Bruce began growling at the dark hallway; Sasha glanced up from her book in the direction Bruce was snarling at. She sat up from her position on the bed, setting her feet on the ground and stared at the darkness.
She narrowed her eyes in suspicion and reached under the armchair cushion to grab her switchblade.
"Sasha," a voice softly echoed throughout the building, she couldn't quite pinpoint where the sound was coming from.
The Doberman stood up as she did, the hair on his back standing up and his sharp teeth peeking through
Sasha remained still in the middle of the reading room and listened for anything out of the ordinary. Her demeanor calm and cold, she scanned the room, the lights began flickering before completely shutting off. The dog growled even louder.
"Easy Bruce," she calmed
"Poor little Sasha, all alone in such a strange town, no family, no friends?" The voice spoke up again, except this time from behind her
Sasha whipped out her knife and placed it behind her back, turning her head to see a dark shadow in front of the glass window. The sound of thunder cracking through the walls of the old house, it was nearly sundown. Sasha tried focusing her eyes to better see through the darkness.
"What do you want?" she asked
The figure let out a low chuckle, "I've been watching you Sasha, you're a special one aren't you?"
Sasha clenched her jaw and stared at the shadow, "by special you mean outcast? Sure why not," she took a step back
The figure chuckled again; suddenly Sasha could see his two ember orbs glowing in the darkness. Bruce stood in front of Sasha, protecting her from the unwanted visitor.
"What a nice dog," he said, despite seeing his face, Sasha could sense the grin on his face
"He's not too fond of people who invade his home," Sasha stated
The figure remained silent, "you have the mark of a serpent on your arm."
Sasha scrunched her face in confusion, "I'm not gonna' ask you again, what do you want?"
"What an interesting accent, no doubt from the city I assume?"
But before Sasha could respond, a bright flash of lightning flashed through the window, the figure disappearing in the process. Bruce began barking but remained by Sasha's side. She stood still for a minute or so before lifting her hand and snapping her fingers, turning on the lights in the house.
Sasha didn't see anything further, wondering if the intruder had gone. She let out a sigh of relief; she closed her eyes and turned around only for her throat to meet a long gloved hand squeezing her windpipe. She could finally see who it was, his plaster white skin, and a bright red smile that went all the way up to his eyes. His bright gold eyes pierced Sasha's green orbs; his grin became wide with delight as he gripped onto her small neck.
Bruce growled and jumped up to bite Sasha's attacker, the clown's attention left the young woman as he swiped his arm across the canine's jaw, knocking it to the opposite end of the room breaking the glass that was on the table. Sasha grunted and grappled onto his wrist with one hand.
The clown cackled once again, "your just too much fun aren't you?"
Sasha gritted her teeth but remained silent; the clown frowned at her refusal to participate in his games. He squeezed harder and she slightly wheezed in pain, shutting her eyes. He smiled at her pain and leaned in closer to her face.
"You're not human are you?" he asked, his curiosity peeking with childlike mannerisms
Sasha opened her eyes, staring coldly at the clown, "who are you?"
The clown smiled, his crooked teeth peeking through his blood stained lips. He released his pressure on Sasha's neck and gave a small bow to introduce himself.
"I'm Pennywise, the dancing clown," he replied, the faint sound of bells jingling off his suit at his movements
Sasha remembered seeing his picture before in Derry's history books, subtle hints at his existence buried in the almost untouched literature to the unusual history of the small town.
"So you're the reason for all the missing people in this town," she uttered in disdain
Pennywise chuckled with pride, "not a fan of my work?"
Sasha gave a look of disdain, "I'm not too fond of people who harm children."
Pennywise examined her features, as if he'd never come in contact with someone long enough to really look up close, her silver hair falling over her flustered face. His eyes fell back onto her dragon tattoo that covered most of her hands and wrist, Sasha took note of his intense focus on her arm and how he seemed so transfixed on it.
"It's a dragon," she said
His eyes shot back up to hers, his demeanor almost innocent in a way.
"My tattoo," she finished
Pennywise quirked his head, "why a dragon?"
Sasha watched him, "I didn't have much of a choice in that."
This peaked the clown's interest; she wondered what was going on in his head. What twisted schemes might be brewing in his head.
"No, you didn't have much of a choice in anything throughout your life did you?" Pennywise grinned
Sasha grimaced at his words, "you don't know shit."
Pennywise raised his brows in amusement, squeezing her throat harder, "pretty girls like you shouldn't say such nasty words."
He towered over small frame; Pennywise lifted her from the floor and smelled her, closing his eyes while he took in her scent.
"You don't smell afraid," he admitted irritably, he raised his hand as it transformed into a sharp claw through his glove and scratched Sasha on her cheekbone, making a deep gash. She winced at the pain and flinched away from his grasp, but to no avail.
He brought his finger to his mouth and tasted her blood, letting the flavor soak, "your blood tastes delicious!"
Sasha raised her foot to lie on his abdomen and leaned in, "it's not for you," she hissed and whipped her knife around to slice his large forehead, he howled in pain while his hand shot up to his head. Sasha flipped back and landed on her feet, fumbling a bit to catch her balance and hold her throat.
She stood up and turned to Bruce, who was standing behind the clown.
"Bruce. Fetch." She ordered
The dog seemed completely unharmed and his eyes were red, his growling louder than a regular dog's should be. Pennywise turned to face the canine; he sprinted towards the clown and opened its jaws. The clown growled and raised his arm to prevent the dog from chomping down on his face.
The dog was strong and Pennywise realized its color was changing to a pitch black colors, aside from its red eyes. The clown gripped onto the hound's neck with his claw and threw the dog into the guest room; it landed on the ground and twisted to head back out the door.
The door suddenly slammed shut and Pennywise could hear the hard scratching and growling of the beast behind it. He snarled and turned to see Sasha was gone, he glanced around the room and slowly walked over towards the front door, only to see it was wide open.
He then heard the sound of an engine rumbling, he glanced out the window to see Sasha speed past on her bike. He stared at her while she drove off, he then turned his head to the shut door, realizing the noise had stopped. They were both gone.
Pennywise smiled in amusement and as if a flip of a switch frowned and grunted at the thought of his meal running off.
Sasha glanced back to the town, it was now sunset and there was little light to lead her way. She sped up and made her way towards a bridge that covered a creek underneath. She wasn't sure where she was headed, but she figured anywhere out of this place was better.
She drove past the bridge and spotted a young child at the side of the road. She squinted her eyes, wondering if she was seeing correctly. The little boy was crying, he had on a yellow rain coat and was carrying a small paper boat.
She quickly halted to a stop as her tires made a loud screeching noise against the road. Sasha turned back to see no one, they were the only people there. She narrowed her eyes at the young boy, she figured he was lost, but then again wondered in suspicion as to why he was so far away from the town.
She stared at the child, still remaining on her bike. The boy seemed to be crying from what she could see in the dark, the only light available was from the moon, which didn't offer much.
"I want to go home," the boy cried
"How did you get out here?"
The boy began to cry once more, "He took me away."
She furrowed her brows, "who took you?"
The boy looked around him in fear, "Pennywise."
Sasha felt a shiver down her spine for some reason, something wasn't right. She could feel it, but she couldn't leave a child in the middle of the woods if this wasn't a trick.
Sasha cursed to herself, knowing she was being gullible, but she stepped off of the bike and walked over towards the boy. Who watched her in sadness and fear, gripping onto his little paper boat. Sasha's long trench coat blowing in the cool wind, she cautiously walked up to the boy, her heels clicking on the asphalt. She knelt down in front of him.
She inspected his face for any cuts or bruises, "what's your name?"
The boy looked to his rain boots and shyly replied, "Georgie."
Sasha nodded slowly, "well Georgie, where do you live?"
The boy pointed back to the town. Sasha sighed and turned to look in the boys eyes, he didn't seem to want to harm her; otherwise she figured the clown would have done something by now.
"Please help Billy," he asked, a single tear falling from his tiny face
Sasha gave a look of confusion, "whose Billy?"
"My big brother," he replied
Sasha looked to the side in thought before standing up and reaching her hand out, "c'mon, let's take you home."
The boy stared at her hand and bit his lip in nervousness, until finally grabbing onto Sasha's hand.
"It's okay, I'm not gonna' hurt you," she said
Georgie lifted his small hand and placed it in hers; she gave a warm smile before leading him towards the motorcycle.
He stared at it in awe, she looked down and chuckled: "What's wrong? Never been on one before?"
Georgie chuckled and shook his head no; she leaned down to pick him up and placed him on the seat. She swung her leg so that she was seated in front, "now Georgie I'm gonna' need you to hold onto me very tight understand? I won't go fast, but I don't want you falling off." she explained
The young boy held onto his boat and stared up at the young woman, she could see he didn't want to let go of his boat. Sasha turned her body, "here, I'll hold onto it so you don't drop it okay?"
Georgie glanced back down at his boat, he thought a few moments before finally giving it to Sasha. She grabbed in and placed it in her inner coat pocket.
"There, now it's not going anywhere," she smiled
Georgie smiled in return and hugged onto Sasha, who stiffened slightly at his touch. She looked down and placed her hand on his head, rubbing her thumb over his forehead.
"Okay," she said, breaking the silence and turning back around, "hold on tight Georgie."
"Okay," he spoke from behind her, his small arms wrapped around her slim frame as tight as he could
She started her bike and revved it up, hearing Georgie's excited giggled, making her smirk. She kicked in the ignition and sped up back towards the town of Derry.
They drove past the incredibly decrepit house on Neibolt Street; she stared ahead, not wanting to pay any mind to it.
Georgie led her towards a small blue house in the suburbs of Derry; she slowed the bike down, hoping she wasn't making too much noise to wake the neighborhood. She turned off the bike and looked around, seeing that no one was outside.
"Okay Georgie," she turned only to see that the boy was nowhere to be found. She quickly looked around, worried that Georgie might have fallen off, but she felt his arms when they stopped. She lowered the kickstand and stood up checking everywhere for the small boy in the raincoat.
"Georgie?" she called out
Was he just a figment of her imagination? She thought to herself, He couldn't have been, he was so real?
She leaned against her bike in thought and pure confusion, she ran her fingers through her hair and suddenly remembered the boat Georgie had given her, she quickly reached inside of her pocket and sighed in relief when she felt the paper boat inside.
She pulled the boat out and looked at it, S.S. Georgie
She stood in silence before turning her head to the little blue house Georgie had led her to. He wanted her to help her brother.
"Billy," she whispered to herself
