To Hell and Back Again

Chapter Thirty-Four

Eddie sat in front of Steve. "Please, wake up. Please don't do this to me." Steve's eyes were white, rolled back into his head. Eddie sang Steve's song, hoping to end his trance. The metal heads hands gripped around Steve, praying he would wake up. His eyes welled with tears.
Steve continued running from Vecna, unable to escape the white room. The white room taunted him. It seemed endless. He'd run in one direction, trying to escape, and would instead hit a wall. The room started to dim, the white lightning walls slowly turning darker. Music played through the room, vibrating the walls. Eddie. Madonna's voice filled his head, ringing almost. An opening formed, Eddie sitting on the other side. He was pleading, shaking Steve's limp body. He was watching himself die from the third person. Steve turned to see Vecna. "You can try to escape. You can try to run, Steve. You won't win this. You didn't win last time, either." Vecna's voice powered over the music.
"The problem is you picked an athlete, bitch." Steve growled in his direction. He started running, memories of basketball and swim practices flooding into his head. All he could do was run towards the opening, towards freedom. He looked back, the white room growing brighter. His legs felt like they were burning off his body. He seemed to get nowhere, no closer to the opening. He got about a foot away, about to touch freedom. His feet were stuck. He couldn't get any closer. The opening was so much farther away, miles even. He had gone back, back where he started.
Eddie screamed the song towards Steve. "You can't do this to me! I can't do this again!" Tears streamed out of Eddie's eyes. Blood dripped out of Steve's ears and nose. His eyes starting to get red. Eddie screamed towards him, shaking his shoulders. He moved his hands, holding tightly onto Steve's face, singing along with the music, hoping to wake him up. "Wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up!" His throat burned from yelling, his fingers starting to get sweaty against Steve's chilly skin. "Please, wake up. I love you too much to lose you." Eddie pleaded, losing hope that he'd wake up. Steve laid in Eddie's arms, his body limp. Eddie pulled his body closer to his chest, singing the music to him. His raspy voice cut in and out, muted by his sobs.
Steve continued to run for what felt like forever. "You can't escape, Steve. Have you noticed you're not getting any closer? I have you." Steve looked to his feet, they were stopped. He wasn't running anymore. For a brief moment he felt like quitting. He felt like stopping and letting himself go. Suddenly, Vecna wasn't all burnt and gross anymore. He was Henry Creel, he was a small boy. He was scared, trapped even. His arms raised into the air, spiders crawling up and down his arms. Steve backed away. "Do you remember the spiders, Steve?" They started crawling towards Steve, making him shake with terror. Steve's feet gave out from under him again. He was falling. The spiders falling around him, landing on his arms and neck. Steve swatted at the spiders, not able to get them off. As he fell, the white walls quickly turned into trees. They were familiar, leaving a sinking feeling in his chest. The trailer where Eddie had played his guitar solo in the upside down sat in front of him. "Do you remember now, Steve? Do you remember what happened here?" Bats swarmed around Steve, knocking him to the ground. The music got louder. It wasn't Madonna's voice anymore. It was Eddie singing. Steve stood off the ground.
"You can't keep me here. We will find you and we'll fucking kill you!" Steve shouted into the air, Vecna wasn't in sight. He wasn't visible but Steve could hear him. He could hear his taunting. Steve turned in circles, looking for the way out. "Come on, Ed. Louder." Steve felt like he was spinning, looking for the way out. His heart rate increase. He wasn't going to make it out. The music got louder. He was falling again. There was no ground under his feet. He was falling. The pain in his chest went away. He could breathe. As he fell, he gave in. He let himself fall.
Steve's eyes snapped opened, his chest pounded, his fist clenched around Eddie's hand. He focused on Eddie. It took him a minute to realize he was back. He was safe. He wasn't falling anymore. Eddie's familiar face in front of him. He wrapped his arms around Eddie's neck, almost instantly. Steve laughed victoriously into Eddie's shoulder, struggling to catch his breath. His hands grabbing the back of Eddie's head, holding him close, refusing to let go. Eddie's eyes were wide, traumatized. He lifted his arms, grabbing onto Steve's back. "It's okay. You're okay." Eddie pulled Steve's face away from his shoulder, looking at his eyes, checking his eyes. His beautiful brown eyes had returned. He pushed away Steve's hair. "You're okay." He wasn't as much telling Steve he was okay, but he was telling himself Steve was okay.
"He was there. He was there." Steve grabbed Eddie's shoulders, pulling him closer. His nails dug into Eddie's skin. Small fingernail marks bled on Eddie's back. His forehead pushed against Eddie's. Steve didn't want to let go, he didn't want to let go of Eddie. He grabbed the sides of his lover's face, kissing him like there was no tomorrow. As far as they were concerned... as far as Steve was concerned, there was no tomorrow.
"You're safe now. It's okay." Eddie pulled Steve into him. Eddie was equally as terrified, but he had to be there for Steve. He had to be strong. "Can you see?" He held Steve's chin, looking into his eyes. "Steve! Can you see?" Steve nodded, his eyes focusing on Eddie's. Eddie rubbed the side of Steve's face. "It's okay. It's alright." His shaky hands pushed away Steve's hair. "You fucking scared me." Steve pushed his face into Eddie's chest. He wasn't crying. He couldn't cry. He just laughed hysterically into Eddie's chest.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Steve shot his eyes up.
"No, it's not your fault, okay? You couldn't stop it. It's okay." Eddie placed a soft kiss on Steve's forehead, rubbing his shoulder to comfort him.
"You saved me." Steve grabbed the sides of Eddie's face. "I could hear you. I could hear you, Ed." Steve admired Eddie's face, glad to see it again. Steve's smile quickly faded.
I'm not going to kill you, Steve. I'm going to let you suffer. I'm going to let you suffocate. I'm going to let you tell Eddie how much you fear me... because Steve, he's next.
"We have to kill this fucker." Steve whispered towards Eddie. Eddie gulped, knowing what Steve had meant.
"But are you okay?" Eddie used the blanket on Steve's bed to wipe the blood off the bottom of his nose. Steve furrowed his eyebrows.
"Are you kidding me? He's the one who decided to mess with Steve Harrington."