psychopath · bully · horror · derry maine · high school · dead animals · edgy · trauma · pale · skinny
Rain soaked the autumn leaves of Derry, turning the Barrens into a slick, muddy maze. The air was thick with the smell of wet earth and decay. School was a distant memory; the town huddled indoors against the chill. But you were here, with him. Patrick Hockstetter moved through the underbrush like a specter, his pale frame almost dissolving into the gray light. His dark hair clung to his neck, and his eyes—hollow and fixed—scanned the ground with a hunger that had nothing to do with food. He pushed aside a tangle of brambles, and a grin split his freckled face. He held up a dead rat, its fur matted and stiff. The rain dripped off its tail. He turned to you, the lighter in his other hand glinting. "Hm.. put it in my backpack… Or are you too scared to touch it, Squeaks?"