Chapter three
Summer 2009, Rhode Island, New England
The years were good to her… everyone said so, and she had expected it because she had taken after her father and not her mother.
By the thirty five mark her mother was weathered and looked twenty years older but her father… he was always the lean and heavy man he had been in his mid twenties.
Over the years the only thing that ever gave him away was his white curls lingering among his jet black hair.
(Daddies little girl… daddies little princess… daddies little whore) screwing her emerald eyes shut she blocked her mothers voice out. She would always block that voice out.
Kimberly Sutton nee Lance spun her face away from the mirror and slowly stood from the vanity sitting in her cream lonely bedroom.
It had been five years since the death of her loving husband… yes her loving husband she never dare say anything bad against him before and after his death.
He was so much like daddy… that was why Kim loved him, because he knew how to handle her, just like her daddy.
If she got her self worked up a slap was enough to bring her back… it only hurt for a few days. That wasn't wrong, no it wasn't… she wasn't a victim because it wasn't all the time.
When she spoke back to him in front of their friends (more times when they were alone) he would remind her he was a man… her man… and he needed to be respected.
Just like daddy.
When she forgot to call home it made him worry just like daddy and she needed to be reminded that he worried… just like daddy.
When some other man thought to flirt and check her out and she carried on smiling wasn't it his right to show them all-including her- who Kim belonged to.
Just like daddy… but back then Kim was both uneasy and grateful about the fact that her daddy still thought of her as his.
Yes Oliver Sutton was a great man just like Joseph Lance… they both knew how to handle a girl- later woman- like Kimberly Sutton nee Lance.
A trembling sigh spilled from her lips when her eyes finally opened and she padded out of her bedroom down the stairs towards the living room and the drinks cart.
She had met Oliver when she was barely twenty after she had escaped… frowning Kim shook her head stepping of the bottom step and turned left into the living room.
Escaped that's silly… why would I need to escape daddy… not just daddy but somewhere as well.
Kim chewed her lower lip an annoying habit Oliver hated but could never rid her self of… a reflex from her childhood she always told him.
But your not a child anymore Kimmy… are you, no your hips are too big and god damn sexy to be a child. Your tits are too big and firm to be some half pints chest. Your lips are too inviting to be some snot nose kid.
Kim tired to smile fondly at the memory… Oliver hadn't taught her lesson that night instead he simply just shook his head and patted his knee. Oliver did love her, just in a special way… the hard way that made him want to make her better to be better just like daddy.
But daddy didn't mind that my hips were too small or that my chest was just starting to grow and he didn't mind that my lips didn't plumb out until I turned fourteen. No daddy didn't mind that at all-
Kim growled but didn't reach for the brandy… her hands were trembling far too much for that. Instead she moved over to the window to watch the street lights and the growing darkness.
her father never laid a finger on her… not in the sense a grown man might lay a finger on a woman. The grown up's dance… the grown up's way her mother tried to explain to her when she was ten.
But hadn't you seen it then the look in her eyes when she explained that way that a man and woman -only a man and woman- could touch each other. Didn't you see how her eyes flickered for the briefest moment towards her father's work shop while he tinkered and toyed with some latest gadget before they locked firmly on yours.
Kim blew out the stale breath she was holding and hopefully the stale memories that was clogging up her mind.
That's all they were really just memories some so faded she wasn't even sure they were memories more like dreams.
Kids can dream… that's what make them strong… that's what made us strong against- against what?
Kim tried to clutch to that fleeting thought but didn't try to hard because she knew she would only gain a headache for her troubles.
Just like the headaches that cursed her when she was thirteen as they settled into their new home in Rhode Island. The doctors didn't understand but they never said that instead they told her that it was just the beginnings of her becoming a young woman.
Kim tore her eyes away from the lights knowing that if she stared too long her head would ache and she would crawl into bed for a good three days. Chuckling Kim knew that if that happened Glory would throw a hissy fit, a model couldn't just not turn up during the most important shows.
Bet your dollar butt.
"We used to say that all the time… all of us" Kim declared the empty air surrounding Oliver's lone armchair.
Kim stood frozen… not because she reminded her self that Oliver wouldn't be in the chair he would never be in that chair again but because she had no idea who 'we' used to be.
nor did she know why any one would say such a childish thing either.
Because we were kids… because it was funny… because the grown ups didn't understand.
Kim pushed through the freeze and headed towards the drink cart once more, stating to herself and the ghost Oliver had left that she would have one drink only one because any more then that then Oliver would have to teach her a lesson.
Just like daddy… but daddy was dead.
Not fully understand why her hands trembled Kim sloshed half the amber liquid onto the cart and nearly all of her glass onto the floor as she swallowed the burning liquid in one go.
It didn't help numb anything… not that digging feeling when things were being moved around her clogged mind.
Memories too big and bulky to be placed at the top of the pile started to move and rearrange themselves. It was hurting her but they were still pushing and still moving around disturbing both the good times and the bad times with Oliver.
Before Kim could even refill her glass -which would be unlikely on the first try- the phone rang sharply in the dark air and forced Kim to freeze once more. She stared at the black phone for a long time, time enough for any normal caller to give up and just hang up and try again later.
But she knew even as her trembling hands reached for the phone that it wasn't a normal caller… this wasn't going to be some normal routine daily call but something from some other time.
"Hello" her timid voice echoed down the line as her throat restricted her self and the brandy burned and pushed it's way back up from her stomach.
"Ke-Ke-Ke-Kimmy" a stuttering voice spilled out causing Kim to straighten enough for her back to pop.
Her eyes were growing wide even as she placed the glass carefully back down, her hands no longer trembled. They weren't her hands any more- at least they wouldn't be her hands for another twenty eight years.
"Kimmy Lance" the voice repeated once more and Kim snapped off her answer without even thinking… flinching a little like Oliver's ghost could hear this voice too and that he would have to teach her a lesson.
Just like daddy.
"Kimberly Sutton" Kim shook her head, the woman's voice didn't sound like her and that name sure in heck didn't sound right to her.
"Su-su-su-su-sorry… you got married" the voice admitted lightly a chuckle hidden in the folds of the tone.
Kim's back relaxed and a feeling of happiness long forgotten washed over her. Bet your dollar but… I want to get married.
"Do I know you mister" "bet your dollar butt" she knew he wouldn't stutter much more… he hardly did around them… around her.
"I remember… no… I can't… I couldn't" Kim stopped her self and she knew the reason he didn't speak long after that was because he knew she was remembering. Maybe not all of it like Tony but enough to know that the tears was falling because she did forget him… and not just him but all six of the others.
She had forgotten them but why… how could she… they were her friends… they were her first true loves all of them.
Tony, Gill, Teddy, Stevie, Kenny and Marty were all her first true loves… not the men- she would love the men too- but the boys she had met and stood by in the summer of 1979.
The summer of IT.
"Gill" she whispered her face lighting up as the memories of that summer pushed their way forward dusty for sure but still in tact.
"Hey ke-ke-ke-Kimmy… I'm sure glad you remembered me" Gill stated as hope, joy and relief washed through his voice.
How could she ever forgot them… how could she ever forget IT.
Because we have too… we have to forget because if we don't we can't come back… we can't keep the promise.
"Oh god Gill… why couldn't I remember you… any of you" Kim pleaded trying hard to control the sobs breaking her voice.
"Derris" That one word uttered by Gill was enough to spread a cold dread through out her as the memories unclogged themselves and rearranged to provide a tidy pathway straight back in time.
1979.
"IT made us forget didn't IT… we had to forget didn't we Gill" Kim sobbed even as her knees weakened but she never fell… not because the ghost of a man who was so much like her daddy… the man she hated, feared and loved at the same time was holding her up but because six boys from the past were now climbing out of the memories and were holding her up in a circle.
not six any more Kimmy… just five… it can't be the seven anymore just the six of you.
"not all of it ke-ke-ke-Kimmy… IT couldn't do all that but yes you had to forget, all of you had to forget when you left because it was the only way. Remember Tony telling us that, telling us why you all had to forget" Gill stated as Kim nodded wiping the tears away.
Why forget Kimmy… why forget IT when you feared IT so much… the way it promised you… it promised all of you that you would all float. Do you still want to float Kimmy.
"Tony… oh god… Gill we promised… we promised Tony we would come back, finish IT" Kimmy stated no longer the woman she would be come but the eleven year old girl with jet black hair that helped hide her away from the world.
Helped hide away the bruises, helped hide away the fact she came from the poor district.
Kimmy Lance didn't have a pot to piss in did she… the other girls had stated so, so it had to be true.
"I know… I we-we-we-wished I didn't have to call you… to make you remember but you have to… we all have to remember because IT's back" Gill told her gravely but Kimmy already knew this.
She had known it back then, even as they fled from the sewers they would go back and finish IT for good. It was their duty that they could never understand but still took regardless.
"I know… you wouldn't have called us if IT hadn't come back… you had to watch Gill, we left you behind because you had to watch and wait until IT woke again… didn't you Gill? You were the last to see IT" Kim stated as the memory partially unfolded to give her a better glimpse into the past.
"In the end yu-yu-yu-yeah I was, but we knew back then I was always gu-gu-gu-going to stay" Gill told her as Kim nodded. Though none of them spoke the words out loud they all knew it had to be Gill who stayed behind who waited for IT to wake.
It wasn't just his hobby to note things down… it was his duty, we have our duties.
"Have you called them" Kim questioned already mentally packing ready to go back in time, the packing list had always been their stashed away in one of the boxes, she had wrote it back when she was eleven years old.
"Tony's already on his way… Teddy… I'll tell you later, Stevie didn't like it but he's on his woa-woa-woa-way Marty and Kenny are ne-ne-ne-next" Gill informed her as Kim nodded already pushing the ghost of Oliver back into his chair.
I did love you Oliver… I always will but you can't boss me around anymore… because you weren't there… you wasn't there in that circle in 1979 when we faced IT. Your not daddy.
"Then I'm coming too… god how many Gill… how many before you were sure" Kim didn't want to ask that question but she knew she had to just to make sure that it was IT and not some flesh and blood mad man.
"th-th-th-ten" Gill spluttered out but hadn't Kim already knew IT had come back, she didn't need to ask the number to justify that feeling of dread and purpose.
IT had come back and now they had to go back too.
"I'll be there first thing tomorrow you can bet your dollar butt" Kim stated feeling slightly better when Gill chuckled. So many things lost from that happier time.
Though she wouldn't remember fully until she stepped back into Derris she knew enough to know that 1979 hadn't been all that scary… most of it was happy, the way they would hang out the way they made each other feel less like outsiders, like they belonged there together.
But you don't belong here princess… daddies little girl… daddies little princess… daddies little whore escaped once before. You fled why do you need to come back now.
It wasn't her mothers voice-at least not completely- it was Oliver's voice too and her father's. she shivered but the eleven year old in her wouldn't fall back into old habits now, not like the grown woman would.
"I'll be there" Kim stated again knowing Gill would understand it wasn't him she was telling but the ghosts… the ghosts that had haunted her for the past ten (and five) years.
They weren't real anymore… they had no hold over her.
But isn't that worse… because ghosts can go places the real people can't… where they shouldn't go. Don't the ghosts float… do you want to float Kimmy… just like daddy, just like mommy… just like Oliver.
Do you want to float down here with them… you can be taught your lessons down here Kimmy. Is that what you want… they know how to handle a girl like you.
Gill said his goodbyes but Kim was already moving, heading up the stairs. It took her only twenty minutes to gather her suitcase and pack her clothes that on reflection didn't really belong to a woman but in fact belonged to an eleven year old girl.
By the time she stood at the front door she had some where in the haze of her hurry called for a cab and was checking the last of her documents into her purse slinging it over her shoulder.
Where you think your going girl… you damn best come back here
"I have to see my friends dad-" Kim cut her self off mid turn, shaking she turned to the stairs waiting to see her father looming at the top with 'paying hell time' writing across his lean, handsome but grim face.
Ha-ha friends… you call those boys your friends Kimmy… you ain't got no friends that give two damn shitty cents about you. Those boys only want one thing.
Oliver had joined her father's voice and Kim pressed her self against the door waiting for the pair to arrive at the top of the stairs each waiting to teach her a lesson.
Shaking her head she snapped out of the waking nightmare when the cab honked from the street, she spun and tore the door open not even bothering to close it just fleeing towards the cab.
As she slipped into the backseat and all but bellowed the order to drive to the airport she dared to glance back to the house just in time to see the door close. She hadn't even bother to check if all the windows were closed. Any rational person would have done that and if they hadn't they would tell you that the door closed because a window was still open.
But Kim knew better… it was Oliver and her father in some lesser sense and when -or if- she came back then they would have to teach her a lesson.
Don't worry about calling darling… I don't have to worry because I'll be seeing you… you'll be coming down here where we are… you'll be floating too.
And those boys too… you'll all float down her Kimmy… just like the daddies little girl… just like daddies little princess… just like daddies little whore will.
Don't ya want to float Kimmy?
Just two more to go and then it's of to face IT and for the rest of the NCIS to turn up too... thanks for the reviews.