𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐄 | 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘯

𝐯𝐢. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞

~ six. the dive ~

***

Val was in for a rough night. She lay awake, staring at the moon, desperate to think about anything other than the image of her ex-boyfriend dying right in front of her. After flitting back and forth between thoughts of Jason and her parents to Eddie and the guilt her new feelings were causing, she eventually landed on picturing how these two weeks were supposed to go as a safe middle ground alternative. 

Spring Break was meant to be about making memories - most of which would become regrets - and making the most out of what time they had left before leaving for college in the fall. She and Chrissy would be shopping for their prom dresses and fawning over their dates, worrying more about matching their makeup to their nails than the ever-looming threat of their GPAs. Chrissy would have gone with Jason, of course, and won Prom Queen and, who knows, maybe Val would have ended up with Eddie anyway... begrudgingly on his part; she doubted school dances were really his scene.

They would have had the best night together, dancing to Lionel Richie, The Human League, and whatever other music the Prom Committee deemed worthy. Then, when the night was over, they would have the perfect first kiss - maybe under an umbrella in the rain or at her door as he dropped her off home - and then they would graduate and start the rest of their lives. All of them. 

But that was only a fantasy - a glimpse into a future that could never come to be.

As the night dragged on, the pounding in Val's head only got worse, presumably from dehydration or something nasty she picked up from the lake, which made it all the more impossible to relax. Reefer Rick's bed had been far from the epitome of comfort but it was still a bed. Leaning against a cold rock with nothing but dirt underneath them, it was a wonder Eddie had managed to sleep at all. Although... as she looked up at him, she realised his eyes were wide open.

"You're awake," She said, posed as more of a question than an observation. 

"Yeah, that shit kept playing over and over in my head... I didn't feel like seeing it again," He replied. 

"Is that what it was like with Chrissy?"

Val had only ever witnessed the aftermath of Vecna's curse with Fred but this was the second time Eddie had watched someone die in such a horrendous way. It was no wonder he couldn't keep his eyes closed for longer than a blink.

"Um, yeah, she - she, uh... it was exactly like that." He was silent for a while but then, so quietly she almost didn't hear, he said, "Maybe I am dangerous."

"What?"

"Chrissy died when she was with me, Fred died near my trailer, Patrick died going after me - what if the cops are right?"

"Eddie, you're not a killer. I know that, you know that, and the police know that - they're just too thick to realise it yet. Vecna is the one behind this, okay? Not you."