Arkangel: Reddie

Eddie The King

"I'm not your Eddie Bear." He stopped crying too. As she approached him, he ran out her door. Slamming it in her face.

Eddie pounded on the stairs again, and ran through the door. His feet were sore as he ran down the hot sidewalk with no shoes on. He couldn't even think about them getting dirty. He ran and ran and ran and ran until he reached a bridge. A river was flowing underneath an active highway. He figured this was a good place to stop.

He held the tablet in his hands. He looked down at it. This was his first proper look at it. He made his way around the controls until he found the button that allowed access to his eyes. He saw a loophole of him looking down at the tablet. It hurt his eyes so he switched it off.

***
[IT'S GOING TO GET GRAPHIC PLEASE IF YOU'RE SQUEAMISH ABOUT EYES DON'T READ!! THERE WILL BE LESS GRAPHIC INFORMATION LATER IN THE CHAPTER SO YOU CAN BE CAUGHT UP!]

Then an idea struck him. What if he was a hero like Oedipus. A man who had realized his mistakes and misfortune and punished himself instead of allowing anyone else too. At least, that's what Eddie had convinced himself he'd be before picking up a stick from the river bank. He looked at them for a moment before clicking the vision button again. The multiple tablets gave him the same headache but he didn't care.

Eddie breathed in hard. This was going to be incredibly painful but it needed to be done. He came to the conclusion that even if he destroyed the tablet, Arkangel would still be there. His mother would somehow find a way to see him. To get in his head. Eddie took off his shirt and stuffed it into his mouth. Then, faced the end of the stick towards him. He could see the sharpness of it. He slowly rose the stick to his left eyeball.

This is it. Only two swift movements before it would all be over. She'll never have control over you again. Eddie felt a single tear fall down his face, the last one he'd feel.

One.
Two.
Three.

He quickly moved the stick into his eye. He felt the blood rush down his cheek. The pain was agonizing. He felt his body jolt as he screamed into his shirt. He took a short glimpse at the tablet. It's screen started to contain little blood droplets. He saw half the screen was black. With the confirmation that you could no longer see what he saw, he proceeded to do the same to his right eye. The pain was nearly unbearable as he fell to the ground. His once white shirt was now drenched in blood. He felt it fall out of his mouth as he screamed a heart wrenching scream.

***

It felt like ages until he was found at the river. He heard the sound of feet crunching on leaves and the jingle of a dog collar. Then he heard a gasp and scream. He figured he'd been laying on the grass for around an hour before medics arrived. Before he heard his mother call his name as he was pushed away into the emergency vehicle.

He heard doctors frantically talk about hopefully being able to save his vision.

"No." Eddie gasped for air, interrupting the doctor's positivity. "Leave me blind." If Eddie could cry, he would have.

-

The hospital. A safe space for Eddie. He had spent years of his life here. Years cowering behind his mother's commands. Her constant lecturing of how easily he could get sick. He didn't care anymore. He didn't care if he ended up dead.

"Eds?" He heard a familiar voice. Richie Tozier.

"Don't call me that." Eddie spoke softly.

Richie's face dropped when he saw Eddie's. His eyes were bandaged up. Only hours ago Richie had been looking into those glossy brown eyes he adored.

"What did you do Eddie?" Richie's voice cracked. It was normally deep and self assure. But he sounded lost.

"I couldn't do it anymore." Eddie still spoke just loud enough for Richie to heard. He sounded like he just woke up from a deep sleep. "I didn't want her to see anymore. I was her eyes into my life. I'm like -"

"Oedipus." Richie finished his sentence. "The same day you told me about your book, I walked to the library and checked out a copy myself." Richie's eyes watered as he reached for Eddie's hand. He held onto it tightly as he recalled that day of tenth grade. "I'm sorry."

"Why?" Eddie turned his face, expecting to see Richie's freckled face pushing up this thick glasses. But it was just dark.

"For not being there for you. I should have stepped in the day she confronted me. I shouldn't have cut you off and held this secret. We should have ran. Ran off into he sunset, just like a movie." He squeezed Eddie's hand as a tear rolled down his face, landing on the hospital bed.

"Describe a sunset to me Rich." Eddie wrapped his other hand around Richie's.

"A sunset," Richie sniffled. "The most beautiful thing in the world. Deep reds, oranges, pinks, all collide and work together in an indescribable blend of colors. The sky is still bright but with a hint of darkness starting." Richie's voice cracked as he broke down. As he spoke about the sunset, it hit him that Eddie would never experience one again. All because of his mother. All because she had spent too much time worrying about her son than watching the sunset.

"Please don't cry Chee." Eddie rubbed his thumb gently on Richie's hand. A smile slowly came across his face. He didn't want Richie to be sad. Eddie wasn't sad. Eddie felt relief. Relief from his mother. Relief from the feeling of being trapped. He felt free.