Fear Factory / reddie circus au

Eighteen - Deadlights

Richie's eyes widened, his breathing ragged and harsh. His hands trembled at his sides as he jammed a fist into his mouth to stifle a scream.

The creature advanced towards Richie, it's body hardly discernible in the shadowy circus ring, illuminated by only the glow of eerie fairy lights. With each slow movement that belied the speed it was capable of, translucent slime dripped, oozing great globs of phlegm and depositing them on the cold ground. It was sticky mucus, rancid, that looked toxic to the touch. Underneath the gelatinous gloop it's skin was gnarled. It's preferred form peaking from the bloody shreds in Betty Ribsome's porcelain skin.

However, it could wrap itself in beautiful skin or the rancid hide of a decaying creature for that matter, yet Richie could see it regardless of it's disguise. He could see it for the monster it really was.

"What the fuck do you want?" Richie breathed, his voice hot and raspy. Beads of panicked sweat trickling down his forehead.

The creature grinned, exposing dagger-like, blackened teeth. The curvature of it's mouth not lining up with the mask of Betty's skin it wore stretched over its bones.
"You, Richie Tozier, I need you."

Richie's body quivered as he pushed his glasses back up his nose in alarm, "What more could you possibly want from me? I gave you Eddie. That's all I had left,"

The creature twitched, black puss oozing from its pores.
"Ever since I found you I knew you were the perfect person to help me expand my feeding ground... my Fear Factory. You, Richard, have such a rare gift... not everyone is as talented at hypnosis as you... I need you to help me conquer the rest of this fateful town. To help me harvest the negative emotions... I'm so hungry... but to succeed I couldn't have my precious Richie Tozier getting distracted, now could I? Distracted by the boys." The creature let out a strangled screech, which Richie could only assume was a laugh.

"Now you have nothing. No friends. No boyfriend. No home," It continued, "... and if you try go back to Derry, they'll all find out your secret. Your dirty little secret. You know what they do to homosexuals like you in Derry?"

Richie closed his eyes and shook his head, "Shut up, shut up, shut up,"

The creature smirked again, pleased, "So Richie, you will assist me?"

Richie clenched his fists and rose to his feet. Anger and frustration riled up inside him. His life had been fucked up. Like he was just some irrelevant game piece in this monster's game of chess. He had been put through the hardest mental strains, all for it to end this way. With Eddie, his true love, a puppet to a creature that thrives on the fear and sorrow of others.

"Fuck you!" Richie screamed, holding back hot, angry tears, "fUCK YOU!"

The creatures snake-like eyes widened in surprise but soon slanted into orbs on anger. It's iris' changing from a demonic saffron to a morbid, malicious red.

It lunged forwards, bringing its mangled, contorted face close to Richie's. So close he could smell it's rancid breath on his face.

The stretched skin of Betty Ribsome's face has become so thin Richie could see the scarlet mouth and under eyes of a different face behind.

He felt so sick but he shoved his negativity to the back of his mind. Swallowing back angry sobs as the final warm tear fell from the tip of his chin.

The creature unhinged it's jaw, it's needle teeth inches away from Richie's neck, "You, Richie Tozier, don't-,"

Snap.

Richie clicked his fingers.

"Don't know when to shut my fucking mouth, yeah, you said that already."

The creature's face was still, it didn't move. Richie took a deep breath. This seemed too easy.

Suddenly, Richie felt a slight tugging at his chest, like an invisible force pulling at him.

He winced slightly at it's numbing ache. The creature was trying to overpower the hypnosis.

Richie focused his mind and stared intensely at the malicious eyes of the frozen creature. His eyes magnified through his thick framed glasses working to his advantage.

Richie's head began to ache too, so he took another deep breath and scrunched up his face. Trying his hardest to focus on what he wanted to say.

"When I snap my fingers," Richie winced, "You will leave. You will go back to whatever hell you came from and never return. You will never come near me or my friends or me again and you will starve!"

Suddenly there was a sharp stabbing at his chest and Richie let out a frail cry, he raised one hand up to his chest and felt a warm blood seeping from his shirt. Richie's eyes widened. The wound scorching.

He could see the creature beginning to move. It's eyes beginning to twitch.

Richie closed his eyes for the last time, pushing aside the pain in his chest, the monster in front of him, the anxiety that haunted him, and focused on one thing. Eddie... and how much he wanted him back.

Using all the energy he had left, Richie raised his hand,
"Go to hell motherfucker!"

Snap.

The being before him erupted into an explosion of light, an ear-bleeding screech piecing the air as it melted away. The three spheres of light danced hauntingly up into the air, spinning as they ascended towards the canopy of the tent.

That's when Richie's legs finally gave way beneath him and he let himself fall onto the cold ground.

He blacked out.

He didn't see his confused friends, look around with scared expressions when they realised where they were. He didn't see Beverly scream at the sight of his blood stained body. He didn't see Stan and Mike rush over to him or Ben who went to untie the horrified Eddie.

He didn't see the confused expression on little Eddie Kaspbrak's face as he wondered who the boy on the floor with the glasses was. Eddie had never seen the lanky boy before. Just as well, because if Richie had seen Eddie like that it would've broken his heart.

Shattered.