Disclaimer: I do not own IT or any of the characters. That all belongs to the awesome and talented Stephen King. I only own my OC and other characters I make up along the way.
A/N: Helloooo! Thanks again for such a wonderful response! You guys are amazing! I hope my explanation in the last chapter help clarify a few things. Anyways, I have a feeling you guys are really going to like this chapter. (: Also if you have a Tumblr and aren't following me yet but want to, my Tumblr name is: dreaming-for-an-escape. Follow me if you want and don't be shy to ask me questions. I always like talking to my readers and answering their questions as best as possible. Happy readings!
A lot of you have been asking me if the movie full on scared me. Honestly I'm a huge fan of horror so it takes a lot to actually get me really scared as in jump in my seat and scream. But there was one scene in the movie that really got to me and that's the slide show projector scene in Bill's garage. If you guys have seen the movie you know why. o.O I was expecting a scare but not that intense. Rest assured I will have chills when I eventually write that scene in the story.
Did anyone else get teary eyed during the blood oath scene? Just the whole scene with all seven of them together and the music the movie played had me almost bawling. Cause if you think about it *SPOILER?* that's technically the last time all seven of them are together. It makes me sooo sad. And then they had Stan and Eddie leave first and that was just too much for me. Talk about sad foreshadowing. Sorry if this spoiled it for anyone but I mean it's not really a spoiler because it happened in the mini-series and in the novel. It's still sad though. :(
"Even if she be not harmed, her heart may fail her in so much and so many horrors; and hereafter she may suffer-both in waking, from her nerves, and in sleep, from her dreams." ― Bram Stoker, Dracula
Chapter 7: Nightmare
There was a time in her life when the library had been Gwen's least favorite place to visit.
As of lately though the library had become her to go place for whenever she wanted to escape her life. Momentarily that is. Sure the movie theater was a good way to seek a distraction, but she was starting to find out that reading was a lot more engrossing than going to the movies.
On her way to Derry's public library, Gwen's attention was grabbed twice. The first time was because she almost crashed her bike with someone else's. She was passing by an open alleyway next to the butcher shop, when out of the blue a boy came peddling down from there. He was dark skinned and because of this Gwen recognized who he was. In Derry there weren't a lot of colored people and because of that those who were colored were often ostracized. It was something Gwen was starting to notice in the small town and it was something she did not agree with. Gwen didn't judge a person based on the color of their skin, that was absurd. She focused more on who they were on the inside and how they treated others.
Now Gwen didn't know the boy's name. She remembered Richie telling her the boy was home schooled. The two siblings would occasionally see the boy ride his bike through town because of the deliveries he made to the butcher shop. But the Tozier girl had never actually talked to him before. Until today...well, if you can even call it that. She had asked if he was okay because he looked pretty spooked out by something. He responded unsettled and due to this she wasn't able to comprehend him. She wanted to calm him down but before she was able to do that, the boy gave her an apologetic expression, whispered sorry, and then rode his bike passed her.
Gwen was left behind, puzzled.
The second time her attention was grabbed was when she was locking her bike in front of the library. Not that far away was Betty Ripsom's mother. The older distraught woman was yet again posting flyers around. Gwen felt sad by this. Betty had been missing for some time now and as much as it pained her to think so, the young girl's chances of coming back were low. Betty's mother though hadn't come to accept that...and that just made Gwen feel even more sympathy for her. Not only that but dismayed feelings of Georgie's own disappearance were coming to her emotional surface. Before they were able to do so, Gwen got a hold of herself and managed to push down those feelings. She didn't want to cry...this wasn't the time to do so.
After those two attention grabbing scenes, (one being puzzling and the other being hurtful) Gwen was now in the library. She was in the poetry section looking for a specific book in mind. She expected to find it quickly since she had seen it the other day. To her surprise it wasn't there. Perhaps someone checked it out, or Mrs. Starrett took it off the shelf...there was only one way to find out for sure. With a huff, Gwen made her way towards the main check out desk. On the way there she passed a wall that had a bunch of filers on it. The one that stuck out the most was the same one she had seen everywhere at school...the curfew one. She stopped to stare at it.
Remember The Curfew
7:00 P.M.
Derry Police Department
It was nowhere near seven, so Gwen was still in the green zone. That didn't exactly make her feel safe. She looked away and hurriedly walked further from it. As she neared the check out desk her uneasiness turned into ruefulness. There standing behind the desk was Mrs. Starrett. She was a studious looking woman who was well into her years. When she saw her approach her eyes harden.
Gwen right away offered the older librarian a deferential smile. "Hello, Mrs. Starrett." She stood in front of her shifting her weight from one foot to another.
Mrs. Starrett eyed her with distaste. Granted it was mild but it was still shown in her eyes. "Miss Tozier." She said unenthusiastically. "What is it that you need?"
Gwen let out a low sigh, her smile faltering. She shouldn't complain about Mrs. Starrett's unfriendly behavior. After the way she had behaved when she was little she could understand why the librarian acted negatively towards her. It was one of the cons of coming to the library, but it wasn't one that she would let drive her away. She remained well mannered with her. "I couldn't find a book that was there the other day. Can you see if it was checked out or if perhaps it's somewhere in the back?"
"And the name of this book?" Mrs. Starrett asked raising a brow.
"The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot." Gwen right away answered.
Mrs. Starrett didn't even need to look at her check out book list. "Ah, yes, that was indeed checked out."
Gwen frowned. "By who?"
Mrs. Starrett eyes wandered around the almost empty library. Her eyes slightly widened when they landed on who she was looking for. "By that young boy over there."
Gwen followed her gaze and right away saw who she was staring at. It was a young boy, probably the same age as her brother. He was heavy set and had light brown hair. His weight didn't have her staring at him in amusement or anything like that. No, her attention was more onthe book he was reading...the poem book she wanted to check out for herself. Darn. She turned to stare at Mrs. Starrett. "Is there more copies in the back?" She asked, hopeful. Mrs. Starrett firm expression was enough of an answer for her. "Right..." She drawled.
"You could always ask." Mrs. Starrett suggested before she walked off.
Geez, thanks. But she did have a point...she could always ask. Gwen made her way towards where he was sitting at. As she got closer she saw a bunch of other books surrounding the table he was at. She stopped once she reached his table. "Hey..." Gwen said trying to get his attention. She spoke normally since the library wasn't that full and those who were there were either sleeping with their heads down on the table or staring off into space. Except for this kid. When he didn't look up again, she raised her voice a bit louder. "Hey kid." Gwen greeted gaining his attention. She saw how his eyes widened when he saw her.
"I'm sorry." He said ready to get up from his chair. "I'll move."
When she saw how he was getting ready to leave, Gwen was quick to stop him. "Wow, chill, I'm not asking you to move."
"Oh, I just assumed..." The boy shook his head, sheepish. "Sorry..." He whispered and then he sat back down.
"Nothing to be sorry for." Gwen reassured him." I was going to ask if you're almost done reading that book." She pointed to said book that she wanted."If not that's okay. I just figured I'd ask."
The boy quickly closed the book. "Oh, yeah you can have it. I wasn't actually going to read the whole thing. I was skimming through it for ideas of some sorts." He said handing over the book to her.
"A man of poetry, how nice." Gwen smiled as she accepted the book from him. "And did the book help you?"
"Not really, it wasn't exactly what I had in mind." He said disappointingly.
"Well, I don't blame you. T.S. Eliot isn't for everyone." Gwen commented, good-natured. "I wouldn't panic because you have a bunch of other books here to help you out." Now that she was next to him she got a better view on what exactly was on the table. Her eyebrows furrowed at all the paperwork that was there.
"You working on a summer school project already?" Gwen asked the boy. This looked like some pretty serious research.
"Uh, no." He sheepishly answered.
Gwen tilted her head. "You mean you're doing this out of your own summer vacation time?"
He lowered his eyes and nodded his head.
"Wow, what are you working on?" Gwen asked kindly.
He was taken by surprise with how genuinely interested she sounded. He expected her to laugh at him and call him a nerd, but she didn't. He lifted his gaze back onto her. "Just information on the town. The history of it."
"I've never met a kid who's so interested in the history of our lovely town." Gwen said in a droll way."My brother hates reading, besides comics." She laughed. "It's actually quite funny. He gets good grades but hates doing the work." The laughing stopped when she saw the bewildered expression on the boy's face. It was then she finally realized that throughout the whole time she hadn't even introduced herself to him. "Sorry, I'm rambling. I tend to do that often." She stuck out one of her hands to him. "Gwen Tozier."
Her constant talking for some reason made his embarrassment go away for a bit. He saw how she was waiting for him to shake her hand and he gladly did so. "Ben Hanscom." He introduced himself shaking her hand. When they let go he gave her a look of realization. "Tozier...say you're related to Richie?"
Gwen nodded her head. "Yup, I'm his older sister."
"I know your brother." Ben told her. There was a pause after he said this and he quickly went in to correct himself. "Well, not really. We were in a few classes together but I never actually got to talk to him. Which is weird because he always talked in class like nonstop." He thought carefully on what he said and his face turned into sheer embarrassment. He shouldn't have said that. Now she was going to think he was easily annoyed by her brother (which wasn't true). To Ben's surprise, Gwen had a smile on her face.
"Yeah, that's Richie for you." She responded laughing a bit. "I'm sort of the same way. Hyper active tendencies is common theme with us, Toziers. Well, at least for him and I." Her attention was then directed towards his backpack...or more specifically towards the object that was poking out of it. Her smile grew. "Hey, you have a Walkman, cool. I do too."
Ben was trying his best to keep up with her. Based on this interaction with her he could definitely see the relation between her and Richie. Other than the facial similarities. Her talkative nature wasn't something he thought was annoying. It actually felt nice talking to someone. He'd been here for awhile now and this was the second time someone was actually talking to him. The first being Beverly Marsh. The lovely redhead who not only talked to him but who signed his year book. His heart fluttered at the thought of her. She too had seen his Walkman and innocently poked fun at his music choice. When he felt his cheeks becoming warm he shook his head. "Yeah..." He uttered back to Gwen. He cleared his throat. "What music do you listen to?"
Instead of telling him, Gwen decided to let him find out his own. She opened her backpack and pulled out her Walkman. "Here do switches." She said handing her Walkman to him. Ben, who was first a little taken back, stared at her. Her kind smile though made him act. She took a hold of his once he had hers.
Ben put on her headphones and pushed play on the Walkman. A smile appeared on his face when a familiar song entered his ears."Wild, Wild Life?" He asked with amusement.
"What?" Gwen asked slightly on defense. Her defense though was more lighthearted than serious. She shrugged her shoulders. "I like Talking Heads. Don't judge." Wild, Wild Life was her jam. It was just one of the many songs she would dance to. Richie often commented on how ridiculously funny her dancing was. Except that didn't bother her because whenever she was losing herself to the music she couldn't care less with how silly she looked.
"I'm not. I mean, I listen to New Kids On The Block." Ben shyly informed her, once again feeling embarrassed about his liking towards the band. He gently put her Walkman on the table.
"There's nothing wrong with New Kids On The Block." Gwen told him merrily. "Their new song The Right Stuff is catchy. I'll admit, I danced to it when I first heard it and I have no regrets." After she said this put tried out his Walkman and smiled at the song that played. "Hangin' Tough. Now this is indeed a catchy song." She bobbed her head and mouthed some of the lyrics. She stopped her foolishness when a loud cough was heard. Gwen took off the headphones and turned around to where such noise was heard. She came face to face with a displeased Mrs. Starrett.
"Miss Tozier this is a library. A place for reading not dancing. Now control yourself before I have to ask you to leave." Mrs. Starrett said in a hard voice.
Gwen gave her a sheepish look. "Sorry, Mrs. Starrett. I'll stop now."
Mrs. Starrett kept her stare a little bit longer. Finally, she then went back to the check out desk. Gwen looked at Ben with a apologetic expression. "Sorry about that." She said as she handed him his Walkman and grabbed hers. "She doesn't really like me."
Ben gave her a curious gaze. "Why's that?" As he has come to find out with the constant time he has spent here, Mrs. Starrett wasn't the most warmest and friendliest librarian, but the way she had stared at Gwen let him know there was a meaning behind her hostility.
Gwen sighed, becoming serious. She stared at Ben and as she did this the words flowed out of her mouth. She had barely met him but talking to him was so easy. Well, talking for her had always been easy. There was amity in the air that made it extra easy. So she found herself telling him the reason why Mrs. Starrett disliked her so much.
"When I was in the third grade my class would visit the library a lot for reading sessions and we had to pick buddies to read with. Unfortunately, my friend Francine wasn't in that class with me and no one else wanted to be my buddy...so I was left on my own." Gwen lowered her eyes down a bit. "I wasn't too happy about that and adding my unhappiness with how I wasn't exactly a huge fan of the library just made for a disastrous result." She cleared her throat. "Anyways, what I ended up doing was coloring in all the books I would get my hands on." The dark haired girl scolded herself for this. "I know that's terrible and I feel bad just thinking about it, but I've apologized and the damages were paid for." The damages had been paid for thanks to her parents. Gwen remembered her mother and father had been so mad at her. Mainly her mother. It was one of those rare moments where all her anger had been directed onto her rather than Richie. She lifted her gaze to look at Ben. She gave him a sheepish expression."But as you can tell she still hasn't gotten over it. Not that I blame her. That was a shitty thing to do."
"I get it." Ben mused softly. He did. He's not saying he would have done the same thing as Gwen with ruining the books, but he knew how it felt to be alone with no friends. He knew the feeling too well. "No one wanted to be with you. So you acted out."
"Yeah..." Gwen quickly fixed her wavering voice. "I should probably check this book out." She gave Ben a smile. "It was nice talking to you."
"Same here." Ben said slowly returning the smile.
"Oh, by the way..." Gwen said facing him once more. "If you're really curious about our town's history―I know that I am―you should ask for The Old History of Derry book." She suggested to him. "I've been wanting to check it out for a while now but Mrs. Starrett for some reason can never find it for me. But that could be just an excuse. As I said, I'm not exactly her favorite person. But for you...I think she'll be able to."
Ben appreciated that. He made sure to remember that for later. "Alright, thanks, Gwen."
"No problem." The Tozier girl said ready to make her leave.
Before she was gone completely, Ben called her name. Not loud enough to anger Mrs. Starrett, but loud enough to catch the older girl's attention. When she turned to look at him again, Ben spoke without fully thinking.
"You're a girl, right?" He foolishly asked.
Gwen smiled at such question. "Last time I checked, yeah."
Ben flushed and went to correct himself. "What I mean is do girls actually like receiving poems, like Haikus..."
Gwen shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, it's a little old fashioned but some girls like old fashioned. So, yeah."
Ben happily took her answer. "Okay. Thanks."
Gwen laughed at his silliness. "Bye, Ben." She said as she made her way towards the check out desk. Ben said goodbye by waving at her and once she was out of sight he lowered his hand down. Since moving to Derry all those months ago, he never had a conversation with an older person like the one he had with Gwen Tozier. It got him thinking...maybe not all people her age were bad. She sure wasn't. With this new thought in his head, Ben reached for another poetry book and opened it up to read it.
If this new poetry book didn't give him any ideas or inspiration then he'll just read the next one and the next one after that. Hopefully by tomorrow he'll be able to come up with a poem that was worthy for Beverly Marsh.
Thankfully Gwen managed not to get Mrs. Starrett angrier with her. Once she checked out her book, Gwen put it in her backpack and then swiftly left the library. It was still a few hours away from curfew. So Gwen decided to stop by the local pharmacy to buy a snack. When she arrived at such location, Gwen got off her bike and leaned it against the wall.
Just as she was about to go in the pharmacy, noises that sounded like pebbles being thrown caught her attention. Curious, Gwen walked closer towards that noise and was surprised by who she found. There further in the alleyway was Beverly Marsh and she was throwing pebbles at the empty soda and beer cans that were around her. Well...she was trying. She kept missing each throw.
"You're not using your wrist properly." Gwen said making her presence known.
Beverly didn't jump nor did she make a noise of surprise when she heard her. Instead she turned to look at her with a mild bemused expression. It was bemusement not aimed at Gwen exactly, but more towards what she had just said.
"What do you mean?" The redhead inquired.
Gwen came closer towards her. "Well, you have to use both your wrist and fingers equally. May I?" She asked once she was next to her.
With no protest, Beverly handed her the pebble she had. "So first focus on your said target." Gwen began explaining as she narrowed her eyes at another empty soda can that was on the ground. "Once you have that in mind, make your grip tight by using your fingers. Then you're gonna want to bend your elbow and hold your forearm with your other hand. After that you'll bend your wrist back and throw it. The velocity you create by doing that should be enough to hit your target." After she finished explaining, Gwen threw the pebble and watched as it successfully hit the soda can. With a small proud smile, Gwen turned to look at Beverly again. "Here give it a shot." She said handing her another pebble.
Beverly grabbed the pebble from her hand. She took a deep breath and then focused on which soda can she wanted to hit. Remembering and going over everything Gwen had just told her, Beverly finally threw the pebble. Her lips curled upwards in excitement from watching the pebble hit the target she had in mind. She now looked at Gwen with delighted eyes.
Gwen saw this and gave her a real genuine smile. The redhead's sudden jaunty demeanor was contagious. "See? What I tell you."
"Thanks." Beverly said with a small smile still on her face. She bent down to reach for her backpack and pulled out a carton of cigarettes. She took one out but when she straightened her posture she looked at Gwen. "You want one?" She asked the dark haired girl. Usually she was stingy when it came to cigarettes, (since she had to steal them from the pharmacy whenever the close was clear) but she was willing to share with Gwen.
Gwen Tozier wouldn't classify herself as a hardcore smoker. She had a few smokes in the past before. She smoked with Francine when they where at her house, (parents gone of course) and then she also smoked all by her lonesome as well. She didn't do it often, only when she was stressed out and was in need of a major release of emotions. Right now she wasn't stressed or in need of a release, right now she was just in the company of Beverly Marsh. The young redhead who was nice enough to share her cigarettes with her. The redhead she was getting along with. The cordial atmosphere made Gwen nodded her head.
"Sure."
Beverly took out another cigarette from her backpack and handed it to Gwen. She then lit both their cigarettes using the lighter she had. She moved over to the alley wall and leaned against it. "So, was that a technique you learned in softball?" She asked her after taking a drag from her cigarette. Even though Gwen was in high school and she herself was two years younger than the dark haired girl, Beverly had gone to quite a few of her games. The girls softball team in Derry was really good. They sure were a lot better than the other teams in both the middle school and high school. But the one thing Beverly liked was that the girls softball team was way better than the girls field hockey team. The girls softball team members were also a lot nicer too. Were they buddy buddy with her? No, (she didn't have any female friends) but at least they didn't make her life a living hell like Greta and her bitchy field hockey friends did.
The Tozier girl followed her lead and leaned against the same wall. After doing so, Gwen lightly put the cigarette in her mouth and then inhaled and exhaled. The familiar taste of nicotine invaded her senses. Once getting a hold of herself, Gwen nodded her head. "Yeah, but there's an easier way to get you to hit your target."
"How?" Beverly asked, curious.
Gwen exhaled another puff of smoke. Her voice suddenly turned earnest. "Just imagine the one person's face you dislike the most. It gives you an extra motivation to not want to miss."
Beverly took her words. With a resolute expression, using the hand that wasn't holding her cigarette, she bent down and picked up another pebble from the ground. Straightening her posture once more she looked around for a target. Her eyes narrowed in focus onto a empty beer can. A series of different emotions ran through her as she threw the pebble. A content feeling reached her surface when she saw it hit the can.
Gwen, impressed by her throwing skills, came to stand next to her again. Using the hand that wasn't holding her cigarette, she used all the anger she had for one specific person and imagined their face on the can she was about to hit. And when she hit the can, Gwen almost broke into a smile. Almost. There was now a compatible silence between both girls as they continued smoking.
After what felt like life time of tranquility, Beverly spoke.
"So who'd you imagine?" She asked giving her a meaningful look.
"Henry Bowers." Gwen was quick to answer her. She couldn't help the small scowl that escaped her. "What about you?"
Beverly was quick to look away into the distance of the alleyway. "My dad." She softly admitted to her.
The way she said it left a familiar impact within Gwen. Like Francine had told her before, she didn't know Beverly that well. But for some reason she already felt like she did. That's why when she spoke so low about her dad, Gwen wasn't surprised to feel a sense of understanding towards the redhead...like she felt her emotional pain. She had never actually met Beverly's farther, only caught glimpses of him. She knew for sure that his name was Alvin Marsh and that was only because he sometimes worked with the maintenance team at the high school. Based from far away gazes, (and by Beverly's dour expression) Gwen was able to conclude that Alvin Marsh wasn't father of the year material.
And although she could not visibly see bruises on her, Gwen had an inkling feeling that there was some form of abuse going on. The Tozier girl knew there were many different ways for people to get hurt...worse ways. Ways that Gwen didn't even want to think about. Her heart hurt. She couldn't right away claim this...she had no proof of abuse. She could ask Beverly, but she just "officially" met her and for her to ask such a odd personal question would for sure drive her away. And that was something she didn't want. Gwen wanted to gain her friendship not lose it. But still...she had to least do something...something that would enable trust between them.
"Bev?" Gwen called out. At first she didn't notice how she called her by that nickname. Addressing her by that just came so naturally to her.
Beverly flickered her eyes towards her. No ounce of annoyance could be found in her eyes from the shortening of her name. "Yes?"
Gwen put out the cigarette she had before she gave her affable expression. "If you ever want to hang out or talk about anything. I'm here."
Beverly once again took in her words. She made sure to put them somewhere within herself to remember for later. She never told anyone this but she actually looked up to Gwen. The Tozier girl was one of the few older kids in Derry that didn't pick on her or partake on those nasty rumors about her going around school. In a way they were like kinder spirits since Gwen had to deal with nasty rumors and bullying too. What stood out about Gwen though was how she handled herself in shitty situations. She had such integrity. Not so much that it made her seem like a priss, but it was just enough to let others know she wasn't going to break so easily. Which is exactly what she wanted to let others know about herself. About how she wasn't going to succumb to their taunts. Not with the name calling, the cornering in the bathrooms, or the trash throwing. She was going to be like Gwen and keep her head high.
"Okay." Beverly ended up replying with softly. Her eyes held such esteem for her. "Thanks Gwen."
Gwen nodded her head. "No problem..." She then bent down to pick a few pebbles from the ground. "So do you want to keeping throwing?" She asked her already prepared to start throwing pebbles at more cans.
Beverly took one last drag from her cigarette before she finally threw it to the ground and stepped on it. A carefree smile broke out on her face and it was a smile that was directed to Gwen and only Gwen. "Yeah."
When they eventually parted ways, the two of them left on stronger terms, and with a blossoming friendship.
It was a friendship that neither of them knew just how meaningful it would become. A friendship that would soon bring along six other individuals.
She was running...running as fast as she's ever run before...
She had no idea where the hell she was at. Only that she was somewhere dark...cold...and there was water underneath her feet...water that smelled...
Then there was laughter...laughter that she knew didn't belong to a human being...laughter that's she's heard before...
And then all of a sudden, she heard her name being called out...
"Gwen...Gwen...Gwen..."
The voice turned taunting and even more frightening...
"Where you going Gwen? Why are you running? It's pointless to run. Just come float! You know you want to!"
She didn't stop running...she kept going...and going...and going...
That was until someone grabbed her from behind...
She fought against this person's hold, but it was futile...who ever they were, they had their grip tight...
Her breathing escalated in trepidation when she felt their sharp teeth against her neck...she felt her heartbeat go rapid...no human teeth could be that sharp. Just who was this? Or what was it?
"Tasty beautiful fear...So sweet...So very sweet..." The inhuman voice chortled, pleased.
"What the hell are you?" She managed to say through her consternation.
A louder amused laugh was heard and very quickly after she asked this, she was turned around to face such culprit. However, the first and last thing she saw were very familiar haunting yellow eyes and sharp razor like teeth...
With a loud gasp, Gwen suddenly woke up. She was sweating and her eyes were wide open, panicked. She quickly tried calming herself down when she realized she was safe in her room and unharmed. It was just a nightmare...a nightmare that involved something that had yellow eyes and sharp teeth...
Gwen felt her stomach turn. The urge to cry and even throw up was still strong. She hadn't had a nightmare that involved yellow eyes and sharp teeth in years. And now she was having them again? Only this time she heard a damn voice as well? A voice that she heard before when she had seen that damn red balloon. Denial ran right through her. It was only a nightmare, all of it had been. And it was a nightmare she planned on not that having again...
Just as she was settling down, Gwen felt something wet hit her cheek. Confused, Gwen was about to get up and turn on the bedroom lights but her tiredness got to her. So she instead reached for her flashlight inside her bedroom drawer. Once she had that she turned it on. She aimed towards the ceiling and when she did she instantly wished that she hadn't. There was a message and it was written in blood. Her eyes were wide with fear as she read the message.
YOU'LL FLOAT TOO!
Gwen started to wipe at her cheek, getting the blood off of her. She then heard a squeak from the corner of her room. The Tozier girl shakily shun her flashlight towards the direction of such noise. At first there was nothing and she was relieved by this...but then ever so quietly she heard the familiar laugh enter her ear...right from behind her...
She turned around and she was met with something horrific...
Yellow eyes...
That was it, Gwen lost her composure and she let out an ear piercing scream. She flung herself from her own bed and she landed face flat on her bedroom floor. As she was down there, she was fighting with her covers because of how tangled she had gotten with them. While she fought with them, all she was thinking about was wanting to get away from whoever those yellow eyes belonged to. She needed to run! But just as she got herself untangled and up from the floor, her bedroom door flung open.
Gwen panicked but a sense of relief washed through her when her bedroom lights turned on. The first thing she did was look at her bedroom mirror and right away did she see that there was no blood on her cheek nor on her hands. She then gazed up towards the ceiling...there was no bloody writing...nothing. More importantly there was no one with yellow eyes in her room...
Gwen was stupor at the moment. Had she imagined the whole damn thing because of her nightmare? That had to have been why...it was the only thing that made sense...
"What is it?! Are you okay?" Richie urgently asked as he held her baseball bat ready to swing if he needed to.
Her younger brother caught her attention. If it wasn't for her panicked sate, (and bewildered one) she would have laughed. Instead Gwen looked at her brother extremely baffled. "Why the hell do you have my bat?" She found herself asking him.
Realizing that his sister was unharmed and that there wasn't any intruder to be seen, Richie lowered the baseball bat. He now looked to be sheepish yet slightly exasperated. "I heard you scream and I grabbed the bat from the closet. What else was I supposed to use as a weapon?"
Before she was able to give him an answer, Maggie Tozier's voice rang in the air. "What's going on?" She stepped into the room. Gwen right away saw how tired yet irritated she was to have been woken up. Maggie's eyes widened when they saw Richie in her room with the baseball bat. She now looked between both her children in puzzlement. "What's the meaning of this?" She then saw how Gwen's bed covers were all over the floor. She did not like this. "Gwen, why are your bed covers on the floor?"
"I had a nightmare and I fell out of bed is all." Gwen explained to her. Which was the truth...because it had been a nightmare...only a nightmare.
Maggie frowned. "A nightmare? What do―"
"Alright, I'm here. What's the situation?" Gwen heard and then saw her father step into her room with a...lamp? She blinked, perplexed. Richie, however, was more vocal with his reaction.
"Really dad? A fuckin' lamp? That's all you got?"
His father wasn't bothered by his choice of words but Maggie sure was. The Tozier woman was not at all happy with her son cussing. "Richie! Watch your language young man."
Richie grumbled at her berating. Maggie threw him a hard look. "Go back to bed now. And put that baseball bat back where you found it. The last thing I need is for you to break something at this time of night."
"Come on, son." Wentworth said making his way towards him. He could see how annoyed Richie was now at his mother. Richie spared his sister a glimpse and said one last goodnight to her before he and his dad left her room.
Gwen just managed to whisper a goodnight to him, but she was too much in her head to really notice.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Maggie asked once they were alone.
Gwen had to compose herself before slowly nodded her head. "Yeah, it was just a nightmare."
It had to have been...especially that last part.
"A nightmare, huh? It's been a while since you had one this bad." Maggie threw her a concerned look. "You sure you don't want to take anything?"
Gwen shook her head. "No, I'll be fine." She said trying to sound convincing.
Maggie sighed, tired. Her sleepiness won her over. "Alright if you say so. Sleep tight." She said giving her a kiss on the forehead. She then used the light switch on the wall to turn off the lights in her room before she closed the door.
"Just a nightmare. It's wasn't real." Gwen whispered to herself as she clutched her Turtle necklace tightly. The necklace like always, instantly calmed her down. All the fear she had was slowly started to go away and tiredness soon replaced it. After a few minutes of self-reassurance, she was able to fall asleep again. No nightmares appeared for the rest of the night after that.
She felt at ease.
But there lurking in the darkness of her room was a figure. A figure shaped as a clown. The same clown that had been taunting her and the one she hadn't fully seen yet. Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Or as it was other wise known as...
IT.
ITs yellow eyes glowed with anger as IT watched her now peacefully sleep. IT wanted to rip into her untouched flesh but the momentary protectiveness that was radiating from her necklace stopped ITs advances. IT stared at her necklace with abhorrence. For an entity that hadn't made itself known to the humans, the Turtle sure took a liking towards this certain human girl.
But IT knew why the Turtle took such a liking to her and IT hated the reason for why that was.
IT was not at all pleased by this outcome.
Not one bit.
Next time...
When she was at her lowest and her guard was down, IT would frighten her to her core.
IT would get her to smell even more sweet and delicious than she already was.
The Turtle wouldn't be able to protect her all the time. That was for sure.
ITs yellow eyes glowed before they along with the rest of ITs body disappeared into the darkness.