This is the second instalment of "It's Back". The first chapter was going to be a one-shot but after I was asked to write more to this, I decided that I should.

This idea came to me when it was really snowy outside and it's been a work in progress since.

I hope you enjoy it. X



The snow had come in this Christmas. It was the first white Christmas in a long time; almost ten years. Back then all of the roads in and out of town were closed off. The bridge stretching the width of the river had almost collapsed under the weight of the snow, and people started panic buying supplies through fear of being trapped in their houses all winter. This time, however, the authorities had been more prepared for the snow when it came. The roads had been gritted in anticipation of the oncoming blizzards and cold weather. But despite all of their efforts, the temperature had been so low that the snow lay instantly on every visible surface outside.

It first showed up at night, the white fluttering to the ground thinly to begin with, and getting heavier and heavier throughout the course of the night. By morning, there was no longer any grass to be seen: the town and the surrounding area were white as far as the eye could see. The snow lying on the ground had thickened steadily over the winter, and it was lying at about 20 inches when the snowfall had evened out and started to fall more gently again.

It had become a ghost town. There were hardly any people brave enough to go outside and face the elements. The only people outside were children being pulled up the few steep hills at the edge of town on their sledges so they could be let go to slide to the bottom, where they would either glide gently to a stop or end up in a tangle of limbs, rope and hair.

At the top of one of the hills sat a young girl on a red painted sledge looking blankly at the hills in the distance. She had been left up there on her own by her older brother who went to go sledging with his own friends instead. Her shiny red hair was blowing gently around her face as she admired the snowy landscape. The snow lay thick and heavy on the bare braches of the trees, causing them to bend slightly under the weight. The evergreens were dusted with a light sprinkle of snow that resembled sugar shaken through a sieve. All of the snow glittered in the winter sunlight which reflected off her hair and slightly damp waterproofs. The distant hills were nothing but silhouettes cast on the cold, white background of the incoming snow clouds.

She looked towards the bottom of the hill as she was preparing to sledge down, when something attracted her attention. Something was down there floating out from behind a tree. The sun shone on it and she was startled as the light flashed in her eyes. When it had floated further away from the tree and out of the sunlight she looked back to it to see what it was. It looked like an orange balloon, but that couldn't be right; there was nobody else in the area, at least, there didn't seem to be.

She was pondering the balloon and wondering how it could have appeared there, when she felt a shiver creeping up her back, almost as if there was somebody standing behind her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and her skin turned to gooseflesh. She tried to shake off the thought, when the sledge started to slowly edge toward the slope. It was going too slowly for her to realise, but just before the sledge slipped down, another shiver flew up her spine, more violently this time; like something had pushed her, and she sped off down the hill, her hair flying out in waves behind her.

As she sped up further she saw that the balloon had disappeared. Where had it gone? She turned behind her to see who had pushed her, but there was nobody there. She then turned back to face the bottom of the hill that she was flying towards at an alarming pace. As she did so, she came face to face with something that looked a little like a cross between Ronald McDonald and Bozo the clown. She tried to scream but a very feeble attempt escaped her mouth; more like a squeak than anything else. The thing smiled back at her, realising her inability to do anything, exposing incredibly sharp teeth that resembled stalactites and stalagmites in an open cave as it did so. This time, a real scream did escape her mouth.