Warning: This chapter does have some sexual violence content, so if that sort of thing triggers you please don't read this section.
August was suddenly pinned onto her bed by the man. He had the smell of liquor on his breath as he whispered in her ear once again. "We met this morning, don't you remember me? I definitely remembered you." In the darkness she couldn't see him, but she could feel the scruff of his beard against her cheek.
August felt her resolve slip a little as a tear slid down her cheek. She never liked to show emotion, but this situation seemed life threatening enough to reveal some weakness.
He was kissing her neck as he held her down. "I'm gonna enjoy this." His voice was muffled as he continued to trail kisses down her torso. "I know you'll be more enjoyable than that hag mother of yours."
He raised up to reposition so that he could hold her hands down with only one arm, while using his other hand to pull her shirt above her head revealing her white lace bra.
"Please don't," she begged. The tears were flowing freely now and she was losing hope in any kind of salvation. She didn't want to use her powers just in case the man escaped and tried to tell anyone.
Then the distant sound of Ms. Greenleaf kissing a man entered the quiet house. August and the man on top of her stilled at the sound. He quickly placed a hand over her mouth to keep her from calling out for help.
The sounds of her mother's sexual endeaver trailed through the house until they neared August's bedroom door. That's when August had the thought that it would be very unlikely that anyone would believe then man on top of her if he did try to tell anyone about her powers. The fact that he was drunk would cause anyone to be skeptical of him. With this realization August concentrated enough to lift her lamp off of her desk that was near them and bang the man over the head. "Ouch! What the hell?" The hit was hard enough to cause the man to release August and try to defend himself from the invisible attacker.
"What the hell was that," screamed her drunken mother from the hallway. Her bedroom door was thrown open and the room was washed in the dim yellow light of the hallway. "What the hell are you doing in here?" Ms. Greenleaf looked sternly at the man too drunk to recognize him from that morning. The man was still on her, so August grabbed his head and headbutted him with her own. This caused the man to fall off of her stunned from the impact.
August took this opportunity to jump from her bed and quickly grab her shoes from beside her door. As she ran out her front door, she could hear the distant voice of her mother calling for her to come back. However, she didn't care about that. The only thing she cared about was the feeling of the man's body still on her and how badly she wanted that feeling to go away.
She ran through the summer night, not really knowing where she was going. It wasn't until she got to the center of town that she decided to go to the Neibolt house.
Running up the rotten steps and banging open the door and closing it behind her loudly, she finally let herself cry freely. Sliding down the wall and landing in a fetal position, the sobs echoed through the empty house. She hadn't cared whether Pennywise would be there or not, she just wanted to go somewhere private that she knew she would be safe.
"What is this? What do you think you're doing?" August recognized the voice as Pennywise and looked up at him through her tears. He was starring down at her with a mixture of confusion and frustration. He hadn't noticed that she was crying yet. "What are you doing here barging in during the middle of the night," he demanded, placing both fists against his hips making him look comically angry.
August wasn't able to answer, she just stared at him as her lone tears slid down her cheeks. She tried to speak but couldn't muster the strength to find her voice. The events were still happening in her mind. The man was still laying on her and touching her. She was scared to think if he had gotten farther in his attempt.
"Hello, I'm speaking to you." Pennywise chose to jab her shoulder to grab her attention, but he didn't get the reaction that he had anticipated. "DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME," the girl screamed, slapping his gloved hand away. She scooted slightly away once again returning to her previous posture, starring into space.
Pennywise, instead of growing angry at this attack, became somewhat worried. The girl in front of him seemed closed off and defensive, but this felt extreme for even her. He then noticed the tear tracks under her eyes and her defensive posture. This behavior seemed very different then how he had encountered her thus far in their interactions.
He decided to sit down next to the girl on the floor, without touching her, because that proved to be a huge mistake. 'What the hell is wrong with her? Something big must have happened,' he thought.
Almost as if she had been reading his mind, which was totally possible, August responded, "I just had a bad night." Although she said this in an attempt to regain her composure, she continued to stare forward, stuck with the feeling of the man still on her, while barely understanding her surroundings. She then had a sudden thought. Turning to Pennywise she asked, "Could I sleep here?"
His eyes grew wide at her request, but he couldn't turn her down because of the sadness that laced her voice. "Yeah, uh, sure." He pointed at the other end of the room, "There's a couch over there, if you wanna sleep there. But only tonight."
"Thanks," she monotoned, void of emotion. She managed to pick herself up and went to lay on the filthy old couch. She thought it was somewhat comfy despite the cloud of dust that erupted into the air when she plumped down on it. Pennywise had followed her over to the couch and was currently crouched in front of her looking at her with worried eyes.
Pennywise felt unsure of what to do. He knew that something bad had happened and the girl in front of him was experiencing a terrible amount of pain. Searching her face, he suddenly noticed a growing bruise on her head. Looking at her face again he was unsure if he should ask. However, he thought it couldn't hurt. "What happened to your head?" He tried to keep his voice soft, knowing that humans found that comforting. At first, she simply blinked at him, but she eventually responded with, "I hit it on something."
Pennywise couldn't help but roll his eyes at her obvious answer, "No shit?" Although somewhat agitated at her confusing state, he saw a small smile appear on her lips at his sarcasm. She then closed her eyes, beginning her attempt to get to sleep. Pennywise decided to stay and wait for her to fall asleep, making sure that she wouldn't be alone.
The next morning August woke up, finding herself on the dustiest couch she had ever seen. A loud snoring permeated the room. She bent down, looking at the floor beside the couching, finding a resting clown with a chainsaw snore.
August placed her hand over her mouth, hiding a smirk. She laid back down, smile fading as she remembered the events of the night before. Mentally placing another layer on top of her already strong wall that she kept for protection against invaders, she began grinding her teeth while trying to keep the tears at bay.
Beginning at a low tumble, the ground started to vibrate. August was in a world of her own and couldn't hear the vibrations. Pennywise, however, awoke to the ground shaking beneath him. It was vibrating like a purring cat; only noticeable if one was quiet and still. He looked up at the couch expecting to see a sleeping girl, but instead found August starring up at the ceiling intently, gently grinding her teeth.
Then he noticed that the walls and ceiling were also gently vibrating. The old furniture and hanging cobwebs were disturbed by this new event. Then he realized that August was causing this to happen, and apparently without meaning to.
"Hey!" Pennywise reached over to the girl, gently grabbing her arm and hoping to bring her back from wherever she was at. As soon as he did this August's eyes darted over to him, and the shaking stopped.
Pennywise looked around the room, noticing the sudden stillness. "Are you okay?" He didn't know if he actually cared or not but was still curious as to how the girl could be so powerful and not even notice it.
"Yeah, of course," she answered quickly, eyes still a little glazed over.
August saw the look of confusion on Pennywise's face and suddenly noticed that she had zoned out. She sat up suddenly, wanting to move around to keep her thoughts off what happened last night. Getting up quickly and startling Pennywise as she did so, she zipped up her jacket and prepared herself for a walk home.
"I have to go." She began walking out of the house and then stopped herself at the door suddenly remembering something.
Turning back to look at Pennywise who somehow looked more confused then before she smiled at him, "Thank you for letting me stay the night."
Pennywise didn't know what to say, because he really wasn't supposed to be nice to people and no one should be thanking him for anything. "Yeah, but remember that it can't be a regular thing," he responded, trying to keep his voice gruff and void of sympathy. In reality, he was still somewhat worried about the girl and knew something really bad had happened last night.
August nodded at him and walked through the door, meeting the bright sunshine that seemed to intentionally contradict her mood. She needed to go home and shower. The need to wash the man's touch off her was nagging her to the point that she would even take the chance of running into her mother to do it.
Arriving home, she quietly opened the door, searching for a sign of anyone being awake. All the rooms were dark, and the house seemed quiet. She quietly walked down the hallway towards her mother's door. It was cracked slightly open and she gently peered inside. Her mother was sleeping, mouth fully open as she snored. The man that must have accompanied her last night was also asleep, facing away from the room towards the wall.
Thinking that it was safe enough to try and shower, she walked through the bathroom door and gently closed it behind her.
What August wasn't aware of was that Pennywise had decided to follow her home. He was worried that she would be aware of his presence, but it seemed that she was too preoccupied with other thoughts to notice his presence. He had noticed the careful way she had entered the house and confirmed her mother's unconscious state. As the sound of the shower started Pennywise wondered why she was afraid of being in her home.
Pennywise wanted to know what had happened the night before, and so he quietly entered her bedroom searching for clues. He immediately noticed spots of blood on the floor beside her bed. After closer inspection, he concluded that it belonged to a middle-aged man's blood. He then went into the mother's room, and sniffed the man that was next to her. Pennywise could tell right away that the blood couldn't belong to him. Someone else was in the girl's room last night.
Pennywise found himself sitting on the girl's bed, thinking about what he found. It seemed that a man had tried to attack the poor girl. In what manner he didn't want to know. He was also unsure what to do with this information.
Then he heard the sound of the shower turning off and the shower curtain opening. He quickly went and hid under her bed. It seemed pretty clear that she wasn't the type of human that wanted others knowing her business and she probably wouldn't appreciate him following her home.
August entered her bedroom, still trying to remain quiet. After closing her door, she suddenly noticed the blood on the floor from the night before. Having the sudden urge to cry, she kneeled down next to her bed and began grinding her teeth again. Then the vibrating started again too. August was once again unaware of it, and so when her mother in the next room woke up, she didn't know to hide.
Ms. Greenleaf woke up noticing the slight way the room was vibrating. Rather than being curious she shoved the covers off herself, frustrated at being woken up. She put on her robe and lit a cigarette suddenly noticing the splitting headache she had from her drunken state last night.
Pennywise heard the mother wake up and quickly pulled himself out from under the bed. August, startled at his sudden appearance and almost squealed in surprise. "Shhh," he hushed quickly placing a hand over her mouth, "Your being too loud." Pennywise made eye contact with her, warning her silently to trust him and stay silent. They both stayed still and listened to the sound of her mother walk down the hallway and enter the bathroom. August pulled herself away from Pennywise and hurried to her closet, trying to get dressed as fast and quietly as she could. That's also when Pennywise noticed that she had only been wearing a towel when he had grabbed her. For some reason he felt embarrassed at this realization and avoided looking in the direction of where the girl was getting dressed.
Ms. Greenleaf exited the bathroom and was about to walked back to her room when she heard a small thump coming from her daughter's room. Since the two rooms weren't far apart it only took one step for her to walk to her daughter's door and open it. August and her mother starred back at each other.
"What the fuck are you doing here," she asked angrily. "You know I don't want you here while I'm trying to sleep. You're the one that fucking woke me up, aren't you?" Her mother crossed the room to her daughter and grabbed her by the arm to force her to look her in the eye.
August kept still and quiet, not showing any emotion to her mother. "I just forgot some stuff before I left last night," she responded keeping her voice level.
"Oh yeah," mumbling off-handedly and she took another drag from her cigarette. "Tony beat the shit out that guy last night, so I wouldn't try to steal anymore of my clients again." Tony must have been the guy that her mother brought home last night.
"Steal your clients? Is that what you think happened?" August was losing the battle as anger began to creep into her tone.
"I know a slut when I see one, so don't think you can fool me." Her mother took one last puff off her cigarette and put it out on her daughter's shoulder. The only sound August made in return was a small intake of breath but remained emotionless otherwise. "Now get the fuck out of here, I gotta get back to sleep. I have to work again tonight."
August stood still listening to her mother return to her bedroom. She didn't look at Pennywise as he appeared beside her. He could feel the anger wafting off her. August quickly grabbed her bookbag and rushed out of the house, grinding her teeth as she walked.
Pennywise felt unsure of what to do. He had a strong urge to protect the girl but didn't know why. He decided to continue following her, until he knew what to do next.
August felt Pennywise following her this time. She was aware of his presence as she walked down main street. As she made her way towards the barrens, she felt herself grow angrier. She was angry at her situation, at her mother, and at herself.
As soon as she knew she was in a private area she screamed into the greenery, "Show yourself, and stop following me!" Pennywise appeared behind her and August turned to face him. "Why would you follow me home like that?" She crossed her arms emphasizing how distrustful she was of him at the moment.
"I wanted to know what happened," Pennywise was quiet as he spoke. "If I wanted you to know what happened, I would have told you," she replied in hot anger.
"I don't wait for permission," he seethed, suddenly defensive at being called out.
"You do if you ever want to know everything about me."
"Maybe I don't want to. Maybe I just want to know enough to satisfy my curiosity before I eat you," he growled baring his teeth to her.
August suddenly turned vulnerable in front of Pennywise. Her features turned soft as she quietly spoke, "Then just do it now." She knew that last night was just one night out of many that had scarred her. There didn't seem to be many reasons to stay behind, but there were too many to leave.
Pennywise grabbed the girl not noticing her change in tone, too angry to sense her broken spirit. He pushed her down on the dirt ground with his fangs open, allowing drool to slide out of his mouth and onto her neck.
August closed her eyes, making peace with her demise. That is until nothing happened. She opened her eyes to see a quiet Pennywise starring down at her, searching her as if searching for answers to a puzzle again.
"Fight me."
Her eyes widened at his command. "What?"
Pennywise bent down towards her face, his eyes turning yellow as he repeated in a growling voice, "Fight me."