A Bully's Story- A Reddie Fanfiction

Chapter Twelve

(Eddie's p.o.v)

Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. It's been 24 hours. Twenty-four fucking hours since Jack disappeared. I-I don't know what to do. Me, Richie, Bill and Stan decided to split up into groups of two. Me and Richie search the Barrens while Stan and Bill search the Park.

"Hey Eddie?" Richie's voice snapped me out of my trance.

"Uh, yeah? What's wrong, Richie?"

"On the night I came to your doorstep, you know, the night I got kicked out?" I hummed in response, "Why did you take me in? As in, as soon as I said that Finn kicked me out, you immediately welcomed me into your home like all the years before this didn't happen. And I just wanted to ask you, why didn't you just shut the door in my face and leave? You took me in and I became a part of your household. I became a part of your family. I even punched you in the face earlier that day, yet you acted as if that didn't even happen."

He stopped walking now. He turned his body to face me and looked at me right in the eyes. He grabbed my shoulders so I didn't run.

"I didn't slam the door in your face because... Because... I'm sorry, Rich. I can tell you almost everything, answer almost every question you give me. But this one, I'm afraid I can't tell you the answer to. I would love to. Really, you don't know how much I want to tell you, but... I can't. Maybe one day Rich, maybe one day."

He looked at me a tinge of sadness in his eyes. But with that, he muttered a small response and we continued walking. I grimaced with every step we took as I was getting my socks wet. Like, seriously, who even likes wet socks? Like, nobody???

We walked for roughly 6 more minutes before we came across the sewer entrance. We both stared at it, the exact same thing racing through our minds (at least that's what I thought).

"You got your phone, Eds?" Richie asked me, his head peering around the darkened area whilst taking his phone out of his back pocket and turning on the flashlight app.

I gulped down the lump in my throat as I quietly muttered a small response. I took out my phone from my fanny pack, that, yes, I know, was popular waaaay back in the 80's but, meh, who cares? Everybody, apparently.

"You know, Rich, I don't really have a good feeling about this. I really don't think we should go in." But I was already too late. Richie was already splashing around in horrible greywater.

"Aren't you coming in?" He asked.

"Nuh uh, that's greywater."

"The hell is greywater?"

"I-It's basically, piss and shit. And you know me, Rich. Hygiene and everything. So, this is really not my area. Sorry. Why don't we just look somewhere else. Please?" I begged.

"Sorry, Eds. We have to look in here. We have to look everywhere in this fucking town if we have to. Come on, Eds! Your brother is missing! And his friend too, I guess, but that's not the point here! What's more important in this situation? You making sure you're not getting dirty or finding your brother?" He stormed up to me and grabbed me by my shirt, "I care about you, Eds. And I also care about your family. He may not be my brother. But I declare him as one. He's definitely better than the one that's most probably sitting at what I used to call home. But I also know for a fact that he's the only family you've got left and I can't let that be taken away from you." His voice cracked slightly at the end.

Tears had started forming in his eyes now. He let go of me and faced the sewer like before. He took his sleeve and wiped it across his eyes angling himself so that I couldn't see but I saw a glimpse.

People see this boy as the bully, the badass, the guy with no empathy, the guy with no emotions. But if you get to know him properly, he's none of those. He's been through so much and he doesn't want anybody to see that because he's scared that people will make fun of him for it. Derry is a fucked up town. He covers up the real him with this façade that's the complete opposite. And to know that, it breaks me.

"Okay. I'll go inside. But only if you hold my hand. I fucking hate the dark." I took a deep breath and stormed right into the water. I let out a small yelp! as I felt the water, but this was for my brother so who cares if I get wet?

My right hand grabbed onto Richie's free hand and shone my light using my left. For some strange reason, Richie was a bit taken aback by that and remained frozen for a few seconds. I think his cheeks reddened a bit as well but I couldn't tell as it was so dark.

We walked around, shining our lights at as many places as we could. Trying to find as many clues as to where on Earth my precious little brother had gone off to. Richie let go of my hand and picked something up. As to what looked like... football boots.

"Please don't tell me that this is..." His voice wavered.

"No, Jack wore his sneakers. But, it looks familiar. Wait, whose is it?" I snapped my fingers. I've seen those boots before. But who does it belong to? Then, it finally dawned on me, "Adam! They're Adam's! When I waved good bye to Jack yesterday, I saw a glimpse of Adam's shoes and this is what it looked like!" I exclaimed.

Just then, we heard splashes of water, now you might think that this is normal. But they weren't the usual water dropping from one of the pipes, they were splashed of water made by feet. Somebody was walking towards us. And they were walking from inside the sewer, not outside, where we had come from.

We both panicked. Who was that? Or rather, what was that? Nobody could have survived in a place like this. Especially so far and deep into the sewers. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't alive. At least, not anymore. Richie looked at me, panic stricken across his face.

"RUN!!!!!"

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