cravings // IT (boyxboy)

three.

Rain pattered lightly against his jacket as he looked around squinting through the sprinkling water. It was early in the afternoon and there had been a thunderstorm the night before but it was beginning to come to an end. It was only sprinkling a bit now, much to birds in the area's content. He heard chirping along the trees and had the sweet smell of wet pine in his nose.

He was smart to have worn his best pair of boots as the dirt beneath him was still soft and the leaves and twigs crunched with every step. It was a long walk from his small house down a few miles, but he was willing to walk for the perfect scenery.

He'd been trying to find a good place to paint in the woods, but got lost. He had no signal to pull up the gps on his phone and he was trying not to worry about that just yet. Who had known derry was so big? Austin had clearly underestimated it.

A breeze hit his slightly tinted cheeks and he shivered a bit at the fall weather. He seemed to be nearing water by the sound of low water slapping against rock.

It was a small stream of water in which he decided to follow. It wasn't a very long stream, just a few steps and he reached a small creek it was flowing into. It was small but it'd do. He decided this was the best spot he'd find for the day.

Austin set up his tools and portable easel under a tree that offered some shade from the light rain. There wasn't much rain to mess with the paint, thankfully.

—

Two hours passed and he had gotten a good amount of work done. He'd been painting nature since he was 16 and so his work didn't take too long unless it was a larger piece.

He got up to stretch a bit and noticed his hands were messily covered in paint so he grabbed a rag from his bag and walked on over to the flowing stream.

Dipping the rag into the water, he used it to scrub the acrylics off. He was nearly done when he noticed something red slowly coming towards him in the water.

Halting his actions, he narrowed his eyes at it to figure out what it was. It was the size of a palm and very furry.

It looked to be a small pom-pom made out of red yarn. Reaching for it, he picked it up to inspect it. It was tattered and drenched. He looked around as if he would have a clue as to where it came from. It must have been from a child. Nothing too unusual there.

Shrugging, Austin snickered and chucked it off to the other side of the stream and watched as it softly rolled and landed in front of a tree.

Getting up from his crouched position, he decided he should just pack up for the day and return tomorrow if he could remember how to make it back.

After he finished packing, the sun was already starting to go down. Taking one last look at the creek, he mentally took a picture of the area, hoping he'd hopefully remember it since he definitely wanted to come back. It had a great atmosphere and he enjoyed being surrounded by silence other than that of nature itself.

Hauling his art back over his shoulder's snuggly across his body he looked back at the red yarn. Except.. it was gone.

"What..," Austin stood there furrowed his eyebrows. Slowly, he inched forward towards the bush it had landed in front of.

He couldn't believe it, it was gone. Maybe an animal took it, is what he tried to tell himself. It was the only reasonable explanation of course. That was until he felt a chill run down his entire body. He stiffened as he felt as if he was being watched. And then he saw them. Eyes glowing yellow with hints of red.

    The look they were giving him was a look of curiosity, mixed with a darkness that made his stomach knot up.

He felt as if the world had stopped at that moment. He was caught staring at those eyes again. Those eyes. He'd seen them before. He felt the same way he had the first time he saw them. They were that clown's from the History of Derry book.

    It was impossible though. There was no way.

     He had to get away.

     This couldn't be real..

     Gulping the lump that formed in his throat, he regained control of his legs and he made a run for it. He ran the entire way home, panting until his lungs were crying out, burning with every breath he took.

    Austin still couldn't believe it. Whatever it was just had to have been a wild animal. It was a coincidence.

    At least that's what he kept repeating to himself, as he drank water while tightly holding on to the glass.

    That is, until he took his painting he'd worked on to allow it to dry properly.
That is when he felt his heart rate drop as he heard the sound of glass hit the floor and shatter next to his feet.

    There it was. The same clown from the book was there, painted in great detail, smirking at him.

  
There was no fucking way this was happening.

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author's note:

no one is reading this but here is a new chapter :•)