Chapter 268: The Clown in Town (Part 5)
Slap—
A crisp sound echoed in the bathroom.
With William's current physical strength, even if he deliberately held back, it wasn't something an ordinary person could withstand.
Almost immediately after the first slap, Beverly's father opened his eyes in pain.
"You! Who are you... why did you tie me up."
William didn't respond, merely turning the man's head to the other side.
"Can you see it." He pointed to the clown by the wall and the bloodstains around it.
"What?" The man's eyes revealed confusion.
Subsequently, he saw the person in front of him was wearing priest's clothes, accompanied by a young girl whose appearance was even more beautiful than his own daughter's. He immediately lowered his voice and spoke.
"Hey sir, calm down. You... are here for Beverly, right?" The man tried hard to squeeze out a smile.
"I don't mind at all! As long as you let me go, I can give you the bed... My bed is very big, enough for two girls together..."
Aside, Judy's eyebrows frowned tightly together, and Beverly's eyes were also full of disbelief.
Bang!
Before the man could finish his words, he took another punch to the face.
This time William used a bit of strength, so the man's nose and mouth were instantly dyed red with blood. Not only was his nose knocked crooked, but he even lost a few teeth.
"Ugh... hear..."
The man groaned as he lay on his side on the ground, his vision blurred.
"As a father, to actually use your own daughter as a bargaining chip. As a man, to actually target a little girl."
William sneered.
"How could this kind of scum survive in the town until now."
"Uh... aren't you... a priest, actually using vio... violence..." The man spoke with difficulty.
Bang!
William gave the other party another hit on the head upon hearing this.
"Which eye of yours saw me committing violence? This is clearly a responsible priest transmitting correct moral concepts."
At this time, Judy took Beverly's hand and whispered secretly in the latter's ear:
"Just now we saw this guy's evil deeds from outside the house. Don't worry, we won't let this guy bully you anymore."
Beverly's body shuddered upon hearing this. This was the first time she had felt care from a girl her age, and her nose immediately soured.
"Mmh!"
She also squeezed Judy's hand tightly.
On the other side.
After "persuading" Beverly's father, golden patterns surfaced in William's pupils again.
Previously, their group chased all the way from the "Kissing Bridge" to outside Beverly's house.
After that abnormal energy entered the apartment, William immediately made arrangements around it.
During this process, he inadvertently discovered something—every adult near the apartment had a layer of light screen covering their eyes. This thing was very similar to the source of the abnormal energy, but even more powerful.
However, the children following behind William didn't have a similar situation.
At the same time, the barrier on William's body surface suddenly surfaced automatically, isolating the invasion of some kind of power.
He immediately took the children away from the apartment and carefully checked the surroundings with [Holy Eye].
He quickly discovered that the power of this thing also came from the apartment, and the closer to the center, the stronger it was.
William found a few "volunteers" on the road.
With their help, William discovered that this light screen could shield a part of human vision. Although the affected people could still see most scenery, they could not perceive things composed of spirit particle power.
This meant that these adults couldn't see what the clown Pennywise was doing to the children.
Perhaps this was the reason this monster could survive for so long.
And at this moment, Beverly's father was also affected by this power.
William immediately projected "Holy Power" into the other party's eyes. Under the collision of power, the light particles composing the light screen quickly dispersed in the air.
"Ugh!"
The man discovered the bizarre phenomenon in the bathroom.
"Who... who exactly are you people? Whose blood is this? Did you kill someone..."
William didn't answer, but stared carefully at those light particles.
"The sewers..."
He looked at the direction the light particles were floating.
Originally, William thought these powers also came from the clown, and purifying them could further weaken the other party's power.
At this time, the clown leaning against the wall suddenly raised its head.
Immediately after, it opened its mouth wide, revealing three orbs of light at the bottom of its throat.
William narrowed his eyes, almost instantly grabbing the two girls and bringing them to the holy statue by the door.
"N-no..."
Beverly's father's body suddenly lost control, arriving beside the clown in the blink of an eye.
Only a crack sound was heard as the clown's entire mouth bit onto the man's forehead.
William grabbed Judy's hand and covered Beverly's eyes, immediately after throwing a bottle of twenty-year vintage Holy Water.
Sizzle... Sizzle...
The glass bottle smashed onto the clown's head, instantly melting half of its skull, revealing only its nose and the parts below.
And the three light orbs in its esophagus were also exposed to the air.
The clown's movements paused for a moment.
But then the three light orbs began to spin rapidly, and many light particles also gathered around.
In the next moment, the clown resumed its movement.
Accompanied by a chewing sound, the man's entire forehead was bitten off.
At the same time, the holy nails in the clown's body were also slowly being pulled out by some power.
Opposite them, William wasn't idle either. He not only activated the magic array outside the apartment but also tried various ways to interrupt the other party's movements.
The holy artifacts and magic arrays indeed had an effect, but whenever the power of the Holy Light approached the clown's body, it would be offset by the power radiating from those three light orbs. But at the same time, William also noticed that this kind of defense consumed a lot.
Just offsetting a thirty-year Holy Water once made more than a small half of the gathered light particles disappear.
Just as William planned to exhaust the other party with a battle of items, the clown suddenly stood up.
It stared deadly at William for a moment, then suddenly jumped onto the sink.
Immediately after, under the surprised gazes of William's trio, the clown shoved one hand into the drain.
This was just a normal household sink; the size of the drain was about the size of a coin.
But the clown forcefully squeezed its hand inside, like plastic.
Subsequently, it pressed its shoulders, chest, thighs...
Pennywise was like performing acrobatics, making its body look very comical.
A moment later, it actually squeezed its entire torso into the drain pipe, leaving only its head in the sink.
"** Giggle~ Damn priest, we will meet again... Giggle~ **"
As soon as its voice fell, its head also shrank into the drain, leaving only a sharp laughter coming from inside.
William didn't relax his vigilance.
At this time, the golden patterns in his eyes lit up, observing the entire bathroom.
"Beverly's father already has no aura of life, and the light screen power in his body has also disappeared... Was the clown taking power just now."
William narrowed his eyes, understanding the monster's purpose just now.
"Those three light orbs earlier could actually resist even high-vintage Holy Water. It seems this should be power from another dimension."
"However, this power doesn't seem to be much..."
From the brief exchange just now, it could be seen that the clown couldn't use the power of the light orbs boundlessly, otherwise the entire state of Maine should have already become the other party's dining room.
Combining it with the evil factions William had encountered before, he guessed the power behind Pennywise also harbored the goal of "invading the human world."
"W-William!"
At this time, Judy tugged at his sleeve, pointing at the corpse on the ground.
Although she had also seen quite a few evil spirits and demons, this was her first time seeing a living person's head bitten off, making her stomach feel a bit queasy for a moment.
And Beverly aside was standing blankly in place.
Watching the familiar relative die before her eyes, she didn't know whether she should be happy or sad.
"What do we do now? Will we get arrested!"
Judy's little face was somewhat tense.
"Should we... run first?"
William shook his head, then took out his cell phone and dialed 911.
After a beep sound, a woman's voice came from the other end.
"911, what is your emergency?"
"Hello, there is a male corpse in the bathroom I am in. Besides me, there are two children who are witnesses, and another five children outside the house..."
Just over ten minutes later, police sirens sounded outside the apartment.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The apartment door was suddenly knocked on.
"Derry Police Department! Open the door immediately!" someone shouted from outside.
William signaled Judy to open the door, while he proactively raised his hands in the air.
Beverly aside was somewhat confused, also raising her hands imitating his gesture.
A moment later, hurried footsteps echoed in the hallway, and several flashlight beams pointed at William's back.
"Sir, please raise... please slowly turn around, do not move recklessly!"
"Hey kids! Come over to my side!"
There were at least eight officers in the hallway.
They coordinated with each other; two officers pointed their handguns at William, another took the opportunity to pull Beverly away from him, and the rest guarded the surroundings.
Although bullets at this distance posed no threat to William whatsoever.
But he still turned towards the hallway according to the officers' instructions, making no out-of-line movements during the process.
After confirming he had no weapons in his hands, two officers immediately came behind William and restrained his hands.
"Sheriff, before you question me, I suggest you go inside and take a look first." William gestured toward the bathroom.
"Uh... of course, I was just planning to do so," a middle-aged white man who looked to have a higher rank spoke.
He picked up his walkie-talkie and gave a report, then walked into the bathroom.
"Oh! God! This is terrible!"
The next second he walked out frowning.
"What exactly happened inside? Have wild beasts appeared in town recently?"
The other few officers were curious in their hearts and each went inside, but soon also frowned and fled like the sheriff.
But William didn't answer this question, instead saying: "What happened here is related to the recent child disappearances in town."
Sheriff Real immediately narrowed his eyes upon hearing this.
The Derry disappearances were already the top priority in the department right now. All officers on leave had been forcefully recalled, and they were currently in an around-the-clock investigation state.
Because the number of missing children was increasing, alerts had been set up in many places in the town.
But because there had been no clues all along, the pressure in the department was immense.
This matter had already been reported to the state, and it was said that the higher-ups were already contacting professionals to come and handle it.
At this time, the young man in front of them mentioning this matter immediately caught the attention of the officers present.
"Are you saying... those children were taken by wild beasts?" Real asked.
"Well, it's a long story." William weighed his words carefully.
"I can give you the conclusion first—there is currently a huge threat in the town, and it's this thing that took the children's lives."
"As for what threat it is, oh right!"
William suddenly changed the topic.
"I was the one who made the emergency call just now; this can be proven by comparing the voice on the phone."
"I also don't have any weapons on me. I believe the officer on my left who secretly touched my butt just now can prove it."
"Neil..." The corner of the sheriff's mouth twitched, glaring at William's left side.
That officer immediately looked at the ceiling with an unnatural expression.
"Similarly, I was also the one who asked the girl beside you to open the door. If I were a kidnapper, such behavior would lack any logic." William continued.
"Finally, the two girls present, as well as the five boys outside the apartment, can all prove my innocence."
"Now, Sheriff, can I use actual actions to show you that threat."
Real pondered for a moment.
He saw the young man in front of him was calm and his words were also very persuasive, so he nodded.
"Of course, this is exactly what I want."
Subsequently, he signaled with his eyes, and the two officers quickly released their hands.
"Many thanks. By the way, my name is William, a priest."
William smoothed his clothes.
"You can look up my employment record at the Dei Church in Philadelphia."
The reason he said so much to the other party was to dispel the police's vigilance as quickly as possible, so the latter could focus their energy on the upcoming matters.
"Gentlemen, please objectively describe the environment of the bathroom." William stepped aside.
Sheriff Real frowned, but still chose to follow the instructions first.
"There is a corpse with half its head bitten off. Visually, it's an adult male. There is a large amount of bloodstains near the corpse..."
The other few officers also came to a similar conclusion.
At this time, William pointed to the walls and ceiling.
"Next, please close your eyes for five seconds, then open your eyes and look in the direction I am pointing. Of course, you can do it alternately, to prevent me from initiating violence midway."
Hearing this, the few officers were obviously stunned.
This was their first time seeing such a "self-aware" susp... reporter.
Judy stood in a corner aside learning seriously, while Beverly curiously watched William from behind her.
Because William's words were very reasonable, the officers had no reason to refuse.
Real was the first to close his eyes.
When he opened them again, he was obviously stunned, and immediately revealed an unquestionable look, his hand involuntarily reaching for his waist.
The reactions of the other officers were pretty much the same.
"This... how is this possible!"
"Are these special paints?"
"Very regretfully, these are not paints." William shrugged. "You can take samples later; you should be able to find the DNA of the missing children inside."
The air fell into a brief silence.
A moment later, Sheriff Real walked up to William, looking serious: "Young man, please tell us what you know."
"Of course, no need to prove you are not a threat anymore; I know you are a smart person."
William raised an eyebrow.
It seems this is a capable sheriff.
"What happened here involves supernatural powers..."
He immediately described the cause of the matter, of course, keeping the content within the range the other party could understand.
All the officers revealed shocked gazes.
"This... is truly..." Sheriff Real was somewhat speechless.
He found it hard to accept for a moment, but rationality also told him—this young man was very likely not lying.
After all, the recent disappearance cases were full of doubts, and they had also received many absurd testimonies.
But if according to the young man's statement...
Real suddenly discovered that many doubts and contradictions from the past had a reasonable explanation.
A moment later, he took a deep breath.
"Evan, you take some samples back to the lab. Frank, Dave, you guys go to the drainage outlet near the 'Kissing Bridge' according to the address..."
Real instructed calmly, and the officers immediately got busy.
During this time, he also tipped a wink to another officer.
The latter immediately understood. After going out the door, he made a phone call, requesting to contact the police station near Dei Seminary in Philadelphia.
After finishing these, Real found William again.
"Father William." He had already changed his form of address.
"Please tell us what we should do next."
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