Chapter 21

Ben came out of the library with the books and research he had gathered on the history of Derry and the strange events that took place. It was strange, as if every time a child disappeared, death soon followed. Ben opened his backpack and took out his walkie-talkie. He pressed the button and static caved in.

"Hey Bill, I'm heading back to the library now." Ben said.

"Alright, just b-be careful." He said.

Ben turned off the walkie-talkie, placed it back in his backpack, and headed to the bike rack. It was far, but it was the only place he could park it. Why it had had to be far, I have no idea. As Ben headed to the bike rack, he was unaware that Bowers was behind him.

"Where you off to, tits?" Bowers asked.

Ben turned around and saw Bowers laying his back on a statue, his arms crossed, and had a evil smirk. Terrified, Ben turned back around and started to run, but he was caught by Victor. The rest of the Bowers gang followed as he dragged Ben to the kissing bridge. All the while, the Bowers gang laughed as Ben cried to be let go, cried for help, cried to be left alone, and pleaded for them to stop. Patrick pulled his backpack as Belch lifted the bottom of his shirt over his head and Victor patted his exposed belly like a drum. Belch pinned Ben to the side of the bridge and took his shirt off of his head. He and Victor pinned Ben.

"Look at all this blubber." Belch mocked.

"I'm gonna light his hair, just like Micheal Jackson." Patrick sneered.

Patrick took out a lighter and a can of hair spray. When he lit the lighter and sprayed the hair spray, the chemicals together blew the fire like a dragon blowing his fire, over Ben's head and between Belch and Victor. Patrick stopped spraying the hair spray and the fire ceased.

"Hold him." Henry ordered.

As Ben struggled to break free, Belch and Victor held him down tighter and Bowers got into his face.

"Get off me! GET OFF ME!" Ben screamed.

Enraged, Bowers punched him multiple times and for a moment, Ben's ears were ringing as this was the first time he was punched. When Bowers stopped and screamed at Ben's face, Ben's nose was bleeding and Bowers was satisfied.

"Okay kid, this is why we call this the kissing bridge. It's for two things: sucking face and carving names." He said intimidating.

Meanwhile

Pennywise watched from a few trees as Belch made a pucker up kissing face, Ben trying to fight back, Victor and Patrick laughing at him, and Bowers taking out his switchblade.

"Bowers, please." Ben pleaded.

Pennywise watched as Bowers carved a "H" into Ben's belly, causing him to scream in agony, pain, and distress. Pennywise growled as he watched Victor and Patrick laugh at Ben, but then he noticed that Belch was horrified. Not wanting to lose his prey, Pennywise quickly ran to the car and used the blade he had to slash the tires and scratch the side of Bower's car. He got to the other side and did the same thing. Pennywise made sure that he did this quietly and not to be seen.

"Woah, Henry." Belch spoke.

"SHUT UP! I'm gonna carve my whole name into his cottage cheese!" Bowers screamed.

Ben's expression changed to anger, but before he could do anything, he looked behind Bowers and saw something that made his eyes wide as Bowers was about to carve a "E".

"Hey Bozos!" a voice shouted.

The Bowers gang turned around and saw Richie standing next to their car. The car was damaged, the tires were slashed and it had a long scratch. The Bowers gang were horrified, but the worst part was when Richie took out a rock and hit the wind shield multiple times until the entire wind shield cracked.

"Come and get me cowards." Richie mocked.

His eyes had glowed hellfire, but the Bowers gang didn't care. Bowers was enraged and Richie ran into the forest.

"Get him, you're dead Tozier!" Bowers yelled.

"No stop, that's not Richie!" Ben yelled.

But Bowers didn't listen. He ran after Richie with Patrick behind him and Belch and Victor let go of Ben. He fell to the ground as Belch and Victor follow Bowers and Patrick into the forest. Ben was in pain, but he managed to get up and get into his backpack to get his walkie-talkie. He got it out, press the button, and static caved in.

"Bill, Bill come in!" Ben yelled.

At the hospital

Bill was pacing back and forth while everyone was sitting on the floor or chairs, waiting for Ben to come back. Bill was worried, Ben should've been back by now, so where was he? Bill looked around and saw that Eddie and Georgie were concerned, Beverly, Mike, and Stanley shared Bill's feelings, and Ale didn't care. The thought of Ben being attacked by Pennywise was getting stronger, with each passing minute. Beverly looked at Bill.

"Ben should've been back by now, where is he?" she asked worried.

"I don't know." Bill said.

"Be patient, Beverly, he'll come back, I'm sure he will." Mike comforted.

Suddenly, static started in Bill's walkie-talkie.

"Bill, Bill come in!" a voice spoke.

Everyone sat up; perked or alarmed. Bill ran over and grabbed the walkie-talkie. He pressed the button and static caved in.

"Ben, is that you, what's g-g-going on?" Bill asked.

"Bowers…he…he…it's Richie, he's at the kissing bridge." He said; breathing heavily.

"The kissing bridge, what's he doing over there?" Beverly asked.

"He did say Bowers, so…" Mike spoke.

After a few moments of thinking, a horrible realization came to everyone.

"Shit." Bill spoke.

Without hesitation, Mike, Beverly, Stanley, and Ale ran out of the room. Bill looked at Georgie and Eddie, both boys were concerned.

"Georgie, I n-n-need you to st-stay here and k-k-keep an e-eye on Eddie, alright?" Bill ordered.

"Okay." Georgie spoke.

Bill nodded and he ran out of the room; both boys watched with concern. Bill ran out of the hospital and got on his bike with everyone else waiting for him. He pedaled his bike down the road while everyone followed him. They managed to reach the kissing bridge and found Ben laying on the ground bleeding and found Bowers damaged car. Bill, Beverly, Mike, and Stanley were horrified while Ale was shocked. They got off their bikes and ran over to Ben.

"Ben, are you okay, what h-h-happened?" Bill asked.

"It was Bowers, he and his gang ambushed me when I was heading back to my bike. They dragged me all the way here and Bowers cut me with his knife. That's when Pennywise came out of no where and damaged their car. They chased him all the way into the forest and they haven't come out." He explained.

Everyone looked at the damaged car, they were shocked at the sight.

"Pennywise's got guts, I'll give you that." Mike said.

"This isn't good." Ale spoke.

"Come on." Bill said.

"I'll stay with Ben." Beverly said.

She kneeled beside him and tried to stop the bleeding. Bill, Mike, Stanley, and Ale ran into the forest and followed the trail the Bowers gang and Pennywise probably went through. After going past a few hills, a leaf pile, and a few rocks, they stopped at the river to catch their breath and look around. There were footprints indicating that Bowers and his gang split up of two, but any tracks that belong to Richie was long gone. Mike looked at Bill.

"It looks like the Bowers gang split up. Should we split up and follow them?" he asked; panting.

"No, No, I'm n-n-not taking the r-risk of anyone else d-d-disappearing. Let Pennywise be Bowers p-p-problem. Right now, we to head back and ch-check on B-B-Ben." Bill said.

After everyone caught their breath, they walked back to where Ben and Beverly were. After a few miles of walking, they managed to reach the kissing bridge and walk down the hill to Ben and Beverly. The pair saw the group approaching them.

"Did you find Richie?" Beverly asked.

"No, we l-lost him at the river." Bill answered.

"It looks like the Bowers gang split up." Mike added.

Bill looked at Ben and saw that the bleeding had stopped, but he wondered if Ben would have the strength to make it back to the hospital. Bill looked at his shirt and then the ground. There wasn't any blood on the ground, but there was a small puddle of it on his shirt. Bill looked at Ben.

"Do you think y-y-you can m-make it back to the h-h-hospital? The doctors are gonna w-want to h-h-heal your w-wounds." He asked.

"Yeah, yeah I think I can make it back." Ben said confidently.

"Good, then lets go." Bill said.

Beverly helped Ben up and got him on her bike while Bill, Mike, Stanley, and Ale started getting on their bikes. Ale looked into the forest one last time and knew what would happen next. Pennywise damaging Bower's car wasn't out of pure pleasure, but rather, it was a diversion to lure prey into the woods. If Ale's hunch was right, this fear demon would not break this tradition for sinners. Bill, Beverly, Stanley, and Mike pedaled down the street back to the hospital and Ale followed.