Into Every Stranger Generation

Chapter 2

 A burgundy BMW pulled up to a house that had been sitting vacant for months since the owner was currently doing hard time in prison. Two people exited the car and grabbed a small travel cooler from the backseat before approaching the front door. They glanced around, making sure there was no one around. They had arrived in the dark of night to ensure maximum concealment. They could not risk anyone knowing what they were doing. It was dangerous not only for them, but for the friend who was currently using this place as a hide-out from the world.

Pushing the door open, they entered the pitch black of the house, their eyes adjusting to the endless darkness around them. A shape could be made out sitting in a chair in the corner, the tip of a lit cigarette visible between his fingers. He barely moved and he didn't make a sound. To the casual observer, he would appear to be a corpse. It was still taking some getting used to, for both him and them.

"You're back," the shape said softly, causing the other two to jump. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, but then I guess that's what I'm made for now."

"Eddie," Dustin responded, "we brought you some...dinner."

The curly haired teen was trying to keep the disgust out of his voice as he said it, but it was proving difficult. Eddie's diet was a bit nausea inducing these days. Still, he was one of Dustin's best friends, and he would do whatever he could to help him adjust to this new way of existing. He couldn't get past the guilt of not being able to save his best friend from this doomed fate.

"Uh...yeah," Steve offered, stepping forward and setting down the cooler a few feet from him. "I mean, you're not, like, starving right now or anything, right?"

Eddie laughed, but the sound was empty. "No, you're good. I'm not going to snack on you Harrington. Thanks for the delivery. You guys can go."

"Yeah, probably a good idea," Steve said nervously. "I mean, it's late and you've got school tomorrow, Henderson. Your mom will probably wonder where you are."

"Eddie, we can hang out for a bit," Dustin offered.

Eddie shook his head, a hollow laugh erupting from within. "And do what? You guys can barely stand to be in a room with me for five minutes."

"That's not true," Dustin argued.

"Don't bullshit me, man!" Eddie yelled. "I can hear it."

"You can hear it?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, one of my exciting new abilities," he scoffed. "I can hear your heartbeat racing, the blood rushing through your veins. I can hear your lungs inflating and deflating rapidly because you're breathing so goddamn hard. You're fucking terrified right now and you should be! You're in the same room as a monster!"

"No," Dustin assured him. "Eddie, you're not a monster. You're still you."

"Oh yeah? The me before didn't have to live off of this shit!"

He opened the cooler, pulling out the bag of pig's blood that Dustin and Steve had picked up from the butcher's for him. It both disgusted him and made him ravenous at the same time. He was desperate to sink his fangs into it, but he refused to do it in front of his friends. They delivered his meal each night and no matter who it was, Steve and Dustin or Nancy and Robin, they looked repulsed. He knew they all felt guilty. That was what kept bringing them around. He had become a burden, something for them to take care of and deal with. He was no longer their friend.

"Look, I know some things are different," sighed Dustin. "Yes, you have to drink blood now and that's unfortunate. You can't go outside in the daytime and that sucks. But you are still you. You are Eddie Munson, my best friend."