City Fool [Mike Hanlon]

𝗌 𝖾 𝗏 𝖾 𝗇

CHAPTER SEVEN: SO UH THANKS

     Once the group packed up their things and grabbed their bikes, they began their journey to Ben's house. The entire time Richie rambled about what he expected to be in Ben's house which annoyed his sister to no end. When they finally arrived at the house, the kids dropped their bikes to the group, the exception being Stan who put down his kickstand.

Eddie fell off his bike trying to keep up with the others causing Richie and Ginny to wait for him while the others followed Ben inside. Looking to the corner of the street, Ginny noticed a woman putting up a poster on the telephone pole. As Richie and Eddie began walking into Ben's house, Ginny looked over her shoulder at the poster. The girl bit her lip gently before deciding to quickly check to see what was on the poster.

"There's no way Henry's behind this," Ginny muttered as she saw the missing poster that held a photo of Patrick Hockstetter.

She backed away from the poster slowly, bumping into someone. She turned around and saw it was Victor who she had ran into. Ginny looked over her shoulder, trying to casually check if Henry or Belch were around.

"Sorry Tozier," the blonde muttered as he looked at her.

"It's fine. I, uh, I'm sorry about Hockstetter. He may have been a dick but he was your friend," Ginny spoke as she looked down at her shoes.

Victor mumbled a "thanks" before looking at his shoes as well. He looked up and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Did Henry do something again?" The blonde boy pointed to the girl's cheek, the handprint from her father starting to peak through again.

The girl touched her cheek, tensing up when she felt the slight sting. She shook her head giving a quick answer saying it wasn't Henry and not to worry about it. Ginny sighed as she looked over her shoulder again, looking towards Ben's house.

"I, um, I never got to thank you for getting Henry to stop when he was, you know. So uh thanks. I have to go but I guess I'll see you around," Ginny sighed as she began to back away slowly.

"Anytime Tozier. See you around. Take care of yourself."

Ginny quickly ran into the house and up the stairs. She made her way to the room she heard the voices of her friends from and walked in. Stan saw her walk in and motioned her over to him where he was standing next to Richie.

"No, actually it's, it's really interesting. Derry started as a beaver trapping camp," Ben said in response to Richie calling him a nerd.

"Still is. Am I right boys?" Richie turned to Eddie and Stan, raising his hand for a high five.

"Richard shut the hell up please," Ginny rolled her eyes at the boy as she leaned against Stan.

Ben began to explain that there had been ninety-one people who had signed a charter to make Derry. However that winter every single one of them disappeared with no explanation. There had been rumors of Indians but then again there was no sign of an attack. There was no trace of them except for one. A trail of bloody clothes leading to the well house. Ginny shuddered at the thought of it.

"Jesus. We could get Derry on unsolved Mysteries!"

Ginny rolled her eyes once again. Of course that would be Richie's reaction. The brunette girl heard the sound of the door creaking and looked over her shoulder. Her face broke into a grin as she saw the New Kids on the Block poster on the back of Ben's door that Beverly had just closed. Ben looked between the two girls with a panicked expression. He gave Beverly a pleading look and she opened the door again, smiling.

Eventually the group decided it was time to leave Ben's house and headed out. They all parted ways, Ginny and Richie heading to the diner downtown to get something for dinner. They got their usual of a burger each, a single order of fries to share, and their own milkshakes. The two cracked jokes as they ate, trying to lighten the mood from the topic at Ben's house.

"Are you ready to go?" Ginny asked Richie, after paying the tab.

"Yeah. Let's go," Richie grabbed the box of their leftovers.

The siblings walked out of the diner and went to their bikes where Ginny put the box of food in the basket attached to the front of her bike. The two rode their bikes home in silence, something that was uncommon for the two. Richie could tell that Ginny wasn't feeling herself and decided to leave it be for now.

Walking up to the bathroom across the hall from her room, Ginny took the towel out of her backpack and hung it up to dry. The brunette realized that she needed to go to the pharmacy to pick up some feminine products and groaned. She grabbed some money from the fridge where her mother kept money in the butter compartment for these types of situations. She changed into some black jeans quickly before yelling out to Richie that she'd be out for a bit and ran out the door.

After making her purchase at the pharmacy, Ginny began to walk her way home. She hated riding her bike while she was on her period. She had made it about two blocks when she heard someone calling her towards an alley. She tensed up but nonetheless walked closer to the alley.

"Psst. Hey Ginny," a voice calls out.

"Who's there?" Ginny called out as she looked around the entire alleyway.

She had no idea who it could possibly be. The girl just wanted to get home but at the same time would hate to leave whoever was calling her. She didn't see a single person around her. Looking over her shoulder she heard the voice speak again.

"Ginny, it's Richie."

"Where are you? I thought you stayed home," Ginny spoke, still looking behind her.

She turned back to face in front of her, jumping when she saw the person speaking in front of her. It was as if he appeared out of thin air and it terrified her. Richie was never good at being quiet enough to surprise people.

"Did you know that you're a failure? It's your fault Dad is the way he is. Ever wonder why I'm not the one to get hit? Ever wonder why it's only you? God, I wish you didn't exist," the person spoke.

Ginny tried her best to push away everything the person was saying. This was not Richie. He would never use these things against her. But then again the things the person was saying circurled around her head, making her overthink every interaction she had had with her father in the past year.

Without realizing it, a few tears had fallen down the girl's face. She quickly wiped them away, attempting to hide it from whoever was in front of her. Her cheek stung slightly as her finger grazed her cheek causing her to wince. She was starting to believe this person was Richie. Well, until he laughed at her wincing in pain. Richie had a very distinct laugh and that was not it.

"You're not Richie. You're not real," Ginny closed her eyes trying to convince herself.

"Are you sure about that?"

The person stepped closer to Ginny, grabbing her face in their hand. Their grib was extremely tight and their nails dug into her face slightly causing her to wince. The person's other hand wrapped around her throat, their grip tighter than the grip on her face. After a few moments, the person threw the girl to the ground.

The girl choked out a breath as she tried to catch her breath as she held herself up with her hands. Ginny was sobbing as thoughts were racing through her head. Maybe this person was real. But it most definitely wasn't Richie. He would never act this way. Ginny hated how she felt at that moment. The person began to laugh again and once again it wasn't Richie's laugh.

"You wanna balloon?" A different voice spoke this time.

Ginny looked up in fear and spotted a clown. Their eyes went from Richie's comforting eyes to a bright orange that Ginny knew for certain was not natural. Out of fear, the brunette began to hyperventilate and attempted to back away. Once she was able to get to her feet, Ginny grabbed her bag and ran out of the alley and down the street.