Lost ❄️ Reddie

8

Richie was the last one to get off the bus in Indiana. He hoisted his backpack over his shoulder and thanked the bus driver, climbing out of the bus. It was raining heavily, so he knew he needed to find some form of shelter. He didn't have any money, but he knew he needed to figure something out.

The town he had been dropped in was called Aloville, and Richie had never heard of it. He walked inside of a small corner store, walking to the service desk.

"Can I help you?" the girl at the desk asked, smiling at Richie. She had dark hair and didn't look much older than Richie.

"Yeah, do you have a map?" he asked, his voice crackly and weak.

"Where're you trying to get, hon?" she asked, handing Richie a map without making him pay for it. She could see how hopeless he looked and decided to take pity on him.

"I'm not really sure. I just need to get away," he murmured.

"Away?"

Richie didn't continue, but nodded weakly.

The girl at the desk sighed and quickly made Richie a small cup of hot chocolate. She told him it was on the house, and Richie accepted it gratefully.

"Lose someone?" the girl asked after offering Richie a spot on a stool behind the counter so he could rest his legs.

"What?"

"I've seen that look in someone's eyes before. It's the look of losing someone you cared about."

Richie felt tears gather in his eyes and drip down his face. "Yeah, I did," he whispered, pulling out his album and showing the pictures to the lady. "This was my best friend, Eddie. He... he was killed and I blame myself."

The girl looked at him sympathetically, patting Richie's shoulder. She began to skim through the pages before stopping on the image of Eddie and Richie.

"Wait, I saw that kid," she said, pointing at the picture of Eddie. "He was in here earlier."

Richie gave her a bewildered look. "That's impossible. He's dead," he said, not daring to get his hopes up only to realize he'd lost Eddie once again.

"Then he's got a striking doppelgänger. I can show you the footage if you want," she said, pulling up an image on her computer.

Richie is hesitant, and part of him hopes it's just someone who looks like Eddie, just so he doesn't get his hopes up. Yet, he really wants to know if maybe there's a chance Eddie survived somehow.

He looks at the screen and nearly passes out.

There, right in front of him, is an image of a boy who looks identical to Eddie. He's the same height, has the same waves of brown hair, and is wearing a too-big sweater and pair of sweats. He watches the footage of the Eddie-lookalike, and he seems to be following a man and a young woman around.

"Who are they? Where'd they take him?" Richie asked desperately, eyes blown wide.

God, he couldn't believe it. Could it actually be Eddie?

"Uhhh," the girl said, looking into the footage more. She saw the outside footage and saw the truck they got into. "It says Hawkins police on the side. They must've had some business if they drove all the way out here."

"What do you mean?"

"Hawkins in a seven hour drive from here, and that's if you don't hit traffic. I can't imagine why people would drive all the way out here."

"Is there a bus that'll drive there?" Richie asked, immediately standing up. "I need to get there."

"Yeah, but it stops a couple miles outside the town and doesn't leave until six am tomorrow. Not many buses around here have reason to go to Hawkins. It's a bit of an outsider town," the girl said, feeling bad after seeing how much that upset Richie.

"Thank you," he said, handing her a few dollar bills.

The girl rolled her eyes. "You're gonna need all the cash you can get in order to get to Hawkins. Bus tickets can be expensive," she said, handing Richie his money back and adding another five to it. "Find your friend, okay?"

"Why are you helping me?"

"I've lost people, too. If that kid is still alive you deserve to find him." The girl put the memory album back in his backpack and wished him luck.

"Thank you so much," Richie said, running toward the nearest bus stop, determined to wait in the cold until six am, if it meant finding Eddie.

Richie knew that Eddie was worth it.

•••

"Do you think he'd kill himself?" Bev asked, leaning her head on the cool window inside the bus.

"Wh-what?" Bill asked from his spot next to Stan, looking over at Bev. "Why would h-he do that?"

"He's so sad and doesn't know how to cope with Eddie's death. I just don't want to find him dead in a ditch," Bev said sadly, leaning her head on Mike's shoulder, who was sitting next to her.

Stan sat with his head against the window in front of them. "He wouldn't. He would never do that to us."

"He ran away, though, Stan," Ben said sadly. "He was okay with leaving us behind."

"C-can we stop ta-talking about this?" Bill asked, looking upset and hurt.

"Sorry, Bill," Mike said, and everyone quieted down, knowing it wasn't worth it to depress themselves.

The bus ride went on for hours until they ended up in Indiana, where it was pouring rain. The group paid for a hotel room, knowing that trying to look for Richie in a storm was pointless.

Little did they know, Richie was across the street, waiting at a stop for the bus that would take him to Eddie.

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Yaya this is goin somewhere!

Honestly thank you all for the comments because it actually inspires me to write more and work hard for you guys :)

I love you all!!!