Raising Hel | a Stranger Things fanfiction

Chapter 14

Timeline check: sets just before ST4 episode 6, on Wednesday 26th of March 1986

_

Eddie lines up his damp cigarettes on a rock, where a ray of the morning sun pierces through the trees. He had very little sleep. Once his clothes were dried enough to actually protect him from the chill of the night, it was his nightmares that wouldn't give him a rest.

He needs to find a way to contact Dustin and the others since the walkie-talkie doesn't work. Neither does his watch so he has no idea what time it is.

By the time he's tucking his cigarettes back into their pack – minus one that he lights on – he still doesn't know what to do. He sees only two options: staying here until he starves to death or taking a hike in the forest to God knows where.

He goes for option two. In daylight, this ought to be more pleasant than the lat time he walked those woods. He can't believe his luck when he hears the sound of engines! Hiding in the bushes, he observes the construction workers coming and going. He has spotted a few cars they're parked too close to be stolen stealthily.

Although there is something he could steal more easily: one of those guys walkie. He bends over and comes as close as he feels comfortable to from the toilet cabin. He just has to wait for one of the workers to drop their gear before entering it. The prospect of speaking to Dustin fills him with a new energy. Maybe he's not a lost cause after all.

*

Hellen steps inside the phone box with the card the FBI lady gave her clutched in her hand. She's been rehearsing the conversation in her head for hours now, if she waits any longer she's going to bail out.

– For Eddie, she whispers as she dials in.

Her pulse races up at each tone. She counts them to try and forget her anxiety rising up as well. At the eleventh, she can't take it anymore and hung up. This was foolish anyway. What was she thinking? That she could convince the FBI to tell her where they kept Eddie?

She walks back to the hotel and freezes when she sees the police car parked in front of it. She turns around, forces herself not to run to her car and drives away. It takes her all the way to the dinner at the edge of town to calm down. She's getting paranoid, that's all.

She's not so surprised to find Mr. Monsun sitting at a table. He looks like he has reached a new level of despair. Their eyes meet and without thinking, she walks toward him with the excruciating feeling he's got some really bad news. Thankfully, it's not half as terrible as she dreaded it would be.

– They've made it official, says Mr. Monsun. It's all over the news. Eddie is the number one suspect.

He tells her about the murder of a third teenager, about the conference at the townhall this afternoon.

– At least it means they're looking for him, says Hellen.

– Yeah, he snorts. And you can bet half the town is going to be looking for him too. A child murderer? It's going to be a witch hunt.

Hellen's blood drains from her face. She remembers Gerrett showing her his bruised hand the night before, at the Hideout, and telling her about some jocks from high school seeking for Eddie. Her imagination builds up scenes of her friend being beaten up to death by a group of teenagers, making her chin tremble.

– Can you do something for me, asks Mr. Munson after a while.

She looks up, still fighting to hold back her tears. It's hard to tell why she feels so comfortable around him. Maybe his gentleness reminds her of Eddie.

– Can you go to that meeting and see how it goes? I'd go myself but... I don't want to make things worse.

A tear rolls down her cheek. She nods.