A/N: Okay, like I said in the previous Author's Note, this chapter will be quite gory. So, again, fair warning, this isn't for the faint of heart, but also again, if you've watched the movies, you should be fine. After all…it's only words on a screen.
Chapter 4
IT Has Returned
Sawtooth National Park
"You…what?!" Eve snapped, as Garth slowly backed away from fright. The other wolves in attendance backed away as all with fear stricken across their faces. They've never seen Eve this angry before and they were all grateful that they weren't the ones she was angry at.
"You heard me." Lilly said, glaring at her mother, while the others, namely Kate and Winston, stared at the duo wide-eyed. Humphrey was trying to make himself appear as small as possible behind his mate, considering Eve was trying to kill him a few hours ago for supposedly cheating on Kate. Lilly started walking away, but she quickly noticed her mate wasn't following.
"Garth!" She snapped, getting his attention, then she motioned with her head to follow. Garth leaned down to pick up a caribou leg, but Eve snarled at him and he yelped in fright before bolting towards his mate. Eve growled and the rest of her family knew what was about to happen.
"Eve…" Winston warned, "Don't."
Eve tried to run after Garth, but Winston grabbed her tail in his mouth before she ran. Unfortunately, She suddenly whipped around in a fury and clawed her mate's face, forcing him to let go of her tail. Once free, she started running towards Garth, but Kate tried tackling her to the ground, only to be thrown off by her mother's rage.
"Garth!" Eve growled, as she ran towards him, "I'm going to skin you alive, tear your muscles off your bones, rip out your eyes and shove them down your throat, so you can see me remove your internal organs, then feed your remains to the vultures and wear your skin as my winter coat!"
Garth gulped, then took off into the trees with a raging Eve on his tail. Lilly tried to chase after them, but Kate told her to stay before taking off after them. She tried to keep up with her mother and Garth, but his fear of Eve gave him newfound energy, while her rage let her keep up with him. Kate soon lost sight of them and she had to resort to tracking them, which she found to be quite easy, since neither Eve nor Garth were making any attempt to hide their scents.
Garth panted, as he ran by tree after tree, dodging boulders and low hanging branches. He could tell that Eve was practically right on his tail. She was slowly gaining on him, as the sun set below the horizon, covering the valley in a blanket of darkness. Eve got ready to pounce on him and tear Garth apart limb from limb, but something suddenly jumped out of the bushes towards him. It flew through the air and clawed the side of Garth's head, catching the skin of his cheek and tearing it off. Garth cried out in pain, clutching the side of his face, as blood gushed out and onto the ground.
A black furred wolf with red eyes stood over him with a vicious smile. Eve watched in horror, as It opened its maw, revealing hundreds of sharp, pointy teeth. It growled, then jumped onto Garth and held him down, before clamping its jaws onto his back. Garth screamed in pain, as It tore the flesh off of his back and devoured it, spattering more blood on the forest floor. She stared at the wolf in shock, as it ripped one of Garth's legs off and started gnawing on it. By now, Garth had fallen into shock from major blood loss and was no longer making any noises, as It feasted on him.
It stopped eating for a few moments and looked up towards Eve, then smiled, as Garth's blood dripped off of its teeth. Kate came running up to Eve and slid to a stop behind her, trying to catch her breath, then It vanished just as quickly as it appeared. Garth's remains had disappeared along with It, leaving no trace of what had happened.
"Where…is…Garth?" Kate asked, between pants. Eve didn't answer, she was standing there in shock at what just happened.
Kate frowned, "Mom?" She asked, then walked around to face her mother. When she gazed upon her mother's front, she gasped in horror. She saw blood covering her mother's face and chest, while entrails were scattered amongst a large pool of blood and fur on the ground in front of her. Kate placed her paw over her mouth, as she recognized half of Garth's face lying on the ground, crumpled up like a used towel. Eve turned towards Kate and saw the horror in her daughter's eyes, which caused her to frown.
"Sweetie?" Eve asked, worriedly, "What's wrong?"
Kate didn't respond, instead she bolted out of there as fast as her legs could carry her, while trying not to vomit from the grotesque scene. Eve looked around, confused at what may have caused her daughter's strange actions, but she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She wasn't sure that what happened to Garth was real, because she and her mate did have some fermented berries the night before. It was a possibility that she was hallucinating and Garth had escaped her wrath, but that didn't explain the horror in Kate's eyes.
Eve sniffed around to try and pick up Garth's scent, but found…nothing. She huffed in annoyance that she didn't catch her prey, then turned around and headed back to the feeding grounds.
Richie and Mike had started heading back a couple hours earlier and the three pups had gone in their own direction, so it was only Bill and the family of three still out hiking. They were about a mile from their campsite, when they decided to take a quick break.
"I think we should be hurrying up now." Beverly said, as she sat down on a nearby tree stump, "It's getting dark."
"Don't worry, Bev." Bill replied, "We got flashlights and we'll be back in like twenty minutes. You're not getting tired, are you?"
"No, I'm good." Beverly answered, then gestured to Ben, who was carrying a sleeping Maggie in his arms, "But she fell asleep 'bout half an hour ago."
Ben chuckled, "Yeah, our little princess is all tuckered out." He muttered.
"Well, then let's get moving." Bill said, then pulled out his flashlight and turned it on and gasped. Standing there, illuminated by the light, was a young boy in a bright yellow raincoat with his right forearm missing.
"It can't be." Bill muttered in shock.
"You left me, Billy." Georgie said, staring at Bill with disappointment, "You could've saved me."
"That's impossible." Ben said, "Didn't we kill It? And even if we didn't, what is It doing here?"
"I don't know." Bill said, "But I'm not sticking around to find out."
Keeping his eyes on Georgie, he knelt down to pick up a large stick, but a loud bang was heard, then Georgie's head was blown off and the body collapsed onto the forest floor. Maggie stirred in her sleep, but didn't wake up…thankfully. The three adults looked behind them to see Mike holding a shotgun, poised towards the entity in front of them.
"Mike?" Beverly asked, "Where did you come from? And where did you get that gun?"
"I took a shortcut through the woods." Mike answered, not lowering his weapon, "And I brought this gun just in case my worst fears have come true. It has returned."
"Hee heh heh heh, hee heh heh heh." It chuckled, as it reformed itself. It took the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown with a frown, then instantly smiled viciously. In the blink of an eye, It disappeared, not leaving a single trace of its existence.
Kate came running out of the woods and very nearly crashed into Lilly, who was sitting by the tree line, waiting for her mate to come back. She looked at her sister and saw the horror stricken across Kate's face, which unnerved her. What could have scared an Alpha like her that badly?
Winston approached his daughters with a worrisome expression and understood what Kate's expression meant. His ears perked up when he heard a twig snap just inside the trees, then he looked up to see his mate emerge from the bushes, but what he saw scared him to wolf hell.
The group of wolves, including the rest of the pack, saw blood covering Eve's chest and face. They also saw her holding a red furred leg in her mouth, while lightly gnawing on it. Lilly gagged and broke down crying, while Kate stared at her mother with fear, and Winston and Humphrey had no idea what to do.
"Eve?" Winston asked, then she smiled at her mate.
"Hi, Dear." Eve said, then frowned, "I think there's a Rogue wolf around or something, because they jumped out of the bushes and…umm…"
She noticed her white furred daughter was sobbing uncontrollably, then her motherly instincts kicked in and she slowly approached her. Lilly screamed in fear, when she realized her mother was approaching and backed away, which took Eve off-guard.
"Sweetie? What's wrong?" Eve asked, worriedly.
"You murdered my mate, Mom." Lilly whimpered, then started sobbing again, "Why?"
Eve shook her head, "But I didn't." She replied, then turned towards Kate, "You can tell them, Honey. You saw."
"I saw you covered in blood and Garth's remains were scattered in front of you." Kate said, then shook her head, "I'm sorry, Mom."
"What?" Eve asked, confused.
"Eve…" Humphrey said, solemnly, "By Pack Law, and my own authority as the leader of this pack, I hereby banish you from the United Pack for the murder of Garth and multiple counts of threats towards the pack."
The pack looked at Humphrey in shock, even his own mate did, because they never thought the fun-loving Omega would ever do something as serious as this. It was always Kate who dealt with the more serious matters of the pack. Eve just gulped and looked around in shock, wondering why they believed she killed her son-in-law. Yes, she did threaten to, but like so many times before, she never would've gone through with them. They're just to chase off anyone who may harm her daughters… Although, there were a couple times where she did nearly kill others, especially when it came to either of her daughters' virginity. Like when she nearly choked Humphrey to death upon his and Kate's return to the pack.
Eve backed up slowly, as the rest of the pack advanced on her, some were wary of Eve, especially since they saw Eve slaughter Garth, but they held firm.
"No, please." Eve pleaded, something she hasn't done in years, "You have to believe me! I didn't kill him! It was someone else."
Kate shook her head, "We're sorry, Mom." She said, "But we saw what happened."
"No." Eve muttered, "Please, you have to believe me!"
"Get out of here!" Lilly snapped, "I don't want to ever see you again!"
That did it. Eve's heart broke after hearing her youngest daughter say that, then she took off running into the trees. Kate broke down crying and sobbed into Humphrey's fur, while Lilly did the same on her father's fur.
Stinky, Claudette, and Runt, were out in the woods about a mile from the pack, trying to find their way home. Runt decided to climb a tree to get their bearings.
"See anything?!" Claudette asked, as Runt looked around, then he spotted the lake that the pack was situated near.
"We're almost there!" Runt shouted down the tree, then slid down and joined his siblings, "Just another half hour of walking."
"Good." Stinky replied, "My feet are getting sore from all this walking."
"I thought Alphas didn't get sore?" Runt asked.
"Hey, even Alphas need to rest from time to time." Stinky said.
"How about we just get going?" Claudette suggested, then they continued walking for about ten minutes until they heard sobbing nearby. They parted the bushes and spotted their grandmother sitting by the lake, while her tears fell from her face. The three pups slowly approached her.
"Grandma?" Runt asked, "What's wrong?"
Eve sniffed and wiped away her tears, "Just go away. Leave me alone." She said, sadly, "I'm not your grandmother anymore."
"Don't say that." Claudette said, "You're the greatest grandma ever!"
A small smile emerged on Eve's lips, but it quickly faded. Runt sat down beside her and leaned up against her.
"It's alright, Grandma." He soothed, "I'm sure it's not all bad."
Eve sniffed, "I wish it wasn't." She replied, then sighed, "You three should be home right now. It's getting dark."
"What about you?" Stinky asked.
"I'll be fine, Dears." Eve said, "Just go."
"Well, alright." Claudette muttered, then they left their grandmother by the edge of the lake and continued on to the pack. They arrived in about twenty minutes and were immediately tackled by a worrisome Kate.
"Oh, there you are!" She exclaimed, "I was so worried about you. Where have you been?"
"We were just with Grandma." Runt explained, "Did something happen? She seems depressed."
Kate blinked, "Uhh…yeah. Something did." She answered, "Umm…"
"It's better that we tell them sooner than later." Humphrey said, as he approached and sat down beside his mate.
"Did something happen to you, Dad?" Stinky asked, "You seem more…Alpha-like."
"Your former grandmother murdered your Uncle Garth. I'm not going to go into details, but it was the worst thing we've ever seen." Humphrey explained, solemnly, "So, I had to banish her."
"That's not possible." Stinky said.
"I know it's hard to believe, but that's what happened." Humphrey said, "Now, let's-"
"No, that's not what I meant." Stinky said quickly, cutting off his father, "You said it was the worst thing to have ever happened, so I'm assuming it was quite, uhh…gruesome."
Humphrey sighed, "Yeah, you're right." He replied, "Now, what's your point?"
"Well, if it was that bad, then she would've been covered in Garth's scent, right?" Stinky asked.
"Yeah." Kate answered, "Why?"
"There wasn't a single trace of Garth's scent anywhere on, or near, Grandma." Stinky explained, "Even after a thorough wash, I still would've picked up a faint scent. You know that."
"But, we saw her covered in, well…you know." Kate said, "And she had, uhh…"
"Yeah, let's not go into details." Humphrey said, "Now, let's go to bed. We'll deal with this in the morning."
Humphrey and the pups started heading towards the Alpha Den, but Kate stayed sitting by the tree line.
"Kate?" Humphrey asked, as he looked behind him towards his mate, "Are you alright?"
"Hm?" Kate asked, then gasped, "Oh, yeah. I'm fine."
"You're sure?" Humphrey questioned, then Kate nodded.
"Yeah, I think I'll go talk with my mother for a bit." Kate said, "Pups, where was she?"
"She was down by the lake." Runt answered, "About twenty minutes from here."
"Okay, thanks." Kate replied, then headed into the trees, while Humphrey and the pups continued on towards the Alpha Den to sleep for the night.
Eve was still sitting by the edge of the lake, when she heard the bushes rustle behind her. She turned around, as a low growl emanated from her throat, just as a black wolf with red eyes emerged from the bushes. Eve recognized him immediately.
"You!" She growled, "You killed my son-in-law!"
It chuckled, but didn't say anything, which angered Eve.
"Aren't you going to say something before I rip you to shreds?!" Eve threatened, as she got down in a defensive position.
Eve, daughter of Clyde and Claudette, mated to Winston. A voice echoed in Eve's head, Mother of Keith, Kate, and Lilly.
Eve enlarged her eyes in shock, for no one except her and Winston was supposed to know about their eldest son, Keith.
"What are you?" Eve asked, "You're not a wolf."
It smiled, then approached Eve, who backed away in fear, as It opened its maw, revealing hundreds of sharp, pointy teeth. It suddenly lunged forward and Eve clamped her eyes shut.
"Mom?!" Kate called out, then Eve opened an eyeball and It was gone. She saw her daughter emerge from the bushes and she let out a sigh of relief.
"Mom?" Kate asked, "Are you alright?"
Eve perked her ears up, "Never been better." She answered, then smacked a paw on the water beside her, causing ripples, "Just sitting here, contemplating."
"I apologize for earlier, Mom." Kate said, "Stinky made us realize that there was no way that you could've…massacred Garth. He said there wasn't a single sign of Garth on you, which I see he was right."
Eve smiled lightly, "Yeah, well…" She said, "It doesn't matter now. According to Pack Law, once a wolf is banished in this case, that's it. They can't come back, even if they were proven to be innocent."
Kate looked down sadly, "Well…" She said, "If you didn't kill him, then who did?"
"I'm not sure." Eve answered, "I know they have black fur and red eyes, but they're not wolves. I don't know what they are, but whatever it is… My instincts are telling me that you should keep your pups close."
"Are you sure you're alright, Mom?" Kate asked, then Eve nodded.
"Yeah." She answered, "I'll be here, if you ever need me, Honey. You should go home now."
"Okay, if you say so." Kate replied, then started heading back to the pack.
They don't trust you anymore. It's voice echoed in Eve's head.
Oh, shut up! Eve thought in her head.
"She's still sleeping?" Bill asked, referring to Maggie's sleeping form in Ben's arms, while they entered their campsite, "I thought she would've woken up by now."
"She is a very heavy sleeper." Beverly said, "She once slept through Ben falling down the stairs at home, while he was carrying her."
"No, she was awake for that." Ben replied.
"She was?" Beverly asked, confused.
Ben nodded, "Yeah, after I took that header down the stairs, she just giggled and asked, 'Can we do that again?'." He explained, then chuckled, "I think she got that from you, Bev."
Beverly chuckled, "Yeah, that was funny." She commented.
"Funny for my girls, but painful for me." Ben muttered, then smiled, "At least, I know where I stand in our family."
"I'm still surprised that she slept through that gunshot, though." Bill pointed out. They reached the camper and Mike was about to join Richie in the tent to go to sleep, but Bill stopped him.
"You need to explain a couple things, Mike." He said, then yawned, "But it can wait until morning."
"Yeah, but will It?" Beverly asked.
Bill nodded in understanding, "I can stay awake for the night." He said, "If anything happens, I'll wake you up. Good night, everybody."
Everyone else said their good nights, then they each headed into either the camper or the tent, retiring for the night.
The next morning
Nothing happened that night, which was a relief to the Losers Club, and everyone was now gathered around a small campfire. Beverly was giving Maggie spoonfuls of freshly made oatmeal, while Richie struggled trying to toast some bread over the fire.
"Come on you. Toast!" He groaned. Richie was holding a piece of bread level over the fire with a pair of marshmallow sticks.
"No!" He shouted, as the piece of bread suddenly burst into flames. He blew it out, but it was too late. The piece of bread was charred black.
He sighed and shook his head, "Why is this so difficult?" He wondered, "The bread is either not toasting at all, or it's burnt to a crisp."
"Why don't you try a frying pan?" Beverly suggested, "That way the flames won't reach the bread, but you can still put it into the fire."
Richie chuckled, "You always were the smart one." He replied, then grabbed a nearby frying pan and placed a new piece of bread in it. He held it over the fire and soon enough the bread was toasted to perfection.
"Remind me to thank you one day, Bev." Richie said, as he placed the toast on a separate plate, then placed another piece of bread in the frying pan.
While Richie and Beverly were around the campfire, cooking and/or eating breakfast, Ben and Bill were talking to Mike about last night.
"Okay, explain." Bill said, "What were you meaning when you said your worst fears had come true?"
"Remember when I did that research on It all those years ago?" Mike asked.
"Yeah." Ben answered, "You found the Ritual of Chüd, which was supposed to trap It, but you forgot to mention that it didn't work the last time it was attempted."
"Okay, well, I've also delved into It's origin." Mike explained, "As I've told you those few years ago, It came from a separate dimension than ours and landed in the area of what's now Derry, Maine, thousands of years ago. A few weeks ago, I was doing some research on wolves, because I was curious, simple as that. That was when I found out that they've relocated multiple wolves to Sawtooth to repopulate."
"Right." Ben said, "You said that two had mysteriously disappeared and another two had returned home."
"Exactly." Mike replied, "I later discovered that a meteor had hit within a hundred feet of the pair that had disappeared. Two minutes later, their tags went offline."
"So?" Bill asked, "What's so important about that?"
"What's important is that over the next two years, there has been an increase in missing cases. Humans and animals alike. There may have been more animals missing than what was recorded, because we only know of the ones that were tagged." Mike explained, "This place is almost exactly like Derry was."
"Almost like Derry?" Ben asked, "What's different?"
"In Derry, It would rest every twenty-seven years after a summer of feeding, right?" Mike asked.
"Right." Bill answered.
Mike shook his head, "Here, It doesn't." He said, "Now, that may be because It's relatively new here and hasn't conformed into a pattern yet, but I doubt it."
Bill let out a heavy sigh, "You knew there was an It here, and you didn't tell us?" Ben asked.
"I didn't know for certain and when we decided to come here it slipped my mind." Mike protested, "I wrote it off as something else, because there would be no way that there's another It."
"But there is." Ben said, "You could've said something two weeks ago!"
"Hey! It's not his fault, Ben." Bill said, "We would've thought the same as him."
Ben sighed, "True." He replied, "I apologize for that, Mike."
Mike shook his head, "No, I understand." He said, "I should've said something two weeks ago."
"So, what are we going to do?" Bill asked, "It's not safe here, but we can't leave knowing that It will continue to feast on anyone in Sawtooth."
"Why is it not safe?" Mike asked, "We've dealt with It twice before."
Ben gestured towards Maggie, who was now playing with Beverly's hair, while she giggled and tickled her daughter.
"She hasn't." Ben pointed out, "And her safety comes first."
Mike nodded, "Right." He replied, "Then, we should cut this trip short before It gets her."
The three of them dispersed with Mike heading towards the tent, while Ben headed to Beverly. Bill stayed there in one spot, thinking to himself. Ben leaned down to Beverly's ear and gently kissed her cheek, making her smile.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we're going to be cutting this trip short." Ben said.
"Why?" Richie asked.
"It has been here for the last two years, terrorizing the whole park." Ben explained, causing Richie to go wide-eyed.
"Oh." He muttered.
"What's It?" Maggie asked.
"Uhh…" Ben stammered.
"It is something from our past." Beverly explained, hoping that her daughter would understand and not ask too many questions about it, "Something we'd prefer to forget."
"Yeah, no kidding." Richie muttered, then stood up, "I'm going to help Mike take the tent down."
"We're leaving?" Maggie asked, "Why?"
"It's not safe here anymore." Beverly said, "So, we're leaving before one of us gets hurt."
"Aww…" Maggie whined, "But I didn't get to say goodbye to my new friends."
Beverly frowned, "What new friends?" She asked.
"Stinky, Claudette, and Runt." Maggie answered, "I can't go without saying goodbye."
"I'm sure they'll understand, Sweetie." Beverly replied, then stood up, while carrying her daughter, and headed to their truck. Mike and Richie had finished taking down the tent and were now packing it into the truck, while Ben gathered all their supplies and put them into the truck as well. Bill was still standing over by himself, thinking, which Beverly noticed.
"You alright over there, Bill?" She asked, then Bill turned around with a smile.
"I'm fine, Bev." He answered.
Beverly smiled, "No, you're not, Bill." She replied, "What's up?"
Bill sighed, "I can't leave." He said, making everyone stop in their tracks.
"What?" Richie asked, confused, "Why would you want to stay?"
"I can't stand idly by, while another entity like It continues to wreak havoc on humanity." Bill explained, "especially one like this one."
"We've already decided to leave, Bill." Ben pointed out.
"You already decided to leave." Bill corrected, "And you have every right to, because of Maggie, but I'm staying. Are either of you with me? Mike? Richie?"
Mike sighed, "Well, I don't have much of a life in Derry." He said, then smiled, "So, I'm in."
Richie chuckled, "Count me in as well, Bill." He added, then Bill smiled and turned towards Beverly. He leaned in and kissed each of her cheeks, making her chuckle.
"I hope we see each other again, Bev." Bill said, "But if not…it was a great friendship we had."
"Take good care of your parents, Maggie." He said, as he knelt down towards their daughter, "If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be around today."
Bill stood back up again, then no one said anything, as the family of three headed to their vehicle and drove off, out of the campgrounds. The remaining three adults looked at each other, then put out their right hands and held them together.
"Let's go kill this fucking clown." Richie said, making the others chuckle, while Richie smiled.
"I just had to say that." Richie chuckled.
A/N: Lol, I just had to put that last line in there. So, if you're familiar with IT, then you will know that a lot of things aren't real. Some things are pretty obvious that they're not real, while others are quite subtle and unexpected. Let me know what you think! Please Review!
Till next time,
~Demonwolf102
