Nightmare: Reddie

Chapter 3

Richie and Eddie stood back at the same cracked pavement outside of Eddies house they had met on hours before. "Richie, my mom is gonna have a bird and it's all your fault." Richie giggled and took his glasses off and wiped the lenses with his shirt because they were still caked with mud. "Don't worry Eds she loves ya too much to kill ya." Richie cracked a goofy smile once again revealing his crooked teeth. Eddies cheeks heated up but he carried on the conversation, "yeah I guess. Well it was nice hanging with you today Richie. I hope we never do this again." He chuckled. "Y'know we coul-" Richie was cut off by the slam of a screen door. The screen door of Eddies house to be exact.

Eddies mother came stomping down to the pavement nearly tripping over her own feet. "OH MY EDDIE KASPBRAK WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" Richie and Eddie didn't know what to do other than stand there as Eddies mother shrieked. "Momma it's just mud I'm fine." But she couldn't care less about a word that came from Eddies mouth. "TOZIER you slime what have you let my boy do? I don't ever wanna see you two together again! Eddie I don't know how many times I have to tell you to stop hanging with these horrid children they are a bad influence! They ain't had parents who give two damns about them." Richie looked saddened at that comment and Eddie could not believe his mother said such a thing in front of Richie. He wanted to cry but instead he pulled away from his mothers grasp and ran inside without even saying by to Richie and of course his mother came after him not looking back at Richie once.

Eddie stood in the bathroom after showering and dressing himself in clean clothes. It was beginning to get dark outside and the thought of Richie getting home safely crossed his mind. He knew there were things out there that were waiting to feed on the fear of any child that is lonely. And Richie Tozier may have been one of the loneliest kids Eddie Kaspbrak knew.

"Eddie are you done? I want to talk to you!" His mother shouted from the living room. He stood with his eyes closed leaning against the sink. "I'll be out in a minute!" He knew his mom was gonna give him a stern talk and then start crying. Like she always did. And it made Eddie feel bad that he made his mother cry, but then again he knew how melodramatic his mother was. But he grabbed his inhaler and walked out of the bathroom into the living room anyway. "Eddie please sit." Eddie took a seat in a rocking chair by the fire place across from his mother who was sipping tea from a glass mug. "Eddie you know you can't just disappear like that. You know how much I worry and-" from that point on Eddie didn't hear any of it all he could hear was Richies laugh and all he could see was what he thought... well knew he had seen on the Wheelers lawn. A clown. Yes. A clown. But this wasn't just a clown to Eddie this was every fear he'd ever had combined into one being that had been haunting him. He couldn't sleep anymore. Matter in fact he had dark circles under his eyes from all the sleepless nights.

H remembered the first time he'd ever seen IT.

It had been a dark and stormy night and he had had an asthma attacked that day after the hours of running to escape the wrath of Henry Bowers. So he had put some extra pillows on his bed to hoist him into a position that would allow him to breathe a little easier. He was relieved to finally get some rest so he shut his eyes and drifted to sleep. At first it was just a nightmare, but at that point in time he didn't know that it was never just a nightmare. He woke in a cold sweat and reached for his inhaler. He saw a long shadow casted on his wall. "Hiya, Eddie. Want a balloon Hahahaha." He had went into shock he'd figured. But somehow woke the next morning forgetting how he had gone to sleep. But he knew one thing. He was not going to sleep that night.

"And- Eddie? Eddie! Are you even listening to me?" His mother snapped him back to reality. "Yeah mamma I won't do it again I promise." Eddie gave her a sweet fake smile and for her that was enough to forgive Eddie. She hugged him and sent him to bed.

He sat on his bed for about an hour listening to the clanking of the dishes as his mother washed them. She always cleaned after dark. He lied down and shut his eyes for the first time in forever. He didn't realize it until then but he was exhausted. As he drifted to sleep he thought of Richie and how odd it was that the dark haired freckled boy had crossed his mind so many times. He drifted to sleep with a slight smile on his face.

Eddie was at the dam with Richie they sat together laughing at every little thing the other said. Richie interlocked his fingers with Eddies and they both smiled brightly as their cheeks flushed pink and Eddie felt that tingle in the pit of his stomach. Suddenly they weren't at the dam anymore. They were at a large drain pipe. Richie got up and ran into it. "Richie no!"
"What are you scared Eddie?" Richie said picking up a stick and goofing around, "haha c'mon Eddie stop being such a chicken."
"Richie please come out of there." But Richie had went farther down the drain to where Eddie couldn't see him now. As he was about to go in and retrieve Richie he heard Richie scream bloody murder. Eddie ran into the tunnel screaming Richies name he splashed through the water until he came to a stop and at his feet was something he would never unsee.
Richies dead body. His left arm ripped off much like how Georgie's was. Eddies screamed and cried.
"Richie no!"

Eddie awoke with tear filled eyes. He thought about the dream he had. It seemed short. Very short. But he checked the watch he kept on his bed side table and it was 6 am. He sat there paralyzed for a second the horrifying image of Richies bloodied lifeless body lying in grey water filled his mind. More tears spilled. Eddie felt a feeling deeper and more petrifying than before maybe it was depression. He placed his head in his hands and didn't move for a while. The sun rose and that made Eddie feel a little better. He needed to see Richie today. He had to.

Authors note: I feel like this chapter wasn't that good and there are probably a ton of mistakes I missed but I hope you liked it to some extent. 💖💖 - Ray