𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫

74. Henry Creel

March 25, 1986

Richie Tozier stood in front of his cousin, his eyes burning as tears streamed down his face profusely. Nancy Wheeler's cheeks were in his hands, her lifeless eyes stared back at his. She seemed lifeless, almost all energy drained from her.

"Nancy, wake up, wake the hell up!" Richie spoke, it was hardly above a whisper. He couldn't lose another person in his life, not now. Why the hell didn't Nancy warn them? Why was this happening to her of all people? 

"WHATEVER YOU GUYS ARE DOING UP THERE HERE UP!" Steve shouted, his lips trembling. He had a tight grip on Richie's shoulder, he was offering as much comfort as he could at that moment. He felt like shouting out at that moment; he was petrified. He couldn't lose Nancy, he couldn't. They may have grown apart, but Nancy still was his first love. She was still his friend, he would do anything he could to protect her and everyone else he has in his life.

Erica raced off toward Eddie's room as everyone scrambled around looking for anything that could bring Nancy back. "Nancy Drew, please come on you gotta stay with me, please god. I need you to stay with me, oh god." He lowered his head, his eyes closing tightly together. "Please, please wake you, come on, Nancy." He suddenly winced, his head pounding. "Fuck." He whispered, biting his lip as his ears began to ring.

He backed away slowly, he could feel his heart starting to race almost violently. His breath quickened as he moved over toward the corner of the room. His eyes shifted to Nancy's frail figure, it felt unnatural to see. Click chimes and her screams filled with fear of agony flowed through his ears,

"Stop, stop, stop, stop. Fucking cock sucker." A voice seemed to stand right beside him, whispering in his ear. He could feel it was Vecna speaking harshly to his cousin, her emotions were flooding through him. She was terrified of this foreign creature, yet his voice seemed far too similar. If only Doctor Brenner didn't erase his memory. If only he could understand more about himself and all of these unknown but familiar things in this weird and horrendous small town.

Richie covered his ears, hoping the screaming would stop. The pain would just simply stop. Yet, he knew his efforts wouldn't do anything. That was until it suddenly stopped, a heavy gasp escaped from Nancy's lips. He saw her knees buckle underneath her, causing her to fall backward. Steve immediately caught her wrist, helping her cushion her fall.

"Nancy!" Richie moved forward, falling to her knees beside her. "Oh god, Nancy." He wrapped his hand around hers tightly, her eyes glistened with tears as she looked up at her cousin. A sob was stuck inside of her throat, her body shook.

"Richie." Her words were slurred as she gripped onto Richie's hand even more tightly. "Oh god." Tears streamed more and more heavily down her slender cheeks. "It was horrible, it was so horrible."

Richie grabbed hold of her, resting a hand behind her head as she buried her face into his shoulder. "Shh, you're okay. You are safe now, I got you." He spoke softly into her ear, he felt these words should only be shared between the two of them. This was between them, nobody else. "You're okay, I'm not going to let him hurt her." He lifted his head, placing his chin on top of her head. He could feel the hot liquid from his eyes slowly moving down his own face.

He was scared and felt like he failed. He failed his group, his family himself. He felt deep inside of him he allowed this to happen, he allowed the pain and fear his cousin was feeling. If only he still had his powers. He could be much more useful than he was right now, he could be helping to have these people. He could stop this monster from hurting the people that he loves. He could be stopping him from hurting his family. Now, he simply cowers in fear, knowing he isn't strong enough to stop this interdimensional creature.