Alicia sat cross-legged on her bed, busily sketching the outlines for her next drawing. The Loser's Club had not called on her for over a week now, so she had dedicated her free time to her drawing again. Unfortunately, her material remained unchanged. After she had run out of space on her walls, she had begun pasting her drawings overtop of one another. It didn't really make a difference to her since they were all the same.

Alicia heard the front door slam shut, accompanied by her mother's voice calling her name. She closed her sketchbook and placed it next to her on the bed before getting up and answering the summons. Her mother seemed strangely different. Her hair no longer hung in tangles, and her clothes were almost elegant compared to what she usually wore. She had her purse slung over her shoulder and a smile on her face. Alicia couldn't help feeling a little excited; she hadn't seen that smile in a long time.

"I've got important news, honey," her mother said, "I didn't tell you this before because I didn't want to get your hopes up, but a couple days ago, I made a resume and started hunting around for any job openings in town. I managed to set up an interview today, and I got accepted on the spot! Honey, I have a full-time job! I quit my part-time job so I won't be around as much anymore, but I promise I'm going to get my life together. Are you happy for me?"

Alicia beamed at her, "Of course I'm happy for you!" She threw her arms around her mother's neck and gave her a fierce hug. "You know I don't mind being home alone," she added when they broke apart, "I can handle myself."

"Honey, I'm so glad!" her mother said, "I'm afraid I have to go out again to run a few errands but I'll be back soon, and then we can celebrate!"

"Alright, I'll be in my room when you get back," Alicia said.

Her mother opened the door to leave but then seemed to change her mind.

"Oh, I nearly forgot," she said, "I promised myself I would go through the house and throw out all the cigarettes I have. I've decided to quit smoking!" she explained excitedly, making her way to the kitchen.

Alicia smiled as she watched her mother disappear down the hallway. Then she returned to her room. She figured she would be able to finish her drawing before the celebration.

She stopped dead in the door of her bedroom. Her sketchbook was lying open on the bed, stopped at an already finished drawing. Alicia could have sworn she had closed it before leaving her room. She moved over to the bed and climbed back on, picking up the sketchbook and examining it as if expecting to find the answer to this anomaly hidden in its pages. After a moment, she realized the fruitlessness of her search and shrugged it off. She turned to find her pencil case but it was nowhere in sight.

A sudden clattering noise under the bed made her freeze. She stayed where she was for a second, then forced herself to peer over the edge. Her pencils were scattered across the floor. She gave herself a shake.

"It's nothing," she murmured, "I knocked them off the bed."

She knew perfectly well that she hadn't, but it was all she could tell herself to keep her heart from beating right out of her chest. She reached down and started picking up the pencils one by one, placing them on the bed beside her. When she finished, she picked up her sketchbook, keeping her gaze on the floor. Maybe it had been nothing after all.

Then one stray pencil rolled out from beneath the bed. Alicia stared at it. The door was wide open behind her. All she had to do was get up and run through it, and she wouldn't have to spend another second feeling like she was being watched. She was about to get up and do it when she saw two gloved hands clamp themselves on the edge of the bed. A grinning face followed immediately after, causing Alicia to shriek in terror and fling her sketchbook at it in defense. It hit him square in the face and Pennywise ducked back under the bed for a second. Alicia could hear him chuckling even over the sound of her own ragged breathing.

Suddenly there was silence. Alicia cast a quick glance at her sketchbook lying open on the floor. She felt the sudden urge to grab it but she stayed where she was, her hands clutching the sheets tightly.

As soon as she heard the laughing for the second time, she vaulted off the bed and made a break for the door. But she didn't get very far. She'd barely made it off the bed when she was grabbed from behind and pulled back. Pennywise was practically shouting with laughter as he pinned her against himself, pressing his cheek against hers and clamping a hand over her forehead so she couldn't move away. Alicia stopped struggling instantly when she realized there was no use.

"Alicia?"

Her heart leapt when she heard her mother's voice. Her scream had been heard. If only her mother would hurry up...

"Alicia, what on earth was that sound you made a moment ago?" her mother said, appearing in the door.

"Mom, I—"

Alicia's words died away on her tongue. Her mother was looking right at her like there was nothing wrong. She couldn't see the thing entrapping her daughter. She may as well have been blind.

Pennywise giggled in her ear, "She can't see me if I don't want her to, Alicia."

"Mom," Alicia said shakily," Please, will you pick up my sketchbook and give it to me?"

"Honey, I have to leave. I told you that. Why can't you get it yourself?"

"I-I..."

"Alicia, is there something wrong?" her mother asked, looking suddenly worried.

"Is there something wrong, Alicia?" Pennywise mimicked softly.

Alicia took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Nothing," she replied with amazing steadiness, "Nothing."

Her mother looked unconvinced, "Well, if you say so. I'll be back as soon as I can, alright?"

With that, she left. Alicia listened with dismay as the front door slammed shut, signalling the moment of her inevitable death. For a long moment, there was silence. Alicia was painfully aware of how close she was to Pennywise.

"I loooooove this room," he said, "I should visit more often. I've never had a fan before."

"I'm not your fan," Alicia protested weakly.

"Really? Your walls say otherwise. You know, the sewers are so dreary. I could use something like this to brighten it up."

"If you're going to kill me, just do it!" Alicia hissed.

There was a pause. Pennywise's grip tightened over her forehead.

"You just love the fear, don't you?" he asked suddenly, "The thrill of it makes you feel alive. Nothing else quite captures your attention. Not day to day life, not your so-called friends." He drew out the word "friends" with something like disgust in his tone. "Nothing ever happened to you; your life was so ordinary that it appalled you. That's why the artist in you obsesses over me; it's your way of embracing the fear. You let it live and breed in you. It'll never stop. Never, never, never, never!" His voice rose in pitch each time he uttered the last word, ending in a shrill laugh.

"You're wrong; I'm not like that," Alicia whimpered, tears streaking her face.

"I don't think you know yourself well enough to say that."

"Shut up..."

"You know, those losers aren't your friends. They don't care about you. You should just forget about them. I'm the only friend you need, Alicia."

"Shut up."

"I can help you be who you were meant to be. That's what friends are for, right?"

"Shut up!"

Alicia wrenched one of her arms free and snatched up one of the pencils on the bed, driving it into Pennywise's throat. Pennywise released her, uttering strange gurgling noises. Alicia took her chance and gunned out of the room and for the front door. She flung it open and raced out onto the street, narrowly avoiding being hit by an oncoming car. She stopped on the opposite side of the street and looked back at the house. The door hung open; she could see down the hallway. The house looked perfectly harmless, and for a second she almost felt foolish. But she didn't want to go back into the house, or anywhere near it. So she stayed where she was up until her mother got back. She was chided for leaving the door open and when asked what she had been doing, Alicia simply responded that she had overreacted at seeing a spider in the house. Her mother simply rolled her eyes and coaxed her back into the house.

"Really, Alicia, you expect me to believe that a little spider scared you that badly?" she said, "Come on then, I'll take a look at your room. You know, you've probably invited half a dozen more of those critters into the house with the door hanging wide open."

Alicia followed her mother apprehensively down the hall, stopping before her room came into view and watching as her mother disappeared inside it. It was quiet for a moment, adding to Alicia's unease.

"I don't see any spiders in here," her mother called, "Found your sketchbook though. Are you going to come in?"

Alicia advanced slowly toward the room, stopping in the doorway and feeling her heart drop like a stone. There was not a single drawing in sight. Her walls and ceiling were bare. She didn't know why, but it made her feel strangely vulnerable.

"Oh, honey, you probably shouldn't put your pencils on the bed. I don't want them marking the sheets. And by the way, were your walls always this clean?"