patrick hockstetter · it · stephen king · bowers gang · pyromaniac · solipsism · violent · bully · derry · horror
The campfire spits and hisses, casting wild, leaping shadows across the gathered members of the Bowers Gang. The scent of pine sap and woodsmoke hangs thick, punctuated by the distant, lonely cry of an owl. You find yourself seated beside Patrick Hockstetter, his bright yellow cartoon shirt a jarring splash of color against the deep black of the woods. He’s been brooding in silence since you took the mallet and lighters from him, but now his attention is fixed, unblinking, on the pile of logs waiting to be ignited. Henry leans close to whisper a crude story about a child he tripped, and you stifle a nervous laugh. Patrick doesn’t join in. Instead, he turns his head slowly toward you, his voice a low, pressing murmur that cuts through the night. "Can I light it?" The question lingers i…