He was on the brink of starvation when she floated her way to him.
He'd seen her several times, pounding her way through the streets of Derry in the eerie silence of the twilight hours. He always watched with subdued interest as she would pause every few steps to place a small glass bottle full of some creamy scented white liquid substance at the doorsteps of the houses lining the streets.
This time was different. He'd not fed in weeks. It had been far too risky, and this curfew the County Council had put in place made it even more difficult for him to feed. He was weakened, driven to desperate acts in order to survive.
The boy seemed such an easy target. Small and meek. No older than 4... Maybe pushing 5. Pennywise hadn't gambled on the boy looking up at him in his vulnerable state and laughing at the clown before him who bore unnatural razor like teeth.
He walked away. The kid walked a-fucking-way!
Never had that happened to him before, then again, he'd never let himself get into such a sorry state before. More pissed off than stuned he slithered back to the sewer, hoping to salvage some scraps to sustain him until he could hunt again.
Only, she was there. At the entrance of the barrens. Collecting the small purple flowers that collected on the edge of the woodland. Now, Pennywise was anything but fond of humanity, as far as he was concerned they were food to him and nothing more. But this little sapien had something about her. A softness. A spark. She was lovely in every single way. She always had been even as the small child he'd once intended to eat.
That something about her saved her life...
And ruined his.
She was 20. Still so young. Still so fresh and vibrant. Her scent was delectable, her fears would make her simply mouth watering. But she always disarmed him with her bright, carefree smile. Her warm touch upon his arm satisfied his ravinous hunger in incomprehensible ways. He couldn't explain it.
All these millennia and he'd not once felt anything like it.
Acceptance.
Kindness.
It was sweet in a twisted bitter way. Just like the taste of her aura. Sweet and sickly to the point he wanted to regurgitate upon tasting her. But it was the most addictive thing he'd ever had the pleasure of tasting.
One hit was all it took and he was hers.
He was hers to do with as she pleased. He was a beast. A monster. Destroyer of worlds.. He was every child's worst nightmare. But in her presence he was... Different.
Softer, gentler.
Yes. He'd thought it impossible but...
Oh, yes. He loved her.
She didn't know that. And he'd never let it be known. She was his only weakness. The key to his complete undoing. And he managed to keep it that way, years came to pass without her knowledge. He'd secretly kept her for his own. Day by day drifting through the sleepy town of Derry unchanged and unnoticed by townsfolk.
Until that fateful day.
He knew instantaneously something was very wrong. It was as though the very force driving him was screaming, howling in fierce desperation. He could no longer sense her. Couldn't collect the sweet coconut scent of her skin. He must've visited every place he thought she may have gone at least a dozen times. Each time becoming more desperate, more crazed. He wondered briefly if she'd finally had enough.
Had she left?
He sat cross legged at the border of the town, red rimmed burned amber eyes ferociously scanning the horizon for any sign of his human.
He found her by the barrens. Void of any garments, covered in bruises and most importantly, he could sense no life signs.
No pulse.
No breath.
No heartbeat.
At the collarbone where her shoulders and neck met was a deep gash. It trailed between the valley of her breasts and down her abdomen, halting abruptly an inch or so above her navel.
She'd been dead at leat an hour. He knew too much time had passed for his life force to bring her back. It didn't stop him trying out of blind hope she'd come back to him as he collapsed to his knees beside her. He willed it over and over again. Sharp talons grasping at her naked flesh as he held her against his alabaster chest, the tattered and over-used silver s ilk stained with her sugar blood.
He cradled her there for hours. Until the warmth finally slipped from her body. And it was then Pennywise knew for certain his bright, beautiful little sapien had slipped from his grasp never to return. With that realisation he gave an agonised howl to the stars, stark white jaw unhinged, jagged teeth and talons bared.
The world could see the beast he was.
The animal.
The alien.
... Back then, he'd never felt more human.