Vecna's Pawn || Eddie Munson

~007~

I'm running down a hall with my sister and a man dressed in white.

Guards cut us off on both sides. "Against the wall!" One of them shouts. "All of you!"

Me and Eleven start to move to the wall but the strange man in white grabs our hands. "No," he says. "You don't have to be afraid of them. Not anymore."

The guards step closer but Eleven and I are too scared to use our powers on them. We don't have to. The man in white raises his hand and sends them flying to the wall.

Once all the guards are dead, the strange man brings us to a room and closes the door. "Wait here, don't move." He tells us. "I will find us a way out."

"Wait. H-how, how did you-?" I stutter.

"Like I said...we're alike." And he raises his sleeve to show a tattoo of the number 001.

•••••

I wake up in a panic.

I'm too lost in my mind to realize that Eddie has been awake this whole time and is now looking at my frazzled state with worry.

"You good?" He asks me in a slightly interested way, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"One." I tell him. He looks at me in confusion.

"He saved me." I breathe out. "One helped me and Eleven escape."

He looks even more confused than before. "Eleven? Who's Eleven?"

I look at him and realize where I am.

I can't say too much. I don't trust him.

"She's my sister." I tell him, calming down slightly.

He gives me a look. "Isn't Nancy your sister?"

I analyze him carefully, pondering how much I should tell him.

"I'm adopted." I say finally. "Nancy and Mike are my adoptive siblings and...Eleven is my sister in the sense that we grew up together and we always had each other's backs."

"Okay..." he says, still looking lost. "Who's One?"

I go still. I don't know what to tell him because I don't know the answer to that question myself.

"I...I don't know." I admit. "All I know is that he saved us, and that he was the first person Papa discovered." I say more to myself.

Seems I have once again forgot where I was and who I was talking to.

"Papa?? Who the hell is Papa???"

I think over the pros and cons of telling Eddie the truth. He is part of this world now so he should probably know. Besides it's not like he has anyone to tell; he's a fugitive.

I roll up my sleeve to show him the tattoo that lies there. The number 007 stands out on my wrist.

"What the hell kind of tattoo is that?" Eddie asks in astonishment.

"I was never my own person." I tell him. "From the day I was born I had always belonged to someone else.

•••••

I was sitting alone in the rainbow room because all of the other kids hated me.

I was strong. Probably the strongest one there.

That worried them.

Everyone in this room wants to be Papa's favourite.

I want the opposite.

I know what kind of man Papa is.

He took me from my Mama and my real Papa. He probably killed them. Now I wait for the day where I'm brave and strong enough to escape him.

'Speak of the devil and he shall appear' my Papa used to say to me. He had never spoken words more true.

Papa walks into the room with another smaller child. "Everyone," he speaks up. "This is Eleven. She is the newest edition to our family. She is your sister."

He leaves swiftly after and everyone stares at Eleven. They all analyze her while I sit alone in my corner, playing with a weird maze contraption.

I'm so concentrated on the maze that when a hand taps my shoulder, I jump slightly.

I turn around to see the newest and smallest member of our 'family' looking at me with hopeful eyes. "H-hi." She stutters.

I give her a weird look. "I don't think you want to be talking to me kid." I tell her and her smile drops.

"Everyone here hates me." I explain. "And if you associate with me, they'll most likely hate you too."

She looks at me curiously. "You seem good to me."

"That doesn't matter to people here." I tell her. "You can't be too strong or they'll get jealous of you but you can't be too weak or they'll despise you." I state simply.

"Im too strong for them. They already hate me.

Your small. If they hate you then your dead meat."

She doesn't look the slightest bit terrified at the information I had just given her. "You are good" she tells me.

"You are my friend because you are only one who's good." She says with a spark of determination in her eyes.

I smile like a proud brother would. "I'm Seven." I say as I extend my hand to hers.

"I am Eleven." She tells me as she takes my hand.

I smile at her. "I know."

•••••

"Wow." Eddie breathes in shock.

I stay quiet not knowing what else to say.

"So...you have superpowers??" He asks me incredulously.

"Yeah, just the basic telekinesis and mind reading thing." I say, trying my best not to sound too proud of it.

"Just!? Oh yeah, my name is Aaron and I have superpowers I learned to control in a secret lab but it's just sooo basic." He says, mimicking me.

I laugh. It's such a genuine laugh that it scares me.

I haven't been genuinely happy since Billy, and even then, with the abuse and harshness that came with him, I never was truly happy.

My smile drops mere seconds after it began. I can't risk falling in love. Not again.

Eddie notices this. "Why don't you ever smile?" He asks me.

"There's nothing to smile about." I tell him honestly.

He stares at me long and hard before what he says next. "Bullshit."