It was 1989 when all hell broke loose for eleven-year-old Ariana Martin. It wasn't just the fact that her parents were divorced, it was how her father was taking it. He would come home late, drunk and wasted, only to have beer stains on his shirt and the smell of beer aching from his breath.

"C'mere," her father would say, as his hand would move to her back. "Come give your daddy a hug."

Ariana would back away from her drug-addicted dad, clutching her teddy in her arms, and she would look up at him with her wide, brown eyes. "Don't touch me."

"C'mon, I've been working so hard, Ariana," his voice got loud as he clutched onto her shoulder. She would yelp, slithering out of his grip and up the stairs.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed. The small child would run to her room, slamming the door shut as she blocked it with a chair.

Those moments weren't the worst thing Ariana would experience. Coming home to see her innocent mother standing in the driveway with one foot in her car was an exception.

"Take care of Ariana," her mother said, pushing a strand of brown hair out of her face and closing her car door. "And don't forget that she needs her medicine."

"Where do you think you're going?" Ariana heard her father say as she hid behind her neighbor's white fence.

"Away," her mother replied, rolling up her dusty window as she soon started the car. Her mother backed out and her father called for her to get back. She never came back, and Ariana never saw her again.

Ariana wasn't surprised when she left them. It wasn't the first argument she had previously seen her parents get into. Nothing physical, maybe a few hollers here and there; the worst part being her mother would never stop her father when he lashed out on his own daughter. When it came to Ariana and her "misbehaving," her father would slap her with the black belt he kept in his drawer.

None of this ever stopped Ariana from sneaking out in the middle of the night through her bedroom window, uncertain where she was going. Well, she would go anywhere but her own house. She needed an escape from reality. She would walk down the sidewalk, keeping watch of the pedestrians that would walk down the street at night, waiting for their next victim.

The night after her mom left her, she snuck out by herself. She climbed out the window and down an old tree that had been there since she remembered. She climbed down, checking every once and a while to see her father through the window sleeping in his chair, his alcohol bottle sitting in his lap.

Once she knew the coast was clear, she walked down the street, humming the chorus to Au Clair De La Lune, smiling to herself that she would finally have a night all to herself; a night to be alone and do what she wanted. But of course, she wasn't a bad child. She would obey her father's rules, no matter how ridiculous they were. She was a good child with bad secrets; secrets that her father would punish her for. It was something that she would always keep to herself.

Here she was, disobeying her father's rules and walking down the street as she'd wait for the night to pass by, and in the morning, she'd be back at the place she called home. Actually, maybe not even a home. Maybe "house" would be the better option.

But tonight, it was different. Ariana had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that something would go horribly wrong. If it was the fog that blinded her from the streets or the smell that had come from the old sewage pipes that were nearby. Even if something did go wrong, it would have been a change from her normal and boring life.

Being the curious child that she was, she roamed around the street, trying to find her way closer to the smell, and perhaps find out what was disturbing the only time away from the place she hated the most. And just like that, something had moved from a faraway distance, echoing through the empty streets of Derry. She flinched, turning around at the sudden movement that made her heart race, and that strange feeling buzz through her stomach.

"Hello?" she asked, her eyebrows narrowing together as if she were trying to solve a problem that was impossible to figure out. There it was again, the same noise that made her jump at the impact. "Hello!" She called out, the warmth of the water in her eyes making her vision much too blurry. The only thing she could see was the white fog blinding the dark street.

"Kitty?"

Man up, she thought to herself, slowly walking towards the end of the street. She felt like she wasn't prepared for what could happen next. You could get killed, she thought, you could get kidnapped. But somehow, her legs were in control now. She walked faster towards the loud noise; it was now continuous as if it had gotten faster as she took each step.

Zing, zing, zing. Just like wind chimes being scraped against each other, non-stop.

Her breathing became heavy as she started to drag her feet, making even more noise. This couldn't have been happening, she was too smart for this to be happening.

"Pssst," Ariana heard a voice, as she stepped back. This isn't a kitty voice, she had thought to herself.

"Pssst, over here!"

Was this some man out to get her?

"To your left, for God's sake." Ariana turned her head in fright, her eyes going big.

This person's voice, a boy's voice, sounded so quiet; it was almost like a whisper. It sounded so peaceful, something Ariana would want to listen to, like a lullaby.

The top of the person's head had peeked out from behind a small shed, almost as if he were hiding from her. Ariana was on a random person's lawn and she couldn't comprehend what she had gotten herself into. The boy's face was covered with shadows.

"Who are you?" Ariana had asked in her young voice, leaning closer to get a better look at the boy who was hiding behind the wooden wall.

The delicate voice answered with a small chuckle. When he barely stepped out into the light, his eyes sparkled with a bright emerald color. They were beautiful. Ariana had never seen eyes like his before.

"I," the boy paused, moving in closer to Ariana's pale face. "am Penny, the most dangerous monster of Derry." He answered, his face now in full light. His face was so pale, and when he smiled, it seemed like he was forcing it.

He wasn't a monster, Ariana thought to herself, he's too beautiful to be a monster.

"A monster?" she chuckled, her white teeth showing as she bent down to meet his figure. "A monster how? You're no monster!"

The boy squinted his eyes, his emeralds narrowing to follow her brown orbs. He looked beside her, tilting his head as he groaned in confusion. "Why are you alone?" his voice got quiet.

She frowned, stepping back as she straightened her shoulders.

"What is your name?" he asked.

Ariana was dizzy from the fog, and she had no clue what she should be doing, but it wasn't talking to some clown-demon she met on the streets.

"Ariana." She whispered, her head starting to hurt as Penny stared at her with much concern. The clown had smiled, raising his hand in front of her.

"Pleased to meet you, Ariana."

Her face was straight as she reached her hand out slowly, slightly touching his hand.

His hand, she thought, it's so cold.

Ariana flinched, taking her hand back as she looked at his hand that was covered with a glove. Frowning, Ariana said, "Your hand," she paused, looking at hers as it began to turn a pink-shaded color. "it's so cold." The coldness of his body temperature made an impact on hers. She began to shiver.

The monster looked down at his hand very slowly, being in full display for Ariana to get a good look. He soon looked up at her, his smile fading away. The clown stood up slightly, each time getting larger than Ariana was. Ariana took big steps back, her eyes widening as the large, shadowy figure grew before her eyes. And yet, he was still as gorgeous as he was when she was close to him.

Her breathing started to go steady, her mouth slowly closing. Her eyes darted up to meet with his as the face of the boy started to increase to a red color.

"You're not..." the monster leaned down, tilting his head as his breath hit her face. "scared."

As much as she wanted to run away-- away from this boy, this villain-- away from this monster-- her feet wouldn't let her. "No," she replied, her breath hitching as her stomach turned upside down. What would happen to her?

The boy hummed, leaning down to reach her height. His teeth began to show as he leaned in even closer. "Boo." He surprised her and she gasped from the sudden noise. Penny chuckled and stood up straight.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice soft. His smile stayed but grew wider as he chuckled.

"Penny."

"Okay," she murmured and paused, crossing her arms, "now who are you really?"

His smile faded as he drew back. Penny looked down and back up at Ariana. "You shouldn't be out here by yourself, miss."

"Why not?"

"Because you'll run into something like me, that's why." He hissed, his voice getting louder with frustration. With one flash, he turned away from her and back into the dark.

Ariana frowned curiously, walking towards the shadows that the clown had just walked into.

"Penny?" she whispered, reaching her hand out towards the dark to reach him. "I can't see."

Soon, she started to feel dizzy, like she had been when she first saw him. Was it the fog?

She stumbled onto her feet, using the garbage can to keep her standing up. With her hand on her head, she began to close her eyes and her pulse began pounding. She soon collapsed onto the floor without another word.

In the morning, she found herself waking up in her bed, the covers over her securely and the door shut. Ariana had thought it was just some nightmare and it seemed very real, almost like it happened. But that name was stuck in her head. Penny.

But this? No, all of this was only the beginning.

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Hope you liked the first chapter! ♥︎

Quote of the Day: "Sometimes, I'll start a sentence and I don't even know where it's going. I just hope I find it along the way." -Michael Scott