27 years of slumber is a long time.
The Losers Club think they defeated Pennywise after the clown has put them through a grinder of fear and horror.
Years go by and the Losers club drift apart while thinking Pennywise is dead. Most of them move ou...
He didn't plan it, or maybe he did, but the coming three weeks, Robert met up with Katherine on an almost daily basis. Apparently, the girl took a part-time job in the Pub and stood in the kitchen cooking things most of the time. They made some kind of unspoken agreement; he would come in around five PM, order something to eat and she would join him at the table with her own food because her shift was finished.
And damn, she spiced up his food like Robert hadn't eaten it before. He even did a weird happy dance one Tuesday when Katherine had made him some Pasta. It was so good; he couldn't help drooling over the dish. She had laughed out loud while he danced around, not caring about the looks the others were giving the pair that always sat by the window on the far right. Though, it must have been a rare sight; a man they didn't seem to know but was always there and a young woman who only showed up recently.
They both didn't care. Not about the glares they got, not about what others thought. Especially Robert couldn't give a flying rat's ass about anything. He knew the people of Derry couldn't remember him. He made sure of it. They'll soon forget about Robert Gray entirely when his slumber was over. Memories of adults were a great thing to play around with. It was like turning off a switch and they forgot everything that Robert wanted.
And that's why there were hardly investigations during his hunting time. Almost no missing children cases were followed up, because the authorities in Derry, Maine forgot about them eventually.
Easy Peasy for Robert! If he got tired of Katherine, he would just snap his long fingers and she'd forget about him.
Yet, he didn't get tired of her company. There was something mesmerizing about the young woman. Maybe the way she laughed at his gruesome jokes he sometimes told, or the fact that she smelled of those stupid roses, or maybe it was just because she turned out to be a great cook. That's what probably made him propose to go to the yearly fair at the end of Summer. There would be a fun fair, a circus (yippy!) en live music.
Her cheeks had coloured a slight crimson red when he proposed it and Katherine had murmured a 'yes' to his invitation. Robert had clicked his tongue happily and felt her emotions going through him for the first time since they met. She wasn't afraid, but she had a lot of other emotions that ran through her....and because he tuned in on her, they went through him.
It was a mixed bag, and, except for fear, Robert Gray didn't know most of the emotions that humans could feel. He gave up trying to place them after a while; he didn't understand them anyway.
Nonetheless, Robert Gray started to get used to her hanging around and he himself found that he looked forward to 5 PM every day. After a few weeks, he still didn't know what it was about her that made her fearless. And he stopped trying to find out when they were talking in the Pub. The thought of wanting to investigate this creature before him disappeared to the back of his mind when she sat in front of him.
He got to know the girl who sat in front of him. Katherine always ordered a coffee or two and only then switched to red wine. Never more than one and a sparkling water to end the night. She told him her aunt had died, her only living relative, and that she had been a bitter bitch all her life. Something that made Robert chuckle. Always when Katherine Miller cursed, he could feel his lips widen into a smile.
Sometimes, it seemed she zoned out completely. Then she just sat silently next to him and Robert could stare at her without her noticing. Her green eyes seemed so far away, and he always wondered where she was in those moments. Features blank as an unpainted canvas, hands on her lap while her food went cold in front of her.
Those were the days that she would eventually stand up, excused herself and went home. Robert never said anything about it, nor did he care if he was honest. It was other days that were fun to him, that he enjoyed her company. It made the days go by faster and because of her, he hardly noticed that the Summer holiday for the children slowly came to an end.
As only living relative, Katherine had been tasked with cleaning up the house to eventually put it on sale. The aunt had been a hermit most of her life and her house was stuffed with books, papers and little statues of kittens. Which made the work last longer than she originally anticipated.
He had shivered when Katherine had told him about how many tiny statues there were of those furry rascals and she had offered him a sincere smile while wiping her hair away from her eyes.
"I know," she had said, voice soft and gentle, like it rang in his ears and at that moment, Robert Gray suddenly stood up from his chair.
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He looked down at her while his insides started to hurt. He seemed to burn from the inside. His long fingers curled into a fist and he bit his lip until it bled. His breathing became erratic when Katherine followed his movement and looked up at him in worry. When she reached out to him, a growl escaped his throat and she quickly took a step back. No fear, just out of caution.
"Don't touch me," he snarled at her.
His sudden change in behaviour threw her off guard and for a moment Robert Gray, no Pennywise, wanted to grab her by the throat and throw her out on the streets. To hurt her. Kill her. Eat her.
He could imagine how the scent of roses would be replaced by the metallic smell of blood. And he licked his lips while Robert's blue eyes kept staring at her. Without moving. Without breathing.
"Robert," her voice seemed to be coming from far away, but when she spoke his name again, Gray shook his head wildly. As if he could chase away the thoughts that suddenly seemed to consume him.
"Don't ever touch me again," he spat at her, his hand grabbed his black coat from the chair, and he brushed passed her.
He left the Pub in a hurry, walked down the main street of Derry to make his way to the Neibolt house where he lived. As far away from her as possible. He couldn't kill while he was in his slumber, but he damned well wanted to kill Katherine in that moment.
Robert threw the door of his house open, went to the kitchen and stared around.
He felt locked in a cage. And that cage was Derry. And his need for violence grew inside him. Like a weed.
When Robert turned to face his cupboards, he bared his teeth in a wide smirk. The reflection in the glass wasn't the young man he got used to seeing. No. IT stared back at him. With hungry, honey coloured eyes instead of his normal blue ones. Teeth as fangs in his mouth and the red scars that ran on his white skin from his eyes to the corner of his lips.
He giggled. A creepy, uncomfortable sound in the silence of the house. He brought his hand to his lips, as if he didn't want to disturb the lingering stillness. The reflection showed a white – gloved hand.
"Oh oh," he murmured happily, "waiting's almost over."
