7. Curiosity killed the cat

It was hiding. He hated to admit it but that's all he could do. He had never done it before and it was such a humiliating thing to do. That Jonsey and Gardner, he was sure he could handle, but Bill was on the verge of discovering It's secret. He could feel Bill's mind trying to get into his own. For the first time in It's very long life, It was scared. He would make them pay for that. It was going to be okay, he would punish them all for making him feel like this.

Down in drains were countless dead bodies. So many I won't have enough room on this page to tell you all of them, but, since It has come back to the Earths surface, 7 people had been eaten. He would of killed more but Bill was distracting him. A young girl called Jessica Summers, about the age of fourteen, had been in the drains for about two weeks, her parents still begging the police to do another search for their poor missing daughter, little do they know that Jessica was a limp less life form lying on the dirt ridden floor of It's nest with not one piece of flesh left on her body. It had enjoyed that meal. Along with that poor girl, Stacey Miller, Dean Matthews and an 18 month old baby named Conner had all been eaten to cure It's hunger. The next target was Gardner.

Jim Gardner sat up in the black seat soaked leather chair that was parked in the corner of a dark room. A room that could only be accessed from going behind the Derry Public Libraries reception desk. God, what a mouthful that is Gardner thought. He could hear Jonsey and Bill mumbling in the next room but he couldn't make out their exact words.

(Curiosity killed the cat)

"What?" There was no reply.

Gardner got up and went over to the light switch. He flipped it on and to his relief there was no one in the room apart from himself, and for some reason he suddenly thought that the room was getting smaller.

"Jesus Christ, I'm a claustrophobic," Saying it out loud just made him sound even more of a prick. Gardner burst out laughing and headed for the door. It surprised him how easy it was to laugh with so much death surrounding him and I mean that literally, because behind him, had appeared a very familiar figure, It had come back. He had come back mad.

Just as Bill had finished explaining his idea to Jonsey, Gardner came out of the office still chuckling to him self and started towards them with a skip in his step, and as Bill raised his hand to gesture their friend to come over and hear his theory, he saw the monster falling him.

"Oh my God, Gardner lookout!" Bill yelled as hard as his lungs would let him. Too little too late, Bill pushed his chair out from underneath him and started for It. Jonsey wasn't quite so quick to re-act but after taking in the re-appearance of what used to be his biggest fear he got up and went to help his friends.

What happened next took a manner of minutes but like I said earlier, to these few men, it would seem like an eternity. Gardner dived just in time and went sliding into the pine table sustaining a bruised shoulder in the process. It barely missed grabbing Gardner's arm and un-intentially put his own wrist into the wall, Pennywise felt no pain. Pennywise felt no physical pain, but like every other human form, he still had feelings. Gardner cried as the pain of hitting the table went through his body. Bill and Jonsey stood in front of their injured friend and looked It straight in the eye. Pennywise was stunned, why weren't they afraid? He didn't know and at the moment didn't care. Gardner stood on his two very weak legs and immediately got a rush of blood to the head.

(Been getting those all your life, haven't you Jimmy?) It was It's voice.

(Yes, it's because I get up too fast you monster) He was no longer afraid. 

Gardner was taken over by rage. He lost all rational thought and pushed his buddies over. Running towards It he finally remembered a childhood memory. Sitting in his parents, three bed roomed apartment his dad once taught him a very valuable saying. His dad was an alcoholic and that was probably why Gardner himself had spent most of his adult life being drunk or having a hangover but his dad always had a saying. Whenever Jim asked his dad a question which he didn't know, his dad would reply 'It is a dog eat dog eat dog world out there, and I will eat your dog.' Gardner came out of his trail of thought and realised he was standing in front of a creature that ate humans for pleasure. At any other time in his life Gardner would of fainted but not this time, he wasn't afraid anymore. He took a deep sigh and looked It straight in the eye. Fire raged through Gardner's eyes, and wasn't It looking a bit uneasy? He put his hand so tightly in a fist that blood ran down his fingers because his nails had pierced his own skin. That didn't matter.

(NO pain, no game isn't that right Mr. Gardner?)

(It's a god eat dog world out here Pennywise)

There was no immediate reply from It and Gardner couldn't wait any longer. He raised his right fist and, with all the force left in his body, punched It right in his nose. Pennywise smiled, and spoke softly,

"You stupid fool, you can't hurt me, I'm a fucking demon"

"Yes you are, but what you don't know, is that this library, only became one, 34 years ago when the state of Maine ordered it to replace the old Derry Church," Bill smiled, his plan had worked. Blood poured out of It's nose, Gardner had broken It's nose.

Now, just take a moment here, to reflect. I don't know much about Catholic Dogma, but what I do know, is Bill is a very intelligent little fellow. If the library used to be a Church, then it would be considered an instrument of God. That was Bill's plan. Any instrument of God can kill evil, and as they were inside the building, they were fighting with the help of God.

It staggered backward and looked down at his silver clown suit. There was a red liquidity substance on it. It was his blood. That can't be right humans can't kill me. Before he had any more time to think about how they had done this, someone leaped up onto his back and started smashing something against his orange hair. It yelled in pain, this can't be happening, why does it hurt so badly?

It was Jonsey on his back. After seeing Gardner breaking It's nose, he had had a burst of confidence and energy run through his veins. Taking out his pocket knife, Jonsey leaped up in the air and grabbed It's face. Digging in his knife into the left shoulder of Pennywise. It pushed Gardner and Bill went over to see if he was okay which was what It wanted him to do, this just left him and Jonsey. It rammed Jonsey into the library wall but he wouldn't let go, so It grabbed Jonseys outstretched hand and took a big chunk out of his hand with one bite, taking Jonseys index finger in the process. Jonsey screamed in shock. He fell to the floor hitting his head on the white tiled floor and went into shock, not to mention suffering a concussion. Bill and Gardner ran over to him.

"Stay with us Jonsey, we'll be back to help but for Gods sake to go into shock," Jonsey blacked out.

It was about to disappear, how the hell could they hurt him? Bill knew It was going to try and escape so he lifted the pine table and threw it back down on the floor. Looking through the wreckage he found one of the table legs. Picking it up he got the strangest feeling of déjà vu. Hadn't he done this before? Yes he had, 28 years ago when he had first encountered the creature. Never mind that, he had to focus on the present. He took a deep breath and rammed the table leg right into It's chest, breaking two of his ribs. It didn't know what had hit him, it was happening too fast. He had gotten rid of the one they call Jonsey, for now, but there were still two of them left. Pennywise spat out a mixture of both saliva and blood.

"You ought to quit while you're ahead kid. Leave you're 'friends' here and run, I won't come after you." It waited for Bill's answer. He really would leave him alone because he was scared of him.

"Screw you…" he was unable to finish as It lifted him up and threw him across the room. Bill crashed into a bookshelf, marked 'cooking for beginners. He broke his arm in two places.

That left Gardner and It. Who's the bookies favourite Gardner thought. This was the same Gardner who had once seen the whole of his home town (Haven) be transformed into crazy Tommy knocker worshipers. The smile on Gardner's face grew. It walked slowly toward him but Gardner did not move. He stood tall and proud, so this is what it came down to, after all that has happened, it's just your plain old good verses evil battle. The smile grew.

(Why are you smiling your pathetic excuse for a human being?)

(I'm smiling because even if I lose, you still can't win.)

It never occurred to Gardner that he was reading It's thoughts instead of just talking to him. So here it is folks. A creature from another world, in the shape of a clown with a broken nose, two broken ribs and a couple of pocket knife sized stabs in his right shoulder, but still standing with ease. The opponent, Jim Gardner, a recovering alcoholic who was starting to believe he was suffering from insomnia, and had a damaged shoulder. It spat into Gardner's eye.

"Do you know what the one thing is that's been bothering me ever since you killed my dog? I want to know if you're male or female, and here, on Earth we have a way of finding out," Gardner wasted no time and kicked It right in the genitals. It yelped in surprise and pain. Well that's the answer Gardner thought, It's a he. It did feel pain but that didn't stop him. Enough was enough, no more chitchat; he was going to murder this twat once and for all. As Gardner started to lose control of himself and fell on the floor laughing hysterically, It bent over and tore Gardner's throat out. It was that easy, at last, It thought, silence. Blood poured out of Gardner's neck and splattered onto the Libraries floor but before It could disappear and regroup, Everything went black. Not because there had been a blackout, but because Jonsey had come out of his shock five seconds before It had murdered Gardner and went to get the shotgun, the late Mike Hanlon used to keep under the reception desk in case the place was ever robbed, a bit stupid really, who do you know that would bother robbing a library? In any case, Jonsey knew it was there and fired seven barrels of fire-power at It's head, and after Jonsey had finished shooting, the only remains of the creatures head was the last remaining pieces of his brain smothered across the library wall. Jonsey went over to Bill,

"Well then, that's it we won, didn't we?"

"Not all of us," Bill looked at Gardner, "Come on Jonsey, lets get this place cleaned up."