After confronting Pennywise, the group moved a safe distance away from the sewer manhole. Everyone was still shaking from what they had seen, except Alexander, who looked grimly focused.
- So," Bill began, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice. - What do we know about this thing?
- It's ancient," Alexander answered, squatting down and drawing a diagram with his wand on the ground. - It feeds on the fear of children. It can take any form. Physically very strong.
- Does he have any weaknesses? - Mike asked.
- He does. He's afraid of things he doesn't understand. And he hates not being afraid.
'Though that's just a theory,' Alexander added mentally. - "In the movie, the kids defeated him by believing in themselves. But that's a movie. And things could be different here."
Richie took off his glasses and wiped them with trembling hands:
- Alexander, what other monsters have you killed? Tell me!
- Aliens, half-divine creatures, and... angels. - replied briefly.
- Angels? Real ones? - Eddie couldn't believe it.
- Real ones. And believe me, they're a lot nicer to talk to than this thing.
Ben reached for his sword:
- Can I see it? There's some strange symbols on it....
- Don't touch it. - Alexander cut him off abruptly.
- Why not?
- Because it will kill you. This weapon is not made for humans. It harms anyone but me.
'And drinks blood,' he added mentally. - "Which they don't need to know at all."
Stan shook his head skeptically:
- This all sounds like the ravings of a madman.
- Then explain what we just saw," Alexander snapped.
- Mass hallucination. Poisoning by sewer gases.
Alexander looked at him with pity:
- You know, Stan, denying reality doesn't make it any less real.
They spent the next hour working out a plan of attack. But gradually the enthusiasm began to fade.
- Look," Eddie said nervously. - 'Maybe we should tell the adults. The police?
- What are you going to tell them? - Beverly asked. - That there's an ogre clown living in the sewers?
- Well. right?
- They'll send you to a psychiatrist.
Stan stood up and shook off his clothes:
- You know what? I'm outta here. This is crazy.
- Stan! - Bill tried to stop him.
- No, Bill. I'm not going to die because of your fantasies.
He turned and walked away. Eddie followed him:
- I'm sorry, guys. But I have asthma. I can't run around in the sewers.
Then Richie came up:
- Look, I really want to help, but... I'm only thirteen, man! I'm not a hero!
- Cowards! - Beverly shouted after them.
Mike hesitated, too:
- Maybe they're right? Maybe it's too dangerous.
Soon it was just Bill, Beverly, and Ben. They looked at each other confused.
- What now? - Ben asked.
- Now you go home, too," Alexander said coldly.
- What? - Beverly didn't understand.
- The three of us won't make it. Especially if there's ballast among us.
- We're not ballast! - Bill said indignantly.
Alexander stood up and looked around at them:
- Bill, you're brave, but you're too emotional. You'll make stupid decisions to avenge your brother. Beverly, you're strong but distracted by nonsense. And Ben is just fat and slow.
"Cruel but true," he thought. - 'They'll only get in the way.
- We're not leaving you alone! - Beverly insisted.
- 'You bet you will. Because if you come with me, you'll die. And I don't want your corpses on my conscience.
"Though, to be honest, I don't care," he admitted to himself. - "I realize this is all just a movie. Once I finish my mission, I won't see any of you again. So your lives only matter because I don't want to go to the penalty area."
But there was something else that bothered him. Beverly's looks. The way she looked at him. It was disgusting.
"I'm thirty years old," he reminded himself. - "And she's a fourteen-year-old kid. Just because I look like a teenager doesn't change anything. Her feelings for me are a perversion."
- Alexander," Beverly said quietly. - I can't just walk away. Not after everything you've done for me.
- You can and you owe it to me,' he replied sharply. - 'You don't owe me anything.
- But...
- No buts!" - Alexander exploded. - You're children! You don't realize what you're dealing with! This thing has been killing for centuries, and you think you can stop it?
"And besides," he added mentally, "if we split up, it will hunt you down one by one. And then I certainly won't save anyone."
He was quiet for a moment, then said more calmly:
- "There is one thing, though. If we split up now, that thing will hunt each of you individually. And on your own, you won't survive.
The children looked at each other.
- So we have no choice? - Ben asked.
- There's always a choice. You can leave Derry. Go to a relative's house in another town. Wait it out until it's over.
- What are you going to do? - Bill asked.
- I'm gonna go in there and finish that thing off. Or die trying.
Beverly grabbed his arm:
- 'Then we're coming with you!
- As you wish," he said coldly. - But when you die, don't blame me.
***
They walked toward the abandoned house on Neubolt Street. It was a ghastly ruin, with peeling paint, broken windows, and a yard overgrown with weeds. The house seemed to exude evil.
- Here," Alexander said, stopping at the porch.
- How do you know? - Ben asked.
- I can feel it. This place is saturated with fear and death.
They walked through the house and found a hatch in the basement. Old stone steps led down into the darkness.
- Down," Alexander said, drawing his sword.
The descent seemed endless. The steps were slippery with moisture, and the air became more and more stifling. Finally they came to a huge underground cavity.
What they saw shocked them.
It was a giant cavern filled with mountains of rotting circus props. Old clown costumes, broken tents, rusty rides. But worst of all was the children's stuff - toys, clothes, backpacks. It was all covered in sticky cobwebs and emitted a horrible odor of decay.
And in the air, as if in weightlessness, floated bodies. Dozens of children's bodies in varying degrees of decomposition. Some were fresh, others had turned into skeletons.
- Oh, my God," Beverly whispered, clamping her hand over her mouth.
Bill saw a familiar yellow coat among the bodies:
- Georgie... - His voice trailed off.
Ben just fell to his knees and began to vomit.
Only Alexander remained unfazed. He had seen worse.
- Welcome to my home! - came a voice from above.
Pennywise descended from the ceiling, moving like a huge spider. His clown suit was splattered with blood and his eyes burned with yellow fire.
- How cute! The guests have come for dinner!
- Run! - Alexander shouted to the children.
But it was too late. The cave was suddenly filled with mist, and the children lost sight of each other.
Alexander could hear their cries from all sides:
- Help! He's here!
- Georgie! Don't go!
- Daddy! Don't hit me!
Everyone was fighting their own nightmares. Alexander rushed to the rescue, cutting through the fog with his sword.
He found Bill kneeling before the ghost of his brother:
- Forgive me, Georgie! I'm sorry!
- It's not him! - shouted Alexander, cleaving the illusion with his sword.
Then Beverly, who was fighting her father's ghost:
- You whore! Come here!
Alexander blew the ghost's head off with one blow.
Then Ben, who was running away from a group of kids - who were bullying him:
- Fatso! Fatso!
The sword dispelled that illusion as well.
When the fog cleared, the children were together again. But Pennywise was already waiting for them.
- What a boring boy," he said, looking at Alexander. - Spoiling all the fun.
The monster suddenly threw his long arms forward and grabbed Bill by the throat, lifting him into the air.
- Now, listen to my proposition," he chanted. - I will eat only this boy. I'll let the others go. What's more, I'll go into hibernation for the next twenty-seven years. That's not a bad deal, is it?
- Never! - Beverly shouted.
- Let him go! - Ben added.
Pennywise laughed:
- Then you'll all die!
Alexander realized that the decisive moment had come, began to drink his blood with his sword.
He took a step forward:
- Do you know what I think of your proposal?
- What do you think?
- I think you're a pathetic coward who can only scare children.
Pennywise's eyes flashed
- What did you say?
- You heard me. You're thousands of years old and you only feed on children. That's because adults don't fear you. You're weak
- I AM ANCIENT! AND ETERNAL!
- You're a parasite. A pathetic space worm that can only survive by eating fear.
Pennywise became enraged and dropped Bill, pouncing on Alexander. He was ready.
- Reality Slash! - he shouted, swinging his sword.
The blade cut through space, leaving a dark crack in the air. Pennywise tried to dodge, but it was too late. The crack traveled through his body, tearing at the molecular level.
The monster howled and fell, his form beginning to blur.
- Run! - Alexander shouted to the children. - I'll hold him off!
- We won't leave you behind! - Beverly shouted.
- RUN, FOR FUCK'S SAKE! - he roared with such fury that the children instinctively recoiled.
They ran for the exit, and Alexander was left face to face with the dying monster.
But Pennywise wasn't going to die for nothing.
- You... hurt me... - he wheezed, rising slowly. - But I'm... still... alive...
His form began to change. Now it was no longer a clown, but something primal and terrifying. A creature from nightmares, with dozens of tentacles and teeth.
- And now. you're going to die.
Pennywise came at Alexander with his whole weight. He tried to parry with his sword, but the use of Reality Dissection weakened him.
The monstrous maw closed on his right arm. Alexander cried out in pain, feeling the teeth bite into the bone.
But in response, he managed to slash the monster's leg with his sword, severing it almost completely.
Now they were both bleeding out. Alexander could no longer hold the sword with one hand. He threw the weapon away and extended his left arm.
- You want to play cocksucker? - he wheezed. - Then take this!
Lightning bolts struck from his hand. The electricity burned the monster, making it recoil.
- What... what are you? - Pennywise hissed.
- I am the one sent here to kill you," Alexander replied, concentrating all of his remaining energy.
He unleashed a barrage of lightning bolts at the monster, expending the last of his strength. Pennywise squirmed and screamed, his form beginning to disintegrate.
But it wasn't enough. Alexander could feel his strength leaving him. The blood loss was too much.
"Damn it," he thought, falling to his knees. - "Almost made it. Almost...
Pennywise, though badly crippled, was still alive. He slowly crawled toward the fallen Alexander.
- Now... you're going to die... boy... - wheezed the monster. - And then... I will find your friends.
Alexander tried to rise, but there was no strength. His right arm was torn off, his left hand barely moving. Blood flooded his eyes.
"Shit," he thought. - "Is it all for nothing?"
Pennywise reached out a tentacle toward him, ready to deliver the final blow.
And at that moment Alexander felt something change. The world around him began to blur, like frames of film....
"What's happening?" - he wondered. - "Is it really..."
The last thing he saw were Pennywise's yellow eyes, full of rage and pain. And then everything plunged into darkness.