MUD PIES ┊ BILL DENBROUGH

i. BURY MY HEART

❨ CHAPTER ONE ❩

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

THE LAST DAY OF school, contrary to popular belief, didn't make everybody happy. Sure, teens who hated school and liked to break the law enjoyed it. But as for Alex Prescott, summer came with a bittersweet taste.

          For one, she would be able to have the freedom of no homework. That was truly a relief. She could stay out with friends all day and be a public nuisance for as long as she pleased. But then again, she dreaded the nights at her house. Her parents usually came home late, so she would be left alone for almost the entirety of the day. Alex dreaded being alone, but she mostly hated the silence. What used to be a house full of laughter and warmth was now a shell of what used to be. As much as Alex would've liked to ignore it, she knew that it was a cause of her brother.

          So, as she stared at the front of the classroom, her eyes watching the teacher go over the summer assignment, she felt oddly anxious for what lay ahead of her. Her hands seemed to be moving of their own accord, lightly crinkling the corner of her paper. Her head was rested in her palm, her mouth pulled into a nonchalant line. To other students, it might've looked like she was entirely in her own world, imagining that summer was already there. In reality, Alex was thinking about the Barrens.

          The police were absolute crap and had done almost nothing to solve the missing kid's cases. All they did was look at the facts and say, "yep, there's another one," and then they moved onto the next case. Alex, along with Bill, had decided to find out as much as they could about the disappearances. This started with a brief sweep of the public works in the Barrens, where most of the sewers (where Georgie was last seen) emptied out. Alex's concern came more out of empathy. She didn't want another brother or sister to go missing and have another family ripped apart. Bill's concern seemed to come more from a desire for closure. He wanted to finalize the search for his brother. Half of him still had hope that Georgie Denbrough was still alive, but the other half had pushed the thought away as childish.

          Where was Georgie hiding all this time? Inside the Barrens? How could he find a source of food? Where was his shelter? Bill tried his best not to think about these questions because they made him lose hope quicker. Georgie, after all, was only eight when he disappeared. An eight-year-old likely couldn't survive winter alone in the sewers.

          But, regardless of logic, Alex and Bill had made a deal. Dead or alive, Georgie's case would be solved by the end of that summer.

          As Alex contemplated, the bell blared from the loudspeaker. She shook her head as if removing herself from a trance. Hastily, she stood from her seat, throwing her notebook in her bag.

          "Don't forget to rent your textbooks early, they sell out fast!" The teacher said in a last-ditch attempt to make the kids listen. Alex doubted anyone could hear over the riots going on in the hallway. Alex slung her bag over her shoulder before facing the group of three boys behind her.