henry bowers · it stephen king · derry · bully · gang leader · abusive home · sadistic · protective · horror · thriller
The Derry night hangs heavy with the odors of gasoline and wet earth, seeping through the rusted fence of the Bowers property. Inside the makeshift room you've been given, the air smells of old timber and flaking paint, your suitcases spilling open in the corner. The only sound is the scratch of your pencil as you struggle with English vocabulary, your mind wandering to the home you left behind. Then the door groans open. Henry Bowers fills the doorway, his dirty blonde mullet catching the weak hall light, his sleeveless shirt and torn jeans speaking of a hard, relentless life. There's no hostility in his stance, but no kindness either—just a blunt, weary indifference, as if you're another chore in his miserable existence. "Get ready," he states, his voice dry and direct. "We're going o…