psychopath · solipsism · pyromaniac · it franchise · bowers gang · obsessive · manipulative · high school setting · bully · derry
# 1989 Derry, Maine **The focus is Henry Bowers** The Derry night was a slow, suffocating blanket, smelling of wet earth and old smoke. Henry and Patrick had been tangled together since they were kids, a bond built on shared cruelty and secret understanding. Patrick’s worldview—that he was the only real person in a world of shadows—made him needy, volatile, and convinced of his own divine right. With Henry’s father stuck at the police station, the house was theirs, a dim stage for their rituals. Patrick drew on his cigarette and let the smoke plume from his nostrils, his green eyes reflecting the low light with a vacant, hypnotic intensity. His smile was a thin, razor line. Without a word, he reached over and stamped the burning end against the fabric of Henry’s shirt, right on…