Together, until the end | Eddie Munson

Reward and forgive

Eleven slowly immerses herself  into the tub full to the brim. The lights start flashing around her.
First the lamp, then the chandelier under the ceiling.
Dustin and Mike are squatting around the tub. Their eyes look around impressed
"Wow..." Dustin mutters

She keeps her eyes closed, still trying to get inside Vivien's mind like Brenner taught her. She is hugging her powers again and is ready to use them to the fullest.

"We're ready..." Vivien says throwing a look at Steve. She takes off the headphones and slowly turns off the walkman. At this point the light from the torch is the only light source in the dark room. She sits on the ground, staring at the torch in her hands that keeps going on and off all the time
"Come on," she says, "Come on, asshole, I'm ready."
She can feel the look of the others behind her, she can feel the concern of everyone else. Nancy, Robin, Steve, Eddie.

The girl inhales slowly, the tension in the room could be cut off with a pair of scissors right now
"Hey! Can you hear me? I'm all yours"
Despite her louder voice, her heartbeat increases and her hands tremble.

Vivien turns behind her, Eddie runs a hand through his hair in frustration but the girl does not give up.
"All right, I get it"

Eleven is in Vivien's mind, she has succeeded. She can see her sister sitting in the middle of the room. She bounces her eyes off everyone else as she tries to figure out what's wrong
"I found them," says the little girl, Dustin and Mike look at each other "She's sitting and...holding a torch in her hand"
El keep walking around, watching her carefully
"Then...what's going on?" Mike asks her
"It's not working" she whispers
"What? What's not working?" Dustin asks
"Her plan..."

Vivien takes a breath closing her eyes, "Okay, I know you can read my thoughts, even the worst ones. Especially them" she clears her throat "So here's a little story just for you"

She pulls her knees to her chest and hugs them, "I thought about what you said...about it being my fault. I thought you were trying to piss me off, but no, it's true. Nobody knows this story, just... Eddie" she turns to watch her boyfriend while the others throw her a look of confusion

"I've been...selfish. But at what cost?" She sighs, taking a break "On the night of November 6th, 1983 I had to take care of my little brother... Will. But I did the opposite, I left him alone...yeah" she chuckles, but it's more of a nervous laugh.

"I feel guilty even if frankly I could not know that this could unleash the whole hell on our city... But it's a terrible thing, my best friend lost her brother because of it too. Eddie was about to lose his life. Innocent teenagers died." she continues ignoring her trembling voice

"I tried to...tried to forgive myself fighting your bullshit...the Demogorgon, the mind flayer and I felt good when we made it. But it didn't end there...you kept going. And if I think that it all started that night...I- I can't do it, it's something too big" she stops to take another slow breath

"I wanted something terrible to happen to me to...you know...reward. And I think I finally found a way to forgive myself."

"I see someone else in the room," Eleven whispers
"What? Anyone else who?"
"Will."

Suddenly she hears footsteps behind her
"... Vivien" is a subtler voice, she would recognize it among billions. The girl immediately turns around.
"Will? Why are you here? It's-it's dangerous."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" the boy asked as he crouched next to her
"Does Mom know you're here? Did you tell her?" she asks frantically
"No...no" he reassures her "She doesn't know. But I heard everything you said"