5

5

He had brought her to the subterranean chamber that lay beneath the town of Derry, interconnecting with miles of underground sewage tunnels and drainage systems. They all met at one central point, the abandoned house on Neibolt Street, what most of the townsfolk called the Well House. The house itself had been build around the crumbling remains of a large stone well. This was the mouth of the beasts lair. The stones had been painted in old blood. She had been able to smell the decay of it as she had descended down the knotted rope that led down in to the dark, dank, labyrinth. Now, she followed him through the pathways, ensuring that she made a mental map of each twist and turn so that she could find her way out if need be. Amanda had always had a good sense of direction, often traveling only once to an unknown location and being able to find her way back to it even after long periods of time in between visits. She watched, fascinated as the human facade that Pennywise had chosen, wove through the twisting tunnels with ease. He had been living down here, probably for centuries, and undoubtedly knew them like the back of his hand. A smirk tugged at a single corner of her lips as her head tilted lazily to the right and she stared at the figure's jean clad backside as he strode with confident purpose in front of her.

"Something amusing you, Preciousss?"

His voice called back to her over his shoulder. He would often hiss out the s in his adopted pet name for her and she found it strangely alluring.

"Hmm." Was her mumbled reply, her eyes still watching the subject of her distraction with great interest. She hadn't noticed that he had stopped until she quite literally bumped into him. She let out an embarrassed grunt, taking a couple of steps backwards so that she wasn't quite stuck up his ass, as fine as it was.

"You did that on purpose." She accused, a faint pout pulling at the corners of her mouth.

"Yesss." Came his simple reply. "I thought you might have wanted a closer look."

She knew he was sarcastically mocking her, but she also knew it was done in amusement rather than cruelty. She found a single corner of her lips shifting into a smirk once he started moving again. She was on the verge of forming a witty comeback, but the moment the tunnel led out into a large circular chamber, all words were forgotten. There was a macabre tower that had been built in the middle, a collection of various items that had been collected over the centuries. Bicycles, toys, even clothing had been piled into a spiraling formation that very nearly reached the large metal grate above them. Was that the silo up above? Amanda had almost half expected to see children floating, their movements reminding her of what it looked like to simply float beneath the surface of the water. Gracefully, silent. Eerie. But, there was nothing, nothing but the faint drip of water and the soft gush of it from various pipes.

"You will be safer here than up above." He said softly, watching her look around. He reached up and cupped the side of her face with his large gloved hand. "If you must venture above ground, try to be as discrete as possible. The Cult will be watching your house. If you have need of anything from there, make a list and I will acquire it for you. I do not want to risk your safety."

If anyone who had ever known Pennywise before would have said that since meeting her, he had become soft, weak. He had come to know compassion, and quite possibly the first stirrings of love. Lust, certainly. Desire, passion, without a doubt. But was it really starting to turn to an emotion that he had never once felt a fiber of? He had nothing to compare it to. Would she humble him? Would she want him to change for her? Questions he had no real answers to.

"How do we lure them where we want them?" She asked, turning her gaze away from the tower of random items and locking them with his.

"That will have to be a joint effort. But, I want the binding to be completed before we even think about luring them anywhere."

"This binding, what does it consist of?" She tilted her head faintly, instinctively leaning into his touch.

"The first step is called the Marking, of which we have already done." Pennywise watched with amusement as a faint blush colored her cheeks and he knew the memory was fresh in her mind, just as it was in his. "The second step if called the Tasting. Basically an exchange of blood. I take yours again, only this time you take mine in return. It is not pleasant tasting and you will notice changes. You will become stronger, able to see in the dark easier. The third step is called the Consummation, of which I am sure you can guess what that consists of." He gave a chuckle when her blush deepened. "The final step, called the Binding, is a mix of all of the steps combined and must be done three days after the Consummation. If it is not finished, it may kill you. I am not certain on this as I have never done this before."

A single dark brow of hers quirked upwards. "Well, that doesn't sound too bad." She joked, mostly to cover her unease at the thought of dying. She was not afraid of death, but she wasn't keen on dying. "What happens after the Binding?"

"You will become something similar to what I am. Our energies will fuse, become to halves of the same whole. You will not be exactly as I am for you started out as human. I have never been human."

"How do you know of this Binding?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"It was created to ensure procreation."

She snorted faintly in response. "Oh."

"Everything spawns. It ensures survival."

Amanda nodded once in agreement. "So once the Tasting is done, there is no going back?"

"Yes. There will be no going back. I will not perform the Tasting until you are certain you want this."

She reached up and framed his face with both of her hands, ensuring that his eyes locked with hers.

"I am certain that I want this, Pennywise. If I did not want this, I would not be down here with you."

An inhuman growl rumbled from his lips, upper lip curling over teeth that had begun to sharpen. Without warning, his hand snaked into her hair and pulled, tilting her head to the left and exposing the line of her throat. He bit down on the curve where her neck met her shoulder, directly over the wildly throbbing pulse that beat like a war drum. It had been calling to him since he had Marked her, urging him to take the next step. He had practiced such self control that it had amazed him. He heard her cry out when his teeth pierced through flesh, muscle and just faintly nicked bone. He had not wanted to tell her it was going to hurt worse than the Marking. He did not want to cause her pain, but he knew he had to. He took several swallows of her blood before releasing his hold on her. Without a spoken word, he ripped at the collar of his shirt, tugging off one of his gloves with the edges of his blood stained teeth. Long, thing human fingers lengthened and tapered into sharp claws that could easily render flesh to ribbons. He used one to slice his own skin. Dark blood welled to the surface. The moment it touched the air, it began to float off of his skin, moving through the air like a balloon.

With his hand still tangled in her hair, Pennywise urged her towards his throat.

Oh my God...

He was right! It did not taste pleasant. It was not coppery like normal blood. It was bitter and seemed to burn her throat as she swallowed. However, despite it's unpleasant taste, it aroused her beyond measure. She heard him inhale her scent and growl, a deep rumble that came from his chest. With her mouth and teeth still locked on his throat, Pennywise picked her up easily by the hips. Her legs locked instinctively around his waist. One of her hands sought the back of his neck, nails digging into the flesh for purchase while her other slid beneath his shirt to claw at his side just over his ribs. With a snarl, he pinned her none-too-gently to the floor. Her back smacked the concrete with a solid thump that rushed the air from her lungs, but she didn't let go of him. In fact, she clung onto him tighter. Her hips shifted of their own accord and she felt the hardness of his own arousal poking at her between her legs. Amanda bit down slightly harder for a moment before pulling away. His inky blood painted her lips and trickled down her chin to mingle with her own blood that had begun to color her chest. His lips claimed hers, teeth nipping at her lower lip. His hands framed her face as the kiss deepened, his own hips surging forward to press himself tightly against the heat he felt seeping from her core.

"The Consummation?" He asked with a groan, his bloodied lips trailing a path of fire down along the front of her throat.

For a moment, she was confused, her mind in an aroused haze. "The what?" She asked in a husky whisper, her back arching as she felt him move lower. His teeth grazed at one of her nipples above her bra and shirt, making her gasp in surprise.

"Do you wish to continue with the Consummation?" He asked with a faint chuckle, sliding his bare fingers along her abdomen.

"If you think you're going to stop now, Pennywise, you are sadly mistaken." She warned with a faint growl.

"Then prepare yourself, for it will be utterly consuming."