Hellfire (Eddie Munson x OC Stranger Things Fanfiction)

Chapter 31: Memories

"Take your time. Don't push yourself," Dustin says to me, a small smile lighting up his face.

"We'll be right here," Robin says from her seat on the couch.

I knot my fingers together and take a deep breath in then slowly exhale. I put the goggles back over my head, making sure I can't see anything. I hear the static from the television and I can feel the wooden floor beneath me as I try to focus.

I feel a familiar tug in the back of my mind. I follow it and get thrown into the black void, water beneath my feet.

I follow the pull, hoping this is where I need to go. Praying this isn't my heart leading me to see Eddie again.

The hairs on my neck stand on end as a light breeze passes my ear. A whisper.

I spin around, causing the water to splash as I turn. I see nothing but the void.

"Melissa, what do you see?" I hear Robin's voice say.

"Nothing, but there's something here. I heard a whisper but I couldn't understand it," I reply back.

Another whisper brushes my ear, louder than the first but I still can't make it out.

"Lyssa," I hear the low, deep voice say again into the void. The nickname Eddie gave me. Only he could ever use it. I never let anyone else call me that.

"Eddie?" I ask

"Lyssa."

No.

The voice hisses my name. A mockery of the way Eddie said my name.

"LYSSA!"

It screams my name, the sound reverberating causing me to collapse to my knees. They hit the ground with a thud.

Not a splash.

I look at my hands. Warm blood slowly dripping from them.

"You let him die, Lyssa."

"No!"

Eddie's face looks up into mine. His blank eyes staring at nothing. I'm back in the Upside Down. Back to two years ago when he was taken from me.

"You could have saved him, but instead, you let him die."

"That's not true!"

I feel the tears flowing down my face. My eyes stinging.

"I could've lived," Eddie's body says. His body unmoving, but his lips twist into an evil grin. "You should have died instead."

I scramble to my feet, throwing myself away from Eddie's body. But, it twists to face me. His bones snapping and creaking as he turns to face me.

"Your suffering will soon come to an end. Join me, Lyssa."

His limbs bend at impossible angles as his body moves closer to mine. The snapping and creaking continuing as he inches closer.

I don't wait for him to reach me. I run. Run to the trailer. To the gate. To safety. My feet carry me as fast as they can, pounding against the hard dirt. My lungs feeling like they're on fire as I sprint to the door to Eddie's trailer, throwing it open and diving in.

"You're finally home, Melissa. Been out whoring again?" a slurred voice asks behind me. The smell of alcohol lingering in the air.

No, not this.

"We should have aborted you when we had the chance. Instead, you killed your mother when you crawled your way out of her. You took her from me."

I turn to look into the eyes of my father. I remember this. I remember everything about this night. This is not something I ever want to relive.

My father makes his way over to me, almost tripping over his own feet in his drunkenness. The smell of alcohol getting stronger as he approaches me.

"You took her from me, Melissa. You fucking whore!"

My father screams at me, his hand slamming into my throat. He squeezes my neck until it feels like it'll snap. My vision blurring from the lack of oxygen.

"You should have died instead!"

I can feel myself starting to black out as I struggle against my father's grasp. But, I hope for my savior. The man who saved me the first time.

But he never appears. Eddie never comes to save me. He never bursts through the door and rescues me from the clutches of my drunken and abusive father.

I'm alone.

The sound of chiming rings in my ears as the strength leaves my body.

No, not chimes.

It's a bell.

I hear the sweet sounds of a familiar beat on drums. The faint sounds of a guitar playing.

Make his fight on the hill in the early day. Constant chill deep inside.

My father's grip loosens on my neck. I take a sudden deep painful breath, coughing and spluttering.

Shouting gun, on they run through the endless grey.

I shove my father away from me, but he isn't my father anymore.

On they fight for the right, yes, but who's to say?

Vecna.

For a hill, men would kill, why? They do not know.

His left eye, gone. Just a gory hole left in its place. His left arm, a stump. Burnt at the edges.

Stiffened wounds test their pride. Men on five, still alive through the raging glow.

I turn and run.

Gone insane from the pain that they surely know.

A rift appears in the distance and I see myself. Floating. My friends attempting to pull me down. Pull me back to them.

For whom the bell tolls.

It hurts as I breathe. The tightness around my throat still there, but I run.

"Lyssa, you cannot escape. I am coming for you."

Time marches on.

"You will be reunited with your dear Eddie soon enough."

I can feel Vecna behind me, quickly closing in. But, I don't stop. I don't look back. I run back to safety. Back to the people I care about. They need me.

For whom the bell tolls.

My body collapses onto the hard wooden floor, my breath coming out in short, hard rasps. Metallica blaring in my ears.

Robin quickly snatches me up into a hug, crying into my shoulder. Dustin rushing over to join as he grips my hand in his, knocking the goggles with his feet as he makes his way towards me. I pull the headphones down and squeeze Dustin's hand back.

"We thought we lost you!" Robin screams into my shoulder, hugging me tight.

I stare at the pale faces around me, through my tears. "He's coming."