Love And Hellfire

Chapter 12: Chrissy?

Mike slammed another large book upon the table, causing Will to jump out of his skin for the 1000th time.
"I really don't see the point in any of this." He moaned, taking a seat across from Will, flicking carelessly across the pages. "What are we even looking for?"
"Anything." Dustin joined them, a selection of D&D stories in his arms. As he carefully placed them before the party, Will took note of one book in particular.
"That's Eddie's." He pointed out, smiling widely. "He let you borrow it, finally?"
Smiling proudly, this revelation had caught the attention of all four boys. Lucas emerged suddenly from the kitchen, a bag of M&M's sat comfortably in his palm.
"Holy shit." He mumbled through a mouth full of food. "Eddie never let's us borrow his books, they're like sacred to him."
"I know. But Eddie trusted me enough with it." Dustin boasted. The boys gathered around him as he delicately opened the first page. From the mere appearance of the large book they could tell it was old, perhaps one Eddie had been given as a child. The inside cover adorned the words 'Property Of Edward Munson: Keep Out!'
"Cute." Mike teased, as Dustin continued flicking through. The majority of the book contained guidance, tricks, tools as such to use within a game of dungeons and dragons. The contents of the book was all a work of fiction, supposedly. However, each of them knew all too well that what they found within their stories and games of D&D could terrifyingly be real one day. Especially in Hawkins.
"There is no mention of any book in here." Lucas gave up almost immediately, retreating to the kitchen once more in search of snacks no doubt.
Mike began to follow, as Dustin flicked page after page. All of a sudden, Will felt the great urge to stop him.
"Wait!" He declared, unknowingly placing his hand against a random page, preventing Dustin from moving any further through the book. "I have that feeling again."
This one remark alerted Mike instantly.
"What do you mean?" He quizzed Will, joining him by his side, assessing his appearance from head to toe. "Is it Vecna? The mindflayer?"
Shaking his head, Will was unsure of his answer.
"Well let's atleast see what your little feeling is trying to tell us." Dustin said, removing Will's heavy grasp upon the page to reveal its topic of discussion. The page itself was titled: Reality Shifting; How does it work?
"Reality Shifting?" Mike Read aloud, confused. "I've never heard of it before."
"Me neither." Lucas shrugged.
"It's a good start atleast..." Dustin admitted, beginning to scan the pages in more detail. "We need to find out-"
Out of nowhere, the door to the cabin flew open. The four young boys jumped out of there skin, holding one to one another as they screamed out in fright. The sunlight filled the room, so much so that they could only just see the shadowed figure towards them. As they stepped into the room, the worst fears of the boys was confirmed.
It was Nancy.
"What the hell is going on here!?" She bellowed, stood intimidating each of them with her hands firmly on her hips as Jonathan snuck in sheepishly behind her.
Silence fell upon the cabin for the first time that morning, as Nancy scanned the room. She was looking for someone.
The instant look of panic graced her face suddenly. "Where's Eddie?"

~

Eddie recalled that one night, telling Avila every detail of exactly how is blood came to be on the couch of the RV. The night he almost lost his life.

"EDDIE HOLD ON! HOLD ON!" Dustin sobbed uncontrollably, placing both of his hands firmly over Eddie's abdomen, trying to contain the bleeding. "ROBIN HURRY UP!"
His sudden bellowing caused Robin to panic more, as she rummaged around the small kitchenette in search of something to clean the wound.
"BINGO!" She declared, holding up an empty bowl she'd discovered underneath the small sink. As she attempted to stand, Steve swerved the RV, narrowly avoiding a head on collison with a small car. This sudden turn caused both Robin and Nancy to stumble.
"SORRY!" Steve shouted angrily, cursing driver after driver as he hastily bounded around the roads.
Eddie recalled slipping in and out of consciousness as Dustin remained at his bedside. Nancy and Robin attempted to stop the bleeding and bandage him up, but the majority of it was a blur. Eddie eventually became unconscious as the bleeding worsened, the last thing he could vividly remember was Dustin completely breaking down.
"EDDIE!" He cried. "EDDIE!"