Eternal (Pennywise x OC)

Chapter 14

It's strange how time can make an inconceivable, horrid situation start to feel somewhat normal.

The day after Ana had slept with Robert, she spent most of her time as far away from him as possible, not wanting to talk about what had happened or anything related to it. The Eater of Worlds had made it rather difficult, however, and took absolute joy in following her around Neibolt house, jeering at how talented he was between the sheets. She hated him for it, but absolutely loathed herself for having even the slightest bit of enjoyment during the encounter. At first, she branded herself evil in her own right. But as the next few days went on, she had begun to protest her own conscience, inwardly arguing that Pennywise had been corrupting her, easing a small part of her guilt. Of course, all of these thoughts of contempt were highly amusing to her otherwordly housemate, only adding to his constant mockery.

More days passed, and just like that a week had gone by. They started to fall into their own brand of peculiar routine, with Pennywise insisting that he lie next to her in bed while she slept, then following her around as she went about her morning; by midday he had usually disappeared down the well for at least a few hours, and she was left alone to read, or wander about the house, or merely sit in the silence and fight the overwhelming anxiety that now plagued her when she was no longer in his presence. The clown continued to deny that he had intentionally messed with her psyche somehow to make her feel this way, but nonetheless, Ana knew that being caught in the deadlights for so long had connected them somehow. When he was gone, no doubt going about his day terrorizing the citizens of Derry, she was almost beside herself. When he returned, she felt content, complete. But once the initial feeling of serenity washed over her like the warmth of a crackling fireplace, she started to hate herself again. Pennywise must have had similar feelings of gratification upon coming back to the house. More often than not, he would sidle up to her, sometimes pulling her into a possessive embrace to draw in a long inhalation of her scent, before starting in on his usual taunting. He was immensely bothersome to her, and yet kept making the necessary trips into town to get her food, and replace ripped clothing, and even get her some deodorant.

A few days into the second week, Ana gave into the temptation again. Robert had been lying in bed with her that night instead of Pennywise, his long arms wrapped around her, and she had been doing her best not to ogle at his handsome features. She tried to picture anything but the last time they had had sex, but it only brought those feelings surging forward, and Robert had pounced at the opportunity to seduce her. This time, she only hated herself for a few minutes after they were done, and then feel into a deep, restful sleep.

The weeks turned into a month. Some of the changes between them were so subtle that Ana didn't even notice them; Pennywise was gradually badgering her less and less. On many occasions, Ana spent the evening reading while curled up on the couch, Pennywise seated silently next to her with his gloved hands folded in his lap. She had gotten so used to the demon clown being in such close proximity to her that she only found it weird the first time when he sat there for hours, his golden eyes staring into nothing as she read. Sometimes she wondered if he was entered into her mind as she read, experiencing the stories along with her. After that, it was a welcome normality.

She slept with Robert numerous times the next month after that. The days had started to run together, and she had completely lost count of how many times she had thrown caution to the wind and just given in to the urge. Sometimes it was while lying in bed, the feeling of already being next to one another naturally leading into it. Other times, Robert would suddenly grab her and push her up against a counter, or a wall, or push her down onto the couch for a vigorous kiss. Once the deed had become part of their routine, Ana noticed that he was spending more and more time around her as Robert rather than Pennywise. A very small part of her almost felt bad for him because of it, like she wasn't being accepting of his 'real' self, but she quickly reminded herself that she shouldn't feel bad for an evil entity and pushed it out of her mind.