WARNING homophobic slurs are used in this chapter (as sparingly as possible but still present); if you're sensitive to this sort of content please reconsider reading this, your mental health is more important than a wattpad fanfic
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Feeling half-baked by the sun, they took off not long after Ben's proposal.
Chris was shocked to find Richie - hell, even Eddie - silent for most of the ride, but her own mind was reeling from the revelation the new kid had sprung on them. Though, she found herself less and less surprised the more she mulled over her thoughts. Anyone that lived in Derry for more than a year knew that it was another one of those small, crummy towns neck-deep in shit. Prone to misery. And the people weren't any better save for a rare few.
As they piled their bikes on Ben's lawn, Chris spied a woman stapling a missing poster on a telephone pole.
The house was small, comfortable. It was evident that it hadn't been lived in for a little more than a year at most, but it felt more homey than the plastic-looking nightmare she lived in. Ben sprinted ahead of them, opening the door to his room. Chris could hear him shuffling about before they all filed into the room, gaping at its contents.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa - wow." Richie adjusted his glasses.
"Cool, huh?"
It looked like an FBI agent had set up camp in his room. Dozens of photos of historical documents and blueprints for buildings were tacked onto the walls. Chris didn't know where to look. Walking behind Beverly, she bent down to peek inside a homemade diorama of the standpipe.
"No, no, nothing cool. There's nothing cool." Richie muttered as he leaned in to take a look at a group of photos of Derry back in the early 20s. "This is cool, right here. Wait, no, no - it's not cool."
Stan elbowed him in the side, eliciting a muffled 'ouch' from Richie.
"What's that?" Stan pointed to a long scrap of paper.
"Oh, that? That's the charter for Derry Township."
"Nerd alert." Richie said, pushing his glasses further up his nose.
"No, actually, it's really interesting." Ben said, looking up at the charter with an all-encompassing fascination in his eyes. "Derry started as a beaver trapping camp."
"Still is, am I right, boys?" Richie raised his arm for a high five.
"Beep beep, Richie." Stan muttered.
Ben carried on. "Ninety-one people signed the charter that made Derry. But..later that winter, they all disappeared without a trace."
"The entire camp?" Eddie said, slack-jawed.
"There's a lot of theories on what could've happened, but there was no sign of any sort of attack. Everybody just chalked it up to a plague or something but there were never any bodies. It's like..one day everybody just woke up and left."
