By the time I get home, any sign of the tears I shed earlier, is gone. I walk through the front door, and breathe in the smell of vanilla and cinnamon, hoping the familiar scent will lift my spirits. It doesn’t. Our house always smells like this. Usually, it makes me feel happy, but today…it makes me feel sick. What’s wrong with me?
Then my mom walks around the corner and wraps me in her arms. “Oh Peyton, I’m so glad you’re home! Oh! You’re freezing! Where have you been? I was worried sick! I thought…I thought you…”
I wriggle out of her arms and say, “I was just on a walk, calm down, Mom. It’s not even dark outside; I don’t understand what all the fuss is about.”
“You haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?”
Her face falls. “Well I got a phone call about two hours ago. It was Lexi’s mom. She said that Lexi and Derek were found outside on the school campus. They were both…they were…”
“They were what, Mom?” I snap. But I have that sinking feeling in my stomach again. I already know what she’s going to say…
“Dead. Lexi and Derek are dead, honey.”
I blink. I know I should be sad. Devastated. I should be in tears right now, clutching my mother as our bodies are racked with sobs. I blink again. No tears come. I only feel numb.
“Peyton, honey, are you alright? Do you want to talk about it?” I shake my head. “Sweetheart, are you sure? It’s not good to keep pain inside of you. If something’s wrong, the most important thing to do is talk about it.”
Her words snap me back to reality. “Mom I’m fine.” I say. I don’t know why I’m being so short with her, but I can’t seem to stop myself. I shiver. Why do I feel so cold again? I glance over at It, and am caught by surprise because It’s surprisingly close to me. I’ve never seen it this close to me before. Then I notice It’s moving even closer. The cold worsens.
“It’s perfectly fine, normal even, to be hurting right now Peyton. Please just talk to me. I want to help you.” She pulls me into another hug and tries to stroke my hair. I push her away.
“Just stop it, Mom!” my voice is rising, and so is my temper. “I wish you’d stop pestering me and coddling me. I’m not a little kid anymore. I can take care of myself!” I angrily storm off to my room and slam the door. I immediately feel guilty for yelling at her like that. First Lexi and Derek, now my mom. Why am I being so irritable today? Then I realize something. When I lost my temper with Lexi and Derek, I felt cold, just like I did when I got mad at my mom. I ran off and then…and then they…died. Was it just a coincidence? It had to have been a coincidence…there’s not possible way I could have caused their deaths. Unless…unless I didn’t do it by myself. I look over at It, suddenly horrified.
I open my bedroom door and run down the hall. “Mom?” I call. “Mom, are you okay?” I’m not watching where I’m going and I almost trip over something on the floor. I look down. “…Mom?” It feels like a weight dropped in my stomach. I kneel down and feel for a pulse in my mother’s neck. She’s ice cold. I softly close her eyelids.
“Peyton?” Colton’s standing in the hallway, staring at me. “What’s wrong with Mommy?” I don’t know why, but fury ignites inside me. I’m angry at Colton. I’m angry at my mom. I’m angry at Derek and Lexi. I’m angry at It. I’m so cold…
“Leave me alone Colton!” I scream. He looks terrified. “Go away and don’t ever come back.” With those final words, he breaks into tears and runs away, probably to his room where he can whine like the big baby he is.
Then, as quickly as the anger came, it’s gone. I whip my head around just in time to see It backing away from me. I jump to my feet, realizing what I’ve just done. “Colton?” I cry desperately, running after him. My heart’s hammering in my chest. “Colton, please come back! I didn’t mean what I said, I swear!” Please don’t let it be too late…please don’t let him be dead…His bedroom door is partially open. I push it open the rest of the way and peek in. My heart drops to my feet. Now the tears come. I slowly make my way over to his little body and fall to my knees, my shoulders shaking uncontrollably. Somehow I manage to close his eyes.
I stand up and slowly turn around to face It. With tears still rolling down my cheeks, I say, “Why me? What did I ever do to you?” My voice shakes with each syllable. “Why are you ruining my life?” Its silence is deafening, even though I know I never really expected It to answer anyways. I close my eyes as more tears leak out of the corners. By now the smell of death is filling my nostrils. It’s so strong, that when I breathe in, I can practically taste it.
Then I hear a sudden high-pitched scream. My eyes fly open, and I’m taken aback by what I see. No longer is Its face just an endless black circle. Now there are two red eyes, glowing like hot coals, staring back at me. Then It speaks, with a voice that sounds like nails on a chalkboard, yet low and raspy at the same time.
“Peyton…I did not do this to you. You brought this misery upon yourself. You were the one who told your friends to stay out of your life. You were the one who told your mother to stop taking care of you. And it was you who told your little brother to go away and never come back. Their cold blood is on your hands…”
This hits me hard and for a moment I can’t breathe. I look down at my hands and see that they’re covered in blood. The sight makes me gag. Then I blink and the blood is gone. I can’t stop trembling…and I’m seeing double…I run into the hall bathroom and look into the mirror. All I can see is the two red eyes staring back at me. I scream. Then the reflection changes and I’m staring back at myself. This doesn’t do anything to improve my condition, now that I know I’m staring into the eyes of a murderer. I scream again and punch the mirror. It cracks and my knuckles come away bloody. I can tell the blood is real this time because my knuckles sting; and it hurts…it hurts so bad. So I punch the mirror again, this time with my other hand. Now both my fists are in pain. Yet it still doesn’t feel like adequate punishment…
I’m so lost and I don’t know what to do. And by this point I’m in hysterics, so that doesn’t help matters at all. Then I look over at It and I see that Its hand is extended out towards me. As if driven by some outside force I grab Its ice cold hand. And when I do…I see Its true appearance…and I scream again. Then everything goes black.