the chain

i can still hear you saying you would

You're jolted awake by someone gripping your arms and you snap your eyes open, immediately on guard with a gasp.

"Hi." Eddie hovers over you, a sympathetic look on his face, "Sleeping beauty." He notes.

"What the fuck?"

"Sorry." He watches as a frown grows on your face.

"What the hell is going on?" You exclaim.

"Shh! Shut up! We gotta get the hell out of here," Eddie pulls you to your unsteady feet, pressing a hand against your back and leading to out of the room, "they found us, someone's here."

"Wait!" You turn, grabbing the walkie-talkie from your bedside table. "Where are-"

"Boathouse, go, go!" He urges you forward, but pulls you back when you're about to step into the car's line of sight, "A little more stealthy, Jesus Christ!"

"I just woke up!" You whisper to him, shooting him a glare.

"You were asleep for like half an hour," he shoots back, peering from the door to see the young men exit the car, "Shit."

"What?"

"Shit, shit, shit!" He grits his teeth together, staring for a moment longer before he runs, dragging you with him.

You sprint to the boathouse, ripping the door open before shutting it and cowering underneath the window. "Who is it? Did they see us?"

"No, no," Eddie looks outside of the window, "they're getting into the house."

"Who?"

"Jason and his idiot goonies!" Eddie steps away from the window, running a hand over his face, "Shit!"

Lifting the device to your mouth, you press the button, "Dustin! Come in, Dustin - we need your help. Jason's here and he brought the entire fucking basketball team." The silence that follows makes your stomach sink. You shut your eyes, holding it up and waiting for a response. "Dustin?!"

Eddie rips it from your hands, pressing down on the button in a panic, "Hey, it's Eddie. You remember me, right? Hey, uh, if anybody's there, we're in a bit of trouble here. A lot of trouble here. Jesus Christ! Anybody?"

No one answers. There isn't a sound from the walkie. "Shit," you grit your teeth together, thinking of a plan, something to do, anything. "We're sitting ducks in here."

"Any last words?" Eddie inquires sarcastically.

"I wish I could've slept longer," you glare, inching towards the window.

The lights are still on in the house, you can see shadows moving past windows frantically - back and forth, back and forth, searching for you and Eddie. The sun is beginning to set already and it won't take the boys long to find the boathouse. And with it, you two. Trying once more with the walkie, Eddie watches the house, "Dustin, please, are you there?" His eyes land on the boat before they flicker to yours, "Never mind." Setting it down, Eddie rips the tarp off of the small boat, tossing it aside. "Get in, come on," he looks at you.

In an instant, you're at his side, pushing whatever crap is in it to the side and setting down the oars. Eddie's quick at untying the thick knots keeping the boat docked and it begins to tilt to one side before he pushes it towards the lake, barely grasping the walkie-talkie it before jumping in himself. The whole thing shakes. You wince, gripping Eddie by his shoulders to steady him. Looking down at you, Eddie holds the sides of the boat as you enter the open water. It isn't smooth at all but when you both begin drifting further into Lovers Lake, it steadies.

From behind you, you can hear a door slam in the distance. They're inside the boathouse. Letting go of Eddie, you take an oar and dunk it into the water. He does the same and you both begin paddling. It's tedious and the boat feels like it's barely moving.

"Hey, freak!"

You both turn. Jason's at the edge of the lake. It isn't too far away.

"Shit," Eddie grunts, dropping his oar into the boat and heading to the engine. You watch as he grips the wire, tugging at it. Like the letdown of the walkie, it doesn't make a sound. Eddie curses, trying again.

"Y/N!" You turn, pausing your paddling to look down at the man at the shore, "We know you were roped into this. You don't have to be held hostage by this freak anymore. He's sick, you're not like him - we all know that. You aren't deranged, he's corrupting your mind," Jason shouts, watching from a distance. You can feel Eddie's eyes drift to you. "You're not the one we're looking for, Y/N. Come to shore, your mom is worried about you. We only want Munson."

You glance back at Eddie. Nothing on his face conveys his emotions, but his voice is quiet when he speaks. "This... this right here is your out, you should take it," he advises truthfully.

"What?" You narrow your eyes up at him.

"I left you. You can leave me too."

You clasp tighter onto the oar, "I'm not gonna do that. Shut up and row."

Without another word, Eddie's back in action, rowing for his life and you do the same. The boats moving slow, so infuriatingly slow. When you look back, your heart doubles its speed, thumping hard against your rib cage. They've jumped into the water and they're catching up - quickly. You struggle to move your arms as fast as Eddie and the boat begins to steer at a slight angle. When you turn back again, they're only a few metres away. You strain your arms to work faster, wincing at the painful effort.

At a certain point, Eddie stops rowing. It's quieter now. You look at him, he stands at the end of the boat, his back shielding you as he swings the oar at Jason. "Hey, stay back, man! Stay back!"

Jason turns to his friend, who had stopped swimming completely, "Hey, come on! We almost have him! Patrick?"

You look at Patrick, standing beside Eddie. He's paused completely from his once fast-paced swimming. It doesn't look like he's breathing either.

"What the hell?" You mumble to Eddie, pushing your hand against his to lower his oar. You swear you can see the white of Patrick's eyes, "No..."

All of a sudden, he gets sucked into the water. It's fast and almost silent, he slips away as quickly as he had caught up to the boat. What the hell is hidden beneath Lover's Lake?

"Patrick?" Jason shouts, trying to look down into the dark depths of the water. As if hearing his best friends call, Patrick's body shoots up out of the water. He rises to air in one swift motion. It all happens so quickly, one second you're watching the scene and the next, you feel yourself falling backwards. Your entire body is ice cold, flailing around the water of Lovers Lake. Two strong hands pull you up and you gasp for air, barely able to see a single thing.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Eddie's freezing hands are on your cheeks as he stares into your eyes, "Are you okay? Y/N?"

"I-I'm okay, I'm okay!" You exclaim back to him, rubbing at your eyes. When you look back up at Eddie, his eyes are on the sky; on Patrick. Patrick's eyes are white and his face looks sunken and lifeless. He levitates exactly as Chrissy did. His leg is the first to snap, letting a sickening sound to bellow out across the foggy lake.

"Not again. Not again," you watch in horror, the breath utterly taken from your lungs.

You turn to Eddie, shaking your head and pressing your hands against your ears. The waves from the rocking boat push you two together. He inches forward in a hurry, wrapping his arms around you when you bury your head into his shoulder. You can't bear to watch Patrick, knowing exactly how this all ends. Under the noise of his body slamming against the water again, you can hear Eddie panting and you press your hands tighter against your ears. You squeeze your eyes shut and he looks down at you, his eyes filled with panicked concern and terror.

"It's okay, it's okay," Eddie nods, holding you tighter, "I'm here. I'm with you. It's okay, it's gonna be okay." His lips tremble from the cold as he mumbles, though he doesn't realise you can't hear him - so maybe he's really just speaking to himself.