As soon as Beverly's father collapsed on the floor, Alexander's familiar voice of the sword sounded in his head:
Blood... I feel blood nearby. Kill him, master. Let me get full...
Alexander squinted at the unconscious man lying down. He was breathing heavily, blood oozing from his broken lip.
"The bitch is persistent," Alexander mentally scolded the sword. "But, to be honest, this bastard deserves death."
He looked at Beverly, who was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall. The girl was trembling, but rage was burning in her eyes, not fear.
- Beverly, - he said quietly. - Do you love your father?
The girl wiped her tears and looked at him with bewilderment:
- What? What a strange question...
- Answer honestly. Do you love him?
Beverly looked at the man's insensitive body. Her face was distorted with disgust:
- No. No, I hate him. I hate it with all my heart.
- Why?
- Because he... - The girl's voice trembled. - He's been hitting me since childhood. He calls her a whore. And lately he... he doesn't look at me like his father should look at his daughter.
"I see," Alexander thought. - "A classic case of domestic violence with elements of incest. Such creatures don't fix themselves."
- What if I kill him right now? - Alexander asked calmly. - What do you say?
Beverly's eyes flashed with rage:
- Kill him! - she shouted, jumping to her feet. - Kill this bastard! I hate him! I hate it for everything he did to me! For every blow, for every dirty word, for every time he made me feel dirty!
Tears rolled down her cheeks, but they were tears of rage, not grief.
- He's not my father! He's a monster! And I prayed every night for him to die!
Alexander nodded. That's the reaction he expected.
"Okay," he thought, slowly stretching under his coat. "So, his conscience won't torment me. And this asshole will get what he deserves."
To Beverly's surprise, he took out a long black sword with ancient runes on the blade. The blade seemed to absorb light, and the runes glowed faintly with a gray reflection.
- Where did you get such a weapon? - she asked in amazement.
"Family relic," Alexander replied dryly.
Yes, feed me his blood... I haven't drunk for so long... - the sword whispered greedily.
Alexander pierced Beverly's father's heart with one movement. The man didn't even have time to wake up - he just exhaled and fell silent forever. The blood quickly absorbed into the black blade, and the runes lit up brighter.
Yes... Delicious blood. Full of hatred and pain. Thank you, master... - the sword purred quite a bit.
Beverly looked at her father's corpse without a shadow of regret. Moreover, a satisfied smile played on her face:
- How good... You know, I thought I'd feel guilty or something. I only feel relieved.
- It's normal, - said Alexander, wiping the blade and hiding the weapon back. - You don't have to love those who hurt you.
"And that's right," he thought. - "Too many people believe that family ties justify any shit. But blood doesn't make a person a family yet."
"You can't stay here anymore," he added out loud.
- And what are we going to do with the body? - Beverly asked practically.
Alexander looked around. There was a basement in the house - you could hide a corpse there. At least for a few days.
"Help me take him to the basement," he said.
They dragged the body down and put it behind the old boiler. The smell of decomposition will not appear immediately, and by that time they will already find a more permanent solution.
- What if someone is looking for him? - Beverly asked when they went upstairs.
- Who will look for it? - Alexander grinned. - Friends? Such types usually have no friends. Employers? I doubt he worked somewhere all the time. Neighbors? On the contrary, they will be happy with the silence.
- You're probably right, - the girl agreed. - He didn't talk to anyone. Just drank and... - She didn't finish.
When they were about to leave, Beverly suddenly burst into tears. Not from grief - from relief.
- It's over," she sobbed. - Never again... He will never touch me again... I'm free...
Alexander awkwardly hugged her shoulders:
- Everything is fine. You are no longer a victim.
- Thank you, - she whispered into his chest. - Thank you... You saved me.
"You're for nothing," Alexander thought, feeling her trembling. "I'm just doing what's right. Although... it's strange. I wasn't touched by other people's problems before."
They left the house and walked slowly through the night streets of Derry. Beverly gradually calmed down, but still stayed close to Alexander.
- Tell me about yourself, - she asked. - The real truth. Where did you get your sword from? Why do you kill so easily? And why do you look like a teenager, but behave like an adult?
Alexander was silent, picking up the words. Tell the truth? Or come up with a legend?
"Partial truth is better," he decided. "It's easier that way."
- It's a long story. And not very pleasant.
- We have time.
- I'm a hunter, - he said after a pause. - I'm hunting for evil. Vampires, demons, all kinds of abomination.
- Monster hunter? - Beverly asked again. - Really?
- That's it. My... mentor taught me this craft. He gave me a weapon, taught me how to fight.
"If the Devil can be called a mentor," he grinned mentally.
- And how old are you really? - the girl asked.
- It's a difficult question. Physically — fifteen. From experience, it's much more.
- What does it mean?
- IT means I've seen a lot of shit. More than a person of my age should see.
Beverly nodded thoughtfully:
- That's why you're so... cold or something. Removed.
"Cold?" Alexander was surprised. - "Maybe she's right. Maybe I'm really becoming insensitive."
- When you constantly see death and suffering, you start to get used to them, - he said out loud. - It's a defensive reaction.
- But you helped me. So, not quite callous.
- Maybe.
They walked silently for a few minutes. Then Beverly spoke again:
- What do you know about what's happening in Derry? You didn't happen to be here by chance, did you?
"A smart girl," Alexander said to himself. "She thinks quickly."
- I heard about strange disappearances, - he replied. - I decided to check. And he turned out to be right - there really is something dangerous here.
- What exactly?
- An ancient creature. Very old and very hungry. It feeds on children's fear.
- And how to kill him?
- It's... a difficult question. Such creatures do not die from conventional weapons. Special methods are needed.
"And who knows which ones," he added mentally. - "I hope we'll figure it out as it goes."
They reached Bill's house, a small cottage with white walls and a red roof. The windows were dark - the family was asleep.
- Wait here, - said Alexander. - I'll wake him up.
- Why wake up? We can wait until the morning.
- No. It's better to warn him about the situation right away. Besides, you need a place to spend the night.
He walked around the house and found a window that led to Bill's room. The castle turned out to be simple - Alexander easily opened it and silently penetrated inside.
"It's good that the hacking skills haven't gone anywhere," he thought, looking around.
The room was immersed in complete darkness, but it was not a problem for Alexander. His altered vision worked perfectly in the dark, and the white dots in his eyes glowed like stars.
He approached the bed where Bill was sleeping and easily pushed him by the shoulder.
The boy woke up and opened his eyes. What he saw made him freeze with horror.
A dark silhouette in a long coat leaned over him. The pale face almost glowed in the dark, and two white lights were burning in the black eyes, creating a terrible impression.
- Oh my God... - Bill whispered, trying to crawl away. - What... who are you?
"Shit," Alexander understood. - "I forgot how I look in the dark. Probably scary."
- Quieter, - he said calmly. - It's me. Don't be afraid.
- A-Alexander? - Bill asked uncertainly. - Is that you?
- Yes. Sorry for scaring you. We need to talk.
- How did you get into my house? And what about your eyes? They... they glow!
"How to explain without revealing the excess?"
- It's a long story. Consequences... occupational injury. Will you go outside? Beverly is waiting there.
- B-beverly? - Bill sat down on the bed. - What happened? Why isn't she at home?
- You'll find out when you go down.
- Okay, but you scared me to death. I thought you... well, I don't know, some kind of demon.
"Close to the truth," Alexander thought gloomily.
Bill nodded and quickly got on. They left the house through the back door so as not to wake up their parents.
Beverly was waiting for them on the street. At the sight of Bill, she rushed to him:
- Bill! Thank God, you're fine!
- What's going on? - the boy asked, hugging his girlfriend. - Why are you in the middle of the night... And why are you crying?
"My father is dead," Beverly said directly.
Bill looked at her in a stunness:
- What? How?
- Alexander killed him. And I'm glad about it.
- Is he... Is he t-you...? - Bill couldn't finish the question, but he understood everything by the girl's facial expression.
- I tried, - Beverly nodded. - But Alexander stopped him.
Bill looked at Alexander:
- Did you really kill him?
- Yes. And I would do it again.
- But it's... it's murder...
- It's justice, - Alexander replied harshly. - This bastard has been mocking his daughter for years. Sooner or later he would have killed her. Or did something even worse.
Bill was silent, digesting the information. Alexander saw the boy fighting with himself - his upbringing said that murder was bad, but his mind told him that sometimes it was the only way out.
- And now what? - Bill finally asked.
- Now we continue our investigation, - Alexander said. - But Beverly can no longer live at home.
- You can stay with us, - Bill suggested to the girl. - Parents don't mind. I'll tell you that you have problems at home.
- And how to explain why I'm not coming back? - Beverly asked.
- Let's say your father went on a business trip and took you with him. Or something like that.
"And I'll stay on the street," Alexander added.
- Why? - Bill was surprised. - Parents won't mind...
"Because I don't want to complicate the situation. And because I feel uncomfortable next to Beverly," Alexander thought.
The presence of the girl next to him caused him strange feelings of disgust. Maybe it's something from the past? Alexander didn't know, and didn't want to. And the girl began to get attached to him.
"And this is bad," he reminded himself. - "Attachments make you vulnerable. Especially in my situation."
- It will be better this way, - he said out loud. - Fewer questions. Besides, I'm used to street life.
- Are you sure? - Beverly asked. - The nights are cold...
- I'm sure.
In fact, Alexander was afraid that intimacy with Beverly could grow into something more. And he couldn't afford a fourteen-year-old girl to fall in love with him. Regardless of what he looked the same age.
"I'm a thirty-year-old man in the body of a teenager," he reminded himself. "That would be wrong."
***
In the morning, the three of them went to the library. On the way, we went to get the rest of Bill's friends.
The first was Richie Tozier, a skinny boy in glasses with a cheerful character and a disgusting sense of humor. He lived in a small house near the park.
- Hey, Big Bill! - he shouted, leaving the house. - It's early today! And who is it with you?
- Richie, this is A-Alexander. He will help us.
- What will help? - Richie looked at Alexander through the thick glasses. - You look like a character from a horror movie. Especially those eyes.
"Thank you for the compliment," Alexander answered dryly.
- You're not at all! Do you make voices? I know how to make voices. Do you want me to show you?
"No need," Beverly said quickly.
The next one was Eddie Kaspbrak, a nervous hypochondriac, constantly drinking an inhaler. He lived across the street from Richie.
- Who is it? - he asked suspiciously when he saw Alexander. - And why is he so pale? Does he have anemia? Or leukemia?
- Eddie, this is A-Alexander. A new friend.
- He looks unhealthy, - Eddie insisted. - Maybe he's contagious?
"I'm not contagious," Alexander said tiredly.
- How do you know? Have you been examined? Have you been tested?
"God, this guy is already sick of me," Alexander thought.
The last one was Stanley Uris, a serious and skeptical boy with a neat haircut. He lived in the Jewish quarter.
- And now we gather everyone? - he asked when he saw Alexander.
"Stan, don't be rude," Bill said.
- I'm not rude, I'm practical. We don't even know this guy.
- My name is Alexander, - he introduced himself. - And I'm here to help you figure out your problem.
- What's the problem? - Stan asked suspiciously.
Bill and Beverly told the trio about their discoveries. About cycles of disappearances, about strange visions, about a clown.
- And do you seriously think that some clown kills children? - Stan asked skeptically.
- I saw him, - Beverly insisted. - With my own eyes.
"Mass hallucination," Stan waved it off.
- And I saw him too, - Eddie added. - On Naybolt Street. He danced among the garbage.
- And I heard his voices from the sewer, - Richie admitted. - He called me by name. With the voice of my deceased father.
Stan shook his head:
- Mass madness. Or collective psychosis.
- Then explain the birds on Mike's farm, - said Alexander. - Explain the regularity of disappearances. Explain why everything happens every twenty-seven years.
- Coincidences.
- There are too many coincidences for a coincidence, - Alexander objected. - Do you know what detectives say? One coincidence is an accident. Two coincidences are strange. Three coincidences are a regularity.
- Are you a detective? - Stan asked viciously.
- Something like that.
They met Mike at the library and headed to the wasteland. On the way, each of the boys told about their strange visions.
- So you saw him too? - Bill asked Eddie.
- Yeah. In an abandoned house on Neybolt. At first I thought it was a tramp. And then he turned around... - Eddie shuddered. - He had such teeth. And eyes. Like a shark.
- And I heard a voice from the sewer, - Richie added. - He called me into a downpour. He said he had balloons.
- And what did you do? - Beverly asked.
- He ran away, of course! I'm a fool, but not that much.
Alexander listened to their stories, comparing them with what he remembered from the movie. Pennywise really started hunting. Studied children, looked for their weaknesses.
"Soon he will move on to active actions," he thought. "We need to be ready."
- Have you seen anything? - Beverly turned to Alexander.
- I Saw It. By the lake. He stood on the opposite bank and waved his hand.
- And what did you feel? - Mike asked.
- Disgust, - Alexander answered honestly. - And anger. This creature thinks we're easy prey.
- Aren't we easy prey? - Eddie asked uncertainly.
- We'll see.
On the way, Beverly approached Alexander:
- You never answered all my questions," she said quietly. - Who are you really? What kind of sword do you have? And why do you know what you can't know?
"These questions again," Alexander sighed to himself. "Too smart for her own good."
- Are you ready to find out the truth? - he asked. - The whole truth?
- Ready.
- Then ask me about it when we deal with the clown. If we survive, I'll tell you everything.
- Do you promise?
Alexander looked into her trusting eyes and felt a sting of conscience. He didn't want to lie to her, but the truth was too complicated.
"I promise," he said. "But I'm not sure you'll like what you hear."