Wildest Dreams || Reddie Fanfic

II

"Alright everyone, Tony will be coming around to check everyone's seats and make sure that they are secure before the ride begins." An unenthusiastic voice came over the poorly managed speakers. Richie nudged Eddies seat in front of him with his foot, making it rock back and forth.

"You excited?" Richie asked. Eddie smiled and nodded, they had been riding the rides all day, but now they were going to take a break with the Yo Yo swing ride. The losers were on the ride, all except Stan who was feeling motion sickness from the last two rides they had been on.

"Hell yeah he is!" Beverly said from in front of Eddie. "He's been complaining for the last half hour that he wanted to go on this ride." There wasn't really a reason he wanted to be on the ride, he just liked this one. The gentle swinging with the air brushing against his face, it was calming. The Tony guy finally arrived to Beverly and Eddies seats, half assed checking them before moving on to Richie.

As the ride begun and the swings begun to lift in the air. Richie and Beverly exchanged worried glances, a pit of unease settling in so suddenly. For what, they had no idea but there was a sense of dread in the air now that the ride was moving. Eddie closed his eyes and relaxed into the feeling of the air in his face. Bill and Ben were whooping and screaming down to Stan in excitement, despite the ride not being very exciting. They were only a month away from all starting college so they were looking forward to this day to spend together being kids again. Connor had just arrived, standing next to Stan and waving up to the rest of them in the ride.

"Hey Connor." Mike shouted and waved to him.

The air smelled of kettle corn and heat, it was a nostalgic smell that nauseated Richie in the moment. As the ride carried on, picking up speed, a clunking sound was heard and Eddie jolted from his relaxed position, looking back to Richie with slight alarm.

"It's okay, Eddie." Richie said to him, though something didn't feel right to him. Just then a scream sounded at the other side of the ride and everyone looked over to see that a swing had come unlatched from the ride and flung into a crowd of people. Eddie froze in shock as he watched the scene play out. Another clunking sound came and Stan and Connors voices could be heard screaming from below.

"Eddie! Eds!" They screamed and waved their arms frantically. Eddie looked at them briefly before one chain of his swing unlatched from the top, swinging him around by the last chain on the other side. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he was suddenly displaced from his original upright position, to being swung around side ways and facing the ground.

"Eddie!" Richie shouted and tried to reach for the other chain, his heart beating fast. Eddies doe eyes were wider than ever as he hyperventilated and screamed, he struggled to hold on to the chain. The screams of people were getting louder as they awaited for the second chain to drop him. Beverly had a far off look in her eyes as she watched Eddie scream.

"I don't wanna die, Richie!" Eddie screamed and reached for Richie. Another clunk sounded and Eddies seat lurched again, but did not come detached. "Oh god-" he slurred out as his eyes fluttered closed and his body went limp, his arms dangling.

"Eddie!" Richie screamed, tears streaming down his face. The losers all screamed at the carni who was frozen in fear to stop the ride. "Stop the ride! Fucking stop the ride!"

"Everyone remain calm, while we stop the ride." The voice on the speaker now sounded scared and shook with anxiety as the person tried to carefully end the ride. The screaming of people did not stop and soon the sounds of sirens could be heard, police were trying to disperse the crowd. As the ride slowly came to a stop, Richie wasted no time, unbuckling his buckle as soon as he knew he could land without breaking his ankles. He grabbed on to Eddies swing did the same thing, pulling him from the swing and dragging him away towards the protective fence.

"Eddie, baby." Richie slid to the ground with an unconscious Eddie, holding him his lap with shaking limbs.

"Excuse me, this man needs medical attention." A paramedic said as he approached. Richie shook his head, less than willing to let go of Eddie. Mike ran to them and spoke softly to him, coaxing him to let go.

"It'll be okay, Richie. They're just going to help him is all. Let them take him to the ambulance."

"He doesn't appear to be hurt, but he has fainted." The paramedic said to another as they carefully put his unconscious body on a stretcher. The horror painted on Richies features slowly melted into numbness as his eyes drifted away from Eddie on the stretcher to the scene across from him of a pool of blood and another man about the same age as them, still attached in the swing. Two other people required medical attention from the force of the swing knocking them down. However, Richie believed the man in the swing was dead.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ben asked as they all approached him. Voices and hands shaking. Richie did not answer the question. Mike had gone over to the ambulance to speak with the police officer and paramedic. They were taking a statement from him. He was shockingly unshaken at the sight of death. Beverly stood behind everyone, a knowing look in her eyes as she cried silent tears.

There was no longer a nostalgic smell of kettle corn resting in the summer heat, all that remained was from a bad memory, a nightmare. The smell of something putridly metallic and damp, sounds of metal screeching and screams of fear, the feeling of the concrete underneath unsteady hands, like sandpaper and silk.

All too quickly, the dew from the morning grass evaporated in the cruel sun, the cedar laced breeze smelled rotten and burnt, the rays of sunlight no longer peaked through the density of the sullen clouds, the rain drops grew angry and hard denting the surfaces it dare beat upon. All too quickly, Richie realized that loving Eddie wasn't only bliss and honey kisses, it was scary, it was pure adrenaline and breaths taken one at time for fear of missing the moments next to pass. It was a rollercoaster, a ride he couldn't get off of even if he wanted to. He loved Eddie, that was his weakness.

"That swing unlatched first." Mike stated and pointed to the bloodied body in the swing behind him. "Than Eddies started. How is he doing?"

"He is stable, he just fainted from fear." The paramedic said. "He'll be just fine, probably in shock, but fine."

Richie met eyes with Beverly again. They had both felt the same unsettling feeling when the ride begun. Did she know? Richie started to suspect Beverly knew more than what she was letting on. She had that look on her face of guilt. People were being ushered away as they worked to stop all rides and shut down the carnival for maintenance.

"He's awake now." Mike called over to them, standing next to Eddie who was sitting in the back of the ambulance with a shock blanket over his shoulders, limbs trembling with fear from yet another near death experience. Richie ran over and met eyes with Eddie who immediately threw himself at him in a tight shaking hug.

"I was suppose to die." Eddie whispered into Richies shirt. Richie shook his head, fighting back tears as he pressed Eddie further into the hug. Craving that sweet selfish innocence that also came with loving and needing Eddie.

"What..." he whispered back, his voice raspy with emotion. "What are you talking about?"

"That day... in the sewers." Eddie clarified and then met Connors concerned gaze, directing his words to him. "I was suppose to die."