The Scariest Part (Pennywise Romance)

TV Rots Your Brain

    Lady and Ivy navigated out of the tunnel system much easier now that it was drained and lit from the setting sun above them. They escaped without another incident from the clown or demon or whatever the hell he was. Ivy didn't speak a word the whole way home; only shivered and clung to her mother. When the pair arrived home, they stripped off their clothes and took 2 showers together; one to wash the filth off, the second to rinse away the fear.

     Lady remembered the feeling after her attack. The feeling of never being clean enough. The feeling of dirt and poison under her skin that man had put there. It was easier to wash away the fear from this experience, because at the end of it she got relief. She was reunited with her daughter, and she prayed to the universe they would never be separated again.

    Lady combed gently through Ivy's tangled brown hair while the young girl watched the television. She had to ask. She had to know.

    "Ivy what were you thinking?"

The girl said nothing but Lady saw her shoulders tense.

    "Walking off with a stranger like that? You know better than that, you need to be more careful or--"

    "I wasn't thinking, mommy. I wasn't..."
Lady resumed combing her hair in attempt to relax her daughter's nerves.
     "He didn't look like a clown to me, he just.. he looked like a kid and he wanted to be my friend... But mommy his hand felt so big and so strong and I knew it was some kind of lie but I couldn't think, I couldn't move except with him."

Lady's eyes narrowed at her daughter's confession. She turned her little girl around and saw that she was crying. Lady felt tears herself and she embraced the child again.

    "I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry, I don't want to blame you. It's not your fault."

It's not her fault. It's my fault. I should have been watching. I should have never let her go to the park. I should have taken a different way home from school that day.

    "And remember, kids! The sewers are a great place to play!"

Lady's eyes snapped up from her daughter's back as the TV drew her attention. Her mouth gaped as she watched the kind-looking, conservatively dressed woman speak in front of a ring of dancing children.

She spoke with an innocent smile and looked sincerely into the camera as she said, "So come on down below! We'll be waiting for you. We'll always be waiting for you."

    Lady released her daughter's embraced and quickly turned off the television. Brainwash. Ivy looked confused and Lady offered a soft smile to dismiss her worries.

    "No more TV, okay?"

    Ivy furrowed her tiny brows and did not smile back. Lady prepared dinner and contemplated the day. Was that message always on her TV? Was it only her TV? Suddenly, as she strained the macaroni into the sink, she heard the woman again. She whipped her head around to see Ivy watching the TV intently, head propped up by her hands.

    Lady dropped the food in the sink and raced to turn it off.

    "Ivy!" She was shocked, but tried to remain calm. "I said no more TV, remember?"

   Her daughter looked at her defiantly. "Why?"

    "Because it's not good for you!" She struggled to explain.

    "Why?"

Oh God, not this phase again.

    "Ivy, I said no more TV. You gotta trust me alright, I'm on your side here, remember?" She stroked her daughter's hair before the girl pulled away and turned the TV on again.

Lady clicked it off and held her hand over the button, appalled at her daughter's defiance. Even when she was younger, Ivy always followed the rules. True, there weren't many, but she had never acted out like this. She had never had a reason to.

    "Go wash up for dinner." Lady tried to change the subject.

Ivy got off of the dining chair, a struggle for her little body, and stamped her foot.

    "You're mean!"

Lady barely contained a scoff. "No. I'm your mother an--" Ivy kicked the chair she'd abandoned.

    Lady had had enough. She didn't know what to do, how to react rationally, as this was an entirely new experience for the young woman. So she reacted irrationally. Lady walked around, unplugged the small TV and carried it out of the house. Ivy watched with a scowl as her mother threw the TV out to their back yard, listening to it break. Lady turned and saw Ivy's face growing red, as she's sure hers was too.

    "Go wash up for dinner." Lady commanded, trying to sound authoritative.

    Ivy let out an annoyed shriek and ran away. Lady heard a door slam inside the house and she jumped, cringing afterward. She hated that. God, she hated that. Lady continued to make dinner and waited for her daughter to come out of their bedroom. Their food grew cold, as Lady could hardly eat, and she wrapped it up and put the bowl in the fridge baring a note with a crudely drawn heart on it.

She knocked on the door and she heard her daughter's weak voice call, "Go away!" Lady rested her head against the wood of the door and sighed.

    "Ivy, I gotta get in there." She slowly twisted the knob and entered the room. She saw the little girls face buried beneath a pillow. Lady retrieved her work shirt from the dresser and hesitated.

     "Baby, I'm really sorry, but I have to go to work now." Ivy said nothing. "There's macaroni and cheese in the fridge, so please eat.." she approached her daughter on the bed and rested a hand on her small back. "I love you, Ivy."

But she had to go. She had to leave her daughter in that state, so that she could work for a job she hated, in a town that hated her, so her and her daughter could live. She liked her boring life... Didn't she?