Hellfire (Eddie Munson x OC Stranger Things Fanfiction)

Chapter 30: His Return

"Maybe we can use this to our advantage," Dustin says, coming up with some idea.

"No way, I'm not some circus monkey!" I shout, pacing the room.

"That's not what I mean. Maybe we can get you to see what's coming. See Vecna's army before it attacks," Dustin says.

"I don't even know how this works. It only happens when I'm asleep usually, the only exception being today."

"We've got to try."

El walks over with a pair of goggles, taped over to block out any light.

"I'll help as much as I can help," El says, handing me the goggles.

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"Follow my lead," El says, taking my hands in hers once the goggles are securely over our eyes. "Just breathe and focus your mind."

I exhale, and do as El instructs. I think back to the way the Upside Down looked, the way it felt, the way it smelled. The red sky. The black clouds. The screeching of the demobats and other various monsters in the upside down.

I focus on the thoughts of an army, faceless and innumerable. The thought of them pouring through into Hawkins lingering in my mind.

I take a deep inhale and open my eyes.

El comes into view, a black void surrounding her. She takes a step forward, seeing something behind me. I turn and see a dark red sky, lightning dancing through.

I follow El and move forward, taking a step into the Upside Down. The black void instantly disappears.

I see glimpses of gruesome faces. Quick flashes of monsters. A creature Dustin described as the demogorgon, another creature with multiple heads. The flashes come quick and fast, my head feeling like its going to explode.

"Melissa, what is it? What do you see?" I hear Dustins voice say.

"Monsters, quick flashes. It's hard to see," I reply, my hands gripping my head. The pain becoming unbearable.

"What are they? Can you describe any?"

"There's a demogorgon, like the one you described... something with a lot of heads and teeth, uh... a huge mouth... I can't. It hurts..."

"Where's Vecna?"

"I see a figure at the front, it's leading them through the gate. But the gate... it's bigger. Much bigger."

"A master gate! What about Vecna?"

"No, he's not here. It's... no, no... this is a nightmare. This isn't real."

I feel the goggles forcefully pulled from my face, finding them in my own hands. I pant, my body shaking from the images I just saw.

El takes her goggles off, looking at me with pity before turning to the others. She wipes her bleeding nose, looking back at me once more before telling the others what she saw through me, when she realises I don't want to talk about what I saw.

"It was not a nightmare. I did not sense 001. He was not there."

"But how? He showed me Eddie! He's dead. How could I be seeing him if it's not Vecna?"

"Your Eddie is alive, but not alive."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I hear Dustin gasp.

"He's a vampire, isn't he?" Dustin asks, looking to El.

"A vampire?" El asks in return.

"Undead creatures with fangs that drink blood," Dustin answers.

"You think Eddie's a fucking vampire? We saw him die Dustin!"

"Yes, and he was killed by bats Melissa!"

"That means all those nightmares, the nightmares where I saw him turn into that... that thing, they were all real?"

"They have to be. It wasn't Vecna, it was you. Your power."

"You're fucking insane! He's dead, he's not a vampire. He hasn't turned against us. He was a hero! This was Vecna!"

My legs give out underneath me and I collapse to the floor. My hands stopping my body from hitting the ground.

"He was a hero," I say weakly.

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Robin hands me a strong drink and I drink it in one go, placing the glass back on the table next to me.

"I know this is difficult-" Robin starts to say.

"Difficult? This isn't difficult. It's excruciatingly painful," I snap. "All those nightmares I had of him turning into that thing... they were all real. This power doesn't feel so much as a power as it does a curse. I'm cursed with the images of the man I loved and watched die, slowly become a monster and turn against us. Is that difficult, Robin?"

I see her trying to say something but thinking better of it.

"I'm sorry, Robin. I know you're trying to help me," I say, glancing in her direction.

"I'm not going to say it's okay and I can't begin to understand what you're going through, but we'll figure this out. Maybe this isn't Munson. Maybe it's an imitation of him."

"Or it is him and I have to watch him die all over again, or watch him kill the people I care about before he kills me."

"We're all together. Nobody is away in California or in Russia. We're all here, in Hawkins. With El now that she's stronger, and our secret weapon. Vecna doesn't know about you. You can help us stop his attack before it begins."

"I can't... I can't do that again Robin. I can't go back in. I don't want to see him that way. I want to remember him how he was. My goofy, carefree Eddie."

"There are lives at stake here Melissa. We've got Will chained to a bed in there because Vecna spoke through him. The lives of the people we care about are on the line."

"I... I know, Robin."

"Please, do it for me. Do it for Dustin. Do it for Eddie's uncle."

I squeeze my eyes shut as tears cloud my vision. Why does it have to be me?

I take a deep breath in an attempt to stop the tears from flowing. I want to be brave. I want to find the courage to stand and fight. Like Eddie did. He didn't run. So I won't either.

"I'll do it. I'll do what I can to help, but I... if I see Eddie again, I'm pulling myself out."

"That's fine. We'll work with what we can get. Thank you, Melissa."

Why, Eddie? Why did this have to happen to you?