Dear Eddie (rewrite)

46

I opened my eyes and feel cold. I look around and notice I'm back in the hallway in front of the rainbow room. I took a deep breath, hoping to control my emotions before I walk in. I feel a sudden wave of anxiety wash over me.

I push open one of the doors and see Henry sitting at the chess table, alone. He's playing the game against... no one. I walked over and sat in front of him hesitantly. His gaze slowly made its way to my face. He smiled while I kept a blank face, watching his movements. I'm just now realizing how actually terrified I am of him. The things I know he is capable of doing, of making me feel. He tricked me last time. Making me watch the people I love die painful deaths.

"Hello, number fifteen!" He sounds excited as he rests his arms on the table.

"What do you want?"

"Just to talk..." He smirked.

"About?"

"Your brother," he paused. "His time is ticking away, there isn't much left," Henry smiled.

"You fucking dick! What the fuck did you do to him?" I quickly stand, causing the chair to fall behind me. My breathing started getting heavier.

"Nothing yet," he shrugged.

"You fucking liar!" I slammed my hand on the table. So many methods of killing him flash through my mind. I tilted my head, throwing Henry across the room. His body ran into some of the toys before he hit the wall.

"I would be careful if I were you," Henry groaned through the pain. I focused on keeping him pinned to the wall, watching as he attempted to lift his hand and fight against me.

"Leave my brother out of this, Henry."

"No," he said simply before he pushed me to the floor. The back of my head hit the chair I had knocked over, causing my vision to go black.

_____

I inhaled deeply as my eyes opened. I sat up and looked around, squinting as a few rays of light shined into my face. I put my hands to my face, rubbing my eyes and trying to process what just happened.

Dustin. Shit. I need to see him, know he's okay. I have a bad feeling in my stomach. My breathing gets heavy again as I look around, trying to think. I quickly got up and got dressed faster than I ever have before. I grab the knife from the side of my bed frame and start to leave.

"Where are you going?" Eddie sits up, rubbing his eyes.

"I need to find Dustin," I turn to him.

"What? Why?" He gets up and starts getting dressed in a panic.

"Vecna. He's still here," I look down.

"Shit," Eddie mumbled as he slid his shoes on.

We walked out of my room and into the living room where I saw my mom talking to the police. I walked over to them, drawing their attention to me and Eddie.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Dustin's missing," my mother says to me with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. There isn't anything we can do until-"

"Listen to me," My mom pointed her finger in the officer's face. "My son doesn't just go missing. He doesn't go anywhere without his friends. Something happened to him and you better get everyone out there looking for him!" She said angrily, wiping her tears away but they kept falling.

"We'll start a search party," The officer nods, resting his hands on his belt.

"I'm gonna take the car and start looking," I hug my mom. "I'll call if I find anything," I kiss her cheek before walking out the door.