Hidden Within the Shadows

take me home

WELCOME TO HAWKINS

Adrian grimaced at the sign as he sped past it on his motorbike. Fuck. He was actually back. He'd made the trip in roughly eight hours. He'd stopped twice, mostly to refill his tank and to get something to eat. He was back in Hawkins. It was so odd being back. Kids were in school, and adults were talking about anything and nothing.

They didn't know who he was. Not anymore. He had his helmet on, so they couldn't look at his face even if they tried. He was going to be fine. He would find Eddie, see why he'd used the pager, and help in whatever way he could. Eddie didn't know what he could do, the powers he had.

It was a long drive to Reefer Rick's place. Rick's place was near Lovers' Lake, which was pretty easy to find. There was a bit of traffic, and with Adrian speeding and weaving through the traffic, he got to Lovers' Lake relatively quickly. It was half eleven or so when he finally got to Reefer Rick's place.

He turned the engine off and pulled his helmet off. "Eddie?" he called out, then belatedly thought he better not, lest he found someone he didn't want to find. Like Rick or some other asshole.

Adrian went to the door and knocked on it. "Rick? Eddie?"

When he got no response, he sighed and jerked his head a little, and the door unlocked for him. He went inside and found that the place was more or less empty of humans. He cleared his throat and locked the door before he went searching through the house. Finding no-one in the house, Adrian went down to the boathouse.

"Eddie!" Adrian hissed as he entered the boathouse. "Fuckin' - Eddie, it's me, Adrian."

There was a boat covered with a tarp, some oars and other miscellaneous fishing equipment.

"Eddie, for fuck sake -"

The tarp covering the boat was flung off and landed on the floor. Adrian, startled, held his hands up defensively. But it was just Eddie, who was holding a broken beer bottle and looked near enough manic.

"Eddie," he said, hands held out, no longer on the defence. "You're OK. It's me."

God, how long had they been apart again?

"Adrian," he whispered. He stared at him like he couldn't believe he was there. Adrian stepped forwards, reaching out to take his hands, putting the broken bottle aside. "Fuck - Adrian," he said before he broke down, façade crumbling as he started to sob.

Adrian pulled Eddie into his arms, and let him collapse against him. Eddie was clinging onto him for dear life, fingers digging into his jacket. He was sobbing into the crook of Adrian's neck, choking and gasping for breath.

"You're gonna be OK," Adrian said and managed to get them to sit down on the ground. "Eddie," he said, and when Eddie pulled away, he wiped at Eddie's face. "Wh - what happened?"

It took a moment for Eddie to compose himself. "I ... you remember Chrissy Cunningham?"

"Uh, yeah,"

Eddie nodded, crossing his legs, hands clasped in his lap. He couldn't look at Adrian, eyes staring into space. "Well, uh. I think she was going through a rough patch. She asked me for some drugs - thought maybe she needed to chill or something. Brought her back to my place, and ... fuck, Adrian, I don't even know how to - she -"

"Eddie," Adrain said, and he looked at him. "Whatever you say, I'm going to believe you."

"Uh," Eddie cleared his throat and wiped at his eyes, eyeliner smudging. "When I got the drugs, I went back to her. It was like she was - I dunno, having a seizure? Like she was asleep or something? Her eyes were open, but they'd-they'd rolled into the back of her head. And then she started fucking floating like something Stephen fucking King would write." Eddie paused, eyes squeezed shut as he remembered the scene. "Her bones. They all snapped, it was - I don't know what it was like. She was on the ceiling, her body breaking and I- I didn't know what to do. I ran. Now - now everyone in Hawkins will think I fucking killed her, and they also think I'm in a Satanic group. They're - Adrian, they're gonna be out for blood."