atelophobia ↠ e. kaspbrak | ✓

Chapter Nine

EDDIE

     I sucked in a deep breath before walking up the porch steps and ringing the door bell. C'mon, please be her.... I hadn't seen Rose anywhere in almost a week and a half, so finally, I hopped onto my bike and rode around with Richie to see if we could find where she lives. I didn't figure it would be too hard. I just had to look for a mailbox with "The Andersons" engraved on it.

     A tall guy with disheveled brown hair who looked to be in his late teens opened up the door. "What do you want?" He asked bluntly, taking a sip from the grape soda in his hand.

     "Uh- see, my friend and I were wondering if a Rose Anderson lives here?"

     "It's none of your business. Scram." The boy stated, glaring coldly at me.

     I fidgeted under his gaze, trying to think of what to say next. If Rose really lived here then I wanted to see her and make sure she was ok, but this guy didn't seem too tolerant.

     "I said scram."

     "Look here you little-"

     I hurriedly clamped my hand over Richie's mouth before he could let a rude comment fly.

     "Mister, we just want to know if our friend lives here. We haven't seen her in a while and we just got kind of worried." I interjected, doing my best to plead my case so he'd be compliant and let me see her if she did reside here.

     The guy seemed to be pondering on what to say before he finally spoke up, "yes, Rose is here. What? Do you wanna see her or something?" He spat out.

     "Yes, please." I replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of my neck.

     He let out an exasperated sigh before pulling the door fully open and gesturing for us to come in. "Upstairs. First door on the left."

     I slowly walked past the living room to the staircase, Richie following closely behind me. The stairs creaked in protest to mine and Richie's weight as we made our way up, hands lightly brushing against the wooden railing.

     I stood in front of the door, getting ready to reach out for the doorknob when Richie slapped my hand away.

     "Dude, are you serious?! That creepy guy probably just set a trap for us in here, don't open the door!" He hissed, looking at me with surprised eyes beneath his glasses.

     "Ok, then what'd you suggest we do, Einstein?" I retorted, throwing my hands in the air exaggeratedly.

     "The window!" He exclaimed, jabbing his finger towards the glass plane at the end of the hall. I glanced at it before turning back towards him.

     "I'm not fricking jumping out of a second story window, Richie. If we die, we die." I quickly responded, grabbing the doorknob and yanking the door open before he could stop my hand once more.

     What I saw made my eyebrows furrow in confusion. It was Rose, yes, but her slumbering body looked beaten to a bloody pulp. My feet slowly made their way over to her bedside as I got a better look at her injuries. A deep cut ran down the side of her face and there was a large, dark bruise snaking its way around her neck. Her forearms were strawberry red, almost as if she'd dragged her arms across a long strip of carpet and if you looked lower, you could see her shirt riding up in the slightest, revealing a chest brace.

Silence filled the room as I stared at how injured she looked. Suddenly, she began to stir and that's when Richie spoke.

"Geez, what happened to you? You look like you got hit by a bus!" He exclaimed. I shot him a "shut up, idiot" look, but it was too late.

She let out a soft moan and began to slowly open her eyes.

We both walked over and sat on either side of her. "Are you okay?" I asked, my voice laced with concern.

"Fine." She muttered, a small smile trying to work its way onto her lips. She went to sit up, but her face immediately contorted in pain and I heard the smallest whimper escape her throat. "Oh, uhhh- h-here." I stammered out. "Help me with this, Richie." I instructed. He nodded and we both gently shifted her into a sitting position.

"Thanks." She said, breathing out a sigh.

"No problem." We replied in sync.

"So, what happened?" I questioned, looking at her through sorrowful eyes.

"c-clown." she stuttered out, her breathing becoming ragged.

"What? Calm down. It's ok..." I reassured, placing my hand in hers. Her fingers immediately interlaced into mine in response. Richie noticed the action and glanced down at our hands. I expected a sneer to form on his face the moment he looked up, but there was nothing but a sincere smile.

"So, what do you mean by clown?"

"Clown. He had a r-red balloon. He wanted me t-to float. He said he's never leaving. I didn't know what to do. He's never leaving, E."

My blood went cold. The clown from Neibolt- what if he hunted her down?

I love how all the characters are practically running around like chickens with their heads cut off right now. THE PERFECT MOMENT FOR ME TO TORTURE ALL OF THEM, MWUHAHAHA!!!!