The Freaks - Eddie Munson

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Wheeler

It was probably the hottest day of the year yet. 

I decided to leave my flannel in the car, leaving my low waisted shorts and black crop top. It was probably too hot for rings and converse but I never left home without my amenities. I hauled my tote bag over my shoulder as I climbed out of my van, checking how close I was to the lines. A force of habit for the past 2 years since I obtained my license. 

I squinted into the sun, upset by its appearance. Maybe tomorrow it would go away. Rainy days were the best. I walked towards the door to the Family Video, but before I could open it, it swung forward as someone was leaving the store. It so happened to be Eddie Munson.

"Oh, shit I'm sorry." I stepped back, the door almost hitting me in the face.

Why was I apologizing? He almost hit me. He didn't say anything as he stepped out of the way and held the door for me, his eyes locked on mine while keeping an awkward expression on his face. I didn't say anything, but the gaze we held felt too long. 

His dark brown eyes were lit up by the sun and they entranced me. His long brown hair blew into his face, but it didn't seem to faze him. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but nothing came out. I broke our staring contest to look down at the bag he held. Two tapes. Rentals. He tried to pull them close to his leg, hiding them before walking towards his car. I saw the tapes before he had the chance to be embarrassed. The first was The Neverending Story, clearly a recommendation from Henderson. The second was a movie I had watched with Nancy a few months ago. "The Way We Were" was clearly a romance. 

It made me chuckle to think why Eddie Munson of all people had rented it from a Family Video. Probably for a girlfriend. Not that it was any of my business. I continued inside the store, the bell alerting Steve and Robin of my presence.

"Welcome to Family-oh." Steve's head popped up from behind the counter, his welcome cut short by realizing who had entered. "Hey, Y/N."

"Hey." I replied, my attention immediately drawn to the new releases. I noticed Little Shop of Horrors had finally released from theaters, along with Flight of the Navigator and Labyrinth. I wondered why Eddie would rent The Way We Were instead of a Sci Fi. The thought of him tearing up at the end made me chuckle.

"What are you looking at?" Robin asked, coming over to place some new tapes on the shelf.

"Was that Eddie Munson I passed on the way in?" I asked her. I knew the answer, of course.

"Eddie the freak?" Steve cut in, handing Robin another stack of tapes. "Yeah, that was him alright."

"Weird tapes." Robin mumbled, her brow furrowed. I smiled lightly.

"I um, saw him when I picked Mike up last night."

"Yea he asked about you..." Steve said, distracted as he organized movies at the front desk.

He asked about me? No wonder he'd been staring.

"Really??"

"Well don't sound pleased about it." Steve chuckled, "I told him not to bother." I nodded, biting my lip slightly.

"I figured."

"Hey we're going to the lake tonight." Robin appeared from behind shelves to our left, leaning against the counter. "The kids will be there, it'll be fun!" She smiled which indicated that was an invitation for me to come along. I nodded in return.

"Always babysitting." Steve mumbled as he went to put his tapes away.

*

"I swear this water in my ears will be the death of me." Lucas whined, shaking his head like a dog. With towels wrapped around our shoulders, a group containing myself, Robin, Steve, Dustin, Lucas, Max and Erica walked slowly from the lake back to Max's house to pile into Steve's car. Max didn't partake in rope swinging or mud pies, but instead keeping to herself and her walkman. Robin didn't participate either, at least with the rope swinging. But champion of mud pies she remained.

We all laughed the harder Lucas shook his head to try and remove the water from his ear. We all suddenly stood still when we heard a slamming door and someone yelling "SHIT" in the distance.

I looked around for a moment, locating the source of the sound. Once I found it, I wondered why I kept running into Eddie Munson. He stood on the porch of a trailer, hauling a bag of trash over his shoulder into the can in front of him.

"EDDIE!" Dustin screamed, rushing towards him. I looked over at Steve in time to see him give a heavy sigh. Lucas and Erica followed Dustin and I watched in keen interest as Eddie accepted a hug from Dustin. He spoke to them all as he looked around, shaking his head in confusion. I followed as Robin lead the way, joining the kids at the trailer. I caught the end of Eddie's sentence as he explained to Dustin why he'd come outside.

"-it came from down there," he pointed left, "at the Cunningham's."

"Crissy Cunningham?" I clarified, making my presence known. He eye caught mine, and he opened his mouth to speak, just as he had that morning.

"That's the one." he said after a moment, seemingly holding back a smirk.

"What exactly came from there?" Robin asked, clearly having missed most of the conversation as well.

"Screams." Lucas finished. We all looked over to him. The silence was deafening. We all looked down the road at said trailer, a mailbox with the name "Cunningham" written in clean letters.

"They're never here." Max said quietly.

"What?" I asked, turning to her.

"Crissy's parents come out here for...alone time. Crissy has parties here sometimes but other than that they live on Loch Nora."

"Is that all you heard?" I asked Eddie. He looked slightly taken aback I was talking to him. He slid his hands into his pockets and looked back at Crissy's then to me.

"I heard some crashing, and then my lights went out for a minute. I thought it was some power outage or kids playing a prank."

"I don't think so." Steve stepped forward, his gaze locked on the trailer. We all looked over and froze when we saw the flashing lights coming from inside. It wasn't party lights and It wasn't a power outage. We all knew in that moment what it was, but none of us wanted to believe it.

"Mind Flayer."