his shadow | eddie munson

↝ chapter twelve

children of the grave - black sabbath
13 | into the face of danger
☿

maude didn't need to think twice. she'd already done so much out of impulse in the past few days— she wasn't about to stop now.

she drove ahead, passing the 'leaving hawkins come again soon' sign, and reentering the town. it had been a few days since the 'earthquake,' and there were still fire trucks, ambulance and people rushing around, even at this time of night.

maude drove at a slow pace and rolled her window back up. the cracks were still there, still glowing, but she drove on the safer side of the road, where few cars also drove. she didn't know where to go— if she should try to hunt down dustin henderson and his friends, or if she should return to her home and see if her uncle and cousins had gone back— or if they'd sold it yet.

she drove around until she reached a quiet park, and she pulled the van over and shut it off. she went into the back and opened eddie's duffel bag, and pulled out a clean black t-shirt that she could change into. printed on the front were the words 'corroded coffin.' she smiled, and hugged it to her body before she changed out of her old shirt and swapped them. she wondered why eddie had chosen to change back into his hellfire shirt when he woke up, but guessed he didn't want to part with something that brought him such content and happy memories. he left his leather jacket, and maude rolled it up and used them as a makeshift pillow as she laid down on the mattress.

she began to cry, unable to fall asleep right away. she didn't know where eddie had gone, or why he'd given in to returning so easily. she didn't know if vecna had captured him, or why he trusted her to take his van and his belongings. she didn't know why she turned back, why she thought she could make a difference in hawkins— she felt useless, like a child. and so she cried, and she cried until there were no tears left to spill, and eventually she fell into an uncomfortable slumber.

☿

maude spotted dustin henderson walking down the street as she drove the next morning. she'd been driving around aimlessly, hoping that by chance she would spot eddie or anyone that knew about the truth behind hawkins. she'd struck luck with dustin, and so she trailed behind him at a safe distance.

he walked with his head down, and moved with such sadness that maude felt her heart breaking for him. he was mourning eddie, and perhaps his town— she didn't know if they'd lost anyone else also. but she had seen his deep-rooted bond with eddie, and it was something of greatness. she wondered if he would believe her if she told him eddie was alive— or undead. but she didn't know if it was her place to say anything.

when dustin entered the a store, maude parked further at the end of the street, and she threw her head against the steering wheel.

"what are you doing, maude?!" she hissed aloud to herself. so many thoughts ran through her mind; where'd eddie go? was he in danger? was hawkins still in danger? were eddie's friends? would she ever see eddie again?

she groaned and made her way into the back of the van, and brought out her sketchbook, finding a comfortable spot on the mattress before she let it carry her away.

this time she drew dustin, walking alone on the street, his face twisted with mourning, and a wispy thought bubble that transformed into a scene of him with eddie, playing dnd together. eddie sat on his throne at the edge of the table, and dustin was rolling a dice with the biggest look of concentration of his face, the rest of the hellfire club surrounding him and holding their heads in their hands or praying— then dustin rolled a 20, and they all burst with celebration.

maude sat back after she finished the comic sketch a few hours later, and she admired her work. she looked past the seats and out the windshield, and cursed when she realised that the sun was making its way out, the sky an ombré of orange and red.

she rushed to the driver's seat and started the van, thinking of where she could possibly go. her only thought was eddie, but that wasn't possible.

she needed to find eddie's friends, to see what they knew— to tell them what she knew.

but how would she find them?

as if fated, maude spotted a familiar girl exiting a store. nancy wheeler. maude knew that wherever she went, it would lead to the rest of their scooby doo gang, and so she restarted the van and followed after the scurrying girl at a distance. she followed her for a few blocks, until she turned a corner and disappeared. maude cursed and continued driving around, trying to find her.

out of nowhere, nancy stepped in front of the van. maude shrieked and pushed on the breaks, the van halting right before the fearless young woman.

nancy went around to the driver's window, her eyes cautious and suspicious. maude didn't know what to do, if she should drive off or roll her window down. she opted for the latter.

"why are you following me?" nancy interrogated, her eyes scanning the van. her eyebrows seemed to furrow with recognition, and when her head snapped back over to maude her gaze was staggered. "is this your van?"

"i-it's my... f-friend's." maude stuttered out. she wanted to blurt everything out— to tell nancy that she knew everything, but nancy had absolutely no reason to trust her.

nancy's brows seemed to furrow more. "and what's your friend's name? where are they?"

maude couldn't stop herself. "his name is eddie. he—he's not here."

"when's the last time you saw eddie?" this was the buzzer question— the answer which would make or break maude's current situation. in the back of her mind, she could hear a reasoning voice telling her to lie, to tell her it was a week ago, that she stole eddie's van— anything to get her off the radar, and then maybe she would finally leave hawkins and try to start a new life.

but then there was the voice screaming at the front of her mind— telling her to speak the truth, that she could trust nancy wheeler, that she'd know what to do, and possibly where eddie was— what'd happened to him.

"a few hours ago." maude answered honestly.

nancy cursed under her breath, but raised an eyebrow and gave maude a warning stare. "you're being truthful?"

maude frowned. "why would i lie?"

"i can think of plenty reasons why you'd lie."

maude nodded. nancy was right to be cautious— to hawkins, eddie munson was still a wanted man, even if he was missing or presumed dead. and to his friends— the inner circle, he was dead. hearing this information probably sounded untruthful, or like a joke to nancy. maude couldn't think of how to convince her she was being truthful.

but then she did. "let me pull over to the side and show you the back of the van."

nancy took a step back, and maude gave her a small smile. "you have every reason not to trust me— i'm a stranger. but if you just hear me out, you'll find that i know quite a lot."

nancy surveyed maude and took in her features for a quick moment. maude's hair was a mess, her clothes ratted and dirty and her eyes— so much despair and loss and understanding. "okay," nancy replied, pointing her chin towards the body of the van. "show me what you know, then."

☿

the gang is coming into it <33
our fav inner circle!!!
i hope this story isn't going to shit
cos it's literally one of the only things keeping me sane atm.

sincerely,
eddie's f-friend <3