[✓] 𝕴 𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖓𝖆 𝖐𝖓𝖔𝖜 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊 𝖎𝖘 {Eddie Munson x OC}

Twenty Two

I woke up right then and there. I moved my legs and practically jumped off the bed.

I also noticed Abba blasting in my ears and a walkman that was not mine was attached to the waistband of my jeans.

I looked around and saw I was in Max's room. The door was closed but I heard muffled voices coming from the other side.

I opened the door and saw everyone look up at me.

"What happened?" I asked, sitting down next to Eddie..

"Vecna got to us," Nancy said.

"I...I don't really remember," I said, trying to remember what happened after I made it back from the Upside Down.

"Well, I do. And It's not good," Nancy told us.

"He... He showed me things that haven't happened yet. The most awful things. I saw a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Downtown on fire. Dead soldiers. And this... this giant creature with... a gaping mouth. And this creature wasn't alone. There were so many monsters. An army. And they were coming into Hawkins. Into our neighborhoods, our homes. And then... he showed Charlie and I, my mom, and Holly. Mike. And they... they were all..." Nancy began to cry.

An image shot through my mind suddenly. It all came back. All of the horrors. Every scream and death. The pain...

"The destruction," I remembered.

"Okay but he's just trying to scare you guys," Steve spoke up. "I mean, it's not real."

"Not yet it isn't," I told him.

"But there...there was something else. He showed us the gates. Four gates. Spreading across Hawkins. And these gates, they looked like the one outside of Eddie's trailer but... they didn't stop growing. And this wasn't the Upside Down Hawkins. This was our Hawkins. Our Home," Nancy looked distressed.

"Four chimes," Max replied suddenly. We all looked at her. "Vecna's clock. It always chimes four times. Four exactly."

"I've been hearing them. I always thought they were just in my head," I said, connecting the pieces.

"He's been telling us his plan the entire time," Max rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Four kills," Lucas realized. "Four gates. End of the World."

"If that's true, then he's only one kill away," Dustin told us.

"Oh Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ," Eddie mumbled next to me. He grabbed my hand suddenly and I squeezed it to calm him down.

"Try them again. Try them again," Steve told Max.

"Try who?" I asked Steve.

"The Byers," Steve replied as Max called.

"Anything?" Steve asked as Max hung up.

"No. Rang a few times and then went to a busy signal," Max sighed.

"Maybe you punched it wrong. Try again," Steve looked stressed.

"I didn't punch it in wrong," Max sassed Steve.

"Well, I don't know," Steve shrugged.

"Dude, I think she knows how to use a phone," Dustin commented

"I'm just saying, she could've typed it in wrong," Steve mumbled.

"Same shit," Max hung up the phone for the second time.

"I'm telling you. Joyce has this telemarketer job. She's always on the phone. Mike won't stop whining about it," Dustin offered.

"Yeah, but their phone's been busy for, what, three days now? That's not Joyce. No way. Something's wrong," Max looked around at all of us.

"She's right. It can't be just a coincidence. It can't be. Whatever's happening in Lenore is connected to all of this. I'm sure of it. But Vecna can't hurt them. Not if he's dead. We have to go back there. Back into the Upside Down," Nancy declared.

"What the hell, Nance?" I yelled.

"Woah, no, no, no. What?" Steve argued.

"Nope, I'm out Wheeler," Eddie sighed.

Steve stood up. "Let's think this through, okay?"

"What is there to think through?" Nancy retorted.

"We barely made it out of there in one piece," Steve argued.

"Yeah, because we weren't prepared. But this time we will be. We'll get weapons and protection. We'll go through the gate, we'll find his lair, and we'll kill him," Nancy told Steve.

"Or he'll kill us. The only reason you guys survived is because he wanted you and Charlie to. He's not scared of us at all," Steve pointed around the room.

"Yeah and for good reason. We were wrong about Vecna. Henry. One. Sorry, what are we calling him now?" Robin asked.

"One."

"Vecna."

"Henry."

"Veccy-poo," I said. Everyone looked at me. "What? It's a term of endearment. I think he just can't resist this hot bod."

"Right, well. We've learned something new about Vecna slash Henry slash One," Robin began.

"Slash Veccy-poo," I mumbled. Eddie nudged me with a small smile.

"He's a number like Eleven, only a sick, evil, male, child-murdering verson of her with really bad skin. But my...my point is, he's super powerful. He could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers. It's not a fair fight," Robin rambled out a really good argument.

"So why fight fair?" Dustin added. "You're right. He's like Eleven. But that gives us an upper hand. We know Eleven's strengths. And weaknesses."

"Weaknesses?"

"When El remote travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state. I bet the same goes for Vecna," Dustin explained.

"That would explain what he was doing in that attic," Lucas replied.

"Exactly. When he attacks his next victim, I'll bet you he's back in that attic, physical body defenseless," Dustin smiled.

"Defenseless? What about the army of bats?" Steve asked, motioning to his numerous wounds.

"Yeah, true. We'll have to find a way past them. Distract them somehow," Dustin shrugged.

"And uh, how do we do that exactly?" Eddie asked, stretching.

"I have no idea. But once they're gone, he doesn't stand a chance. It'll be like slaying sleeping Dracula in his coffin," Dustin added.

"That all sounds good in theory but there is no pattern to Vecna's killings. I mean, at least not one that I can decipher. We don't know when he's going to attack next/ We don't even know who he's going to attack," Robin pointed out.

"Yeah, we do. I can still feel him. I'm still marked. Cursed. I ditch Kate Bush. I draw his focus back to me," Max offered.

"Max, you can't," Lucas pleaded. "He'll kill you."

'I've survived before. I can survive again," Max looked at him determined. "I just, I need to keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into that attic. Then you can chop his head off. Stab him in the heart. Blow him up with some explosive Dustin cooks up. I honestly, I really don't care how you put this asshole in his grave. Just... whatever it is... whatever you do... try not to miss."

We all looked around somberly. I clung to Eddie's arm and he kissed my forehead.

This is what I wanted. To be loved.