Partners in Crime-Eddie Munson x OC

Chapter 12

Eddie stood with panicked eyes, holding the broken bottle to Steve's throat. 

Suddenly, Dustin, Max, and Robin appear from the direction Steve came. At the sight of Eddie holding Steve hostage everyone jumped into a chorus of shouting at Eddie. 

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!" Steve was holding his hands up in surrender. 

"Whoa, whoa, Eddie! Eddie, stop!" 

"Eddie! It's me, Dustin!" Dustin said calmly, keeping eye contact with Eddie. "This is Steve. He's not gonna hurt you. Right, Steve?" 

Steve agreed , nodding slightly. "Right, yeah."

"Ed, it's cool. We can trust them," I spoke evenly, gently placing a hand on Eddie's arm.

Eddie finally relaxed and dropped his hold on Steve, and looked at the group. "What are you doing here?"

"We're looking for you," Dustin said. 

"What are you doing here, Helena? Mom is losing her shit at home," Max turned to face me.  

Fuck. I'd forgotten about that. I should've called her and told her I was staying with Robin or something. 

"Yeah, someone saw you two leave with Chrissy last night. Now she's dead. This doesn't look good," Robin added. 

"We didn't do anything to her! I swear!" I gazed at all of them. 

"Hey, hey, we're on your side. We just want to know what happened," Dustin explained. 

I looked at Eddie, since he had been the one to witness what happened. An unspoken question hung between the two of us and he nodded. He sucked in a shaky breath and launched into a retelling of last night's events. 

He finished and looked up at Dustin. "You all think I'm crazy, right?"

"No, we don't think you're crazy." 

"Don't bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds!" His voice was breaking again. I hated that he had to relive that moment over and over again. I could tell how badly it pained him.

"We're not bullshitting you," Max assured him. 

"We believe you," Robin insisted. 

"Look, what I'm about to tell you two might be a little... difficult." Dustin looked between me and  Eddie. 

"Okay," We muttered in sync. 

"You know how people say Hawkins is...cursed?" Dustin began.

"Wait, people say that?" I looked at all of their serious expressions. "Where even am I right now?"

Dustin ignored me and kept going. "Well, 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. 

"There are some things worse than ghosts," Max stated grimly. 

I looked at my cousin, confused. Was this somehow involved with Billy's death? Is this what no one would tell me?

"These monsters, from this other world, we thought they were gone. But, they've come back before, and that's why we needed to find you two."

"If they're back again, we need to know." Max added. 

They were all serious. Hawkins was apparently full of some demony shit, and that was just common knowledge to them all. This was so messed up.

"That night, did you see anything?"

"Dark particles maybe?"

"I would've looked almost like dust."

"Nah, man. There was nothing you could see or, uh, touch." Eddie rasped. "You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn't move. It was like she...she was in a trance or something."

Dustin looked up, as if that meant something. "Or under a spell."

Eddie made eye contact with him. "A curse."

"Vecna's curse." Dustin answered, like he was having some kind of epiphany, like that wasn't just something from a D&D game. 

Steve was the only one who looked close to the level of confusion I held at the moment. "Who's Vecna?"

"An undead wizard of great power."

"A spell caster."

"A dark wizard."

As Dustin and Eddie went back and forth, I felt my heart beat speed up. I thought this was all made up, Dungeons and Dragons bullshit. Now, they were saying it was all real. I thought I came to some little rinky dink town in Nowhere, Indiana, and now they were all telling me that I had walked into some death trap. That me and Eddie were the only ones who hadn't been aware of it all, and they hadn't told us. 

"What the fuck?" I whispered. "What the fuck is going on?"

I didn't hear a word of what Dustin was saying as the rest of them were leaving. Max was talking directly to me, something about telling Susan I was staying with Robin or working, but all I could do was give her a small nod. I heard a "be back tomorrow" in there somewhere, maybe. Then, they were gone. 

Eddie took a deep breath and sat down on the ground. "Jesus," he huffed. 

It was starting to hit me. The reality of it all. A girl was dead, and sooner or later the cops would be coming for the last people seen with her. Eddie and I would be wanted criminals. But forget that, the town was fucking haunted and some invisible wizard was killing kids, so how do you even fight that? I was started to really miss my boring life in California. 

My heart was racing now. It felt like I couldn't get enough air in. My hands were getting...tingly. Oh God, was the dead wizard thing coming for me? Is that what this was?

"Hel? Are you okay?" Eddie asked, noticing my gasping and shaking. 

I tried to say something, but no words were coming out.  I looked at Eddie with a panicked expression.

"Shit, hey it's okay. I've got you. Can you calm down for me? Just take some deep breaths?" Eddie put both hands on my shoulders. "Do what I do."

I watched as he slowly inhaled, then exhaled. I mirrored his actions, and my breathing evened out after a few moments. I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against his, and sat there silently for a couple minutes. 

"I'm okay," I murmured quietly. 

"Fuck, don't do that shit again. You scared me...I thought he was going to get you."

I held my head up and saw Eddie's terrified look. I threw my arms around his neck and held him tightly. 

"I'm sorry, Ed. I'm here, though. I'm good. I think." I mumbled into his neck.

His arms snaked around my waist and pulled me closer. "You can't leave me, okay? You and me, Hel. That's how it's supposed to be."

"Nothing is taking me from you, Eddie." I felt a small smile creep onto my lips.

That night, I lay beside Eddie, the two of us snuggled together with entwined limbs. It felt so good to have him holding me. I was scared as shit at the moment, but this definitely helped. 

"Let's go on a date. Like a real one," Eddie said softly. 

"We can't really go anywhere right now, unless you want the date to be getting arrested," I chuckled. 

"I mean after all this is over. I want to take you out. Or we can stay in. Hell, I want to do it all with you. I want to follow you across that stage next month and I'll follow you all the way back to California if I have to."

I leaned my head over onto his chest, listening to the steady thud of his heartbeat, and smiled. "I like the sound of that, Ed. I really do."

I meant it. We had to make it through this together. I'd be damned if I let this haunted-ass town ruin things.