The Losers Club ~completed~

Chapter 15-Dinner and a Show

"And then I said, to my kid or my wife!" Richie yells out the ending of his joke, looking over to Eddie who is blushing profusely. You watch them flirt and giggle through the dinner when the waitress comes by and pours you all some more wine, accompanied with Richie's sangria (he's always been extra) and Mike looks over at Eddie.

"You and trashmouth have been quite chummy tonight, is there anything you'd like to tell us?" Mike asks. Eddie smiles to himself and begins to talk. "Well, before I say anything I'd like to make a toast. Strap in it's gonna be a long one," he stands up, dramatically picking up his small glass of red wine. "I've known you guys since I was 11. Now I can't remember much from being a kid but when I'm back here I can only remember how I felt. Happy. That was one of the only times I was truly happy, truly myself. I've kept this secret from you guys since we graduated middle school, and then freshman year I knew. Bill, I didn't go to all your baseball games because I was "interested in the sport", Mike, remember that time you walked in on me in my room? I wasn't practicing the school play makeup. And Bev, remember when I asked you for advice about a girl I like? Well it wasn't a girl. I'm gay and I've been in love with Richie since I was 16, now I have a ring to prove it." Eddie holds up a gorgeous diamond engagement band. "I'll toast to that!" Richie yells and downs the frozen sangria in one gulp, then proceeding to cough for 5 minutes straight. You gather around him and congratulate him and see the ring. You give him a huge hug and whisper "I'm so proud of you" into his ear.

"I hate to bring the evening down but we need to get to business." Mike interjects after Richie's 4th sangria. "There's been 5 murders so far." Suddenly there's a loud gasp-like noise and you look over to see Eddie clutching his chest and panting. He sets his inhaler down onto the table with a soft clink and starts blushing embarrassed. You think back on the familiar sound of his inhaler, surprised you didn't recognize it.

"Tell us a-about it. Wait?" Bill looks over at Bev, panic rising in his eyes. "My st-st-stutter it's buh-buh-back."

"Then we better move quickly." Mike replies. "Let's start off simple. A girl named Julia Chessiar aged 6 was reported missing from her single moms house on April 17th. They found no set of footprints, no blood, no nothing. They pegged the disappearance on her father by the name of George Chessiar who lived in Fort Worth Texas who might've wanted custody and picked the kid up from school and kidnapped her. According to Julia's mother (Cameron) and official records, her father never knew that she existed, let alone where she lived. But the police skimmed past it and began to search for her father. Then a body was found by the barrens. It was mutilated, arms missing along with large chunks taken out of the side, it was Julia. Soon after the boy who found her, a 16 year old bully named Frank Kinfered was found near the Kenduskeag missing his head. Then a little boy named Jorge Hendrix was found half flushed down the toilet, and they pegged it on a murder. Why would a murder violently flush a 2 year old down the toilet till their head came off? There's so many more but I don't know if you guys can even process this."

"This is how it happened. Last time, I mean." Richie cuts in sadly. "First it was Georgie, then that girl, Beattie? Betty? Then Eddie. Then that boy named Patrick! I remember him, he used to bully us didn't he. He was a goddamn psychopath."

"He was. He was an actual psychopath." Beverly says quietly.

FLASHBACK (Age 16)-
"I'll meet up with y'all later, I need to grab something from the dump before it gets too dark." Beverly yells to the boys riding their bikes.

"I c-can help if y-y-you want, Bev." Bill calls back, hopping off his bike.

"That would be nice, big Bill." She calls back.

They walk somberly towards the dump, stopping only to jump the fence. They move closer and closer to the Kenduskeag and Beverly gets a sour feeling in the pit of her stomach. She then notices Patrick Hockstetter crouching low down in some brambles holding something squirming in his hands, Bev immediately recognized it to be your dog.

"Oh my god, he's got y/n's dog." She whispers panically. "What do we do?" She asks, they watched stunned as Patrick lifts up the tiny puppy and stuffs it into an abandoned fridge, locking it inside. He smiles to himself and walks quickly towards them, head bent down so he can't see them. Bill slowly picks up a metal rod sitting next to him and silently charges, knocking into the side of his head with the pole. He collapses to the ground, blood oozing from his wounded head. Bev makes a beeline for the fridge and busts off the lazy lock with a quick kick. Suddenly a fowl offending scent of dead things greats her nose, along with puppy kisses. She holds the heavily breathing animal in her arms when she looks down in horror. There sits a girl, mostly decomposed with small marks on her arms and neck, and she suddenly, terrifyingly, realizes who it is. "Bill! It's-it's y/n's sister! It's Gretchen!"