Demon 🔥 Reddie

8

When lunch came around, Richie sat down at his usual table with Ben following him cautiously. He had never met any of the others, but Richie assured him they were all nice and would welcome him easily.

"If they keep me around they'll love you," Richie said with a smirk, opening his lunch bag and pulling out a sandwich.

The others joined not long after, all putting down their bags and lunch trays. Bill looked between Richie and Ben, visibly encouraging Richie to introduce his friend.

"This is Ben. He's in my English class and he showed me the thingy on demons that I sent you whores," Richie said, tossing a fruit snack in the air and catching it in his mouth.

Bev smiled at Ben, her icy blue eyes sparkling. She held out her hand as Ben blushed furiously.

"Beverly Marsh," she said kindly, shaking Ben's hand.

"I, uh, I know," Ben said quietly. "We have history together."

"Really?! How have we never met?"

"I sit in the back usually," Ben responded, still blushing.

Bev grinned brightly. "Well you can sit with me next class, cutie! Stan, you have that class with us too, right?"

Stan nodded, smiling at Ben's blush. Stan always acted like he didn't give a fuck about anything, but he knew how to matchmake, and damn, Ben and Bev were a match made in heaven.

Bill looked up from his phone where he had been reading what Richie sent them. "S-so Eddie did th-this 'Demon Touch' on y-you?" he asked, reading the description.

"Wait, you believe him?" Ben asked, knowing that if more people believed it, it could potentially be true.

"Yeah. We usually wouldn't but Bev was there too, and that mark matches the description," Stan said, taking a bite of a celery stick.

Richie rolled his eyes at his friend, stealing one of Stan's celery sticks. "Guys, how far do you think I can deep throat this?"

"Oh my god, do not," Stan said.

"I can't believe you're daring me to do this, Staniel," Richie said, lifting the vegetable to his mouth. He was about to eat the food when he felt suddenly uncomfortable and instinctively moved to the side.

He had dove just in time and barely avoided a fist colliding with his back. Richie turned around, breathing shakily and saw Henry Bowers standing with his gang. He had murder in his eyes, a look that Richie did not want to get acquainted with.

Richie tried to move away but Bowers grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him up.

"Do you really think I'm just going to let you get away after that stunt you pulled?" Henry snarled in his face.

"L-leave him alone, B-Bowers!" Bill snapped, standing up.

"What're you gonna do about it?" Henry asked with an evil glint in his eyes. "Some day you're going to die, Denbrough. Then you can join your little brother in the afterlife."

Bill's eyes widened in anger, but not as mad as Richie got. Richie had been there for Bill when his little brother, Georgie, got sick. He had cancer and had died a few years before. Even though time had passed it still hurt, especially when Bowers brought it up.

Richie was best friends with Bill and Stan, and he and Bill shared something common: the loss of a sibling. Sure, Richie's had been through miscarriage, but it still hurt. Richie fucking hated when Bowers used the loss of Georgie to target Bill, and he was fucking pissed.

Richie wasn't sure how, but he managed to move his hands in front of him and slam his fist into Henry's nose, who dropped him instantly.

Blood spread down Henry's face, and he usually would've just lunged at Richie, but he stood back. His eyes were wide with fear and confusion, but Richie didn't understand why. Sure, Bowers should be surprised he fought back but there's no reason he needs to look afraid.

"Rich? What the hell?" Bev asked, forcing her way in front of Richie.

Other students were staring as Bev pulled Richie toward the school doors and as the Bowers gang ran off in the opposite direction. All that Richie felt was anger. He wanted to fucking kill Henry. He'd never known his blood to boil with murderous thoughts before, but there he was.

"I'm going to fucking kill you if you ever come near us again!" Richie screamed, hoping Henry heard him loud and clear.

"Zip it, Richie!" Bev hissed, covering his mouth as Bill stepped forward and helped her drag Richie outside the school.

They settled on the grass under a tree, Richie still livid. He pulled Ben's sweatshirt even tighter around him, feeling the cool air outside stab his skin like millions of tiny icicles.

"It's too cold," Richie snapped, trying to stand, but the others pulled him back down.

"We need to go to the Kaspbrack house. Eddie did something to him and he needs to fix it!" Bev said to Bill, who was the leader of their tiny group.

"He has anger issues, Bev. He just needs to cool down," Stan argued.

"Did you not see his fucking face, Uris?" Bev asked, her jaw clenched in anger and fear for her friend.

"N-no, we d-didn't," Bill said, looking to Richie who was rubbing his hands on his shins, trying to create warmth.

"His eyes turned red. Like, demon Eddie red! Whatever that fucker did to him is making him go insane!" Bev yelled.

She didn't expect Richie to dive at her, his eyes flashing red once again. "Don't speak about him like that!" he snarled.

Ben pulled Richie off, standing protectively in front of Bev. "What the hell, Rich?" he yelled as Richie's eyes widened and faded back to their usual brown.

"I- I don't know why I didn't that," Richie whispered shamefully. He was red with embarrassment, his knees tucked to his chest. He didn't know what came over him; he just felt so angry when Bev called Eddie something disrespectful, and it only made his desire to seek out Eddie stronger.

Bev stood up, slightly shaken. "We need to get to Eddie. He needs to fix Richie," she said, holding a hand out to Richie.

He took it, still upset about his accidental attack on Bev, but she didn't seem to mind. She knew he didn't mean to. Nevertheless, Richie stayed quiet and let his guilt eat him up as they made their way toward Sonia Kaspbrack's house.