Malachai spent the afternoon in the library with Betty, as they had agreed. Sitting at a secluded table in the back, surrounded by tall bookshelves and the smell of old paper, she explained history notes to him in that soft, precise voice of hers. He listened, but his mind was elsewhere on Polly Cooper and on the clown that had already shown its face.
Betty noticed.
"Are you okay?" She asked, closing the book. "You seem… distracted."
Malachai looked straight at her. "I'm just thinking about what you told me about Polly. I don't like that she saw that."
Betty lowered her gaze, fidgeting with a pencil. "Me neither. Polly doesn't make things up. If she says she saw a clown… she saw it."
He leaned slightly toward her.
"Tonight I'm going to stop by your house. Just to make sure everything's quiet. Don't tell Polly if you don't want to scare her."
Betty blushed faintly but nodded. "Thank you, Malachai. I don't know what I'd do without you lately."
He brushed her hand for a second. "You don't have to thank me. Just stay inside after dark. Both of you."
Betty nodded again, and for the first time she looked up with something more than shyness trust. Trust in him.
When they left the library, the sky was already dark. Malachai walked her to the gate of her house. Polly wasn't visible, but the porch light was on.
"Good night, Betty."
"Good night… and thank you again."
She went inside. Malachai stood for a moment looking at the house. Then he walked away, but he didn't go far.
He moved through the neighborhood shadows, using his superhuman speed to position himself on a nearby rooftop with a direct view of the Cooper house. From there he could see the first-floor windows, the backyard, the street. He sat on the edge, motionless like a gargoyle, waiting.
Hours passed. The rain had stopped, but the humidity lingered in the air. Around 11 p.m., he saw movement in the backyard.
Polly Cooper came out through the back door of her house.
She was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers. She held a cigarette in her hand. She leaned against the wall, lit the cigarette, and took a long drag, staring up at the gray sky.
Malachai frowned. "You shouldn't be out here alone."
Then he felt it a change in the air, as if fear itself had become solid.
At the edge of the yard, beneath a large tree, the figure appeared.
Pennywise.
Tall, motionless, in a dirty, rain soaked clown suit, white makeup cracked from the earlier downpour. Red balloons floated around him, perfectly still against the wind. The red smile was too wide, too fixed.
Polly didn't see him at first.
Pennywise tilted his head.
"Hello, big floater." he whispered in that childish, broken voice. "Do you want to play?"
Polly tensed. She slowly turned her head. The cigarette fell from her hand.
"What the… fuck…?" she murmured.
Pennywise took a step forward. The balloons moved with him, floating in perfect synchrony. "Your little sister told me about you… and she said you're brave… Are you?"
Polly backed toward the door.
"Stay away from me…" She said, voice trembling but firm.
Pennywise laughed. A low, chilling laugh. "Don't be afraid."
Polly screamed and ran toward the back door, but she froze when she recognized the figure that had just appeared.
"Malachai…" She whispered, eyes wide.
Malachai had leaped from the rooftop. He landed in the yard without a sound, ten meters from Pennywise. His feet barely touched the damp grass.
"Get away from her." he said quietly, but clearly.
Pennywise slowly turned his head, as if his neck had no bones. His yellow eyes gleamed.
"You…" He whispered, his smile widening. "The new floater. The one who isn't afraid."
Malachai stepped forward. "I'm not afraid of clowns with fake teeth."
Pennywise tilted his head, touching his sharp teeth with his gloved hand.
"Fake?" he laughed. "I can show you the real ones…"
He opened his mouth. Rows of razor-sharp teeth extended like a shark's trap. The balloons burst one by one, splattering red confetti.
Malachai didn't move. He raised his hand. Focused his mind.
A fallen branch from the nearby tree lifted off the ground, hovered for a second, and flew straight at Pennywise like a projectile.
The clown dodged with an impossible twist, but the branch grazed his cheek, leaving a black cut that oozed something viscous.
Pennywise touched the wound. Looked at the black blood on his gloved fingers.
"Interesting…" he whispered. "Very interesting." A horrifying smile spread across his lips, revealing the shark-like teeth.
Malachai gave a cold smile of his own. "This is just the warm up."
Pennywise tilted his head, narrowing his eyes in amusement.
"We'll see each other soon, floater. And when we do… I'm going to eat your fear very slowly."
He vanished in a cloud of red smoke and balloons that burst silently, his chilling laughter fading away like the wind.
Malachai lowered his hand. The branch fell to the ground.
Polly ran toward him, shaking from head to toe. Without a word, she threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly, burying her face in his chest. Hot tears soaked Malachai's shirt.
"Thank you… thank you…" She sobbed. "I thought… I thought he was going to kill me."
Malachai wrapped his arms around her, firm but not too tight. "You're safe now. He won't touch you."
Polly lifted her head, eyes red but filled with some relief. "How… how did you know I was out here? And how did you do that with the branch?"
Malachai slowly released her. "I was watching the house. Betty told me what you saw last night. I wasn't going to let anything happen to you."
At that moment the back door burst open. Betty came running out, jacket only half on.
"Polly! What's wrong? I heard a scream…"
She saw her sister hugging Malachai and stopped dead.
"Malachai? What… what are you doing here?"
Polly pulled back a little, wiping her tears.
"He… he was here again. The clown. But Malachai… Malachai drove him away."
Betty looked at Malachai with wide eyes.
"You saw him? You faced him?"
Malachai nodded.
"I just drove him off. He won't come back tonight. But don't go outside alone after dark. Neither of you."
Betty stepped closer and took Polly's hand. "Thank you… I don't even know what to say."
Malachai looked at both sisters.
"Just stay inside. If anything happens again, call me right away. Don't try to handle it alone."
Polly nodded, still trembling. "Thank you, Malachai. Really."
Betty looked at him with a mixture of gratitude and something deeper.
"Come by tomorrow after school. We'll talk… and I'll invite you to dinner. With my family."
Malachai gave a small smile. "I'll be there."
He turned and walked away through the garden, disappearing into the neighborhood shadows.
Betty hugged Polly tightly. "Let's go inside. Lock everything."
As they went in, Polly whispered,
"He's… different. But he saved me. I think we can trust him."
Betty looked toward where Malachai had disappeared. "Yeah… I think so too."
Malachai walked back home under the ashen moon.
Pennywise had shown his face.
And now he knew there was a new player in the game.
One who wasn't afraid.
One who was going to hunt the hunter.