Chapter 9

Thursday 10th September 1989, 15:34 pm

The rain from the previous morning had started back up again, the weather in September really couldn't decide how it wanted to act, a light drizzle falling down from the clouds above, pitter pattering on the ground forming small puddles, and softly tapping on the hood of Eddie's green coat. The small boy walked slowly along Brunthorn street, gripping the straps of his backpack tight, trying to think of a detour or a longer way to get home.

On one hand he wanted to get out of the rain, but on the other he was dreading the possibility that the school had already phoned in, and his mother would begin asking him questions upon questions, half of them to which he never had an answer to, and she would always assume something was wrong with him, or that he needed more prescriptions of pills, and he really didn't know how he'd be able to get out of that.

Turning into one of the alleyways on his left, he thought it would be best to take the route through the park. It was a secluded one, in the far corners of the park, leading right onto the road his house was on. He'd taken it a lot throughout the years, knowing that there wouldn't be any unwanted bullies, or creepy people waiting for him. 

The only thing Eddie didn't know was the reason why people avoided the path, having only thought of it as a quick road home and nothing more. He'd never bothered to glance between the trees that lined it, and never noticed how there were no animals or flowers along it. No one but Eddie would willingly walk down there, for what he didn't know was behind the large oak trees he would pass, there was a very small and winding lane, that led directly into the yard of Neibolt house.

The abandoned house, haunted house, call it what you will, but there was one of these houses in every small town, a place that people avoided like the plague because of its history, it was a well-known fact, though not talked about, that there had been many deaths, over the course of the years, which had coincidentally been at Neibolt, in some way or another, it would all lead back to the house. It wasn't as though the house had a label, it wasn't the place where murderers would bring their victim's dead bodies to hide, no, it was just seen as a bad omen.

A really bad omen.

The strange deaths and occurrence's, the sightings some of the crackheads of Derry had seen were always linked to that house. Sure no one believed them, but no matter how much they denied it, there was still a small part of them that was scared, a part that wondered whether what these people had seen could be true. 

Logic and reason often shut this out, but fear can fool even the wisest of men, and so, they stayed away. Eddie was just unfortunate enough to never realize that the path he had taken more than hundreds of times could be dangerous. Could be that is, not definitely. So, without a care in the world, he strolled down it, unbothered and unfazed.

He didn't want to keep worrying about his mother, and so kept his eyes on the scenery, trying to occupy himself by counting the clouds in the sky, which was near impossible seeing as they were all clumped together. They kept moving because of the wind, and Eddie concentrated as hard as he could, trying to find the outline of each big grey lump, but then, out of the blue, he saw something. It wasn't anything that unusual, but it certainly stood out against the many shades of grey, appearing from behind a tuft of cloud- a bright red balloon.

Floating.

Eddie watched as it bobbed along, wobbling a little as the gentle breeze pushed against it, slowing it slightly but still letting it float quite steadily to the west, and then disappearing over the large oak trees. After a few seconds, he heard a faint pop, and the rustle of leaves, sounding like the birds had been scared away, but Eddie didn't give it too much thought, after all, it was just a balloon that a child had probably let go of by accident, at a birthday party or a fair. He continued to walk, drops of water tipping off of the hood his coat and onto the ground, he gave up counting clouds and decided to count raindrops instead.

47...48...49

...

124...125...126 ....

By the time he got to 375, the burnt orange car that was always parked outside the Kaspbrak residence was coming into view, and the giant garbage can that had tipped over many months ago, was still laying on the side of the road, there was no garbage in it now of course, just an empty metal hunk that people would bump into often if they weren't looking where they were going. He unwilling walked onto the porch and up the front steps, he'd known this moment was coming, but he hadn't anticipated it would be so soon, and so just before opening the front door, he took a quick glance at his watch 3:52pm.

Shit, he was usually meant to be home at 3:45.

Opening the door, he braced himself, expecting some kind of commotion, or the sound of his mother thundering down the stairs, but there was nothing.

Just silence. 

Eddie shut the door quickly, stepping in and drying his wet shoes on the tiny 'Welcome Home' mat on the ground, he let his backpack slip off his shoulders next to the stairs, and then peered around. His mother was nowhere to be seen, she would usually have been sitting at the kitchen table painting her nails a horrible shade of neon pink, a vomit green, or even squashed up in her rocking chair that was much too small for her bulk, watching some soap opera or cheesy romance movie, and commenting on the character's appearance every three seconds. 

But no, everything was exactly where it usually was, aside from the crinkled blankets on the sofa, and the bottles of nail varnish on the table. Sonia liked to decorate the house much like an old lady would, with unnecessary china plates in small cabinets, and those unnaturally creepy dolls resting on the mantel piece, beside a few cheap picture frames, one of eddie as a small child, another of Sonia in a dress two sizes too small, and the last of the two of them, Eddie, as a 7 year old forcing a smile as his mother squeezed the air out of his lungs, giving him what she called a 'mama bear hug' whose name held a little too much truth. 

She had said she wanted it to be a cute mother and son photo, when really Eddie knew she just wanted another picture of herself on the mantel, as only a small part of Eddies face was visible in the picture, the rest of his body covered with the folds and lumps of Sonia's clothes, as she smiled a sickeningly sweet smile. Her eyes had that faint red glow, when the light bounces off your pupil wrong, making her look more like a psychopath than a mother. Eddie looked around once more, then, feeling thirsty, walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. The tap switched on, making a whirring sound that was far too loud for a completely quiet house. He waited until the glass was 3/4 the way full and took a few long sips.

"Where were you Eddie bear?" a sad voice said, and Eddie jumped a little, the water in his glass bouncing up and down a bit. He steadied it, wiping a few drops away that had fallen onto his hands and then turned around. His mother stood there, hands on her hips and glasses perched at the end of her nose, hair as if she hadn't combed through it for days, and wearing a long purple dress, something similar to what pregnant woman wear, when the bump would really start to show. 

Eddie laughed nervously, "N-nowhere ma,"

Mrs. Kaspbrak's worried look turned suspicious.

"I-I mean it took a longer time, you know, with the rain, I didn't want to slip and hurt myself, so I walked a bit slower," 

Eddie's mother pursed her lips and sighed, looking her son up and down,

"...Okay Eddie," she said, moving to open a cupboard behind the sink, "As long as you're safe, I'll let it slide this time, but not again, you hear me?"

The large woman stood on her tiptoes, which didn't make her much taller, and reached out with her stubby little fingers to try and clutch at a clear plastic box, kept on the shelf just out of her reach.

"Did you move these Eddie," she asked, not facing the boy but still straining to reach the box

"No ma,"

"Go get me the step ladder, it's near the sofa,"

Eddie went at once to get it, placing it in front of her and watching her grab the dreaded box,

"Here we go dear," she said placing it on the table, clicking it open and letting her finger hover above it as her eyes scanned for the 'Thursday Week 1' label. She found it, carefully wiggling her fat fingers around to find one orange pill, 2 blue ones, and three of those classic double-sided ones, with the tiny red and white ends.

Eddie eyed it nervously, "Are you sure we need the Acetam....asitam....Acetami...,"

"The Acetaminophen? Yes. Yes we do, I don't care what you say Eddie, it does not taste metallic or like acid, I haven't heard such nonsense in ages, is this the sort of bullshit they're teaching you in school? To avoid medication? You have to take it or else your joints will get sore and you'll get sick, you hear me? Sick. And you don't want to end up like your father now do you?"

She just had to bring him up, had to bring up his dad into everything she did, because she knew that was the only way that Eddie would listen without putting up the smallest of fights, he would feel too guilty to say no. Sonia looked down at her son smugly, he stood there head bowed, not saying a word. 

"Here," she said, grabbing Eddie's wrist, flipping his palm over and putting the pills in his hand, "Take them, and I don't want to hear any complaints okay?"

The small boy nodded, and swallowed the pills dry, having had so much practice over the years, he didn't need water. He shuddered as the little capsule broke on his tongue instead of going down whole, and the metallic taste he hated so much flooded his mouth, the powdery substance feeling disgusting with its tiny lumps. 

He held back the gag, and looked up at his mother, who was smiling down at him, "Go on then, go to your room and finish your homework, tell me if you want dinner or not, it won't hurt if you go without,"

Eddie stood there, waiting to hear whether his mother was being serious or not, and when she didn't say anything he murmured, "I'm not hungry," and jogged up to his room. He suddenly felt really tired, as if someone had just zapped the energy out of him, turning all his limbs to twigs and he felt drained just standing there. It's the pills that did this to him, but he didn't mind too much, after all, if what his mother was saying was true, then they really were helping him, even if he didn't know how. Not bothering to turn on the light switch or get started on his homework, he flopped onto his bed, a relaxed sigh escaping his mouth as he his head fell into the familiar mold of the pillow and he knew all he wanted to do was sleep.

He lay there in silence for a few minutes, his gentle breathing was the only thing that could be heard.

But it was too quiet.

He didn't like it and kept shifting and squirming around in the sheets until he gave up, sitting straight up and leaning over to his desk, which was beside the bed to find something. Fumbling around in the dark he whispered, "Come on....it was here just this morni- here it is...."

His fingers wrapped around the edge of a mini radio. It was one his dad had bought him over ten years ago, and even though it had a hard time picking up the frequency, it was one of Eddie's favourite things, perfect for when he just wanted to escape and think happy thoughts. He swiveled the small knobs on the front around for a few minutes until the static cleared up, and though he couldn't make it out at first, he finally heard the radio man's muffled voice, cutting out a few times but he could understand it nonetheless.

"Back to the programme, if you've just joined us welcome welcome welcome, tonight we have me, Tony Ripsom on the radio broadcasting to all you wonderful folks at home, ladies I know you're getting some good stuff going on the stove, and gentlemen I can see you with your feet on the couch, newspaper in hand," the man chuckled, "Well wherever you are welcome back, we've been taking in requests all night long, so next up is one of my personal favourites, though most of you out there might not know it, it's a good one to listen to, here's Africa by Toto."

As the man's voice faded out, Eddie couldn't help but feel there was something familiar about the name.... Africa.... by toto... he'd definitely heard that somewhere before but wher- hold on... wasn't that the song that Richie liked? His favourite song?

Eddie leaned a little closer to the radio where the intro of the song had quietly started to play. He smiled, he really liked it, the soft melody, the light beats, he could just imagine Richie sitting there on his bed, with his own little radio...no Richie didn't seem like the person to have a radio... a Walkman maybe?... with a mixtape... yes, he could just imagine Richie sitting there with his Walkman, probably smiling to himself too as he listened to the song. Eddie leaned away and rested his head on the pillow again, closing his eyes and letting the music fill the room.

 It really is a good song; I've got Richie to thank for that. 

Ah Richie. 

Eddie didn't know quite how to feel about the boy.

We're friends...maybe? Did friends get each other into trouble a lot? Well he wouldn't know. Did they argue a lot, he wouldn't know that either. Do friendships happen over a few days or a few weeks? Eddie still didn't have an answer.

What was a friend meant to be like? They had to care about you, he thought, and they have to....uh... you have to get along with them? Maybe they had... a defining personality trait? Eddie groaned inwardly, 'Defining personality trait?' Really? he was so stupid, he knew nothing about the most basic of things, he tried to think of it logically.

What was good about Richie. Richie was certainly annoying, a dickhead, an idiot, a moron, an asshole, the list went on forever, but there was something about him, that was still...somewhat.... just in the slightest bit.... likeable, despite the abnormal stupidity and mom jokes.

Sure, Eddie had gotten his first ever detention in what 13 years, But he'd also had someone sit near him, talk to him willingly and stand up for the first time in 13 years, and that's got to count for something.

So, he asked himself the same thing for the second time, were they friends? In a strange way, he did hope they were, even though he'd only known the boy for 2 whole days, he would still miss Richie if he suddenly decided to disappear. Richie wasn't all that bad either, although Eddie acted that way and appeared annoyed at the other boy's pathetic humour, it did kinda make him laugh too. 

Guess that means my humour is just as pathetic, he thought, smiling tiredly in the dark, too exhausted to carry on thinking about whether Richie was just a friend or an acquaintance. There was one thing for sure, as Eddie drifted off to sleep, with Africa still playing in the back, that he didn't want to lose Richie, friend or not, because for the first time in a long time, he'd felt happy.

 And that was too good to get taken away so quickly.

A/N 

Was that good? No clue but I needed a filler 

Now I'm thinking about not having anything pennywise related in this story because everything might get a bit too complicated

That doesn't mean that there won't be any more references hehe I love when shit goes wrong its so much more sPiCy

uM anyways like usual I haven't read through anything

I'm thinking about pausing the book for a while so that I can finish it and get a storyline but im not sure what do y'all think? 

ALSO thank you guys SO MUCH FOR 500 READS LIKE WHATTT that's AMAZING LIKE AAAAA and we're almost at 100 votes which is INSANE FOR MY FIRST FANFIC AAAAA FRVGEHBSNAKMKWJERHFBD 

Also I'm not sure how many readers there are for this story like wattpads statistics thing is too confusing for my pea sized brain its not fairrrr i want to knowwww 

Like at the moment I think there are 16 of you? I DONT KNOWWWW but to me that's a whole lot of people so YAY 

ANYWAYS I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCHHH MAKE SURE TO STAY HEALTHY AND DRINK LOTS OF WATER AND NOT DIE LY GUYSSS <3333 HAVE A GR8 DAYY

*remember to vote bmao*