What Lies Beneath - Pennywise X Reader

Rating: Explicit

Chapter Index: 1 / 2

Chapter 2

The enticing smell is what you remembered more than anything else. For some unknown reason, you were unable to move your limbs as you desperately craved to get closer to the source of the aroma; to bury your face in it and inhale deeply. Moment’s later, as if by magic, the scent was overpowering and you were able to allow your head to loll forward, resting it the soft, comforting source of the smell. You relished in the feeling of smooth silk on your cheek as you nuzzled your face into the cool material, faintly noticing the sensation of something moving beneath it, but not caring enough to dwell on it. You recognized the sound of heavy breathing, though you’re unable to determine if it’s coming from you or someone else. Your focus goes in and out as you suddenly feel a wet sensation trail up your neck. You groaned, not knowing if it was from discomfort or arousal. A haunting laughter causes a chilling sensation to course through your body. You started to tremble involuntarily, absentmindedly stretching out your hand in the darkness, reaching for something unknown to you. A soft, material-covered hand gently wrapped itself around your fingers. You were still too weak to pry your eyes open, so you concentrated on enjoying the sensuality of the touches as it moved from your hand to your body, exploring experimentally. The wetness returned to your neck as it slid down to your collarbone. You inhaled quickly as you felt a twinge of pain before it was soothed by the wet pressure once more. You really should have been concerned about what was happening to you, but you couldn't bring yourself to regain clarity quite yet. Truth be told, you were enjoying this, and you wanted it to last just a bit longer. You tilted your head to the side, allowing the damp muscle to glide easily across your throat as you released another guttural groan. The same low, dark laughter was heard again, echoing distantly. Your skin crawled when you felt pressure close to your ear as the same voice sang softly, “Down we go, down we go! Let’s sink together as Deadlights glow…” the voice trailed off as he started to hum the same repetitive tune instead. So entranced by the beautifully eerie melody, you hardly registered the mysterious hands making their way to your waistline, resting on the opening of your pants. You wanted more than anything to open your eyes and take in the sight of whoever was making you feel so good, but weakness consumed you. The hands hovered over your pants for a moment before the humming stopped and a low growl took its place. Disappointment ebbed through your mind as the hands removed themselves from your zipper, leaving you wanting more. Not even a second later, you were suddenly being lifted up roughly, no longer being explored by tender touches, but instead being thrown over the shoulder of someone who gave little thought to your comfort as you swayed back and forth with each long stride. After a few moments of being carried, you couldn’t help but drift off once more as your head swam with dizziness, allowing your subconscious to fall into a deep slumber.

You jolted awake, gasping for air as you looked around frightfully. Your heart slowed as you realized that you were in your own bed, the sun shining through your curtains brightly, indicating mid-morning. You fell back harshly onto the pillow, irritated that you awoke with such a startle. The alarm clock next to your bed indicated that it was already past 10 AM, which forced you to get out of bed due to the town meeting, which started in an hour. The town planned to formally address the disappearances in addition to coming up with new, innovative ways to locate those who had gone missing. You didn’t want to attend, seeing as how you had been to similar meetings before, which always ended the same way, but you had promised your Aunt that you would go for support. After all, that’s why you were there in the first place. As you made your way to the bathroom, undressing haphazardly, you stopped to look at yourself in the mirror. You paused at the sight of a dark purple and blue mark over your collarbone. You traced the pads of your fingertips gently over it to feel slight scabbing. It was then that you realized that it was a bite mark. But… how? What could have bitten you? This wasn’t a bite mark like anything you had ever seen. That was when flashes from the previous night came flooding through your mind like a crashing wave. You remembered everything. The Fun House, the bar, the assault, and most of all, the clown who had taunted you before coming to your rescue by brutally murdering your assailants. Frozen in place, you wracked your brain trying to determine what the hell you were supposed to do from here. Should you go to the police? Were you supposed to turn him in? He saved your life! Was committing him to a lifetime of prison the best way to repay him? Still, what he did wasn’t just murder… it was a slaughter; a massacre unlike anything you had ever seen. Even the memory of it made you queasy.

You ran to the toilet, leaning over it in preparation for what might occur if you thought about the gory details too much. Maybe you were crazy. Could it be possible that it was all a dream? Even among all the insanity that happened, you don’t remember being bitten. Could it have been the man with the knife? It couldn’t have been Pennywise. The thought of him being close enough to you to bite you was odd. Then again… how did you even make it home? The last thing you could recall was fainting at the sight of the decapitated bodies in the alley. There was no way that the clown could have brought you home. He didn’t know where you lived… did he? Why would he spare you? You were so defensive and cruel when he mentioned Sara. He clearly didn’t have any remorse for killing random strangers, so why were you even alive right now? Your heart started to race once more as you tried to comprehend everything that had happened in the past 24 hours. After a moment of trying to regain your composure, you realized that you didn't have time for a mental breakdown right now. You had to be there for your Aunt at the meeting, and whatever insanity that had consumed you last night would have to wait. You showered and dressed quickly, trying to guide your inner turmoil into a decision regarding last night’s events, all the while trying to concentrate on the reason that you were there in the first place. Your cousin should have been at the forefront of your mind, and the fact that you allowed yourself to get into this bizarre situation was not okay. Eventually, you agreed to attend the town meeting first to support your Aunt as well as keep up appearances before filing any sort of police report, should you eventually decide on that. Ugh, what would you even tell them? The thought of a mysterious, disappearing clown brutally decapitating three men in an alley before returning you safely to your bed made no sense whatsoever. How could you even prove any of that? You decided that it would be best to stop by the alley on your way to the meeting to see what the damage was. Someone must have seen it and reported it by now. Maybe they had already caught Pennywise and arrested him. Whatever happened to him, you had to be sure before jumping the gun. You hurried out of the house, anxious to see what kind of commotion the murders must have caused. Maybe the town meeting would even be canceled due to the slaughter. You would hate for Sara’s disappearance to be overshadowed by this, but considering how many people went missing from Derry in the past few months, most cases were swept under the rug anyway - not because no one cared, but because the law enforcement couldn’t seem to keep up with every missing person. Rounding the corner next to the convenient store, you were prepared to see the gory mess that you remembered from the night before. Bracing yourself before you reached the alley, you were surprised to find not even a single person there. No police cars, no firemen, no yellow tape, no onlookers. What were the odds that no one had seen this yet? No, it was impossible. The alley was covered in blood. You could remember the overwhelming smell of it, there was no way someone wouldn’t see that. When you arrived at the alley, you halted at the sight. There wasn’t a single trace of the struggle from last night. There were no bodies, no blood, nothing. But… how? It couldn’t be possible. You were losing your mind. That had to be it. There couldn’t be any other explanation. You knew what you saw. Could Pennywise have doubled back and cleaned the alley himself? No way, there was too much blood, and it was already really late to begin with, he wouldn’t have had enough time. You couldn't seem to come up with a valid explanation before you reached Town Hall where the meeting was being held, so you tried to disregard your apparent insanity until this was over. Once you entered the large room, you discovered that you were one of the last to arrive, so you made sure to humbly take a seat in the back of the hall. Your head pounded painfully as you tried to concentrate on what was being said amongst the concerned townsfolk. No one was offering any new strategies for finding their lost loved ones, and you couldn’t help but sigh with annoyance as you realized that this was all just a waste of time. You eyed your Aunt carefully who was sitting towards the front of the hall, her eyes red with tears and her face forlorn. You hated seeing her like that and it only made you even more determined to find your cousin and put her pain to an end. Scanning the room and all of the attendees, you halted at the sight of a man sitting across the way who was staring directly at you. Instinctively, you looked away quickly, your face flushing red in embarrassment. When you slowly raised your head once more to catch another glimpse of him. It unnerved you to see that he was still staring intently at you, a smirk playing on his full lips. Something about the way his bright, blue eyes captured yours was almost familiar and you were immediately drawn to them for reasons unknown to you. Unable to look away, your breath hitched briefly when he winked at you in a playfully seductive way. You scoffed, rolling your eyes at him, trying to hide your intrigue, to which you could see him chuckling in response. You then forced yourself to look away, trying your best to concentrate on what was being discussed. Besides, you had more important things to worry about than a pair of enticing blue eyes. The meeting ended about a half an hour later after everyone had agreed to organize separate search parties around town and the surrounding cities. Websites would be created to help spread the word about our missing family members in hopes of casting a wider net. Granted, those were good ideas, but it wasn’t anything had hadn’t been attempted before. Still, you had to try to stay positive. Sara would tell you to be strong and to look in the place you would least expect. Her journalistic ways seemed to enable her to see things differently than everyone else. You couldn't help but think that maybe could have contributed to her disappearance. Maybe she discovered something she wasn’t meant to? Then again, maybe she was just tired of her life here in Derry and decided to start over without the attachment of her old life. That wasn’t like her, though. She would never leave without at least cluing her family in to her whereabouts. Thoughts were whirling through your mind, distracting you as you walked out of the Town Hall among the large crowd of people until you ran straight into a blunt force. “Crap! Oh god, I’m so sorry-” you stopped when you realized who it was that you bumped into. The flirtatious man was staring down at you, his intense blue eyes suddenly a shade darker than you remembered them from inside the room. He was much taller than you expected and his pale skin seemed to glow in the sunlight in comparison to his dark brown hair that fell subtly over his eyes. His full lips curled on the ends into a sly smile as he bowed graciously. “Ah, but it was my mistake. My apologies, Y/N.” You gawked at him, embarrassed that he clearly knew who you were, but you didn’t seem to know him at all. “Do I know you?” “Oh, yes. We’ve met before,” he chuckled as his lips peeled back to reveal a grin that sent a shiver down your spine. His demeanor seemed all too familiar, but you still couldn’t quite place it. “How are you feeling this morning? I do hope that last night’s events didn’t frighten you away.” How could he possibly know about what happened last night? Was he there? Why would you be frightened of him? So many questions were bouncing around in your head, which he seemed to realize as his eyes read your confusion quite clearly. His gaze then lingered on the bruise below your neck. “I’m sorry about the bite, by the way. I just couldn’t help myself. You’re so… appealing,” he licked his lips as the last word escaped him with a hungry moan. That’s when it clicked. But… wait, there was no way this could possibly be the same person… or thing… or whatever the hell he was. Your jaw dropped as you tried to speak - tried to utter any words at all, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do so. He laughed darkly at your attempt to form words, already knowing what it was that you wanted to ask. He leaned closer to you, his face inches from yours as he whispered, “Are you ready to sink, Y/N?” His eyes then changed from the deep blue to the swirling yellow that was etched in your mind from the previous night. You choked out something between a sob and a scream as you took a few steps back, looking around in a panic to see if anyone was watching what was happening between the two of you. His gaze followed yours, lingering on the crowd of people surrounding you as he seemed to know exactly what you were thinking. “Oh, don’t worry about them,” he insisted gleefully, his eyes burning brightly. “They only see what I want them to see.” “W-what are you talking about?” you stuttered, still walking backwards to try and put as much distance between yourself and the creature of your nightmares, which did absolutely nothing because he was taking much larger, more confident strides towards you, slowly closing the gap between you. That’s when the thought occurred to you - the two of you were surrounded by people. He would expose himself if he chose to hurt you out in the open like this. Besides that, if he had wanted to hurt you, couldn’t he have done that last night after you passed out? You were so quick to dismiss him yesterday after he insisted that he had information about Sara, maybe he really did know something. You needed answers, and you couldn't seem to tiptoe around him anymore. You held your ground, no longer edging away from his menacing gaze. He arched his eyebrows questioningly, seemingly enjoying the alteration to his ongoing game.

Leaning closer to avoid anyone hearing your bizarre conversation, you spoke softly, “Look… it’s Pennywise, right?” He nodded, still grinning wickedly with intrigue. “Pennywise, when you mentioned my cousin Sara yesterday, were you telling the truth? Do you know where she is?” “I already told you, Y/N. She’s floating now.” You huffed impatiently, “What does that even mean? I’m not messing around, if you know where she is, please tell me!” “Ah, ah, ah,” he tutted. “That’s not part of the game. You have to play to win,” he laughed boisterously, sending another chill down your spine. His maniacal laughter did not fit his new appearance very well, which only seemed to add to the creepiness. “This isn’t a game!” you shout, your eyes wide when you realized that you were bringing attention to yourself. You look around to apologize, but felt relieved once you discovered that no one seemed to have noticed. Pennywise continued to stare at you, a teasing gleam in his yellow eyes. You suddenly remembered the massacre from last night and couldn’t stop yourself from spewing questions about it.  “What happened to the bodies from last night? Did you seriously clean up that alley by yourself? Why did you even save me in the first place? How many people have you killed? Oh my god, did you kill Sara?!” “Now, now, don’t go spoiling our fun,” he insisted, his voice getting more high-pitched like it had been yesterday. “Let’s make a deal, yes?” You eyed him suspiciously, not willing to trust him for even a second, but demanding things from him was getting you nowhere. “What kind of deal?” you asked hesitantly, earning a satisfied hum from the wicked clown. “Spend the night with me.” You tried to hide your grimace as you replied, “What, you mean, like, in your bed?” He giggled menacingly, allowing his clown-like demeanor to come through more and more as the conversation continued. “So anxious, aren’t we? My, my, you are a delight. If tonight’s events lead to that, I certainly won’t protest, but no, that’s not exactly what I have in mind.” “Okay?” you questioned, not understanding what it was that he was insinuating. “Well then, whatdo you have in mind?” “That’s for you to find out,” he answered playfully, bopping the tip of your nose with his index finger, causing you to flinch. “Do you agree?” You shook your head, not liking his calculatedly vague answers. “I don’t get it. You want me to spend time with you? That’s what you’re asking? If I do that, you’ll tell me whether or not you killed my cousin? What kind of a deal is that?” “A generous one,” he offered promptly, the smile somewhat fading from his face as he stood up straight, making him look even taller, which unnerved you further. You knew that you didn’t have much of a choice. It was obvious that you were going insane and if this crazy bastard had any answers at all, it was the best chance you had of finding Sara. Sighing heavily, your eyes searching his once more, you nodded your head in agreement. “Fine. Deal.” He clapped his hands together giddily as he laughed with excitement. “Good girl,” he praised as he reached for your hand. His long, bony fingers lifted your hand to his puffy lips as he gently kissed the top of it, the sly grin never leaving his face. “Until tonight, Y/N.” You gawked at him as he delicately released your hand and turned into the crowd of people still surrounding Town Hall, lost in their own conversations as he disappeared among them, leaving you to wonder if you had just unknowingly signed your own death warrant.

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