Spotlights Will Guide You Home - Chapter 4
Summary: Eddie wakes up.
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Pairing: Reddie
Words: 1675
The boy gasped, his chest heaving as he lurched forward. His stomach churned, sending him onto his knees as he dry heaved onto the ground. He sniffed, wiping the tears from his eyes as his stomach settled, giving him his first proper chance to take in his surroundings.
Where the hell was he?
Better question, who the hell was he?
He racked his brain, desperately searching for an answer. Yet, all he was met with was an inky blackness where his memories should have been. There was obviously a story to how he had ended up here, lying against a rock in… where even was he? A sewer? His hand instinctively went to his chest, fingers tracing the ragged outline of the tear in the fabric of his shirt.
He felt like the world's worst detective trying to piece together what little he did remember. It reminded him of that one time he tried to do a Rubik's cube blindfolded: impossible and frustrating. A flash of a memory crossed his mind before just as quickly disappearing.
Soft hands cupping his face, gently pulling down the blindfold he wore to come face to face with brown eyes, those big, beautiful brown eyes.
“That was a good attempt, Eds. Too bad you’ll never be as good as moi”
Ed’s, no, no. He didn’t like the sound of that. Eddie, however… that must be his name right? But who did that voice and those intoxicating eyes belong to?
He pushed himself up onto shaky legs, one hand braced against the wall for support. He needed to get out of this hellhole, despite only spending a short while conscious in the morbid cavern, he knew it was not a place he should linger.
There were people who would be worried about him, faces, some with names and some without, who would come looking for him eventually. His wife for one.
His wife?
Of course, fuck, his wife. Myra, was it?
He could remember their wedding, a day that felt stuffy and plastic, as though it would melt and burn away if placed under a hot flame. However, the months and years leading up to it were a blur of colours and numbness. He couldn’t actually remember falling for her.
And that’s when he realised.
He never actually had.
He staggered over to the large gap in the wall, what he assumed was hopefully the exit, at the other side of the cavern. His steps echoed as he sloshed through the water. It seeped through his socks and shoes, making him release a disgusted shudder.
The dim light in the cavern did little to aid him in his task. He stuck close to the wall, lest he should stumble into something he would rather avoid, something that would be better off fading into the inky blackness, never to be known again.
Eddie guessed that was almost where he ended up. And then where would he be? The people that knew him would forget about him eventually, his face would fade from their minds like leaves that decayed as they fell from the trees, slowly until nothing remained.
He would go out of the blue and into the black.
His footsteps echoed in the tunnels of the sewers, bouncing off the walls and down into dark places unknown, places that were probably better to stay that way. His feet moved automatically, guiding him down the twists and turns that he wasn’t even conscious of.
Yet, deep down he knew of their existence, as though he had travelled them before. Had he? And his feet had never forgotten the path, leading him out of that dark, desolate place and into the sunlight of Derry.
Yes, that’s definitely where he was, Derry, Maine. The streets were thankfully empty as he stumbled aimlessly along, the sun was just on the cusp of rising as people were not yet called from their beds. It was a blessing he should be thankful for, he cut an unnerving figure in his bloodstained shirt - whether it was his blood or another’s was an answer he was yet to find - and caked in dirt and grime from the sewers. Someone would surely notice something was wrong, and then where would he be? Taken away to some hospital to have test after test -
“You’re sick Eddie-bear! This will help you feel better!”
No. No tests. He knew he had visited enough hospitals in his lifetime to never set foot in one again, though the reason why still escaped him. Though who the shrill, piercing voice that reminded him of the fact belonged to still escaped him.
A three story townhouse came into view, a weather worn sign swung on its hinges outside, announcing it as ‘Derry Townhouse.’
The hotel, if you could call it that, was seemingly abandoned from the outside. Only one car was parked outside it, a large black SUV, one that Eddie immediately recognised as his own.
Wasn’t someone else supposed to be here? No, not just someone, multiple someones.
Nevertheless, here he was, standing on an empty street with fractured pieces of memories floating around in his head like pieces of debris from a particularly violent storm. He knew this car was his, and he knew he had drove all the way from New York to this sleepy little town for some reason.
But putting his finger on why seemed to be the problem.
He rooted through his pockets, fishing out a car key that had stayed surprisingly intact throughout the fight.
Wait, what fight? Had he fought someone?
Or something?
That was all his mind seemed willing to give at that moment though, so he unlocked the car with a loud beep and threw open the door.
Beep…
Beep Beep…
Beep Beep R-
‘BEEEEEEEEP’
“What the fuck?!” Eddie shouted, launching himself back out of the car, removing his shoulder from where it had subconsciously moved to rest against the horn. He slapped a hand against his chest, desperately wishing for his racing heart to return to it’s calm, almost sluggish you might say, pace.
He laughed to himself as the terror faded, the only rementants of it being a skittering feeling along the surface of his skin. He jumped back into the car, fingers wrapping around a little card that sat in the compartment that separated the driver and passenger seat. He turned it over in his hands, a picture of himself looking miserable greeting him on the other side. He squinted, eyes roaming over the information printed in block letters.
Edward Kaspbrack. So that was his name. He lived in New york? Why? It was chaotic and dirty and not his scene at all, he knew that much.
Sighing, he punched the address into the sat nav and turned the keys in the ignition, bringing the car roaring to life. The sooner he got out of Derry, the better.
—-
“Eddie, is that you? Where the hell have you been? You were supposed to be back- Oh my god,” The accusatory tone in Myra’s voice failed her as she hurried round the corner, coming face to face with her husband for the first time in a couple of weeks.
Eddie could understand her shock, after going radio silent for god knows how long it had been, now he turned up on their doorstep covered in dirt and grime from the sewers, it was bound to be disorientating.
But he couldn’t focus on that right now. He thought the feeling of needing to run would dissipate the further he got from Derry, yet it only became stronger, more panicked. He needed to go further, faster.
He barged past her into their apartment. Her footsteps echoed behind him as he rushed through to their bedroom.
“Eddie! Answer me! They told me you were-”
“I can’t stay here. I’ve got to go.” Eddie delved into the wardrobe, pulling out a large canvas bag identical to the two already sitting in the back of his car.
“Go? Go where?!”
“I don’t know. Anywhere that’s not here.”
“Eddie, you’ve got to tell me what’s going on. I don’t understand!” Myra screeched, tears now spilling down her cheeks.
“You wanna know what’s going on? I just woke up in a goddamn sewer with no clue of how i ended up there. Now I've got to go, I don't know why, just something is pulling me. Telling me to get as far away from Derry as possible.”
“You sound crazy, you know that? So you’re just gonna come home, after supposedly being crushed to death, or at least that what they told me, and just jet off again. What about everything you’re leaving behind Eddie? What about me?! What about your wife?”
Eddie turned to where she stood in the doorway, the black pair of trousers he held dropping into a crumpled heap on the floor. He walked towards her, slipping off the gold band around his ring finger and pressing it into her shaking palm.
“It was never real for either of us. You know that,” Eddie whispered, staring at the ring that now lay in Myra’s hand. He instantly felt lighter, as though he had finally been unshackled for the first time in years. “Goodbye, Myra.”
He zipped up the canvas bag and carried it through the apartment, antsy to get out of that suffocating apartment. He knew what he was doing was harsh, but it was best for both of them, living a lie was pointless, and Eddie was done watching his fly by in a whirlwind of moments that held no deeper meaning.
The airport seemed like the best place to go, yes, jump on the first plane leaving, the visa he’d found tucked neatly beside his passport would cover most places. His poorly formed plan was rash and could fail spectacularly, but it was just the kind of adrenaline kick he needed.
And so, he jumped on a plane to London. Ready to start rebuilding a new life from the ashes of one he barely remembered.
