WOUNDS ♚ henry bowers [it]

t w o

It was getting close to night time so we all decided it was time to go home. After saying bye to Bill, Richie, Stan, and Eddie, I hopped on my bike and started to ride back home. My house was off on the far side of town, not nearly anywhere near where the rest of the gang lives, so I ride home alone most of the time after hanging with the guys.

By the time that I reached the street that connected to the dirt road that led to my house, it was almost completely dark outside. The lamp posts on the side of the street were the only thing lighting up my path, other than the almost full moon.

Usually, the silence of the bike ride home calmed me, listening to the crickets—but for some reason tonight was different. The silence wasn't inviting at all, instead it felt foreign and unknown... completely off. I could feel the steady thump of my heartbeat in my ears speed up.

Something is off. It felt almost as if something was watching me in the silent darkness, waiting.

Instead of being reasonable and doing the correct thing, I put my feet down on the ground, slowing my bike down to a complete halt. My eyes checked my surroundings, seeing nothing but the usual trees and paved road with light posts lining the road.

That's when I saw It.

Off in the distance, maybe 50 yards away, under a dimly lit light post, stood the most terrifying figure I've ever seen.

It stood over six feet tall, dressed in a puffy and dirty white clown suit, with huge orange buttons going down the dress shirt. Fluffs of orange hair sprouted from the sides of It's head, and It's face was covered in white face-paint, the kind usual clowns wear. Red paint was painted onto the tip of It's nose, and on It's lips. The red paint then made a line from both sides of It's mouth and up to It's eyes. It held a red balloon in it's hand, flying above It's head.

I've never been a huge fan of clowns, but this one just really gave me an eerie feeling.

Just by looking at the thing, fear took over my body. Honestly, I thought that if anyone even looked at It, they'd be scared to death also.

It smiled at me, showing it's buck teeth. My whole body started to shake in fear and my breath hitched in my throat. That smile was anything, but happy. It's hand lifted up and gave me a small, creepy wave. Trust me, I was not going to be returning it.

"Hi ya, Taylor." It spoke with a voice that sounded as if it was trying to sound like a child. I know he stood half a football's field away, but I could still hear his voice as clear as if he was standing right next to me for some reason. Sure that was scary, but what scared me the most was the fact that It knew my name. How did It know my name?

Too horrified to process anything, I dropped my bike and, without thinking, I turned around quickly and ran away from there as fast as my legs could take me. I watched my steps, making sure to avoid cracks and other things that would make me trip.

I was pretty sure I had been running for a good minute, so I decided to look behind me to see how far I had gotten away and if It was following me. I was far enough away that I couldn't see my bike anymore and, thankfully, It either. Good, I thought, he isn't following me.

When I turned back around, a chest came into my vision, but I was going too fast to stop myself, so I ended up crashing right into them. "Shit," I cursed under my breath as we both went down.

"Mother fucker," they yelled out as I landed on top of them.

When my eyes had adjusted well to the dark, I could finally actually see the face of the person I landed into, and dread filled my entire body. It made sense why he'd be walking down here, after all he also lives down this road.

"Oh..." I said, then swiftly picked myself up off of him and stood, looking down at him with regret. "I'm so sorry." I reluctantly held my hand out for him to grab.

I saw a quick flash of confusion and something else in his face when his eyes met mine, but that was quickly washed away and replaced with annoyance. He looked up at my hand and at first I thought he was going to accept it, but then he pulled his hand back down and scoffed. He swatted my hand away and got up by himself.

Although it was dark out, I could still see those piercing blue eyes staring back at my own green ones. "Whatever, just..." Henry stopped for a moment and looked me up and down, as if considering what his next move would be. "Just watch where you're going next time." He rolled his eyes and moved past me, continuing on his way.

That's it? I just knocked the very known bully down and he's not even gonna attempt to yell at me? Or call me a name? Not even push me back down?

As I watched his back move further away from me, something came over me and I felt as if I couldn't just stand there and let him walk away. "Wait!" I called out. Henry continued walking for a second, but then slowed down and came to a stop. He didn't turn around though. "Don't you want to know why I was running?"

Henry thought for a second before turning around to face me. "Not really. Why should I worry about someone like you?" He snarled out.

I felt a sharp pain stab my heart from his words, and my whole face dropped. I looked down at the pavement, "Never mind then..." I muttered and started fiddling with my fingers out of nervousness.

Henry stood there for about a few seconds, watching me, then I heard his shoes hit the pavement and when I looked back up he was already gone into the night.

Not sure why, but I felt some kind of emptyness inside me when I looked up and saw that he was gone. I always felt so complete when Henry was around. Even during the times when he was picking on me and my friends.

So why didn't he do anything to me a moment ago?