✓ 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐲 ━━ 𝗋𝖾𝖽𝖽𝗂𝖾.

x

richie looked around the dark room, afraid of what he might find. he peered over the corner, seeing the small figure on the floor. he approached it and saw eddie passed out. richie looked around, noticing the orange bottles surrounding the room. there was about four empty bottles which made him worried.

he leant back over eddie and stared at him for a moment. he sighed softly and nudged his shoulder gently. "eddie?" he mumbled, continuing to nudge him. suddenly eddie woke up in a gasp, sitting up.

eddie looked around until his eyes landed on the familiar guy in front of him. "what happened?" he asked quietly, glancing around. he saw the bottles on the floor, meaning it wasn't a dream. it was very so real. "your mom locked you up." richie tried his best to explain. eddie looked at him as if he lost his mind or something. "no, she wouldn't do that." he said as he tried to stand on his own, his legs weak.

richie grabbed onto his arm, keeping him awake.

eddie looked down at his arm, his eyes widening. "woah." he dreamily said, touching his hand to his shoulder. he didn't think he was ever able to actually put his hands on richie due to...you know. the whole spirit thing, but he felt like an actual human being. a bang was at the door before the window opened. then appeared sonia kaspbrak.

eddie looked over and went to the door. "i took it all." he desperately said, his eyes watering. sonia looked around the room suspiciously before she handed him another bottle. eddies eyes widened.

sonia shut the window and eddie whined loud, not wanting to be in there anymore. he began opening the bottle, but richie snatched it away from him.

"what are you doing?!" he asked him, confused as to why he was still taking them. "they'll make me better." he argued lightly, trying to grab them from his hands. "no, they won't. you don't even need them." he said back, throwing them to the other side of the cell. eddie frowned, going to get them.

"don't tell me what i need and what i don't need." eddie stubbornly said, struggling to stand back up. "eddie, have you lost your damn mind?! just a few days ago, you were hiding them! now you wanna finally take them again?!" he asked, not knowing if he was thinking straight. eddie shook his head.

"fuck off, richie." eddie muttered, now grabbing the bottle. he opened it and poured some in his hand, but richie slapped them out, resulting in all of the pills to scatter across the floor. eddie was angry. he wanted to get out of here and he thought that the only way to do that was to take his medicine.

"i need those." he frowned, beginning to pick up every single one. "for what?!" richie asked, still lost. "i'm sick. i need to get better." he slowly said. richie was boggled. "she's the sick one!" he yelled, now pointing to the door. "she's just trying to help me." eddie said, not believing him. richie groaned, not knowing why he was suddenly acting like this.

"she's trying to kill you." he sternly told, staring at him. eddie looked around the cellar, seeing the old dead guy in the corner. it finally came back to him. his eyes widened as he looked back at richie. "but why?" he quietly asked, still out of it from what he's taken. "i'm not sure..." richie shrugged slightly.

"you gotta believe me though, okay?" he asked as he sat in front of him. eddie was hesitant when he had nodded, glancing around the room. richie covered eddies eyes with his hand, keeping it there for a while. eddie closed his eyes, seeing nothing. just a dark place. it began lightening up, though.

in the corner of his eyes, he saw stanley, ben and richie all huddled in a circle. richie was clutching a t-shirt and a candle that had a burnt piece of paper in it. his eyes widened and he pulled away from him. "what was that?" he asked, puzzled. "that's why i'm here. i'm trying to get you out." he told.

there was an uncomfortable silence between the two before eddie decided to give in. "okay..." he nodded and stood back up. "but how?" he asked curiously, not knowing how they were gonna get out of the cellar that probably had many locks.

"trust me?" was all he could say. eddie sighed, not very sure, but he closed his eyes anyway, not even wanting to see what was gonna happen. he felt the familiar cold chill run down his spine, making him jump. once he opened his eyes, he was not in the cellar anymore. he was in his own bedroom.

he opened his eyes and looked down at his hands, letting go of the shirt he was clutching. stanley and bens eyes widened and they pulled eddie into a bone crushing hug. "what happened?!" they began to ask him question after question, eddie just not having the ability to answer any of them right now.

he pulled away from his friends, peering around the room with a confused look on his face. "where's richie?" he asked carefully, beginning to stand up.

"oh, i dunno." stanley truthfully said, looking as well. ben had an uneasy look, though. eddie noticed this when he finally looked at him. "what?" he had asked, not really knowing what he was thinking. stanley looked at him as well, his arms crossed and his brows furrowed. ben sighed, now standing up.

there was a small silence. "i don't think he's gonna be coming back..." he began, making eddie worried. "what do you mean?" he continued to ask. eddie felt a pang in his chest, he wanted to see if richie was okay. eddie wouldn't even know what to do.

when ben wasn't answering fast enough for him, he put his hands to his sides. "ben?" he called, waiting for an answer. ben sighed, deciding to let it all out.

"he switched places with you." he began. eddie had a lost look in his eyes. "what does that mean?" he wasn't really sure what he meant by switching places. it sounded like a bad thing and eddie really wasn't in the mood to feel upset right now.

"when he went to get you out of there, he knew he wasn't coming back. he was leaving." ben said last.

eddies eyes widened. he was leaving. he felt his heart sink out of his chest and to his feet. his head suddenly pounded and his eyes began to water. "oh." was all he said. stanley furrowed his brows. "oh?" he questioned, looking at him. eddie nodded, even chucking a little. "yeah, uh..." he turned the other way, facing away from ben and stanley.

"you guys should go home." he quietly said, his eyes staring outside the window. stanley wasn't sure, but he knew he had to get home anyway, incase his mom went looking for him by now. "i'll see you tomorrow at school?" he asked slowly, opening the door. ben didn't say much to them.

eddie nodded, giving a slight smile. ben followed him out, giving one last glance before going down the hall and going back to their houses. eddie had closed his window and sniffled, shakily going back to his bed. he got under the covers and laid stiff.

he kept the light on, staring at the ceiling blankly.

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