#might have cried when daddy was here because his project starts tomorrow and I’m worried about him getting enough rest

[peachyykira]

Everything’s coming up Milhouse!

Got bred AND McDonald’s breakfast.

[crazedlunatic]

Big Brother(s)

Anon:  One of their kids gets in trouble at school for fighting with a classmate.

In all seriousness, I’ve always wanted to write this but just hadn’t. So, thank you!

“Suspended?”

Nick, Zach, and Sophie were all sitting at the kitchen table.

“Zach, do you care to explain?” Blaine asked.

“Not really.” Zach mumbled.

Kurt took a seat at the kitchen island, watching the four of them. “You don’t really have an option so someone needs to start talking. Zach may have done it but all three of you were involved.”

Sophie sniffled and wiped her eyes. Nick looked out the window over the sink and Zach did not even look up.

“Zachary!” Blaine exclaimed. “What in the hell is going on here? Why did you knock that kid down, kick him, and then punch him when he stood back up?”

“I don’t know.” Zach, always-quiet-Zach, said loudly. “Why don’t you ask the Assistant Head of School since she’s got it allll figured out?”

“Don’t raise your voice at me, Zach. You are lucky that kid’s dad isn’t pressing charges against you.”

Nick mumbled something.

“What was that?” Blaine looked at him.

“Because if his dad did, then everyone would find out what he’s been trying to do to Sophie for two months now.” Nick repeated loudly. “He probably won’t even tell his dad.”

“It doesn’t matter what this kid did. You assaulted him, Zach. He has bruises. His nose might be broken.” Blaine said.

“Well I hope it is broken.” Zach snapped.

“What do you mean, Nick? What has he done to Sophie?” Kurt raised his voice over Blaine and Zach’s.

Because this was too weird. Nick raised his voice, Sophie sometimes raised hers, but Zach’s voice always remained soft. No matter how upset he was—the only exception being when he and Nick were getting on each other’s nerves. Which honestly didn’t happen as much as you’d assume with their so-different personalities.

Regardless, something was wrong.

“He says disgusting things, corners her in hallways, touches her. He is a fucking creep. That’s why Logan got suspended two days ago. Logan pushed him down in front of a teacher and the only thing he said was that he wished he’d done it sooner. He’s the sweetest person ever if tht gives you any indication of how much of a creep this guy is… but the guy didn’t even quit and Logan is stronger than me or Zach. Honestly I wish I had done it because if I had seen him touch her, I probably would have bashed his head in.”

“What? ‘Bash his head in?’” Kurt looked at Nick, eyes wide.

Zach wasn’t loud and Nick never said anything violent.

Something bigger was going on.

“This guy is harassing her, he threatens to spread lies about the family to the press, and he is super creepy.” Nick said, clearly angry with Blaine. “He tried to put his hand up her skirt today so why don’t you just back the hell up, Dad? Or at least find out what in the hell is going on before you sit us all down like elementary school kids who pushed someone down in a sandbox. It’s actually a lot more serious than that. Which you should know because we don’t do this.”

Sophie got up and rushed upstairs. Zach got up, roughly pushed his chair under the table, and followed her.

“What?” Blaine asked, looking at Nick.

“No ‘what.’ You heard what I said. He’s been creeping on Sophie for two months. Both Zach and I have talked to teachers, to counselors, to the assistant Head of School. Nobody does any fucking thing about it because the guy’s dad pays so much money to the school. Logan’s dad even tried to get involved after Logan got suspended but there is no proof so he couldn’t do anything even if he’s a high up there cop… especially without the school’s cooperation.” Nick said. “There is nothing else any of us could have done to stop this. And here we are.”

Blaine stared at Nick, not speaking.

“Me, Zach, Logan, and even Ryan have tried to be with her or where we can see her at all times—at least one of us. But we can’t always be there. The teacher held Zach back about something today and of course he cornered her because she was alone.”

“Did you say he’s threatened to go to the press and tell lies?” Kurt asked.

“Yeah. Again, your high profile career has come back to haunt your kids.”  Nick sighed. “So thanks.”

“Nick.” Blaine nearly growled.

“I’m sorry. It’s true. If he wasn’t threatening going to the press, she wouldn’t have been terrified to say something to you two or the Head of School — who the assistant Head of School won’t even let us talk to anyway.” Nick said. “I mean, God, do you think people don’t come up to us when we’re out and you’re not there or something? It is really hard being in this family sometimes. Some paparazzi person almost ran Zach off of the road a month ago. That day he came home all anxious and flustered. Remember that and he wouldn’t tell you what was wrong? Now this creep is playing off your status to harass Sophie.”

“Shut. Up.” Blaine said.

“No. You shut up. You and your job don’t help either. Taking all these cases that end up on the news. I just feel bad for your clients because you know it’s not just reporters out there. It’s weird fans wanting to see the ‘Laine’ part of Klaine. That sounds so fucking stupid anyway. Klaine.”

Kurt took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling. He then sniffled.

“You know, we’re happy that you both have great jobs and get to do what you love. But do you always have to be in the spotlight?” Nick didn’t sound angry anymore. “Can you just wait for us to at least graduate and go to college? Do you have to do Project Runway, Daddy? Dad, do you have to take these huge cases?”

Blaine didn’t say anything as Sophie and Zach came back down. He watched her go over to Kurt and hug him since he was now crying.

“Honestly, Zach gets it’s the worst of all of us because he looks just like you. It’s harder for people to pinpoint Soph and I unless they see both of us together because we don’t look exactly like you two. But half of the time Zach can’t even go and order food somewhere without at least three people coming up to him.” Nick continued. “And he’s shy so imagine what that’s like for him.”

“What do you want me to do?” Kurt sniffled.

“Nothing.” Zach said sharply, glaring at Nick. “Nick, stop.”

“Did you almost get ran off of the road?” Kurt wiped his eyes.

“I’m fine.” Zach glared at Nick. “Seriously? You couldn’t have held out another year and a half? Daddy’s crying.”

“Forget it. I’m going to Adrian and Matt’s.” Nick grabbed his keys and stormed out before anybody could react.

“Just let him.” Kurt said before Blaine could make it to the door.

“Is it true?” Blaine asked Sophie. “Has this guy been harassing you? Did he try to put—Did he touch you today?”

“He did but he just made it to my thigh. Before he could do anything more, Zach made it.” Sophie sniffled. “It’s the first time he’s tried to put his hand up my clothes, though, so…”

“Doesn’t matter.” Zach said through gritted teeth. “Just so we’re all clear, also, he would never have pulled that if Logan wasn’t still suspended. It was manageable when Logan was here because his dad is head at the NYPD. A lot scarier than you two… sorry.”

“I want his name.” Blaine said.

“It’s not a big deal!” Sophie’s eyes filled with tears.

“Yes. It is.” Kurt said. “That is a very big deal. Putting his hand up your skirt is sexual assault. Harassing you at school is bullying, Soph. It is a big deal.”

“Just give me his name.” Blaine said calmly.

“Aaron.” Zach said. “He’s a senior. I don’t know his last name but Logan does.”

“He’ll graduate in May and it’ll be over.” Sophie cried. “Just don’t.”

“I’m sorry but if you’ve gone to this many people, if Logan’s dad is aware and can’t get anything done, I am getting involved. I am not going to let someone harass you at school.” Blaine said.

“No.” Kurt said. “Not you. Let Bob or Adrian go up there with you. You be the parent and let them be the lawyer.”

“My vote is Bob.” Zach said. “He’s scary when he’s pissed.”

“Tomorrow morning, Bob or Adrian and I are going with you tomorrow. We’ll go in late so nobody sees.” Blaine told Sophie. “But this is done.”

“It will be quieter if it’s Adrian.” Kurt pointed out.

“If Logan’s dad has already gone and nothing’s happened, I think we need loud.” Blaine sighed.

“There’s four months left out of the year.” Sophie cried. “Logan will be back next week.”

“No.” Blaine said firmly. “This ends here… with a sexual assault charge. If Logan gets into another fight with him, he could lose his scholarship, Sophie.””

“Oh my God.” Sophie covered her face as the doorbell rang.

Zach went to get it, coming back in with Logan and his dad.

“Ryan texted me. What happened?” Logan asked, going right up to Sophie and putting his hand on her arm. “Did he really try to put his hand up your skirt?”

Sophie nodded.

“Great.” Logan’s dad said very seriously.

“Great?” Logan repeated, staring at his father angrily.

“Now she can press charges for sexual assault. I hope he wasn’t planning on going to college.” Blaine said. “Who is it, Zach?”

Zach pulled a profile up on his phone.

”He’s a Taggart?” Blaine’s eyes widened.

“How do you even know that name?” Sophie asked.

“College will be the last of that boy’s worries. Have you met his dad? He will probably be angrier than all three of us adults combined. You know him pretty well.” Logan’s dad said.

“Which one is his dad?”

“The second to youngest one. The one who is basically your equivalent for their family’s firm who always takes the sexual assault cases.”

“Okay, I know him very well. Can we just go directly to his house?” Blaine asked. “Now?”

“Yeah. I’ve followed him home as many times as I’ve followed you home.” Logan’s dad walked out with Blaine. “Want to ride together?”

“Yes. Can we go now?”

“I’ll text him that we’re on the way.”

“Freaking seriously?” Logan looked at Zach. “Your dad knows his dad?”

“Why do our dads know everybody?” Zach sighed.

“How did you know to come?” Kurt asked Logan.

“Nick texted me after he left.” Logan said. “He’s got such a temper lately.”

“Can we go cuddle until our dads get back?” Sophie asked him.

“Sure and I can tell you about last week’s soccer match because I was totally awesome.” Logan followed Sophie up the stairs.

They heard Sophie say, “Please don’t. I’ve heard it from three different point of views already. You won the game. Congrats.”

Zach looked at Kurt, who still looked very upset.

“Why didn’t you say something?” Kurt asked, sitting down at the island.

“Things had just started getting back to normal after Nick’s whole coming out fiasco.” Zach sat next to him. “We thought we had it under control. We all four on separate occasions tried to set up meetings with the Head of School but the assistant wouldn’t let us…. Probably because of how much his dad pays… I wish I knew Dad worked with his dad, though. Well, kind of worked with him.”

“Oh, the Head of School is going to hear about this in the morning because that is bullshit. If we had known…” Kurt trailed off because there wasn’t any point in even finishing the sentence now.

“Sorry. Everything has been so hectic between Nick coming out and us learning to drive and then Bob got sick. We didn’t want to add anything else to the plate.” Zach sighed.

“Did somebody run you off of the road, Zach?”

“Almost.” Zach nodded. “I mean, I probably shouldn’t have booked it to my car and drove off anyway, honestly. But I didn’t think they would follow me.”

“How often are you all approached?”

“I mean Nick doesn’t get it very much since he doesn’t look exactly like Dad… and Sophie looks like you but she’s a girl, so I think it takes people longer to recognize her…”

“But you?” Kurt prompted.

“Every other week lately… but that’s just since I started driving myself.” Zach admitted and took a deep breath. “Usually they’ll back off when I keep walking. The guy who already ran me off… just didn’t.”

“Every other week?”

“For me it’s always been out in public but Nick was approached after soccer practice yesterday at his car. They never come on campus but sometimes they’ll hang off right outside the property line.” Zach sighed. “That’s why Nick is so pissed off about it. He’s been super weird ever since he came out of the family… and especially to Ryan.”

“He’s afraid it’s going to get leaked.” Kurt took another deep breath. “Okay. You drive my car and Nick will drive Blaine’s while we figure out how to handle this, okay?”

“I’m fine, Daddy.” Zach shook his head.

“Well I’m not. I had no idea this was going on with Sophie. I had no idea you were almost ran off the road. I had no idea paparazzi was waiting off campus.” Kurt said.

“That was once.”

“I don’t care. I don’t care.” Kurt’s eyes filled with tears.

“Daddy, we’re okay. Nick makes everything sound so much more dramatic than it is lately.” Zach got up and leaned down, hugging him.

“You are underexaggerating.” Kurt pulled back.

“Maybe a bit but Nick is still overexaggerating.” Zach said. “Plus, apparently I’ve got a really good punch because I may have broken that guy’s nose.”

“You shouldn’t have had to do it. Maybe Nick is right and I should just quit Project Runway and not put out a line until you three are in college.”

“No.” Zach shook his head. “Plus, who says they won’t still try once we go to college? Look. I get it the most because I look exactly like Dad. I can handle it. Nick rarely gets it and Sophie almost never and only when she’s with Nick or I.”

Kurt took another deep breath.

“I’ll drive your car.” Zach said. “And I won’t go out in high traffic areas alone. Please don’t quit the show. Please don’t go on hiatus.”

“What am I going to do when you leave me?” Kurt sniffled, squeezing Zach’s arm.

“Video chat and text?” Zach smiled sweetly. “You say that like I’ll never come home. I’ve got a new baby brother to visit. We all three have to corrupt him too.”

“Did you really break his nose?” Kurt pulled back.

“I’m pretty sure, yeah.” Zach nodded. “I definitely heard something.”

Kurt reached up, ruffling Zach’s curls. “Okay. Just make sure you keep up your reading even if you can’t go back to school until Monday.”

“Fine but I get the big TV at eight.”

“Go on.” Kurt swatted at him as Kris started to cry from upstairs. “I love you, Zachy.”

“Love you too.” Zach grabbed his book bag and when upstairs.

Kurt sighed, following after.

Maybe it was time to retire from fashion.

[scullys-right-eyebrow-txf]

Fox Mulder vs. Questionable Holiday Movies

Warning: Pure Fluff. Christmas Fluff. Christmas Kidfic Fluff

Tagging @today-in-fic

Night 1

 Physically and emotionally exhausted, Dana Scully pulled her aching body through the front door of her apartment and promptly tripped over a large toy dump truck.

 “Dammit,” she whispered as she regained her footing and kicked the row of trucks out of her path before resuming her trek down the hallway.

 It was 1am, three days before Christmas, and Scully was finally off work. After a week of late nights at the hospital, she was done until after the holidays and she only wanted to celebrate with eight full hours of sleep.

 She stumbled into the bathroom and stripped off her scrubs before stepping into the shower to wash away the hospital odor, and then pulled on the clean pajamas that Mulder had set out for her. (Sleeping naked had stopped becoming an option once William began to walk and had a tendency to show up in their bedroom at daybreak.)

 Speaking of the little 4 year old bed-hog, he was planted firmly on her side of the mattress when she made it into the bedroom. Scully softly pushed William to the middle of the bed toward Mulder and climbed in tiredly beside her boys.

“Hmm, Mommy?” the child said, half awake.

 “Hey baby, what are you doing here?” Scully asked, lovingly running her fingers through her son’s hair.

 “I had a dream,” he mumbled into the pillow.

 “I’m sorry. Do you feel better now? Do you want me to take you back to your room?”

 “No, Mommy, Santa’s in there,” William said, curling into his mother’s body.

 “What?” Scully whispered in confusion.

 “Shhh, Scully. Just let him stay here tonight,” Mulder said, reaching out blindly to stroke her arm, which he missed entirely and ended up pawing at her face.

 She swatted his hand away. “Okay, okay,” she answered, wrapping her arm around her son and melting into her pillow, too tired to argue with either of them.

 *********************************

 “Hey, Mulder, I’ve got a question,” Scully said the next morning as she sipped her coffee while watching Mulder and William pick up the remnants of the previous night’s toy explosion.

 “And what would that be?” he asked from his place on the floor.

 “Why is Will suddenly afraid of Santa Claus?”

 “He isn’t afraid of Santa. It was just one bad dream, isn’t that right, buddy?” he directed to his son.

 “Nope, I don’t like Santa anymore. He’s scary, like in the movie,” William stated as he became distracted and began playing with his toys rather than cleaning them up.

 “Mulder, what movie is he talking about?” Scully questioned her husband.

 He sighed heavily and placed himself next to her on the couch to confess. “It’s just this campy old movie from the 60’s that we watched last night called ‘Santa Claus vs the Devil.’ And don’t give me that look, Scully. It’s not scary and Santa is the hero! And it’s just so bad that it’s hilarious.”

 “Well apparently Will didn’t think it was hilarious. He wouldn’t even go into his room until I hid his big stuffed Santa. And he loves that thing!” she said in exasperation.

 “I guess he projected the creepiness of the devil onto Santa. Because as I said before, Santa comes off very well in this movie,” Mulder explained. “Don’t worry Scully, all we have to do is get him excited about Christmas and he’ll snap out of it.

 “You better hope that that he snaps out of it soon. We’re meeting Mom at the mall at 6:00 so he can get his picture taken with the big guy.”

 “He’ll be fine,” Mulder said, reaching out to give Scully a quick peck on the lips. “The little guy has been so excited to tell Santa all about the train set he wants for Christmas. It will be great, I promise.”

 Night 2

 “That was a disaster,” Scully groaned, collapsing beside Mulder on the bed, both still fully clothed.

 “I’m sorry, Scully. I really thought he would be okay,” Mulder said, his words muffled by the pillow that his face was buried in.

 The situation had actually been far from okay. It had started out well enough. William had been so distracted by his excitement over seeing his grandmother that he didn’t even realize why they were waiting in line. He was happy enough to receive little candy canes from the elves traversing the line in order to keep the waiting children content, but then he realized what he was waiting for. Beginning to panic, Will demanded to be picked up by his father and that only made things worse because then he could see the man himself, Santa Claus.

 It started as small whimpers. The parents around them gave Mulder and Scully sympathetic looks, but then came the loud cries that evolved into screaming and the looks became much less sympathetic and much more judgmental.

 All it took was one glance between the partners and they were heading toward the exit, William screaming the whole way.

 “At least he fell asleep in the car and was too out of it to realize that we put him in his own bed,” Scully murmured.

 Right at that moment there was a loud knock on the bedroom door.

 “You just had to say something, didn’t you?” Mulder asked, giving her a side eyed glance.

 “Mommy? Daddy?” came a sweet little voice from the other side of the door.

 “You can come in, baby,” Scully said, sitting up resignedly.

 Will threw open the door and made a bee line for the bed, landing squarely in his mother’s arms.

 “I want to sleep with you tonight,” he told his parents. “Please Mommy.”

 Scully looked at Mulder before turning her eyes upon that sad little face that at the moment looked just like his father’s. She couldn’t say no to either of them.

 “Just tonight, sweetie,” she said, brushing his hair off his forehead.

 William gratefully burrowed under the cover between his parents and Mulder reached out to rub his arm affectionately.

 “You know this want be just tonight, right?” he asked his wife.

 Scully sighed and flopped back down on the mattress. “We’ll worry about it tomorrow.”

 **********************************

 The little family of three huddled around the kitchen counter. It was Christmas Eve and they were making a large batch of sugar cookies, as had become their tradition. The dough was mixed and spread out and Mulder and Scully were helping William use the cookie cutters. There was a combination of shapes such as wreaths, bells, and Christmas trees, but there was one that was being conspicuously avoided by the child.

 “Hey Will, let’s do this one next,” Mulder said, showing the little boy the cookie cutter shapely roughly like Santa.

 “No, Daddy!”

 “Come on, Will. We’ve got plenty of red frosting that we need to use up,” Mulder tried to reason with the child.

 “Santa is not welcome here,” William stated sternly before turning back to his work.

 Mulder and Scully gave each other incredulous looks over his head, a whole conversation with only their eyes. A conversation that included thoughts such as, “Who knew a miracle baby could be such an ungrateful troublemaker,” and “We should just return all his gifts to the store.”

 “Well William, if you feel that way, then I guess you shouldn’t be expecting any gifts tomorrow morning,” Scully said.

 The boy only shrugged in response, but his parents could see the nervousness flit across his face.

 Night 3

 “It’s time for bed, Will,” Mulder said as he turned off the cartoon on the TV much to the dismay of the child.

 “Just one more show, Daddy, please.”

 “No go, buddy. It’s already past your bedtime,” Mulder said, shuffling William toward his room.

 “But…but,” he tried to argue bravely, despite the fact that his chin was trembling.

 “But what?” Scully asked, still a little peeved after the incident that afternoon.

 “But you know who comes tonight. I’m scared, Mommy.”

 And just like that, Scully’s resolve crumbled. She crouched down to William’s level. “Baby, it’s okay to be scared, but you know that Mommy and Daddy would never let anyone come in who was dangerous. We trust Santa, and you trust us, right?”

 Will nodded his head, his eyes on the floor. “Do you think Santa will still bring me a present after what I said about him?” he asked sadly.

 Scully kissed his head, “I think he might do just that. We’ll let you sleep with us one more night so you won’t be scared but tomorrow it’s back to your own bed. Deal?”

 “Yep,” he said happily.

 “You go on and get in the bed while Daddy and I turn out the lights, okay?”

 “Don’t forget to put out some milk and cookies for Santa!” Will yelled over his shoulder as he sprinted for his parent’s bedroom.

 “You’re such a softie,” Mulder said as he and Scully began to quietly pull out the hidden presents and place them under the tree.

 “I blame you. Where do you think he got those puppy dog eyes?” she asked. “Also, this is all your fault. All for some damn movie. And I was going to give you an early Christmas present,” she said with a raised eyebrow.

 “Uh…,” he could only reply. Between her work schedule and their uninvited visitor, it had been over a week and he was desperately in need of that Christmas present.

 “But instead we have a munchkin in our bed. Pity,” she said teasingly.

 “Oh, Scully,” Mulder groaned. “I’m sorry. I’ve never been sorrier in my life. Tomorrow that kid is out!”

 **************************

 “Mommy! Daddy! Santa came!!!” Will yelled, jumping on their bed way too early.

 An hour later, Mulder and Scully were surrounded by wrapping paper and one hyper child.  

 “I can’t believe that he brought me a train set. I didn’t even get to tell him that’s what I wanted! And legos! And a new truck!” William didn’t know what to play with first. He simple ran from one toy to another excitedly. “I love Santa!” he exclaimed victoriously.

 Mulder and Scully watched from their place on the couch and laughed at their son’s sudden change of heart.

 “Will, buddy, I know you’re happy but you need to settle down or you’ll wear yourself out,” Mulder said as the boy sprinted to another corner of the room.

 “That wouldn’t be such a bad thing,” Scully whispered, cuddling close to Mulder. “He might need a nice long nap before we head over to Mom’s and that would give me an opportunity to give you your Christmas present,” she said, trailing a hand up his thigh.

 Mulder let out a ragged breath, “You know what, Will? Just keep having fun.”

 “Yeah!,” Will yelled. “Best Christmas ever!”

 “Best Christmas ever,” Mulder said, kissing Scully in a way she wouldn’t soon forget.

 ***************************

 Four months later

 “Daddy! Mommy! Open up,” the little voice called through the locked door.

 “No,” Scully whimpered, her head falling back on the pillows.

 Mulder’s head landed on her chest where he had previously been trying to unbutton her blouse with his teeth.

 “What is it, William?” he asked.

 “I need you,” Will answered urgently.

 Scully sighed and pulled herself up. She opened the door and William burst through, running to hug her.

 “What’s wrong, Sweetie?”

 “I had a nightmare. It was the Easter Bunny. He’s scary,” Will said, burying his face in her shoulder.

 Scully held her son tightly and turned her accusing eyes on her husband.

 “I didn’t know that he had come into the room, Scully, I swear,” Mulder said, his hands up in submission. “ I was just watching this movie ‘Donnie Darko.’”

 “And it has a scary bunny?” she asked, carrying their son to the bed.

 “I didn’t know he was watching, Scully. I swear, I didn’t know…”

 Night 1

 The End

[shadowsfiguresfigments-blog]

A good place to die Chapter 8 (Light fluff)

Warning: Harsh language, violence

I jolted up, heart pounding and light sweat covering my whole body. It took me several seconds to understand who I was, where I was and what had happened. I was lying somewhere warm and cozy, but my surroundings weren’t covered with silk. My ribs hurt like hell, which was probably what had caused me to wake up in the first place. After another second of thought I understood that I was in my own bed.

“Penny?” I whispered tentatively, but I received no answer.

The last thing I remembered was resting my head back against his chest, exhausted from all the reading. When I was done with another five Poe stories Pennywise handed me one of my textbook, and I spent nearly two hours reading to him about human biology, Greek philosophers and the history of Derry. Particularly the last one made him laugh quite a lot, his cackle echoing through the cavern so long that I had to wait for him to calm down before I could continue. My throat had gone dry and my voice became raspy.

“Relax, little one”, he had purred into my ear, and I did. Apparently I had fallen asleep rather quickly after that.

Now I was home, and I couldn’t remember how I had gotten here. I stretched out my good arm, fumbling around for the light switch and accidentally knocked over the glass of water that stood next to the lamp. I was pretty sure there hadn’t been one there when I left the house. Finally I found the switch, and light was so bright it temporarily blinded me. When I was able to see again I noticed the two red balloons floating around my room. One read ‘I love Derry’, which made me smile for the absurdity. No one here would have actually believed it to be true.

Well, me maybe, but only as of late.

I got up (boy, that HURT!) and went downstairs into the kitchen. I left the glass where it had landed on the floor. Picking it up would have hurt too much. When I filled another glass with water I noticed the note stuck to the fridge.

“We’re one hand short, so I’ll have to do the late shift too. Don’t wait for me.”

I was relieved. At least I wouldn’t have to explain how I mysteriously had gotten into my room.

I took my medicine and splashed my face with some water.

Just about when I was going to go back to bed the phone shrilled. Cursing under my breath I picked it up.

It was the Derry police, informing me that Mr. Shanks had been murdered in his shop. Apparently he had surprised burglars and a fight had ensued. Since I was the only one somehow connected to him they informed me of his passing. They wanted to ask me some questions about my whereabouts this night (uh-oh), and told me to be there tomorrow as soon as I could.

Feeling a little sad as well as annoyed I hung up, when auntie entered the kitchen.

“Who was that?”

She looked incredibly tired and older than she actually was. I knew her job stressed her out, and the worry about me probably too, but it was the first time I actually understood what it did to her. I reluctantly told her about the call, and she offered to accompany me to the hearing. After all, according to law, I was still a minor. I looked at her, chin stubbornly thrust forward at the thought of me being accused of some crime, brow furrowed with worry, her eyes tired and red-rimmed, and felt a sudden rush of affection for her. I hugged her gently, trying not to increase my physical discomfort anymore than necessary, and went back to bed. What was wrong with me, being so emotional all the time?

The hearing was more of a joke, fortunately. Mr. Shanks had been bludgeoned, and I was clearly in no condition to do so. Also, during the time the crime was committed auntie had returned home and peeked into my room to see if I was still awake, but “she was snoring so loud she could have woken the dead.” The only reason I was questioned in the first place was because they had no other person to speak too, and of course my fingerprints were everywhere. They had not yet found a testament, nor did they know of any living relatives, but the detective promised to contact me as soon as any new clue turned up.

I highly doubted that they’d find anything. That part of Derry was known for being dangerous after nightfall, and if the crimes that took place daily were even reported, they almost never got solved.

Auntie had to go back to work, but she offered to drop me off near the barrens. I had told her I was working on a biology project about the local flora, and despite her not liking me going on a hike school came first. I waved her good-bye, then started my descent down the slope that would bring me to the banks of the Kenduskeag, which I could follow to the entry to the sewers. It wasn’t an area of the barrens I was too familiar with, so this seemed like the best option.

It was a beautiful day, sunny, but the first cold of October was already lingering in the air. The leaves around me had turned brown, I noticed absently, and the air bore the faint scent of winter – the scent you could have never described, more of an idea of a scent, but an indicator for the end of the year nonetheless. So immersed in my musings was I that I didn’t notice the group of people before I stood right before them. It wasn’t Yaneesha – thankfully – but one of her girlfriends and a couple of boys with a rather colorful reputation. They were smoking something that clearly wasn’t weed nor anything else I was familiar with, and had built a tower of empty beer cans. One of the boys was currently aiming at them with a pistol. He stood there confidently, legs spread apart, and fired rapidly at the cans.

He hit them all.

I tried to retreat into the bushes I had just broken through, but they group had already noticed me.

“Hey, isn’t that the hoe that fucks you for a dime?”, one of the boys asked, his face sporting an unpleasant sneer.

“I wouldn’t touch you with a stick if somebody paid me a million”, I shot back, not thinking.

Their mouths fell open in surprise – I’d never talked back before.

“You take that back, cunt”, the girl yelled, her eyes going crazy.

“Sure. I’d not touch any of you for a billion.”

The group stood up collectively, and the guy with the gun started grinning maliciously.

“Hey, Denny, you better be careful. After all she killed poor ol’ Shanks to get to his hidden millions. Don’t cross her, she’s real tough. Doncha know she only watches horror movies? She gets off of pain.”

They started walking towards me, forming a semi circle. The gun was still pointing to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a small red bird settling in one of the bushes.

“Speak for yourself, idiot. I bet you need that gun to even feel like you have a dick, right? Better not tell your Daddy about that, though. He might give you the belt again.”

I laughed, no idea what I was saying or where all the nasty things were coming from – normally I’d just turn around and walk away. But not today. Today was different. Maybe I was high from the painkillers, or maybe it had something to do with my growing range of emotions.

The boys face turned a ghastly shade of pale, and he pointed the gun at me.

“YOU TAKE THAT BACK!” His voice broke, and his buddies looked at him uneasy. “Ey, Shot, maybe put that down, it’s not like she’s worth it…”

He fired.

I felt something whizz past my face, and laughed as I could hear the bullet hitting a tree behind me.

“You missed!”, I teased him.

His buddies backed away, and the girl tried to pull his arm down.

“Let’s go, Shot, please. She’s crazy…”

He took aim again, pointing the gun straight at my face.

“Die, bitch!”

The gun boomed, and he screamed.

Again something whizzed past me, but more importantly, a huge gator was chomping down on Shots hand. The entire group screamed, a choir of fear, and the gator vanished. In its place stood a giant spider, clicking its jaws and raising on its two back pairs of legs, ready to strike.

They scrambled as fast as they could, Shot clutching the maimed remains of his hand. Within seconds they had vanished, only their shouts and cries echoing in the distance. The gun was gone, and Shots father would probably do some nasty shit to him – I actually felt bad for him.

Still, I grinned with joy as I hugged the spiders’ hairy legs , each of them the diameter of my waist.

“Hey, Penny.”

Before my eyes the spider melted into my favorite clown. He was grinning widely, his buck teeth shining brightly, and drool flying everywhere as he laughed loudly.

“Thanks for bringing me home yesterday! I’m sorry I fell asleep…”

He didn’t let me finish, bowing down to my eye level, pressing a gloved hand against my lips. His eyes glowed brightly blue, making the autumn sky look pale by comparison. “I liked that a lot”, he purred. My heart skipped a beat, making me clutch my chest in surprise.

“Let’s make you comfortable.” He scooped me up once again, and carried me into the sewers.

But this time, we didn’t go to the cavern. I only realized where we had arrived when the tunnel opened into a bottomless pit. With on big lunge Pennywise jumped up the walls before us and lifted us both over the top with just one hand. Then he carried me through the dark corridor, up the stairs and into one of the rooms I hadn’t entered before. (Never mind my head swiping off all the cobwebs and dust that had gathered.) He gingerly lowered me unto the biggest bean bag I had ever seen. It was white with a beautiful pattern of red stripes and smelled of food… Candy canes, cotton candy and sweet popcorn, actually. And it looked brand new. I almost disappeared into the bean bag, until Pennywise sat next to me and made me rise from the wafts of sweet delight.

He pulled me against his chest excitedly, rummaging through my bag already.

“So, what are we going to read today?” He pulled out some books at random and handed them to me, all anticipation.

So Pennywise learned about mechanics and vector calculations. That didn’t seem to interest him too much, and after a while he interrupted me all of a sudden.

“You were late today.” His voice sounded almost… pouty?

I told him about the murder, the police and my job. The concept of police work and money seemed peculiar to him, and so we spent the rest of the day talking about crimes and what humans do to solve them. It was the weirdest conversations I had so far (that actually said a lot, right?) and the clown laughed at all the wrong parts, which in turn made me chuckle every now and then. He seemed to enjoy that, and I had to admit, I did too.

The word ‘friendship’ crossed my mind.

When I told him about DNA, fingerprints and forensic evidence he became a little less exuberant, puzzling at the lengths we would go to punish wrongdoers. “And that actually works for you?”

I shook my head.

“Not all the time. Especially not in Derry.” I shot him a suspicious look. “But I guess you know that.” He grinned at me, then stretched himself out.

“You are funny little creatures.”

“Well, so are you, to me… Except for the small part.” He chuckled, but then became very serious within a heartbeat.

“Only to you, little girl.”

I lay my hand against his cheeks, feeling the texture of his skin properly for the first time.

“I like that.”