The Years After (IT Chapter Two fanfic)(Sequel to Summer of '89)

8.

Charlie was walking through town, heading to the park. As she walked past the streets, she saw kids on bikes and skateboards and thought of how they might go missing with a killer clown haunting the town.

When she got to the park, she looked over it. It was abandoned, the grass was still dry and the dirt was everywhere but the swings and monkey bars  were broken, everything was. Graffiti on the slides, it was horrible, but yet again, so was this town.

She looked over at the now dried tree where she was alone that one summer day.

"The hell you doing here Charlie?"

She was only looking out into the town from sitting against the tree. She didn't look at him but she could tell he was here alone. She still had the cut on her cheek and the blood was drying on her face from where Bill punched her.

"Not today Bowers"

"Not with your little fucking friends are you?" he leaned close to her face. She could tell he was smiling. "Huh you little bitch?!"

Her teeth gritted and her jaw clenched.

"I said, leave me alone!"

She swung her fist and hit him straight across the mouth. He fell onto the floor and she jumped on top of him, pounding her fists across his face. Blood was spilling out from his face as did her knuckles. Drops of blood flew to Charlie's own face. His face was broken, covered in blood.

She finally realized what she was doing and she stopped hurting him. Her bloody hands were shaking as a shaky sob escaped her lips. Her own tears dripped down her face.

Bowers weakly got up and ran away from her.

"Bitch" she heard him say as he ran.

She kneeled onto the dirt with her mouth wide open and her eyes red. She wanted to cry out to scream but nothing came out from her throat. She almost killed him. She hated him, she despised him, but she almost killed him. She felt like a monster. That fucking clown got to her.

Her shaking hands made her way to the side of her head. She crumpled up into a ball as she dropped her head onto her knees and she finally screamed out.

She stood there shaking, her screams echoing in her head, she looked at the spot at where she beat him. Her breathing quickened and a single tear fell down.

She went over to the dried tree and got down on her knees. She didn't have a shovel so she just started to dig with her hands. When she got deep enough, she found the metal box. She took it out from the hole with her hands all covered in dirt and opened it.

Inside was the black baseball cap she would always wear as a kid. She never left home without it. She wiped off some of the dust and put it on. She breathed in and she just felt so much better with it on, it always comforted her and made her feel stronger.

She looked back inside the box and found a picture of her family. The same picture that was in the frame that fell when IT came out from her fireplace and scared her. Her two parents were standing, smiling at the camera as her brother was standing in front of their mom and young Charlie was on her dads back on a piggy back ride.

Charlie felt no emotion. She hated her parents since they ran away. But she'd owed her life to her brother who took care of her all those years.

She folded the picture and stuffed it in her jeans pocket. She got back up and was about to go back to the inn when she saw a girl on the one good swing set.

The girl was facing the other way but from behind, she had long black hair that went past her shoulders. Charlie looked around and saw no parents, she wasn't even here when she first got here. The girl wasn't doing anything, she was just sitting on the swing set gripping the chains on the side.

She then started to cry. Charlie heard her whimper and sniffle. She walked up to the girl to check if she was alright.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked.

She went beside the girl and looked down at her, but her face was still covered with her hair. She then turned her head and looked at Charlie and she gasped. The girl had pale white skin and her eyes were filled with sorrow. Tears were rolling down her cheeks but her tears were blood and her mouth was open and was curved all the way down in a creepy way.

She then yelled out a piercing scream and jumped out of the swing set and ran to Charlie. Charlie's heart skipped a beat as she ran from the girl. The girl was laughing in such a psychotic manner with the bloody tears still streaming that it made Charlie run faster.

But as she ran, she then tripped on a rock and fell onto the dirt ground. She looked behind her and didn't see the girl anymore. There was no one there. She was gone.

Charlie scrambled off from the ground and started to run back to the inn.

"Fuck that"