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Title: IT Chapter: One/Seventeen Rating: R Spoilers: Up to and including the last season shown. Beta Reader: Scotty Welles Shadow Welles Summary: Alt-Buffy/IT verse and crossover. What if Willow was the seventh member of the choosen group instead of Ben. Disclaimer: Nope, don't belong to me. IT belongs to Stephan King, so do all of his most cool characters. So on with the story. <><><><><><><> Summer of 1989 <><><><><><><> She ran past the small downtown section, her legs pumping impossibly down the steepest hills in Derry. Her lungs were burning, sharp pains shooting through her sides, as she tried to run even harder. She could hear them behind her, gaining on her even with her agile frame. Mentally she cursed herself for not exercising regularly. She sped sharply around the curve leading down towards the barrens, skidding to the left. She grunted as she used her right hand to keep herself from falling and kept going without losing stride. The long white fence began to her left giving her the strength to keep going. If she could just make it to the barrens then she could.... She screamed out as a large filthy hand grabbed her long red hair, dragging her to a stop. "Hold her." Vic nodded vigorously. "Sure, Henry, anything you say. Red isn't going anywhere. Is she?" "No, we've got the little bitch," Belch answered. The Guns & Roses wannabes held her arms while Henry stepped in front of her. His slashed black concert shirt was stained horribly with dried food and condiments. The longhaired boy held up the science book she'd been reading just minutes before in the only fast food place in Derry. The smirk on his face widened at the horror she knew she was projecting for her book. He dropped the book to the ground and kicked it, sending the precious gift into the sewer drain. "NO!!" She scowled at Henry with unshed tears in her eyes. "You bastard..." "Oh man, Red's got spirit." "Tell you what, nerd. Since you seem to like learning so much, why don't we give you a lesson you won't forget?" Henry held up a long switchblade, the slightly rusted blade popping up. "Lesson one: who do you belong to bitch?" "I'll never belong to you." The smirk left his face, leaving the dark emotions, glaring at his two laughing friends. "Shut up or you'll be next" Belch swallowed his laughter, but Vic snorted one last time. "You will if you're marked." He yanked her shirt up, his knife centimeters from her skin. She spit in his face and stomped on Belch's foot. Henry grabbed her head, forcing it down as he sliced the first line of an H into her stomach. The pain roared in her head, demanding that she try harder to get away. Using the pain to clear her head, she drove her knee up into Henry's crotch and threw herself backwards. Belch and Vic's grips loosened, causing her to crash through the brittle fence. The briars and thorns of the thickened underbrush snagged at her skin, drawing long, thin lines of blood. She tried to control her rolling, but the steep hill forced her to go faster, mowing down baby trees. She barely stifled the horrid cry as a fallen trunk stopped her fall. Tired and sore, she lay there, until the loud howl of anger shot through the quiet forest. A spike of fear forced her to her feet, getting a small glimpse of the three bullies sliding down the hill. She took off into another run, slower than before, leaving her little chance of getting away. Oh her parents were just going to love this. They send their nerd daughter to Derry for the summer to get her away from Cordy and her flunkies, only to end up dealing with Henry and his groupies. She could just hear her mother now. 'Willow, why can't you just be a good little girl and play nice?' "Where'd she go?" "I don't see her." "She couldn't have gone far." "WILLOW!! YOU COME OUT HERE, LITTLE GIRL, AND MAYBE I'LL LET YOU LIVE!" She snorted softly to herself. 'Oh yeah, that was really motivating.' She glanced over her shoulder to see if they were behind her. In the distance she could hear the sound of trickling water and sped up, her eyes searching for the source. She almost missed the sewer pipe sticking out of the hillside. The smelly, gray water pooling down the muddy stream and into the creek. Behind her, she could hear the stooges catching up, leaving her no other choice if she wanted to live. She cautiously climbed into the drain and scooted back far enough to be hidden by the shadows. Her breathing sped up as her instincts screamed at her to get the hell out of the pipe. Fear gripped her heart, worse than any fear she'd experienced before. The cold draft of wind touched her bruised and bloody skin, wrapping her a deep-set, petrifying emotion. The horrid smell of the gray water was now undetectable under a new smell filtering past her. Her brow wrinkled in confusion. She took in a large breath trying to determine that she wasn't losing her mind. The drain now smelled like...cotton candy, elephants, hay, popcorn. She nearly lost her lunch as she was engulfed by the strongest of the smells. Death. She was vaguely aware that Henry and his friends had bypassed her several minutes ago, but her need to know what was happening was strong. Ignoring the voice in her mind telling her to get out now, she slowing turned to look into the darkness. A dim glow of light filled the pipe, just enough so she could see, but still giving it the darkness it had. Her eyes strained trying to find...something. She swore slightly under breath, backing up slowly, as she spotted two silver colored eyes staring at her. Gradually, she began to see more of it, leaving her on the verge of hysterical laughter. She felt the edge of the pipe, as her brain registered what she was seeing. A clown, dressed in a silver clown suit, with orange pom-poms. White makeup, and blood red painted mouth. Two orange tufts stuck out from his bald head like large horns. A small, fearful sob escaped her mouth. "Oh, you're not leaving so soon, are you? Don't you want a balloon? They float down here, they all float down here. Try one. You'll love it down here. It's like Never Never Land and Pleasure Island and the Land of Oz and Narnia. You don't grow up here, you remain a child forever, just like all kiddies want. You can feed the elephants and ponies and watch all the clowns. You can sweets and popcorn and cotton candy until you're sick." She carefully dropped out of the pipe, her eyes locked on It. "No, thanks, I-I'm not supposed to talk to strangers, and you're a stranger, but then again I'm talking to you, so I'd better shut up now. Besides, and no offense, Mr. Clown Guy...uh, Person, but I don't like balloons, because even if they are floaty goodness on a string, they make those horrible noises when they rub together, and then it's like, ugh, you know what I mean? Of course you know what I mean, after all you are a clown...of some sort, so you should know. Come to think of it, I don't like clowns very much either, I mean it's sort of spooky to watch guys wearing this makeup that makes them look so fake and scary-like. And what's with all the hitting and chasing and fascination with fire and heights? I mean, it's just not kosher, and trust me I know what kosher is, being Jewish and all. Does that bother you, because it bothers some people and they get all 'you're a Christ-Killer!' and all that? Oh wait, is that my mother calling? My mother's calling, so I'd better go, because you know how parents are when you disobey them. So it was nice...er...well, it was unique meeting you, but I seriously hope we don't meet again, because any grownup that dresses like that and goes crawling around in sewers is seriously screwed up, not that you are. I mean, I'm sure you're a very nice man once people get to know, although I have the strangest feeling that you don't really have any friends..." She stopped backing away, and gulped at the look of the clown climbing out of the pipe. "Uh, bye." Fear drove her to run faster and faster, barely hearing the inhuman voice laughing crazily. "Oh, don't worry, we'll be friends. And when we are, you'll float, too." Somehow, that was not comforting. She had never been one of those children that was scared of the monster under the bed, or in the closet. She was usually the one to comfort her best friends, Jesse and Xander, when they got freaked. Not that they would ever admit it, most of the time they both were trying to act like posturing men. It always made her laugh when, on sleepovers, the two posturing males would be jittery and scared after hours of watching gory, dark horror movies, while she would simply watch them like the fake gore they were. Now, while her eyes told her that it was only a clown, her mind and instincts told her she was faced with the very monster she'd always laughed at. She wanted to go home, back to Sunnydale. She was even wanting to Cordy again, if it meant getting away from this. "Oof!" Some obstruction in her path collapsed under her, bringing her down as well. She blinked into the eyes of an auburn haired girl her age. "Um...hi?" The auburn haired girl smiled slightly up at her. "Hi. Uh, could you get up?" A deep blush covered her face as she rolled off the girl. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you and this evil clown dude in the sewer was chasing me a-and laughing and talking about things floating, a-and Henry was after me, and I'm being forced to stay with my nutso uncle who thinks he's the Phantom of the Opera and runs around wearing a cape and singing, and I just want to go home." "It's okay, trust me. I know what Henry is capable of." The auburn haired girl smiled shyly. "Oh, I'm Willow." "Beverly. Your uncle's Ol' Man Greg?" Willow nodded pitifully. She loved her uncle, but spending the summer with him was too much for even her to handle. "Yeah. I've been having some problems with bullies at home, and my parents blame it on me, so they sent me out here until school starts." Beverly nervously glanced around the barrens, swallowing hard. "I'm on my way to Bill and Eddie's. We're trying to build a dam. Would you like to join us?" Willow relaxed and nodded, helping the other girl to her feet. "I'd love to." Her cheeks tinted red as Beverly hooked their arms together. "Welcome to the Losers' Club." <><><><><><><> " I signed the release waiver, so feel free to put things in my slot anytime." - Charles Angels. Odo: Madam Ambassodor, I'm not like you. Every sixteen hours I revert to a liqiud. Lwaxana Troi: I can swim. - DS9: The Forsaken. Aeris Jade Orion list mommy: erslash@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx erslash-adult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx AIM: Aeris Jade ICQ: 51496263 AT&T/Pow-Wow: Jade Pow-Wow Community: Orion Web Site: http://members.fortunecity.com/aerissword/Index.html |