The other side

Everything was dark. And then bright sunlight shone down on Bev's face.

She could feel the grass on her feet. She could feel plastic bumping against her skin. She was standing in the middle of the campus green, surrounded by curious freshmen and inquisitive sophomores. And balloons. Lots of red balloons, all pressing up against her in a cloud, like they were drawn to her.

Still naked, of course. She blushed bright red from the roots of her hair to the tops of her breasts as she realised the balloons were the only thing standing between her and complete public exposure. More and more people seemed to be looking her way. And some of them were even holding cameras.

She tried to take a cautious step forward, and hurriedly jerked back as she realised the balloons weren't travelling with her. The cloud was fixed to this one spot. As long as she stayed her, she had at least some protection from the eyes of the other students. But if she tried to run...

"Hey, look at that girl with the balloons!"

"Is she naked under there?"

"Wow!"

"Look how hard she's blushing!"

"Must be a sorority prank."

"Let's all take pictures!"

This couldn't be happening! But it was. And as she cowered and trembled, folding her arms across her bare body, she heard a familiar voice in her ear. "We're going to play a little game, Bev."

"I'm really not afraid of you!"

"You're trembling in your boots, Bev. That's what I'd say if you were wearing boots. But you're not. You're not wearing anything at all. Scaredy-cat bare-naked Bev."

Bev grit her teeth and tried to conjure up all her courage. This really wasn't such a big deal. What's the worst that could happen? A few people could see her... see her... anyway, it wouldn't be the end of the world, right? To be totally disgraced and humiliated in front of the whole campus, on her very first day? To be stuck on the green with no clothes on at the mercy of a monster, with no way of knowing how it was going to torment her next? She could handle it. She wasn't terrified at all...

One of the balloons popped.

Bev squeaked.

"Look up," the clown whispered in her ear. Bev looked up. She saw a fluffy white towel, attached to a red balloon, hovering just above her head. It was just too far away for her to reach.

Another balloon popped.

"Do you know the name of the game, Bev? It's called Keepaway!"

Bev went up on her toes, stretching for the towel. It bobbed tantalisingly just beyond the reach of her fingertips. Another balloon popped as she jumped for it. They were starting to go more quickly now, and she was beginning to attract quite the crowd of students.

"Bad luck! Try again!"

She could almost get it. Almost... but not quite. She bounced frantically up and down, increasingly **** as gaps in the cloud of balloons began to reveal tantalising flashes of her pale skin. Cameras flashed. Somebody was shooting video. She was so close... but every time her fingers grazed the hem of the towel, the balloon would shoot up and snatch it out of her reach. When she fell back down, it would drift closer, just above her head so she felt like the next time she was sure to get it.

More balloons popped.

"Better hurry up, Bev!" The voice rang with a false note of saccharine concern. "You're almost there! You can do it! But if you take any longer... you'll be n-n-naked!"

Her heart was pounding. She knew she shouldn't be playing its games, but she was so close to the towel. Every jump brought her a little bit closer. Her face was a mask of red as her wild eyes darted left and right, taking in the chuckling crowd. One more extra-high jump, and the strawberry nipples of her small bouncing breasts peeked for just a second above the topmost layer of balloons, sending a wave of laughter and wolf-whistles through the gathered students. Every mocking noise rang crystal-clear in Bev's ears, making her skin prickle with humiliation. She felt so small and ****. They were all watching, and there was nothing she could do about it.

The towel slipped through her fingers once more, only a second before her hand could close on it. It was so frustrating. She was sure she'd gotten it that time. And she only had a few balloons left. They were crowding around her breasts and hips now, acting as a kind of balloon bikini, exposing her belly-button and her long bare legs.

"Oh, gosh, Bev! Better get it soon! You don't have much time! Jump for it, Bev! You need that towel, or everyone will see you're a little bare-naked scaredy-cat! Everyone can see how scared you are, Bev! Naked and scared! Scaredy-bare birthday-suit Bev!"

Bev screwed up all her courage and jumped, flashing her nipples again as they rose above the level of the balloons. This time she actually got a firm hold of the towel, but it slithered out of her grip before she could secure it. She wanted to scream with frustration. This wasn't fair! She almost had it! But the balloons were going fast, and now she only had four to protect her modesty from the cheering audience. Two floated in front of her breasts, one hovered between her legs and the last one censored her bottom. Her toes curled into the grass as she quivered in shame, trapped in a circle of enthusiastic students, terrified to move in case the balloons slipped aside and her intimate secrets were revealed to everyone. She'd never live it down. She'd be scaredy-bare Bev forever and ever and ever.

The voice whispered in her ear.

"One last jump, Bev."

"But... but if I move, I'll..."

"Those balloons won't last forever, Bev. They're going to pop. And then what will you be?"

"N-no..."

"You'll be naked, Bev. Naked in front of everyone. Your worst nightmare come to life. Naked in front of everyone, forever..."

Bev gulped.

She looked up at the towel, still bobbing teasingly in the air. It was so close. She could almost reach out and touch it. But she had to get this one exactly right.

She took a deep breath.

She bent her knees and, in one fluid motion, sprang into the air. Her tits bounced. Her bottom jiggled. The auburn hairs on her pussy sparkled in the sunlight. And her hands wrapped around the towel.

Which promptly wrapped around her hands.

"W-wha..."

The towel was alive. And it was yanking her hands above her head, binding them with balloon-string. She tried to pull them back, but the towel was simply too strong for her. And then it slithered away, vanishing into thin air, leaving her wrists lassooed together with the string of the balloon and held high in the air. She tried to pull away, but it was no use. Her hands were stuck. She couldn't get them back down.

"Oh, dear. Poor scaredy-bare Bev. Did she think I was going to play fair?"

"But... wait, you said..." Bev looked down in growing wide-eyed horror as she realised she couldn't even cover herself. The towel had gone, and she couldn't move her hands. She was trapped. And if those last balloons...

She felt something wrap around her ankle. She gasped, and looked down. More balloons had gathered behind her. And their strings had come to life, as well, questing around her ankles, wrapping and pinching her binding. She felt strings wreathe around her thighs, her upper arms, and squealed as two neat little balloon-string bows were fastened tightly around her nipples. The balloons attached to her ankles jerked upwards, lifting her an inch or two off the ground.

"Oh my god, wait, stop... stop looking! Stop! Stop stop stop STOOOOOOP..."

And she was hauled into the air, neatly hogtied, her ankles pulled up behind her back and fastened to her wrists. Even her braids were tugged on by the bunch of happy balloons that now floated in the air above her, lifting her a dozen feet off the ground. Strings wrapped around her hips, her waist, her shoulders, her elbows, even between her legs, where a few cruel knots were carefully placed in between her parted labia. She struggled against the threads, to no avail. She was stuck. Absolutely stuck. Tied up, and trapped on public display.

She felt a tug on her nipples. She looked down.

Pennywise was holding a handful of balloon strings, leading upwards to her nipples and pussy. As the balloons above her pulled her upwards, she felt a smooth constant tug on the bows wrapped around her nipples and the string pulled tight between her legs. Like her nipples and her pussy were being constantly tweaked, pinched and pulled. It wasn't very comfortable, but she couldn't do anything about it. Pennywise gave the strings another pull, making her squeal as she bobbed up and down in the air.

There she was.

Hogtied beneath a bunch of balloons, floating in the air, her nipples and pussy atttached to strings in the hands of an evil clown. Completely naked. And still surrounded by people, of course. She felt herself blush completely red from her head to the tips of her toes, going warm all over at the pure terror of what was happening before. She'd thought she was embarrassed before. Now she realised she'd be better off in the classroom with the boys. This was a whole new incandescent realm of embarrassment, a warm bath of complete humiliation that swallowed her whole. It was pure ****. And she knew it wasn't going to stop.

Pennywise grinned.

"You see, Bev," it said, "you shouldn't have been scared of me. Fear gives me power, Bev. Don't you know that? You should have stood up to me earlier. Shouldn't have played my little games. But you did."

It gave the rope another tug.

"You ran away from me. You acted like it was all real. And now it is. See, Bev, I was almost out of power when I made you think I'd stripped you naked on the green. Remember that? Back when it all began? If you hadn't run away, scaredy little Bev, it would have been all over for me. You could have stood up to me then. Stripping you was the last trick I had left."

Its smile grew wider.

"But it worked. You're such a stupid, silly, scared little girl that you didn't even stop to think. You just ran away squealing, didn't you? And then you were kind enough to play every last one of my little games. You swallowed it all hook, line and sinker, Bev. I tricked you. And I licked up your delicious fear."

It licked its lips. Bev's mouth was hanging open. Of course. She knew all you had to do to defeat Pennywise was stand up to it. But she'd thought she was naked, and she'd panicked... what had she been thinking? Maybe it wasn't too late? But she was tied up now, and everyone was looking, and...

She whimpered pathetically, bobbing in the gentle breeze. She couldn't think of anything else to do. It was so humiliating, being beaten like this, and put on display for everyone to see. Maybe it would run out of energy soon, and let her go...

"I'm all full of energy now, Bev. You filled me up. So now I get to play with you as much as I like. Do you know what that means, Bev?"

"N-no?"

"It means it's going to be a long few years, Bev."

"W-w-what? Wait, what do you mean, years? Years? You can't... you can't hang around for years, can you?"

"Poor, sweet, darling bare-naked Bev. I'm an evil creature from the dawn of time. I can do anything I want. And what I want right now is to get ****."

"But... no! Wait! I'm not afraid of you! I'm not! I... I invoke the power of friendship! You have to go away right now! Please, everyone stop looking!"

"Remember when you beat me, Bev? You made me feel so small and scared and ****? Well, now I'm in charge, and I know exactly how to repay you. I'm going to make your time here one long, humiliating naked nightmare. You know how you feel right now? Totally on fire with shame and fear? You're going to feel exactly like that every single day until you graduate."

"Power of friendship! Power of friendship!"

"I'm going to make you go to class naked. I'm going to pull down your pants and put worms in your panties. I'm going to steal your clothes from the shower. I'm going to sneak into your dorm at night and lick you all over with my cold, wet tongue. I'm going to make you share a room with lesbian cheerleaders who bully you. I'm going to cut holes in all your clothes and make you go to parties in silly costumes. I'm going to snap your bra. I'm going to spank your bottom. I'm going to put you on a leash and lead you down the street in your pink underwear. I'm going to tie you to a bench in front of a frat house and tickle you silly. I'm going to put you on live TV in the nude. I'm going to make you famous, Bev. Famous as scaredy-cat bare-naked Beverly Marsh."

Bev couldn't do anything but whimper some more. It was the scariest thing she'd ever heard. And the worst part was, she was pretty sure it was all absolutely true.

"But first," said Pennywise cheerfully, tugging on the rope some more, "we have to take you on a tour of the entire campus, Bev. Hogtied and nude, in front of all these strangers. Every single second is going to be the most mortifying thing you've ever experienced in your life, and we're only just getting started. Off we go!"