FËÅR | neibolt reddie

Chapter 8 🎪 Circus Freak!

TW: THIS CHAPTER MENTIONS HOMOPHOBIA
if you are triggered by this I suggest you skip to the next chapter. In short, pennywise plays a joke on Richie. Thank you for reading :)

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Richie had been crawling, crawling, crawling and crawling. The father he went the more claustrophobic the hole got. He didn't know which way he was even going. Up? Down? Backwards? God, this cramped up tunnel was really messing up Richie's sanity. If he had any left, of course.

Richie could no longer hear Eddie's calls for him, asking if he was okay or not. Even if he could hear him, he wouldn't be able to answer. How the hell does a doll speak, anyways?

The porcelain boy shuffled through the dark and tight tunnel, shuffling between aged kids toys and soggy mossy walls of dirt and bacteria. He would promise himself he wouldn't breathe in the gross foul air, but ended up doing so. It tasted rotten, like acid and tears. If he was able to properly move his face, he would've scowled and maybe even gagged.

Should he turn back? He tried to look behind him, but only succeeded in turning his head in an uncomfortable position. He had been travelling for too long, he doubted there would be anything interesting. But he remembered Eddie and how he was so happy when Richie agreed to going with him. Eddie would be so proud of him if he had brought something good out. No, Richie, he told himself. This wasn't the real Eddie. But even if it wasn't, there would still be some clues at the end of the tunnel.

After a moment's contemplation, he continued forward. His head was still turned at an uncomfortable angle when he felt his plastic hand slip.

He tumbled forward, a muffled scream slipping from his closed lips. His body twisted a few times before there was nothing supporting his body. He went falling, and falling and falling and falling and falling and falling an-

His body hit the floor with a loud thump! He yelped. Not out of pain, but out of shock and fear. He sat there, dizzy and dazed, until he realised he was in an unfamiliar place. He jumped up, screaming. He was in a strange brightly coloured tent. White and red stripes covered the ceiling head to toe. Lights shone in every direction.

He was afraid, so very afraid. Where was he? And why was this strange place down here? And how-

Wait a minute... He screamed?

Where was the muffle? He reached up to his lips and touched every part. He didn't feel any thread? He looked down at his hands to see if the thread had come lose and...

Skin.

He saw skin. His hands had skin on them. With veins and hair and bones. He reached up to feel his face again, to feel the squishy texture of his skin. He could feel his facial hair and the hair on his head. He looked down to see what he was wearing. He was no longer wearing a blue freezers shirt, but now a yellow button up, some jeans and a black coat.

He was him again...

He was normal again...

That must've meant it was all just a nightmare! Maybe this strange place was someones home! Maybe even his home! A hospital maybe?

His teeth showed through his smile and he bounced up in glee. His eyes adjusted to the bright yellow lights and...

Why was there a crowd?

His smile left him. This wasn't right. No. This wasn't right whatsoever. His heart started to pound and he felt his legs go completely numb. He felt tears stinging his eyes. He swore he was nearly out of this hellish nightmare.

The crowd watched in interest, watching him starting to shake. They were listening carefully to the sudden squeal of a microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Welcome to our notorious freak show!"

The crowd screamed and clapped at the sounds of the words. The voice sounded familiar...

"Today's freak is the one and only..."

The audience sat on the edges of their seats, staring at Richie in anticipation.

"Richie tozier!"

The crowd clapped and yelped and screamed! Their smiles were toothy and wide! Almost like the Cheshire cats!

Richie felt tears slip out of his eyes. He wanted to wipe them away but could only stand stiff and stare at the happy audience.

"Richie tozier... The boy in love with a boy..."

The audience hooted and howled in laughter, pointing at the middle aged man crying in the middle of the sand box.

"Ahah! Now, let us sing the song, ladies and gents!"

Richie twirled, the flash of people laughing and cheering passing his blurry vision. Please, stop, is all he thought through his fuzzy brain. Please just stop...

"I know your secret..."

A faint melody rang through his ears, and no matter how much times he covered his ears, it wouldn't go away.

"I know your secret..."

He fell back on numb wobbly legs, landing on his side. Tears stained the sand and he screamed. He banged the sand with his fists in anger. Why?

"I know your secret..."

Laughter became louder and louder in his ears. He tucked in his legs, now in a fetal position. Why were they laughing at him? What did he do?

"I know your secret..."

He screamed to try and cover up the sounds of laughter. He felt the fingers pointing at him. Why wouldn't this just stop?

Then, he felt someone pull on his hair. He looked through blurry eyes to see a middle aged man, pale and brown haired. He held a microphone to his mouth as he sang a melody in a familiar voice.

"Your dirty little secret," sang Eddie.

"Richie, lets go!"

Richie looked up to see familiar black goo coming from a familiar teen kid. It was neibolt Eddie! Eddie pulled on Richie's hair and started crawling out of the gross mossy toy tunnel. He was back in the tunnel?

Was it just an illusion?

No. He knew what it was. It was the clown. The clown had played a trick on him.

Finally, Eddie and Richie were out of the hole. Eddie gasped and held Richie in a tight embrace. Richie felt his porcelain arms wrap around Eddie neck, comfortable in his arms.

"What happened?" Eddie asked. His voice was tight with concern.

Richie picked up the white board left on Eddie side, writing as hastily as he could. "I want to get out of here"

Eddie quickly got up after reading it, walking out of the sewer and back into the basement. Eddie stopped and placed Richie on the well.

"Are you hurt?" Asked Eddie.

Richie shook his head. He was definitely upset though.

"Listen, you know you can talk to me, right?"

Richie paused, then nodded. He felt like he needed to tell someone what happened.

"Well, lets head upstairs first. I guess you don't really want to be hear anymore, huh?" Eddie slightly smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

Richie nodded. If he could smile he would've. Eddie picked him up and held him in another hug. Richie was just thankful to be with Eddie again, even if it wasn't the real Eddie.