27 years of slumber is a long time.
The Losers Club think they defeated Pennywise after the clown has put them through a grinder of fear and horror.
Years go by and the Losers club drift apart while thinking Pennywise is dead. Most of them move ou...
The sizzling sound when her finger touched his skin, made Katherine bit her lip. Her hands trembled, her eyes were wide out of fear and yet, it seemed that she wasn't able to step away. Or rather, run away. Every fiber in her body screamed to Katherine to turn around and run.
The long, legged clown stood before her. A bit hunched over towards her, a snarl around his lips that exposed the long, sharp teeth. The pained, angry sound that came from the creature, made Katherine snap her eyes up to lock with his.
There was nothing of Robert Gray left. Before her stood the clown Mike Hanlon told her about. Even though, Katherine never saw IT before, not on a picture anyway, she instinctively knew what stood before her.
Her finger still rested on the ivory cheek and his ember like eyes stared back at her. Not the blue ones Katherine came used too. IT didn't move, stood perfectly still, almost like a statue. IT was waiting on something.
Trembling and shaking to her core, Katherine let her hand travel from IT's cheek to his hair. It felt dry and broken under her hand palm. Not the soft and shiny dark blonde of Robert.
And the sudden sob that she couldn't hold back came out as soon as Katherine fully realised Robert Gray was truly gone.
"Robert," she murmured and let the tears fall freely.
That seemed to get IT moving. It started with the loud, thunderous laughter from IT's chest to grabbing her harshly by the throat with one if his hands. The claws dug into her skin while IT lifted her up from the ground. Katherine's feet were off the ground in a second. IT moved so fast, she was hardly able to see IT.
The face of the clown was so close, teeth bared that Katherine could smell the stink of IT. It reminded her of sewer water, yet there was something sweet that penetrated her nose. Popcorn.
"Robert's gone. He was never real," Pennywise laughed and the grip around her neck grew stronger.
Katherine couldn't breathe no more. She gasped and tried to cough, anything for that little bit of air that would bring her relief. Her lungs started to burn and Katherine's hands came to rest on Pennywise's wrists. She had little strength, but still tried to push IT away.
It only made IT laugh. A dreadful sound that filled the molded room.
"Pathetic," he sung, while Katherine's hands kept pushing.
She accidentally slid the clown's sleeve a bit back, touched the bare skin and the howl that erupted from IT's throat, send a tremble down to her core. The sizzling sound of burning flesh, and the smell, came her way while Pennywise dropped her.
The monster was in pain. And Katherine was the one who hurt IT.
"You little bitch," IT growled and snapped IT's head into her direction.
Katherine swiftly got up, leaning on the rotten wood of the wall, and started to back away from him. The clown didn't come for her, just stood there staring into her direction.
Then Katherine noticed them ; the ember, golden eyes were gone and bright, blue ones gazed back at her. A little hint of Robert Gray shone through and it took her breath away for merely a second.
She came to her senses and finally turned to run out of the house. Which was nothing like it looked before. The cozy kitchen was now a dirty, dark place. Katherine could hardly recognise it. It was the white sink, now turned half green of mold, that gave it away.
The rest of the house that Katherine passed on her way out, was the same. It all reeked of death. And the sweet scent of popcorn that lingered in between.
IT roared and Katherine didn't see or heard IT coming, but she could sense the clown was approaching. Fast.
Her heartbeat sped up to a frantic pace while she urged herself to run even faster. Katherine could see the front door, felt the tip of claws in her neck and pushed the door open with both her hands.
She stumbled across the stairs and almost fell down. Katherine managed to crawl up again, hands in the grass and pushing herself up, while her gaze frantically travelled across the yard. Even that was different. It was wild and overgrown by weeds.
A loud sob, both out of fear and sadness, escaped her when Katherine noticed the tall white roses at the far back of the fence. They weren't completely white no more, instead thick, red liquid dripped of them. Tainting the grass underneath it.
The deep laughter that emerged from the house, made Katherine fully stand up and run. She ran. As fast as her legs could carry her. Away from the house on Neibolt Street.
Out of breath and trembling all over, Katherine tried to unlock her front door when she arrived at her house. When she finally succeeded, she left the door open just to grab the history books from her table and left again.
It seemed her mind worked slower then her legs because Katherine hardly realised when she arrived at the library. Only when she held her pace before the doors, she noticed that it was raining and that her hair clung coldly around her face.
With one hand Katherine pushed open the door, ignored the few visitors who stared at her and made her way towards the counter. An elder lady looked at her from behind her glasses.
"Mike Hanlon," Katherine spoke, voice trembling and she knew it must look like she was hit by a truck.
"He's upstairs in his apartment sleeping," the woman spoke and opened her mouth again to say something.
Katherine didn't give her the time, instead twirled around, books in her hands and made her way towards the stairs that would lead to Hanlon's studio. She practically jumped on the stairs, skipped them two by two until she bangs on Mike's door with so much force it trembled in its hinges.
"Mike! It's Katherine," she yelled, "Open up. Wake the fuck up!"
The librarian pulled open the door and scanned her up and down. Katherine pushed passed him into the small studio filled with books. She practically dropped the books she was holding on the table and pointed at them when Mike stood before her.
"Show me," she demanded, trying to be strong, "show me your murderous clown. I need to know. Everything. Tell me everything." She spoke fast, rattled and her voice broke. "I need to know what he did. What he is. Who is he? WHY HE DID THIS TO ME!"
She yelled and put her hand before her lips because she didn't want to sound desperate. Mike had pity in his eyes and started shaking his head slowly.
"It calls himself Pennywise," another male voice sounded from behind her and Katherine twirled to face a stranger. A man, roughly around forty, stood with his hands in his jeans, "I don't remember eve-r-r-r-rything yet," he stuttered, "b-b-b-ut, IT ki-llle-e-ed my b-b-brother."
Katherine took a deep breath and shied away when Mike laid his hand on her shoulder.
"This is Bill," he spoke. "I told you about him."
Katherine turned back to the man with the jeans.
"Big Bill?" She asked, remembered the story that Mike had told her last night. The story she didn't believe.
She turned back to Mike and shook her head while tears streamed down her face.
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"I saw it," she whispered. "I saw Pennywise. It wanted to kill me. It was Robert, but then it wasn't. It came for me. It ... it," and then everything turned black around her.
