Don't look at him.

Netta wanted to, but she could not bring herself to shake herself from the weight of the arm on her shoulder.   As soon as Netta felt it, she then became aware of a smell that she had believed that she had all but forgotten about. 

It was the fresh smell of moss, covering some deeper, more pungent smell of decay.   The familiar smell of the deep woods, where Humans felt a natural fear of treading through.

She felt It stretch, that arm further enclosing her, pressing her to It.

When It spoke, Netta could feel the creature's body rumbling against her.  "It's been a while, hasn't it, Netta?"   When she didn't answer, It continued, saying, "'Why, yes, it has been, Mister Big Scary Monster, it has been a long, long long time since we've last seen each other.'" "Did you miss me, my dear, dear friend?" "'Oh, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you at night.'" It paused, then in an irritated voice, It said, "What, cat got your tongue? Don't believe it's really me?"

Its voice was masculine, but there was something heavier, almost leaden to it.  And rough, rasping, beyond anything Netta had ever heard a Human man speak in.    

The first sign of what she was dealing with.

It forced her forward with a sweep of Its arm, then bent down so that It was face to face with Netta.  For a moment, she was thrown off when she did not recognize his - Its - face. The voice was still the same – that deep, almost primal rumble. Only now it did not seem to fit.

This was no imaginary friend. Netta had always believed that if she had made an imaginary friend for herself, she would have created someone less – monstrous – than this "man" was.  Sinister, cruel.

Even though this was far from how terrifying It had from time to time made Itself appear to her, the sight of Its new face - and body - was a nasty shock to Netta's system.

Its face did not look as though it belonged to that voice.

What right did a horrible creature have to possess that perfectly kept blond hair, those – purple? - eyes? It was, in spite of Its already great enough height, shorter than It had previously appeared to her in the form she knew It best in. It still didn't make him any less of a tall - taller than her - presence.

And that face -

It looked as though It had chosen Its features from some earlier time period when men's faces possessed a sort of soft, masculine character.

Showing her age, Netta's first thought was – I'm looking at James Dean.

And, no one else could see him.

Well, It.

Netta looked down quickly, feeling a gasp building in her.

Its chuckle, low and slow, rumbled against her. "You like this, don't you?  I thought I would try something a little different this time, see if you still react to it the same way you always have. You like this new face I made for myself?"

Netta couldn't resist it – or stop herself from talking out loud.   "Same face you keep when talking to that little girl?" She, of course, immediately regretted talking aloud. 

Talking to yourself in public, she had always found, was a steadfast way of being noticed. And only to make it worse, she never could win an argument against It.

She knew that It had gotten what It had wanted all along, heard it in Its triumphant laugh.  "Oh, no, I'm still a pretty good hand at channeling my inner child." Hearing It mention Its child's form made Netta flinch in unexpected memory. 

It continued, saying, "You haven't made it easy to get to you, you know. I bet you're wondering how I side-stepped the matter of that banishment." When Netta, deciding that she had learned her lesson with talking, kept quiet, It kept talking.   "Well, it involved a lot of waiting. Waiting waiting, waiting.  You needed to call out for me three times.  Or, well, think of me a lot in a short period of time.   Then, all I had to do was find the most interesting way to re-introduce myself to you." Again Netta made a point of not saying anything. 

She had managed, for almost an entire decade, to not think of him - It.  She had managed to stop thinking of It, and had thus been able to make good on her banishment of the creature.

She had known that to banish It would have been something that was impossible to sustain in the long run, but back then she had been at her nerve's end, had been plagued by nightmares he had infected her with.  She had been desperate to be rid of It, and had thought that she would eventually find a way to make the curse against It stick.

Or the Monster would find some other poor soul to fixate on.

"I thought of messing with the light panels in here, but..." It sighed. "How were the dreams? I wanted you to be sure that you were never far from my mind -"

"Leave me the fuck alone." Even she was surprised when she said it. She wished, especially, that she could take back the biting hostility that she could hear in her own voice.

The traitor sitting next to her was undeserving of her anger. Any of her more powerful emotions, save, perhaps, for contempt.

She could feel Its surprise in the silence. Then, irritatingly, It laughed.  "Come on.  You should know that you're the only girl for me. You locked me out for over a decade now, and I've still come back, just for you."

My god, how many women had It terrorized before It met me?   Became locked in Its obsession with having me take It?   She wanted, badly, to ask It, but couldn't bear to say anything, had regained her fear of being seen talking to herself...

She bit the inside of her cheek and felt as her foot began to tap a mad rhythm that she could not stop.

He - It - continued talking, so close to her that she thought that she could feel Its breath on her – could smell it.   "Call me crazy, but it almost seems as though you're not excited to see me." It huffed, then his voice turned bright. "No matter, though. Best friend Ash is here for a visit, and he's going to work very hard at making it hard to envision how you've ever survived without him."

Best friend?  How did It always find the energy to be so, overwhelmingly - cruelly - strange in Its humor? 

Her hand clutched at her knee and she felt her heart beat thumping her in her chest like a fist clenching and unclenching.

Netta's panic was interrupted when she looked up at the panel to the right that described what station they were approaching.   Netta felt a flush of relief beat on her.

She rushed to her feet so quickly that she nearly tripped on someone's feet, shoving past a man holding onto the grab pole to her right to stop herself from face planting.  As she made a dash for the doors, she could hear Its laughter as it boomed through the enclosed space of the car.

She didn't get far before encountering It again.

She was rounding on her way to going up the cement steps that brought her out from the underground when she saw It, sitting on the wide banister.

Sat so that Its feet – clad in Beatles-riffic Chelsea boots - were pressed against the column, It looked carefree.

She hadn't noticed Its clothes, but she did, then. The buttoned, blue linen shirt that was opened to well below Its chest (he's hairless now, there's another difference) and left untucked out of Its holed, faded blue jeans.

She tried to walk past It, and It was quiet.  She was halfway up the steps when It called out to her, so loudly that it made her jump in shock.

"Hey, Netta, where are you taking me today? We're going to be stuck to each other for a good twenty-four hours, right, until you can make me go away?"   When she did not answer, It yelled even louder then, bellowing at her retreating back. "Please tell me that it's some place where the job description requires you removing vast amounts of clothing, like a strip club or a place where they package cocaine!"

Walking in the driving snow, once above ground, she was quickly re-acquainted with the experience of walking with the non-Human. While she was miserable, her scarf barely protecting her, as the wind and snow bit into her face, the creature looked carefree, hands shoved in Its pockets.

It hummed as he walked next to her, bobbing along merrily.

Netta looked around, making certain that any other pedestrians on the street were too far way from her – and impeded by the wind - to overhear her.  She turned to glare at It, then spat out, "Any reason why you're here? Because this is some really bad timing, even for you."

It cut Its humming off abruptly, turning to give her a grin.   "Ooh, something happening?"

"No." She turned away. It was easy enough to lie to someone when you didn't respect them – but it was still a trouble to look at them while you did it.

It chuckled.  "Well, if you're gonna lie to me, I guess there's no reason to look in your pocket, is there?"

She jerked, turning on It.  "You didn't -"

It held the card up, the look of a magician that had just confounded his audience on Its face. "Handsy hands are better than just for fun. I was always good at keeping you honest."  It turned away from her and seemed to ponder the business card.

Netta rounded on It, facing the creature. Her hands were reaching, trying to get ahold of Its arms. "Give – that back -"

It seemed to have finished reading the front, then It flipped the card over. "Uh-uh -"   It flipped the card towards her, leaving Netta to scrabble to get a hold of it before it fell into the snow.

She shoved it back in her pocket, indignation burning through Netta.

"So, you miss home, too." He clicked his tongue. "Well, when's the road trip?"

She stared at It, so suddenly struck by the thought that It wanted to go – home, with her - that all fear of public humiliation disappeared.  She jabbed her finger at that purposefully, inhumanely – handsome face.   "You had no right to do that, and I will be going nowhere with you."

It looked down at her, skepticism in Its heavy-lidded eyes. "You're taking me to your work right now. That is where you're going right now, to your Human job?"

When Netta spun on her heel and started to walk away, It called after her. "I mean, I'm going to be stuck to you, and I plan to go and see if you can introduce me to the folks this time."

Netta, unable to not retort to that assurance, whipped back around.  "Like hell you're sticking around, once the twenty-four hours is up."  And, with the time period expired, she would regain the ability to damn the Monster.

Netta meant this time to go through with a full banishment, would get the help even of her Coven Sister Witches to make Ash forget she ever existed.

It rose Its arms up and gave her an almost carefree, apologetic smile. "Hey, need I point out that you called out for me three times on that train. It was the only way that I could have ever appeared to you." It scoffed. "I don't plan to make it easy to forget about me. I promise you, right now, Netta, that we're going to get close – real close – from now on. Just admit it -" It gave her a lopsided, almost apologetic grin. "-you need me."

She stared at It. Maybe it was because Its face was unlike that of the angular, rough man that she had once known It as, and Its hair was light and not dark, but Netta found it easy to turn her back on It.

It shouted after her.   "Hey! You keep avoiding me, this is going to get real nasty real fast. You're going to regret not giving this Human charade up when I gave you a chance to."

In spite of the way that she squared her shoulders as she trudged through the ankle-deep snow, Netta felt a twist of fear in her as she envisioned Its threat becoming true.