Hellfire (Eddie Munson x OC Stranger Things Fanfiction)

Chapter 21: One More To Go

Panic ensues.

We frantically search for anything to help Nancy. Any tape that she may even remotely like, but there isn't any. This is Eddie's trailer and they definitely do not share the same music taste.

If this was Eddie or I, sure. We'd be fine. Throw on a little Black Sabbath or Metallica and we're good to go.

But Nancy, no.

Eddie doesn't have any tapes by The Beatles, or David Bowie. Not one. Because why would he? He's a metal head. My metal head.

"Steve says you need to hurry!" Erica shouts, running in from the gate.

"Yeah? No shit!" Dustin screams.

"We're trying. We can't find anything!" Max shouts back

"Seriously, what is all this shit?" Robin shouts, looking over to Eddie.

"What are you even looking for?" Eddie says.

"Madonna, Blondie, Bowie, Beatles?" Robin says, panicked. "Music! We need music!"

"This is music!" Eddie and I scream in unison, snatching the tapes off Robin.

"Eddie there must be something lying around! Maybe your uncle has something?" I ask, running to search through his uncle's collection.

"Not likely! He listens to the same shit we do!"

"There's got to be something! We can't lose Nancy!"

Eddie grabs me by the shoulders, pulling me into him. His hand in my hair. I hate this feeling of helplessness. Like, I can't do anything to help the people I care about.

"Hey guys! A little help?" I hear Steve's voice say from the other room

We join the others and follow Steve's voice. He's through the gate, with Nancy. No longer in a trance, but breathing heavily and looking like she's about to have a panic attack.

"I want to get out of here. Away from that gate," she says, between deep inhales.

I look up at the gate. I couldn't agree more.

"We can go to mine. My mom shouldn't be there," Max says.

Steve picks up Nancy, helping her to walk and exits the trailer. I follow shortly after but stop to the side of the outside door, as the others make their exit.

I look at the markings Eddie made in the real world, seeing a new addition to this one. A heart around our names.

I pull Eddie to the side as he comes through the door.

"When...when did you do this?" I ask, pointing at the heart.

"Our initials? You were there, remember?" Eddie says, glossing over the fact there's now a heart.

"No, the heart Eddie. It wasn't there in the Upside Down, but it's here. When did you do it?"

"Oh...that, uh, I did that the...the night of the campaign, before everything turned to shit."

"The night of the campaign? Why?"

"I don't know. I remember seeing our initials when I was walking in with Chrissy and felt the urge to do the heart. Do you hate it?"

"Of course not. Why would I hate it?"

"I don't know, uh, maybe...you think showing your love is a bit of a stupid thing to do. Given how soon it is."

"Eddie-"

"I don't care.... ya know, Chrissy said we'd be good together. She, uh, wished me luck in my endeavours to capture your heart."

"And capture it you did."

He turns to me with a smile.

"Come on, we need to go with the others. Find out what happened to Wheeler."

‐---------------

"He showed me..." Nancy begins, her voice hoarse as she tells us what happened to her. "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... giant creature with... a gaping mouth, and this creature wasn't alone."

I feel Eddie's hand grip my shoulder from his seat on the couch. Erica to his right, Steve to his left and me sat on the floor between Eddie's legs. Robin sits on the floor closer to Nancy. Max, Lucas and Dustin stood between Erica and Robin. We're all silent, listening to Nancy's recollection of what Vecna showed her. Of the shit we are in.

"There were so many monsters, an army, and they were coming into Hawkins. Into our neighborhoods, our homes and then... he showed me my mom, and Holly, Mike, and they...they were all..."

Nancy takes a shaky breath, trying her best to hold back the tears threatening to spill.

"Okay, but..." Steve starts, making us all snap our heads towards him. "He's just trying to scare you, Nance. Right? I mean... I mean, it's not real."

"Not yet. But there... there was something else," Nancy continues. "He showed me gates. Four gates. Spreading across Hawkins and these gates, they looked like the one inside Eddie's trailer, but... they didn't stop growing and this wasn't the Upside Down Hawkins. This was our Hawkins. Our home."

"Four chimes..." Max says. "Vecna's clock. It always chimes four times. Four exactly."

"I heard them too."

"He's been telling us his plan this whole time."

"Four kills. Four gates. End of the world."

"If that's true, he's only one kill away."

"Oh, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ."

"Try 'em again. Try 'em again."

Max quickly walks over to the phone, dialing, attempting to contact El, the girl with superpowers. She tried a few times before, and just like before, there's no answer.

"Anything?" Dustin asks.

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

"Maybe you punched it wrong. Try it again," Steve says.

"I didn't punch it in wrong."

"Well, I don't know."

"I think she knows how to use a phone."

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

"Same shit."

"How is that possible?"

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

"Yeah, but this phone's been busy for, what, three days now? That's not Joyce. No way. Something's wrong."

"She's right. It can't be just a coincidence. It can't be. Whatever's happening in Lenora is connected to all of this. I'm sure of it. But Vecna can't hurt them. Not if he's dead."