𝑮𝑹𝑬𝒀 - Eddie Munson [2]

SIX

FOUR|VECNA'S CURSE

The sun had set by the time the car pulled up beside the remote house, not another vehicle to be seen. Dustin rang the doorbell rapidly, hoping Eddie would answer.

"Okay. Well, that's settled." Steve stated boredly. "I guess he's not here."

"Eddie, it's Dustin!" Dustin banged on the door, yelling into the dark house. "Look, we just want to talk, okay? No cops, I swear. We just wanna help. Eddie! Rick! Reefer Rick!"

"Don't scream that!" Steve silenced the loud boy. "He's not here!"

Robin, Max and Birdie looked through the windows with their torches, trying to find any sign of life within the silent house.

"Hey, guys!" Max called out, gaining everyone's attention as she looked around the house. They quickly followed, all staring at a small boat house that sat on the edge of Lovers Lake, peering through the windows, trying to find the missing boy.

"Hello?" Robin shouted, her voice quivering as she pushed open the door and stepped inside first. "Is anyone home?"

"I wouldn't exactly call this a home?" Birdie stated sarcastically as she followed the girl into the boat house. The wooden ground creaked beneath them, alarming anyone that could be hiding of their presence.

"What a dump." Steve said before glancing over at his sister, noticing a strange look on her face as she spaced out. Although the pair had stayed in touch when she moved away, it was as if he did not know her. He picked up a boat oar, jabbing it into the covered pile on the small fishing boat.

"What are you doing?" Dustin questioned, noticing the hostility in the older boys jabs. "What are you doing?"

"He might be in here."

"So take the tarp off." He whisper yelled at Steve, confused by his actions.

"If you're so brave, you take the tarp off." Steve argued back at him while still jabbing the pile.

"Hey, look over here." Max gestured to Robin and Birdie to follow her, picking up food wrappers. "Someone was here."

"Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran." Robin suggested, glancing back at the two noisy boys behind them.

"Don't worry." Dustin said cheerfully. "Steve will get him with his oar."

"I know you think you're being funny, Henderson, but considering everyone in this room has nearly died a hundred times, personally, I don't find it funny in the slight-" Steve cut off as a figure launched itself out of the tarp, jumping on him and throwing him backwards. "Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Eddie! Stop!" Dustin pounced forwards, trying to calm the frightened boy who held a broken bottle against Steve's neck. "Eddie! It's me! It's Dustin. This is Steve. He's not gonna hurt you, right, Steve?"

"Right, yeah."

"Steve, why don't you drop the oar?" He continued to calm the situation down. Steve dropped the oar, the bang startling Eddie into digging the sharp glass closer to Steve's neck. "He's cool. He's cool."

"I'm cool, man. I'm cool." Steve mumbled to the boy.

"What are you doing here?" Eddie questioned, looking past Dustin's shoulder and meeting Birdie's amber eyes.

"We're looking for you." Dustin explained slowly.

"We're here to help." Robin added, trying to help Steve.

"Eddie, these are my friends." Dustin gestured to each of them. "You know Robin, from band. This is my friend Max. The one who never wants to play D&D. And you met Birdie last night. Eddie. We're on your side. I swear on my mother. Right, guys?"

"Yeah, we swear on Dustin's mother." They collectively agreed.

"Yeah, Dustin's mother." Steve looked up at Eddie, smiling innocently.

Eddie let go of Steve, stepping back and falling against a post with exhaustion. Birdie quickly checked on her brother, making sure Eddie hadn't cut a vein. Her eyes moved to the bottle still grasped in his shaking hands, not remembering him seeming this scared when she took him back to hers.

"Eddie." Dustin kneeled before him, trying to take the bottle from his hand. "We just want to talk. Okay."

"We want to know what happened." Robin kneeled beside Dustin while Birdie stood beside Eddie, gently placing her hand on his shoulder.

"You won't believe me." He sniffed, trying to compose himself.

"Try us." Max smiled at him, encouraging him to talk.

"Her body just, like, lifted up into the air and, uh, and she just, like, hung there." Eddie went into detail about what had happened, Birdie closing her eyes as she listened knowing she only saw the end of it. "In the air. And her bones, uh, she, her bones started to snap. Her eyes, man. It was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling. I didn't know what to do, I didn't want to drag Birdie into this mess, so I, uh, I ran away. I left her there. You all think I'm crazy, right?"

"No, we don't." Birdie leaned down so he could meet her stare. "Do I really look like someone who would try to hide a crazy person?"

"Don't bullshit me, man!" He snapped at her, staring at her confused. "I know how this sounds."

"We're not bullshitting you." Max spoke up, a serious look on her face. "We believe you."

"Look, what I'm about to tell you might be a little difficult to take." Dustin sighed, preparing himself to open up about everything. "You know how people say Hawkins is cursed? They're not way off. There's another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours."

"Like ghosts and shit?" Eddie asked, trying to understand what they are meaning.

"There are some things worse than ghosts." Max added, watching as Birdie stilled in memory.

"These monsters, from this other world, we thought they were gone." Dustin continued. "But they've come back before. That's why we needed to find you. If they're back again, we need to know."

"That night, did you see anything?" Robin directed her question to both Eddie and Birdie.

"Dark particles, maybe?" Eddie shook his head, Birdie mirroring his gesture. "It would almost look like dust, swirling dust."

"No, man, there was nothing you could see or, uh, touch." He answered, thinking back to the night. "You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn't move. It was like she was in a trance or something."

"Or under a spell?" Dustin suggested, glancing back at the others.

"A curse."

"Vecna's curse."

"Who's Vecna?" Steve glanced between Dustin and Eddie, trying to understand the moment between them.

"An undead creature of great power."

"A spell caster."

"A dark wizard."