Fandom: IT 2017
Pairing: Abusive! Henry Bowers x Tozier! OC
Prompt: "I hate you. Maybe I loved you at one point, but not anymore."
Warnings: Mentions of sexual abuse, violence, near-death experience, swearing.
Words count: 1,511

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Diana Tozier was fearless. At least that's what her little brother, Richie, thought. She always acted like it – but deep down there was only one fear that ate away at her brain.

And that was Henry Bowers.

Everyone was terrified of Henry – the kids who he bullied, the adults who lived on the streets he terrorised, even his three friends were scared of him.

But Diana's fear of the boy was more like a phobia. Whenever she spotted Belch's infamous Trans-Am or saw Henry walking in the general direction of her, she would break a sweat, her body would tremble and her ability to breathe would soon lose its function. Once, when Henry looked at Diana for a second too long, she had to run to the toilet to empty her stomach.

The mullet-wearing boy haunted Diana's life and she hoped that when she dies, she was a good enough person to not suffer in hell with him.

Even though this fear of the school's bully nagged away at the older Tozier child, she never let anyone see it. Or at least, she tried to. Her brother was none the wiser, along with the rest of the school. However, the object of her fears had always known.

Henry Bowers had always had a talent for reading people – especially people who were afraid. And Diana was drenched in anxiety whenever he was around. Thus began the endless cycle of abuse.

The oldest Tozier child was like no over Bower's gang victim. She was special, as Henry would say. He knew that Diana wouldn't fight in certain situations – that's what made her an easy target. He could do whatever he liked with the frightened girl. Diana was an object that Henry could take his anger out on. The abuse wasn't just physical or verbal abuse, it was sexual too. She didn't like to think about it often but when she did, Diana would hate herself for allowing it to happen. She didn't want to blame herself, she knew it was never her fault, but the looks she got around the school and the hostile words that Henry would sneer at her whilst he did it made her think the worst of herself.

As a result of this endless cycle of abuse and violence, Diana found herself attached to Henry. Perhaps she was used to the neglect she got from her parents and the abuse she got from Henry was normal for her. Diana could never forgive Henry for what he had done to her but she quickly realised that the only person she wanted comfort from was Henry himself. She wasn't sure if it was love but whatever it was, she needed it.

It was idiotic, what they were doing - going down to the well-house to kill a demonic clown. It was only idiotic for Diana Tozier because she hadn't seen what her brother or his friends had seen. Richie had to practically drag her along so she could believe him. She was curious, sure, but still sceptical.

Bill, Richie's friend and the leader of the 'Losers Club', lead them all down to the basement where a rotting and decaying well sat, right in the middle of the room. The walls of the wall were broken and were stained with what Diana could only presume was blood.

"You've got to be joking, right?" Diana laughed. "Like fuck, I'm going down there. There's probably soon crackhead hobos waiting for fresh meat."

"It's a lot worse than that, Di," Richie's voice was shaky. Diana had never seen her brother so nervous before. He was only scared of clowns and werewolves and the possibility of either of them waiting at the bottom the well was extremely low.

"What's that supposed to mean? Is this some sort of prank?" Diana crossed her arms. She knew her brother was a good actor and this wouldn't be the first time that Richie and his friends pranked her. Diana smirked. "Fine. You're all going down there first."

"What?! No!" All the boy began to protest.

"No. I'm the adult here. Get down there," Diana pointed down the well, refusing to be persuaded.

The six boys around her sighed in defeat, knowing that it would be unwise to go against Diana's words. "You're only 16," Diana heard Richie mumble under his breath as he helped his friends get down the well.

"I heard that, Trashmouth," Diana nodded for him to climb down the rope, then helped Mike afterwards. Once all the boy were safely grounded in a tunnel halfway down the well, Diana took a deep breath. Just as she went to grab the rope, she heard footsteps behind. Her thick brunette locks whipped behind her as she twisted her neck. Running towards her was her worst fear.

Henry Bowers, wielding a blunt lead pipe over his head and face covered in blood. Diana's first instinct was to scream, alarming the six boys.

The blood-covered boy swung the lead pipe, smashing it against the side of her head. Diana shrieked in pain as she collapsed against the edge of the well. Henry grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the damaged waterhole. A ringing sound echoed through her ears yet she could faintly hear Richie's screams for Henry to leave her alone. It was no use – Henry had the upper hand. Diana painfully watched her abuser yank the rope up, trapping the boys in the well.

"Please," Diana weakly uttered.

"You didn't listen to what I told you, did you?" Henry eerily questioned as he slowly made his way up to the terrified girl.

"What did you tell me?" Diana questioned. Henry had said a lot of things to Diana – all were not very pretty.

Henry grinned evilly. "You should've stayed with me. Not them."

Diana shook her head yet the second she did it, a searing pain shot through her skull. "You never said that?" She didn't mean for it to sound like a question. It made her sound weak and doubtful – but she was used to feeling like that.

"Ah, silly little slut," Henry mockingly cooed. "I didn't need to. You should've known."

Henry lunged at Diana, his blood-covered hands attacking Diana's body. She was used to this sort of treatment from him. Usually, she would cry and weep as he took his anger out on her, but the crimson liquid that stuck to his features and hands made her scared. Scared for her life. She didn't want to die but she knew he would kill her. 'I'm wasn't going to die'. The thought kept running around in her head and she desperately tried to fight against Henry's strength.

Henry pinned Diana's arm down to the dirty ground, his hips straddling her legs to keep her still. He grinned at his success. "I love you, Diana Tozier."

The breath was sucked out of her. Before, she would've felt honoured, protected, safe. But now she felt disgusted. She shook her head with a groan, her eyes clenched close, her legs thrashing around violently as she tried to free herself. But to no avail.

"Tell me you love me, Diana," Henry eerily muttered. "Tell me!" He finally barked.

"I hate you!" Diana screamed, the pulse in her wound throbbing with pain. "I hate you! Maybe I loved you at one point, but not anymore," Diana yelled up at Henry, finally letting all her fears bleed out of her system. Henry pulled out the lead pipe from his back pocket and held it against Diana's temple. As his hand left her wrist, Diana stretched her fingers to grasp anything to protect herself with. Her delicate fingertips grazed across a large, rough texture so she clasped her hand around it.

"Good night, Diana," Henry sneered down at his favourite victim as he raised the lead pipe in order to swing it back down.

"Fuck you, you mullet-wearing asshole!" Diana yelled, bringing the rock in her head up quickly to smash against Henry's forehead. Henry stumbled off of Diana in pain, giving her enough time to scramble up. Just as Henry was standing up, Diana saw an opportunity and took it.

Running forward, she roughly pushed Henry backwards, the back of his legs hitting the edge of the well, causing him to stumble backwards quickly. Diana heard him yelling and screaming in pain, along with a few cracks and thuds as he hit the sides of brick walls.

"Holy shit!" Richie cursed in shook. A few flashlights turned back up the entrance of the well to see a Diana breathing heavily, a bleeding wound on the side of her face and a few yellowing bruises littering her arms waiting to blossom into large dark purple ones.

"I hope that wasn't part of your prank," Diana breathed out with a tired smile.

Perhaps she was as fearless as Richie thought.

THE END