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Chapter 18

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Richie exhaled an exhausted breath as he pedaled his bike as hard as he could. He was so tired, and so unbelievably nervous. After an exhausting day starting with Eddie waking him up way too early, things only got worse from there.

Eddie had left his house before seven in the morning. Might not have even been six thirty yet. Richie was so tired he basically just told the smaller boy bye and went back to sleep without another thought. He even pretty much forgot Eddie had even spent the night until his mom came into his room shortly after ten thirty, telling him he had a phone call from Bill.

As soon as he started talking to the other boy, it quickly became apparent to him that something was very wrong. Bill had called to remind Eddie that his mom would be coming to pick him up - literally any time. Bill was worried for Eddie's sake - that he was going to get in trouble when his mom found out he'd stayed at Richie's without asking.

Richie told Bill that Eddie had left his house hours ago... They immediately decided to meet up and look for the smallest of their friends, casually checking Eddie's own house first, then going from there.

As the day went on, and none of their friends heard a word from Eddie, each and every one of them began to fear the worst. Eventually Eddie's mom arrived at Bill's house, looking for her son, immediately panicking - even faster than Richie had.

The cops were called - most of them didn't seem to consider Eddie's disappearance a big deal. They seemed to think the tiny, fearful boy may have just run away, or got distracted playing with his friends - that he'd be home that evening for sure... The cops didn't seem to care when Eddie's friends pointed out the fact that they were all right there - looking for Eddie along with his mom - not distracted, playing with him in the woods or at the river. A lot of the cops didn't seem bothered by the fact that children going missing had become a terrifying trend - they didn't seem to connect the dots that none of the other missing children had shown back up after getting lost in their own play for a day - Eddie wouldn't either.

Richie's mom felt compelled to tell the truth once the cops got involved. She hadn't known Eddie wasn't supposed to stay at her house the night before. Eddie's mom accused her of knowing though. The cops accused Sonia of being paranoid, overprotective... One even questioned if she had done something to Eddie - accidentally hurt him in an attempt to gain attention for herself.

While the adults argued, the kids continued looking. They searched all day - in the woods, at the school, library, every store, along roads, in the junk yard, near every body of water or park... They didn't stop looking until their parents insisted that they come home... And they found nothing. No trace of him whatsoever.

Richie was forced to lay in his room, pretending to try to sleep as his mind raced, wondering what could have happened to his best friend, wondering if he'd ever see him again... The guilt he felt was crushing too. He had hardly even spoken to the smaller boy that morning. What may have turned out to be the very last words he said to him... he couldn't even remember. Maybe a rude joke... It certainly wouldn't have been what he'd have said if he knew Eddie would never come back...

Then early in the morning he heard pebbles hitting his window. It was the last person he expected when he checked outside - Henry Bowers. He'd immediately and easily convinced Richie to come downstairs by telling him he knew something about Eddie...

And he sure as hell did. Henry confessed just about everything, under the condition that Richie keep it to himself. The older boy had seemed almost scared, almost remorseful... but still threatening enough that Richie agreed to not tell anyone - as long as Eddie was okay. Henry warned him that he'd need to hurry and find him to insure that, and told Richie where to find the smaller boy - tied to a tree at the old, abandoned and collapsing Miller house in the woods.

So that's where Richie was heading, pedaling faster than he realized his legs could possibly pedal, but still feeling like progressing toward the house was taking forever. It was dark, cold, rainy... Wild animals and creepy creatures roamed the woods at night - especially lately with the whole Pennywise thing going on. The clown could come and claim Eddie at any time if a wild animal didn't.

"Eddie!" Richie called out as he pedaled. He was so out of breath, he couldn't manage to call out the smaller boy's name too many times. He needed to conserve his energy so he could focus first and foremost on getting there.

And after what felt like hours, he finally did arrive at the house, letting his bike go on for a few yards and fall down as he hopped off of it and ran to his friend's side. His legs were exhausted. They felt like jelly... but he ran up to Eddie anyway, panting breathlessly by the time he reached the smaller boy's side.

Eddie was indeed tied to a tree, with his hands bound with a huge sum of tape around his wrists in front of him. He had another large strip of tape pressed over his mouth, what looked like a bit of blood under his nose, a bruise under his eye... and Richie noticed his shirt was completely gone. He may have had cuts and bruises on his arms and chest too - but the ropes and the darkness of the very early morning obscured Richie's view.

The poor boy was soaking wet from the rain. He was shivering and maybe softly crying - either looking down with his eyes squeezed shut, or passed out - possibly somewhere in between. He looked positively miserable. Maybe he was sick from the cold. Maybe he was just extremely hurt from whatever it was Bowers did to him. The bully hadn't given Richie precise details on that. Richie just knew Eddie had been gone for a frighteningly long time.

Eddie shrunk down and whimpered softly as soon as Richie grabbed at his arms. His eyes were closed and he seemed determined not to look to see who was reaching out at him. Instead, he flinched and shook his head, like he was scared, like he didn't know it was Richie... like he was scared to look or ask.

"Eddie!" Richie breathed, placing his hand against the smaller boy's cheek.

Eddie shook his head, still refusing to open his eyes. He shrunk down, as though frightened Richie would hurt him.

"Open your eyes, Eddie..." Richie frowned, moving his hand away from his friend and staring down at him. He didn't want to scare him - even if the fear didn't make any sense.

Eddie let out a shaking, muffled noise, but still refused to open his eyes.

"Eds, its me!" Richie breathed, putting his hand back on Eddie's face and peeling away the strip of duct-tape covering the smaller boy's mouth. "Look at me... It's me. It's Richie... I'm gonna get you out of this... I'm gonna take you home. You okay?" He breathed.

"R-Richie?" Eddie gasped in a tiny, weak-sounding voice, finally opening his eyes wide, blinking back tears as his lip trembled. Richie noticed his small friend looked a little disoriented as he blinked tiredly. "Is it really you? It's not a trick?" He whispered.

"Yeah... It's me... Are you okay, Eddie?" Richie frowned, brushing some of Eddie's wet hair away from his face. "You alright?" He asked again when Eddie didn't answer.

Richie exhaled softly as he looked down at the ropes wound around Eddie's torso. "Fuck..." He breathed, looking for the end so he could unknot it. He should have brought a knife. This was going to take a bit of work to untangle. "Eddie, are you hurt? Should I go get help?" Richie breathed.

Eddie shook his head, swallowing. "Don't leave me." He whispered.

Richie stared back into his friend's wide, dark eyes. Eddie looked so scared, but also looked fairly close to passing out. "Okay." Richie nodded. "I won't leave... Not without you. We'll get you untied and go back together... You're gonna be okay. I'm staying with you the whole time."

Eddie's lip trembled again as he stared at Richie, seeming like he wanted to say something... but he was obviously holding back. He seemed so uncertain. So scared.

"We looked everywhere for you." Richie spoke, trying to say something - anything - while he untangled and unwound the ropes securing Eddie to the tree. "You've been gone almost an entire day..."

"I-" Eddie hesitated. "Got lost... In the woods... Someone tied me... Um. A man... It was..." He stammered, his words spaced out and his voice small. "Some guy... I just was lost all day, but then..." He shook his head, looking and sounding confused and uncertain. "I don't know-"

Richie stared at him with a frown. Did Eddie not remember what happened? Was he so hurt that he couldn't piece it together in his mind? He did seem somewhat dizzy, confused, close to fainting... "It was Bowers." Richie told him. "Henry Bowers took you."

Eddie's eyes widened as he quickly shook his head. "No. Nope... Wasn't him... I swear. Richie, it wasn't. Don't tell people that." His voice was suddenly a lot more quick and frantic. He hadn't been confused before... He had been deliberately lying, probably because Henry threatened to hurt him if he told the truth.

"He told me it was him. He came to my house like twenty minutes ago and told me where to find you." Richie frowned. "I know... He probably threatened to kill you if you told. He did the same to me... We can keep it a secret... Just... You don't have to keep it a secret from me. I know it was him. I won't say anything."

Eddie swallowed and closed his eyes, nodding. He looked like he felt sick, like he might throw up or pass out.

"You still okay there, Eds?" Richie frowned, finishing the ropes and letting them fall to the ground. "I can take you to the hospital... Or home. Whichever you prefer."

"No." Eddie whispered, shaking his head. "My mom's gonna be so mad..."

"She'll be relieved... She's so fucking worried..." Richie frowned, legitimately feeling bad for the woman for once. "You're gonna have to go home eventually anyway, and I think she's gonna be more relieved than mad... She'll probably forget all about you being at my house when you weren't supposed to be."

"No she won't." Eddie laughed weakly. "She's gotta blame this on somebody - it'll be you... me... your mom..."

"Eds, I really don't care if she blames me. What the fuck ever." Richie shrugged and forced a smile. "She'll get over it. She has to."

"I don't want to go home yet... Can I go to your house?" Eddie whispered.

Richie shook his head. "My mom'll tell your mom. The police are involved and everything..."

Eddie's lower lip trembled as he sniffed back tears. He looked so small as he stared down at the ground and shrunk down.

"Well..." Richie hesitated, looking around, taking note of the half-collapsed house behind Eddie. "We could stay here for a few hours... Wait for the rain to stop... Get your story sorted out. You don't have to tell your mom the whole truth. You can't stay hidden forever, but I'll help you stay hidden for a little bit... If that's what you want..."

Eddie nodded quickly, pressing himself against Richie's chest in a sort of attempt at a hug. His hands were still taped together in front of him, so he couldn't manage an actual hug... But Richie could. He wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and held him close. He was so happy Eddie was here with him right now. He was okay... He was alive, and basically okay.

"Thank you for finding me." Eddie breathed, his voice trembling.

"Yeah... Of course." Richie frowned, looking down at his friend. He appeared to have welts on his arms, long, red marks, some of them complete with shallow cuts. He had pretty dark bruises on his neck too - some of them very clearly finger-shaped. His entire body was shivering. His lips looked almost blue, and his skin felt a lot colder than Richie thought it should.

"Lets get you inside." Richie suggested, shrugging out of his jacket and draping it over Eddie's shoulders. He'd work on getting the tape off his wrists later. For now, he just needed to get his friend out of the cold and wind.

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