Author's note; For my normal followers, you will notice that I removed my original story "Clown dance" the sequel to "Falling" And the reason for that was because I was not happy with how the story was turning out, and I found myself at a standstill on how to continue it.
And so without further to do, I would like to post my normal warnings of Violence, Goor, Sexual content, Bad language, and anything else you might expect to see in a fiction based off of a Stephen King Novel.
This story is a continuation of my previous work "Falling" I recommend you go and read that before tackling this one, as it will make no sense otherwise. Thank you and please enjoy.
December, 2043; Flagstaff Arizona
December had consisted of hellish snowstorms for the residents of Flagstaff. Already over ten inches of snow in this one month alone, no one even wanted to consider what January was going to be like. Unfortunately, despite the nasty storms, there was just no feasible way to keep schools closed for snow days. With the winter breaks approaching quickly teachers had been trying to get as much information into their students heads as possible, bumping up the amount of homework and having more and more tests to make sure it was locked in for the break. For Damien Lee and Jacqueline Romohov, this was a whole new type of hell. Being ten years old and wanting to go outside and make snowmen and go sledding down the hill, the amount of homework they were given was nothing more than chains, keeping them inside their stuffy homes, surrounded by their older, less fun siblings.
It was particularly cold when school got out that Friday afternoon, the wind blew snow up into their faces as they walked down Sixth street towards the apartment buildings the two friends lived in. Both of them lived in single parent households, were the adults had to work full time. Normally they would wait for Damien's older brother to come and pick them up, but Jason was out of town on a band trip, so they walked.
It wasn't too bad for a while, the two of them squeezing out of the massive crowds of children all scrambling to get into cars or a bus, before making their way down the small road towards home, having to almost yell at each other as they talked.
"Why did Mrs. Holmes have to give us this much homework?" Jacquelin asked as she rubbed her hands together, the fur of her coat hood tickling her forehead. "I mean, isn't it bad enough that we can't go outside most of the time anyway?!"
"She's a teacher!" Damien replied. "It's her job to make us miserable!"
They both laughed as their feet crunched on the sidewalk, luckily someone had come by and shoveled this part of it earlier today, the banks almost taller than their heads on the side of the road. Damien was trying his best to keep his scarf from blowing up into his face, holding down with his mittened hands as he struggled against the wind. He was happy for the scarf, it was a birthday present from his grandma, who he loved very much. He had always wanted to ask her to teach him how to knit, but Jason had always told him that knitting was something a girl did. Why that mattered, he had no idea, but he didn't want to get teased about it.
Still, though, the scarf had saved him from a good portion of the cold this winter, and for that he was very grateful. The downside was, however, was that it was very long, and had the unfortunate tendency to bop him on the face when the wind got super hard. Now, he had to keep his hand pressed against its tail, looking like an old man who was hard of breathing whenever he walked outside with it.
"Do you think your mom will let you come over during the break?" He asked his best friend, looking up at her. She had grown really tall, taller than him, but he didn't care. She was still the funnest person in the school. "Dad said the snow should stop by then, and we could have a sleepover with Parker maybe?"
"I don't know, Damien." She said, her dark eyes squinting to see through the snow. "Momma says she doesn't like the idea of me staying over at a boys house. Something about it being innapropriate. I don't know why."
"That's weird." Damien said shaking his head as he looked around him. They were across the street from the skatepark now. They would have to pass it in order to get home, but he really wished they didn't. The park was almost always empty, and when it wasn't it was strange people who were there. Old stinky men with raggedy beards or women with baggy clothes and knots in their hair. Jason had told him once that it had been the scene of a murder once, when their mom was a kid, and since then most people avoided it. Damien didn't fully believe his big brother, but it was still creepy.
The two of them stood at the crosswalk, waiting for the light to change as the wind howled around them. Damien was keeping an eye on the park, looking through the iron fence at the dips and hills covered in white. As the light changed and they started to cross the street, Damien squinted in to the park. It wasn't all white, there was something red there. As soon as they were up on the sidewalk again, he nudged Jacqueline and pointed it out. She squinted at it, holding her hood back from falling into her face.
"What is that?" she asked, calling over the wind. Damien shrugged and walked up the small rocky slope to the gate, holding onto the bars to get a better look.
"I...think it's a balloon…." He called back, staring at it. Jacqueline joined him at the gate and looked in.
"I think your right. What's it doing in there, and why hasn't it popped or blown away in the wind?"
"How should I know?" Damien said as he started to pull away, nudging at her shoulder. "Come on, we're' almost home and its cold. Lets get inside and thaw out."
Jacqueline nodded and started to step away when another voice called out, high and sweet, a friendly voice.
"Hey there, kiddos! Would you like a balloon?"
The two friends turned back to the skate park and, much to their surprise, saw a clown. He was standing there, holding the balloon they had seen earlier. At first Damien was shocked, how had he not seem him before, but as the clown smiled at them with his buck teeth and red lips, he couldn't help but smile back. How some people thought of clowns was beyond him, all he had ever known of them was that they were funny people. Damiend stepped back up the bars as the clown strode forward, bending down to look the two kids in the eyes. He was dressed all in silver, maybe that's how he had missed him before, though that didn't explain him missing the red hair.
"It's awfully cold for two kids to be walking around." The clown said with a smile. "What are you doing out here in this terrible storm?"
"We just got out of school, and we're on our way home." Jacqueline said, holding a hand on Damien's shoulder. "If we're not home within the hour our parent's will worry…."
Damien looked at her for a moment and saw her face. She looked nervous, despite the friendly smile on her wind worn face. Her dark skin standing out stark against the white backdrop. She looks really pretty actually. He thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"Oh, don't worry don't worry, I was just on my way to meet up with the circus myself, had to do some shopping!" The clown said, raising a plastic bag that looked like it came from a nearby store. "I won't take up your time! But I was so shocked to see a couple of kids out in this storm that I was worried! Then I saw you looking at the balloon and I thought, you know what, Pennywise, those kids look pretty miserable out there in the snow. Go and give em a balloon, that'll make em happier, and help make sure cars see them in the storm!"
The clown smiled again, his blue eyes light and friendly as the kids giggled a bit. Jackie relaxed a little bit and shrugged.
"Sure, we'll take a balloon, but then we gotta get going." She said. The clown smiled and separated a string from the cluster he had in his hand, holding it out to her. She reached out and took it, and started to pull it forward but it got caught on the bars and popped on impact with the cold metal. The clown, Pennywise apparently, gasped and looked sad for a moment before shaking his head, the slight sound of bells barely piercing through the dull of the wind.
"Well that won't work. Here, there's a gave over there, right next to the road and within view of those apartments." He said, pointing at their own apartment buildings on the hills. "Meet me over there and I'll hand them to yah through the gate, that way they won't pop on yah!" He gave a light, childish giggle. The kids laughed and nodded in return before stumbling back down onto the pavement and walking around towards the gate. Jackie kept an eye on the clown, Damien noticed, as they walked. Watching him keep to the edge of the park, avoiding the bowls and the ditches that surrounded the gate.
"I didn't realise there was a circus in town." Damien said, catching her attention. "Do you think we might be able to go if the weather clears up?"
"I dunno…" She said, frowning a little as she saw the clown trip over something in the snow, catching himself with a little hop. "I don't think I've ever seen a circus in town, or even heard of one up here…."
"He seems nice though. Maybe we can ask if their setting up here or just passing through?"
"Damien...didn't your papa ever tell you not to trust strangers?" She asked, giving him a look that made her look way to much like her own Mom.
"Well yeah…." Damien said with a sheepish smile. "But, like...we're right in front of the apartments and you told him that we had people waiting for us. I think we're pretty safe….besides, you agreed to take a balloon so you aint got no place to talk!"
She laughed and shrugged. He had a point. So they made their way to the gate were the clown was waiting. He opened the gate up and smiled down at the two of them, holding out the balloons for them to take.
"Here ya go!" He said with a grin. Damien took his and looked at his happily, then Jackie went to take hers but stopped. His eyes were yellow. She frowned a little bit and started to pull her hand away when one, extremely hot, gloved hand reached up and took her arm.
"What's the matter Jackie? Don't you want a balloon?" The clown's voice was different now. Still light but it seemed heavier somehow. Almost like a growl. She tried to pull her hand away but his grip was too strong. The clown smiled wider and were buck teeth once stood out was now a jagged, sharp smile. Jackie was a about to scream when those teeth lunged forward, sinking into her arm and crunching, ripping, pulling. Her cry was caught in her throat, the pain instantly sending her into shock. She was barely aware of Damien's cry for help before he too, was silenced by a large hand clamping over his mouth. Jacqueline felt herself start to fall on to the red snow when a long, ropy arm picked her up and started to carry both of them away. She was still alive, and even aware, but she couldn't move or speak. She watched as a trail of blood followed the clown's footsteps, dripping from the bony stump that had once been her arm.
Damien was struggling and kicking, screaming against the hand that was dragging him forward, his eyes darting this way and that as the clown carried them towards an open grate that lead into a large tunnel in a ditch. The clown entered the tunnel and the grate closed behind them, leaving them in darkness, with just the faintest of light coming in behind them as they continued onward.
Damien looked over at Jackie, was was laying limp over the clown's shoulder, her eyes were just staring at the floor behind them. Oh god...is….is she dead? He thought to himself. He had no idea, he had never seen a dead person. He watched her, trying to scream out her name as he continued to kick, and she blinked. Oh, good, she was still alive, but her arm...her arm was gone.
He was feeling sick to his stomach, and as the tunnel continued to get darker and darker he felt his own body go limp, losing the energy to fight. She had been right, why had he trusted the clown? Why had he wanted a balloon so badly? Balloons were for babies….And darkness took him.