THE FREAKS ~ Eddie Munson

Chapter Forty-Three: Eddie Munson, The Master Of Puppets

Veronica POV

The ride to the Creel House was pretty silent. Robin had convinced me to let her put pigtail braids in my hair, and not gonna lie, her doing it helped me stay pretty calm.

I know that Max could feel all of the constant glances in her direction. Everyone was worried for her, me mostly out of everyone. I feel like nobody else seemed to grasp the fact that Max was just a kid. She was just what? Fourteen? Fifteen years old? I feel like it's just not right to let her go in there, put her life at risk. It should be me going in there, and I know everybody knew that.

On the ride there, I'd thought about just jumping out with Max, Lucas, and Erica. In my head, I'd imagined that would just solve my problem with Eddie forcing me to not go...but I knew that in reality, if I'd gotten out of this RV with them, Eddie would stop the world from fucking spinning until I got back into the RV. It was sweet that he'd cared about me like this, but I really just wanted to help Max.

I felt a slight pressure on my hair as Robin tied up the second braid. She gave me a smile as she finished, handing me the familiar green jacket that everyone else had on.

"Now you're really ready for battle." She whispered to me with a smile as I slipped on the mesh jacket. I gave her a small laugh before both of us looked away, going back to thinking of all the traumatic possibilities.

I felt Eddie's eyes on me as I stared into space, causing me to snap out of it and make eye contact with him. Instead of smiling like normal, he looked worried. You could tell he was a little nervous about us being out there with those bats.

To calm him down, I set my hand on his knee and rest my head on his shoulder. His head rested on top of mine, the warmth of his body encapsulating me. I took a deep breath as the RV rattled beneath us, the comfort of each other's company calming us down.

After a few more minutes, the RV finally stopped in front of the dreaded location of the Creel House. Steve turned around and gave Max a nod, assuring her that everything will be okay.

Max, Lucas, and Erica stepped out of the RV and turned around to face back inside. Max looked at me with pleading eyes, guilt twinging inside of me.

"Please come...we'll have better luck if you go with us." Max begged, causing Eddie to immediately shake his head. I sighed, as Max gave me one more pleading look, her head low. I wanted to hug her, tell her that it'll be okay. Tell her that she's strong and capable of doing all this.

Fuck it. I was gonna hug her.

I got up from my seat, causing Eddie to sit up in surprise. You could tell he thought I was ditching him to go with Max, Lucas, and Erica, but he quickly calmed down once he saw me pull Max into a tight hug.

"You're gonna be okay. You're way stronger and way braver than me, Max...just remember what I told you about the happy memories. You're gonna do great." I assured her, pulling away from the hug and giving her a smile.

"But what if something happens to you? What if he switches up and attacks you while you're helping Eddie?" She asked, my whole body starting to feel tense.

I hope to fucking god that doesn't happen. Shit.

Instead of showing my sudden worry, I just gave her a reassuring smile and softly lifted up the headphones that wrapped around my neck.

Max just nodded, stepping away from the RV a bit.

"Well good luck fighting bats and shit." She told me with a smile as she began walking backwards towards the house.

I smiled.

"Good luck." I replied, closing the door before sitting back down next to Eddie. Guilt ached inside of me, my whole body just soaking in it. I wanted nothing more than to trade places with her, go put my life at risk instead of hers, but now it was too late.