Demon 🔥 Reddie

11

Richie was laying in his room when his mom called for him to come downstairs. He sat up and looked at the clock, confused. It was nearly eleven o'clock, and he had school in the morning. Once he was in the kitchen, he saw his mom and dad looking at their computer.

"What's going on?" Richie asked, sitting across from the two.

"We know you've been having a rough time Richie," Wentworth said, his arms crossed. "That isn't always an excuse to skip school."

Richie felt his heart drop. "I, uh, haven't been skipping. I mean, not really."

"I understand yesterday you had troubles with Henry, but your attendance shows you skipped the second part of school today, too," Maggie said, looking at Richie sadly. "Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Richie said, trying to make up a story. "I just... I don't know."

"Is everything okay?" Maggie asked again, very concerned for Richie.

Richie had tears in his eyes. He didn't even know why he was close to tears. It seemed as though a wave of depression had crashed on him, and he was drowning in it. He felt overexposed, stressed, upset, and he had no idea why.

"Can I go to bed?" Richie asked, his voice cracking.

For some reason, he wanted to be away from his parents. He wanted to get to his room; it was his safe space. Richie glanced up at his parents with pleading eyes and he saw saddened expressions on their faces as well.

"Go to bed, son," Wentworth said, closing the laptop in front of Maggie. "You don't have to go to school tomorrow, Rich. Just take the day to recover, alright?"

Richie nodded blankly, stumbling toward the stairs and climbing them to get to his room. He heard his mom sniffle from downstairs and felt terrible knowing that he made his mom cry. Everything was his fault, his mom's tears and their stress.

Richie sat down outside his own door, sobbing quietly. He sat there for a while until he finally managed to stand weakly and push the door to his room open. The door slammed behind him without Richie closing it and he whipped around in shock.

Eddie stood by the door, locking it and staring at Richie with a panicked expression. There was dirt on his face and tear stains. His hair was messy and there was a ring shaped mark on his leg from the cuff that had been there.

"Eddie? What the fuck are you doing here?" Richie asked, suddenly realizing why he felt so many emotions. Eddie didn't control his power to express and transfer emotions very well when he was angry or upset.

"I did something bad," Eddie whispered, wrapping his wings around himself tightly. His eyes were brown and he looked terrified.

Richie grabbed Eddie's hand and dragged him to the other side of the room, away from the door. They both sat down on the bed, Eddie still refusing eye contact but calming down.

"What happened?" Richie asked, watching how Eddie's eyes flashed from brown to red and back to brown within seconds.

"M-my mom. She said I could never leave," Eddie whispered. "I got really mad and my powers... I'm scared, Richie."

"Is she alive?" Richie didn't want Eddie to have accidentally become a murderer if he was upset and angry and lost control.

"Yes, I think so. I attacked her and knocked her out. I called the police and then left. I couldn't let them find me." Eddie was crying again, his knees pulled to his chest as he tried to cry quietly. "I'm sorry that I'm here, but I didn't know where else to go?"

Richie pulled Eddie into a loose hug, trying not to accidentally put pressure on his wings. To Richie's knowledge, flying to his house was the longest flight Eddie had ever made, so he must've been exhausted.

"Eds?" Richie asked softly, and Eddie looked up at him. "How did you find me?"

"I picked up your scent?" Eddie said it in a questioning way, as if it should've been obvious.

"I didn't know you could do that."

"How would you know what I can and can't do?"

Richie grabbed his backpack and rummaged through all of the papers to pull out the book Ben had given him: A History of Derry. He showed Eddie the section that highlighted demons and Eddie read through it, his eyes narrow and a crease in between his eyebrows.

"Who wrote this?" Eddie asked after he finished reading.

"Uhhh..." Richie flipped the book closed and looked at the author's name. "Vincent Hanlon."

"Is there a chance he's still alive?"

"There's a small chance. This book is nearly sixty years old," Richie said, watching as Eddie frowned, clearly disappointed. "Why does it matter?"

"Everything in here is true. They're missing some of our abilities, but they're true. If someone managed to learn that much, they must've known a demon. No human can identify a demon without their permission or consent," Eddie explained, opening the book again and focusing on the image of the demon.

"We identified you."

"That's different. I'm not full demon, so I can't disguise myself as well. Like, I can hide my wings but I can't control if my eyes change color when I get upset. Same with my powers."

Richie watched as Eddie continued to smile and read over the description. It was as if he was seeing someone he recognized, which as Richie realized, he probably was. Not the demon itself, but the idea that Eddie wasn't alone in the world and there were others like him.

"Richie?"

"Yeah, Eds?"

"Do you know if the author has any descendants?"

Richie thought that question over before giving up and pulling his phone out of his pocket. "No, but I can find out," he said, smiling as Eddie gazed at his phone with bewilderment. He'd clearly never seen a phone before.

Message to: Stan the Man, Benny Boy, Billiam, Bev

Trashmouth: y'all recognize the last name "Hanlon?"

Stan the Man: it's eleven o'clock on a school night. Why tf is this important?

Benny Boy: I know the name

Trashmouth: who's name is it? and fuck u Staniel

Billiam: isn't it that homeschooled kid's last name?

Benny Boy: Yes, his name is Mike. His meat delivery route is the same as my paper route.

Trashmouth: you have a paper route? nerd

Stan the Man: we should all block richie

Trashmouth: do it slut i dare u

Bev: why do u care about mike hanlon, rich?

Trashmouth: uhhh no reason... on a completely unrelated topic, have any of you heard anything about sonia kaspbrack going to the hospital?

Bev: what

Benny Boy: what

Billiam: what

Stan the Man: what the fuck did you do

Trashmouth: well this has been fun but i've gotta go to bed! love you guys sleep well also i wont be in school tomorrow byeeeeeee

Stan the Man: we're all going to die someday and I guarantee it'll be richies fault