19
Okay, there is only this chapter and one more to go before this fanfiction is finished. I'll be sad to see it go! Anyway, enjoy.
24th December, 1985
PennyRiddle's head revolved on his shoulders to look at the two boys, switched over so he couldn't scare them.
Richie's eyes went wide as he realised what he'd said.
`Clowns, huh?' It said, advancing on them menacingly, knee caps broken.
`N-no, no, that wasn't what I meant-'
`CLOWNS!'
Suddenly a thousand copies of PennyRiddle whizzed about the boys. `Tried to keep it a secret, eh?' They screamed. `Can't try and swap identities and keep it from ME!'
`Richie, you moron!' Yelled Mike, frantically turning round and getting dizzier; his fake glasses fell off into the dirt. Which clown was the one that could hurt them?
They juddered to a halt, snapping into a single thing.
Eleven.
But Eleven with her head shaved, in Hogwarts uniform. She dissolved into atoms as she looked back at him, agony and sadness etched into her face. Mike stared at it, transfixed as Eleven flickered to Holly, starved and frozen, his mom, eyes shut with bruises all over her, his dad, vomit on his shirt and around his mouth.
`Mike! It's not real!' Eleven shouted, resisting the urge to run to him. Kali was still unconcious, she wasn't moving…
Eleven tried frantically to wake her up so they could destroy the fused monster. No use. No pulse. Kali was dead.
Nothing could defeat It without her and Kali's power combined.
Dustin went with a little brute force. With a yell of rage he tried to hit it over the head but Ted Wheeler grabbed the bat, and twisted it out of Dustin's hands.
The boy was paralysed for a second.
And then Dustin lost several more teeth as Ted Wheeler smashed him across the face. Blood dripped out of Dustin's mouth as he lay unconcious in the dirt. Bill ran to help him and PennyRiddle smashed the bat down onto his head, then kicked him for good measure.
`That's for the bolt gun,' it hissed.
With a flurry of legs, it scurried into the trees, and everyone froze. Mike H was looking weak and pale as he continued to lose blood, Dustin and Bill were unconcious-
And then rocks started to hurtle towards them from the woods.
The teenagers screamed, ducked away, dived behind trees for cover. PennyRiddle picked up another piece, flexed it's arm, released.
One thick chunk soared towards Mike. Eleven threw it back into the forest, away from him.
Will gasped when a rock hit his forehead. He dropped like a stone.
Lucas tightened his grip on his bat and swung wildly, trying to knock away the rocks.
Phys Ed was never his strong point.
Lucas collapsed, a little blood beading on his forehead. Max hurled her knife at PennyRiddle, but it slopped into a puddle and Billy Hargrove was suddenly grinning at her with a mouthful of teeth, teeth getting wider and wider.
Max stared into the deadlights. Beverly, next to her, was entranced too. Their eyes got wider and wider.
`Stop looking at it!' Richie screamed. PennyRiddle snapped it's jaws shut and they dropped to the ground, unconcious.
PennyRiddle turned around to them, grinning, a trail of black saliva down it's chin.
And then it dissapeared.
Immediately Richie, Mike and Eleven drew into a circle, looking into the darkness, eyes straining.
Something came up behind Richie.
A something with purple hair, very much alive.
`Kali,' gasped Richie, fist pressed to chest. `Christ, I thought you were the clown.'
`Where is the clown?' Asked Kali, standing oddly. It was probably the effects of the taser, but to Mike it seemed familiar.
`Don't know,' Richie replied, trembling all over. Total silence.
And PennyRiddle suddenly appeared behind Mike, grabbing him by the shirt and hoisting him into the air.
`I said I'd break them!' It screamed, one hand transforming into jagged shards of glass.
.
.
.
`Eleven?' Mike asked nervously. She was glaring at him with pure panic in her eyes.
.
.
.
`Let go of him!' Screamed Eleven, balling up her fists, terror shooting into her throat as the clown pushed the blades underneath Mike's chin.
.
.
.
Apprehension grew in Mike's stomach. He looked at Kali. Blood trickled from her nose; black blood. He suddenly had a flashback. Ginny Weasley. Standing exactly the same way, like a marionette.
`Eleven, it isn't real!' He shouted. `Listen to me! It's possessed Kali, it's using her power! It isn't real!'
.
.
.
PennyRiddle drew back the glass knives that had replaced it's fingers. Grinning at her, the clown plunged them towards Mike's chest.
`NO!'
Eleven threw her hand forwards before the clown could do anything, hitting him with all her strength. It dropped Mike. She looked up triumphantly, seeing PennyRiddle fly back through the air, arching gracefully-
But seeing Mike smash into the tree.
Black goo shot out of Kali's nose and mouth and she dropped to the ground again, stone-cold dead. The black goo transformed into the clown. The clown that was shrieking with laughter.
Eleven's senses shut down; all sound, everything apart from Mike went dark. `No-'
Shaking uncontrollably, Eleven stumbled over to Mike, getting louder. `No, no, no, no, NO! Mike, how do I stop the bleeding…'
Dark red oozed from the base of his skull. Mike's face was screwed up in pain but he tried to smile.
`Quickly! Tell me! Tell me now!'
`El… it's… okay.' His hand reached up slowly, and touched Eleven's cheek. `It's okay.'
`I'm sorry, I- I didn't-'
A small figure came out of the bushes, shivering. Holly. She walked through the snow, and sat down next to him, and took his other hand.
`Hey, Holly,' he said, smiling at her weakly.
`I love you, Mike,' she whispered. Mike squeezed her small fingers.
`I- I love you too. Eleven?'
`Yes?'
`Don't feel guilty, okay? Not- your- fault.'
Eleven broke, and tears began sliding down her cheeks. A few dropped onto Mike's face, mingling with his own. He carried on speaking, despite the water trickling from his eyes.
`Promise me you won't punish yourself, or feel- guilty, for the rest of your life.'
`Mike-'
`Promise me, El. Please.' His hand tightened on her cheek.
`I promise. I promise!' No response. She paused, a thought suddenly hitting her stomach. `You heard me, didn't you?'
Mike's hand fell into the snow, leaving a smear of blood on her cheek. `You heard me, didn't you? Didn't you? Mike?'
And his eyes slid shut.
Holly began to cry.
Eleven's mouth hung open. She gulped, starting to shake uncontrollably. And then screamed, sound ripping out of her throat. Her agony echoed off of the trees, the rocks, everywhere.
The glass in Derry exploded outwards.
Her senses started to come back, peripheral vision and hearing steadily reigniting. The clown was still laughing, doubled over, hands pressed to it's stomach.
`I killed Kali! I killed your boyfriend!' It sang through the giggles. `You lose. You lose!'
Eleven lifted up her hands. Unchecked emotion surged through her, striking her again and again.
Let it end.
The clown's face dropped as it realised it may have made a mistake. `No, that's cheating, you aren't allowed to cheat!'
Eleven shook her head slowly, face twisted with rage.
The clown was caught in her power like a rabbit in the headlights.
I don't want to be alive anymore.
The clown's face pulled back in agony, writhing and twisting in the air. But no sound came out. Unsurprising, really.
Eleven was crushing it's windpipe.
I don't want to feel if it HURTS THIS MUCH!
And PennyRiddle exploded, bursting apart into atoms, dissapearing into the air.
Eleven collapsed to the ground, tears rolling off her cheeks and creating pock marks in the snow.
She couldn't stand up.
In Derry, clocks with their glass faces shattered began to chime.
One strike, two strikes, three strikes, all the way to twelve.
Christmas Day.
