New Home
Flagstaff was a very different town from Derry, Pennywise had learned quickly. Without having been under his influence for a long time, the people here were much more protective of their children, and much more aware of strange things happening. Of course, he still had his defenses, being visible only to those few people he wanted to see him. The Sewers here were also much better kept, making it far more difficult for him to feast in peace. His first meal here was nearly interrupted as one of the cleaning crew had heard his meals screams. Luckily it would seem that humans still never look up when trying to find something.
He despised having to leave his favored hunting ground, but he knew, just knew, that those brats would be there when he woke from his sleep, and if he had remained, he would have starved. So, having to leave Derry was a long and arduous process for It. He traveled as far as he could through the sewers, until finally he had to emerge out into the open air and sunlight, either remaining invisible or taking on the guise of a lost traveler or animal in hopes of some good hearted fool would pick him up. And they did. They always did. Either out of pity, or attraction for a cute guise. He was certain that he had feasted on at least three different "Serial Killers" on his journey to find a new dwelling.
Eventually he made his way to Arizona. The heat, at first, was torturous. The large cities in the hottest part of the state made him want to vomit, the stink and heat of human waste was nearly unbearable, but luckily he managed to find his way up into the mountains of northern Arizona, to the little college town of Flagstaff, where the population was young and stupid. While he could not hunt his prefered prey as of right now, young children being far too closely watched over, he found new fun in preying on teenagers and young adults, those who were far to headstrong and confident in themselves. The ones who delighted in disobeying their parents and authority figures, made the easiest prey. Scaring them, however, was a bit more of a challenge. He had to observe longer, get closer, read them.
Back in 1989, when he had first arrived, he didn't have time to feast on flesh and fear before going into his hibernation. He was far too tired to hunt at that point. He knew that when he awoke he would be hungrier than he had ever been in his long, long existence. So, he was careful with finding his new home. While the sewers were still his best bet for quiet and seclusion, the problem still remained that he was unfamiliar with this terrain, and he had no guarantee for if he would be left alone, unable to influence these humans as he had those in Maine. So, he was careful and quiet, scouting out the dark tunnels methodically until he was able to find the lower levels, the old tunnels that had been long since abandoned. Most of the entrances to those tunnels had been cemented over, but he was able to find one, one very close to a high school, that should allow him to have fairly easy pickings of the teenagers. And so he built up his little home in one of the lowest chambers, taking small items he was able to find on the service to build his lair, barely more than a cave with some semblance of a bed, or nest. And then he lay down to sleep.
Twenty Seven years later he did, indeed, awake with a fierce hunger. So intense his first reaction on waking was a deep growl of hatred towards his escaped prey. After a fit of rage, he slowly, carefully made his way up to the water drains along the roads to look at the changed city. Amazing, really, how much things change in twenty seven years. The streets looked freshly paved, new flashing lights for signs in front of a school, instead of the old letter boards. Bicycles that made buzzing noises and ran off of motors, like a child's motorcycle. Small, thin contraptions humans were using to communicate with each other. He had to admit one thing, humans were very quick to advance. But that also made them cocky and stupid, much more susceptible to their fears, after all...they create such grand things, how could there possibly be anything they don't understand?
Less than a day after waking, Pennywise took his first meal of the year, a homeless woman who had been sleeping in an alleyway. Still unsure of his new surroundings, he figured it would be safest to take someone that no one would miss. It was not hard to frighten the older woman, simply take on the form of the man who had broken her spirit. It wasn't the best of meals, but in that moment he hadn't cared, he was starving, and in need of food. And so she was the first in Flagstaff to float.
It had been a few months since that woman, and Pennywise had been quick to learn the best times, places, and what prey to go for. His presence had certainly been noticed, what with a curfew being placed, and armed patrols making their way around neighborhoods, but those he could deal with on his own. Hell, most of the time the food took care of it for him. Teenagers sneaking out in the middle of the night for a lovers tryst, drunkards passing out in the street, and the occasional child whose parents simply didn't seem to care. So far he was feeding well, much better than he had back in Derry, but he was aware that he needed to be cautious. If he happened to come upon another group like he had before, he would be run off again, and he did not want that. Now that he could slow down a bit, he took more time to study his prey before appearing to them, sometimes opting for a different meal. And now that school was out, he would have even more time to flavor the meat, as kids would not be trapped in their little prisons with adults for at least a few months. They would be outside, walking around, being even more stupid than they already were, drunk off of summer heat. That was one of the reasons why he had attended the graduation, to start scouting his prey early, so he knew who to focus on.
But that one girl had thrown a wrench into his plans, slightly. He wasn't even sure as to why he had let her see him when he did, he was supposed to just be window shopping, but no. He showed himself to her and she saw, she definitely saw. The thing that got to him the most was the way she smelled when she saw him. No fear, none, just confusion and...a strange curiosity about her. Something was off about that girl, but he just couldn't place it. Perhaps she simply was one of the rare few who were no longer afraid of clowns? Or maybe she was simply used to experiencing weird things, being a new age with new technology and horror movies and television.
However the curiosity about her had distracted him from his original plan. He wanted to learn more, to see what she does fear, and feast on it. And so he followed her. She got into a car with the red-haired boy and he took her to an apartment building not too far from where he had taken the snake girl. When she got out of the car and said good night to the young man she stood outside the door for a short while, taking off her cap and robe. He watched her as she did so. She looked older than the other kids at the graduation, especially her eyes, seemed to have a deep wisdom to them. He had heard other humans mention people with "Old Souls", perhaps this is what they had meant.
Pennywise let his yellow eyes crest over her figure for a moment, and could feel saliva starting to build under his tongue. Children were tasty because of how easy they were to scare, but this woman looked like she would be a great meal. She wasn't skinny or bony, her body had those natural curves of a real woman, her legs looked firm and muscled under her jeans, she was certainly athletic looking. Pennywise would almost had called her attractive, but his thoughts, at that moment, was that he wanted to completely devour her.
He was about to, as well. He was all ready to make himself appear in front of her again when she turned and made her way into the building. Even from his distance he was able to hear the door lock behind her, and hear the voice inside.
"Where have you been, coming home so late?" It was the voice of a man. Pennywise frowned at the voice, he didn't like it. It seemed like a human who didn't even want to put effort into speaking.
"It was Graduation today, Dad."
Her voice. He had heard it before when she tried to tell her friend about seeing Pennywise. A voice that was surprisingly deep for a young woman, but still plenty feminine. He had a strength to it what made a shiver go up his spine. She will be a hard one to frighten. He knew that. He could tell just from that voice. He listened in on the rest of their conversation before the growling in his stomach caused him to turn away. Tonight was not the right night to take her, he would need to plan more before then. For now, he needed a far easier prey and so he quickly made his way to wear all those kids were gathering for their party.
It was practically like an all you can eat buffet for Pennywise. All of those young, stupid teenagers all gathered in one place, being loud and rowdy, getting drunk off of the atmosphere and the snuck in booze. In the first two hours alone he had the perfect opportunity to pick off at least a dozen of them who had snuck out to the back of the restaurant to either vomit, smoke, or fuck. But he waited. He felt almost depressed. After seeing his perfect meal in front of him, none of these scrawny, giggly KIDS held any interest in him. He simply sat there, taking the form of a small, grey cat, watching as one by one his prey returned to the safety of their hurd. It was nearly four, long tedious, hours later when, Finally, one of the more tasty kids came out back to light up a cigarette.
It was a young man, maybe about five foot ten, with bleached blonde hair cut short on the sides. He still wasn't anywhere near as appetizing as the girl with old soul, but he had meat on him, and was very, very easy to read.
Patrick, was his name. Pennywise didn't even have to read him to figure that out, one of his friends had called him before. And his fear...his fear was an old one, old and classic, nothing that would give Pennywise trouble in creating. Using the stealth of the cat he was currently pretending to be, he slinked back into the darkest shadows and took on its shape.
Patrick was looking at something on his phone when the wind around him started to pick up, causing leaves and debris to swirl around him, as if a helicopter was getting ready to take off right above him, Pennywise was actually able to see the goosebumps rise on the boys flesh. Blue eyes darted around the alleyway as lights flickered madly and a dull humming noise filled his was right beside him, if he wanted to he could grab him right then and there. But he didn't the sheer terror he was slowly building hadn't reached it's climax yet. Patrick turned to go back inside, snuffing out the butt of his cigarette as he did so. Pennywise locked the door with an invisible hand.
"What the fuck? Hey guys, open the door!" Patricks voice was already shaking. He knew what all the signs pointed to. Despite being told it was stupid so many times, he knew they were real, he knew it! Pennywise smiled at the voice, the fear and made himself visible behind the boy, letting out a very audible, very hungry growl as he did so. Patrick froze where he stood and turned slowly to look behind him. He had to crane his head upwards as he saw the tall, green creature, large black eyes reflecting the frightened image of his own face. Three long fingers reached out and covered his mouth before he had the chance to scream, as the thin line that was a mouth opened into rows and rows of sharp, glistening teeth.
Just as the final realisation hit Patrick, the fear had peaked in his heart, Pennywise felt the vomit come up against his hand, the boy was no longer able to contain it. He smiled and lunged forward, sinking his hundreds of teeth into the boy's shoulder and tore away, taking with him at least two pounds of flesh. The boy screamed against his hand, tears instantly coming into the wide, dilated eyes.
Swallowing the raw meat in one gulp, Pennywise dragged the bleeding boy away from the door and down into the nearby sewer drain, leaving only a trail of blood that was quickly washed away by the rain.
Once in the quiet safety of the tunnels, Pennywise dragged his latest snack back down the pipes, tearing off new chunks of flesh along the way, all the while hearing the terrified, painful moans of a boy who was bleeding to death. For a second he forgot about Maria, and simply enjoyed his meal, well flavored with fear and despair, filling his grumbling stomach. He had almost completely devoured his prey by the time he got back to his home. He dropped the boy on the ground and looked him, not having returned to his prefered form of the silver clown. Patrick was still alive, barely, and staring up at that white face, unable to speak or move due to the loss of blood and the shock. Pennywise knelt down next to him, a fun, child-like smile on his round face.
"It's alright Patrick." He said with his friendly voice, before looking above him. Just past the clowns bright red hair, Patrick wa able to see the dozens of bodies floating in the tall tunnel, simply swirling around a small pile of belonging that Pennywise had started to collect, as he does. The clown looked back down at the boy, eyes bright shining gold. "Don't you worry. You'll float down here too."
And, as he does, he pulled back his lips, letting his real maw emerge from under the skin of his current form. Patrick had a vague vision of lights before the eternal darkness consumed his entire being.
Pennywise watched at Patrick floated up to join the others. Feeling well fed and in a good mood, he decided to go and scout out his prey again. He remembered exactly where that apartment was, and he knew just the pipes to take to get their quickly.
The journey was much faster under ground, and he emerged through a small drain on the floor of the walk-in shower. Invisible to the human eye, he walked out of the bathroom and looked around the small apartment for a moment, out of curiosity of her living space. The living room was small, and only had one chair in it, set in front of an old television. There were beer cans strewn about the place, along with several wrappers, bags, and leftover TV-Dinner trays. For a moment Pennywise thought he may have actually gone back in time, everything seemed so old and dull in comparison to the new age outside these walls.
He went through the kitchen, looking in the fridge and cabinets, they were all nearly empty, he didn't understand. Were they poor? Or did they just not care? Shaking his head he made his way back down the hallway and into one of the bedrooms. Inside was a kingsized bed that was old and smelled like piss and booze, laying on top of it was an older man, maybe in his late forties to early fifties. He had the same dusty hair as the girl, and he had to guess that this was the father who had forgotten about his daughter's graduation.
The man's snoring was loud and aggravating, causing Pennywise to growl slightly in disgust for this creature. Even if he had never thought much of humans to begin with, he had still thought most better than this waste of space. For a moment he thought about how a man like this would make very very easy prey, but then realised it would probably leave a bad aftertaste in his mouth. Pennywise shut the door again and then went into the next room over. It was her bedroom.
For the first time since arriving he found a clean place in the house. Her room was small and simple, she had very few belongings. In one corner was a ficking tackle and a small case that he assumed must hold hooks and bait. The closet was slightly ajar, and he could see inside was mostly denim and t-shirts. A few sweaters, and tank-tops dotted amongst them, along with one dress that still had a tag on it.
Turning back towards the small, twin bed, which on closer inspection was nothing more than a camping cot, he saw her. She was curled up on her side, wearing a pair of boxer shorts and a tank-top to sleep. She had kicked her blankets off the foot of the cot, her single pillow laid neatly under her head, brown hair still braided. Pennywise tilted his head as he tried to read her dreams. It seemed incoherent, one of those nonsense creations of the human mind. She took a few steps away from her, leaning against the corner of the wall that connected her door to her closet, and simply stood there, watching her sleep and breathe, bathing in the scent that was of soap and coconut.
What is this woman?