Fear Factory / reddie circus au

Seventeen - True Colours

There it was. The rushing waters of crushing grief, anguish and distress. Enveloping Richie in their scolding darkness, drowning him in his loneliness.

He fell to the ground, exhausted. He wouldn't care if he never got up again. His heart burned like scolding iron against his chest. He now realised the phrase 'love sick' was not just an empty phrase. He was definitely sick.

He couldn't bare to look up at Eddie. He could tell without looking that the boy he loved had become like all the others. Puppets. Chess pieces in a cruel game where the players compete
to extinguish their inner demons.

The whole circus tent was silent except for the depressed sobs that forced their way out of Richie's stinging throat.

"Someone say something," he whimpered, "someone fUCKING SAY SOMETHING!"

Silence.

Tears bled from Richie's reddening eyes, painting the boy's once happy face with streaks of glittering pain.

Richie raised his quivering head, his lips trembling as they tried to hold back a sob. His eyes looked up at Bill, anger at their core.

Bill looked down at his feet, his body shaking irregularly every couple of seconds. His mouth was curved into a frown and his eyebrows were knitted together in frustration.

"I hope your happy," Richie spat loathsomely, the ache, where his heart once was, fuelling his malice.

Bill's frown just deepened, his hands clutching the hem of his tailcoat, like an ashamed schoolboy being told off.
He looked like he was about to open his mouth to say something but he paused.

"Come on," Richie said noticing the boys hesitation, "Fucking brainwash me! Do it! I have nothing left to loose,"

"Shut up!" Bill shouted abruptly, glaring at Richie, his emerald eyes bulging.

Richie's tear-filled eyes widened behind his glasses.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Bill whimpered, shaking his head to try and clear his thoughts.

Bill seemed weak. Just like he had when Eddie had been speaking to him, reminding him of their shared nostalgic memories.

Richie took advantage of this moment. Love sickness makes you desperate.

"He loved you Bill," Richie whispered in a sly, hushed tone.

Bill looked at Richie, horrified.

"He loved you, you were one of his best friends... he cherished your friendship so much... And look at him now," Richie turned behind him, looking at Eddie for the first time himself too.

Inside, Richie's heart shattered a little bit more, a bit he didn't realise he still had left to be broken. Eddie's body hung limply against the board, his face pale and his eyes sad and porcelain. He looked like the shell of the person Richie had fallen in love with.

Seeing Eddie this way just riled Richie up with more anger,
"Fucking look at him Bill!"

Bill looked up guiltily at Eddie, his face contorting with discomfort and pain.

"You did that! You did that to him... how could you? You're a monster. A freaking monster." Richie screamed, slamming his clenched fists against the ground.

Bill jumped slightly at Richie's outburst, his body shivering with fear, "I-I I'm not t-the m-m-monster,"

Richie looked at him in disgust.

"H-h-he is," Bill stammered, in an unconfident tone in which Richie had never heard him speak before. Bill raised his hand onto his chest, pointing at himself.

"What?" Richie exclaimed.

"H-help me R-Richie."

Bill fell to the ground. His body erupting like he was having a seizure. He screamed in pain as Richie watched helplessly.

Bill's mouth shot open, widening as his mouth filled with light. It was like he was a living beacon. His eyes sunk back into his head as his body shook violently.

Richie watched in absolute horror, as three orbs of lights spiralled up out of Bill's mouth and into the air. Their hypnotic light illuminating even the darkest corners of the tent.

Richie covered his eyes from the blinding lights as an unnatural wind and icy chill began to spawn in the centre of the tent itself.

Bill was left lying on his back, unconscious, on the ground. The orbs of light span around each other violently in the air before finally colliding with one another. Creating a massive eruption of angry blue light.

Richie squealed as he desperately covered his eyes, putting his head in his hands.

As the light eased and darkness could finally creep back in, Richie let himself peak out from between his fingers.

Standing over Bill, where the three lights had been moments before, was a girl. She looked familiar.

Betty Ribsome, the girl from Richie's first show. However something was wrong. She looked different. Her skin was stretched unnaturally over rigid bones, black sunken eyes peaking out from behind matted black hair.
She had hundreds of tiny purple scars all up her arms and neck and her violet dress was torn and shredded at the hem.

Betty tilted her head and smiled, her lips not stopping at the designated place on her cheeks. The sides of her mouth just kept going until her demonic grin cut above her nose. She bared jagged, shark like teeth.

Richie's jaw dropped in horror as the creature approached him.

"You, Richie Tozier, call me a monster?" It snarled, it's voice dank and sludgy.

Richie just stared in panic, his eyes not able to comprehend what he was looking at.

"You call me a monster when it was you who brought that fate to Eddie," It laughed, "You we're so selfish that you decided to let him become a slave to me rather then see him get hurt."

Richie whimpered, "No-no I did what was right,"

"No," It said, shaking its head, "YOU are the monster, not me. You are the monster. YOU ARE THE MONSTER!"

Richie crawled desperately backwards, trying to get away from the wretched creature, "Quite fucking clearly you are the monster you ugly creature,"

It grinned, flashing its needle teeth under the red circus lights.

"You, Richie Tozier, don't know when to shut your fucking mouth."