Feedings tend to blur together for an eternal being.
Humans are so predictable in their simplistic fears. It knows when It has a good thing going though.
The persona of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, this form… with its soft pale silken cloth, ruffled neck, wrists, and ankles… Puffy shoulders and hips…. The soft bright red pom pom buttons… The pristine delicate white gloves that fit snugly on It's slender strong hands… The light, almost gravity defying ginger red hair… The stark white makeup punctuated by sharp, crisp, dark, full, red lips… A sharp red line curving up his face on either side, stemming from each corner of his mouth travelling up over his eyes to end in a point above his brow. The tip of his sharp nose even has a splash of the same red across the end.
This image seems most universally effective in instilling fear in the humans, namely the young children whom It so enjoys consuming. As the decades passed, It grew rather fond of this image, choosing to maintain it instead of It's true cosmic form.
This place, he has come to understand the humans call it Derry, has been deeply fruitful for the many hundreds of years It has resided deep within the underground realms of the sewers.
It awakens to a ripple in the fabric of reality. A small disturbance, just enough to tickle It's awareness. It's amorphous glowing orange form coalesces and tightens into It's familiar analog of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, It's boots gently touching down in the shallow puddle of stagnant water on the floor of the sewer with a soft wet sound.
Pennywise opens his eyes and draws a breath of stale air into himself through his nose. His skin tingles pleasantly when a drop of cold water lands on his head and rolls down the back of his neck. Sensations have returned in his wakefulness, and his lips curve in a pleased manner when his belly tightens in a pang of hunger.
Pennywise the Dancing Clown is hungry. Hungry for Fear. Hungry for flesh.
Looking up the many stories tall tower of junk he has amassed, teetering unusually, defiant of this plane's laws of physics, Pennywise can see the first trickles of sunlight filtering through the gloom, backlighting the bodies of past victims as they float gently in the stagnant air.
With an effortless thought, Pennywise is above ground, his boots crunching in the layer of grime and crumbling plaster that coats the floor of The House. His calm blue eyes lazily scan around as he strides away from The Well's opening, and through The House.
Pennywise can smell the spring air as it seeps into the dark dank House and he gets a small smile. It is the season for children, in Derry. He can already hear them playing in the streets and in the park in the distance, their cheerful laughter and playful screams making his stomach tighten hungrily, and his mouth fill with saliva.
He steps out of the front door of The House and takes in his realm. Two blocks away, a husband and wife jog towards The House with their dog. Looking down the other direction, a car drives slowly away, around a group of children on bicycles. Pennywise finds his lips pulling away from his teeth in a hungry grin. The humans were busy in his absence, creating more delectable meals, ripe for the picking.
His insides quicken, the hunger again making itself known. A growl rises from his throat just as the jogging couple pass before The House. The dog instantly stops dead in its tracks and faces The House, making the man and woman stumble as they are jerked to a stop. The dog raises its hackles and lowers its head, nervous. It knows Pennywise is there, but cannot understand what Pennywise is. Pennywise smiles broadly as he takes a few slow steps towards the dog as the humans try to drag it away, eager to return to their run. But the dog refuses to budge, staring right into Pennywise's blue eyes as it begins to growl.
Pennywise can feel the uneasiness begin to seep from the man and woman, their eyes anxiously darting between the dog and The House as they continue to try and coax their pet to move. All the while, Pennywise walks closer, eyes locked with the dog, smile wide on his face. The dog starts to lunge and bark, snarling at him as he draws within feet of the animal. He squats down eye to eye and the dog stills, baring its teeth, pinning its ears back, and snarling. Pennywise feels his own eyes shift as their true, glowing amber color surfaces.
The Deadlights glow within their depths as It gazes down at the dog. The dog barks as Pennywise allows his face to split open into the vast toothy maw reminiscent of his true form, the Deadlights shining from deep within his core. The dog goes still and Pennywise reaches out and takes it by the throat and stands, lifting the now placid animal effortlessly. The man and woman scream as their dog seemingly lifts up and floats in midair. They drop the leash and stumble backwards onto the sidewalk as the dog goes limp with a short cry. The woman screams, clutching at her husband's torso as they both scoot back into the gravelly street.
Pennywise begins to reveal himself, first allowing them to see his gloved hand, his slender powerful digits firmly sunk into their dog's neck. Then, slowly, he reveals more of himself, down his arm, across his shoulder and chest. He allows his face to be revealed as the rest of his body materializes and the woman gasps in horror, the man clutching protectively at her. Slowly, Pennywise raises his other arm straight out towards them, his index finger pointed at them. Tilting his head to the side with a brow raised and a smirk, he lifts the dog over his head and opens his mouth even wider and drops the dog in, clamping down and chewing the hairy beast as the sound of squelching guts and crushing bones fills the spring air. The woman again lets out a horrified scream and the man makes unintelligible sounds as Pennywise swallows the dog whole, then closes his mouth, his face returning to normal. Slowly he tilts his head back down to look at the man and woman with his signature smile, blood covering his face and dripping onto his neck frill.
Then, in the blink of an eye, Pennywise appears crouching right In front of the weeping terrified couple with a single red balloon, the white string delicately pinched between his left thumb and forefinger, all his other fingers fanned gracefully out to the side.
Pennywise lets out a rude belch, and makes an exaggeratedly embarrassed expression, covering his mouth with the ends of the fingers of his right hand as his wide blue eyes peer over at the two traumatized adults. The woman gags at the stench of rotting flesh and death coming off It, her hands slapping over her mouth.
"Oh my, pardon me! That's bad manners of Pennywise! Hehehe!" His voice modulates effortlessly into that playful register as he offers the balloon to the woman, turning it to reveal the 'I Love Derry' message printed neatly in white. His innocent giggle quickly degrades into a terrifying cackle as his face contorts into a terrible grimacing visage, mouth filled with needle-sharp teeth.
Pennywise is filled with hungry excitement; cortisol and adrenaline pour off the couple in waves, and he is growing more excited by it, reveling in the sight and smell of fear. It is not every day Pennywise the Dancing Clown gets this much of a rise out of an adult, let alone a pair of them.
Pennywise stops laughing suddenly, his face snapping to a neutral stare as his bottom lip droops just a bit, saliva beginning to run down and drip off. His haunting yellow eyes dart from the man to the woman a few times before he freezes on the woman, leaning closer to her. The balloon pops loudly and she jumps in fear as blood sprays all over all three of them. Pennywise smiles broadly, his teeth long and sharp. "SO! Who's next?" Pennywise growls followed by a cackle as the woman whimpers, jumping in fear when he shouted.
"Fuck off you freak! I'm not scared of you! Leave my wife alone!" The man shouts, putting himself between Pennywise and the woman, a defiant look on his fearful, blood splattered face. He started try and help her stand.
Pennywise jerks his head sharply to look directly into the man's wide eyes, expression somewhat offended, "Oh, I'm sorry… is this not real enough for you?" Pennywise's voice is harsh, low, goading. His face broadens as his mouth expands, more of his teeth pressing out sharply from his gums as his right hand shoots out and wraps around the woman's neck, ripping a scream from her throat as Pennywise stands, easily lifting her off the ground so her feet dangle an inch above the pavement. "Let's see if we can't rectify that!" Oh how Pennywise loves being so tall, the puny humans are so easy to play with.
The woman clutches at his wrist, desperately clawing at his fingers in an attempt to loosen his cold steel grip. "Mayghulh!" she chokes out what sounds like his name, struggling to breathe as his hands crush her trachea.
"HA HA HA HA! MIIICHAAAEEL! MICHAEL!" Pennywise squeals, mocking the woman as the man scrambles to his feet and lunges at Pennywise, his balled fist swinging at his face. Pennywise dodges the fist, laughing and yelling his name sharply one more time, voice taunting and high pitched as Michael snarls and faces the clown again.
"Put her down!" Michael bellows, balling his fists and tensing, preparing to throw another punch.
Pennywise smirks, his sharp golden eyes pointing off in odd directions as his free hand wraps around one of the woman's legs and effortlessly rips it off. He waggles the bleeding limb with a deviant smirk as the woman lets out a blood curdling scream. Michael doubles over and vomits bile in utter shock. "SO very demanding. It's been some time since I toyed with a mature human. I had nearly forgotten how hard you are to please." Pennywise says with an exaggerated frown, letting the hand holding the woman's leg drop to his side.
The woman makes a weak choking sound and Pennywise slowly turns his head to look at her. His lips push together in a thoughtful, gently puckered manner as he watches the blood pour from her severed hip. He tilts his head thoughtfully, licking his lips. He drops the leg in his other hand, grabs the woman by the waist and lifts her hip to his open, waiting mouth. The blood pours into his waiting maw, dribbling down his chin and across his cheek momentarily before he opens it wide enough to clamp his mouth around the stump with a growl. His eyes roll back and he slides his eyelids shut as hot fresh blood pours into his empty belly, full of cortisol and adrenaline… fear… terror.
He swallows mouthfuls, growling in pleasure. In the background he hears a male screaming incoherently. He breathes deep, ignoring that for now as the sweet taste of fresh blood washes his long deprived senses in a pleasant tingle.
A sharp and sudden blow to the left side of his ribcage startles him out of his daze and he drops the nearly dead woman, stumbling to the side with a grunt of surprise. Righting himself with blinking eyes, Pennywise looks up to see the man… Michael, was it? Yes, to see Michael holding a long steel pipe in his hands. Pennywise cocks his head harshly to the side. His ribs actually hurt a little. "I see. An attention seeker. Goody goody! Let us see what you got, Mikey-boy! Old Pennywise is itching for a good challenge…" Pennywise spreads his feet a little, lowering his head menacingly, a deep chuckle rising in his throat as he bares his teeth.
A soft whimper sounds beside him and his eyes go wide, head snapping down to the woman. "I'll be with you in a moment, sweet one, Michael has to be a hero. Don'tcha, boy!" Pennywise jeers, enraging Michael into charging at him with a yell, pipe poised over his shoulder ready for a mighty strike. Pennywise chuckles as Michael leaps at him, swinging the pipe hard at his shoulder.
Pennywise easily catches the pipe mid-swing and rips it from Michael's hands, spinning it around and bringing it crashing down on the intersection of his neck and left shoulder. Michael cries out in agony and a loud crack is heard before he is slammed to the ground by the force of Pennywise's brutal blow. The clown cackles playfully as he steps closer to Michael and crouches down to look at him, tapping the end of the pipe on his head as the man moans, clutching his shattered shoulder with his other hand. "Ooh, what a slugger! Damn, why, I'd say that's a home run, what do you think, Laney?" Pennywise asks as he looks back over his shoulder at the bleeding woman. "Hmmm… seems Lane…" Pennywise looks back down at Michael with a cruel smile, "may no longer be with us." He fakes a pout before smiling again, cruelly this time.
Michael has tears of pain and anguish streaming from his eyes as he glares up at the growling Pennywise. "I'm still not scared of you, you evil monster…" he grates, his face twisted with pain.
Pennywise expression softens and he leans close to Michael's face. "Well then, let us remedy that… shall we? Michael?" Pennywise laughs with a garish smile as his body twists and reforms into something terrible. Huge hairy insectoid legs; eight, to be precise, erupt from his back as his body arches and expands aggressively, the clown garb tearing and ripping as an enormous eight eyed spider emerges from the skin of Pennywise. The hulking arachnid looks like a giant tropical tarantula with deep jet black hair all over, and bright blood red blazes paint the first joint of each leg. The head erupts from the carapace with chelicera the size of his legs and fangs like elephant tusks. The eight orb-like eyes gleam a glowing orange as the Deadlights illuminate the beastly tarantula from within. The dark, thick, hairy body looms over Michael and Pennywise opens his massive chelicerae to expose the tarantulas salivating mouth, massive fangs dripping venom and pedipalps reaching towards him. Michael screams as genuine terror grips him; he is staring down a giant Mexican flame knee tarantula. Adrenaline floods his body and he drags himself to his feet, ignoring the agony from his shattered left shoulder as he starts running towards The House, leaping clear over the four steps and directly onto the porch. The tarantula runs quickly up behind him, it's heavy body making the house tremble, as Michael rips the door open and slams it behind him.
The House shudders and plaster rains around him as the tarantula collides with the front of the house, one of its legs smashing through a boarded up window and flailing about.
Michael cries out, backing away from the door as his eyes dart all over, looking for a way to go. He starts down the hall opposite of the front door and sprints towards the door he sees at the end as he hears the spider wrench it's massive black leg from the window and let out a strange hissing chittering sound, a sound he knows is made by It's chelicerae rubbing aggressively together, a sign of severe agitation. A sound he knows all too well from his time spent caring for the aggressive tarantulas at the lab he works at. He never liked spiders, but tarantulas were extra horrifying for him because of their sheer size and aggression. The awful hissing sound their chelicerae make unsettles him deeply and reminds him of the time a mexican flame knee tarantula gnawed it's massive fangs into his hand for two agonizing minutes before another entomologist managed to pull her fangs out. His left index finger has never been the same.
As Michael bursts through the door at the end of the hall, he turns and slams it shut, pressing his back to it and panting as his eyes dart all over the dingy poorly lit room. There is a door with a window beside it. He can see a stand of trees on the far side of the overgrown back yard. Maybe he can make a break for it and escape through those trees.
With one last look around, Michael walks quickly and as quietly as possible to the window, peering anxiously out in search of his assailant. He doesn't see anything, which unsettles him deeply, but he swallows hard and reaches for the doorknob. Slowly he turns it and cracks the door open, praying that it will not make a sound. It opens an inch before it lets out a low groan and he freezes, heart thundering in his chest as he peers timidly out through the crack. Nothing there. He hears sounds inside The House, seemingly from above him. Dust showers from the ceiling as heavy footsteps sound across the old floorboards. Michael is shaking, and his shoulder is on fire. He has to get out of here.
He hears a door open upstairs and adrenaline dumps into his veins. He throws the door open and sprints for the trees at the back of the yard, aiming for a gap between two of them. He sprints across the yard, left shoulder screaming in agony. But he pushes through the sickening pain, determined to get out.
As he approaches the gap in the trees, his stomach drops. There is a six foot chain link fence behind the trees that he slams into and grabs with his right hand, giving it a furious shake as he snarls, turning to face The House, back pressed to the cold fence. He gasps when he sees the clown standing just outside the door he just left, a handful of red balloons floating in front of his face.
Michael wipes sweat from his face, and when he opens his eyes, the clown is inches from his face, a snarl on his lips. Michael screams, but the sound is halted as Pennywise wraps his hands around his throat and splits his mouth wide open. Slowly he draws Michael's face into his mouth, the Deadlights rendering the man instantly still and pliant as Pennywise wraps his mouth around his head and bites down. Like an alien snake, he swallows Michael whole, filling his belly with some of the tastiest flesh he has had in years.
True fear is hard to cultivate. Especially in adults. Pennywise growls happily as the weight of his first meal sinks into his belly and he straightens, closing his mouth and turning to walk back to the front yard where Lane waits for him.
Pennywise crouches over her cooling body and consumes bite after bite of prime, fear seasoned meat. His eyes glaze over as he enjoys his meal, devouring every scrap, including her severed leg. Once he is finished, Pennywise straightens and his body shivers with momentary satisfaction.
He smiles, pleased with himself. "Let the feasting begin." Pennywise says softly to himself as he strides down the walkway onto the street, away from The House and towards the rest of the town.
End of Chapter One.