Bowers Has A Girlfriend? 27 Years.

helping an old friend

A limp body falls helpless down off the bridge and, splash, straight into the shockingly cold water and it's under. Is he dead? A terrified scream rises from above as she backs onto the wall under the bridge,
"ADRIAN!"
"SOMEONE HELP- FUCKING HELP ME!" He's alive! Erin readies herself to jump in when a hand lowers from the opposite bank- no... it can't be. Her body tingles and she freezes on the spot, her breathing shallow and sight fixed on the figure. It's eyes glow. It's mouth smiles. Bells jingle and it's head tilts... It is. ITs back...
Someone scrambles down the hill behind and grinds to a halt, his eyes pinned on the same event. She stays quiet and watches. The man calls out and pants in fear, his thoughts conflicted. She squeezes her eyes tight as the monster unfirls it's crooked needle teeth and clamps down onto this living man's flesh and tears out a sizable chunk. A blood curdling scream rages from both as he stands helpless from Erin's bank. She gulps and grunts at the gruesome sight. All of a sudden hundreds of red balloons flood down from the bridge, mocking the guy falling and they flow downstream. As the fog of red clears the beast is gone... Erin watches as the man collapses helpless to his knees in a tormented state of disbelief and nausea. She needs to help him... It has fed so it shouldn't come back any time soon... She scans the scene intensely and makes sure it is safe before carefully stepping out towards the man,
"Hey..." she holds her hands behind her back and leans down to him, he jumps instinctively but she reassures him, "I saw... I saw everything- I. I know what that was-" she gulps again and glances to the other side of the river where only trickles of blood remain.
"I, I can't- I fucking... I... help! How!" His hands shake uncontrollably so she holds them steady.
"I can. But you need to know you are safe with me, okay. We need to get off the bank, we gotta go onto the bridge." He nods slowly and she helps him up and stumble to the footpath where he sits slumped with his head in his hands. "Here." She hands him a flask of rum, that was stolen from the diner, and he quickly finishes it, attempting to numb the pain. His hands slow as he regains his voice. "It's brighter up here too, look. We are safe." Erin makes sure this new setting is safe for them as he splutters from the ground.
"The cops."
"Hm?"
"We need to call the cops."
"Only when you're as comfortable as you can be." She sits beside him,
"How can I be fucking COMFORTABLE WHEN I WATCHED MY BOYFRIEND BE DISMEMBERED BY A CLOWN!" He gets worked up again so she let's him sob, she knows what it's like to be a victim of this curse.
"I get you."
"How though?" He quivers,
"My boyfriend was mutilated by the same creature-"
"When?" The man sniffs and looks up at her,
"About 27 years ago..." she bites her lip and he frowns, but not upset frown an angry frown,
"You... you're Erin- Erin Galagah? Ganan-"
"Close enough, that was my moms name."
"No-" he scurries back and she sighs and drops her head to the side and watches emotionless. "Don't you fucking come near me! I've had enough shit just happen, I don't need you shitty w- whatever to make it worse!" He chokes on his words, "don't you fucking dare even try hurt me now I will push you over the fucking bridge!" His eyes flood and his limbs weaken with shock, "I'm not dealing with your shit again!" He gasps, "I know who you are! Bowers gang trash! You- you're the monster!" She takes it, it hurts, but she takes it. "You, you've done enough to hurt people! Now get the fuck out of Derry and stay away for good this time! I, I don't care if you r-"
"Look. I'm not gonna hurt you. I've been through the same shit you are going through- I wanna help."
"But you- no! You're a psychopath!"
"Not any more." She half-heartedly performs jazz hands and he relaxes a little at her presence. "What's you're name anyway?"
"Don..." he mumbles.
"I remember you." She smiles a little, he stands his ground, afraid she is going to put up another fight. She was a bitch to him, Erin turns to face him and he wipes a tear from his cheek. "I'm not gonna hurt you. And I'm not making this about me. I want to help you. I'm- I'm sorry about all the school stuff. I- I am different now. I was stupid then- yeah... I mean. I'm sorry. Genuinely." Her eyes drop and he senses her subdued manner,
"Okay." Don shuffles closer to her again. Erin jolts up, she was ready to leave. Nothing else is said. His eyes well up once more and he leans his head on her shoulder. Erin stares blankly up into the night air as he mourns. She will wait, he needs this time. The cops can come later. She raises her hand and carefully places it onto his hair as he cries into her shoulder... this is shit.
It's back.
It's hungry.
It has killed.
Again...

A few hours pass and the cops have already swept and cornered the scene. Erin reluctantly gives information about the clown, but she has to. They obviously take it as some kind of drug hallucination and ignore her and Don's response into the aftermath of the fight. Still as shit as 27 years ago. Wow. Erin sighs and turns to Don,
"The police will investigate the murder but probably won't settle any further as to him drowning and being eaten by wolves or something."
"I know." He breathes deeply and huddles himself into the foil blanket the medics handed over.
"You got a car?" He nods. "Good."
"Why?"
"Tomorrow we will find those shits. I'll make them apologise."
"How?" Don squints and she smiles a little.
"Dont worry about that. You need to rest, you probably won't be able to sleep but I can rent you a room somewhere-"
"Hold on. You've obviously got no money." She chuckles a little and he gasps.
"Cops really shouldn't keep their wallets on them. Come on." He reluctantly follows her and then offers her the passenger seat in his car. "No go. Take this, there's enough to-"
"Shut up and get in the car." She smiles at his bite and gets in. They make their way to a room rental above a store complex nearby and Don rents a room. Erin waves and he stands in the doorway,
"What?"
"You're staying too. I can't sleep alone after... after this."
"Fucking weirdo." She smiles a little. He guesses that's her way of saying thank you. "You take the bed. I'll have the floor. No funny buiseness."
"I'm gay." Don frowns and she chuckles a little. They both rest as best as possible before the new day grows and they stay confined to the rented room. Don refuses to go back home till this all settles, which is understandable.
"Erin..." Don sniffs.
"Yeah?" She furrows her eyebrows.
"You said you've dealt with this creature before..."
"Yeah." She swallows hard, Don turns to her and takes a shaky sip of his coffee. Erin lays back on the bed and grumbles, "about 27 years ago the same thing happened, the creature woke up and stared eating people. Before, it preyed on children. Because they're innocent and easy to catch... but I've never seen it take someone- take someone Adrien's age..." Don sniffs, "there was a group of kids that decided to fight against this thing so it got mad ect and killed one of their brothers... me and Henry then found out about it and he got attacked then shit happened and he was pushed down the well I found him blah blah blah I got possessed too and we both did some really shit stuff but then I don't really remember what happened and I woke up at a diner miles from town where I got a job and lived there for fucking ages." She breathes, Don tilts his head and sits on the bed next to her.
"So this is all because of the clown?"
"Yep."
"What happened to Henry?"
"Dunno. I've moved on from him though. Sorta. I miss him obviously but I can't imagine where he ended up after that shit went down." Her hands shake a little, "I know he is still alive... but the clown never loosened its grip from him. I hate to think what he's like now..." Erin bites her lip and looks away, Henry is her only weakness. Since she has felt Henry's lost mind wondering in and out of capture for almost 30 years, it's a little hard to talk about.
"You need to find him." Don waves his arm, jeez he is so camp. "You need closure."
"I don't know if I want to see him now..."
"It'll help. You're soft for him." He makes a tickling motion and she gives in, a smile creeps up her cheeks but she dismisses it quickly.
"Right." She gets up, "we gotta find those kids."
"What?" Don startles,
"I'm getting you your revenge. They don't deserve to be free. The cops made the wrong decision." Don scrambles to the end of the bed-
"No."
"Why not? Are you soft for them?" She flicks a cheeky smile and he shakes his head.
"Come on then. I know where they'll be. But- don't get into a fight. Okay?"
"Fine lil bro- I'll be good." She ruffles his hair and he swats her away. "Come on then."