take me away (reddie)

twenty-six

! this might possibly be triggering to some. there's a lot of shit that happens in this chapter such as manipulative abuse, biased law (unjustified actions of the law), and strong language.

september 2nd, 1993

"and can you turn to your right?"

eddie had never felt more embarrassed, standing naked in front of a camera.

the investigator was making eddie take pictures of every bruise and injury eddie had before he was admitted to the hospital. they believed richie had done all of this to him. the most richie did was the bruising around his neck, but that was during a moment of happiness, a moment of pure bliss.

they told eddie it wasn't, no matter how much eddie argued.

"open." a man stared eddie dead in the eyes, holding up a swab.

eddie opened his mouth as a swab was jammed into it, swabbing his cheeks and under his tongue.

"turn to face us."

"do i have-"

"the more you comply, the quicker this will be." the older man that sat behind the camera spoke with authority, making eddie flinch.

eddie turned, tears welling up in his eyes as the camera flashed.

once they finished taking pictures of eddie's body, a woman led eddie into a bathroom in the small investigation room. he was handed a cup as he entered.

eddie peed into the cup like he was instructed to for a toxicology report.

eddie washes his hands before handing the cup back to the woman who walked off with it. eddie was given a new change of clothes - a grayish-blue sweater with some jogging pants. his hair was a mess, and he still smelled like lake water.

he looked at his blotchy, swollen face in the mirror. his face was only swollen because of how much he had been crying.

richie didn't kidnap him, but no one would listen. no one believed him, even when he admitted to being in love with him. they just played it off as stockholme syndrome.

eddie walks out of the bathroom, looking at the man who was examining the photos of his body. it made eddie uncomfortable, the same feeling that the man who tried touching him at the convenient store gave him.

eddie went to grab for his dog tag, but remembered that richie had told him that it was at the bottom of that fucking quarry.

eddie was snapped out of his daze when a giant woman began squeezing eddie, crushing him.

"i was worried sick about you, eddie-bear!"

that damned nickname. eddie took in the woman's scent, identifying the baby power and sweat smell as his mother's.

eddie hugged his mother back though, sobbing into her shoulder. "mommy," eddie muttered out.

"i missed you, sweetheart."

eddie felt like a child again, hugging onto his mother for comfort - something he hasn't done in years. he didn't care who it was from. eddie felt deep solitude, so even if henry bowers ran up to him right now, he'd hug him. 

"mrs. sonia kaspbrak, richie is now in confinement. you are now allowed to leave with eddie to the hospital." the agent said, looking at eddie and sonia.

twenty times. eddie counted twenty "thank yous" that slipped passed his mother's mouth.

they loaded eddie into the back of an ambulance, his mother barely fitting into the vehicle with the stretcher. her stomach was pressed up against the side of the stretcher that eddie was sitting on.

"where's my husband's car?" sonia whispered, holding eddie's hand.

eddie pulled his hand away. "i love how the first thing you fucking ask me is where my father's car is. why would you care now?"

sonia yanked eddie arm forward, making eddie whimper as his mother leaned up toward his ear. "i don't know if that tozier boy has rubbed off on you, but you do not speak to me that way." she grumbled. "tell me where my husband's vehicle is."

"up your ass." eddie gritted in her face, spit flying onto her glasses. sonia's face turned red with anger, but before she could speak again, eddie continued. "we were in love, sonia. you ripped away the only fucking thing that makes me happy. we were doing just fine on our own and then you had to intervene."

sonia smirked to herself. "is that so, eddie-bear?" she sighs. "well, ms. marsh told me another story."

eddie's eyes widened. beverly.

she said she would cover for us?

"richie was planning to keep you hooked around his finger before he got you vulnerable enough to rip everything you had away." sonia grinned. "sound familiar? does daniella ring a bell?"

eddie knew that the cycle of abuse was a real thing, but richie couldn't have been doing that to eddie. they were madly in love.

right?

"richie wanted to keep you coming back for more and more until you gave all you could. until you were weak enough for him to get in your head. eddie, honey, don't you see?" sonia grabbed eddie's hand, and this time, eddie didn't pull it away.

"he wanted to rip you away from me. away from safety."

eddie began feeding into his mother's story, looking into her eyes. he saw himself in the reflection of her glasses, only to see a pale, drowned eddie. eddie looked sick and beat, tiredness was the only expression that he could read on his face through the reflection.

"richie used me," eddie mumbled out blankly as sonia smiled. he didn't even notice the words slip pass his lips.

"and now you're safe with me." sonia kisses eddie's forehead.

eddie wrapped his arms around his mother's neck, pulling her into a tight hug as he sobbed into her shoulder.

sonia sighed in relief that she had eddie under her control once again. she grinned immorally into eddie's shoulder.

eddie shut his eyes as tears fell off his face. he felt so stupid for ever trying to run away, relaxing into his mother's touch.

eddie was melded with sonia again, listening to her complain on and on about everything that was wrong with richie and his elaborate plan to destroy eddie's life. eddie's limbs were tied back onto strings, sonia pulling and tugging on each one as the puppeteer. eddie's mind was like a sponge, soaking up every word sonia said, every syllable hitting harder each time she spoke.

"so, eddie, where is my husband's car?" sonia wipes the tears off eddie's face.

"the quarry right outside of new york city." eddie responded, the same brainwashed gaze returning to his doe eyes.

"good boy. what happened to you?" sonia looked eddie in the eyes.

eddie's eyes darted around the room, trying to find the answer since it was no where in his mind, tears welling up in his eyes.

"c'mon, just like we rehearsed." sonia cleared her voice. "what happened to you, eddie? why are you beaten? who choked you out while you were driving off the cliff?"

"richie tozier. richard tozier kidnapped me."

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