Wrapped Around Your Finger - Eddie Munson

Chapter Fourteen: The Rendevouz

"Dustin? Can you hear me? Wheeler?" Eddie spoke desperately into the walkie.

"Eddie holy shit!" Dustin's voice crackled through the walkie. "Are you ok?"

"Nah, man pretty goddamn far from ok." His voice shook as he spoke.

"Where are you?"

"Skull Rock, do you know it?" I answered.

"Uh.. yeah!" He replied. "Hold tight, we're coming!"

"Oh, boom! Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock. In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face." I heard Steve's voice from below the rock. It had been a few hours since we last heard from them.

"Doesn't make sense." Dustin was looking at his compass.

"Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can't admit it. Can't admit you're wrong, you butthead." Steve replied.

"I concur," Eddie said, stepping down from the rock with me. "You, Dustin Henderson are a total butthead."

"Total butthead." I added.

"Jesus, we thought you were goners." Dustin nearly tackled us with a hug.

"Yeah, we did too." Eddie replied. "When we got to the shore, I tried calling you guys, but, uh... My walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, we did the thing that we do now, apparently. We ran." Eddie explained with a sad laugh.

"Do you know what time this was? The attack?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah, no, I know exactly what time it was. My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked." He held up his wristwatch.

"9:27" I read off.

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey." Robin looked at the rest of the group.

"And that means?" I asked.

"That the surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick..." Dustin explained.

"Well, we're one step closer. We know how Vecna attacks and where he attacks from. So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart, if he has a heart." Robin rambled off.

"A stake? Is he a vampire or something?" I asked.

"Might as well be." Steve added.

"A bullet would probably work better than a stake." I suggested.

"We could always try chopping his head off." Max added.

"I say all of the above." Eddie laughed nervously.

"But we can't do any of that." Steve interjected, "It was all way easier when we had this girl, she had superpowers."

"Yeah, superpowers, we heard. But we don't have her, so lets start figuring something out." I sighed.

"Hey, Henderson? He's not, uh, cursed is he?" Eddie asked, pointing to Dustin.

"Cursed? No. Mental? Absolutely."

"Boom!" Dustin yelled, "Bada! Bada! Boom... I was right, Skull Rock was north."

"Seriously? You're serious?" Steve groaned.

"Mhhmm!" Dustin smirked.

"Ok, supernerd, spill." I said.

Dustin began to explain the workings of electromagnetic fields and their effects on compasses. He told us how the original Hawkins gate had caused the compasses to point towards it, rather than north, meaning there had to be another gate near by.

"A snack sized gate!" Robin said.

"Well, lets follow it then." I turned, grabbed the compass from Dustin and started following it "north".

"Woah, woah, hey, hey, hey!" Steve protested.

"This is our shot at saving Max and clearing mine and Eddie's names!" I called back.

"What say you, Eddie the Banished?" Dustin asked.

"I'd say you're asking me to follow you into Mordor... But, the Shire is burning. So Mordor it is." Eddie sighed, looking at me and smiling sadly.

We were walking through the woods away from Skull Rock, following the faulty compass to wherever this snack sized gate may be. The sun was dipping below the horizon, making it hard for us all to see in the dense forest. The sounds of birds and small animals rustling in the bushes accompanied the sound of leaves crushing beneath our feet.

We could hear the lazy ripples of water coming from Lover's Lake up ahead as we pressed on. The sounds of the forest suddenly grew quieter and quieter until I couldn't hear anymore, the sounds being replaced by the chiming of a clock.

"You."

"No!"

"You wanted me dead!"

"No, no I didn't!"

"You wanted me gone!"

"I never wanted you gone. I never wanted you to die. I wanted your suffering to end! I wanted anything to make it end! I couldn't stand watching you lay there, rotting away in a hospital bed!" I sobbed, "I wanted my mother back, but I wanted you to be free more!"

"Hannah..." A voice growled, "It's time for you to join me."

"Fuck you." I spat back.

I was in the red hellscape again. The smell of burnt flesh and blood hung heavy in the air. I was trapped, being held against a pillar by writhing vines. Each of my limbs were constrained as another vine wrapped around my throat.

"It's time for your suffering to end." Vecna spoke, lifting his hand to my face.

It felt like every inch of me had turned to ice. My hands and feet went numb and the blood rushed from my head as I felt the life being drained from me. I closed my eyes, ready to make my peace with the other side when I heard it.

It was faint at first. but soon enough even Vecna noticed. It was the sound of music playing somewhere in the distance. I turned my head to see what looked like the woods, with all my friends surrounding me. My body was floating in the air, someone had put headphones on my head and was playing music from a walkman. Black Sabbath, War Pigs.

"Generals gathered in their masses. Just like witches at black masses." I looked back from the portal to Vecna and grinned.

"Evil minds that plot destruction. Sorcerer of death's construction." I took a deep breath, readied myself.

"In the fields, the bodies burning." I bit his disgusting hand harshly, causing him to scream. The vines around me loosened as I freed myself.

"As the war machine keeps turning." My feet hit the ground and started running, my mind only focused on getting out, on getting to Eddie.

"Death and Hatred to mankind." I dodged falling rocks and snaking vines as I ran the fastest I ever had.

"Poisoning their brainwashed minds. Oh lord, yeah!" I was there. My hand touched the portal and I was engulfed with a white light.

I gasped, eyes flinging open. I looked around wildly, still hearing the voice of Ozzy Osbourne. My eyes landed on Eddie's, whos face was streaked with tears. I let the headphones slide off as I sat up, turned to Eddie, and kissed him hard.

"Oh thank God Hannah you're- Eww!" Steve quickly covered Dustin's eyes with one hand.

"Really, guys?" Max groaned, Steve covered her eyes with his other hand.

"Yeah, keep it in your pants Munson." Steve sighed, looking anywhere but at us.

"I'm so fucking glad you're ok." Eddie nearly sobbed.

"I'm here, I'm alive, I'm here." I said, reassuring myself just as much as him.

"What... did you see?" Max asked softly.