The Devil's Gift/The Bloody Handed

6

The rest of the once silent RV ride was now full of theories and panic.

Panic, as in Eddie panicking. Everyone else was prepared.

"Eddie, you need to calm down please." I hold my hands up to him in a calming gesture.

"I can't see that shit again, Clary!" He whispers loudly. "And I especially cannot handle seeing it happen to you. That will kill me. Kill me." He grinds his teeth. This was the most frustrated I've seen Eddie, especially at me.

"You're acting like it was my choice!" I whisper back. I take a breath. "We both saw what happened to Chrissy. It was tragic. It was traumatic. But nothing can happen to me. If anyone should be worried, it should be me about you." I frown.

He rubs a hand down his face. "You're right.. you're right. I just.. I cannot see any of these people die. You being in the top three of people I don't want to see die. So take that as a compliment." He points a finger at me.

He watches as I decide to slip into the armor that Dustin gave me over my tattered clothes.

"Silver suits you. Gives you the.. Katherine Tremontaine vibe."

"The who now?" I ask.

"She's a character in D & D. The Fighter. Noble. Individual. A swordsmen and duchess. Extremely underestimated until she kicks some ass." He kicks his foot out.

"Well I guess once we return back to our normal world you can teach me the ropes." I smile.

"We're here." Steve looks back to Lucus, Erica, and Max. They all look at us, and slowly approach the door, and step off. I see Max move to the middle and look up. The house looked familiar, just like Nancy and Max said about my vision. I run to the window and see the exact same house that I saw. That window that Max was looking up at- it was the same window that was flickering the blue light.

"Is that it?" Dustin nudges me.

I swallow and nod. "That's it, alright." Within seconds, Steve was slowly driving away. They all look back at us one more time.

"And that leaves six." Dustin says. "We're next. Eddie's trailer."

I look at Eddie who is blankly staring outside of the window, his chin rested on his fist. His veins protruded out of his hands, which I never took notice of.

"I've never seen him like this." I whisper to Dustin.

"Neither have I. He's the type of guy to turn dirt into skittles. He only gets this mad after a D & D game gone wrong." He wasn't wrong about the dirt skittles. "Just.. give him some time." He smiles. I nod in response.

***

"Alright, here we are." Steve roughly brakes in front of Eddie's trailer which was still blocked off with yellow caution tape. Dustin and I get up, and Eddie seems to be finally be okay.

"You okay, Munson?" I ask.

"Yeah, yeah. Just last time we were here shit kind of went south." He stands up and grabs his weapons, handing me an extra spear. The three of us slowly exit the RV and I turn back to Steve, Nancy, and Robin.

"Be safe please. Remember the phases. No skipping ahead." Steve points a finger up.

Eddie hops off and steps beside me. "Don't worry, Steve.. look at us.. we are not heroes." I purse my lips. Ouch. Eddie and Steve didn't have the best track record I suppose. I mean, Eddie was the one going in the line of fire.

"Be safe Clary. You too Dweebs!" Robin yells as Steve drives off. Within seconds, we are left alone in front of a trailer full of haunted memories.

"Let's get inside before we are seen. Cops are all over this place like white on rice." I say. We walk under the tape and to the door which was broken down and dented.

Eddie reaches down and grabs a pick lock underneath the mat. He fumbles with the lock and eventually finds the sweet spot, the door giving in and clicking. He looks back at us and winks. "That's how you impress the ladies," he says jokingly. I roll my eyes at his remark.

We step inside and are met with black markings on the ceiling, a body tracing, bottles, beer, and broken things all over the place. Eddie takes a breath but steps through the rubble, looking at Dustin and I. I look up at the ceiling and see a gaping portal ready to swallow us whole.

"I, uh.. need a latter." Dustin says slowly.

"I got you Henderson, just hop on." Eddie bends down and offers his hands out. Dustin hops on and Eddie boosts him up, grunting. "You're a lot heavier than you look kid." Finally, Dustin was able to grab a hold of the floor from above, and dropping from the ceiling in the upside down. Eddie looks to me. "Sparky?" He bends down and offers his hands out again.

"Watch out" I yell.

I toss Dustin up my weapons and step onto Eddie's support. His hand holds my back as he guides me through. My finger tips barely scratch the surface of the hole, but Dustin reaches up with his weapon, which I hope does not break. I grab a sturdy hold of it with both of my hands and eventually grab onto a surface.

"Wow, sturdier than I thought," I say impressed.

"And to think you doubted us," Dustin says shaking his head.

Eddie throws up his weapons and I dodge them, shove them behind me. I grab my weapon and lower it slowly, ready for him to take it. He takes a few steps back, runs, then jumps. He grabs a hold of it and Dustin and I pull him up slowly trying not to break our only defense mechanism.

"Pull, Gregerson!" He strains.

"I am!" I yell back. I reach out with my other arm on the stick and hoist him up slowly, him eventually dropping to the ground. He heaves on his back and stares at Dustin and I.

"Remind me to get splinters out later." Dustin and I look at each other and roll our eyes.

Once we all get situated and armed once again, we look around. Eddie's trailer was covered in vines, strange particles, and a dark mist. It was depressing and eerie. I look down and see the orange light emitting from our side of reality. I would never complain again after this all ends.

Eddie stands up and Dustin and I follow suit. He walks down the hall to his bed room, Dustin and I directly behind him. A red guitar, the one he showed me, hangs on the wall. He places his hand on it and softly strums it, looking back at us.

He smirks. "You guys ready for the most metal rock concert you'll every go to in your lives?"