1
Derry was hot this time of year. As I sun bathed at the lake, I merely thought about how this school year was going to turn out. It would be my second year. 10th grade. Soph-o-more. I inhaled in silence wondering what I was going to wear. I heard light bubbling coming from the water and I lifted my head a bit watching as a shade of red suddenly darted from the water, a white, screaming form, running at me. Its head shaking and its body vibrating wildly as it rushed me. The rocks were kicking up everywhere as he ran upon land and I sat up only to be hit in the forehead.
"Ow!" I screamed and now the tall creature stopped above me and I frowned grabbing a rock. "You jerk, you hit me!" I threw the rock at him now and he recoiled with a mild yelp of his own.
"Ow!" he imitated me and now began to smile wide, rows of sharp teeth appearing. "Awww lighten up little buttercup. I was only trying to scare you." He slithered behind me and I just frowned more feeling him sit behind me. I feel his white seemingly gloved hand grip my chin and turn me to face him. He examines my forehead, gold eyes, look calm and almost human. He's full.
"Darn. Didn't draw blood." he pouted and slithered back in front of me now.
"Oh wow thanks for the concern." I said and he shrugged and pulled something out from behind him and immediately he began to munch on it. Blood dripped onto the rocks between us. I stood up now in shock.
"What is that?" I asked and he twisted his body up twice before turning a third time to hide what he had. "What are you eating?" He gave a guttural and sinister growl in reply but I kept my hands on my hips.
"Pennywise the dancing clown… what are you eating?" I asked firmly and he glanced behind himself before showing me slowly. In his hand, from elbow down, was a small child's arm. I frowned with disapproval and looked up at him. He was still chewing on what was in his mouth when he looked at me innocently.
"What?" he asked. I sighed and shook my head. I was used to him showing up usually knowing on something like a dog. His victim, I hoped he or she didn't suffer.
"Nothing. There's no point. I have to go, school starts tomorrow, and I need to get home before my dad worries about me." I said turning from him. Pennywise's entire body flattened almost in sadness which I could tell he wasn't what he was really feeling. He was a monster he couldn't feel.
"Leaving so soon?" he asked suddenly gliding before me. I looked up at him and nodded.
"Yes." I said. He tucked the hand away.
"But I just got here. I do have a reason for visiting my little survivor." he said wickedly moving closer to me now. He smelled like popcorn, buttery popcorn. I couldn't tell if he was using this scent because he needed it to lure a child or for the fact I liked popcorn.
"Okay then. Why has my demonic guardian angel come to speak to me?" I asked. He grinned wide again, this time his buck teeth taking place.
"I want more children. I want you to bring them to me." he said. I tilted my head.
"Why? You have been doing a pretty good job hunting on your own… actually you have always been good at hunting on your own." I said walking around him. Now I felt long arms twirl around my body from shoulders to my ankles. I stared off into the forest with annoyance.
"I know, but this will be a good bonding experience… for the both of us. We did make a deal remember?" he purred in my ear.
"Yes but only because I wasn't afraid of you as a child, I loved clowns, but I wasn't stupid enough to let you lure me." I said.
"Oh but you were. When you shook my hand and signed your life to me: Be my human vessel in this world, our spirits linked, so I may hunt longer with less sleep feeding on the fear of others, and in return, I take the life of your mother and with promises you will never be harmed, and when you grow older, you will become my mate and feast with me and together, we will be stronger than any creature imaginable. That is my gift to you. You have to learn some time." His words wrapped around my brain and during my younger days, I didn't know what I was getting into.
"In a way you tricked me and got you what you want." I said.
"But you're still alive." he added and I just looked down some.
"Maybe when I am older and more mature." I said he sneered.
"You said this when you were smaller. You are bigger now." he said squeezing me to his chest now. I nodded looking at more intently.
"You don't understand human development." I said. He now unraveled himself from me and spun before me placing his finger under his chin and looking up.
"Yes I do. You start out as a kid then you become an adult. Right now you are in the second stage of growth before being an adult but after being a tasty child." he said with excitement. I stared at him for a moment before looking away.
"I am not ready." I said and he pouted and huffed.
"How long must I wait?" he snapped some. I smirked and raised my hand to meet his cheek. He recoiled almost, but when he saw where my hand was going, he moved into my touch. I used to be cautious of having close contact with him, this demon that destroyed lives, but now his existence is second nature to me.
"I am only sixteen. Let me have some fun before I dedicate my life to you." I said and he smiled wide now.
"Fun? You want to know fun? I'll show you fun." he said before crouching and jumping high into the air doing a back flip into the water before disappearing yet again. I inhaled some and turned and moved back into the forest. He was going to kill again, and when he did, it would be brutal…
Monday Morning
"Camilla! Camilla, I hope you are dressed, the bus will be here any minute to pick you up for school!" I hear my dad shouting from down stairs. I stared at myself in the mirror for a moment. Mocha skin shined beneath the light of my bathroom. Long wavy hair as black as the night. Hazel eyes that has managed to capture the purest of evils. I hear the music of a jack-in-the- box playing and I glance at the closet for a second hearing an ecstatic giggle.
"Have fuuuun at school Milla." he growled some. I smiled gently wondering what trouble I would get into today.
"Thanks Penny. I'll come see you after school." I said. It was silent for a moment before I heard joyous clapping. I left my room wearing a navy-blue dress that buttoned up in the front and some black stockings and boots. I moved into the kitchen and saw my dad looking at me from over his newspaper.
"You're not wearing that to school, are you?" he asked. I nodded.
"Yes." I said lowly glancing at him and he sighed placing the newspaper down.
"My darling daughter, you must be aware of what you wear and how you present yourself. Another kid has already gone missing." he said holding up his newspaper revealing the face of a white brunette-haired boy. The headline below him read: Missing Georgie Denbrough. I didn't know him, but I watched him from across the street as Pennywise dragged him into the darkness, giving me a wink before disappearing. I nodded.
"Of course, Dad." I said gently and he got up moving over to me placing his hands on my shoulders. He's a large man, been working out since before I was born. He easily got a construction job when he and my mom moved here years ago.
"I just want you to be careful, always remain aware of your surroundings." he said. Next to Pennywise, my dad is my life. I hugged him and he wrapped his arms around me, already his large arms squeezed the breath out of me.
"You gonna eat here or at school?" he asked.
"School." I said and he nodded digging into his pocket.
"Then here's some money for breakfast and lunch." he said giving me two twenty-dollar bills. I smiled up at him and nodded.
"Thank you." I said into his chest before hearing the bus pull up and honk a few times.
"Go on now." he said and I nodded and turned and left from the kitchen, "and stay away from that Hockstetter boy! He and his knuckle head friends keep comin' round here!"
"Yes sir!" I called out with a smirk. Patrick Hockstetter and his group of friends were the school bullies, ones I hoped to taint in ways of my own. I left the house and saw the bus. I smirked and got on the rowdy bus. Some of the girls sneered and glared, while a few others smiled and waved. Some of the boys stared and whispered to their friends about me. I sat in the back and just felt the bus move. I saw a storm drain coming into view and as I passed it, I could have sworn I saw a pair of gold eyes looking directly at me.