Denial ~ A Reddie Fanfic

Chapter 4

Eddie POV

I burst through Richie's front door, out of breath. Everyone in the living room looks at me curiously and I make my way over to them, talking a mile a minute.

"We have to go- Bill is- Richie told me to- and Henry!- " I try to get the words out but my chest is heaving now, and I'm struggling to breathe. I don't have asthma, but I have panic attacks often, and now is one of those times. Ben quickly gets up and makes his way over to me, grabbing my shoulders.

"Eddie! Are you okay?" He asks, and I shake my head furiously.

"Inhaler- backpack-" I say, struggling between breaths. I hear a zipper being opened, and then Ben is pressing my inhaler against my lips. I take it from him and as I press the button down. Once I'm breathing normally, I grab Ben and pull him towards the door.

"Henry is beating up Bill and Richie went to save him, we have to go help!" I say, and everyone is immediately on their feet except Stan, who looks hesitant.

"What are we supposed to do against Henry Bowers? What if he has his knife?" He asks, looking at us warily.

"C'mon Stan, it'll be okay. If it's all of us against him we can beat him! Seven is my lucky number after all. Come be our lucky number 7!" I say, trying to convince him. He looks down shyly, but then stands up and walks over to us. Beverly jumps up and pumps her fists.

"Let's kick some Bowers ass!" She yells. We all file out onto the street, and they all follow me to where Richie and I parted. We walk down towards the woods and Stan gasps and runs ahead of us.

"Bill!" He shouts, and I spot him, lying on the ground, blood all over his face. He coughs, and Stan kneels down next to him and starts wiping the blood away with his hands and wiping it on his black shirt. As we approach the two, I spot Patrick Hockstetter lying on the ground. He's moving, but groaning softly as he does so. I turn to Beverly.

"You and Stan take him back to Richie's house to get him cleaned up while Mike, Ben and I look for Richie," I say, and she nods, heading over to where Stan and Bill are. I watch them for a second as they help Bill to his feet, and start basically dragging his towards Richie's house.

"C'mon Eddie, we gotta go," Mike says, grabbing my arm and pulling me along with him.

"Yeah, I really don't wanna find Richie dead is a ditch somewhere," Ben says, and to some, it might sound like a joke, but it is a reality right now.

We spend hours looking all over town, and I've just about lost hope when I remember the quarry. I voice my thoughts to Ben and Mike, and we quickly make our way over there. We spend about twenty minutes looking until Ben finally spots him by the water.

"Look!" He says pointing to him. I squint and can make out Richie lying in the ground. We begin to head over there when Mike throws his arms out and stops us from moving.

"What... in God's name... is that?" He asks, fear in his voice. My eyes follow his arm, which is now pointed at something, a man. But, it's not a man. The figure is well over 6 feet tall, with red hair. The most unsettling thing is though, that it is paperwhite with red marks down its face. It spots us, and a creepy smile spreads across its face. It has very, very big, very white, and very sharp teeth. I can't believe what I'm seeing, it's a clown! A fucking monster clown with claws that is like twice my size. I can't move, I can't breathe, all I can do is stare, wide-eyed at it. I blink slowly, and when I open my eyes again, it's gone.

"You guys saw it too, right?" Mike asks, and I nod slowly.

"It was probably just some druggie that had an early Halloween," Ben says, trying to sound confident but I can hear his voice waver. I ignore them and sprint over to Richie. his face is bruised and bloody, and his body is half in the water. The water around him is almost red, and when I lift his shirt I see why. His whole side is covered in blood. Something is written there, but I can't see what. The smell of blood is overwhelming, and I want to faint, but I can't. Richie is unconscious, thankfully, so that he can't feel any pain. I caress his cheek as a tear slips down my face. I start crying for the second time today, but this time it's not for myself.