slut [ eddie munson ]

036

For the first time in what felt like forever, Talia
was hopeful. Pulling herself up from the mattress, she shared an excited look with Dustin before throwing her arms around him before she could second guess herself. Dustin reacted immediately, squeezing his arms around his friend's cousin reassuringly.

Pulling away from the hug, the bright smile that had snuck onto the Wheeler girl's lips dimmed as she realized that Eddie had still not climbed through. He should have already been up on his feet. Stepping closer to the mattress, Talia tilted her head back to look through the opening in the ceiling. Her eyes widened at what she saw.

"Eddie, don't—"

Dustin and Talia watched in despair as the makeshift rope that had connected the two worlds fell.

"I'm sorry," Eddie said, face grim as he looked up to the girl he loved and the boy who was like a brother to him.

"What are you doing?" Talia cried.

"Eddie?"

"Eddie, please."

"Once they realize they can't get in...they'll go back to him," he said mournfully, his heart dropping as he saw the tears welling in their eyes.

"Eddie—"

"I love you."

"Eddie! What are you doing?" Dustin yelled, his heart twisting painfully at the realization of what the older male was about to do.

Knowing that if he didn't move quickly they'd convince him to stay, Eddie squeezed his eyes shut before dropping his head. He roughly grabbed the mattress on his side, throwing it away from the opening and effectively cutting off safe access to the Upside Down—all while ignoring the heartbreaking cries and pleas of the two above him.

Dustin reached out and latched his hand onto Talia's, the small girl's shoulders shaking as she cried. Tears fell down his own face, as well.

"Stop, stop! Eddie! What are you doing?"

"Please..."

Breathlessly, Eddie looked back up to them, "I'm buying more time."

"No! Eddie, please!"

Talia felt like she couldn't breath, watching the boy she loved gather his spear and shield before disappearing completely. She could hear the trailer door creak open, then slam shut. A sob escaped her.

Dustin's hand left hers, the boy backing up as he cried out for Eddie. His hands lifted, palms pressing against his head as he tried futilely to stop the already gone Munson teen. Clenching her jaw, Talia's bottom lip quivered as time slowed around her. She had to do something—anything. Pushing aside her emotions, Talia turned to Dustin with determination in her eyes.

"Dustin," she said slowly, softening her face as she took in his teary eyes, "promise me you'll stay here, okay? I'm gonna...do something. But, you have to stay here."

He went to protest but was stopped.

"We don't have time to argue, you're staying here."

"He cut the rope, Talia."

"I was a cheerleader."

Reluctantly, Dustin moved to help her. He did as she told, cupping his hands together and using all his might to help lift her when she stepped her foot into his palms. Talia's fingers just barely managed to grab hold of the ceiling, curling over the edge of the tear and anchoring in on the other side. With a grunt, she managed to crawl her way through, flipping as she did so that she landed feet-first.

Her ankles screamed out in protest as she landed, but Talia pushed through the pain and grabbed Dustin's discarded spear before darting out of the trailer. She ran as fast as she could, eyes locked on the hoard of bats that circled the air, following something—Eddie.

"Oh, fuck."

Talia continued running, fear overtaking her as Eddie finally came into her line of sight. What was he doing? He wasn't moving, just standing still as the bats grew closer and closer.

"What the fuck, Eddie?" She shrieked, letting out a shrill scream when her boyfriend let out a battle cry, throwing his shield in front of him as the bats began swooping down at him. Eddie was still too far for her to do anything, but she never once stopped moving.

It felt like her world was collapsing as Eddie's figure was swarmed by the bats, just barely visible to her. She caught flashes of him as the bats moved, arms swinging about as he stabbed and smacked them away.

Talia was just feet away when Eddie was thrown to the ground, the bats working together to restrain him. She let out a yell as she swung her spear, slicing the first bat that tried to come at her. Continuing to swing, she worked her way to Eddie quickly before gripping the long handle tightly and driving it down into one of the bats that had wrapped it's tail around Eddie's limbs.

The bat died with a shrill cry, and Eddie's eyes snapped to Talia. Any relief he felt was overshadowed by immobilizing fear. What was she doing?

Just as roughly as she had stabbed the first, Talia quickly did the same to the others—only slightly deterred as more bats swooped down and tried to stop her. She ignored the stinging pain that radiated from the cuts and wounds left from their claws and fangs, focusing only on Eddie.

As the last bat died and the grip of their tail loosened, Eddie hurriedly stood and snatched his spear from where it had fell to the ground. Standing back to back, Talia and Eddie continued to slash at the remaining hoard of bats. Even with another person, it was overwhelming.

"Talia! Eddie!"

Neither heard the far cries of their names, their attention focused solely on the bats that swarmed them. Talia let out a grunt as she moved forward, thrusting her spear forward to stab it directly into the body of one of the bats. She flung her spear to the side, throwing the now dead bat from the blade.

"Talia! Eddie!" Talia's head snapped around, eyes wild as she tried to find the source of the noise. Her heart dropped when she found it—Dustin. He was hunched over slightly, slowly limping closer and closer to them, but was still just as far as she was when she had first spotted Eddie. That was all it took—just one moment of distraction, just one look.

Talia let out a choked cry as her throat was encircled, a bat's tail tightening painfully around it. Startled, the spear dropped from her hands as she instinctively brought her hands to her throat and clawed at the thick skin of the tail. She thrashed around uselessly as it flew upward, the tips of her toes just barely brushing the ground as it tried to fly further.

Pain blinded her as a loud crunch was heard, the fangs of another bat piercing her torso. A strangled noise escaped her, hands moving from her throat to the bat on her stomach. Weak, she just barely managed to pry it from her flesh.

Almost instantly, pain shot through her again, and again, and again as more and more bats latched onto her. As her body grew weaker and the tail around her throat tightened even more, Talia's vision became spotted with darkness.

"Talia!" Eddie's voice was muffled, as if she were underwater. She heard one last hazy shriek before her vision went black.