go with Eddie, I'm sure you'll be able to find something to do." Stan pointed to our blond friend, who was indignant.

"Nope, no, not a chance. I have important things that I need to do, and I don't need Richie to be there while I do them." Eddie protested.

"Too bad then, I guess." Richie wrapped his arm around Eddie's shoulders, which Eddie immediately pushed away. "Looks like we're stuck with each other, Eddie Spaghetti."

"Fine. But I really do have work to do, so don't be distracting." Eddie turned around and started walking away, Richie following him.

"Alright, well, just find me if you need anything. If we don't get a chance to talk then I'll see you tomorrow." Stan waved and went back to his cabin. Georgie and I went to ours as well.

The Aphrodite cabin was definitely intense, if you were looking for a way to describe it. The first thing you'd notice would be the smell of things like perfume, hairspray, and nail polish. It would hit you like a brick wall the second you walked through the door. Posters of various celebrities were all over the pink walls, and a circular rug sat in the center of the room. There was a row of beds on one wall, and another one on the opposite side of the room. Everything was very neat and orderly, except for a few stray love letters. They came to the Aphrodite cabin regularly, since most of my half siblings were the subjects of many crushes at camp. Multiple small chandeliers hung from the ceiling, being the only light source aside from the windows. Overall, it was never boring in cabin 10. There was always some sort of activity, and no matter what it was, it always caused excitement.

My brother and I put our bags down on our respective beds, and unpacked all of our stuff. Some other campers had gotten there earlier than we had, and were already settled in. By the time we had all of our stuff put away, we had to go to the mess hall for dinner. The tables were sorted by cabin, so I didn't get to sit next to any of my friends. The table for the Hermes cabin was always more crowded than anywhere else, because it held all the children of Hermes, as well as kids who didn't know who their godly parent was yet. I remember staying there for a while at the beginning of my first year at Camp Half Blood. It was where I'd met Richie. After dinner, we all sat around the campfire for a little while. We sang songs, talked, and told jokes until it was completely dark out. Georgie looked like he was about to fall asleep where he sat by the end of it. I couldn't blame him, the first day of camp was always tiring. We walked back to our cabin and got ready for bed.

It felt like forever before I started to fall asleep. I was tired, but for some reason I just couldn't sleep. I got there eventually, but then I was woken up by a tapping on my face. I opened my eyes, and what I saw was Georgie sitting next to my bed and tapping me on the forehead.

"Georgie, w-what are you s-s-still doing up?" I whispered. I didn't want to disturb anyone else.

"I'm not tired. I slept for a little while, but then I woke up, and now I'm not tired anymore." Georgie explained quietly, a small pout on his face.

"Well what do y-you want me to d-d-do about i-it?" I asked.

"Let's go on an adventure!" Even with the whispering, the excitement in his voice was clear.

"Georgie, you know we're n-not supposed to be out thi-this late." I shook my head.

"Since when do you care about the rules?" He asked. I couldn't deny that he was right, I'd snuck out even later than that many times. I hesitated.

"Fine." I reluctantly got out of bed. My brother grinned.

"Yes! I knew you'd do it!" He stood up.

I quickly got dressed and grabbed a flashlight from my bag. I looked out the window. The magical barrier around the camp kept bad weather out, but I could tell it was raining outside the border.

"Get your j-j-jacket." I told Georgie. We usually ended up wandering outside the boundaries of camp anyway, so I figured wearing our jackets would be a safe choice. "It c-could be cold in the ra-ain."

"Okay." He nodded, getting his raincoat.

We left once I had my jacket on. I put the hood up, because since it was a dark color, I would be less visible. Plus it would protect my head when we were in the rain. I didn't turn my flashlight on yet, either. I knew we were outside the barrier when I heard the pattering of the raindrops hitting the hood of my jacket. I flipped the switch on my flashlight and saw the beam of light spring forward, illuminating a path ahead of us.

"Well, we're h-here. What now?" I asked, glancing at my brother. He looked around and thought for a moment.

"Let's go… that way." He pointed towards a forest that had a dirt road cutting through the middle. He immediately started walking, and I had to walk a little faster just to keep up with him.

I slowly started to lose my nervousness about being in the woods that late. We weren't even supposed to be out of our cabins at night, let alone out of the camp completely. It was like a free meal for monsters. But I'd left camp so many times before that I barely thought about it.

"At least the t-tr-trees block most of the r-rain." I held out my hand and only felt a couple of raindrops hit it.

"But there are still puddles on the ground!" Georgie stepped in one of the puddles, then frowned and looked down at his feet. He didn't have rain boots on, only sneakers. "Oh… now my feet are all wet."

"D-d-do you want to g-go back to camp?" I reached out and took his hand. He had a tendency to run off when he saw something interesting, and I just didn't want to lose him.

"No, I'm fine." He shook his head, starting to walk again as if nothing had happened. "They'll get dry again in a little while."

"Okay, if you're sh-sure." I nodded.

Suddenly, a steep hill stood right in our path. It was so tall that we couldn't see what was on the other side. I let go of my brother's hand.

"I'm just going to ch-check and see i-i-if it's safe on the other s-side." I looked at Georgie, and my charmspeak kicked in. I knew he probably would've done whatever I said anyway, but I wasn't going to take any chances. "I n-need you to stay right here until I get back, okay?"

"Okay." He nodded. I started to walk away, and he stood completely still as I did.

I climbed up the side of the hill. It was steep, and the grass was slick with rain, so I had to hold on to trees to stop myself from slipping. It was even more difficult to climb down the other side. I didn't fall, but I did slide about half the way down. Once I regained my footing, I looked around for a moment. All that was on the other side of the hill was more forest, there didn't seem to be anything too bad. I was about to turn around and climb back up the hill… and that's when I heard it.

"BILLIE!" My brother cried out from the other side of the hill.

My eyes widened and I could feel my heart beating. I turned around and started running, but I didn't get very far up the hill before I fell forward and slid down again. I got back up and tried again, now covered in mud. I used the trees to brace myself as I dashed up the hill as fast as I could. I slipped again when I got to the top, and sliding down the other side felt almost like falling into Tartarus. At the bottom of the hill, I was met with my worst fear. A puddle of water, stained red. My brother was nowhere to be found.

My hand started to shake, and my grip tightened on the flashlight I was holding. I started to run, as fast as I could, back the way we'd come from. I didn't stop to think, I didn't stop to collect myself, I just ran. My hood flew off of my head, but I didn't care. When the camp was in my sights I sped up. The second I was past the border I stopped, looking around frantically. No one would be awake, I wasn't even supposed to be awake, so who could I go to? I could only think of one person who might be able to help me.

I opened the door to the Athena cabin as quietly as I could in my panicked state. When I saw Stanley, I knelt down next to his bed and put my hand on his shoulder. He was completely asleep. I shook him a little bit.

"Stan? Stanley?" I tried to be quiet, but it wasn't easy. "Stanley Uris I s-swear, if you don't w-wake up right n-n-now-"

"I know, you can't sleep, but that doesn't mean you have to-" Stanley muttered. He opened his eyes, but his eyelids were heavy from drowsiness. When he saw me, he seemed to wake up a little more. "Bill? Why are you here, you're supposed to be asleep. And why are you covered in mud?"

"I'll explain l-later, right now I just n-n-need your help." I told him, wiping the tears from my face.

"What's wrong, what happened?" Stan sat up, suddenly becoming much more alert.

"I-I-It's Georgie, he's m-m-m-m-m-" I could barely get the word out. Because saying it made it real, and I knew it couldn't be real.

"It's okay, just breathe." Stan was about to take my hand, but he hesitated, and decided against it. "Everything's going to be okay. Now, do you think you can tell me what happened?"

"Georgie… is m-missing. We w-were out in the w-w-woods, and I l-l-left him alone, and now..." I burst into tears, burying my face in my hands. "Shit, I left him a-a-alone!"

Stan seemed surprised at my sudden outburst. "Are you sure? Are you sure it wasn't just a bad dream?"

"Y-y-yes, of course I'm sure!" I looked up again and met his eyes. "And I n-need you to help me f-find him."

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