shadows of the night. // Eddie Munson x OC

015 ✧ Into The Woods

A/N: Welcome! Phoenix navigates the Upside Down as her memories close in with difficult answers. Eddie and The Party attempt to find their missing friend with a little extra help. Next one is a ride! Thank you guys so so much for enjoying my fic!! Pretty please comment below! Words, votes, and recs are so appreciated. I'm hunnybee038 on tiktok.

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    Thump. Thump.

Thump. Thump.

"Phoenix, get up, dad's got breakfast ready! Phoenix? Phoenix!"

Phoenix.

"Dante?" A wet cough. Sludge dripping like tar. Phoenix opened her eyes to the familiar street. Rows of trees and a dilapidated house. A dark grey sky that wasn't right. No, not at all. The tendril around her ankle sliced itself dragging her onto a broken porch and must have let up.

"Helen!" Phoenix looked up at the house. Knew it but...she also didn't. "Anyone!"

There was this odd urge she suppressed to call for Eddie. He must've been back on that stage. Wowing crowds and being fawned over which he deserved.

She coughed and stumbled into dead thrush, pushed herself up to walk out along the street. This street. These houses. This place. Hawkins...only it wasn't exactly Hawkins. Rotting. Dying.

Phoenix panned to focus, thinking she heard a distance heartbeat ready to flatline. Sore and aching. Her shirt tore which exposed too much of her scar and no cardigan to hide under. Nothing to hide under. This place felt like a million eyes that flayed. Felt like exposed veins.

She looked up at the sky and saw her dream there. A red split of light crackling through the clouds. A storm waiting. Building. Pushing forth.

Her lips opened. Dawning chills. This dream. This nightmare. This...ticking stomach. Rumbling and vibrating. The wind howled. Creatures flapping in the distance. Eternal night like a veil of horror twisting and tearing. She continued down the street. Breath unsteady.

Utterly alone. The way she was before Eddie.

Wheels turned in her brain because a door brought her here and there had to be another door to get her out. Going back into that house was a risk with Helen scorching on the other end. She'd summon more of those monsters.

Phoenix couldn't go back. It might have been the first time she faced that reality.

But...if she went forward. A screech echoed somewhere and Phoenix cringed, stopping only to pluck up an old shovel from a nearby truck that was broken down. Not so alone but not the company she wanted. Yes, she'd go forward. Roll the dice. Cogs spinning as she tried to be level, pinching herself to ensure this wasn't just a dream. She was alive.

She was alive.

"Phoenix," she recalled softly, eyes on the storm reflected in brown-amber eyes with the shovel wielded like a sword, "the Undying."

Another crackle of red. Objective: Find the way home. Find the party. Out the unhinging, traitor boss.

"Let's play, fuckers."

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"I chased her away," Eddie slapped the wheel. Nancy in the passenger seat with Robin and Steve in back. His guitar between them in its case. Took some convincing to make the band go home. Eddie could handle matters of the heart...in theory.