𝔸 ℝ𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝔹𝕪 𝔸𝕟𝕪 𝕆𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 ℕ𝕒𝕞𝕖 - reddie

#𝟜: 𝕀 𝕎𝕒𝕤 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝔸𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟

I don't even remember if I had screamed or not. I simply remember sitting up so quickly, in the dizziest daze, letting out a raspy, terrified gasp. To me, it sounded more like a yelp, the kind a dog would make if its tail had gotten stepped on. My back and face were sticky with a cold, cold sweat.

I quickly fished for my glasses in my pocket, but my hands were shaking too much to actually grab them. I looked around to make sure I was in the right place. 

Yep, Bill's living room. And everyone was staring at me like I had smoke pouring from my ears.

I checked the clock. 2:03. I had slept for eighteen minutes.

Eddie was sitting on the foot of the couch, wide-eyed and content. He wouldn't stop staring at me, playing with his fingers as a distraction. "What's the matter-?" he whispered softly, in a hushed tone, as if he thought I was a rabid animal that would lunge at him at any given moment.

I was panting like I had run a 200 mile marathon. I stared at him for a moment, as if trying to regain my breath. 

"N-nightmare, R-Richie?" Bill asked, looking at me up and down. "I t-told you to stop w-watching those stupid s-scary m-m-movies."

"Yeah.." I found that my voice had returned to my throat, which was a relief. At this rate, they would've assumed I was having a stroke. I glanced at Eddie, and based on the way he was staring back, I probably still had a horrified look on my face. "Nightmare."

Eddie's eyes skimmed back and forth between mine; I prayed that he couldn't begin to picture the things I had seen. He took a deep breath, almost sharing the energy I had. "What was it about?" 

I felt the need to break the eye contact. How the hell could I tell him? I couldn't, it was an omen of bad luck. That's all It was. A large, black abyss of horrid darkness that went on forever and ever. It had talked about killing Eddie. I hated how real it had felt. I could almost still feel the lingering sting of my knee. 

"Richie?"

I forgot I had been asked a question. I wiped my eyes quickly. Had I been... crying? In my sleep? I cleared my throat and wiped my hands on my shorts. "Nothing, Eds. It was nothing." I looked over at the losers, hoping they had lost interest and were focused on the movie.

Beverly, however, had her eyes fixated on mine, a soft frown on her lips. She seemed to know something was wrong, more than anyone else did. That's probably because she's a girl. Girls seemed to know fucking everything. 

My brain suddenly felt fuzzy and my stomach seemed to twist itself into knots. It was such a dreadful feeling; it made me want to grip the walls and cry until I had no tears. I quickly slapped a hand over my mouth, making a soft gagging noise as I gripped my stomach.

"Woah-!" Eddie jumped backward from impulse, holding his hands up protectively.

"A-re you okay, b-buddy?" Bill asked in alarm.

"Everyone stay here," Beverly said meakly, still maintaining the eye contact. "Richie?" she nodded her head to the hallway that led to the bathroom.

This was easy joke material. But there seemed to be no jokes left in me for now.

I looked at Eddie quickly before standing up at the same time Beverly had. She watched me as she navigated around the couch and walked down the hallway, her hips swaying a bit. 

Eddie looked as if he wanted to protest, or ask if he could come with me, but he said nothing. He kept his hands in his lap and watched as I followed behind Bev, a sick feeling beginning to rise in my stomach.