The next morning, Pennywise was unrelenting with his boisterous tormenting. She had had only a few moments of tranquility after he had awoken from his slumber before her dream was apparent to him, and he has instantly started on his mission to embarrass her about it. "Sweet girl is so naughty!" he had cackled first thing, his voice flooding the previously quiet room. Upon hearing this statement, Ana had nearly fallen on the floor in her rush to get away from him. He followed her out of the room and down the hall, but was charitable in the fact that he had allowed her to enter the bathroom alone and close the door so she could relieve herself.
"You need to take a bath, you dirty girl!" he snickered through the door as she was pulling up her pants.
"Shut up!" she yelled back.
"Oh, is my dirty girl angry?" he continued without pause, the giggling seemingly to continue seamlessly even when he spoke, he was so amused. "Maybe Pennywise can make her happy again with some sweet little kisses, eh?" She responded with a slew of curse words, only encouraging the clown to chortle louder. She freshened up, her aggravation making her splash water not only on her face but all over the mirror and floor as well, and threw the door open with a bang.
"What, no witty remarks?" Pennywise asked as she pushed past him, heading towards the staircase.
"No," she said starting to go down by herself, not caring if she tripped and tumbled down. When he reached out to steady her, she yanked her arm away from, nearly throwing herself off balance in the process. "Don't touch me," she grumbled. She managed to make it down to the next floor without issue, but he suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking her way.
"Come on, little girl," he said, his face frowning in mock hurt as he looked down at her, "Don't you want to play with the clown?"
"Not particularly," she replied, and he let out a loud sigh, like an irked child not getting his way. She started to make her way to the kitchen. "I'd rather get some breakfast." He followed her closely, not touching her, but still very much in her bubble.
"So, was Pennywise good?" he jeered at her. "Did he you touch you in all the right places?"
She didn't answer him, pulling the pizza box from the night before towards her and opening it, grimacing down at the room temperature slices that had been sitting out. She hadn't thought to throw the box in the fridge after the little revelation they had shared, and now this was the only option for a meal she currently had.
"You seem to be brushing over the fact that it ended with you murdering me," she said finally, pushing the box away from her.
"It's just a dream!" he said, standing across the counter from where she stood, pushing the box back towards her. "Do you think you've started having powers of premonition suddenly, sweet girl?"
"If it's just a dream, then let's stop talking about it," she countered.
"Oh, scared little girl," he said mockingly, pushing out his lower lip in a fake pout. "Don't worry, if it comes true I'll protect you from the stupid monk!"
"That's not the scary part!" she said, exasperated.
"I'm not going to eat you," he said, patting her on the hand as if he was trying to reassure her. She looked up into his eyes, stupidly wondering if he was being sincere for a split second, and saw the devilish smile on his face.
"Yeah, only because of your own self interest," she replied, pulling her hand away from him. "Now, can we talk about getting some real food around here? I'm starving."
"Hey, I didn't eat you even before I knew what you were," Pennywise said, and she sensed his demeanor was starting to shift, his face darkening dangerously as the smile disappeared. It always seemed to catch her off guard when his mood changed instantly, never knowing what was really going to set it off. Obviously, the clown had some insecurities, no matter how full of himself he seemed.
Even though she sensed the danger, it didn't keep her from suddenly becoming angry herself. "Oh, that's what you want? Some praise for not killing me and eating me? Wow, you're such a nice demon! I bet all the kids tell you that before you kill them!"
In a split second he had rounded the counter and grabbed her by the throat, pushing her back and slamming her into the fridge. Choking for air, she merely glared at him, not giving him the satisfaction of trying to plead with him to stop.
"I can still kill you, you know," he said lowly, and she saw his mouth start to shift from the normal crooked smile he normally wore, to the rows of little pointed teeth that she had seen in her dream, before he ripped her throat out. "Kill you, and not eat you." His eyes started to shift outward, becoming so crooked he wasn't even looking at her anymore. The sight horrified Ana, not because he was so angry he was on the verge of killing her, but because she was experiencing the same thing that so many innocent people saw before he devoured them.
Something in his mood changed swiftly again, and he let go of her, leaving Ana to slink away from him and grasp at her throat as she attempted to catch her breath. She clamored over to the the dining room table to take a seat, still rubbing her neck as she glanced over at his hunched-over frame that still faced the fridge. Finally, he turned back around, the rows of little razors retracted back into his mouth, his golden eyes back into almost normal position again.
"We'll go to town and get you some food," he said, low and even. "Food is important."
She was silent for a few moments, then decided to go along with the calm, not wanting to be nearly choked to death again. "Okay."
He left then, heading down towards the basement, and she didn't question him. She took the few minutes to herself sit in the chair with her head back and her eyes closed, mentally preparing herself for going into public with the demon clown.
She heard the squeak of some wheels along with footsteps, and there was Robert pushing a scroungy black wheelchair into view.
"Your carriage awaits, madame," Robert quipped, motioning for her to come and sit in the chair.
"That's from the sewers, isn't it?" she asked, eyeing the trail of water and chunks of who knows what that trailed behind the wheels.
"Yeah," Robert replied, slapping the seat a few times, repeating his request. She complied, and soon they were outside on the sidewalk and heading towards downtown Derry. "I thought we'd get you a proper set of crutches, and a brace for your ankle," he was saying, and a couple across the street was waving at them as if they knew them. Ana turned her head towards Robert in time to see him waving back and smiling, as if this was a completely normal thing for him to be doing.
"Don't be rude, Ana," he said, as she stared at him, and she gave him a look as to say, 'What the fuck?' and then she waved exaggeratedly at couple, who had already passed them and didn't see her.
"Do you go out and interact with people regularly?" she asked, astonished at what had just taken place. "Do you know them?"
"I don't care who they are," he said as he pushed her down the sidewalk. "But people seem to take a particular liking to Robert Gray either way."
No kidding, she thought to herself, remembering how quickly she had let him kiss her on the couch not so long ago, even the thought of his beautiful eyes giving her unwanted butterflies in her belly. Robert giggled, and she folded her arms, keeping her eyes forward.
"I don't want to hear it," she warned, as if it would keep him from relentlessly badgering her if he wanted to.
As they got closer to the drug store they were heading towards, she started to worry about who they could run in to. Thankfully, Ana didn't know that many people in Derry, but her mind went to Mike, who would recognize that she was still in Pennywise's clutches. And if she saw her family, she had no idea how she'd explain any of this.
"Mike is gone," Robert said quietly. "He packed up and left town the day after they 'defeated' me."
Ana was surprised, but happy at the news. "Good," she said.
"Good that your boyfriend left town," Robert replied, his voice nearing a growl as he said it. "If he came sniffing around I'd have to make a meal out of him."
"My boyfriend?" Ana asked, his unexpected statement completely throwing her off. "He wasn't my boyfriend, I barely knew the guy. We just - "
"Planned my demise?" he said, cutting her off. With that, they entered the drug store, the little bell ringing on the door. Ana was relieved that the conversation ended there. Getting her some supplies for her injured limb was uneventful, other than Ana being weirded out by all the smiles and greetings that Robert was being given. They left the store, now heading towards the grocery store. A mother and little blonde girl were walking towards them on the sidewalk, and Robert gave the girl a smile, and sweet sounding, "Hello!". As they walked passed, she caught him turning around to watch her.
"Knock it off," she seethed. He chuckled darkly but kept pushing her in the chair. Once inside the grocery store, Ana hurried to pick out some essentials for her to live off of, hoping desperately that they wouldn't pass any more children in the aisles as they shopped. To her dismay, a small brown-haired boy came running around the corner into the cereal section they were in, and Robert immediately snapped to attention as he stood by them, eyeing the sugary choices in front of them.
"Hello, Danny," Robert said, bending down to offer the boy a sticker that had appeared out of nowhere. Ana was about to protest, when she heard a familiar voice from the next aisle.
"Mommy, I want mac and cheese!" came Ronnie's little voice, and Ana's heart skipped a beat. Surely, Robert - no, Pennywise - would sense her sudden panic. But she glanced at him, and he was completely entranced by the little boy, who was laughing and something Robert had just said.
"I have to go to the bathroom," she said quickly, and Robert barely ripped his eyes away from what he was doing, enthralled by the idea of a new victim. Ana grabbed her new crutches, leaving the wheelchair where it sat, and moved as quickly as she could around the corner to see her nephew. Why she suddenly decided it was a good idea to talk to her family, she couldn't logically reason, but for some reason felt like she had to. As she moved away from Robert and his potential prey, she felt bad for leaving the two alone instead of trying to distract him from his predatory thoughts, but it was rare that he was that distracted.
She hobbled over to Ronnie, who was still looking intently at the blue macaroni and cheese boxes and didn't see her right away; Cassandra was further down the aisle facing away from them, her face bent down towards her phone. "Ronnie!" Ana whispered fervently, and the boys eyes landed on her instantly. She pulled the boy into a quick one-armed hug, and then squatted down to his level. "Listen Ronnie, there's not a lot of time, but you and Heather and your mom and dad need to get out of here. You need to leave Derry, or the clown might take you again!"
Ronnie was looking at her with a strange look on his face, as if he was trying to comprehend what she was saying. "You have to Ronnie, tell your mom whatever you have to, but you have to leave - "
"Mom?" Ronnie suddenly called, and Cassandra finally noticed that Ana was there. She expected some sort of confused greeting from her sister, but she said nothing at first as she approached them. Ana smiled up at her, still squatting on the ground.
"Hi, Cass," she started, but when her sister looked down at her, it was pure venom.
"What do you think you're doing?" she said angrily, reaching down to grab Ronnie's hand and pull him away. "Stop talking to my son!" She started to stomp off towards her cart, leaving Ana hurt and confused for a few moments. She stood up and took a few steps towards them with her crutches.
"Cass, what - "
"You heard me!" Cassandra said, looking Ana up and down, obviously eyeing up her tattered clothing and messy hair. "Stay away from us, or I'll call the cops!" she continued, brandishing her phone.
Ana was aware that Robert was now in the aisle with them, but a new reason for her alarm was coming to light. "Cass, don't you recognize me?"
"Should I?" Cassandra replied hotly, then started to round the corner to the next section. Ronnie looked back and gave a small, polite wave, then followed his mom.
"They don't remember me," Ana whispered as the realization hit her. It felt like the ground was dropping out from under her, and the world started to spin around. She barely felt Robert's arms as he caught her from crumpling to the ground and guided her safely back into the wheelchair. It seemed like a blur then, as Robert took them to the cashier to check out their groceries, and then they were heading back to Neibolt house. Ana said nothing the entire way there, just staring into space.
She still sat in the chair as he wheeled her into the sitting room, going to put the groceries away. The shock of what had just happened along with her lack of nourishment was taking a toll on her, and she couldn't decide on withdrawing into herself forever, or exploding and attacking everything around her. When Robert finally entered the room again, the decision was made for her.
"You should eat something," he said, his blue eyes looking at her, obvious concern etched on the shape shifter's face.
"Fuck you," Ana said quietly, not looking at him.
"Excuse me?" he said, taking a few steps forward, but Ana's rage suddenly sprang to life.
"Fuck! You!" she screamed, launching herself out of the wheelchair at him, the pain in her ankle completely ignored as she reached for his throat, but he caught her arms with ease and held her back. He let out a short laugh as she struggled to attack him. "It's all your fault! It's your fault they don't remember me!" she yelled, white hot anger clouding her senses.
"My fault?" he asked, as if the very notion was completely unreasonable. "I had nothing to do with it!"
"Liar!" she said, and she spit in his chiseled face. She noticed the annoyance at her actions, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he looked at her, but she didn't care. "You're a fucking evil, sadistic murderer and you're lying!"
"Newsflash, Ana!" Robert argued, dragging her enraged form towards the couch and shoving her down, then coming to kneel on the floor in front of her, his face level with hers. "I'm not the one who bound you, and took you away from your home and brought you here against your will! I'm not the one who made all these false memories so you thought you had this family, and I'm damn sure not the one who took them away!"
His statements were starting to poke holes in her wild accusations, and she felt her rage start to lessen, giving way to intense, unwavering sorrow. She felt the tears start to spring forward as she looked into his blue eyes. "No, but you're the one keeping me in this house with you," she said, the tears starting to run down her face, "and that's just as bad!"
"Hey babe," he said, baring his teeth at her menacingly as he spoke, "I hate to break it to you, but you agreed to this little arrangement!" He stood then, turning to go back into the kitchen. "And as it turns out, you did it for kids that aren't even the same species as you!" It was a petty jab, a punch to the gut that took her breath away. Ana stared after him in shock, all hope draining out of her as he left the room.
After the traumatizing events of that day, Robert was unable to get Ana to eat anything, and resorted to bringing her up the bedroom for the night. He had spooned her again, slowly trying to feel out if she was responding to his advances, but she had no reaction whatsoever. He was used to her being appalled at the idea of him touching her, but at least her negative feelings gave him some sort of entertainment. It frustrated him, to the point that he left and spent the rest of the night in sewers, which is what his usual routine was before her.
For the next several days, she barely moved from the bed, only willing to get up to use the bathroom a few times. She took a shower at one point only after Pennywise threatened to drag her in there and shower with her, and even that was barely motivation enough for her. On the fourth day of her lying on her side, staring at the wall, Pennywise decided enough was enough. His plaything wasn't very much fun in this state, and he wanted her back to the way she was so they could argue, talk, occasionally share a sarcastic laugh, maybe even fight.
Ana was doing her usual staring at the wall, when she felt little footsteps enter the room, but she didn't turn to see who it was at first.
"Auntie Ana?" came Heather's sweet voice, and at first Ana wasn't sure if she had actually heard it. "Will you come and play with me?"
Knowing she heard the question, she turned around to see her niece standing there, looking at her with wide, wondering eyes.
"Hey, baby," she said softly, sitting up in the bed. "What are you doing here?" Her first thought was that she was going crazy, which was likely.
"I came to see you," she said. "Will you come down to the kitchen and make me a peanut butter sandwich?"
"I thought you wanted to play," Ana replied, giving the girl a small smile.
"I do," Heather said. "But first we should eat something."
She knew it was either her mind playing tricks on her, or someone playing tricks on her, but she had been in her own dark thoughts for so long now that a part of her didn't care. She grabbed her crutches that had been leaning up against the headboard, and followed the little girl downstairs and into the kitchen. The constant hum that was in her body telling her Pennywise was near was as present as ever, but she chose to ignore it.
She made Heather a peanut butter sandwich, and then one for herself at the girl's insistence. Neither one of them touched the food at first.
"Mommy always says that eating every day is important," Heather said, looking down at Ana's untouched plate.
"I'll have some if you have some," Ana said, smiling at the girl. After a bit of silence, Heather finally picked up her food, and took a bite. Her disgusted expression as she slowly chewed and attempted to choke it down told Ana exactly what she was suspecting, and she turned to leave and go back upstairs.
"Wait, Ana!" the little girl called to her. "Where are you going?"
"Back to bed."
"Don't you love me?" Heather asked in her sweet little voice, and Ana stopped walking for a moment at the sentiment. But she reminded herself who she was actually talking to, and kept going. "If you want us to stay safe, maybe you should take care of yourself like Pennywise says."
Ana stopped again then, and swung around to face her, crutches and all.
"Is that a threat?" she whispered, staring into the little girl's innocent looking face. When she didn't respond, she threw a crutch at her as hard as she could, hitting her square in the face. The voice behind the yelp of pain that followed was much, much deeper than little Heather's. Satisfied with the reaction she provoked, Ana turned again to go upstairs.
"Why are you being so difficult?" came Pennywise's voice behind her. When she didn't answer him, he suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking her path.
"Why are you even asking?" Ana responded shrilly. "Why even bother?"
"You need to start eating. I didn't bring you here and send my friends away early so you could starve and die." He was so obsessed with eating, Ana mused. Made sense, considering all the entity did was, eat, sleep, repeat. Oh, and torment her.
"Or what?" she challenged, not backing down as he shoved his angry face closer and closer to hers. "Are you going to go back on our deal? Eat the kids?" He didn't respond to her, the expression on his face growing more and more menacing. "Maybe you should have specified what this little arrangement was supposed to be, hmm? I'm in the house with you, aren't I?"
Rather than answer her, he grabbed her by the back of the neck, and started to drag her towards the stairs that led to the basement. He was beyond angry at this point, Ana could tell, and she wouldn't be surprised if he gave into his primal instincts and just killed her. Part of her welcomed it.
He brought her down the well and into the sewers, a place she hadn't been since he had taken Ronnie. This time, he didn't bother to keep her out of the cold, dirty water as they splashed along, not caring if she was nearly tripping and causing pain to her bad leg as he dragged her. They ended up back in the dungeon where all the bodies were floating, and this time Ana didn't hesitate to look up at them, their presence only adding fuel to the fire that was her hatred for the demon clown that currently had her in his grip.
He let go of her when they neared the pile of junk. His eyes were nearly overtaken with red, the usual gold barely specks at this point.
"Didn't want to get the house dirty?" she sneered at him, all caution out the window as she spoke. She didn't care about anything at this point.
"Huh?" he grunted, his own anger obviously keeping him from seeing all of her thoughts right away. When he understood what she meant, that she thought he was going to kill her in a violent, bloody way, he barked out a cruel laugh. "You think you see me, sweet, innocent, little Ana, but you have no idea!" he growled at her, and then his hand shot out to grab her by the throat. His mouth started to open wide, the rows of teeth making their appearance, and Ana found herself looking down his throat at three bright, rotating lights. By the time she realized that she was seeing the deadlights, she was floating.