Arkangel: Reddie

Blood

Mrs. Kaspbrak hated sending Eddie way to school. But she never felt the nerves she did when sending him to elementary school, as she did as she sent him away to his first day of sixth grade.

"Now Eddie, baby, remember be careful and if you need anything you know how to call me, yes?" The concerned mother followed her boy to the edge of the driveway, expressing her fears as he wandered away.

"Mom, I'll be fine. It's just like elementary school but in a different place." Eddie planted a kiss on her cheek and walked away, not worried.

Ever since Arkangel was implanted into his brain, he never worried. He knew he wouldn't get lost, he wouldn't get hurt, and he would stay innocent. However, his mother still worried. She knew all these things too but was petrified about the device shutting down one day and having no way of knowing he's safe. But, she watched him walk down the street from the tablet and wiped away sweat on her forehead when she saw he made it to school safely. At this point in the day, she didn't normally check on him until he began walking home.

"And then this fucking guy pops in and -" Richie Tozier stood holding a telephone, narrating a video his friends watched. "Oh hey." The boy nicknamed trashmouth rolled his eyes when Eddie approached the group.

"What are you guys watching?" He cocked his head to see even though he figured it would be blurred. It was highly unlikely Richie Tozier was showing off a wholesome family video.

"This guy chopping off this other guy's head!" Richie exclaimed, "Oh yeah, you can't see it. Must suck being a device head huh?" Richie's mother had lectured him heavily on how bad Arkangel was. How it spoiled the natural development of children. "Have you ever seen blood?"

Eddie shook his head. He wanted to lie but he knew Richie would know he wasn't being truthful. Richie had a pretty good sense of smelling bullshit. Not to mention Eddie was pretty bad at dishing it.

"Follow me!" Richie beamed and grabbed for Eddie's hand, venturing off from the small group he had once been the center of attention of. He pulled Eddie behind one of the school buildings and told him to sit and listen.

"So blood is like this red shit that pours out of you when you get a cut. I'm covered in cuts so I've seen a lot of blood in my days!" Richie pointed excitedly to the bandaids that filled his arms. "So in this video this guy is minding his own business then BAM, some fuckin' other guy just comes out and puts him in a headlock!" Richie was poorly reenacting the scenario to his watcher. However, Richie had no idea that the auto censorship had been enabled as soon as Richie said 'shit' and Eddie couldn't hear anything he was rambling about. But that didn't stop Eddie from just watching Richie bounce around and throw his arms about. It's was endearing.

-

"How was your day Eddie bear?" His mother greeted him at the door once she was alerted he was home. "Eddie?" He walked right past her and up to his room.

"I have a bunch of homework." He called as he ran up the stairs. He heard his mother follow but stop at the top of the stairs. She made her way back downstairs and picked up the tablet to watch her son.

He drew. He wasn't especially good at drawing but he dabbled in it. Mrs. Kaspbrak realized there really wasn't anything to worry about, maybe he'd just had a long day and need to unwind. She placed the tablet next to her on the couch and turned on the tv.

Eddie had been coloring for about an hour. He soon favorited the color red. He liked how it looked when he pressed the hardest he could on the white paper, making it as vibrant as possible. Then an idea hit him. Maybe Arkangel wouldn't censor it if he drew something graphic. It wasn't actual blood or an actual person in harm, right? So he did. He drew a person's body. Then he drew blood and a head on the ground next to the person's body he'd drawn. He drew what he imagined Richie had been watching and explaining.

But soon enough Arkangel did step in to censor his drawing. His work had just become a blur. Nothing more than a blob of color in front of him. He was frustrated. He felt the angry tears started to fight their way down his cheeks. He wanted to be soiled. He wanted to know what looked dangerous. He hated knowing he couldn't see the way others did. He hated knowing that he wasn't growing up the same as his classmates. There was an unspoken separation from him and the others. They all knew him as 'the kid whose mom is obsessed'. He stared at the freshly sharpened red colored pencil, then at his index finger. He knew he wouldn't be able to see any blood or cut on his body but he didn't care. He wanted his mother to see his blood. So, he stabbed his index finger. Letting a glob of blood stream out and leak down his finger.

"ALERT" The tablet spoke next to Mrs. Kaspbrak. She quickly picked it up and read the message across the screen.

"Self inflicted injury." The message flashed in a red box.

"Eddie!" Mrs. Kaspbrak yelled up to her son as she ran up their wooden stairs. "Eddie." She caught her breathe as she reached the top of the stairs.

Eddie turned his face slowly towards her. Icy tears stained his pain skin. A strip of fresh blood was wiped across his left cheek, following the direction a tear had once hit his face.

"What did you do?" His mother fell to her knees and held his face. Eddie has stopped crying at this point. He stared at her now. She was a blur. He couldn't see her pain or her sorrow. He couldn't sense her misfortune. She was only a blob in his eyes. He turned back and continued coloring.