Nyctophilia 🌪 Reddie

xxix

Richie watched the life fade from his friend, knowing he couldn't stop it. Stan was fighting; that was obvious. He kept pulling air into his weak lungs, but there was barely any life left in him. Blood had leaked all over him and on the ground around his pale body.

"I'm so sorry, Stan," Richie cried out, over and over. He wasn't able to save him; he had to watch as Stan lost his personal battle and died.

Richie wanted to mourn in silence, to cry for the loss of Eddie who was mentally taken by Brenner, to cry for Stan who was fighting so hard to stay alive but was losing a battle. He felt for Bill who had lost both his parents, his home and then his boyfriend. They had all lost and they couldn't seem to win.

Richie was ripped from his thoughts when the door to the room slammed open.

"If you're going to kill me just fucking do it," Richie snarled, not looking at the person who had run through the door.

"He still alive?" a deep voice asked, and Richie glanced up to see a man with a long, tattered beard and a surprised expression on his face that quickly faded. His clothes were torn and he didn't have shoes.

"Are you a prisoner?" Richie asked, glaring at the man.

"Is he alive?" the man asked in a firmer voice, nodding toward Stan.

"Barely," Richie said in a broken voice, sadness washing over him once again.

"Damn. We have to get him out of here or he's dead for sure. Can you pick a lock?"

Richie nodded and the man placed a pin in between two of his fingers before rushing over to Stan and picking the lock for the cuffs around his hands. It didn't take long for Richie to break free.

"Can you save him?" Richie asked, running over to where Stan was being held in the man's arms.

"I can try. Follow my lead, kid."

Richie followed the man down the halls of the base they were in. He seemed to know his way around, which confused Richie, but he didn't question it. The man could be a psychopath, but he freed Richie and claimed he could try to save Stan.

Eventually they came to a door which the man pushed open. It seemed like a janitors closet, but all three of the runaways managed to fit inside. The man laid Stan on the ground, pulling his shirt up to look at the wound.

"Hand me that box," he said, pointing to a grey case.

Richie handed it to him and the man pulled out a bottle of a purple liquid, followed by a syringe of amber liquid.

"That's what they use to calm down people with abilities," Richie stated.

"That's what good people use it for. People here? They use it to control anyone they want. It's a manipulative drug. Makes them docile so they can be controlled, but it also has properties that can help save your friend," the man responded, plunging the syringe into Stan's arm. Then, he forced the purple liquid down Stan's throat. "This will knock him out and allow the other drug to work its magic. It might not work, but it's worth a shot."

After Stan was completely unconscious, and potentially dying, the man stitched up the wound and wrapped up Stan's stomach. When it was all done, he turned to Richie.

"What's your name kid?"

"Richie."

"Richie? I'm Jim. I know this is all super confusing and you're scared of losing your friend, but I need to know what you know. Do you have any information?" Jim asked, staring at Richie intently.

"Yeah," Richie said. "Brenner has control over my boyf- my fellow agent, Eddie. He also has control over our friend El."

Jim tensed up at the name but regained his composure quickly. "How are they being controlled?"

"I don't know. Brenner said they'd only listen to him, though. I have another team, but I don't know where they are and we don't have contact with anyone else. It was supposed to be an in and out trip to save El and capture Brenner and destroy their monsters." Richie didn't care that he was talking to a complete stranger as he broke down in tears again. "I failed!"

Jim put his arm around Richie and pulled him into a hug. "It's okay, kid. We can save them. I don't know how exactly they're being controlled, but it must be a mental trick. We might be able to snap them out of it."

"And the monsters?"

"I don't know. I've dealt with them before though."

Richie wiped his tears away. "What do we do?"

Jim smiled weakly. "We make it up as we go."

They hid Stan under a pile of blankets, hoping he'd survive before they left. There was no time to wait for backup or try to contact anyone. Jim led Richie to a central room, where he said there were only scientists. They burst through the door and thankfully there were only two people that Jim knocked out easily.

"Know anything about computers, kid?"

"Yeah, I do," Richie responded. "What am I looking for?"

"Those animals are part machine and part genetically modified animals. They modified the dead bodies of the creatures we fought in my hometown a while back, but had to use machinery to make sure they're stable. I don't know how they're controlling them, but-"

"The computers don't control them," Richie suddenly said.

He showed Jim an open link, showing the biometrics and structure of the animals. Then, on another screen, it showed brain scans, all with the number eleven in the corner.

"Before El was taken control of she contacted me in my mind to warn us. I think that her mind was strong enough that they manipulated her to be in control."

"Be in control of what?" Jim asked, eyes narrow as he gazed at the computer screen.

A crash from behind them made Richie and Jim turn, looking at the door to the room. Richie felt his heart race.

Brenner stood, two monsters crawling on either side of him. Behind him walked El and Eddie, their eyes glazed over.

Eddie clutched a gun, and El was focused on the monsters.

"El is controlling the monsters. That's how she was able to follow us. She could find us in her head and send them," Richie whispered.

"Very good, Mr Tozier. If I didn't want you dead, I might've offered you a job," Brenner said with a twisted smile. "And Chief Hopper? How did you escape? Not that it matters, actually. It'll be entertaining to watch you finally die."

"El is your-"

"I saved her from this asshole," Jim snapped, cutting off Richie. "Let them go. They're just kids."

"Kids who deserve more pain than they can understand," Brenner said before turning to Eddie. "Kill him."

Richie saw Eddie point the gun at Jim, and he ran to get in the way.

"Eddie, don't!" he yelled.

Eddie paused, glaring at Richie and holding his gun firmly.

Richie knew he had to get through to Eddie, or they'd all be dead by the end of the day.