Demon 🔥 Reddie

6

Richie invited Bev to his house, since there was no point in going back to the school. Maggie definitely wouldn't have a problem with him skipping if he told her that Bowers had been assaulting his newfound friend. He wasn't going to tell her about the break in to Sonia Kaspbrack's house, but he did want to go back. As terrifying as Eddie was, Richie was so interested.

Why did he have wings? Why was he chained in his room? How did his eyes turn red? What did he mean when he said he overwhelmed their emotions?

It was so confusing yet so fascinating.

He opened the door to his house and walked inside. Maggie was in the kitchen reading a magazine at the table. She glanced up when the door opened, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Rich? What are you doing home?" she asked, walking over to pull Richie into a hug. That's when she saw Bev. "Oh, and who are you?"

"Beverly Marsh, Mrs Tozier. It's my fault Richie's skipping school. I had a run in with a schoolmate who..." Bev didn't really know what else to say. She didn't want to talk about almost being sexually assaulted.

"She had a run in with Henry Bowers, mom," Richie said, quickly covering for Bev.

Maggie rolled her eyes in annoyance. She knew about Henry, of course. He was the only kid who had been bothering her son since he was in elementary school. She'd do something about it, but Bowers' dad was the chief of police so she couldn't really do much.

"Okay, I'll make lunch for you two," Maggie said with a smile as Richie and Bev walking toward the stairs. "Wait, Rich, what's on your face?"

Richie turned back to Maggie, who was staring at him. She walked over to him and touched his cheek, before pulling her hand as if she'd been burned.

"Did someone hit you?" she asked, concerned for her son.

"No? What's on my face?" Richie asked. He didn't feel anything.

"It looks like a handprint and it's really hot to the touch. Does it hurt?"

"I didn't even notice it, mom. Do you see it, Bev?" Richie turned to Bev, who narrowed her eyes.

"I didn't notice it until now," she said, trying to sound unaffected. She knew it had to have something to do with Eddie. There was no way it was anything else.

Richie walked to the bathroom and saw the red mark on his face. He instantly remembered the burning feeling on his face before he blacked out in Eddie's room. It was in the shape of a small hand, much smaller than Richie's but too big to be a child's.

"Eddie did this, didn't he?" Bev asked from behind Richie. She leaned on the doorway, glaring at Richie. It was clear she still hadn't forgiven him for staying in Sonia Kaspbrack's house.

"He must've, but even a hard slap would've faded by now, right?" Richie asked in a quiet voice so Maggie wouldn't hear. He ran a cloth under cold water and held it to his face before dropping it almost instantly.

"What's wrong?" Bev asked, worried and confused at the same time. She reached down and lifted up the rag, about to hand it to Richie.

He immediately backed away, shaking his head. "It's too cold," he said in a small voice.

"It's not even that cold, Rich."

"It feels like ice. It hurt, Bev."

Bev narrowed her eyes, lifting the rag. She pressed against Richie's arm and he didn't react. It seemed that the pain only came when it touched the mark on his face. There wasn't anything they could really do about it, so the pair walked up to Richie's room.

Richie decided to finish his part of the project, knowing Bill would call him later. He'd probably be annoyed that Richie skipped, but he'd forgive Richie if he told Bill about the run in with Bowers. He wouldn't mention Bev unless she wanted him to.

As he worked at his desk, scribbling down different equations and formulas to add to the poster, Bev went through his collection of bird feathers. They weren't his, but Stan kept them at his house since his mom and dad hated dirty things, including his collection of feathers. There were bunches of them, all dark browns and blacks primarily. The only bright one was a blue feather that Maggie brought back for Stan when she went on a business trip to South America, as requested by Richie.

"What was he?" Bev said as she looked at a black feather in the box. It resembled the color of Eddie's wings, but his were leathery, not soft and feathered.

"I don't know. He was cute though," Richie said with a shrug.

"You almost got killed by it and you think it's cute?"

"Come on, Marsh. If he wanted to kill us he'd have done it when we were knocked out. I don't think he meant any harm."

Bev rolled her eyes. "Look at the mark on your face and tell me that again."

Richie ignored her and continued to work on his project. Maggie brought them sandwiches for lunch, and by the time school ended, Richie had finished his project and they laid on his floor, listening to music.

"Y-you better have a g-good fucking reason f-for sk-skipping, Tozier!" Bill's voice rang out from behind the door before he slammed it open, glaring at Richie. Then he saw Bev and shut his mouth, clearly embarrassed.

"Billiam, this is Miss Marsh. Miss Marsh, this is my dear friend Billiam," Richie said, his eyes closed and still laying on the ground.

"Nice to meet you," Bev said with a smile, shaking Bill's hand.

"Why'd you skip?" Stan asked, following Bill into Richie's room and sitting on his bed.

Richie was about to lie to cover for Bev, but she spoke up before he got the chance.

"Bowers was trying to rape me so Richie kicked him in the balls and helped me get away," she said before introducing herself to Stan.

"Oh. D-did you at least f-finish your part of th-the project?" Bill asked, smiling when Richie handed him the finished poster.

"Mom said you guys could stay for dinner if you want," Richie said, sitting up. He noticed that Bill and Stan were staring at him. Well, at his cheek.

"Wh-what happened t-to your f-face?" Bill asked, walking over to Richie and peering at his cheek.

"Let's say theoretically I snuck into Sonia Kaspbrack's house and some kid with wings knocked me out. Then let's take that theory and say it actually happened," Richie said, watching Stan roll his eyes and Bill furrow his eyebrows.

"She caught you in her house?" Stan asked, thinking Richie was trying to cover for himself and not admit to being caught by a three hundred pound woman.

"No, a demon attacked me. Well, he looked like one. Red eyes, wings, the whole thing," Richie said.

"B-bullshit."

"He's telling the truth," Bev said. "Touch the mark. Whatever touched him isn't human."

Bill and Stan didn't expect Bev to be in on Richie's joke. So, they each reached out to touch the mark, both pulling their hands away instantly. It was hot and hurt to touch, as if thousands of needles had stabbed their fingers.

"What the fuck?!" Stan asked, huffing as he pulled his hand away.

"Told you," Richie responded with a shrug. "She also broke her routine today."

"Wh-what?"

"Bev and I were in the diner and she was going to the pharmacy at nine. Bet it had something to do with Eds."

"Eds?" Stan asked.

"Yeah, the demon-cutie said his name was Eddie. So, I'm calling him Eds."

Bill and Stan looked at each other. They didn't know if they wanted to believe Richie, but he seemed like he was telling the truth.

This called for investigation.