Hey guys. Sorry about how long this chapter took to post, been very busy with finals. Please let me know what you think!


August was sitting on her bed thinking about the events of the day. It wasn't everyday that one met a supernatural clown and remained unfazed.

Her room was dark, but she knew the layout well enough so that if any of her mom's customers tried to enter, she could easily evade them and run out the door. The streets of Derry in the middle of the night were quite often safer than her own home. It wasn't too late in the night, but her mother had already left for 'work' and the house was quiet, as if it wanted to let August have a moment of peace. The walls in her room were bare from any posters or personality and the coloring of the furniture was dull and washed out. She made it a point to not keep any personal items around so that her mother couldn't use them against her. The only thing in her room that resembled a piece of herself was the changing stack of books she kept on her bedside table. This week it held the classics of Emily Dickinson's poetry and Joseph Conrad.

The popcorn textured ceiling starred back at August as she took comfort in the silence. It was so quiet that at first, she almost didn't notice the tiny sound of crunching. It was a soft, quiet sound, as if hearing an army from very far away marching to war. It was too quiet to be any animal, but it seemed close enough to be in the room. While scratching her foot she bent down under her bed to see if there was anything underneath. She couldn't make out any large shapes that could belong to anything, but honestly it was too dark to see anything under there. August sat up to turn on the lamp on her bedside table when she felt a tiny bite on her arm. She abruptly turned her head to see an ant sitting on her arm, seemingly looking at her, offended that she had noticed it. She smashed the ant wondering how it had gotten there. Scratching at her leg she once again reached for the lamp when a tiny bite came from her thigh. Instead of looking she quickly turned on the lamp and pulled back the covers. What met her eyes were a colony of thousands of tiny red fire ants crawling up and down her legs. It looked almost as if her sheets were on fire from the color of the ants enhanced by her lamp. Once they noticed the light, they immediately began biting at her legs causing an excruciating amount of pain. She tried pushing the hordes of ants away, but more multiplied in their place. Kicking the last of the covers off she began to pull herself out of bed to escape from the pain, when she felt herself sinking down. Looking down at her bed she didn't find the usual torn sheets or worn mattress, but instead she found herself sitting on a giant anthill with hundreds of thousands of fire ants streaming out angered by the light.

Then it hit her.

Pennywise.

He was trying to scare her. He wanted to test her to see if she would react like everyone else in Derry. But she wasn't like everyone else. Concentrating, August reached out both of her hands and pulled the anthill and all of its inhabitants into the air with her mind. It looked almost unrealistic for a moment, watching all of those tiny red squirming bodies orbit the colossal dirt pile as it all hung in the air, as if her lamp were the sun holding it all together through the power of gravity.

Then August was blown back against the wall the breath being knocked out of her with the hard impact. She expected to look back and find the ants once again on the ground trying to rebuild their demolished home, but instead found Pennywise glaring at her angrily, sitting on an ant-free bed.

August suddenly had the urge to laugh. Pennywise almost looked like a small child would when they haven't gotten their way and were gathering energy for the inevitable tantrum.

Letting a small smile cross her lips August spoke in an amused tone, "That was impressive, but nonetheless ineffective."

Pennywise let out a small growl, angered at her attitude and contemptuous tone. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm tired." August laid down and proceeded to close her eyes.

"How many other powers do you have?"

August smirked with her eyes still closed. "Can't say. It's a secret."

The bed bent with the weight of Pennywise sitting onto the bed, causing August to sit up and look at him. He was starring at her trying to understand the complexities of a tiny girl and the powers of a god.

Then the sound of the front door opening and closing, mixed with drunken laughter echoed from the living room. August's eyes widened and she quickly reached over and turned off her lamp. Pennywise could smell the fear and wondered what would scare her when an army of fire ants wouldn't. The sound of sloppy kissing and clothes being unzipped slowly clambered down the hallway past August's bedroom door towards her mother's bedroom.

Once she heard her mother's bedroom door close, August turned over on her side facing the wall, balled up into the fetal position with the blanket piled on top of her. She spoke in a whispered hush saying, "I'm going to sleep now."

Pennywise was still somewhat angry that his scare didn't work and why the sound of the girl's mother coming home did. With other people Pennywise could look into their mind's and see what they feared the most, but this girl was too blocked off to reach. Before he vanished to go find prey, he heard her whisper once more, "Will I see you tomorrow?"

August only heard silence in response to her question. Laying there in her bed she wondered what the next day would bring.


The light of dawn washed through the windows of August's room. She blinked awake and rushed out of bed, pulling on a clean, white tank top and the same overalls that she always wore. Grabbing her bag and filling it with books she quietly stepped out of her room. Her mother would be sleeping off her hangover with whoever spent the night last night.

As August was tip towing through the hallway, she suddenly heard the toilet flush through the bathroom door which was just a few feet away from her. She tried to quickly rush past, but the bathroom door opened, and August heard a gruff voice speak to her.

"Hey! Who are you?" He sounded younger than some of the other men, but still had that underlying tone of pervert that they all possessed. August turned to look at him and noticed he was only wearing his underwear and nothing else. She quickly turned away again uncomfortable at the situation.

"I'm her daughter." He would know who 'her' was, so she didn't find it necessary to give a deeper explanation.

He gave a grunt of indifference in return. August then heard him walking but noticed that he was walking towards her instead of back towards her mother's bedroom. She was still facing away from him when she felt him come up behind her. He was close enough to push his body up against her. He stood there for a second and then she heard him take a deep breath, smelling her neck. August stood frozen, scared to move away from him and anger him, but also afraid to stand still and encourage him.

"I guess I'll see you again," he whispered in her ear and turned and walked back to the bedroom.

August stood there for a moment and tried to regain movement. Swallowing her fear and hoping that the man would forget their interaction because of his hangover she quietly exited the house.

The barrens were radiating in sunshine, brightening the greenery that surround her. The words from her book were easily illuminated. However, August found that she couldn't concentrate on the words. She was reading the same paragraph for the sixth time when she threw down her book and decided that perhaps she should find something else to do. Laying back against the grass she decided to practice.

Reaching out her hand towards the tree above her she began to pick the leaves off the branches with her mind. She guided them towards the ground and laid them in neat little stacks next to her head. Before long the tree was barren. Knowing that a blank tree in the middle of June would look strange August stood up and faced the tree. She reached out her hand and with a squeezing motion began crushing the tree. The branches made a terribly loud breaking noise like the sounds of bones breaking. The larger ones were six to eight inches in thickness but snapped with ease. The broken limbs fell towards the ground littering the once luscious grass. Soon there wasn't anything left except the trunk. With a pushing motion the trunk fell over thundering against the hard ground.

August stood there looking at the ruined tree. When behind her a voice broke the silence.

"If a tree falls in the forest, and there isn't anyone to hear it, does it make a sound?"

August rolled her eyes at the voice, "Pennywise. Are you following me?'"

August turned around to see the clown sitting on the grass a few feet away from the giant branches littering the ground. He was facing her with a strange smile that implied he was somewhat impressed by her but would never admit it.

"Of course, I am. You interest me."

The confession surprised August. She walked over to her bookbag and sat down next to Pennywise in the grass. "And why is that." A creature like Pennywise was something that August would easily call interesting. His very existence astounded her, so it wasn't obvious as to how she herself could also be considered interesting.

"You're not like the others."

August looked at him, trying not show any emotion to him. As curious as he seemed about her, she didn't trust him or his intentions just yet. "Because of what I can do."

"Yes. Although there are some that are somewhat aware that the psychic world exists, I've never met any with as strong as an understanding as you." He looked at her, and she could tell he was trying to solve her puzzle.

She looked away, smirking and knowing that it would be a while before he did.

"Why were you afraid of your mom and that man last night?"

Or perhaps she had underestimated him.

She couldn't pretend that his observation was wrong or mistaken because he would see through that. August took a deep breath sighing into the silence.

"My mother isn't the nicest person to me, and I prefer to keep my distance from her." It was a matter of fact response, but it didn't reveal the entire truth. Although she had to admit to herself that it was nice to open up, even if it was just a fraction of all her real worries.

Pennywise searched her face looking for a lie but didn't find any. However, he still had so many questions and he knew that she wouldn't answer them all. Not yet at least.

Pennywise looked down at the green grass. It was a beautiful day and it had the promise of fun for the kids that were out of school for the summer. He would have plenty of options for a meal later.

His head snapped to look over at the girl. "Why aren't you with others of your age?"

August was taken by surprise and also reminded of her loneliness. "I don't have any friends." Her voice was soft, full of the sadness that an outcast would feel.

A strange feeling crept up onto Pennywise. It felt almost like sadness for the girl. He pushed it back down, pretending that it never happened. "Why not?" He attempted to make it sound like he was indifferent as to whether or not she would reveal anything about herself, although the more he learned about the girl, the more his curiosity burned.

August looked at Pennywise, noticing once again how beautiful his blue eyes were especially with the glint of the sun shining in them. "Like you said, I'm not like the others."


August was walking down the street once again. Pennywise had hinted at the notion that he needed to find something to eat and so they had parted ways. The civil way they spoke to each other made August wonder if she was making a mistake by being so friendly with him. He could easily attack her anytime he wanted to, and August was giving him plenty of opportunity. Of course, he had seemed pretty honest when he mentioned how rare of a human being she was, so perhaps he really did just want to know more about her. However, what would happen after he got bored of her?

The sudden sound of a deep growling engine pierced her eardrums and August shot her head in the direction of the sound, finding a dark, blue firebird facing her. It was Henry bowers and his gang and at first August thought that he was there to torture her like they always managed to do, until she noticed that they all had their attention on a black boy that had fallen off his bike onto the side of the road. The fear on his face was obvious, but he quickly picked himself up and ran into the woods as the bullies closely followed, yelling taunts and threats at him as they charged.

August knew she couldn't stand on the side like she did before with Ben and decided she had to help this time. Quickly dropping her bookbag on the side of the road she followed right behind the Bowers gang.

Suddenly stopping in the bushes, August stood watching Henry, Vic, and Belch beat on the poor boy. She was frozen with indecision. She couldn't use her powers in situations like these because then everyone would know what she could do. Then what could happen? She could be bullied more so than she was now. They could send her away for testing to understand how far her powers actually went. Everyone in town could become afraid of her and whatever she was. August could hear the boy as he howled in pain, writhing as Henry kicked him in the stomach and groin. August couldn't wait any longer and rushed out of the bushes, through the water tackling Henry to the ground.

It took everyone, including Henry, by surprise. Not wasting any time, she began nailing him in the head with punches, continuing even after the sickening crunch of his nose declared that it was broken, continuing even after his face turned red from the blood. Vic suddenly pushed her off Henry while Belch was still holding onto the boy. Henry pinned her onto the ground straddling her between his legs.

"Hey leave her alone!" It was the black boy that she had been trying to save. He was trying to break free to help her, but Vic had returned to help hold him, both goons waiting for Henry's orders.

"Yeah, leave both of them alone!"

It was another voice. August looked up along with the Bowers gang and the boy to see a group of kids on the other side of the stream. She recognized all of them from school. Eddie, Bill, Stan, Richie, Beverly, and Ben. They stood on that tiny sandy hill as if they were the conquerors of a new land. August could feel their courage rolling off them in waves.

Henry removed himself from atop of August and she quickly pulled herself up, punched Vic in the face and grabbed the poor boy's hand pulling him away from his tormentors. They ran across the stream towards safety, which at this moment were a somewhat scrawny group of kids that were the most bullied in school.

"Woah. Who's the bald chick with moves." August heard Richie mutter this from the other side of the group.

"You losers are trying too hard." Henry was gesturing to Beverly, a severely lusty look crossing his bloody features. "All you have to do is ask nicely, like I did."

August suddenly felt a wave of rage from the group, especially coming from Ben. Pulling the boy out from in front of the group, she was just in time to witness a rock flying through the air nailing Henry in the face.

Then the rock war began. August took part, throwing her share of stones, glad that Henry was finally getting a small fraction of what he deserved. When the dust settled and quiet fell on the group, Vic and Belch were gone and all that was left was Henry kneeling in the sand. The losers left him there, walking away through the brush, knowing that he wouldn't try to follow them.

Once out of the woods, the boy August had saved turned to her, "Thanks for that back there. You were pretty good."

August smiled back at him, "Thanks." She didn't really know what else to say to him, not used to talking to people. "What's your name?"

"My name's Mike. Most people know me as the homeschool kid."

"Hey, that's what we call you," Richie sounded from the front of the group.

"Yeah," Mike looked at August gratefully before turning to the front as they followed their saviors. "You guys shouldn't have done that, he'll be after you guys too now."

"Bowers has always had it out for us," someone near the front stated with almost an air of indifference.

"I guess that's one th-thing we all have in common," stuttered Bill as he walked along side August and Mike.

August had returned to the curb to get her bag, as the rest of the losers club were getting their bikes. They looked more like a bike club with all their chrome handle bars and weaved baskets attached to the front.

August started walking down the street as she had done earlier before the rescue had ensued.

"Hey, wait!" It was Mike. He rode up along side her, and the rest of the group were walking their bikes towards her as well. "Where you going?"

August stood there not really understanding what he was meaning. She hadn't expected any of them to want to be around her longer than they needed to because of how weird she was. She knew how people talked about her at school and everyone, including the 'losers' thought she was too weird to be around. They were all standing there, waiting on a response from her.

Mike must have noticed how nervous August was getting and quickly changed his question. "I mean, your hanging out with us, now right?"

She looked at the rest of the group, they all seemed to be looking at her with the same expectancy as Mike. Reaching out with her mind she felt that all of them were willing to be friends with her, however, some of them also seemed nervous because of how little they actually knew about her.

"If that's what you all want." August responded gently, giving the group a chance to announce any reservations that they had.

"O-of course. Everyone n-needs a f-friend." Bill smiled through his stutter and the rest of the group seemed to agree.

August felt a small smirk peek out at the edge of her mouth, at realizing that there were people who were willing to look past her quirks. "Okay."


August got home later that night, after walking through main street with the rest of the losers club for awhile. They had talked and joked, asking August a few questions about herself every now and then, but she hadn't revealed anything that would give away her home life or background. It would be awhile before she opened up about anything that really mattered. It was nice for the most part to have people to talk to for a change. Although, she seemed to enjoy her conversations with Pennywise a little more. She felt safer around him for some strange reason and she was more willing to tell him certain things like she had earlier that day.

Crawling into bed, August realized how tired she was from everything that had happened that day. Her worn bed seemed to welcome her with a warm embrace that made her feel almost safe. Weariness soon overcame her and she fell asleep.

She woke to a sound of creaking wood. The room was dark and so it was hard to see anything, but she felt a presence entering her room. August knew that the presence was human and therefore it wasn't Pennywise this time. Realizing immediately that she was in danger she knew she had to escape. She stayed perfectly still, pretending that she was still asleep, until she felt the person a few feet from her bed. Then, moving as quickly as she could, she threw off her covers and tried to zig-zag around the person, heading for the door. For safety. But, whoever it was, they were too quick for her and before she knew it she had huge hands holding her against their form, one hand over her mouth and one preventing her hands from hurting her attacker. It must have been a man because of how big and strong they were. He dragged her back over to her bed and pinned her down still covering her mouth.

"I told you I'd see you later."