A Few Days Later
1993
Your POV
•-•-•-•-•

I pace the bedroom, my stomach practically turning itself inside out from all of the worry and dread. My friends have caught on to my behavior and have asked me several times about it, but all I told them was that I felt as if something's going to happen.

They just sort of brushed it off as nothing, but still believe me and are also keeping their eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary.

I could just be fretting for nothing.

This nightmare could mean nothing, despite what my gut is telling me.

What throws me off is that my gut is never wrong. Usually.

My heart begins pounding in my chest as I hear Stanley's and Bill's shouts from outside. I immediately sprint to where they're at, the rest of my friends at my heels.

I nearly gasp at the sight before me, the feeling in the pit of my stomach returning.

A hoard of walkers surrounding us.

However, something's off.

Their eyes.

They aren't regular zombie-like eyes. No, they're bright white and glowing.

"What?" I mutter in disbelief, pulling out my knife and sprinting to assist in killing the walkers coming our way.

"Their eyes!" Richie yells. "What the fuck is wrong with them?"

"How should we know?" Beverly shouts back.

When given the chance, I take a glance at the sky. My eyes widen a bit before I continue to fight.

The sky is cloudy, a dark grey color, like a storm is coming.

As if right on cue, rain begins to pour down on us, and I can even hear thunder and lightning in the distance.

I shiver, not only from the rain, but also from the chilling winter wind. I find myself being thankful for having my jacket and shoes on already, though they don't do much for me.

Some of my friends aren't as lucky.

Ben and Eddie don't have their coats on.

Everyone was wearing shoes, though.

More and more walkers keep coming at us, a never-ending flow of them. This reminds me of previous hoards I've faced in the past, both by myself and with this group.

With the exception of the white glowing eyes, of course.

I step back after stabbing a walker in the eye, and glance around swiftly, only to stop in my tracks and stare.

There stands It in the woods, similar to how it was in my nightmares. Just smiling and waving at me with that devilish grin.

The three scars on my face start to burn, making me remember how It was the one to give them to me.

I snap out of it and continue with the fight, yet I can't help but to look in It's direction every now and again. And every time that I do, the closer and closer It gets to us.

The rest of my friends begin to notice It as well, and everyone is shouting about it. All of their words blend together in a haze, and I can't understand anything of what they're saying as individuals. Though I do understand the concept of it all.

Their yells all have the topic of It.

That's all I really need to know.

It raises a hand and the walkers halt in their tracks, and my jaw drops as something clicks in my brain.

That damned clown is somehow controlling these walkers, who are now watching us as if they're spectators to something.

Spectators to, say, a game.

I grab a rock and throw it at the clown, which seems to aggravate it. Everyone does the same, following my lead.

It goes after the person closest to it, who just so happens to be Bill.

My breath hitches as It grabs him by the throat, chokes him for a split second before tossing him into a tree.

Bill collapses to the ground, wheezing as he clutches his reddened throat.

Before I could do anything, Stanley lets out a yell as he attacks the clown. All he manages to do is cut it before he's pushed to the ground some feet away.

Everyone's efforts prove to be useless, until I'm the only one left.

I have a stare down with this thing, my glare hardening the longer is goes on. I grasp my knife tighter and sprint at It, raising it up and stabbing it in the forehead.

It shrieks and I pull the knife out, staggering backwards as It punches me.

There's a metallic taste in my mouth, and I immediately recognize it as my blood.

The clown tackles me and we wrestle for a bit, my knife being knocked out of my hand. It reveals its many rows of teeth to me, but I kick it off of me before It could do anything.

As It makes a move to pounce, Bill gets in the way with a thick stick and holds it back from me. The rest of my friends make advances on It, all of them protecting me.

I shakily stand and lift my knife from off of the ground, accidentally pulling some grass blades with it. I step closer but hesitate and gasp when It grabs Bill's arm and bends it the wrong way.

Bill lets out a pain-filled scream before he's thrown aside once more.

My heart drops, but right as I'm about to run to him, Stanley does instead and nods to me. Telling me to end this.

I nod back and glare daggers at It.

It manages to knock away some of my friends before rushing at me. I'm It's target.

I have been all along.

As It reaches me, I wait until the last possible second before I lodge my blade back into its face.

It yells and glitches out a bit, before attempting to bite me. It failed, but some of its teeth manage to scrape my upper arm.

Wincing, I keep battling this creature.

The walkers proceed to keep coming now, and I make sure my friends focus on them rather than on It and me. Stanley protects Bill while everyone else has their own fights to win.

It shoves me backwards and I trip over a rock, falling onto my back. I roll out of the way before It could trample me.

What felt like hours later, I finally defeat It.

Not fully, but I weakened It enough for it to leave to go heal up.

The walkers eyes go back to normal, and I realize that they aren't being controlled anymore.

Not many of them are left, and I help my friends in getting rid of them all.

Once the whole fiasco is pretty much over, I wipe the blood off of the corner of my mouth and ignore the pain in my arm. I focus on Bill and we all gather around him.

I put my knife away and take the hand that isn't hurt, and he clutches it so hard that I think it might fall off. His eyes meet mine, and I can see the agony and fear from just one look.

"Hey, hey, you're okay," I reassure him softly. "You'll be fine. It's gonna hurt for a while, but the whole ordeal is over now. We just need ta patch you up."

Bill carefully nods, his body trembling as he grits his teeth from the pain.

Eddie kneels down on the other side of Bill and says to him, "YN's right. This will hurt, but it has to be done. Are you ready?"

Bill nods once more, this time hesitant.

Taking this as an "okay," Eddie quickly bends Bill's arm back into place. The way it should be.

Bill yells, holding my hand even tighter, if possible. Which apparently it is.

After this, Eddie apologizes and then orders Richie to go inside the house to get his gauze and something to use as a sling.

Minutes later and Richie returns.

Eddie finishes up and Bill thanks him, relaxing his grip on my hand. He notices that he was squeezing my hand really hard, so he gently rubs it for me for a few seconds.

I smile at him in concern before letting him go, standing up and walking a few feet away as I run my hands through my hair.

It's my fault this happened.

It was after me this whole time, and staying with this group put them at risk.

I put them all in danger.

Would this have happened to them if I weren't here? I can't say for sure, but I'm going to deny that it would've.

I should leave...

"YN..?"

For their safety.

"YN, are you okay?"

I turn around and face my friends. All of their eyes are on me.

I lower my hands from my head and cross them, looking away in uncertainty.

Should I really do this?

Everything tells me no, but I push that aside and decide to leave.

To keep them safe.

This is probably the most idiotic thing I could do, but this could just be a temporary departure.

If it's long term after all, it's not like I can't handle myself.

I've been alone for years, and they seemed to be doing just fine on their own without me around. Sure, I had to save them once, but everybody needs that every now and again.

It's going to hurt, but I need to leave.

"YN?"

I always saw this coming.

Ever since I first met them and joined their group.

I knew one day I'd leave.

I just didn't think I would've stayed as long as I did, or even get as close to them as I did.

This will most definitely be something I'll regret, and it'll also most definitely be the most idiotic thing I've ever done, but I'm doing it anyway.

I can only do what I think is best in the moment.

I'll come back if I need to.

Probably.

I have to get rid of this thing before I can make any promises on coming back.

I need to kill It for good.

To protect the ones I love and care for the most. That is my main mission now.

"YN!"

"No," I reply, my voice cold. "I'm not alright."

Before anyone could respond, I continue, "This all happened because of me."

"YN-"

"No!" I cut off, "It has been after me all this time, 'nd me bein' 'ere with ya'll all for so long has put you all in danger. I mean, look at Bill for Christ's sake! I can't- I can't stay here any longer."

"YN-"

"I'm sorry."

I turn to go back into the house to gather my things, when I stop at the sound of Beverly's voice.

"You're going to leave when we need you the most? When Bill needs you the most?" she pauses, almost desperate, "YN, we need you! Please don't leave...it wasn't your fault."

I can feel everyone's eyes on me, and I close my eyes momentarily.

I slowly turn around after reopening my eyes, and I look at each of them.

My gaze lasts on Bill for a bit longer than the rest. He has this pleading look in his eyes, along with everyone else, but his has a deeper level to it that I can't pinpoint.

"Fine, I'll stay, but I ain't makin' any promises ta ya'll," I state reluctantly. "I'll make my decision later."

Relieved, everyone goes inside and we all share a group hug.

I'm not being dramatic about this whole thing, am I?

All I want is to protect them.

If that means leaving them, for good, then so be it.

I need to kill that clown if it's the last thing I do.

But is this really the way to go about it?

•-•-•-•-•

-CastrarWolf