The sun was setting on Hawkins and inside that trailer the kids were utterly quiet, their minds on the upcoming mission. Their detailed plan was ready, but still there was no room for words that could make the danger real.
Joanne was sitting on the seat in front of the trailer door and was holding Erica's hand, glad that she would be the lookout, the least risky role. She was just a little girl, after all.
Throughout the ride, Joanne kept her back turned on Eddie, who was on the couch with Dustin and Robin. She just couldn't look at him wondering if that was the last time she was seeing his face in the sunlight.
When they arrived at the Creel family mansion, Max, Erica and Lucas separated from the group to take their assigned position. Joanne looked at them with sad eyes and then remained alone on that seat for two people. She placed her feet on it, lifted her knees and wrapped her arms around them, spending the rest of the ride with her hollow gaze fixed on Samuel's lighter, which she rhythmically opened and closed.
Steve parked the trailer in a darkened forested area in Forest Hills, safe from prying eyes, and the remaining groups gathered, their mood as gloomy as the evening sky outside.
«Okay» said Nancy in a firm tone. «I wanna run through it one more time. Phase one.»
«We meet Erica at the playground, she'll signal Max and Lucas when we're ready» said Robin.
«Phase two.»
«Max baits Vecna» said Steve. «He'll go after her, which'll put him in his trance.»
«Phase three?»
«We draw the bats away» said Dustin pointing his finger at Joanne and Eddie, who gave him a friendly pat on his head before looking at her.
Joanne wanted to hope for the best, or at least appreciate someone else's optimistic attitude. But she wouldn't smile in that situation even if they paid her to, so she gave Eddie a blank gaze and looked away.
«Four.»
«We head into Vecna's hopefully newly bat-free lair, and...» Robin waved a Molotov. «Flambé!»
«Nobody moves on to the next phase until we've all copied» recommended an adamant Nancy. Despite her tone, the fear everybody was feeling was also visible in her eyes. «Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what. Got it?»
«Got it» the others repeated in unison, before they left the trailer dressed and armed for battle.
For the occasion, Joanne had chosen to wear a brown sleeveless vest, a pair of elbow-length black woolen wrist warmers and knee pads. As her weapon, she was carrying a metal baseball bat that was almost as heavy as her. She could have picked one of those spears made by the Sinclair siblings, like Eddie and Dustin, but she felt more comfortable in using the bat for defense and attack purposes.
In a single row, the six of them headed to Eddie's trailer in silence and, one by one, they got inside.
But Joanne, the last of the row, suddenly stopped, petrified with fear. She lowered the baseball bat and used it as a cane to hold herself while taking deep breaths.
Eddie appeared in front of her with a cautious and concerned look on his face. «Joanne...» he murmured.
She tried to look away but her eyes would always go to him, her true north. She dropped the bat and covered her face with her hands. «I'm scared» she confessed in a broken voice. «I can't do this.»
«You can.»
«How do you know?»
«I've spent all my life running away, Joanne... I'm an expert in fear. But now I'm here, pretending to be a hero from Dungeons & Dragons, because that's the only reality where I feel safe. And I believe that if there's someone who can face the worst evil in the world, of any world, that someone is you.» He spoke with the firmest tone she had ever heard him use, astonishing her.
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An unambiguous sign of true love (Eddie Munson)
Fanfiction"'Cause that was as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen." -Eddie Munson, "Stranger Things", season 4, episode 7 Will Eddie Munson ever get such a sign for himself? Joanne Mulligan is a model student who has feelings...
