The Break (An Eddie Munson Story)

Chapter 34: Billy Breaks Bones (+16K views!)

A/N: Hello! Hello! Hello! How are you all? Welcome back to another instalment of The Break. I hope the wait for this chapter wasn't too arduous. Fun fact, it contains 2,392 words! What?! I don't even know how I managed to write so much!

Anyway, enough rambling from me. Thank you again for the votes, views and comments. I can hardly believe it, that we've reached 16K views.

As a warning, this chapter contains panic attacks, violence and mentions of blood.

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At the sound of your desperate plea, Eddie sprung into action. His frozen shock broken, as he carefully pulled you out of your crouching position in the mud. The brunet's teeth gritted, as he felt how ice cold you were to his touch. Though he surmised that your trembling was not caused by the low temperature but by your distress. Rubbing your arms to generate some warmth into your numbing blood stream. "What the fuck happened, Y/N? Are you hurt? Baby, look at me. Are you hurt?"

You merely shook your head. "S-Steve..." you choked out, in a fruitless attempt to pull the video store employee away from his own hysteria.

Through a tear-blurred gaze, you caught sight of Eddie's solemn expression, brown irises fixed firmly on you and wavering, as he spoke in firm and measured tone. Though you tried to focus on his instructions, your mind continued to drift to the tragic vision of your friend, that remained rocking backwards and forwards in the mire. Steve had not even noticed your absence beside him, too lost was he in his own mental imprisonment. It hurt to know that he was literally sat before you and yet, he was still completely out of your reach. You wished you could physically rip out those memories, that caused him so much torment. The Upside Down, the Russian lab, Billy's fists- all the things that had inflicted wounds upon his fragile body, you wanted nothing more than for him to be free from it all. "Eddie?'

"Y/N, stay with me, sweet thing." Eddie shook your shoulders lightly, as your vacant stare regarded him once more. Like Steve, you were not truly cemented in reality. Your mind had strayed into its own limbo, floating in between the present and whatever lay in the depths of your mind, that Eddie could not reach with gentle coaxing and encouragements. "Use your words, baby. What's wrong with Harrington?"

A frown contorted your features, as you failed to comprehend what Eddie was asking of you. Your surroundings slipped away from you, the sound of Eddie's frantic calling of your name became muffled, you reentered a world of decay and death. The stench of blood filled your senses, as you felt your state of existence give way to an echo of the past.

"No, no, no! Y/N!" Eddie begged, as you lost balance and collapsed awkwardly in his unsteady arms. "Oh god, Y/N, don't do this. Don't leave me now. I need you to tell me how to fix this. I don't know what I'm doing. Please, come back to me, sweetheart." Eddie beseeched you to open your eyes, to show some sign that you could hear him but it was no use, you were catatonic like Steve, whom remained a mere few feat away. "Help! Please, I need help!" he screamed, scared out of his wits. All he had asked of Steve was to pick you up from your detention, yet somewhere the simple circumstances had descended into pure chaos and confusion. "Someone, anybody! Max! MAX!"

Max.

"My brother, he can't know I'm here. He'll kill me." she said in horror, as the familiar roar of the 1979 Chevrolet Camaro's engine sounded, as a very angry Billy Hargrove parked in the driveway. Glancing away from the window and at Lucas, she murmured, "He'll kill us."

You tore your gaze away from the two young kids and shared a fearful look with your fellow babysitter. Both you and Steve were no stranger to how violent Billy could be to peers his own age. You feared to think what he would do to someone younger than him. "No, he won't." you said with shaky resolution. The hairs had risen on the back of your neck, in fear of the danger that lurked beyond the front door. Any minute now, Billy would kill the headlights and exit his vehicle. "We're not going to let him lay a finger on you, I promise."