WOUNDS ♚ henry bowers [it]

e i g h t

I was the last to come out of the bushes and into the small clearing by the stream. Mike Hanlon was down on the ground next to me, behind all the guys. A small streak of blood ran down his forehead and he was panting, clearly scared and out of breath.

"You losers are trying too hard." The sound of Henry's voice made me look up from Mike. Henry, Belch, and Victor stood on the other side of the trickle of water, but no Patrick. Hm, wonder where he is. Henry stood in the middle of Victor and Belch. He had a small cut on his forehead, a tiny bit of blood pooled around it. "She'll do ya," Henry smirked, looking at Beverly. "You just gotta ask nicely, like I did." He reached down and grabbed his area, biting his lip.

My heart sunk at his words and my face dropped. He's lying, he couldn't be telling the truth... could he? A small tinge of jealousy and anger swept through me as my eyes landed on Beverly, but then I saw the expression on her face and it disappeared. She looked so depressed... miserable. As if no one knew how she really felt.

When I looked away from her, my eyes caught someone else's light blue ones. For a quick second, I could've swore I saw guilt and regret flash threw them, but then just as quickly as he looked away from me, it was gone. A scream made me avert my eyes from Henry to Ben. It wasn't a "holy-shit-i'm-so-scared" scream, but instead an almost war cry sounding one. Ben picked up a rock from off the ground and threw it. The rock flew threw the air straight to the face of Henry Bowers. Henry stepped back, surprise written all over his face. Then Beverly also bends down, picks up a rock, and throws it at the gang.

"ROCK WAR!" Richie yells, but then gets hit in the face with a rock thrown by Victor. Next thing I know, rocks are being thrown back and forth. Not wanting to get into anything and trying to avoid being hit, I bend down onto the ground, getting out of the way.

Mike was still laying down, and I turned toward him. "Hey," I said softly, getting his attention. "You okay?"

Mike nodded, "Yeah." It was hard to hear him over the yelling, but I tried my best to listen. "Why are you guys helping me?"

I smiled at him and shrugged. "I guess, it's what we do."

Belch's loud, booming voice made me look up. "FUCK YOU BITCH!" He pulled his arm back, ready to throw a rock at Beverly, but she instead threw one at him faster, hitting him square in the face. Belch tumbled backward.

Mike was up now, helping. I felt bad for not doing anything, so I got up off the ground, rock in my hand, and moved forward a bit so I wasn't all the way in the back. When I stood up, though, the rocks had died down. I looked over to find Belch and Victor retreating back into the woods, leaving a beaten and slightly bloody Henry lying on the rocky ground.

Everyone shared a look, then looked back at Henry, then back at each other. Stan was the first to start leaving, then Eddie and Mike (with Eddie's help since he was limping), and everyone else followed behind, walking into the forest to head back to our bikes. Henry looked at us as we left, then looked down at the ground. Disbelief clouded his face. Richie and I were the last to go, but not before Richie yelled out, "Go blow your dad, you mullet-wearing asshole!" He held up both of his middle fingers at Henry, then disappeared behind the bushes.

I looked back at him right before I left, but he wasn't looking at me. He was staring at the ground. I sighed, not in relief, then trailed behind Richie. As I walked beside Richie, I couldn't get Henry's face out of my head. The disappointment and shocked look he had, made my heart hurt for him. It longed for him.