Secret Us-Henry Bowers

The Past Still Haunts Me

                                   Prologue

  Belch and his younger sister Kate always longed for a normal life. They never were apart from each other, scared something might happen. For as long as Belch could remember he always had to protect his sister, not from kids at school, but their own parents. They grew up in a terrible household. Their parents would come home, drunk, or high off pills, and if Belch and Kate were in the way, there'd be trouble. More than just a "get out of the way" or "go to your room". No. They'd get a beating from hell. Mostly it would happen to Kate because she was small, and fragile. Belch would have to protect her, usually ending up with cuts and bruises too.

  It wasn't always like this. They use to be the perfect family. Perfect kids, perfect parents. Like out of a fairy tale or the kind you see on tv. But it all stopped when they were about 7 and 8 years old. Their father came home drunk after being fired, he smelled of alcohol and cigars. He never drank. The only time he'd smoke is when he got a promotion, this was definitely not a promotion.

Then...

  The front door slammed, rattling the whole house. Kate and Reggie were in the living room playing one of their favorite board games, monopoly. "Honey? Is that you?" Their mother called from the kitchen. Nothing. "Honey, it's late where have you been?" She called again. "I'm going to bed" he spoke as he kicked his shoes off walking to the staircase. Their mother came out of the kitchen and grabbed his arm, "sweetie I made supper– are you drunk?" She said looking up at his sweaty, drunken expression. "Honey you don't drink, did something happen? Is it your parents? Is everything okay?! Talk to me!" She pleaded.

  He finally got tired of he questioning him, "no Loraine everything is not fine! I got fired today!" He yelled back. "Honey please quiet down the kids are just in the other room, they'll hear you!" She yelled in a whisper. And they did, Reggie, before he was known as Belch, and Kate were standing by he wall listening to their parents bicker. They never argued. "I don't give a damn if they were right here, it still doesn't change the fact I got fired!" He yelled again slurring his words. He turned to go back upstairs, but not before their mother, Loraine, grabbed his arm again and pulled him back around, "is that– lipstick on your neck?" She sounded worried. "And if is?" Their father spoke. "Did you– did you sleep with another woman?! How could you?!" She yelled at him.

  "I'm not in the mood, I don't want to hear it" he mumbled walking upstairs, she grabbed him once more. "You did! Who is she?! Is she someone from work?!" This time when he pushed her off she fell down the steps she was on, he got over top over her and she smacked him. He started to hit her, that's when Kate ran out screaming "daddy! No stop it! Don't hit mommy!" Then he turned to Kate, "don't interrupt the grown ups! What have we told you about interrupting the grown ups?" He said said grabbing her small fragile arm tightly, leaving a bruise in the shape of a hand.

  "Daddy, please you're hurting me!" She yelped. His grip only got tighter, "oh I am?" He chuckled. Reggie came out of nowhere and tackled him. "Let go of my sister!" He screamed as he hit and kicked their father. He grabbed Reggie and held him to the floor, he hit him a couple times "now now young Reginald". Their mother stood up and kick him square in the chin, knocking him out cold leaving him lying there on the floor. "Go upstairs." She said to Reggie and Kate. They hesitated, "now!" She yelled, Reggie helped Kate up and lead her to his room, they ran to the far side of his bed and she sobbed he held her in his arms.

  The rest of the night their parents fought, there were loud crashing noises of things being broken, yelling, thuds. "I'm scared Reggie" Kate whispered to her big brother. "I got you, don't worry" he said as he held her closer. After that their mother wasn't the same, she began drinking and also became abusive to her children, just because she didn't want to be bothered by them or her cheating husband. This continued for weeks, months, and years, it only got worse.

  There was a few times Kate had accidentally gotten in the way, and they took it out on her, too many times she almost died from being beaten so badly, and probably would've if it wasn't her her big brother. Kids at school would often ask what happened, why they had bruises and cuts, and they had to lie and say they fell playing.

  From the time they were 7 and 8, and it wouldn't stop until they were 12 and 13. That's when they finally got away, because they finally got brave enough to call for help. They moved in with their grandparents who lived about an hour away, in a little town called Derry. Reggie went on to the new school, and Kate stayed home, she wasn't ready for school, so her grandma homeschooled her. Reggie got held back his first year at his new school, he gotten into a bad group of people, known as the Bowers gang. They also started calling him Belch. But if you heard him, you'd see why. He wasn't the same Reggie she knew. He was mean and ruthless with these boys, or so she heard. Belch never brought his friends around, and he was still protective over his little sister.

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A/n– hey guys so here is the first chapter, sorry it's a bit short. I wanted you guys to get to know their past a bit before we get into the actual story. Tell me what you guys think so far, drop a comment below and a vote. If you want to just message me cause you want to talk or need a friend, I'm always here, feel free to message me whenever you like. Also if you love the bowers gang you should check out my Patrick fanfic. Hope you guys enjoy this one tho!🖤🖤🖤