#pcnnywiisc

One turn, just a simple change in direction, was all that it took to take the night from mundane to...strange. He had heard whispers before and he had learned to ignore them, but these were coming directly from the sewer below. And they were saying his name. Dropping the cigarette, he strode forth towards the gutter hole. An odd sense of foreboding overtook him, but Roman wasn’t a little boy and he wasn’t about to run away from silly things. Curious, he stooped down to peer into the darkness of the sewers below. Yet, he saw nothing, and he felt foolish after a few seconds of staring. It wasn’t until he was about to stand that he caught a glimpse of something. Something shining...

It was a stupid plan, though he felt as though it was meant to happen. Either way, Bill stood there in the waste water they had trekked through so many times before. He didn’t want to drag the others into this, it was something he alone had to do. Like double checking the pulse of a corpse, even if there was no body to find. He would know if the monster was truly gone. So deeper he went into the tunnels, flashlight swinging from wall to wall and finding nothing but the occasional rat. 

What a waste of time.

Tonight, however, there was an odd feeling in the air that he couldn’t explain. A weight in the pit of his stomach, anxiety without cause. Caleb didn’t get frightened of something as simple as solitude, of dimly lit corridors and the strange little noises a building makes at night. Yet something had the hair on the back of his neck standing up, and it was finally enough to prompt him to leave his station and venture into the hallway. Under the pretense of hitting up the vending machine for a late dinner, he trudged towards the glow of the florescent lights ahead, expecting nothing more than the difficult choice of chips or cookies (or both).

And finally it was just too much. He hopped on Silver and away he went, climbing the fire escape that would take him to her window. He gave a few taps, after peeking through to make sure her father wasn’t in sight. And again, he waited...

Immediately, the first thing to hit him was the musty smell of dust that’s sat too long. Every footstep stirred up a cloud of it, enough to make his initial journey through the living room something of a coughing fit. There was nothing of interest to be found, and so carefully he made his way through the kitchen and into a study. Nothing caught his eye, and at the very least he needed a ‘trophy’ to bring back to satisfy this stupid dare. All roads led back to the stairway, so with a sigh, Billy began the steep climb one step at a time.

That foreboding feeling from before had returned with a vengeance. It’s an old abandoned house. That means there’s no one here. Except rats...Shaking his head, he entered the nearest bedroom, and began rummaging through an old dresser. He almost didn’t register the creak of the door, but he definitely heard the slam. His head whipped back to look, but nothing was there. Slowly, he stood up straight, heart pounding in his ears.

     “Who’s there?”

𝖩𝗂𝗇𝗑 𝗁𝖺𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝗆𝗈𝗏𝗂𝗇𝗀…𝗁𝖺𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗏𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖻𝖾𝗁𝗂𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗈𝗌 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝗄𝗇𝖾𝗐, 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝗋𝖾𝖾𝗍𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗆𝖺𝖽𝖾 𝗌𝖾𝗇𝗌𝖾 𝗂𝗇 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗈𝗐𝗇 𝗍𝗐𝗂𝗌𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝗐𝖺𝗒 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗋𝖾𝖼𝗈𝗋𝖽 𝗆𝖺𝖽𝖾 𝗂𝗍 𝗂𝗆𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗌𝗂𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗒. 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝗉𝖺𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝖼𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖾𝖽 𝗁𝖾𝗋 “𝗊𝗎𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾,” “𝗎𝗇𝗈𝗋𝗍𝗁𝗈𝖽𝗈𝗑,” 𝖺𝗇𝖽 “𝗋𝖾𝖼𝗄𝗅𝖾𝗌𝗌,” 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝖼𝗁, 𝗁𝗈𝗇𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗅𝗒, 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖼𝗈𝖽𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋 “𝗀𝖾𝗍𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌 𝖽𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗂𝗇 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗈𝗐𝗇 𝗐𝖺𝗒.”

Derry's habit of horrible events hadn't escaped Marie's notice. The rural port town she grew up in near the tip of Maine never had any documentation about the place. She had passed through on a whim in her early twenties and discovered it possessed a gruesome history. How no one outside of Derry knew such eluded her. When she had left, her awareness dulled but never truly faded. Like a timer counting down, some nagging part of her was drawn back to the place she could barely recall.

Only this time, there was unrest. Missing children, mainly. Some adults, too, but mostly youths. Slipping into work at the paper, she pursued the reports in her own free time. Marie was all too familiar with children disappearing; she both knew what it was like to be one and what it was like to be waiting for news of them. There was a restlessness within her and her discomfort rivaled her inquisitiveness.

She followed the path of the disappearances, starting with the first recorded one of this year. Marie played her role as the journalist seeking to keep the police on top of these disappearances, inquiring with families and visiting the places related to the children. The police of Derry weren't thrilled, especially upon learning she wasn't above causing some chaos if it meant finding answers.

As of now, she was here. Hand resting against a tree as she let out a little sigh of frustration. There were barely any signs. It was like these kids were walking one moment and gone the next, trails cold. No tire tracks, no other footsteps in some of the quieter locations they could have gone missing. They were just... gone.