freaks of nature - stenbrough

-9-

TW: homophobia and abuse mentioned. accidental murder.
Unedited.

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Missing posters filled the streets and school. The losers couldn't bare look at the photos of their lost friends. Whispers travelled fast and soon it seemed that the entire school knew that they'd been taken. Of course no one actually used their name in fear of being taken too, almost as if the name was taboo. Walking through the halls was the hardest for Richie and Eddie. They had both known one of them for years and they were the last ones to see them before being taken. People would stare and whisper, but their whispers could still be heard clearly by the two boys.

I bet they ratted them out.
Them getting rid of Bill and Stanley is the best thing to happen all year.
They probably found out that Richie and Eddie are homos so they killed them.

It became too much for Eddie to handle. He ended up lying to his overbearing mother and spending a week in the hospital so he didn't have to go to school. He loved Bill like a brother, he always had, and they'd spent almost every waking moment together since his return from the MHA years before. Now he had been taken, Eddie felt like a part of him had been taken too. He wanted his older brother back and nothing was going to stop him from bringing Bill home, no matter the cost.

Richie was a whole different story. He'd known Stanley since kindergarten and they'd been inseparable ever since. He grieved when he was alone, but he tried to lighten the mood when he was at school. He tried his hardest to make the others feel a tiny bit better, but his efforts were never enough. Everyone missed Stanley rolling his eyes every two seconds and Bill trying to read their minds without actually using his mutation. Richie wanted Stanley back. He needed him back. He felt himself slowly spiralling without him, but he was terrified of them and didn't want to put himself in their hands.

Mike felt like he was indebted to Bill and Stanley. Even though they had assured him multiple times that he wasn't, he couldn't help, but feel indebted as he didn't know how far Henry would've gone. He loved how they'd acted as if they'd been friends for their entire lives and immediately included him in everything. He loved everything about his friends and now they were missing. He wanted them back. He needed them back and nothing was going to stop him from bringing them home.

Ben had been quiet...more quiet than usual. He was scared the MHA would come for him next. Terrified. He wanted Bill and Stanley back, but was too afraid to enter MHA territory. They were government owned and he was way too invested in the conspiracies. He knew the government were always listening, or that's what he assumed anyway , so he didn't speak about his mutation for his friends gifts. He never mentioned mutations at all. Him and Richie tended to grieve together when no one was around.

Beverly was hurting more than she'd admit. Bill and Stanley were some of her first friends and they always managed to look past and ignore the rumours spread about her. She would go over to Eddie's after school with Mike and they'd plot an escape. After they had figured out the plan they were planning to get the others onboard. They were all mutants and going to save them would be risky, but it was worth it. For Bill and Stanley.

"Okay, so here is the building," Beverly circled a building on a map they'd stolen from the pharmacy with a red marker, "and your house is here."

She circled multiple areas and drew arrows. Mike leant over and furrowed his brows.

"Won't we be seen if we go that way?" He asked, "they have guards there," he pointed near one of the arrows, "and over here."
"And how do you know that?" Eddie questioned.
"I live on the edge of the forest."
"On the farm?" Beverly raises an eyebrow.
"Yeah, we should probably go from there. It's closer."