Wildest Dreams || Reddie Fanfic

XI

After a brief explanation of where he was, Eddie jogged to class before he was late. It was one of his only electives, Criminology and Psychology, it took 3 years to convince the college board to allow the class to be introduced. The only class in the whole state dedicated to studying criminals, their psyches, what led them to be criminals, and so much more. The boards argument was that it was inappropriate to glamorize the lives of criminals and felt it grim to include murderers, but in the end Professor Marc won. This was Eddies first step to try to understand what happened to him, why it happened. He hoped he could find a semblance of closure in this class.

"Welcome, Class." Professor Marc started, he was a fashionably nerdy looking man in his mid 20s. He had light brown hair that fell loosely in curls around his head. His stylish silver glasses framed his warm hazel eyes and accented his smile. Eddie quietly entered the room from the back and tried to make his way to a seat near a back window. "What is your name, sir?" Eddie froze and hovered next to his chair.

"Uh- Eddie." He mumbled and grew uncomfortable as many eyes turned to look at him. Eddie met gazes with an intense pair of green eyes and he froze. That guy... what was his name? He looks like he could be Mr. James' kid. The resemblance was uncanny to Eddie, he looked away quickly.

"Eddie, did you sleep in or something?" He asked, his voice was not accusatory, just genuinely curious. Eddie looked to the teacher and took a deep breath.

"Or something, Professor." He answered back, gaining a smirk from the professor.

"Marc." He stated back and then turned back to the board, writing Marc on the board. "You all may call me Marc. Think of this class as more of a fan club for all things criminal. We will not have tests in this class. Instead-" Eddie silently took his seat while Marc spoke, gaining glances from him every so often. Class went on and Eddie was shocked by how complete his attention was to all the information Marc was spewing. He was fascinated by the class already. "What do you think drives someone to murder?" Marc asked, he looked out at the class, waiting for someone to answer. Nobody moved a muscle as they pondered this question.

"Escape." Eddie muttered absently as he finished a note in his book.

"Eddie?" He called on the doe eyed boy. "Did you say something?" Eddie looked around cautiously before tapping his pencil against his head and looking at his desk. "Go ahead." He urged.

"Uhm, I said escape. You know like... freedom?" He said and met eyes with Marc. He seemed to quite like this answer as he had leaned against the desk and smiled.

"Elaborate." He requested simply. Eddie thought for a minute and sighed.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe they have thoughts that make them do those things. Maybe they feel the only way to escape those thoughts is to appease them. Maybe it's to escape a bad relationship. Escape a problem. Maybe they feel weak; maybe that power over life makes them feel stronger. Perhaps...freedom can be an even more powerful aggressor... more powerful than love." Marc looked down at the desk and tapped his finger against it, listening comfortably to the silence following Eddies explanation.

"And what of obsession?" He looked up to meet Eddies gaze this time, a spark of something happening between them. Eddie blinked rapidly and dropped his pencil.

"Obsession as being a more powerful aggressor than Freedom?" Eddie asked, it almost felt as though they were the only ones in the room, like the conversation was private. Marc gave a slow curious nod. It's obsession, Eddie. "I fear you may be right about that, Marc." Eddie mumbled, looking away now and out the window. The professor looked as if he was about to say something, but suddenly a dull low tone sounded from something at his desk, signaling that class was over.