OUTCASTS • Eddie Munson

A Big Commotion

Ellie spent her evening tidying her room, all the lights in the house were on, and she had Shoot To Thrill playing on repeat.

She had spent the whole day headache and nosebleed free, but she didn't want to take any chances. She was so thankful that she had managed to escape, but she didn't feel too hopeful that she would be able to again. Either way she wasn't going to take any chances, and every time the song ended, she rewound it and played it from the start again.

The first thing she had done when she'd gotten back was rip her sheets from her bed and thrown them away, not wanting to have a burn patch she'd have to explain to her uncle, not that he ever came in her room.

Replaying the memories over and over in her mind she found it almost impossible to believe that the music she listened to had pulled her out of the other dimension, trying to think about whether or not she had overlooked something, and desperately trying to piece things together just in case it did happen again. She had never been so lucky before, and didn't want to leave anything to chance in case she was caught off guard.

Once she had finished cleaning her room, she decided to clean the rest of the house, not wanting to go to sleep.

The house was spotless by the time the sun came up, aside from her Uncles room in which she refused to enter. Only when the sun was fully up did she turn off the lights in the house, aside from the hallway as it was the only room in the house that didn't get enough sunlight for Ellie to feel safe.

Her Uncles car pulled into the driveway, so she quickly ducked into her room, pulling the door closed, and collapsing onto her bed. Even though she didn't get on well with her uncle, she still felt comfort in knowing he was in the house with her, finally feeling secure enough to sleep.

The second her eyes closed, the sound of multiple police cars zooming past piqued her interest. She followed the sound and heard them turn left a little ways down the road, "the trailer park" she thought to herself.

She lifted herself from her bed, pulling off her shirt and changing it for another one, and checked her eyeliner in the mirror. Considering she had been wearing it since yesterday morning, she was impressed that it had held so well.

Her uncle was bustling about in the kitchen, making a mess of it again. She didn't want to see him, so she left through her window, happy she was able to open it this time as opposed to having to punch through it like before. Her hand stung at the memory.

The walk to the trailer park was short, she could literally see the turn off from the end of her driveway. She obviously wasn't the only one who had this idea, as she saw a couple of her neighbours leaving the house to go and see what was going on too.

If this was any place other than Hawkins she most definitely wouldn't have headed towards where the sirens were going, but how bad could it really be in a quiet town like this? Plus the cops were already there, so if anything had have happened, it would be being dealt with already.

Her feet crunched in the gravel along the side of the road, cigarette hanging out of her mouth as per usual. She could hear voices gossiping from the trailer park even before she got to it.

The cop cars were all gathered a little ways in, a mass group of people all too nosy for their own good headed towards them. Ellie was also one of those people, having found nothing better to do with her time.

"Stay back" the cops told the people beginning to wander closer.

They spoke to each other in hushed whispers, getting ready to control the crowd.

Ellie figured that someone was dead in the trailer. She also figured that it was most likely a homicide due to the fact that the police were here.

She stood to the sidelines a little ways away from the small crowd, leaning against a fence that housed a dog. The view from here wasn't the best given how many people were hanging around, but she could see the door to the trailer.

One of the cops entered, holding the door open for his colleague, allowing Ellie a split second to view the inside.

She saw a girl laying on the floor, her blonde hair standing out in the darkness, cheerleading uniform recognisable to anyone who attended Hawkins High School.

It couldn't be, could it?

A gasp was heard from behind Ellie before a cop spoke, "Hey, you can't be out here, get back inside."

She turned to see a ginger girl standing a few feet away, having just witnessed the same thing that she had done.

"And you too!" The cop pointed towards Ellie.

The girl began to walk away towards her trailer, "Hey, do you go to Hawkins High?" Ellie asked, needing confirmation over what was running through her head.

The girl stared at her, trying to work out why she was being asked about what school she went to, whilst they were standing at a murder scene.

"Yeah." She responded, more of a question than it was a reply.

"Was that Chrissy Cunningham?" Ellie asked her, moving closer to her in an aid to not let anyone else hear the conversation.

"Yeah it was." The girl replied, turning once again to head into her trailer.

Ellie's train of thought had been completely derailed.

She had only met Chrissy last night, if you could call that an official meeting. Her and Eddie were headed back to his place, and she could only assume that that's where she was standing right now. So where the hell was Eddie? Did he kill her? No way, he wouldn't be stupid enough to kill someone in his own home and not get rid of the body. Not to mention that he didn't seem like the murdering type, beside the persona he put on.

Ellie walked a few feet away from the crime scene, her mind reeling over what she'd just witnessed, not being able to piece anything together. What in the hell happened after she was dropped off last night?

The ginger girl exited from her trailer again, wearing a change of clothes and making a bee-line towards the trees.

So naturally, Ellie followed her.