Demon 🔥 Reddie

1

There was one house in all of Derry where the door only opened twice a day. Once at noon, when Sonia Kaspbrack ambled outside to go to the pharmacy and pick up pills and other confusing items, and once again at four o'clock at night when she went back inside. It was always the same, opening and closing the door at the same exact times. The lady had the same schedule, never changing, never evolving.

There was no reason anyone needed to know her schedule, since she apparently lived alone, but there wasn't much else for Richie Tozier to do. He could've gone to the quarry with his friends or gone to the arcade.

Boring.

If he did that, it would become routine, and Richie hated routine more than anything.

That's the ironic part about him watching Sonia Kaspbrack. She had the same routine for absolutely no reason, and for some reason, Richie took it upon himself to watch her routine.

It intrigued Richie like nothing ever had. It wasn't just the routine either. She had an absurd amount of locks on her front door. All of her shades were black and always drawn. She didn't have a car and she never spoke to anyone except Mr. Keene, the pharmacist.

Richie didn't live far from Sonia Kaspbrack's house, so he often passed it on his way to Bill's or Stan's. At first he thought it was coincidence, until he realized it was routine. A constant, unrelenting routine.

It was so fascinating, how she never seemed to pause, every day the same. It was like she had to stick with it.

Noon on the dot.

Four o'clock on the dot.

Bunches of locks.

Black shades.

"I think she's hiding something," Richie said as he looked out Bill's window, peering down the street to where he could see the smoke puffing out of Sonia's chimney.

"I think you're a stalker," Stan responded in a monotone voice, rolling the dice for the board game he and Bill were playing.

"I am not! It's just weird. I mean, why does she even have a fire going? It's March. And what about her-"

"Cr-creepy black shades and ex-excessive amount of l-locks? You've said it h-hundreds of times, R-Richie. It's n-none of our business," Bill cut off with an eye roll, leaning against his bed as Stan moved his game piece forward a few spaces.

"It's weird!"

Stan smiled wickedly at Bill before turning to Richie and forcing his face into one of confusion.

"Now that you mention it, it is pretty strange," Stan said, climbing up onto the bed next to Richie.

Bill glared at Stan, knowing he was taking advantage of Richie's gullible personality.

"I mean, she's really exact on her timing. It's odd," Stan continued furrowing his eyebrow for good measure.

Richie grinned brightly. "See, Billiam? Stan gets it!" he exclaimed, ignoring Bill's second eye roll.

"Yeah, maybe we should sneak inside and see what she's hiding," Stan said with a smirk.

"You think?"

"Yeah, you know what else, Rich?"

"What?"

"Maybe we should also invite Bowers to the quarry sometime! Seems like the kind of plan to go along with breaking into some fat lady's house!" Stan exclaimed, laughing at Richie's mood switching from excitement to anger within seconds.

"Fuck you, Stan," Richie hissed, physically pushing Stan off the bed and onto the game board. All of the pieces went flying as Stan gripped his stomach, laughing loudly at Richie while Bill gave them both looks of disappointment.

"Come on, Rich! She lives alone and doesn't like people or kids. Of course she has a routine and locks on her door!" Stan said, getting off the game board.

Richie didn't respond, instead driving on top of Stan and sitting on his stomach. "You're a dick, Uris," Richie hissed, glaring down at his friend.

"Are you gonna hit me?" Stan asked, egging Richie on. He knew Richie would never physically attack one of his friends, so he wasn't that intimidating.

However, Richie smiled and began tickling Stan's sides, causing Stan to yell out in a panicked laughter.

"What was that, Stan? You're sorry and you admit my dick is bigger than yours?" Richie asked as he continued to torture his friend while Bill put away his board game, not trying to interfere with the drama of his friends.

"Get... off!" Stan gasped, trying to fight back, though his attempts were unsuccessful.

Eventually tickling Stan got boring and Richie climbed off his friend, sitting on the ground. Stan was breathing heavily, glaring at Richie. He would've fought back, but Richie was taller and a bit stronger, so he'd end up in the same position as before.

Richie stood up and brushed himself off, watching the sun set, spreading pink and red colors over the sky above Derry. He grabbed his shoes and threw them on before tossing his backpack over his shoulder.

"I'll see you assholes tomorrow," he said, opening the door to Bill's room.

"D-don't forget to f-finish your part of th-the project!" Bill called as Richie made his way down the stairs.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get your dick in a twist!" Richie shouted back.

"Language, young man," Sharon Denbrough called from her kitchen, though she was smiling. "Do you want to take something home to eat, Rich?"

"Nah, I'm okay. My mom's feeling better today, so she said she'd cook, and dad should be home by now," Richie said with a smile.

"Okay, let us know if you need anything," Sharon said with a soft smile as Richie left through the front door after thanking her.

He began the short walk home, but stopped as he walked in front of Sonia Kaspbrack's house. He narrowed his eyes and looked up to the window in the upstairs part of the house. The dark curtain was fluttering, and Richie could've sworn he saw someone looking out through it.

"Stop daydreaming, Rich," Richie scolded himself, shaking his head.

As he continued his walk, he heard a high pitched screech, which made his hair stand on end. His breathing and heart rate picked up speed and he turned back toward the house. It sounded like the screech had come from inside.

Richie was intrigued for sure, but he was not about to break into a house with a high pitched screech coming out of it. Especially not at nine o'clock on a school night when Sonia Kaspbrack was at home.

Fuck that.

So Richie continued to walk toward his house, but his hair still stood on end, goosebumps spread all over his arms. He couldn't get the sound out of his head. After a quick dinner and movie, Richie walked upstairs to his room, shutting the door behind him.

He hadn't spoken since he got home, the sound still in his head. It didn't sound human, and it was terrifying. However, it made Richie want to get inside Sonia Kaspbrack's house even more.