The Devil Within

Home Sweet Home

Derry Hospital, Maine, 10.23pm 1994

I woke up in my hospital bed, the only light in the room was from the TV on in front of me, an old black and white movie playing on the screen. It might have been The Bride of Frankenstein, I wasn't so sure. There was a sharp pain in my head, my right leg had been put in a small cast and I had several stitches on my face and hands. I didn't know what I was doing here, but the pain in my head was getting worse and I needed to get out of this bed. I shifted myself, with great difficulty, off the bed. Holding onto the metal rod my drip was attached to, I limped quietly out of the room and looked around to see if there were any nurses in sight. There was nobody, everything was oddly silent which added to my confusion. I looked at the drip attached to my hand and ripped it off, I didn't want to be dragging this massive thing around with me, and it was slowing me down. I continued limping along the corridor, using the wall to lean against and give myself some support.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" I called out, the corridor seemed to be getting longer. I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination or not.

I kept on walking forward until the lights began flickering, causing me to stop dead in my tracks. I heard a sinister giggle in the distance and whipped my head around to see who it was, but nobody was there.

"Hello?" I called out once again.

I looked over at the reception desk, and watched as a single red balloon floated upwards from behind the desk. My heart began beating fast, the balloon began floating towards me, getting closer and closer. It got right up in front of me before it stopped, I could see the words "Get Well Soon" written on the balloon in black. I stayed staring at this balloon before it popped all of a sudden, I jumped and noticed a tall man standing at the end of the corridor.

This tall man wore a Victorian-esque clown suit, with a mess of orange hair and smiling red lips. This tall man was Pennywise.

"Oh fuck..." I said in a hushed tone, shaking violently at the sight of the killer being before me.

Pennywise's mouth stretched into a big grin. "Where ya going, Rachel? You won't get far with that little problem," he mocked, indicating the cast on my leg.

I shivered, whimpering as I limped backwards, pushing myself back against the wall. This isn't real, this can't be real. He can't be alive now, he just can't.

Pennywise's grin stretched further, as if he could read my thoughts. He let out a high-pitched chuckle. "Oh, but I am real, Rachel. I'm very real. And very hungry..." he said, a pool of drool dripping down from his lips. A low growl escaped from the back of his throat.

I panicked and made a run for it, trying to get as far away from Pennywise as possible. It was difficult trying to run with this cast on my leg, I could hear Pennywise's laugh echo throughout the corridor and ended up tripping over and falling hard on my knees. I quickly scrambled up onto my feet and continued running; I looked back over my shoulder to see if Pennywise was behind me, but he was nowhere to be seen. That was, until I collided head first into the tall entity itself, a loud scream escaped my lips as he grabbed a hold of my arms.

"Let's make this a little more interesting then, shall we? How's about generic serial killer chasing a poor girl in a hospital? That sound good to you?" Pennywise laughed, his toothy grin all too close for my liking.

I struggled desperately against his grip; pulling my good leg up, I jammed my foot against his stomach and pushed myself backwards, causing him to let go of me as I fell back onto the ground. I quickly pulled myself back up and began running in the opposite direction.