INSTANT REPLAY | REDDIE

- 10 | INSTANT REPLAY

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"Rich—" Eddie shot upwards, coughing like mad, cheeks wet with tears and throat scratching like hell. Someone was pounding on his door as he hurried to get up, tangling himself in his blankets and hitting the floor with a loud thud. He cried out, muscles screaming with the effort as he broke into another coughing fit.

"Eddie!" A shrill voice shrieked, and if Eddie's head had been hurting before then it felt like it was being split opened now. He cried openly, forcing himself into a sitting position and easing the blankets off of his legs with violently trembling hands. The chair that he had wedged under his door handle slipped and fell to the ground, and the door slammed opened, coaxing another horrified scream from Eddie, who scrambled further back against his wall. He covered his ears against his mother's shouts, clutching his head tightly and squeezing his eyes shut.

"Leave me alone!" He begged, cowering away from the sausage-like fingers that were gripping his wrists and tugging at his arms, gripping so tightly that he was sure he would have bruises. He was yanked to his feet and towards the door, kicking and screaming, searching for any excuse not to go with her, but he was still dressed from the day before and his fanny pack hugged his waist tightly. He fought against her grip, slapping a hand over his mouth to cover his own whimpers as she forced him onto the couch and pulled out her phone.

"It's going to be okay, Eddie Bear!" She assured him loudly, but Eddie was still far gone, far into July of 1958 where Richie was heaving in the ground and smoke was filling his lungs to the point where there was no room for oxygen. Eddie squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself asleep so that he could help, so he could do something to ease Richie's suffering, but his panic had him wide awake. The sudden desire to go and see his friend, to make sure he wasn't dying in a smoke-hole in the woods hit Eddie like a ton of bricks and suddenly he was scrambling past his mother and making a break for the door.

"Let me go!" He cried as her fist closed around his shoulder, yanking him back. He pulled away, but she had a grip on his shirt as he pulled the front door opened, straining against her hold. There was a loud ripping noise as the seams of his shirt broke and he smacked her arm, pulling his clothing from her grasp and falling backwards out the opened door. He crawled backwards

— and the leper started to lift itself out of the cellar and into the space under the porch, but paused, and Eddie could see the tattered remains of its silver suit, could see the skittish movement of smaller creatures crawling through the thing's snarled brown hair—

just as the sound of a car turning into the driveway and sirens wailing reached his ears. Hands grabbed at him from all directions, and none of them were gentle. He struggled against them, mind completely closing in on him as he was carried into the back of an ambulance, one that his mother had probably called the second she first started pounding on his door. Half of Eddie was still in 1958, trying to figure out where his best friend was to make sure he had woken up, but the rest of him was too focused on staying away from the grabbing hands that were trying to hold him still.

"Mr. Kaspbrak!" A semi-familiar voice called out, and he looked up to see Greta standing over him with a sickeningly sweet smile. He shook his head firmly, remembering the way she had grabbed his hand just the night before. The siren was loud now that he was actually in the vehicle, and he blocked his ears, closing his eyes and forcing himself as far into the corner as he could get.

"It's going to be okay, Mr. Kaspbrak. Someone tell them to turn off the sirens, it's too loud!" Eddie refused to look anywhere but at his feet, even after the wailing noises from the vehicle were turned off. He turned his head away, reaching into his fanny pack and pulling out his phone while he still had the chance. He opened Richie's contact and requested a FaceTime without hesitation, shoving his earbuds in his ears and turning his body the rest of the way away from Greta.